According to Dutch media outlet Voetbal Inside, Brighton and Hove Albion are in talks with AZ Alkmaar over a deal for winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh, rated at €25m (around £22m) by the Eredivisie outfit, and Southampton should be watching developments closely.
What’s the word, then?
Well, VI report that the Seagulls are negotiating with the Dutch club to bring the highly-rated Iran international to the Premier League, with AZ demanding around £22m for the top goalscorer in the top flight of the Netherlands last term.
VI say that the 24-year-old could join the south coast club on a four-year deal with the option of a fifth if a deal is agreed, as Chris Hughton looks to strengthen his squad following an impressive debut campaign in the Premier League.
One of their main problems was scoring goals though, and adding Jahanbakhsh to the squad should go some way to eradicating that issue given his record during the 2017/18 campaign.
How did he do last season?
He was excellent, and showed why he is ready for a big move to the Premier League.
The tricky winger scored a remarkable 22 goals and provided a further 14 assists from out wide in 39 appearances in all competitions, according to Transfermarkt.
The 24-year-old brings far more than just goals and assists though, and he showed why he is feared so much by opposition defenders by the fact he successfully completed 111 of the 178 dribbles he attempted 33 Eredivisie outings last term.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”255885″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Southampton’s opening fixtures for the 201819 Premier League season”]
Why should Southampton hijack Brighton’s move?
Like the Seagulls, one of Saints’ main issues during the 2017/18 campaign was their shortcomings in the final third, and adding Jahanbakhsh to their squad would surely sort that out.
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The Iranian wideman’s brilliant record shows that he could make a huge impact at St Mary’s, and at £22m he is well in the south coast outfit’s price range – even if he would be a club-record purchase.
The 24-year-old would certainly be a welcome addition for the likes of Charlie Austin and Manolo Gabbiadini, who were often starved of service as Southampton, whose move for a 26-year-old midfielder would surely seal Mario Lemina’s exit, only narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship.
Liverpool conceded a last-gasp equaliser in their 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Sunday, and Reds fans weren’t impressed with Georginio Wijnaldum’s performance from the substitutes’ bench.
The hosts were leading 1-0 when the Netherlands international replaced captain Jordan Henderson in the 65th minute, but the 27-year-old failed to bring the energy and impact at both ends of the pitch that Jurgen Klopp and the Anfield faithful would have been expecting.
Instead, the Merseyside outfit could have found themselves 2-1 behind when they failed to close down Victor Wanyama before he fired into the top corner, but Harry Kane missed the chance to score from the penalty spot before eventually getting another opportunity to do so in stoppage-time after Mo Salah looked to have netted the winner just minutes earlier.
Liverpool supporters were quick to have their say on the Dutchman’s display via social media, and while one labelled him as a ‘horrible player’, another said he “offered nothing”.
Tottenham Hotspur boss Tim Sherwood has spoken for the first time since the club were forced to deny making an approach for Ajax manager Frank de Boer.
The Eredivisie side claimed Spurs had approached them about the availability of de Boer earlier this week, but that was strongly denied by the North London club.
And Sherwood, who signed an 18-month contract in December, admits the whole situation was a little strange for him but he will not let it get in the way of Spurs’ final two games of the season.
He told SkySports: “It was a strange situation, when a club has come out and said they’ve been spoken to and so has the manager and the club that I am working for is coming out and denying it.
“That’s where we are with it and I’m no further forward with that. The people upstairs will know whether I’m good enough to take on this club and if I’m the person they want to take on this club.
“The next two games won’t make any difference.”
And Sherwood also admits he is unsure of whether he will be the manager at White Hart Lane next season, but will be sitting down with chairman Daniel Levy at the end of the season to find out whether his position is untenable or not.
“We play West Han and then we play at home to Aston Villa. After that I will sit down with the chairman and we’ll decide what the plan is moving forward,” he added.
“Whatever will be, will be at the end of that. I’ve just got to carry on with my business, show my personal pride and professionalism, and make sure that the lads are prepared to win for team, for the fans and for this great club.
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“What will happen at the end of the season? Who knows?”
global advisor Shebby Singh believes the Ewood Park club have got the right man in charge to take the club forward.
The Championship club, who currently fifth in the table, have been searching for a new manager since Steve Kean resigned at the end of September.
And Singh believes that the club are now in right position to begin moving forward with their aims of returning to the Premier League.
He told Sky Sports: “I cannot do anything about speculation. The club was linked with everybody, but we all know who we actually approached and who we actually spoke to.
“Yes, we have made the right decision.”
But Singh also admitted that the club had made mistakes in the past by rushing in to managerial appointments and insisted they made the right decision this time round by taking their time.
“We drew up a list of criteria that we were looking for and then we tried to find the best individual who meets that. That takes time,” he added.
“Also, lessens from the past are very important. We possibly rushed in to a decision last time but we could not afford to do that, which is why we have taken our time.
“It might have taken longer than usual for some people but I don’t think it has been detrimental to the progress of the club in any way.”
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Berg’s first game as Blackburn manager will be a trip to managerless to Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon.
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There is a tendency for fans and pundits to select their England team in a similar way to fantasy football; their desire to see England cast off the shackles and throw caution to the wind for once leads to tactical recommendations that would not be seen either at club level or in other elite international teams.
Sometimes, even the managers are swept up in it; Roy Hodgson fielded Danny Welbeck, Raheem Sterling, Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge all in the same team in World Cup 2014 and Dele Alli, Adam Lallana and Harry Kane alongside Rooney and Sterling in France two years ago, with just Eric Dier protecting the defence.
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Gareth Southgate’s formation for England’s penultimate Russia 2018 warm-up match, the 2-1 win over Nigeria at Wembley – where he fielded Alli and Jesse Lingard either side of Dier, with Sterling behind Kane – hinted at a similarly adventurous approach.
That system may work against the ‘smaller’ nations, such as Tunisia and Panama, who England face in their first two Group G matches, where England need to be on the front foot and the threat of a counter attack isn’t so great.
However, as uninspiring as it may be, a two-man holding midfield axis of Dier and Jordan Henderson may well be needed against the elite nations, should the Three Lions get that far.
It won’t go down well with those who want to see a tubthumping England side, but it is a tactically mature idea; even Brazil, famed for their Samba style, now shield their defence with a holding duo, well aware that their current crop is not vintage and that having elite attackers isn’t that useful without keeping the back door shut behind.
It remains to be seen if Southgate thinks that way, but it may well be that Alli and Lingard will go from playing alongside each other in midfield to competing for the most advanced spot in the engine room.
Looking at the stats makes the perception of the two players’ seasons interesting; Lingard is seen as having the season of his career, while the Alli is perceived as having dropped his level in the past year.
Yet, the Tottenham man is ahead on all the statistical measures and his closer relationship with Harry Kane is something else that may give him the edge.
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Also, Alli is more of a central midfielder, who can burst forward at this stage of his career but may also end up playing further back anyway; whereas Lingard is a converted winger, and now a number 10.
He is disciplined and hard working, but Alli feels a more natural fit to settle into the midfield trio, arriving late onto crosses to slot home.
But who would you choose? Let us know by voting between Alli and the £31.5m-rated Lingard below…
It’s incredible the difference one man can make to a football club. And yet, Stoke fans shouldn’t have been all that surprised that Paul Lambert’s first game in charge provided a much-needed lift in performance – and more crucially, a first clean sheet since October. After all, this Potters side contains far greater quality than their current league position suggests, and far greater ability at the back than their incredible goals conceded tally, 50 in 24 games, alludes to.
And with few players does that ring truer than Kurt Zouma. This is, after all, the powerful centre-back who was part of Chelsea’s Premier League title-winning 2014/15 season at the age of 20 and until suffering a serious long-term injury, he was regarded as one of the best young defenders in Europe. Some have criticised the Frenchman at times this season but in truth, Stoke’s abundant lack of organisation under Mark Hughes has simply given him too much to do for the majority of the campaign.
Lambert made no secret that his immediate priority is to improve Stoke defensively and in a team with far better structure, albeit facing a Huddersfield side in freefall, Zouma – who Transfermarkt value at £13.5million – was amongst those who stood out most; weighing in with three tackles, two interceptions, four clearances and a whopping 13 successful aerial duels. He also had the second-most touches of the ball of any Stoke player on Saturday, 63, after Erik Pieters.
Now a place above the relegation zone, retaining that resolute edge at the back will be crucial to Stoke’s revival under Lambert, and Zouma has already shown why he’ll be a pivotal part of that.
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Former Liverpool midfielder Mo Sissoko is set to sign for Crystal Palace until the end of the season, according to Sky Sports.
The 29 year old has been a free agent since his contract at Paris St Germain was cancelled at the start of the summer and the Mali international is now keen on a return to the Premier League.
Italian side Fiorentina decided not to sign Sissoko after a loan spell with them at the back end of last season and the players’ wage demands have stalled clubs from taking him on so far.
Palace want to sure up their midfield and the vast experience and quality of Sissoko is seen as the ideal signing for Tony Pulis who tried and failed to sign the holding man when Stoke boss.
Sissoko is set to join Palace on a six month deal with an option to extend that further at the end of the season should everything go well until then.
The Eagles have struggled to add to their squad so far this month but Sissoko could be the first name in and considered a bargain as he was valued at £10million when he left Liverpool.
Click below to see Arsenal, Fulham and Everton in action this weekend!
Liverpool have been strongly linked with moves for two out-of-favour wingers in recent times, with both Arsenal’s Theo Walcott and Chelsea’s Daniel Sturridge widely tipped to make the move to Anfield in January, but are these really the sort of player that the club should be pursuing?
The flawed transfer policy of buying the best of British has set the club back in its attempts to rejoin the elite in the Premier League over the past two years, with Kenny Dalglish and Damien Comolli both sacked for their involvement in buying the likes of Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson and the subsequent under-performance of them all, which contributed to a lowly eight-placed league finish last year.
Walcott is still at loggerheads over a new contract at the Emirates, although the initial reasoning has since been dispelled by the player himself; he’s not after more money, simply a return to a more central striking role that he played during his youth career and brief time in the Southampton first-team.
The 23-year-old has noticeably improved his end product in recent times yet at the same time remains frustratingly inconsistent. The theory is that playing out wide is an easier place for a young player to learn due to being granted more time and space to make decisions. At the same time, though, players are often faced with more decisions out wide than they are in the middle – when to pass, run, cross, dribble, time a run and shoot. Unfortunately for Walcott, while there has been a tangible development to his game, progress has been slow, painfully so at times.
His pace is his greatest asset but he’s also increasingly clinical in front of goal and in all honesty, Walcott remains a player full of contradictions. He can often be found marking himself out of games, marooned on the touchline with his lack of intelligent movement off the ball, but his sheer acceleration negates that the opposition has to play deeper to counteract the space they grant him, so even when he’s not playing particularly well, he’s having an effect on the game.
He just so happens to possess what is widely regarded as the most visceral of attributes and in full flight he can look quite something, while every now and again he pulls a finish out of nowhere to make you think he could still be a world-class player one day, unfortunately they’re simply too few and far between. In Rodgers’ 4-3-3 system, I simply don’t think he’s good enough on the ball to occupy the lone central striking role and there’s a doubt about whether he’d be any good at holding the ball up or with his back to goal.
Sturridge is in a similar boat at Chelsea and after turning down a loan move to Anfield on transfer deadline day, fast forward a few months on and he may be more willing to make another short-term move away from Stamford Bridge should Liverpool not be able to cough up the full fee that’s required.
In my eyes, Sturridge represents a better and safer bet than Walcott. While his form may have nosedived after Andre Villas-Boas exit last term, he’s more comfortable with the ball at his feet and has a bigger physique which could mean he’s more transferable to the central role he so desperately craves.
Suarez is at his best as a creator for others rather than the focal point of attacks and Sturridge would allow him to return to the left, drifting off the flank like he has to such devastating effect for Uruguay in the past. The former Manchester City man would also be able to interchange positions more than Walcott in a 4-3-3 and he appears a more intelligent player than his Arsenal counterpart.
Where he does need to improve is his work ethic and the fact that he’s still far too selfish at times; some put this down to an over-inflated ego, which may be true to an extent, but it’s much more likely due to a keenness to impress. It’s no coincidence that his form tailed off after falling down the pecking order under Roberto Di Matteo and the signing of Victor Moses above all others this summer must have been seen as the final insult.
Rodgers has insisted that fans have yet to see the best of Borini yet, and that’s partly down to him being played out wide, but he’s struggled to make a telling impact as yet. However, for me the ideal, affordable and realistic candidate lies north of the border in the shape of Celtic forward Gary Hooper, while strong cases can also be made for Loic Remy and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar if the budget can stretch as far as that.
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Liverpool still remain an attractive proposition for prospective players and the fact that they still have European football remains a factor. It’s a potentially exciting era at Anfield right now but whether Walcott is right for the role on offer, I have my reservations, just as I do with Sturridge, to a slightly lesser extent. With belts being tightened this summer, it remains to be seen what sort of players will be within Rodgers’ price range and that more than anything else will dictate his movement, even if the options on offer at the moment all have major question marks against them.
Who would you like to see Liverpool move for in January to address their striking shortage?
Pair’s unbroken stand of 268 sets fifth-wicket record for Durham in first-class cricket
ECB Reporters Network10-Sep-2024David Bedingham made his third Championship century of the season against Lancashire and also passed a thousand first-class runs for this campaign to help Durham take control of their Vitality County Championship match at Chester-le-Street.Having restricted Lancashire to 228 all out in their first innings, the home side were 367 for 4 at the close, a lead of 139, with Bedingham on 177 not out and Colin Ackermann unbeaten on 111. The pair’s unbroken stand of 268 has already set a fifth-wicket record for Durham in first-class cricket.The one positive aspect of the day’s play from a Lancastrian perspective was the bowling of the Trinidadian, Anderson Phillip, who took 2 for 86 on his debut, but it now looks as though the visitors will face a battle to avoid a third Championship defeat in succession.In the morning session, Lancashire’s last four wickets added a further 51 runs to their overnight total. Matty Hurst was run out for 90 after a mix-up with Tom Bailey and Ben Raine took his fifth wicket of the innings when he had Phillip leg before wicket for 2.Raine finished with 5 for 44, his best return of the season, but crucially for their hopes of staying in Division One, Lancashire failed to earn a batting bonus point for the third successive match.Replying to the visitors’ modest 228, Durham’s batters encountered their own problems against the new Kookaburra ball. Ben McKinney gave Phillip his first wicket for his new county when he played on for 8 and Scott Borthwick’s indeterminate waft at a ball from Bailey edged a catch to Hurst with the home skipper on 9.Bedingham and Alex Lees took Durham to lunch on 46 for 2 and the pair batted serenely for nearly an hour after the resumption, at which point the home side were rocked by two lbw decisions in eight balls.Lees fell to Phillip for 43 and then Ollie Robinson was trapped on the crease by Tom Aspinwall for four to leave Durham on 99 for 4. Bedingham and Ackermann prevented Lancashire making any more breakthroughs and Durham reached tea on 178 for four, only 50 runs in arrears.Shortly after the resumption, Bedingham reached his thousand first-class runs for the season with a single off Tom Hartley and it was noted that nearly a quarter of them had been taken off the Red Rose’s attack.But worse was to follow for Keaton Jennings’ bowlers as Bedingham reached his sixth Championship century in just 15 innings this season when he stroked Hartley to long-on for another single. The South African had reached three figures off 143 balls with 11 fours and a six and there had hardly been a moment in his innings when he hadn’t looked in complete control.Nor was there any point in the evening session when Lancashire looked like taking a wicket. For long periods, Jennings posted five men in the deep and appeared content to cut off the boundaries. The fifth-wicket stand partnership passed 200 when Bedingham pulled a lifter from Aspinwall through midwicket for four.While almost all other Championship games in the country were interrupted by rain, home supporters sat in the sun and waited to see if Ackermann would reach his century and if the Durham pair would eclipse the county’s record fifth-wicket partnership of 254 set by Ned Eckersley and Bedingham himself against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in 2021.They were not disappointed. Three overs from the close, Ackermann got to his hundred off 165 balls and a new fifth-wicket record was set when Bedingham stroked Bailey to deep square leg off the next delivery.
Green says that the thinking was to win and put pressure on RCB, and not worry about NRR equations
ESPNcricinfo staff21-May-20231:29
Moody: Massive step for Green in his IPL career
Despite acing yet another 200-plus chase, Mumbai Indians need Gujarat Titans to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last league game of IPL 2023 to confirm their playoff spot. If they don’t make the cut, their captain Rohit Sharma feels that they only have themselves to blame.Mumbai’s win over Sunrisers Hyderabad took them to 16 points with a net run rate of -0.044, and even though RCB have 14 entering their last fixture, they have a superior NRR (0.180) already. For Mumbai to have gone past RCB’s NRR, they would’ve had to win in 12 overs with the assumption that RCB win by one run.”We came with the mindset of winning the game and not worrying about what happens elsewhere,” Rohit said after the match. “What you can control, you can control and hope for the best. If we don’t go through, we have ourselves to blame for it. If we go through, I’ll give all the credit to the boys. That’s the last thing you want – to be dependent on the other results.Related
Green century and Madhwal four-for help Mumbai Indians finish fourth
“Last year we did a big favour to RCB, I hope the result comes what we are looking for.”In IPL 2022, RCB needed Mumbai to beat Delhi Capitals in their last league game to go through to the playoffs. Mumbai, who were already eliminated by then, went on to beat Capitals by five wickets.While summing up Mumbai’s season, Rohit looked back at two games – against Punjab Kings at home and against Lucknow Super Giants away – as ones they should have won. Against Kings, Mumbai needed 40 off the last three overs with seven wickets in hand and a set Suryakumar in the middle. But Arshdeep Singh and Nathan Ellis denied them. Against LSG, chasing 178, they were 92 for 1 after ten overs but couldn’t close out the game.”We did a lot of things right as we went along,” Rohit said. “We lost a couple of games at the start and won three on the trot. The crucial moments in the game that we lost… if I have to look back there are a lot of moments like that. The game against Punjab here, we needed 30-34 [40] off 18 balls. We could have played well there. Against LSG, we had the game in our hands after the first half of the innings. But can’t look too much into that. I am sure the guys want to do well but sometimes it doesn’t come off.”Cameron Green reached his century in just 47 balls•BCCI
Green: ‘Thinking was to just win and put pressure on RCB’
Cameron Green, who starred with an unbeaten 100 off 47 balls, also said that they were not thinking about the NRR situation. “Our intention was to win the game,” he said. “We were not going to chase down a total in the seventh over or anything to try to boost our net run rate. The thinking was to just win and put pressure on RCB.”Earlier, Green, who came in at No. 3, and Rohit added 128 in 10.2 overs for the second wicket. Talking about the partnership, Green said: “It was absolutely awesome being out there with Rohit. We helped each other through that. Chasing 200 you got to show intent at the top. I was trying to smack the spinners and he was batting beautifully against pace bowlers.”With me and Rohit batting, it’s awesome knowing you have got SKY [Suryakumar Yadav] after you. Watching those guys in the nets and then you have got Polly [Kieron Pollard] to help with range hitting. That’s a pretty good setup we have got.”Green smashed eight fours and eight sixes in his unbeaten innings. However, towards the end, with Green on 99 and Mumbai needing just one to win, he and Suryakumar refused to take a bye. On the next ball, Green hit the winning single to bring up his hundred.”When we had 20 to get, I just said to SKY, just finish it,” Green said. “We’ve obviously come here to win the game firstly, so make sure you do that. Then we had a couple of runs left, we just trickled over the line.”Green has spent the best part of the last four months in India, as part of the touring Australians for the Tests as well as the ODIs first, and now at the IPL. He said that playing in the subcontinent was “valuable” as prep for the upcoming ODI World Cup which will be held in India.”Getting exposed any time you can to subcontinent conditions – as an Australian you are not really used to how low the ball skids at times, how much it spins at times – any experience you get over here is so valuable for us who bat in pretty different conditions,” he said. “The past three and a half months I have had here is so valuable and hopefully holds me in good stead coming here again and I can pass it over to other guys who come over.”