Category Uncategorized

Tottenham have held talks with an in-form star over personal terms and outlined their project to him, with the ‘crazy’ race for his signature poised to take further shape.

Spurs are staring down the barrel of another wasted campaign unless they act decisively when the January transfer window opens.

Thomas Frank’s side sit miles off the pace in the Premier League with their European ambitions also looking increasingly fragile, having won just one of their last seven matches.

The numbers tell a damning story.

Spurs have dropped points in matches they should have controlled and looked painfully short of quality in key areas. Frank inherited a squad with glaring weaknesses, and those deficiencies have been brutally exposed throughout the first half of the season.

Related Tottenham ready to make January target their highest-paid star to shatter wage structure

Spurs are pulling out all the stops.

Posts ByEmilio Galantini

Pressure has mounted on the Dane this week after their 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest last weekend, with the Lilywhites believed to be making contingency plans in the event they need to sack Frank.

The left wing remains a gaping hole in the starting eleven, and Frank has been forced into makeshift solutions week after week. It’s cost them goals, points and momentum at crucial moments.

Much has been made of their lack of creativity in the final third, with Bournemouth star Antoine Semenyo being eyed up as a potential solution.

The Ghana international, similar to last season, has stood out as one of the Premier League’s most potent attacking threats, and his £65 million release clause has tempted elite clubs across the division.

Man City, Man United, Liverpool and Spurs are all believed to be contending for Semenyo before his clause expires on January 10, with reliable journalist Mark Douglas and his colleague Pete Hall sharing an update today.

Tottenham hold talks with Antoine Semenyo over personal terms

According to Douglas and Hall, in a piece for inews, all four clubs have ‘formally’ held talks with the 25-year-old about personal terms whilst sharing their overall first-team plans for Semenyo as well.

In what is described as a ‘crazy market’ race, the English quartet all have a chance, but some more than others.

According to this inews report, United are now seen as the frontrunners for Semenyo, and Spurs are seen as ‘outside’ contenders with Liverpool and City.

That being said, the north Londoners still aren’t ruled out completely, but their odds have just dropped for a reason that isn’t entirely disclosed.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

The winger has been called ‘world-class’ for his recent form in England, so much so that his £65m clause is clearly seen as an unmissable opportunity next month.

Semenyo’s clause was due to drop to around £55 million in the summer, though United, City, Liverpool and Spurs are now forced to contend for him now as they all vie for his signature.

If Tottenham miss out on the former Bristol City star, they do have alternatives for the left-wing.

According to some reports today, club scouts are urging Spurs to sign Monaco star Maghnes Akliouche, who’d cost just £40 million.

Related Tottenham hold loose talks to sign "strong" Man City player amid worry over mainstay

He’s apparently keen on a move.

Posts ByEmilio Galantini

The Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) believes the national players are likely to be allowed to participate in the initial stages of the Indian Premier League before beginning preparations for the tour of the West Indies in May.The ACA said Cricket Australia has indicated there would be no objection to players taking part during the first 14 to16 days of the Twenty20 tournament in India, which begins on April 18. However, they would have to return to Australia for a training camp before leaving for the West Indies in the second week of May.”I don’t think there will be a problem,” the ACA chief executive Paul Marsh told . “Certainly based on our discussions with Cricket Australia to date I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t be able to play in the IPL, assuming there are no other commitments to Cricket Australia.”The Cricket Australia spokesman Peter Young said the first priority was to ensure the team had adequate preparation for the tour of the West Indies. Australia are scheduled to play a warm-up match on May 16 ahead of the first Test in Kingston from May 22.

Mark Shields said that the toxicology tests would require further analysis © Getty Images

Speculation over the possibility that Bob Woolmer, the late Pakistan coach, was poisoned has increased following a report in a Jamaican paper, apparently quoting the toxicology report, to that effect. says samples taken from Woolmer’s blood, stomach and urine have shown the presence of a foreign substance and has quoted an unnamed government official as saying that the substance could have been poison.This seems to tie in with the theory that Woolmer may have been poisoned before being strangled.The also says that Scotland Yard has been called on to analyse the results of the report.Mark Shields, the Jamaican Deputy Commissioner of Police, has decided not to comment on the report till all investigations are over. “We have some results from toxicology now, but they will require further investigation and analysis, and therefore it would be totally inappropriate for me to elaborate any further on that,” Shields was quoted as saying in the newspaper.Woolmer was found unconscious in his hotel room in Jamaica on March 18, just a day after Pakistan’s sudden exit from the World Cup, and was pronounced dead after being rushed to hospital. The post mortem, conducted by a government pathologist, stated that the death occurred due to asphyxia from manual strangulation. The histology tests will establish the time of death, while the toxicology tests are expected to reveal whether Woolmer was poisoned before being attacked.There is speculation that he may have been poisoned with aconite, a poison that causes the body’s organs to stop functioning and leads to death through asphyxiation within 30 minutes.

Wavell Hinds will lead Jamaica against the Indians © Getty Images

The Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) has named a strong 15-man squad, including eight Test players, for next Tuesday’s match between the touring Indian team and Jamaica at Jarrett Park. Wavell Hinds, the West Indian batsman, has been named as captain for the one-day match.Brian Breese, the JCA’s cricket operations manager, said that there was a possibility that all eight Test players may not take part, however. “The West Indies team will be playing the Indians two days after the Montego Bay game so the West Indies Cricket Board could well ask one or two of the players named to sit out the game,” he has been quoted as saying by the . “Nonetheless, it should be a very strong Jamaican team going up against the Indians.”Breese added that Xavier Marshall, the Jamaican opener, was not included owing to a suspension from his parish team while Dwight Washington, the fast bowler, was away in the United States. “Young Washington would most certainly be under consideration for this game but he is away in the United States at this time,” said Breese. “We are in touch with him and he is still very much a part of the national programme.”Jamaica Cricket Association squad : Wavell Hinds (capt), Chris Gayle, Donovan Pagon, Marlon Samuels, Daren Powell, Jerome Taylor, Nikita Miller, Carlton Baugh (wk), Jermaine Lawson, Tamar Lambert, Bevon Brown, Danza Hyatt, Andrew Richardson, Damion Ebanks and Donovan Sinclair.

Hashan Tillakaratne has been confirmed as Sri Lanka’s Test captain, while MarvanAtapattu will continue as the one-day skipper during England’s forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka. The decision to continue with the controversial split-leadership system was reached last week following discussions between the four-man selection committee and John Dyson, the new coach from Australia, and was ratified by Sri Lanka’s sports ministry today.The selectors wanted to give Tillakaratne, who is now 35, another chancedespite a disappointing start to his tenure, which included a drab drawnseries against New Zealand and a 1-0 loss in the West Indies.”Hashan has had only four Tests as captain and he has not performed all thatbadly,” said Lalith Kaluperuma, the chairman of selectors. “We will give himanother opportunity against England before reviewing the situation anddeciding whether we should continue with two captains.”Atapattu’s start also produced mixed results, as Sri Lanka bombed out of theBank Alfalah Cup against New Zealand and Pakistan, although he did lead Sri Lanka to a 2-1 win in the one-day series in the West Indies in June.There had been speculation that Sanath Jayasuriya, who resigned in Aprilafter four years at the helm, was being persuaded to return as captain. ButKaluperuma denied the option of Jayasuriya had even been discussed.The selectors will not pick the squad for the England series until after SriLanka A’s current tour of South Africa and Kenya, which continues until theend of October. In the meantime the national squad, which has started training, will include all the players from the West Indian tour.

Scorecard

Martin Love played a lone hand, with 65 not out, in Queensland’s first innings© Getty Images

After four days of clubbing records, Victoria set Queensland the biggest of them all – pull off the biggest run-chase in 110 years of domestic cricket to win the Pura Cup. Queensland began their second innings needing 576 to win, and stumbled to 2 for 56 by the end of the fourth day.With a Queensland victory as close to an impossibility as sport can produce, Victoria appeared certain to seal their first first-class title since 1990-91. The wickets of Jimmy Maher (0) and Martin Love (14) made it even more likely that, on a wearing pitch on the fifth day, Victoria would have no trouble finishing things off.Not content with posting a monumental 710 in their first innings, Victoria bowled out Queensland for 275 and then, instead of enforcing the follow-on, batted again. Perhaps chasing revenge for years of away losses to Queensland, Victorian captain Darren Berry opted to inflict more misery on the bowlers and let Matthew Elliott and Jason Arnberger slog for two hours.Berry’s declaration at 1 for 140 left Queensland a victory target of 576 in 105 overs and any whiff of a successful chase disappeared on the first ball when Michael Lewis had Maher brilliantly caught at first slip by Cameron White, who dived to his right and stuck out a right hand after the ball bounced off Berry’s left glove.Lewis then bowled Love before Queensland steadied to 2 for 56 at stumps, with Clinton Perren 32 not out and Stuart Law 8 not out, with another 520 runs required.Berry’s decision to bat again raised eyebrows but allowed his bowlers to freshen, as the left-arm fast bowler, Allan Wise, was missing from the roster because of stress fractures in his left foot. It also allowed Elliott (55 not out) and Arnberger (72) to post their second 100-plus partnership of this game.Arnberger was savage on Nathan Hauritz, smashing three successive sixes and a four off his sixth over. Elliott broke another record, this time for the most runs in a first-class season by a Victorian batsman – if one includes his 48 against the touring Indians.He finished the season with 1,429 runs – the most by a Victorian and the most by any player in a Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup season (1,377). Law, who will bow out of Australian first-class cricket at the end of this match, after 16 seasons, was given a guard of honour off the ground by his teammates after Victoria’s declaration.”I was trudging off [thinking], ‘Thank Christ we’re not fielding again’, and all of a sudden I look up and see my teammates and I’m still in the middle of the pitch,” he said. “Our guys have been brilliant to me all year, I’ve had four or five farewells now in different situations and we just kept managing to get another game in.”It was special, it meant a lot to me, it means I’ve got respect from a lot of people who’ve played with me and against me.”

Only 19 days after the World Cup ended, and already there’s anothertournament final to be played, as Pakistan take on Zimbabwe to decide thewinners of the Cherry Blossom Cup in Sharjah. It may be just another match injust another one-day competition, but there is something special about tomorrow’s final – it’s the 2000th one-day international.Yes, it was just over 32 years ago that Graham McKenzie bowled to GeoffreyBoycott at Melbourne to start the ODI circus rolling all round the world.And yet, while it’s taken only that long to reach the 2000th ODI, there havebeen only 1637 Test matches since the first – also at Melbourne – way backin March 1877.But while the Sharjah Cup final may not be the most important match to gracethis landmark, it is fitting that the game is being held at what might becalled the spiritual home of one-day cricket. The SCG has hosted 115 ODIs,the MCG 114, and Lord’s only 32, but Sharjah leads the way with a whopping197.But enough of the history lesson, what about the game itself? Pakistan startas favourites, having won three out of three here, including a comfortable68-run win over Zimbabwe in the first match of the tournament. With anew-look young team under the older heads of the captain Rashid Latif andthe coach Javed Miandad, they have made a good start to their life after theWorld Cup. Younis Khan has relished the responsibility as the senior batsmanof the team and new boy Mohammad Hafeez has also made a good impression atthe top of the order.Zimbabwe also had their problems in the World Cup, mainly off the field – soa chance to escape the poverty and politics which currently engulf theirhomeland has been a welcome weight off their shoulders. They have playedwell to reach the final, including a hard-fought and unexpected win over SriLanka, and Pakistan should be wary of the Zimbabweans, despite their earlierwin over them. Douglas Marillier has excelled at No. 2 in the batting order,scoring his maiden ODI hundred against Kenya, while Grant Flower has donehis best to fill in the huge hole left by his brother’s enforced retirement.A lot depends on the Sharjah pitch, too. The wickets have been on the slowside, which has meant low scores. However, Pakistan smashed 286 againstKenya – the highest total of the tournament – on one of the more livelypitches in the last round-robin match, and they will be hoping tomorrow’strack is of a similar nature. If it is – and they don’t have any pre-matchfootball games – then expect a Pakistan win.Teams (probable)Pakistan1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Taufeeq Umar, 3 Faisal Iqbal, 4 Yousuf Youhana, 5Younis Khan, 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Rashid Latif (capt, wk) 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9Naved-ul-Hasan, 10 Mohammad Sami, 11 Umar Gul.Zimbabwe1 Craig Wishart, 2 Douglas Marillier, 3 Gavin Rennie, 4 Grant Flower, 5Tatenda Taibu (wk), 6 Sean Ervine, 7 Dion Ebrahim, 8 Heath Streak (capt), 9Andy Blignaut, 10 Ray Price, 11 Douglas Hondo.

Somerset Seconds ended the third day of their Championship match against Sussex at hastings in a strong position.Replying to the Cidermen’s 572 for 7 declared Sussex were all out for 135, with Pete Trego taking 4 for 21.There were also two wickets each for Jason Kerr and Matt Bulbeck.Following on Sussex had reaches 349 for 5 by close of play, still needing 85 to make Somerset bat again.At the end of a long hot day in the field Bulbeck ended with 2 for 65.

Chelsea have been given serious encouragement in the race for a very highly-rated midfielder as he rejects Real Madrid and makes his transfer stance crystal clear.

Chelsea tipped to sign new midfielder in 2026

As per a recent report from The Telegraph and Matt Law, a new midfielder is definitely on the agenda next year at Chelsea.

The Blues will definitely sign at least one new man for the engine room in 2026, according to Law, and potentially splash massive cash doing it.

Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernández have been run into the ground this season, both clocking over 1,500 minutes in total already, while the likes of Roméo Lavia and Dario Essugo are currently enduring an injury nightmare.

Fernandez in particular has featured more than any other Chelsea player, and something’s got to give.

Enter two big-money Premier League targets who could transform the engine room. Kobbie Mainoo could be a target once again, with the Man United academy graduate likely to cost around £45 million if Chelsea get serious about their interest in the player.

Related Chelsea submit bid to sign 'one of the most promising players of his generation'

He’s very highly rated.

Posts ByEmilio Galantini

Then there’s Crystal Palace sensation Adam Wharton, who could now cost £100 million after the Eagles snapped him up from Blackburn before Chelsea could make their move.

That ship sailed, but The Telegraph suggests he’s still on BlueCo’s radar for next year.

Chelsea could go another route entirely by signing another emerging talent, with AZ Alkmaar starlet Kees Smit attracting their interest.

Reliable journalist Mark Douglas reported for inews last week that Chelsea have held recent talks with Smit’s camp and are among the frontrunners to sign the Dutchman.

The 19-year-old has marked himself out as one of the Eredivisie’s brightest talents, with Enzo Maresca’s side now given a major boost in their pursuit of Smit.

Chelsea given Kees Smit transfer boost as he rejects Real Madrid

According to reports from Spain, Smit has now rejected Real Madrid’s advances in favour of a Premier League move, with Chelsea now handed a clear advantage.

The Dutch sensation has become one of Europe’s hottest prospects this season after establishing himself as a key player for AZ, in both domestic and Conference League action.

His performances have drawn comparisons to Barcelona’s Pedri, with Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman praising the teenager’s tactical intelligence and game-reading ability.

Chelsea are among several Premier League clubs tracking Smit’s progress, with Newcastle also keen on him according to recent reports.

Maresca’s interest has now been strengthened by the player’s clear preference for English football over other European destinations, including Real.

Subscribe for deeper Chelsea transfer and midfield analysis Curious about Chelsea’s midfield plans? Subscribe to the newsletter for focused transfer coverage—scouting profiles, tactical context, verified reporting and expert takeaways on targets like Kees Smit and other emerging midfield talents. Subscribe Subscribe for deeper Chelsea transfer and midfield analysis Curious about Chelsea’s midfield plans? Subscribe to the newsletter for focused transfer coverage—scouting profiles, tactical context, verified reporting and expert takeaways on targets like Kees Smit and other emerging midfield talents.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Smit’s decision to prioritise the Premier League stems from his desire to develop in what he considers the most competitive and physically demanding league in world football.

The youngster apparently believes the intensity and weekly exposure to world-class opposition will accelerate his growth at this crucial stage of his career.

Football Talent Scout Jacek Kulig has been effusive in his praise of Smit, calling him a ‘fantastic’ and ‘underrated’ midfielder who is the ‘future of AZ and Dutch football’.

Only two AZ teammates have played more Eredivisie minutes than Smit so far this season, with the talent now an ever-present in their starting eleven despite his tender age.

He’s also drawn comparisons to Man City legend Kevin De Bruyne, leaving little wonder many are getting excited by him.

Related Chelsea identify 'dream' candidate who 'tops the wishlist' to replace Maresca

Man City have the Italian on their radar.

Posts ByEmilio Galantini

	Greg Shipperd is in line to coach the Delhi franchise in the Indian Premier League © Getty Images

Victoria’s coach Greg Shipperd could join his Western Australia counterpart Tom Moody in taking charge of an Indian Premier League (IPL) team after he was approached by the Delhi franchise. Moody has already signed with the Mohali side and Shipperd is keen to be involved provided Cricket Victoria has no objection.The appointments will create an interesting situation should either Mohali or Delhi reach the Champions League, which is to feature the top two domestic Twenty20 sides from India, Australia, England and South Africa. Western Australia and Victoria have already qualified but Shipperd and Moody have both said that if the conflict occurs they will guide their Australian state rather than their IPL team.”Clearly, my first priority is with Cricket Victoria as my employer,” Shipperd told the Age. “In the event of coaching both teams to a final, I would be looking after the Victorians and have a process behind the scenes in place to deal with the other side, which they are comfortable with.”Shipperd said he was surprised at the interest from Delhi, however his Twenty20 coaching record is unparalleled. In three years of the Australian domestic competition Victoria have won all three titles and have only lost one match. He is looking forward to the chance to test his management skills with a different group of players.”It would be a wonderful coaching opportunity to be involved with, to have four or five different international players in the team playing what is the red-hot form of the game at the moment,” Shipperd said. “It’s on-the-job training and hopefully bringing some positive spin-off to Victorian cricket down the track.”John Buchanan is also strongly tipped to coach the Kolkata franchise, although the only definite Australian signing at the moment is Moody as Shipperd’s appointment is not confirmed. Moody says surrounding himself with the world’s leading players will be a terrific experience.”Having to mould a team with stars from around the world into a competitive unit against other extremely talented teams will be a great challenge and one that I am very much looking forward to,” Moody said. “In addition to this, I will be exposed to the marketing and promotional expertise that will go into staging a world-class event.”