Category Uncategorized

Tottenham have enquired over the future of a promising new attacker alongside their interest in Manchester City winger Savinho.

Spurs line up replacements for Johnson and Tel

Brennan Johnson has completed his £35million move from Tottenham to Crystal Palace. The Wales international, 24, has signed a four-and-a-half year deal at Selhurst Park.

Johnson, who fell out of favour under Thomas Frank at Spurs, despite being the north London club’s top scorer last season, is set to make his debut for Palace in their Premier League match against Newcastle at St James’ Park on Sunday.

Mathys Tel could also leave the Lilywhites having dropped down the pecking order under the former Brentford boss, which has reportedly led to a rift between the pair.

Spurs are set to allow Tel to leave on loan amid interest from Galatasaray, and have been linked with Savinho as a possible replacement for the outgoing duo.

The Brazilian has found playing time hard to come by at the Etihad due to the form of Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki, but having lost his place in Manchester he could also now lose his next move to one of his teammates.

Related £55,000-a-week Tottenham star now set to leave after internal dispute with Frank

The forward is not happy with the Spurs boss.

Posts 2 ByBen Goodwin Spurs eyeing Omar Marmoush in January

Indeed, according to TeamTalk, Tottenham have enquired about the availability of a different City star in the shape of Omar Marmoush, who is also attracting interest from Aston Villa.

Man City have shown no desire to lose the Egypt international mid-season, so it will be interesting to see how seriously Spurs try to test their resolve just 12 months on from his £63m move from Eintracht Frankfurt (add-ons included).

The winger/forward is currently away at AFCON, where he has scored once as the Pharaohs topped their group, but has seen a mixture of form and fitness issues limit his effectiveness at City this season.

Despite this, the numbers paint a much prettier picture for Marmoush than Savinho, with the former Frankfurt star scoring 0.46 non-penalty goals per 90 over the past 365 days.

Subscribe to the newsletter for Spurs transfer insight Get expert transfer analysis in our newsletter: subscribe for stats-backed player profiles, transfer context, and what each Marmoush or Savinho rumour could mean for Spurs’ squad planning.

---

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.

Savinho meanwhile has mustered up just 0.05 per 90, which is over 800 per cent less than his City co-star and in the bottom two per cent of all attacking midfielder/wingers in the big five European leagues.

Pep Guardiola was full of praise for Marmoush earlier this year, offering some insight into what he could add to Tottenham’s attack.

Marmoush is under contract at City until the summer of 2029.

Afghanistan Under-19s inflicted a 101-run defeat on Ireland Under-19s, after bowling Ireland out for 156 in the Under-19 World Cup warm-up match in Brisbane. Ireland were pegged back early by twin strikes from pacer Yamin Ahmedzai, who, with captain Javed Ahmedi, ended up with three wickets as Ireland were not allowed to get away. The only resistance came from middle-order batsman Shane Getkate’s innings of 45.Half-centuries by Hashmatullah Shaidi and Najibullah Zadran, and decent contributions by the middle-order enabled Afghanistan to reach a platform from where they launched an attack in the final overs. An unbeaten seventh-wicket partnership of 74 runs in the final five overs propelled Afghanistan to 257.Bangladesh Under-19s took just 58 overs to rout Scotland Under-19s by seven-wickets in a warm-up match played in Brisbane. Scotland, who were put in to bat, were under immediate trouble as right-arm seamer Abu Jayed struck thrice in his first spell to remove Scotland’s top three with only 23 runs on the board. Scotland staged a mini recovery as Ross McLean and Freddie Coleman strung together a fourth-wicket partnership worth 44 runs. However, the batsmen soon collapsed to the left-arm spin of Nasum Ahmed, who picked up four wickets, and Bangladesh were left with a relatively simple 107-run target to chase from 50 overs. Bangladesh took just 20.1 overs to complete the win with Salman Hossain (37 off 45 balls) and Asif Ahmed (16 off 25) sharing an unbeaten 51-run stand.England Under-19s edged out Pakistan Under-19s by five wickets in a high-scoring match, courtesy a 133 by Essex wicketkeeper Ben Foakes and a 91 by Daniel Bell-Drummond that helped them chase down 282 with six overs to spare. England’s innings revolved around two partnerships of 116 runs each- for the second and fourth wicket – both stands coming in quick time as Pakistan’s bowlers proved expensive. Left-arm pacer Ehsan Adil and spinner Zafar Gohar gave away 51 and 45 runs respectively in their six overs.Middle-order batsman Saad Ali, who scored 100, and Imam-ul-Haq, 79, were the bedrock of Pakistan’s innings as the duo scored 174 runs for the fourth wicket. An unbeaten stand of 54 between Salman Afridi and Usman Qadir in 5.3 overs at the end of the innings took Pakistan to 281. Right-arm seamer Jamie Overton registered the best figures for England with 3 for 22 in seven overs.India Under-19s bowlers played a strangled Sri Lanka Under-19 batsmen and pulled off a 33-run win after scoring 191 runs. Hanuma Vihari scored 64, putting on 98 for the fourth wicket with Vijay Zol, but India kept losing wickets as the next highest stand in the innings was an unbeaten 30 for the ninth wicket that took India close to the 200-mark. Sri Lanka’s opening bowling pair of Chamod Pathirana, who gave away 13 runs in his seven overs, and captain Sanitha de Mel started positively for their side, ending with two wickets each. India, however, came back well to regularly claim wickets and contain Sri Lanka, as apart from left-hand batsman Angelo Jayasinghe, who scored an unbeaten 64, none of the other batsmen lasted long enough to guide Sri Lanka to a successful chase.Australia Under-19s offspinner Ashton Turner picked up a five-for and then later gave West Indies Under-19s a scare with a hard-hitting 80 down the order, but it went in vain as West Indies won by 13 runs in Buderim. Chasing 236, Australia were almost down and out at 133 for 8 after a tight spell by left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein. But Turner took the attack to the bowlers and brought Australia close. West Indies, in their innings, lost six wickets to get to 235, five of them to Turner. The total was set up by opener Kraigg Brathwaite, who fell four runs short of his century in the last over of the innings.In Buderim, a four-wicket haul by fast bowler Curthbert Musoko helped Zimbabwe Under-19s to reduce Namibia Under-19s to 180, as they completed a comfortable seven-wicket win through half-centuries by opening batsmen Kevin Kasuza and Luke Masasire. The duo put on 112 to take Zimbabwe towards the target, which they reached with more than 16 overs to spare.Namibia stuttered throughout their innings, having been reduced to 112 for 7, before a 55-run partnership between Christopher Coombe and Zhivago Groenewald allowed them to briefly recover. Middle-order batsman Stephen Baard top-scored with 36.Seamer Chad Soper, who took five for 22, helped Papua New Guinea Under-19s to reduce Nepal Under-19s to 213, before a 106 from opening batsman Lega Siaka took them to a comfortable eight-wicket win. Siaka added 126 with No. 3 Christopher Kent as his team reached the target in the 41st over, as left-arm spinner Rahul Vishwakarma, who took two wickets, was the only wicket-taker.Nepal’s innings was based on a 90-run partnership between captain and opening batsman Subash Khakurel and middle-order batsman Hasim Ansari. Both scored half-centuries but batsman Pradeep Airee was the only other batsman who provided a resistance as all others scored departed for single figures, as Soper destroyed the middle and lower order.Quinton de Kock and Chad Bowes shared a 127-run opening stand to help South Africa Under-19s ease to a six-wicket win over New Zealand Under-19s in Brisbane. Chasing 185 to win, de Kock led South Africa’s reply with a 65-ball 80 and was well supported by Bowes’ sedate 36. Both batsmen retired when 58 runs were needed and South Africa cantered to the total with 20 overs still remaining. New Zealand had made a slow start in their innings, but Vincent Moore’s double-wicket blow in the eleventh over put South Africa firmly in control. Regular wickets never allowed New Zealand to increase their scoring rate as they finished with 184 in 50 overs.

	Hamilton Masakadza: “We failed to capitalise on good, match-winning positions. We could’ve won at least three matches on this tour but let good positions slip too easily” © AFP

A surprisingly elated Shoaib Malik credited his senior players after Pakistan completed a comfortable clean sweep of the Mobilink Cup against Zimbabwe. Pakistan, led by Malik, went on a lap of honour around Sheikhupura Stadium after their win, an unusually exuberant celebration as they were expected to win 5-0. But Malik had personal reasons for smiling, having been adjudged the Man of the Series after scoring 158 runs with two half-centuries and topping the bowling charts with 11 wickets.Pakistan tried nine new players during the series, but Malik insisted the support they received from the senior players was a major factor behind their success. “We tried a lot of new faces in the series and it is not easy for young players to perform right from the start,” Malik said. “However, I’m thankful to the senior players who helped these debutants make their entry into international cricket that much easier. It is due to that the changes worked so effectively.”Ever since their bowlers received a mauling in the first ODI in Karachi, Zimbabwe have opted to bat after winning the toss. Hamilton Masakadza, Zimbabwe’s stand-in captain, carried on the trend here, but he was left ruing it from the start as Sohail Tanvir and Abdur Rauf, one of four debutants, utilised overcast conditions to good effect. Malik was surprised by Masakadza’s decision and confirmed he would have bowled first in order to give his bowlers the chance to make an impression.”With overcast conditions and a relatively unknown pitch, I would’ve bowled had I won the toss,” he said. “Even though we had helpful conditions, credit must also go out to our young fast bowlers, of which two were making their debut, for bowling in the right areas.”Masakadza, disappointed with his team’s batting, blamed Zimbabwe’s lack of all-round skills for the convincing loss. “We failed to capitalise on good, match-winning positions,” Masakadza said. “We could’ve won at least three matches on this tour but let good positions slip too easily.”We weren’t thrashed or outplayed by the opposition in any of the matches so it all comes down to taking half-chances and crossing the finish line. We need to learn how to finish things off.”

	Our motto is to keep fighting as a unit and with the series win, the team is confident of facing AustraliaShoaib Malik

Malik, despite the win, said the team had a lot to learn and implement before the tough series against Australia. “There’s a lot of difference between ODIs and Test matches,” Malik said. “Just because we have performed well in ODIs does not mean we can be complacent for the [Test] series against Australia. We need to improve our fielding and running between the wickets because those two departments of the game can be vital against a strong team like Australia.”Having been unable to bowl out Zimbabwe in three of the five games, Malik pointed to his side’s “lack of killer instinct” as one of the areas they needed to work on. “We were in positions to get Zimbabwe dismissed cheaply, like today, but we let our guard down and let opportunities slip. Luckily, we went on to win the matches so it did not come back to haunt us but we still need to improve on that.”Our motto is to keep fighting as a unit and with the series win, the team is confident of facing Australia.”

A hamstring injury has put Edgar Schiferli in doubt for the World Cup © Reuters

Edgar Schiferli, the Netherlands medium-pacer, could miss the World Cup after he injured his left hamstring during a warm-up session ahead of the practice match against India at the Trelawny Stadium in Jamaica.Schiferli missed the practice match that Netherlands lost by 182 runs. “He is our experienced opening bowler and it doesn’t look good,” Hans Mulder, the Netherlands manager, told Reuters. Mulder was of the opinion that the injury was serious enough for Schiferli to be replaced in the squad.Schiferli’s injury is a big blow to Netherlands as he was the joint highest wicket-taker in the 2005 ICC Trophy held in Ireland. He took 17 wickets in seven matches at an average of 14.64 in the tournament. Netherlands are in Group A along with Australia, South Africa and Scotland.

Mathew Sinclair followed his first-innings century with 53 in the second, as Central Districts finished on 130 for 3 on the second day against Auckland at Palmerston North. Earlier, Michael Mason and Lance Hamilton starred with the ball, taking nine wickets between them as Auckland were bundled out for 180. Mason had exceptional figures of 5 for 26 from 18.5 overs, while Hamilton took 4 for 39. Their combined effort ensured Central Districts ended with a 65-run first-innings lead. By close of play, they had stretched that lead to 195.Alun Evans was in sight of only his second first-class century as Northern Districts recovered from a poor start to a respectable 158 for 3 at Hamilton, still 208 behind Wellington’s first-innings total. Evans was unbeaten on 90 and helped his team bounce back after losing two wickets with only 12 on the board. Wellington’s total was largely built around Michael Parlane’s 154, an innings which included 26 fours and two sixes. None of the other Wellington batsmen managed even a half-century, with Jeetan Patel’s 45 at No.10 being the second-highest.Otago took charge of their State Championship match against Canterbury at Queenstown. After scoring 384, Otago put in a superb display in the field on the second day, bundling Canterbury out for 114, and then reducing them to 46 for 3 as they followed on. The stars for Otago were James McMillan, a right-arm fast bowler, and Nathan McCullum, an offbreak bowler and the brother of Brendon, New Zealand’s wicketkeeper. McMillan got rid of the top order and finished with 4 for 32, while McCullum polished off the tail and ended with 5 for 28, his maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.

Aravinda de Silva has spoken out against the government’s decision to dissolve the Sri Lankan board© Getty Images

Sri Lanka Cricket has announced that it will appeal against the government decision last week to take over control of the game’s management. After several days of speculation, the government appointed a six-man interim committee after claims of financial mismanagement.Despite the government’s decision, announced by the sports minister Jeevan Kumaratunga on Thursday afternoon, the cricket board proceeded as scheduled with its AGM on Sunday, and elected Thilanga Sumathipala unopposed as the president for a fifth term.Other officials appointed included Ravin Wickramaratne as secretary, Nuski Mohammad as treasurer, Aravinda de Silva and Trevor Rajaratnam as the two vice-presidents, Bandula Dissanayake as assistant secretary, Lucian Merinnage as assistant treasurer, and Mohan de Silva as immediate past president.After the AGM, Aravinda de Silva criticised the government’s decision to strip the board’s elected executive committee of their powers, arguing that it will create uncertainty and hamper the development of the game in Sri Lanka.”This unfortunate incident will have a bad impact on our cricket internationally and on the morale of our team,” said de Silva. “This is the only country where the sports minister has suspended the activities of the cricket board on four occasions in the past five years. There has been so much uncertainty created as a result of this.”Meanwhile, Nuski Mohammad justified the $3.25million loss recorded in the accounts for the past year, claiming that occasional deficits were part and parcel of an international cricket association because of the variations in the revenue-generating capacity of different touring countries.”It is evident that during the years 2000 and 2002 we had deficits of $800,000 and $2.9million before tax, whereas in 2001 and 2003 Sri Lanka Cricket had a surplus of $4.4million and $2million,” he revealed. “This is normal because the administration and cricket expenses are dependent on the level of activity for each year in operation.”Sri Lanka Cricket is largely dependent on a multitude of factors, such as rotation and the number of international tours during a particular year, the TV income derived from such tours which could vary from country to country, the four-year World Cup cycle which brings in a large amount of revenue, and the income derived from other tournaments held periodically such as the Asia Cup.”He concluded: “Unlike other countries, we are servicing all the centres, districts and provinces and maintaining the infrastructure of stadiums where international matches are played. To get results in cricket you’ve got to spend.”He added that junior, under-23 and A-team tours cost a substantial amount of money without any financial returns. “One could justify the expenditure in terms of our current standing in international cricket, where we occupy second position in the one-day table and fourth position in Tests. Even Australia, which occupies top berth in both forms of the game, has reported losses to the tune of A$14 million [nearly Rs. one billion].”However, despite Sri Lanka Cricket’s AGM, the government’s new committee, headed by Jayantha Dharmadasa, will takeover control of the board on Monday, when they are expected to reveal their management mandate, which could include fundamental constitutional change of the board.Sri Lanka Cricket office-bearers: Roshan Abeysinghe (Chairman, Tournament Committee), Romesh Kaluwitharana(Chairman, Umpires Committee), Cricket Associations: Anura Weerasinghe, Tyronne de Silva; District Cricket Associations: M Manoharan, Lorence Amarasena, Controlling Clubs: Michael de Zoysa, Pradeep Peiris, Mizra Fajudeen; Affiliated Clubs: Gihan Weerasinghe, Manju Fernando.

The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) has congratulated West End Redbacks batsman Chris Davies on last night (February 6) being named the 2003 Tanya Denver Award winner at the annual The Advertiser-Channel 7 Sports Star of the Year Awards.The Tanya Denver Award, named after The Advertiser’s late deputy sports editor, is given to the athlete who best demonstrates outstanding sportmanship and endeavour.Chris follows in the footsteps of fellow Redbacks player Jason Gillespie who was the 2002 Tanya Denver Award recipient.As a first-class cricketer since 1997-98, Chris not only has had the enormous challenges facing any elite sportsman, but has had to battle the incurable disease cystic fibrosis to make it to the top level.Chris said he was honoured to receive the award and hopes being the 2003 recipient will help inspire his fellow cystic fibrosis sufferers."Winning the Tanya Denver Award is truly an honour. I hope that by me winning this award, young kids who also suffer from cystic fibrosis might just realise it still is possible to achieve your dreams – whether in sport or other facets of life," he said.SACA chief executive Mike Deare said that Chris is an inspiration to anyone in demonstrating how to overcome adversity to achieve success."Chris is not only an outstanding cricketer, but he is a natural leader and through his hard work and determination has managed to succeed at the highest level of cricket for his State, despite battling a debilitating disease.""Everyone at the SACA is exceedingly proud of Chris’ achievements, not only on the field but also his achievements throughout his life. And, he is no doubt an inspiration to young people who also may have similar struggles in life," he said.Redbacks captain Darren Lehmann was a finalist in the Sports Star of the Year category, which was won by Lleyton Hewitt.

SYDNEY – Steve Waugh is to be replaced as captain of Australia’s one-daycricket team, the Australian Cricket Board announced today.ACB chief executive James Sutherland said Waugh would not be picked inthe team for the looming seven-match one-day international series inSouth Africa starting in March.Waugh said he saw his axing as “a setback and a challenge” but he would”definitely” remain available for selection in the one-day team.”I’m not in the side right now but I’ve got to try and turn that aroundand be selcted for the 2003 World Cup.”Chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns said his panel made a unanimousdecision to drop Waugh from the limited-overs team.Hohns said the new captain would not be named until the one-day squadfor the South African tour was chosen in the next seven days.Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist are considered favourites for the job.

The Orissa team gave their state a very happy New Year’s gift by scoring a 129-run victory over Bengal in the East Zone Ranji Trophy tie at the Eden Gardens onSunday. The emphatic manner in which the cricketers from Utkal dominated thegame was hard to believe. Undoubtedly, the man of the match was the formerIndian seam bowler Debashis Mohanty. He took five wickets in the second inningsto take his match tally to 11, the first time that he had taken 10 or morewickets in a first class game. Incidentally this is the first time that Orissahave managed to defeat Bengal in 43 years of first class cricket.The issue was wide open on Saturday as Sourav Ganguly was still at the crease.But Mohanty had reserved one of the best deliveries for him. The ball that hadthe Indian captain could have done the same to any other batsmen. It pitchedjust outside the off-stump, bounced and moved off the seam late. Gangulydesperately tried to remove himself from the line of the delivery but could onlyglove it to wicket-keeper Gautam Gopal. Earlier, Mohanty had removed nightwatchman Sourashis Lahiri and then had dismissed the Bengal skipper DevangGandhi with successive deliveries. However, Gandhi could have left the ballalone. He tried to play it down and managed only to glove it for the secondcatch of the day to Gautam Gopal.An early lunch for Bengal was on the cards as Rohan Gavaskar was caught andbowled by Ajay Barik who had replaced Mohanty after the latter had bowledunchanged for two hours from the club house end. Gavaskar hit him for two lovelydrives through the covers. However, the moment Barik went round the wicket andaltered the line, Gavaskar was found wanting. He played well across to a balltrying to flick it through mid wicket. The ball caught the leading edge andlobbed back for a simple catch to the bowler. Srikkant Kalyani then was trappedplumb in front by P.Jayachandran as he shuffled too far across the stumps.Bengal finally managed to give some respectability to the score because of aninth wicket stand between Deep Dasgupta and Utpal Chatterjee. The two added 99runs for the ninth wicket taking the score over the 250 mark. However, the jobfor the two became comparatively easy as the Orissa spinners were operating.Both played freely and demonstrated to their predecessors that there was nothingin the pitch. Chatterjee scored 53 with seven boundaries. He was particularlysevere on off spinner S.Satpathy, repeatedly cutting him to the point fence.Dasgupta also looked quite solid in his 39. He was out to a dubious caughtbehind decision. Two balls later the match was over as Jayachandra had uprootedthe stumps of the last batsman Shiv Shankar Paul.Orissa now have 21 points from three matches while Bengal have 13. The latterwill at least need a minimum of five points to have a safe passage into theknockout stage. Assam have 16 points from two matches, while Bihar have eightfrom three.

Newcastle United are in Premier League action once again this afternoon following the latest international break.

This time, the Toon are on the road again with a trip to the capital to take on Tottenham Hotspur after losing their two previous league games before the break.

On the chalkboard

In terms of which players Eddie Howe could select in his starting XI to take on Antonio Conte’s top-four chasers, one man who hasn’t started for the Magpies since mid-February but we feel should be unleashed from the beginning on this occasion is Allan Saint-Maximin.

Despite scoring five goals and providing three assists in 25 league appearances this season, the Frenchman has only made three substitute appearances for the Magpies in their past four league games.

In addition to his goal contributions, Saint-Maximin’s overall performances have highlighted what a crucial figure he is for the Toon, with WhoScored giving him a season rating of 7.14/10, making him the highest-rated Newcastle player to start more than four games.

From an attacking point of view, the 25-year-old has racked up 92 shot-creating actions in the Premier League this season, putting him in the top 10 for that statistic for the entire league ahead of players such as Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Harry Kane.

The winger, who is currently valued at £28.8m by Transfermarkt, also leads the way for dribbles attempted in the Premier League with 175 to his name at a success rate of 60%.

This shows just how much of a nuisance the attacker could be for Newcastle in today’s clash against a Tottenham side which has kept three clean sheets in their past five league games.

Having been praised for his “breathtaking” speed and movement on the pitch by Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville, Saint-Maximin certainly has what it takes to cause Spurs and their defence a lot of problems.

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.

With that in mind, if Newcastle want to pick up all three points and move further away from the relegation zone, then starting their £93k-p/w French star should definitely be in Howe’s mind when coming up with his starting XI today.

In other news: Sold for £10m, now worth £45m: Newcastle had a howler on “immense” £53k-p/w dynamo