All posts by h716a5.icu

Writing on Twitter, journalist Ekrem Konur has made a significant West Ham United transfer claim involving Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.

The Lowdown: Hammers eye new shot stoppers?

Despite current number one Lukasz Fabianski recently putting pen to paper on a one-year contract extension in east London, West Ham have been tipped by the press to target new goalkeepers in this transfer window (football.london).

The 36-year-old Poland international has entered the twilight phase of his career, so David Moyes and co may have to start contemplating who will be his eventual successor.

West Ham have been linked with a move for West Bromwich Albion ace Sam Johnstone (football.london), as well as Sweden international Robin Olsen (AS), but Konur has now dropped a major claim involving another target.

The Latest: Konur drops major Areola to West Ham claim…

Reports emerged yesterday of West Ham’s talks to finalise a loan move for PSG keeper Areola this summer (Foot Mercato).

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Konur has now dropped a big claim on the development, saying that the Irons are about to seal the 28-year-old’s temporary signing from France.

Taking to Twitter, the Turkish football reporter with more than 120,000 followers explained: “West Ham are about to complete the transfer of Alphonse Areola. Areola will be on loan from PSG for 1 year.”

The Verdict: Coup for the Hammers?

As a reinforcement for the goalkeeping department, we believe that potentially signing Areola on loan for the 2021/22 season comes a very worthwhile coup.

Starting 36 Premier League matches whilst on loan at Fulham last term, the 28-year-old proved himself capable between the sticks despite their eventual relegation. He kept nine clean sheets in that time for the Cottagers and pulled off some truly wonderful saves (Sky Sports), with former Fulham manager Scott Parker labelling Areola as one of his three ‘very experienced’ and ‘exceptional’ goalkeepers (Daily Mirror).

The three-cap France international could come as an astute acquisition if West Ham manage to pull off this deal.

In other news: ‘Superstar’, ‘What a player’…Many West Ham fans rave as ‘good news’ emerges, find out more here.

Matt Maher has dropped a major Aston Villa update ahead of the start of the club’s pre-season, and it’s news that will have Dean Smith worried.

What’s the story?

While EURO 2020 is understandably dominating the headlines, especially now that it has reached the quarter-final stages, many Premier League clubs will be seeing the start of their preparations for the new domestic season start very soon.

And according to The Express and Star’s, Maher, Villa will see players who are not currently on international duty report back to Bodymoor Heath next week, and that while a number of friendly matches have been arranged, some details of the Midlands club’s schedule are yet to be confirmed.

He added: “With the likes of Jack Grealish, Tyrone Mings, Douglas Luiz and Emiliano Martinez still involved in international duty, Villa’s numbers will be reduced during the early weeks of pre-season, with Smith ready to call up a number of the club’s talented under-23 players to fill the breach.

“Midfielder Luiz, currently part of Brazil’s squad at the Copa America, will be the last player to report back appears likely to miss the start of the Premier League season after also being called up for the Olympic Games.”Dean Smith will be worriedAfter seeing their impressive form tail away towards the end of last season in the Premier League, Smith will no doubt be desperately hoping to kick-start the new campaign with a bang.With Maher already revealing that Douglas Luiz is set to miss the start of the new season due to being picked for the Olympic Games by Brazil, as well as currently being at Copa America, Villa’s first-team squad will already be without one of its key central midfielders.Having Luiz out of contention is one thing, but Smith also faces the major issue of potentially seeing the likes of Grealish, Mings and Martinez missing a large portion of pre-season as well if both England and Argentina go onto the latter stages of their respective international tournaments.Those players will likely be given the same amount of time off as the rest of Villa’s squad, so the chances of them coming back to pre-season and then being ready and in peak condition for the first couple of Premier League games seems very slim.Villa’s campaign gets underway with a clash against Watford at Vicarage Road on August 14, while the EURO 2020 final is on July 11, and the Copa America final is a day earlier.Smith will be very worried at the prospect of seeing a core group of players miss pre-season and potentially the opening day too.Meanwhile, Villa make their first approach for this Premier League star…

Hernia surgery for Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan before next month’s triangular one-day cricket series in Australia will rule him out of playing here

14-Nov-2002Hernia surgery for Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan before next month’s triangular one-day cricket series in Australia will rule him out of playing here.Team management favours immediate medical treatment to ensure Muralitharan is fit for next year’s World Cup to be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya.The Sri Lankan cricket board today officially announced Muralitharan has a hernia and could miss the tour of Australia.”We know that he has hernia problem. The issue is how serious it is,” said Charnika Munasinghe, a spokeswoman for the sport’s national governing body. He will have more medical tests, and “when he will undergo surgery will depend on the findings,” she said.Muralitharan first reported hernia problems during the first Test in South Africa last week, but Munasinghe said the champion spinner wasn’t in much pain and would compete in the second Test against South Africa before going home.Any surgery would be pre-emptive, but would rule Muralitharan out of the limited overs series in South Africa and the subsequent three-nation tournament in Australia against England and the world no.1 Australians.

Graham Roberts has told Tottenham to sell Tanguy Ndombele, who he believes isn’t cut out for the Premier League.

The Frenchman arrived with a huge weight of expectation on his shoulders following his club-record move from Lyon back in the summer of 2019, when Mauricio Pochettino was manager.

But Ndombele has often struggled to deal with the pace of the English game, and whilst he was a regular under Jose Mourinho last season, is yet to consistently replicate the form he showed for Lyon which earned him his move to north London.

Ndombele contributed 10 goals last season in his 46 matches, but only managed to complete 90 minutes on nine occasions, and Roberts has raised question marks over the 24-year-old midfielder.

He exclusively told Football FanCast:

“I just don’t think the Premier League is made for him. He’s not quick enough, not powerful enough to get through the games.

“He’s ok for 20-25 minutes, but you put him in it for 90 minutes, he can’t handle it. I would sell him and get somebody who can play that role. Nobody knows his best position.”

Ndombele’s situation is a tricky one for Spurs.

On one hand, they’ve got an extremely talented midfielder with many more years ahead of him, but on the other he simply isn’t consistent enough, especially for someone that is carrying a hefty transfer fee.

With that in mind, if Daniel Levy gets a bid somewhere close to what he arrived for, cashing in on him might be sensible business from Tottenham.

Andriy Yarmolenko ‘wants to reassess’ his future at West Ham United this summer, according to The Athletic’s Roshane Thomas.

The lowdown

West Ham signed the Ukrainian from Borussia Dortmund in 2018 for a fee of £17.5m and he has gone on to make just 54 appearances in an injury-disrupted spell at the club, scoring 10 goals.

Yarmolenko only made one Premier League start in 2020/21, notching a further 14 substitute appearances, but he has shone for Ukraine at Euro 2020 so far, scoring a sublime goal in a 3-2 defeat to the Netherlands before finding the net again in the subsequent win over North Macedonia.

Yarmolenko is valued at £3.6m by Transfermarkt and has one year remaining on his contract.

The latest

Thomas reported for The Athletic that Yarmolenko is considering his options after a season of limited involvement at the London Stadium. West Ham could look to offload the 31-year-old, who has been earning more than £100,000 per week, as a means of raising funds.

Thomas added that Ukraine manager Andriy Shevchenko told Yarmolenko prior to the tournament: ‘You need to remind everyone how good you are for the national team’.

The verdict

If West Ham are keen to sell Yarmolenko, they’ll be licking their lips after his exploits at the Euros. He might well have doubled his value by reminding the footballing world of his quality.

He could be a decent option next season if the Hammers are looking to rotate during the Europa League group stage, while Irons team-mate Declan Rice has raved about the 31-year-old’s ‘special’ technique and his ‘beautiful’ left foot.

If he does move on, however, West Ham fans may be tempted to ponder what might have been. Yarmolenko has shown devastating ability in flashes, but injury has consistently stalled his West Ham career. Having finished sixth last season with him playing only a peripheral role, he would not seem a major loss if he were to depart.

In other news, a La Liga expert has issued his verdict on this West Ham target. 

After a very strong end to the season, Steve Bruce and Newcastle United fans would have expected to improve their team this summer but with a £10 million budget that will be less likely to happen, and former Toon defender Steve Howey can’t understand why Bruce has been handed such a small transfer kitty.

Bruce faced a similar problem last summer where he had to beg and plead with Mike Ashley to spend some money on a striker, and the club truly reaped the rewards as Callum Wilson’s 12 goals were ultimately the difference between staying up and being relegated.

However, Ashley does not appear to either trust or want to back Bruce despite the former Sunderland boss guiding the Magpies to two relatively comfortable finishes in the Premier League.

Bruce is set to have a tiny transfer budget of £10 million this summer which will get you very little nowadays and Howey can’t understand why the budget is that considering where the club finished in the league, something he spoke exclusively to Football FanCast about:

“I find it puzzling why the budget is so small, considering how much money the club will get. Yes, I do understand about the pandemic and losses but, the club will be getting a lot of money for where they finished in the Premier League last season.

“I understand that you can’t use all of that money because of the situation with COVID but I think people are pretty surprised at how limited the budget really is.”

Mike Ashley may well be scarred from signing Joelinton for £40 million back in 2019, however, after some astute scouting and signings last summer, surely Ashley can trust Bruce’s judgement on players this year.

It could be a case of Bruce having to sell before he can make any significant signings, one in particular being Joe Willock who was a huge hit during his short spell on Tyneside.

Leicestershire won the toss and batted first on a wicket that gave the spinners some assistance

Gordon Child12-Jul-2002Leicestershire won the toss and batted first on a wicket that gave the spinners some assistance. Disciplined bowling restricted Leicestershire to 212-7 in their 50 overs with Dawkins, 3-42 gaining the most reward for his 10 overs of tidy leg-spin.The third-wicket stand of 81 between Wright (72) and Brandy (44) provided the backbone of the visitors’ innings.Minor Counties collapsed to 67-7 off 17 overs before a stand of 89 between Hall(66) and Stephens (41) raised hopes of victory.The ninth wicket fell at 175 with 38 runs needed off the last 4 overs. Stephens was bowled by Grove for a brave 41 giving Leicestershire victory by 36 runs.

Essex Vice Captain Paul Grayson has undergone keyhole surgery on his rightknee to correct a cartilage problem that has been troubling him for some time

Essex CCC Media Release26-Jun-2002Essex Vice Captain Paul Grayson has undergone keyhole surgery on his rightknee to correct a cartilage problem that has been troubling him for some time. It is expected that he will be out of action for approximately 3 to 4 weeks.Chief Executive David East commented:
“Paul has been having difficulty with his knee for several weeks, and havingtaken expert medical advice it was decided that it was necessary to correctthe problem surgically. Although Paul will probably be out for about a monthhe will hopefully be fully fit to take part in the crucial Championshiprun-in later this season. We all wish him well for a speedy recovery.”

Ange Postecoglou won’t be joined at Celtic by Kevin Muscat, according to the Daily Record.

The Lowdown: Muscat in Parkhead links

Sources from Australia last week claimed Postecoglou could look towards Muscat and former Yokohama F. Marinos assistant Arthur Papas as part of his Hoops coaching staff.

Muscat has served as a captain and assistant to Postecoglou, who has verbally agreed to make the move to Glasgow.

However, it now seems as if the former Rangers midfielder will not be heading back to Scotland to work alongside the 55-year-old.

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The Latest: Source shares Muscat latest

Parkhead sources have informed the Daily Record that Muscat will be nowhere near a summer rebuild in Glasgow.

Reports had suggested he was in prime position to join Postecoglou at Celtic Park, but it appears as if the Hoops boss in waiting has had a change of thought.

The Verdict: The right call from Postecoglou?

Muscat’s treble-winning connections with rivals Rangers may well have been a reason why Postecoglou appears to have overlooked his former assistant.

He could have brought some Scottish Premiership knowledge to Postecoglou’s team, however, they may well have been a backlash from fans if they appointed him, with several supporters happy at the latest news.

Perhaps Postecoglou may now look at John Kennedy and Gavin Strachan as part of his backroom staff, especially with the pair set to take the start of pre-season on June 17.

In other news: ‘Deal is still some distance away’ – Anthony Joseph’s Celtic update contradicts recent reports, find out more here. 

Star left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori is rested and invigorated and excited about the prospect of joining the New Zealand team on their Test tour of Pakistan next week

Lynn McConnell17-Apr-2002Star left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori is rested and invigorated and excited about the prospect of joining the New Zealand team on their Test tour of Pakistan next week.The TelstraClear Black Cap has been seen and assessed after his rest period while the New Zealand one-day team were in Sharjah.He said that after the England series he was more tired than anything else after what had been “a long, long summer.””At the end of the England series Craig McMillan and I were the only two who had played every game of the summer, and I see he fell over before the last game in Sharjah. It was a bit like last man standing,” Vettori quipped.The 18 One-Day International programme and all the travel associated with it had really knocked him around and he had been thankful for the rest. He has had no problems with his back.”The travel gets to you.”However, he said it only took a week to get over it and he was looking to get back into action quickly.”I am excited about going to Pakistan. It will be quite tough over there. They have a good team at the moment and there are no warm-up games.”I am expecting the wickets will be reasonably flat,” he said.While the rest of the year looks reasonably hectic, Vettori said he thought the schedule was a good one.The team had some time off before the West Indies tour and then a couple of months off before the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka and then the home series against India before the World Cup.Vettori, who is sitting on 130 Test wickets, is looking at the 150 mark as his next goal.