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Newcastle United have held talks with the agent of Rangers teenager Alex Lowry, according to Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Lowry profiled

Lowry is 18 years of age and is primarily an attacking midfielder who can also play as a right-winger or even in a deeper midfield role.

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The Scot has already made four senior appearances for Rangers, scoring once and providing one assist. Former Ibrox boss Graeme Murty labelled Lowry’s self-confidence as ‘remarkable’, with reports back in February suggesting the teenager has turned down a three-and-a-half-year deal at Ibrox.

His current contract expires in 2023, and it looks as if Newcastle are now leading the race for his services.

The Latest: Hotel meeting

Football Insider shared an update regarding Lowry and Newcastle on Monday morning after being informed by a recruitment source.

They claimed that head of recruitment Steve Nickson met Lowry’s agent in a hotel prior to Newcastle’s Premier League win over Wolves earlier this month.

The report stated that the Magpies are at the front of the queue for the Rangers youngster, who also has interest elsewhere.

The Verdict: Shrewd move

It looks as if Lowry could be a future star with a number of top-tier sides keen on his services, so Newcastle’s decision to meet with his agent and outline their plans could turn out to be a shrewd move.

It would be interesting to see what Newcastle would do with Lowry, should a move to St. James’ Park go through. He already has senior experience in Scotland, and with Eddie Howe having just two attacking midfielders on the books, it could present an opportunity for Lowry to flirt between the club’s Under-23 ranks and first-team squad.

A clear pathway through to first-team football should be outlined by the Magpies, so it looks as if this could be a transfer to watch closely.

In other news: Newcastle now want to sign ’emerging superstar’ for Howe; Staveley has already spoken with agent. 

An injury expert has now dropped a ‘hopeful’ Wolves claim involving Ruben Neves.

The Lowdown: Not as serious

Speaking to the media, Bruno Lage revealed that Neves’ injury setback was ‘not as serious’ as they initially expected.

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The Portugal international has been missing since March, but will now be hoping to make a swift recovery in time to play the final few games of the season.

The Latest: Dinnery reacts

Speaking to Football Insider, Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in both medicine and data analysis, has claimed that he is still ‘hopeful’ that Neves will return in ‘early to mid-May’, despite this ‘new info’ from Lage:

“My understanding initially hasn’t changed a great deal even with this new info.

“We’re talking about an MCL here. The indication that it was a grade two.

“I was working on the premise that we could maybe see a return around early to mid-May. I am still fairly hopeful that is the case.

“It happened against Leeds. He tried to continue but he couldn’t. He then went out to Portugal for some rehab and recovery.

“The target was always going to be around game week 35. I think there is a strong possibility that he’ll play again this season somewhere around there.”

The Verdict: Big boost

The fact that Neves’ injury is not as serious as previously expected, and that he could return for the last few matches of the campaign, is certainly a big boost for the Midlands club.

He currently ranks as their fourth-best performer in the Premier League so far, scoring four goals and making two assists, while also picking up two man-of-the-match awards (WhoScored).

The 25-year-old also ranks highly among his teammates in terms of average tackles, interceptions, shots, passes, long and through balls per game (WhoScored), and will clearly be an important player for them if they are to finish the season strongly, and potentially challenge for a European place.

In other news, find out which ‘electric’ star the Wanderers now ‘want’ to sign here!

West Ham have had a club-record bid rejected for Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips, according to The Telegraph.

The Lowdown: Preparing for Rice’s departure?

West Ham have received vast interest surrounding the possibility of a transfer for Declan Rice. According to SofaScore, Rice has been the Hammers’ best player of the current league campaign by some distance, averaging a phenomenal 7.25 match rating, illustrating his importance to David Moyes’ side.

This season the 22-year-old became the youngest player to reach 150 top flight appearances for West Ham. Currently, he is on track to beat the record of club-legend Mark Noble, who has made 407 Premier League appearances for the club to date.

However, with his impressive form for club and country, having already secured 27 caps for England, Rice has received numerous interest from teams across Europe, the most prominent of which has been from the Premier League.

West Ham have valued the defensive-midfielder at £100 million and it is said that Manchester United are keen on signing the player in the summer, with further interest coming from Chelsea and Manchester City.

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The Latest: Leeds reject Irons’ club-record bid

Phil Hay of The Athletic stated previously that Leeds are ‘not open to offers’ and Phillips ‘won’t be leaving before the deadline’, and the latest news seems to have confirmed his claims.

According to a report by The Telegraph, the Hammers have had a club record £50million bid for Phillips officially rejected by Leeds.

The Verdict: Highly unlikely this month

As Phillips is arguably one of Leeds’ most important players, having been described as a ‘rock’ in the midfield by Italian legend Andrea Pirlo, it seems highly unlikely that West Ham will sign the 26-year-old before the 11pm deadline – the Whites cannot afford to lose him in the midst of a relegation fight.

However, this activity could indicate that Rice may be off in the summer for an extortionate fee, as recruitment chief Rob Newman is willing to break the club-record bid for a very similar player.

As much as Irons fans would love to keep Rice forever, it feels extremely unlikely Newman would be going in for Phillips if the Hammers hero is planning to stay long-term.

Therefore, it could be possible that the Irons reprise their interest in Phillips in the summer window, when the West Ham man’s future at the club becomes clearer.

In other news: Irons interested in Christian Benteke

A thrilling encounter saw North Group leaders Nottinghamshire Outlaws held to a tie as Northamptonshire Steelbacks captain Andrew Hall produced the goods with bat and ball

22-Jun-2010
Scorecard
A thrilling encounter saw North Group leaders Nottinghamshire Outlaws held to a tie as Northamptonshire Steelbacks captain Andrew Hall produced the goods with bat and ball.After finishing unbeaten on 40 in the Northants innings of 121 for 7, with Alex Wakely top-scoring with 43, Hall showed all of his experience to deny the hosts with a nerveless final over.Needing only five runs from the last six balls, Hall had Notts’ top scorer Steven Mullaney caught on the boundary for 53 before conceding four thanks to Graeme White’s paddle sweep. But with the scores level the former South Africa international allrounder produced two perfect yorkers to finish, with Darren Pattinson and White run out attempting to scramble the winning runs.That ruined a memorable match for fast bowler Pattinson, who began the contest with a wicket maiden on his way to career-best figures of 4 for 19 as Notts restricted the visitors to just 10 boundaries throughout their innings.Only three Northants batsmen reached double figures in the face of disciplined and probing bowling from the Notts attack, with all but overseas quick Dirk Nannes conceding less than a run a ball. The Steelbacks’ total would have been far worse but for the final over, which saw Nannes hit for 15 runs, including three fours.Nevertheless, the total appeared an easy one for Notts, who had won six of their opening seven matches thanks in the main to the powerful strokeplay of Alex Hales, Ali Brown, Samit Patel and David Hussey.But with Chaminda Vaas removing the first three for a combined total of eight and Hall bowling Hussey for two off an inside edge, Notts were in deep trouble at the end of the powerplay overs on 23 for 4.Matt Wood batted with purpose in making 41 from 32 balls with five fours, adding 55 for the fifth wicket with Mullaney before being caught at deep cover off James Middlebrook. That put the pressure on the Notts tail and despite Mullaney’s pulled four off Vaas’ last over leaving the hosts requiring less than a run a ball, Hall had the final say in a gripping finish.

Even though Everton are once again in the midst of a search to appoint yet another permanent manager following the sacking of Rafael Benitez, it seems as though the Merseyside club still have eyes on potential player transfers this month.

What’s the news?

According to a recent report from Foot Mercato (via Sport Witness), Everton are joined by fellow Premier League club West Ham with an interest in signing Chelsea defender Malang Sarr this month.

Since joining the west London club in 2020 on a free transfer from French club Nice, the 22-year-old has gone on to make just nine appearances for Thomas Tuchel’s side across all competitions.

Despite only making two Premier League appearances for Chelsea this season, the centre-back’s performances in those games have earned him an overall season rating of 7.52/10. That makes him the second-highest rated player in their squad this season according to WhoScored, showing that he is more than capable of playing at a decent level in the Premier League.

In terms of a potential move to Everton, with 34 goals conceded in 19 league games this season, it seems as though they could do with having a defender like Sarr – who has been described as being a “strong” and “reliable” player for Chelsea by Tuchel – in their squad to help them stop conceding so often.

Ferguson would love him

If the £5.4m-rated defender were to make a move to Everton this month and manages to hit the ground running, this would surely delight their current caretaker boss Duncan Ferguson and give him some peace of mind regarding their leaky defence.

Also, at just 22 years of age, and with current Toffees defender Yerry Mina being linked with a move away from Goodison Park in recent weeks and also struggling with injuries during his time at the club, Sarr could be a dream long-term replacement for the Colombian on Merseyside.

Moving forward, Everton should definitely make an approach to Chelsea this month to see if they would be willing to negotiate a deal which would see Sarr make the move from Stamford Bridge and give the Toffees a better chance of ending the season without looking nervously over their shoulders.

In other news: Everton must avoid another managerial disaster with “arrogant” 58 y/o, he’d be Rafa 2.0

The captains of Ireland, Canada and Netherlands admitted there is plenty at stake for their sides as the ICC World Cricket League gets underway in Netherlands on July 1

Cricinfo staff30-Jun-2010The captains of Ireland, Canada and Netherlands admitted there is plenty at stake for their sides as the ICC World Cricket League gets underway in Netherlands on July 1. Ireland launch their title defence on the opening day against former champions Kenya, while last year’s runners-up Canada face Afghanistan; the hosts clash with Scotland.Ireland captain Trent Johnston believed the tournament was a good opportunity to launch his side’s World Cup preparations. “I think Phil Simmons and the selectors are pretty happy with the side we have here. I think it is a good opportunity for the players to put themselves forward for a place in next year’s World Cup squad,” Johnston said.”We have probably got five or six of the regulars here and rest of the guys are trying to put themselves up for further selection. We are in sort of a rebuilding stage, I suppose, before the tournament in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.”Johnston also saw the event as a stepping stone for the younger generation of cricketers in his squad. “We have a couple of guys who will be making their debuts, hopefully at some stage during the tournament. Craig Young, Andrew Bilbirnie, George Dockwell and Paul Stirling played in the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand earlier this year. They are now in the senior squad and it is a fantastic achievement for Irish cricket to see these guys developing and making into the senior ranks,” he said.Johnston was eager for Ireland to retain their status as the top Associate side and challenge the top teams. “I just want to keep Ireland at top of the Associate tree and keep knocking at the door of the big boys above us. We were close to beating Australia a couple of weeks ago and if we can take that sort of commitment and ability on the field and put three disciplines together, we have got a very good chance of lifting the trophy again,” he added.Canada captain Ashish Bagai said his side was brimming with confidence ahead of this year’s event. “The 2009 tournament was very important for us as the pressure was obviously higher. We did well and what we can take away from that tournament is the confidence which we can use in this tournament. All the six teams are evenly matched so it is going to be a tough tournament but we believe we have enough gas in our tanks to finish at the top,” Bagai said.Bagai believed the tournament would give him a good idea of his side’s progress in cricket’s pecking order. “This is a very important tournament for us. It’s a milestone and a good checkpoint which we can use to see where we stand and what we need to do in future. It gives us a good time to try out a few youngsters and identify our strengths and weaknesses seven months away from World Cup 2011,” he said.Peter Borren also had the World Cup lead-up in his sights, but nothing short of victory in the WCL Division One would do for the hosts. “It is a home tournament and obviously, at the back of our minds is the World Cup but at this stage the most important thing is to win the tournament,” Borren said.”We have to win games of cricket and let’s try to put 100 overs of quality cricket together. It’s always a challenge and it will be the same for all the teams here. I have no doubt that at times during this tournament we’ll see some fantastic innings played by the Netherlands top six or seven batsmen. I also have no doubts that at times our bowling will be sharp.”It’s very often in cricket that you bat very well but let yourself down a little bit with bowling or fielding or the other way round. It has been a challenge for all the Associate sides to put it together for the whole match and our challenge in this tournament will be to be competitive and consistent match after match,” Borren said.

Leeds United would be wise to complete the signing of Blackburn Rovers midfielder John Buckley, according to former England striker Kevin Phillips.

The Lowdown: Buckley shining at Blackburn

The 22-year-old has been an impressive performer at Ewood Park this season, playing a key role in Tony Mowbray’s side mounting a genuine Premier League promotion push.

Buckley has scored once and registered six assists in 24 Championship starts in 2021/22, and the midfielder has been linked with a move to Leeds (as per Sky Sports’ Transfer Centre, 14 January, 11:24am) as Marcelo Bielsa continues to look at possible January signings.

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The Latest: Leeds urged to seal move for Buckley

Phillips believes that Buckley would be an excellent addition for Leeds, telling Football Insider about the Blackburn gem’s quality despite playing in the Championship. The 48-year-old gushed:

“Blackburn have been in great form this season and he’s been a big part of that. If you get a good player from a club that is flying in the Championship midway through the season you’ve done well.

“He’s a centre-midfielder which is a position Leeds desperately need to strengthen in. He’s versatile as well which is a bonus, so it’s a big signing if they can do it.

“At the end of the day though, it’s always a gamble signing a player from the Championship. It’s a jump to the Premier League. It could be a signing that pays off though.

“From Blackburn’s point of view, there is no way [Tony] Mowbray will let any of those players go on the cheap.”

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The Verdict: Is he good enough?

There is a potential snobbery surrounding bringing in players from the Championship, but much like fellow Leeds target Lewis O’Brien at Huddersfield, Buckley looks capable of making the step up to the Premier League, given the quality he has shown this season.

The 22-year-old has been described as ‘wonderful’ by his manager Mowbray, who also claimed that the player possesses ‘snake hips’, which suggests that Buckley would add guile in the middle of the park at Elland Road.

A tenacious presence in the middle of the park, he has won 2.5 tackles per game this season (second only to Stuart Dallas among Leeds’ squad), while just four Whites players can better his match average of 1.2 key passes. These figures show that the Blackburn ace has plenty of string to his midfield bow.

With Kalvin Phillips out injured and Adam Forshaw also picking up a minor hamstring issue, Buckley could be someone who helps fill the void this month, preferably with another midfield signing on top of that.

In other news, a journalist has talked up a potential Leeds reunion with one player. Find out who it is here.

Celtic have told Ewan Henderson that he can leave during the January transfer window, according to The Scottish Sun.

The Lowdown: Hibs links

The midfielder is into the final six months of his current Parkhead deal and has recently been linked with a move to Hibernian, whose new manager Shaun Maloney (once a Hoops player) is thought to be keen on bringing the 21-year-old to Easter Road on a long-term deal.

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Exits appear to be inevitable at Celtic Park over the coming weeks, which could then fund further winter additions.

John Hartson said it was ‘very special’ after Henderson scored his first goal for Celtic last month, and it seems as if that strike against Real Betis could be his first and last as a Hoops player.

The Latest: Monday update

The Scottish Sun seemed to share an update regarding Henderson’s Celtic future on Monday morning.

Within their live transfer blog, they said that Ange Postecoglou is considering offloading fringe players such as Henderson, Liam Shaw and Osaze Urhoghide. They added that Henderson has ‘been told he can leave’, with his deal expiring at the end of June.

The Verdict: The right call?

If Postecoglou isn’t convinced about Henderson, then looking to move him on this month is the right call. January will be the last time that the Hoops can receive any money for the midfielder, who will become a free agent in the summer should his situation remain the same.

He has featured just once all season, taking his total appearance tally for Celtic to 11, so it may be best for all parties involved if he leaves permanently and plays regular first-team football, with Celtic then putting any money they receive for the 21-year-old towards further signings who may have a brighter future at the club.

In other news: Celtic may swoop for 6 foot 1 beast who had Sadio Mane in his ‘pocket’ 

Bayern Munich won’t be making a move for Leeds United winger Raphinha this month or in the summer, according to Sky Sports Germany’s Florian Plettenberg.

The Lowdown: Festive rumours

Raphinha has comfortably been the club’s best-performing player this season, as per WhoScored, missing just two of Leeds’ 19 Premier League fixtures.

The 24-year-old, who Paul Merson said is ‘full of energy’, is the Whites’ top scorer with eight, and his impressive displays led to rumours of a move to Munich.

Reports claimed around Christmas that the Brazilian winger would join Bayern in January in a deal worth €50m (£41.8m). However, it seems as if that is not the case, with Leeds keen to open talks with Raphinha over a new Elland Road contract.

The Latest: Plettenberg’s latest

Plettenberg provided a pretty huge update regarding Bayern’s reported interest in Raphinha and Manchester United’s Donny van de Beek on Twitter.

Here’s what the Sky Sports man had to say, claiming the German giants will ‘definitely’ not be making swoops over the current and summer windows.

“Update Raphinha/van de Beek: Both players are definitely no topic for FC Bayern – neither in this transfer window nor in summer.”

The Verdict: New contract required

Phil Hay recently revealed that Raphinha’s current salary is a ‘fairly modest’ one by Premier League standards and behind Leeds’ biggest earners.

Although Bayern won’t be making any moves for the wide man anytime soon, a huge boost all-round, Leeds could still do with rewarding Raphinha for his impressive displays with an improved contract.

By doing that, they could include various clauses while also bumping up his weekly wage, which should please all parties involved.

In other news: Orta now eyeing Leeds move for 6 ft 3 beast who stopped Ronaldo; he’s keen on a January switch.

Ross Taylor, the Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman, has said he’s happy playing the floater’s role in the line-up

Siddarth Ravindran06-Apr-2010Ross Taylor, the Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman, has said he’s happy playing the floater’s role in the line-up. He usually slots in at No. 4 spot in New Zealand’s Twenty20 batting order, but has been used in every position between No. 3 and No. 6 by Bangalore.”My job is to adjust to different slots. My role with the New Zealand team is a bit different from what I have with Bangalore. I am enjoying it,” Taylor said at the team hotel in Bangalore. “Depending on where I bat – either top three or four, five or six – my role changes. Whether you need 120 runs or 220 runs, you need to know your role and play accordingly.”Barely four days after completing a Test series against Australia, Taylor turned out for his first IPL match of the season on Sunday. He said the amount of cricket being played eased the switch between formats. “We play all formats each year and there is more of chop and change and you get used to it and you adjust with the transition period.”He was also unperturbed by the short gap between the end of the IPL and the start of the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies – the IPL finals are on April 25, and New Zealand take on Sri Lanka five days later. “The only issue would be jetlag I guess. You can’t get any better preparation than playing Twenty20 cricket. Maybe you could have some warm-up games in the Caribbean but the quality you get at the IPL is good.”Taylor’s six-hitting has made him something of a cult hero to Bangalore fans. During the Champions League last year, crowds at the Chinnaswamy were frequently clamouring for him to come out to bat. “I got a good reception here in the first year but I wasn’t expecting the reception I got (for the Champions League),” he said. “It was an amazingfeeling to hear people chant your name.”That popularity should translate into big money at the next IPL auction, but the future of New Zealand’s players will decided by the new central contracts that will come in place once the existing ones end in July. Negotiations are currently on between New Zealand players’ association and the board, with worries that the higher financial incentive offered by the IPL could lead to more freelance cricketers.”We have always had central contracts. Obviously the time our New Zealand season finishes in March, early April, it sort of clashes with the IPL. I guess in international cricket we will find the space and I hope we get to play in the IPL.” Taylor said. “New Zealand Cricket are trying their best to retain their players. We don’t get paid as well as other players and the money we get in IPL far outweighs what we get in New Zealand.”