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West Ham United may have seen an approach for Jesse Lingard rebuffed in the summer but they could well revisit their interest at the turn of the year, according to reports…

What’s the word?

The Evening Standard’s Jack Rosser claims that there have been suggestions of a fresh approach for the England international during the January transfer window should he not get the game time he wants at Manchester United.

It’s thought that the 28-year-old midfielder has rejected the Red Devils’ latest offer of a new contract, despite himself turning down a return to the London Stadium before deadline day.

Lingard is now into the final year of his £100k-per-week deal and will be free to leave the club for nothing next summer if no agreement is found.

He is yet to start a match for United this season but played a starring role in England’s win over Andorra last week as he seeks to prove his worth to Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer at his boyhood club.

Go get him in January

Of course, many supporters were desperate to see Lingard return to east London after a fruitful loan spell saw him provide nine goals and five assists but you can’t really begrudge him for trying to make an impact at the team he’s been at for 21 years of his life.

Assistant manager Stuart Pearce even reiterated their desire to sign him permanently to talkSPORT but as evident above, his chances of coming back were always going to be slim.

“The ball is in Manchester United’s court. He is contracted to them. We would like him with us, there is no doubt about that,” he said. “He’s a special lad and was very good around the players – the players really like him. His ability shone out last year and gave us a great option in our squad. You never know, but at this moment in time it looks like he is fighting for a place in the United line-up.”

However, it’s a move that cannot be ruled out in the long term.

Lingard could actually be making a very smart decision as the ball is firmly in his court. If he gets minutes, he can sign a new deal. If he doesn’t, then surely he will be eager for another crack at redemption with the Irons.

Hammers boss David Moyes has signed a replacement in former Everton flop Nikola Vlasic, something that needed to happen considering the void that would’ve been left behind and the Croatian playmaker does look like a good alternative, having delivered 12 goals and six assists in all competitions in 2020/21.

Although, that shouldn’t put the Scotsman off from doubling up in the role, particularly as Lingard can also play out wide and in deeper midfield, thus giving him plenty of options in the future.

The £19.8m-rated dynamo, who has now been capped 31 times by England, would be the sort of signing in January – or next summer – that would keep the east Londoners competing at the top, which is the next task after last season’s sixth-place finish.

If the opportunity arises in the future, then Moyes and co would be foolish to not bring Lingard back to the club. Their chances of doing so have certainly been bolstered by this latest contract update and it’s a move that would go down very well with the Irons’ fanbase.

AND in other news, West Ham receive huge transfer boost as exciting report emerges behind-the-scenes…

يقترب نادي النصر السعودي من التفوق على الهلال وحسم صفقة من العيار الثقيل بالتعاقد مع نجم الأهلي الشاب عبد الرحمن غريب.

وكان النصر حقق المركز الثالث في دوري كأس الأمير محمد بن سلمان في الموسم الماضي ومن ثم أعلن رحيل المدرب الأرجنتيني ميجيل روسو وتعويضه بالتعاقد مع المدرب الفرنسي رودي جارسيا لمدة موسمين.

وبحسب برنامج “الحصاد الرياضي” عبر قناة “24 الرياضية” فإن النصر عرض على الأهلي استعارة خدمات لاعبه عبد الرحمن غريب، وذلك بعد موافقة رودي جارسيا على فكرة التعاقد مع اللاعب.

ويقترب النصر من ضم عبدالرحمن غريب لمدة موسم واحد على سبيل الاعارة حتى يونيو 2023 في صفقة سوف تشهد إعارة لاعبين من صفوف النصر إلى الأهلي من بينهما اللاعب أيمن يحيى.

اقرأ أيضا..موعد كأس السوبر السعودي 2023.. والأندية المشاركة

ويستغل النصر رغبة عبد الرحمن غريب في الرحيل عن أهلي جدة في فترة الانتقالات الصيفية الجارية لاسيما عقب هبوط الراقي لدوري الدرجة الأولى “دوري يلو”.

يذكر أن عبدالرحمن غريب لعب 117 مباراة مع الأهلي في مختلف المسابقات وسجل 17 هدفاً وقدم 14 تمريرة حاسمة ومدد تعاقده مؤخرا مع الفريق الأهلاوي حتى يونيو 2025.

وينتظر أن يصبح غريب ثالث صفقات النصر في صيف 2022 بعد وصول الايفواري الدولي جيسلان كونان لمركز الظهير الأيسر في صفقة انتقال مجانية عقب نهاية عقده مع ريمس الفرنسي وكذلك ضم الحارس الكولومبي ديفيد أوسبينا في صفقة انتقال حر عقب نهاية عقده مع نابولي الإيطالي.

The focus will be on Dale Steyn, the leading wicket-taker in Tests this year, as South Africa play their final warm-up game

Cricinfo staff11-Dec-2008
Dale Steyn will get a first-hand knowledge of conditions at the WACA during the two-day game © Getty Images
The focus will be on Dale Steyn, the leading wicket-taker in Tests this year, as South Africa play their final warm-up game – a two-day match against a Western Australia XI – at the WACA on Friday. Besides their lead bowler, South Africa will be boosted by the return of Graeme Smith and left-arm spinner Paul Harris, all of whom missed the one-dayer on Thursday due to injury niggles.Steyn will be hoping to have a better start to the tour than fellow fast bowler Morne Morkel, who slipped while trying to deliver his first ball and in the process suffered a mild ankle strain. Morkel is unlikely to take the field for Friday’s game but is expected to be fit in time for the first Test on December 17, also at the WACA.”It is too early to make a call on the next step in his treatment,” physiotherapist Shane Jabaar told Sapa. “Fortunately we got him off the field straight away before the injury could get any worse and applied an ice pack. We will have a better idea of his condition in the morning once the swelling has had the chance to subside.”At this stage he is not considered a doubt for next week’s first Test match.”Both teams will be allowed 12 players for the match (12 batting and 11 fielding), which will consist of 90 overs each day, with a compulsory declaration after the first 90 overs. For the visitors, it will be a like-for-like switch; Smith, Harris and Steyn taking the place of JP Duminy, Robin Peterson and Monde Zondeki.Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, was pleased with the team’s performance in the one-day game. South Africa strolled to 185 for 2 in their allotted 50 overs, and Western Australia replied with 215 for 4 off their 50. It effectively meant a seven-wicket loss for the South Africans, but Arthur was not too concerned.”I thought we got as much out of the game as we could expect,” he said. “Two players [Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis] had lengthy innings which meant that others had to miss out in a 50-overs game. However, we will counter this by moving Ashwell Prince and AB de Villiers up to Nos 3 and 4 when we get to bat in the next match.”All of the bowlers had a couple of spells and the exercise was much better than spending an extra day in the nets.”Amla raked up a brisk 118-ball 105, with 15 fours. “By the time I came to the crease the openers had taken the shine off the ball and conditions were pretty good for batting,” he said. “The ball came on to the bat at a nice pace and there was good reward for playing attacking strokes.”The conditions were particularly difficult for spinners and, if the Test wicket is like this, then the spinners are likely to fill a defensive role. It will be difficult for them to attack with fielders around the bat.”Kallis was far more circumspect for his 52, putting on an unbroken 144 with Amla. “It was good to see both Jacques and Hashim showing top form so early in the tour,” Prince, who led the team in Smith’s absence, said. “I was generally pleased with the bowlers and I gave them all the opportunity to bowl both with the wind and into it to get used to conditions for the Test match.”

The work that Rafa Benitez completed in the summer transfer market was hardly going to get many Everton fans excited.

They signed five players throughout the window with an accumulative spend of just £1.7m. Finances were evidently restricted but what hasn’t helped is some diabolical expenditure over the last five or six years at Goodison Park.

During the course of the 2017/18 campaign, the Toffees spent a jaw-dropping sum of £182.88m. They followed that up in 2018/19 by thrashing out £89.82m on new players, and then in 2019/20, they took their spending to just shy of £110m.

2020/21 was a little more reserved at £67.38m but it was still a sizeable outlay, especially when you consider how little they had in their reserves over the last few months.

They had to look towards free transfers for the most part, but fortunately the only player on whom they spent any money has hit the ground running.

Demarai Gray has two goals in his first three outings and has looked in fine form with some exciting performances, but the same can’t be said for a lot of their more expensive signings.

Take Alex Iwobi, for instance, a man who cost the club around £34m when he signed from Arsenal in the summer of 2019.

The Nigerian was an inconsistent player for the Gunners but had plenty of potential and was an experienced Premier League player despite his tender age.

However, the winger has been a costly mistake for the Merseyside club. Iwobi isn’t even a regular starter at Goodison Park, and due to his shoddy performances, his value has fallen by £14.2m in two years. As per Transfermarkt, he’s now rated at just £19.8m.

Marcel Brands is a keen negotiator but he will have every right to be fuming with the attacker for being such an expensive error.

Since signing for the club, the £100k-per-week earner has provided just five goals and five assists in 69 outings. That means that Iwobi has cost the club £6.8m per goal.

On that evidence, it’s hardly a surprise to see that he was described as “embarrassing” by the Liverpool Echo’s David Prentice last season.

The winger has looked a little more promising in the early weeks of 2021/22, registering an assist against Southampton, but he has still done little to prove that he deserves a regular berth in the team.

Brands should be particularly concerned with how this investment has played out over the last few years.

AND in other news, Benitez must axe £15k-p/w “horror show”, he should never play for Everton again…

Xavier Marshall, the West Indies opening batsman, and Tonito Willett, from Leewards, have tested positive in the drug tests conducted during a two-week camp in Antigua in August

Sriram Veera18-Sep-2008
Xavier Marshall: In the dock © Getty Images
Xavier Marshall, the West Indies opening batsman, and Tonito Willett, from Leewards, have tested positive in the drug tests conducted during a two-week camp in Antigua in August. They were among the 32 players named in a provisional Stanford Superstars squad to face England in the Stanford 20/20 for 20, a winner-take-all US$20 million match on November 1.Donald Peters, the chief executive of the West Indies board (WICB), confirmed the news and said action would be taken after advice from the attorneys. “They [the attorneys] are looking into the matter and will advise us on the course of action,” Peters told Cricinfo. “WICB has a zero-tolerance policy on drugs and the matter could come up to the disciplinary committee. We are looking at a time frame of two weeks.”Peters said that the board will take action, if any, on Marshall, as he is a centrally-contracted player, and would let Leewards handle Willett. Marshall was withdrawn from the Stanford squad on September 16 for undisclosed reasons.The drug tests on the Stanford Superstars were carried out by the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (RADO) agency. “We did the drug tests and there were two adverse analytical findings – which is the equivalent to two positive tests,” Dr Adrian Lorde, the chairman of the Caribbean Rado, had told .”We can’t reveal the nature of the substance they tested positive for,” an official with Stanford said.

MatériaMais Notícias

Na busca pela primeira vitória no Campeonato Brasileiro, Rogério Ceni preparou duas novidades entre os relacionados para enfrentar o Avaí, nesta segunda-feira, às 20h, no Morumbi. Os meias Shaylon e Lucas Fernandes, formados nas categorias de base do São Paulo, aparecem na lista.

Nenhum deles, porém, tem garantia nem de que ficará no banco. O técnico relacionou 24 jogadores para a partida e será obrigado a cortar um. Fora os dois, a lista tem apenas outra alteração em relação à da derrota por 1 a 0 para o Cruzeiro, na primeira rodada da competição: o goleiro Denis fica no banco, no lugar de Sidão.

Mas a presença dos garotos pode indicar novas chances. Lucas Fernandes, recém-recuperado de duas lesões, é admirado por Ceni, mas o técnico se preocupa com o ritmo do meia de 19 anos e, por isso, até o liberou para disputar jogos com o time sub-20.

Já Shaylon, de 20, tem enfrentado concorrência no setor ofensivo e a diretoria procura um clube para que ele atue com mais frequência. Mas ele pode ter a chance de mostrar sua qualidade enquanto Luiz Araújo vive momento de baixa e Morato e Wellington Nem seguem afastados por lesão.

O São Paulo realizou na tarde deste domingo, no CT da Barra Funda, um treino fechado para enfrentar o Avaí e já iniciou a concentração. Ceni não deu pistas da escalação na última semana. É possível que repita a formação usada no Mineirão, no 3-4-2-1: Renan Ribeiro; Militão, Maicon e Rodrigo Caio; Thiago Mendes, Jucilei, João Schmidt e Junior Tavares; Marcinho e Cueva; Pratto.

Seguem como desfalques os volantes Wesley (estiramento na coxa direita) e Araruna (estiramento na coxa esquerda) e os atacantes Wellington Nem (artroscopia no joelho esquerdo) e Morato (cirurgia no joelho direito).

Confira os relacionados de Ceni:

Goleiros: Denis e Renan Ribeiro
Laterais: Bruno, Buffarini, Edimar e Junior Tavares
Zagueiros: Rodrigo Caio, Lucão, Lugano e Maicon
Volantes: João Schmidt, Thiago Mendes, Jucilei e Éder Militão
Meias: Cícero, Cueva, Thomaz, Lucas Fernandes e Shaylon
Atacantes: Chavez, Lucas Pratto, Gilberto, Luiz Araújo e Marcinho

RelacionadasSão PauloJogo do São Paulo pode render quase 900% de lucro em casas de apostasSão Paulo21/05/2017VitóriaNa mira do Vitória, Neilton pode deixar o São PauloVitória20/05/2017São PauloMenos número e mais realidade: Ceni muda tom antes da volta ao MorumbiSão Paulo20/05/2017

In an exclusive interview with The Transfer Tavern, former Liverpool player Paul Stewart has expressed his concerns over his old side signing West Ham winger Jarrod Bowen.

According to The Athletic’s James Pearce, Liverpool are interested in bringing Bowen to Anfield this summer as Jurgen Klopp looks to bolster his forward options.

Last season, the 24-year-old impressed for West Ham, contributing to 13 of their Premier League goals. He also won 1.4 fouls per game, the second-highest average (via WhoScored) in the Hammers’ squad, helping his side to win free kicks.

Based on that, Bowen looks like he could bring something to Liverpool’s own squad. Stewart, though, has his doubts.

“It’s almost a bit like [Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain,” Stewart told TT. “I was surprised when he went, players you see as bit-part players. And listen, he’s done well at West Ham, but would he get a game week in, week out at Liverpool? I don’t think so.”

Bowen has not really been linked with Liverpool before; this one has sort of come out of the blue.

A move to Anfield? It would probably be enticing for the Englishman. But as Stewart alluded to, it is going to be difficult to get regular game time ahead of the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

David Norris has exclusively told The Transfer Tavern that he doesn’t think Leeds need to sign someone like Gary Cahill.

Whilst Marcelo Bielsa currently has a squad that are short on Premier League experience, he has no less than five players that can play centre-back at his disposal.

Liam Cooper and Pascal Struijk were Bielsa’s preferred pairing for much of last season, but mainly because big money signings Diego Llorente and Robin Kock spent big spells on the sidelines through injury.

Leeds could add another central defender to their ranks in 6 ft 4 Cahill, who’s now available on a free transfer having recently announced that he won’t be returning to Crystal Palace despite recent talks.

Cahill was out of contract this summer and turned down Palace’s new offer meaning the 35-year-old defender, who’s racked up almost 400 Premier League appearances in his career, is now unattached.

Asked whether the former Chelsea and England defender is someone that Bielsa might consider, Norris told The Transfer Tavern:

“I’d say that he’s on the way down. I think he could still do a job, but it wouldn’t inspire me at this stage to bring a Gary Cahill in, they’ve got Liam Cooper, who’s got bags of experience, so I would be looking elsewhere.”

Graham Roberts has been told that Tottenham have agreed terms with Japanese defender Takehiro Tomiyasu, meaning Nuno Espirito Santo is close to making his first signing as manager.

Tomiyasu, who’s made 60 Serie A appearances for Bologna since making the switch from Belgian, will bolster a Spurs defensive department that conceded 45 times in the Premier League last season.

The 22-year-old has already been capped 22 times by Japan and has been named in their squad for the upcoming Olympics.

However, depending on Japan’s progression, should Tomiyasu complete his imminent move to Tottenham, he could miss the opening few weeks of the Premier League campaign – with the Olympic final taking place just eight days before Santo’s side open their season against Man City.

Tomiyasu played at both right-back and centre-back in Serie A last term, and even the occasional appearance at left-back, which means he’ll bring a great deal of versatility to north London.

Roberts exclusively told Football FanCast just how close the deal is to being confirmed:

“I’ve been told through the grapevine that he’s agreed terms with Tottenham, and it’s just the fee now, but that could take up to the end of August the way we deal with things. But that could be one of the centre-halves in.”

علّق يورجن كلوب المدير الفني لفريق ليفربول على واقعة صافرات الاستهجان التي أطلقتها جماهير النادي الإنجليزي على النشيد الوطني للمملكة المتحدة، خلال مواجهة تشيلسي يوم السبت الماضي.

واستضاف ملعب ويمبلي مباراة الفريقين في نهائي كأس الاتحاد الإنجليزي، حيث فاز ليفربول بركلات الترجيح بنتيجة 6-5.

وشهدت المباراة قبل بدايتها إطلاق صافرات الاستهجان والصياح من قِبل جماهير ليفربول عند ترديد النشيد الوطني للمملكة المتحدة في الملعب.

اقرأ أيضًا.. تقارير: ويمبلي لن يستضيف مباراة ليفربول ومانشستر سيتي في الدرع الخيرية

وعندما سُئل عن ذلك، قال كلوب في تصريحات نشرتها شبكة “آنفيلد ووتش” الإنجليزية: “جماهيرنا لن تفعل ذلك إذا لم يكن هناك سبب”.

وأضاف: “إنه شيء تاريخي، غالبية أولئك الذين يشجعوننا، رائعون، أذكياء حقًا، يمرون بلحظات صعود وهبوط، لن يفعلوا ذلك بدون سبب واضح”.

وواصل كلوب تصريحاته قائلًا: “الناس لا يفعلون ذلك بدون سبب، ربما يجب أن نسأل هذا السؤال”.