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O Botafogo tem pela frente um mês que promete ser decisivo. A equipe comandada por Luís Castro conta com quatro compromissos em setembro e todos carregam um tom de importância acima do normal pela situação atual do Alvinegro no Brasileirão.

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+Sem Vinícius Lopes e Erison, reforços pré-Textor no Botafogo estão fora do time principal

O Glorioso vai enfrentar Fortaleza, América-MG, Coritiba e Goiás. Será, mais uma vez, um mês com quatro semanas cheias – o clube está vindo de uma, já que setembro se iniciou em uma quinta-feira -, permitindo que Luís Castro tenha um tempo para treinos.

A diferença atual do Botafogo na classificação para todas as equipes citadas é de cinco pontos, o que aumenta a relevância do duelo em termos de tabela: se vencer, o Glorioso se afasta ou se aproxima de um adversário – mas o efeito cascata vem em uma linha tênue.

+Volt calcula indenização milionária do Botafogo por quebra de contrato

Na 14ª colocação, o Botafogo tem 27 pontos. O América-MG, em 9º, tem 32, mesma quantidade do Goiás, uma posição abaixo. O Fortaleza vem na 10ª posição com 30. O Coritiba é o único abaixo, em 16º, com 25.

Separado por dois pontos da zona de rebaixamento, o Glorioso tem o mês como uma oportunidade para se livrar de vez de qualquer ‘fantasma’ da Série B. É oito ou oitenta: ou fica sem sustos ou passa a fazer contas contra o desespero.

CALENDÁRIO DO BOTAFOGO EM SETEMEBRO

Fortaleza x Botafogo – Brasileirão – 04/09 (Domingo)
16h – Arena Castelão

Botafogo x América-MG – Brasileirão – 11/09 (Domingo)
​11h – Estádio Nilton Santos

Botafogo x Coritiba – Brasileirão – 17/09 (Sábado)
​19h – Estádio Nilton Santos

Goiás x Botafogo – Brasileirão – 28/09 (Quarta)
​21h45 – Serrinha

Bangladesh are writing off this ODI series defeat to Afghanistan as “two bad days”, according to Mehidy Hasan Miraz. The hosts were crushed by 142 runs as their recent ODI form deserted them, and Afghanistan went on to amass 331 by breaking a few records and seal their first series against the hosts. Mehidy said Bangladesh were “not worried” about the series loss and will plan better for the two big tournaments later in the year, the Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup.”I think we had two bad days. We are not worried about it,” he said. “We can plan better for the Asia Cup and World Cup. We play to win every game. We will find out where we lack. I said in a press conference a little while ago that losing against Afghanistan won’t make us a bad side. One series can go bad.”We have a good record in the last three-four years. We finished in the top four in the ICC ODI Super League. I think we can overcome these mistakes from the past two games, and play much better in the Asia Cup and World Cup.”Related

• Bangladesh's stadia fiasco: high prices, low buzz, and lack of amenities keep the fans away

• Report: Gurbaz-Zadran record stand helps Afghanistan seal series

• Trott: 'The longer Gurbaz bats, the more we win'

Mehidy rejected the idea that Tamim Iqbal’s retirement and then the U-turn played any part in the defeat in the second ODI on Saturday.”Everyone was shocked with Tamim ‘s decision. Nobody expected it,” Mehidy said after the loss Chattogram. “It was a break that day and we had training yesterday. We prepared for this game. But that bad feeling was temporary.”Mehidy said that Bangladesh had fallen well behind in the match when they couldn’t stop the Afghanistan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, who scored 145 and 100 respectively, from adding a massive 256 in 36 overs.”We gave away 30-40 runs more [than we should have],” he said. “We weren’t organised enough as a bowling unit. If our top order also made runs and had a partnership going, we could have taken this game deep. It became hard when the top order fell [quickly]”.However, Bangladesh’s bowlers brought them into the contest despite the visitors being well on track to post even 400. They grabbed nine wickets in the last 14 overs, thus restricting Afghanistan to only 75 runs in the period. That was a significant slowdown, particularly when they were going at above ten runs an over in the six overs before Gurbaz’s dismissal in the 37th over. Mehidy said that Bangladesh’s decision to bowl was to give their batters the best batting conditions under lights at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.”We expected the wicket to play better at night,” he said. “We batted first in the first game [after losing the toss]. The wicket was slow. It kept low. It improved in the evening, so the captain and coach thought that if [on winning the toss in the second ODI] we bowled well up front and then batted in the second innings, things will be easy for us.”Bangladesh were a bit slow in their chase and stumbled to 28 for 3 in the powerplay. The remaining six wickets – Ebadot Hossain didn’t bat due to an injury – fell in clusters of three each, too. And once they were 72 for 6 in the 19th over, the game was all but done.

أعلن أيمن يونس، لاعب الزمالك السابق، عن تقديم هدية خاصة للقلعة البيضاء بعد أزمة الكوادر الأخيرة والاعتماد على إداريين من خارج النادي.

وشهدت الفترة الأخيرة جدلًا بعد اختيار عبد الناصر محمد مديرًا للكرة في نادي الزمالك في جهاز يانيك فيريرا، مع انتقاد نجوم القلعة البيضاء السابقين للقرار، إلى جانب الاعتماد على جون إدوارد في منصب المدير الرياضي.

طالع| الزمالك يوضح لـ”بطولات” موقفه من ضم بيرسي تاو

وكتب أيمن يونس، عبر منصة “إكس”: “قريبًا سيتم الإعلان عن منحة سنوية دراسية فنية وإدارية في كرة القدم لعدد 2 من لاعبي نادي الزمالك السابقين المميزين المشرفين”.

وتابع: “فصناعة المدرب المحترف والاداري المحترف وتجهيزهم لخدمه النادي، كان حلم ليا أنا شخصيًا أتمنى تقديمه هدية لنادي الزمالك وجماهيره، أولاد نادي الزمالك يستحقون كل خير”.

ولم يوضح يونس أسماء اللاعبين المختارين هذا العام، لكنه كان قد طالب في تصريحات سابقة له، بتجهيز النجم المعتزل محمد عبد الشافي، ليكون كادرًا إداريًا في المرحلة المقبلة، نظرًا لما يمتلكه من هدوء وخبرة كبيرة، بينما الاسم الثاني لا يزال مجهولًا، وقد يكون شيكابالا الذي اعتزل مؤخرًا.

قريبا سيتم الأعلن عن منحه سنويه دراسيه فنيه وإداريه في كره القدم..لعدد 2 من لاعبي نادي الزمالك السابقين المميزين المشرفين..فصناعه المدرب المحترف والاداري المحترف وتجهيزهم لخدمه النادي.كان حلم ليا انا شخصيا اتمني تقديمه هديه لنادي الزمالك وجماهيره.أولاد نادي الزمالك يستحقوا كل خير

— Ayman Younis. ايمن يونس (@AymanYounis) July 10, 2025

Australia captain admits to “strange” feeling but targets series win at The Oval

Andrew McGlashan23-Jul-2023In contrast to four years ago, there won’t be any big celebrations from Australia on retaining the Ashes with Pat Cummins aware the Manchester rain helped them escape with a draw after being dominated by England.Cummins was part of the side in 2019 when they eventually shared the series 2-2 having also retained the urn at Old Trafford, albeit with a convincing victory on that occasion, and those who featured that year have often spoken about it leaving unfinished business.There was a flatness all-round at the end of this game with England knowing their chance of regaining the Ashes had gone while the visitors were aware they’d put in one of their worst performances under the Cummins-Andrew McDonald era. However, Cummins did make reference to their earlier success in the series which put them 2-0 up.Related

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“It’s a bit of a strange one,” Cummins said. “As a group [we’re] proud that we’ve retained the Ashes but it’s off the back of not our greatest week. It feels like it’s good to retain the Ashes, but we know we’ve got a fair bit of work to do for next week.”I don’t think there will be huge celebrations. Maybe a bit of a pat on the back for retaining the [Ashes]. There’s been a lot of work gone into putting us into a position where a draw does make us retain the Ashes. But there’s a Test match starting in three days so that’s going to be our full focus.”It’s a pretty similar group to 2019 when we retained it and we all came away feeling okay but we felt like we’d just missed what we’d come over to achieve. In some regards whatever happened today wouldn’t really change how we look at next week. We want to win it to make sure we win it outright.”Barring Marnus Labuschagne, who had an excellent Test with scores of 51 and 111, there wasn’t a part of Australia’s performance that functioned close to their top level. But one of the main areas that came in for focus was Cummins’ captaincy during England’s rampaging innings of 592 which came at more than five an over.Cummins insisted he had not felt overwhelmed as a captain and instead turned the focus on his own bowling which fell significantly below his usual high standards.”As a bowler it’s frustrating that I didn’t bowl very well at all, not up to the standards I try and keep myself to,” he said. “I let through more boundaries than I normally do. Probably just one or two bad balls an over. I don’t know [why] really. [My] rhythm felt pretty good, I felt like I was pretty clear in my own mind with plans.”In terms of captaincy I think there has been a few of those moments where the [England] batters have played well, the game moves very quickly.”We knew coming into this series they were probably going to have a couple of days where it went their way and the game moves really quickly, so it was one of those days. It’s tough, frustrating, but that’s cricket. We’ve been on the other side of it plenty of times.”The game most dramatically ran away from Australia in the middle session of the second day where Zak Crawley, Moeen Ali and Joe Root racked up 178 in 25 overs with the visitors unable to find a response. The innings then ended in chaotic fashion as well with Jonny Bairstow and Jimmy Anderson added 66 for the last wicket.”That two-hour block in the middle session wasn’t our best,” Cummins said. “We tried to throw a few different plans at them and maybe on another day they work, a couple of the edges carry through or some of the catches go to hand, but I thought they batted well. I was pretty proud of the end of that day. We were able to wrestle back some of that control.”You definitely look at what you can try and do differently for next time,” he added. “That will be part of this week for sure. I think there are some obvious things we could do a little bit differently. Maybe some plans, the way we executed our bowling.”However, Cummins picked out Australia’s first innings when they left themselves on the back foot with a total of 317 where numerous starts from the top order weren’t converted as five of the top six reached 32.”We probably left a few runs out there in the first innings,” he said. “That was a really good wicket to bat on day one. But historically we have been really good [at] that so it’s not something I’m super worried about, but it’s a good time to look back at all our games and have a think about what we could do differently and put that into action for next week.”

Following excellent campaigns from both, Arsenal invincible Philippe Senderos has issued a Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri warning to new sporting director Andrea Berta.

Senderos raises Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly warning

On course to lose out on the Premier League title once again and this time to Arne Slot’s Liverpool side in his debut campaign, Arsenal have plenty of work to do this summer. Without Edu Gaspar for the first time in Mikel Arteta’s reign too, the Gunners must hope that new man Berta sends an impressive statement in his first transfer window at the club.

Arteta has found a "sensational" Hale Ender who's Arsenal's new Smith Rowe

The incredible talent will be a superstar for Arsenal.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Mar 25, 2025

On the transfer front, rumours have already been arriving thick and fast around attacking options who could offer Arteta the solution that he has so desperately lacked this season. The main name in those rumours has, of course, been Alexander Isak, who has enjoyed another excellent season at Newcastle United to match his reported £150m price tag.

That said, when Arteta has been left without recognised names throughout his current squad this season, he has had the chance to turn towards the Hale End academy with great success, and Senderos believes incomings shouldn’t put an end to that.

In an exclusive chat with Football FanCast, in partnership with NewBettingSites.uk, the Arsenal invincible said: “We’ve seen some of the injuries and it was unlucky to get all these injuries in the offensive part of the side, but at the same time the more depth you add the less opportunity for players like Miles Lewis-Skelly or Ethan Nwaneri.

“So, it will be evaluated for sure to keep spots for players of this talent and more and more academy players who would be able to step up to the plate. This is the philosophy of Arsenal. They’ve been able to apply it very well this year and hopefully they can continue that as well as being competitive and reach for the top.”

Arteta must maintain Lewis-Skelly & Nwaneri trust

Even with the likes of Riccardo Calafiori, Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka back to full fitness at the start of next season, Arteta and Berta should still find room for both Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri in Arsenal’s strongest side.

Both have continued to shine away from club football, with Lewis-Skelly scoring on his England debut and Nwaneri finding the back of the net in stunning fashion for the England U21s last time out.

There’s plenty more to come from Hale End too. The likes of Max Dowman have been taking the academy by storm at just 15 years old and looks likely to be the next in line to follow the path into the senior side.

So, whilst there’s work for Berta to do, Senderos is right in his warning. Arsenal and Arteta cannot sacrifice the pathway that has allowed the likes of Saka to shine in search of a perfect solution in the transfer market.

Brazil’s football chief Rodrigo Caetano insists Real Madrid approved Carlo Ancelotti’s appointment, denying claims of bad timing or disrespect.

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CBF accused of moving behind Madrid’s backClaims talks only began after La Liga endedAnnouncement came before Los Blancos confirmed exitFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Brazil announced Ancelotti as their new head coach just days after Madrid’s La Liga disappointment. The sudden post sparked controversy, especially since Madrid hadn’t confirmed his departure. Many saw it as disrespectful, but the Brazilian Football Association (CBF) now says the announcement was cleared by the Spanish giants.

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Brazil have struggled in recent years, disappointing in both the Copa America and World Cup. After sacking Dorival Junior in March, the CBF was under pressure to land a top name. Ancelotti, one of football’s most decorated managers, was seen as the ideal figure to steady the ship.

WHAT CAETANO SAID

Speaking to about the negotiations with Ancelotti, Caetano said: "We met after the game against Arsenal. Carlo Ancelotti never wanted to speak to us until after his commitment to Real Madrid, I want to be very clear about that. Our contact was after La Liga."

Another major flashpoint was the timing of the announcement, which sparked backlash from Madrid fans. However, Caetano clarified the situation and said: "Do you think the CBF would do something Real Madrid wouldn't agree with? Here we have a lot of respect for institutions like Real Madrid and their people!

"It was because Real Madrid authorised the CBF to do it this way. Ancelotti was still working with the team because there were two more matches left, and we spoke with him at the end. After his dismissal, we already discussed the squad."

He added: "Carlo Ancelotti is the most important coach in the world right now. He has won all the leagues, and it's a great honour for us to have him, as it is for him because he will coach the most successful team of all time."

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AFPWHAT NEXT?

The former Los Blancos manager now leads Brazil through World Cup qualifying, tasked with restoring pride and identity to the Selecao. With stars like Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo at his disposal, all eyes will be on how he reshapes the squad and steers them toward the 2026 World Cup.

The champions of New Zealand and all of Oceania head to the United States as by far the most rank of outsiders

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When you close your eyes and think of New Zealand, what do you see? Is it the picturesque landscape? Is it 15 buff men doing the Haka? Is it Lorde strutting down a Coachella stage with Charli XCX? Is it Chris Wood returning dividends on FPL? Whatever it is, it almost certainly isn't related to their club football.

Auckland City, the reigning champions of Oceania, will represent the continent at the revamped Club World Cup hoping to buck that trend, but face one hell of an uphill battle to leave a good lasting impression on the rest of the globe.

The Navy Blues are merely part-timers, and play their home games at a stadium with a capacity of only 3,500 – most of which is standing, a la English non-league – in a quaint suburb with a 12,000-strong population. They are by a country mile the underdogs in a Club World Cup group featuring Portuguese giants Benfica, Argentine heavyweights Boca Juniors, and German champions Bayern Munich.

So, who are the plucky minnows from the City of Sails looking to upset the applecart in the United States this summer? GOAL has you covered – here's everything you need to know about Auckland City:

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  Kings of Oceania

  Having won 13 editions of the OFC Champions League in the 22 seasons it has run for, including the last four in a row since resumption following the coronavirus pandemic, Auckland City are by far the most successful club side in Oceanian football history.

  In fact, the Champions League has only been won by one team from outside New Zealand since 2010, with Hienghene Sport of New Caledonia taking home the 2019 title before the world was plunged into lockdown. Auckland City's main rivals, Team Wellington, are the only other victors in that time, one year earlier in 2018.

  Back in 2014, Auckland City became the only winners of the special one-time OFC President's Cup, which was designed to strengthen relations with the neighbouring Asian (AFC) and North American (CONCACAF) confederations. It was a unique tournament that saw the Fiji Under-20 and Singapore Under-23 teams invited, as well as Amicale of Vanuatu, Bahraini side Busaiteen and Cayman Islands Premier League winners Bodden Town.

  There really isn't any doubt in saying Auckland City are Oceania's biggest, best and most important team. They have more than earned the right to compete at the Club World Cup.

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  Bronze medallists

  Despite their lowly status, Auckland City do have an extensive history at the Club World Cup in its previous form, and even though they are usually met with defeat on sight, it's not as if they've been completely destroyed by the best teams from other continents on a regular basis.

  In total, they have played in 17 Club World Cup matches and won only five of them, losing seven times by two goals or more but never by upward of three, suggesting they can at the very least be once they leave their comfort zone of Oceania. That said, they were hammered 6-2 by Al Ain (more on them later) in the equivalent FIFA Intercontinental Cup at the end of 2024, perhaps pouring a bit of cold water over any flaming expectations.

  Their biggest success came in 2014 when they came close to facing Real Madrid in the final. After knocking out African champions ES Setif in the quarter-finals, Auckland City took South American side San Lorenzo to extra-time in the semis, only to lose 2-1 following 120 minutes of action. They were sent to the third-place play-off to take on Cruz Azul of Mexico, where they prevailed 4-2 on penalties at the end of a 1-1 draw, taking home the bronze medal.

  Watch every FIFA Club World Cup game free on DAZNStream now

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  4,948th in the world

  There aren't many ways of measuring teams from different continents against each other, but stat-gurus Global Power Rankings are probably the closest way we have to accurately doing so. Heading into the Club World Cup, Auckland City are all the way down in 4,948th. In comparison, group-stage opponents Bayern are sixth, Benfica are 24th and Boca are 131st.

  To put into further perspective how unevenly matched Auckland City will be at the tournament, the next lowest-ranked team at the Club World Cup are Al Ain, the very team they lost 6-2 to only a few months ago, and even then are ranked at 611th. Many of the teams ranked similarly to the New Zealanders are semi-professional or amateur – they are 128 places behind Brackley Town, who have just won the National League North in the sixth tier of English football, for example.

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  Second in their own city

  The club name 'Auckland City' and urban population of over 1.5 million people would suggest that the team attract a decent enough crowd, yet they usually average attendances of around 1,000 inside their 3,500-capacity Kiwitea Street ground.

  This hasn't been helped by Australia's A-League choosing to expand into New Zealand. Joining Wellington Phoenix for the 2024-25 season were Auckland FC, who averaged crowds of 18,000 at the much larger Go Media Stadium and are controlled by the same owners as Premier League side Bournemouth. To cast an even darker shadow over City, FC finished top of the league in their inaugural campaign, before falling in the play-off semi-finals to Melbourne Victory.

  "Normally, I would say we have anywhere between 800 to 1,200 depending on the match itself. We expect to have a group of about 40 to 50 people from Auckland City to come to the United States," general manager Gordon Watson recently revealed. It's a long way away from their domestic setup – a tournament-record 17,000 miles away, to be more precise.

  "A home game in the Northern League usually begins at nine o'clock in the morning," Watson said. "Two of our club volunteers will be down at Kiwitea Street putting up the goals, the nets, the corner flags and the flags around the venue. The grass is cut to a certain length which gets done on Thursday if the guy remembers to do it. Our chairman will be very quick to ring that person up if they haven't done it!"

  There were local reports suggesting City were hoping to loan in some of FC's stars to help their cause at the Club World Cup, but not a single player has made the switch ahead of the tournament. Manager Paul Posa, meanwhile, is only just meeting up with his squad after missing the first fortnight of their U.S. stay due to personal reasons. Aside from that, it will be business as usual for the same old cast of City stars.

Liverpool are reportedly set to appoint Giovanni van Bronckhorst as Arne Slot's assistant after the departure of John Heitinga.

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Assistant Heitinga departed for AjaxLiverpool need replacementVan Bronckhorst likely candidateFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

According to The Times, Liverpool are closing in on van Bronckhorst, who has recently had spells as head coach at Rangers, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Besiktas, ultimately departing from the Turkish outfit back in November. With Heitinga appointed as head coach at Dutch giants Ajax, there's a spot at Anfield to be filled, and there aren't many stronger candidates than van Bronckhorst.

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There are clear parallels between the careers of Van Bronckhorst and Slot, with both managers coming from the Netherlands, managing Feyenoord early in their careers and winning impressive Eredivisie titles with the club (the former in 2017, the latter in 2023). While Slot never played for his country, he seems to appreciate having the know-how of experienced former Dutch international players beside him in the dugout, as this latest Liverpool appointment reflects.

DID YOU KNOW?

After news emerged of Heitinga's Ajax move, speculation surrounding the Reds' next assistant began heating up, with former Liverpool winger Dirk Kuyt linked with the job. Ultimately, Kuyt's agent was forced to come out and deny the rumours, telling one Dutch podcast, "it will be a different assistant coach. That would have been great for him. Liverpool’s assistant will be someone else."

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Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR LIVERPOOL?

It will be hard for Slot to top his opening season in the Premier League; what was expected to be a transitional campaign turned into a triumphant one with Liverpool storming to the league title and finishing 10 points ahead of their nearest rivals, Arsenal. A cleverly managed squad refresh will be crucial if they are to challenge again next season, and if the club can secure the signing of Florian Wirtz, they will remain strong contenders.

The fast bowler picked up her second four-for in T20Is before the opening batter hit her 26th half-century in the format

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jul-2023

A four-wicket haul from Lea Tahuhu and a steady half-century from Suzie Bates helped New Zealand wrap up the T20I series against Sri Lanka with an eight-wicket win in the second match in Colombo on Monday. After restricting Sri Lanka to 118, New Zealand got to their target in 18.4 overs, completing a comeback after a 2-1 loss in the ODI series.Bates combined with Bernadine Bezuidenhout to add 48 for the opening wicket. She was the steady partner in their partnership but attacked in the 59-run second-wicket alliance with Amelia Kerr. In the process, Bates scored her 26th half-century in T20Is. She used her feet to the spinners to put them off and was innovative in her strokeplay – using the scoop and paddle to good effect.Inoka Ranaweera managed to see the back of Bates when she had her holing out to long-on for 52 off 53 balls, but Kerr and Sophie Devine finished the job without fuss.Earlier, after being put in, Sri Lanka were jolted early when captain Chamari Athapaththu was run-out in the third over. She turned an Eden Carson delivery towards the left of the non-striker, Vishmi Gunaratne, and set off for a non-existent run.Tahuhu then struck twice in her opening over – she first had Gunaratne chopping on when attempting a drive before trapping Kavisha Dilhari lbw two balls later.After a brief rain stoppage, Sri Lanka were revived by a 57-run fourth-wicket partnership between Harshitha Samarawickrama – who played a crisp cover drive off her first ball to get going – and Hasini Perera, who top-scored with 33. But the two fell in relatively quick succession to deny Sri Lanka the momentum they needed.Anushka Sanjeewani and Nilakshi de Silva propelled Sri Lanka past 100, with the two taking 13 off a Leigh Kasperek over, but the total was never going to be enough.

Potentially forced to replace Alexander Isak this summer, Newcastle United are now reportedly ready to launch their move to seal a bargain deal for a forward who’s matched the Swede for goals this season.

Newcastle could land bargain Isak replacement

The rumours aren’t slowing down regarding Isak’s future and neither are his goalscoring exploits. The Newcastle star took his club form to international level last time out, scoring a sensational goal in a 5-1 thrashing of Northern Ireland. No matter the stage, Isak seems to find himself wheeling away in celebration following another moment to savour.

It’s the type of quality that Newcastle won’t want to lose this summer, but interest from Liverpool, Arsenal and others is unlikely to go away even amid the forward’s reported £150m price-tag.

To lose the Swede at this stage, fresh from ending their hunt for silverware and on course to reach the Champions League once again, would be a major blow for those at St James’ Park. If Isak does depart, however, then a bargain replacement could arrive.

According to The Northern Echo, Newcastle are now ready to launch their move to sign Jonathan David when his current LOSC Lille contract comes to an end this summer.

Newcastle join the race to sign £63m star who Shearer called "magnificent"

He’s enjoyed an excellent season…

By
Tom Cunningham

Mar 25, 2025

The Canada international has been in excellent form this season and looks destined to find himself at the centre of a transfer saga this summer before becoming one of the bargains of the window.

Amid competition from the likes of Barcelona, Newcastle will hope to shock the Spanish giants by winning the race for David’s signature in the coming months. It’s then that Eddie Howe could have an instant replacement for Isak or perhaps even an ideal strike partner.

"Insane" David is as good as Isak

David’s contract expiry couldn’t be coming at a better time for Newcastle. The Lille star is the ideal candidate to replace Isak if he decides to give into the temptation of a move away this summer. At 25 years old and at the peak of his powers, David has found the back of the net 23 times in all competitions – the same as Isak has managed – with nine of those coming in the Champions League this season.

Those numbers were rightly described as “insane” by U23 scout Antonio Mango and David could just be getting started. Set to leave Lille, the forward looks destined for big things no matter where he decides to take his talents this summer.

If Newcastle are to maintain their Champions League place, then the Canada star should be among their top targets even if Isak does stay put. On a free deal, David could suddenly hand Howe two strikers capable of scoring over 20 goals a season.