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Some Everton fans have been left buzzing as a transfer update emerged on Matthew Hoppe.

As per Bild, the Goodison Park faithful could sign the striker for as little as €4.5m (£3.8m) before the summer window ends, with FC Schalke in need of raising funds following their relegation from the Bundesliga in the 2020/21 season.

Despite his team’s relegation, Hoppe had a fine individual campaign, scoring six goals and adding one assist in 22 games in the German top flight (Transfermarkt), and was described as a player with ‘real quality’ by manager Dimitrios Grammozis back in March.

The USA international could turn out to be a very decent back-up striker to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and at just £3.8m in today’s market, would seemingly be a bit of a steal.

Everton fans on Hoppe transfer update

These supporters of the Merseyside club buzzed as the transfer update on Hoppe was shared by The Everton End on their Twitter page:

“Would love him as a backup y’know”

Credit: @MitchellOtherSm

“#GetHoppe”

Credit: @rvaevertonians

“If Rafa Benitez and Marcel Brands think he can foot it in the Premier League and they want him let’s sign the lad.”

Credit: @PeterPapadopo11

“He’d be good value. A bulldog that would play like Richarlison. And only 20 too! He would give 100% every game.”

Credit: @djfsnow

“Sound him”

Credit: @DayOwens84

“I’ve watched a couple dozen games of his and he has it. Would absolutely THRIVE in Everton blue”

Credit: @HowNeilFeels

In other news, find out what early team news versus Leeds United has Toffees fuming here!

Many Wolves fans have been left buzzing over a transfer update involving Okay Yokuslu.

As per Sky Sports, both the Midlands club as well as Watford are interested in signing the Celta Vigo ace before the summer window shuts.

He is valued at just £5m and is keen on a return to the Premier League, after impressing while on loan at West Brom in the 2020/21 season.

Yokuslu ranked highly among his Albion teammates in terms of average tackles (2.4), interceptions (2.2), dribbles (1.2), passes (33.1) and pass success (82.5%) per game in the top flight (Whoscored), and could be a very handy option in the centre of midfield for Bruno Lage should the Molineux faithful sign him, especially for a price as little as £5m.

Nonetheless, they will have to fend off the Hornets for his signature.

Wolves fans on Yokuslu transfer update

These WWFC supporters buzzed as the transfer update was shared on Twitter, with a couple even going as far as to claim that he is ‘class’:

“He’s class honestly I wouldn’t mind him for £5m”

Credit: @lewis__wwfc7

“I was very impressed with him. Would love to get him. He is what we need.”

Credit: @atulbalaji2

“I’m here for it, he’s class and only £5 mil”

Credit: @Harley_V12

“Yes yes yes get this done now”

Credit: @CiaranG09

“This has to happen please @Wolves”

Credit: @NormWolves1877

“Absolute no brainer this. Decent player who improves our squad without having to break the bank.”

Credit: @adamwwfc03

In other news, find out what exit rumour has Wanderers gushing here!

© Reuters It is important that the performance of the Indian team in their ICCChampions Trophy opening game against Zimbabwe be viewed withsympathy

Partab Ramchand16-Sep-2002
© ReutersIt is important that the performance of the Indian team in their ICCChampions Trophy opening game against Zimbabwe be viewed withsympathy. This was obviously a weary touring side – incessant cricketfor months in various lands followed by a long drawn out row overcontracts is enough to affect even the fittest of players. They thenhad to make a long trip from London to Mumbai, then on to Chennai andfinally to Colombo – a delayed flight on the last leg to boot.Consequently, there was no mistaking the fatigue of the team memberswho took the field against opponents who on the other hand were freshand had not played competitive cricket for some months.Zimbabwe have almost always been tough opposition for India. In thehead-to-head record, India are way ahead but what this simple factwill not convey is the numerous occasions on which the Indians havehad to sweat it out before securing victory. In sub-continentalconditions, the Indians’ superiority is much more marked and in normalcircumstances, India should have won with some deal of comfort. Butagainst the background I have already described, the narrow margin ofvictory perhaps was not surprising.The batting did not exactly cover itself with glory. If the recoverywas strong – 87 for five to a final total of 288 for six – questionsmight well be asked as to why there was a crisis in the first place.Some complacency, a few faulty shot selections and yes, a bit ofstaleness were evident.One may be tempted to say all is well that ends well. But there islittle doubt that the famed Indian batting will have to perform up toreputation in the game against England. It is not a healthydevelopment if there are to be retrieving partnerships for the sixthand seventh wickets every time.Rahul Dravid is perhaps enjoying the finest phase in his outstandingcareer. He is right now at a stage when little is going wrong for him.His timing and shot selection is impeccable and it matters littlewhether he is playing in the West Indies, England or Sri Lanka orwhether it is Test cricket or the limited overs game.
© CricInfoFor that matter, Mohammad Kaif also seemed to be carrying on fromwhere he left off at Lord’s on that memorable day a couple of monthsago. The young man represents the new face of Indian cricket. I alwaysthought his style and approach and technique was more suited to Testcricket and while that view remains, the manner in which he hasadapted himself to the quicker tempo of the limited overs game hasbeen admirable. He has obviously worked hard on his game and it isabout time he is given the opportunity to cement his place in the Testside too.Unfortunately, the bowling problems remain, whether it is Test cricketor the shorter version. While the four main bowlers more or less didtheir job creditably, the problem lies with the ten overs to be sentdown by non-regular bowlers. In 12 overs on Saturday, Tendulkar,Ganguly and Yuvraj gave away 78 runs. With the team management firmlybent on playing seven batsmen, there is tremendous pressure on thefour bowlers to come good and if any of them fail, the back-upstrength just does not inspire confidence.But there is no need for the Indians to press any panic buttons evenif they are in the proverbial group of death. The victory overZimbabwe does not guarantee the runners-up of the 2000 tournament aplace in the semifinals. A crucial match against England remains to beplayed.Perhaps VVS Laxman can replace Dinesh Mongia and Ajit Agarkar can takeAshish Nehra’s place. That could strengthen the team even if it doesnot solve the problem of the lack of a fifth main bowler. But with thepolicy of playing seven batsmen firmly in place, there is very littlethat can be done in this regard except to hope that the main bowlersare niggardly and that the remaining ten overs are not very expensive.The Indians have a few days to work out the necessary tactics andthere is no doubt that the team members will welcome the rest andrelaxation. Somehow one senses the players will rise to the occasionagainst England.

ذكرت تقارير صحفية إنجليزية، أن نادي آرسنال أجرى محادثات مع باولو ديبالا، مهاجم فريق يوفنتوس، للحصول على خدماته هذا الصيف.

وسيغادر اللاعب البالغ من العمر 28 عامًا يوفنتوس، عند انتهاء عقده في يونيو، بعد فشل اللاعب وإدارة السيدة العجوز في الاتفاق على تمديد العقد.

وحسب شبكة “ESPN” العالمية، فإن آرسنال أجرى مُحادثات مع ممثلي ديبالا في الساعات القليلة الماضية.

اقرأ أيضًا.. توتي: سأجتمع بـ ديبالا وآمل في إقناعه بالانضمام إلى روما

وقالت الشبكة إن وكلاء ديبالا تواجدوا في لندن خلال الساعات الماضية والتقوا بـ مسؤولي آرسنال، في ظل سعي الجانرز للتعاقد مع مُهاجم جديد.

وأوضح التقرير أنه من المُقرر أن يلتقي وكلاء ديبالا مع توتنهام أيضًا، بعد أن تلقوا عروضًا من جانب روما وإنتر ميلان الإيطاليين.

ديبالا سوف يترك يوفنتوس بعد سبع سنوات مع السيدة العجوز، حيث انضم إلى البيانكونيري مقابل 29 مليون جنيه إسترليني من باليرمو في صيف 2015.

Tottenham Hotspur appointed Nuno Santo as their new manager on Wednesday evening, but someone who was never anywhere near having talks or getting the job was Gennaro Gattuso, according to Spurs legend Graham Roberts.

Gattuso was linked with the job in the immediate aftermath of talks breaking down between Spurs and Paulo Fonseca after he left his role at Fiorentina just 23 days from being appointed following disagreements with the board.

The Italian was a very left-field option when news broke of him being linked with the job, but he was never an actual candidate to replace Jose Mourinho according to Roberts, who spoke exclusively to Football FanCast:

“Gattuso was never ever even mentioned at Tottenham Hotspur football club and that’s from a good source.

“It was just paper talk and Jorge Mendes pushing it.”

Daniel Levy has brought in Fabio Paratici from Juventus and handed him the task of finding the right man to take Tottenham forward following their regression ever since Mauricio Pochettino was sacked.

Following talks and links with the likes of Erik Ten Hag, Antonio Conte and Fonseca, it appears that Nuno was not one of Spurs’ top targets when they began their search for a new manager.

Nuno looks to have a huge job on his hands in the hot seat at Spurs with the squad in need of a revamp, much like his previous club Wolves, who are also in need of being improved.

Tottenham Hotspur have been told how much it’ll cost to land one of their mooted summer transfer targets…

What’s the word?

It’s thought that Spurs are battling Premier League rivals Wolves for the signature of Sporting Lisbon midfielder Joao Palhinha but they will have to stump up €60m (£51m), which is thought to be his release clause.

That’s according to Portuguese newspaper Record (July 12th, page six), who first linked the North London outfit to the 26-year-old last month after making his major tournament debut at Euro 2020.

O Jogo (via Express & Star) suggested Nuno Santo was interested in the six-cap Portugal international last year, so this latest link should come as no surprise.

Nuno’s next Neves?

Perhaps most interestingly, Wolves’ reignited interest boils down to the future of Ruben Neves, who has been linked to the Lilywhites’ North London rivals Arsenal in recent months.

According to journalist Pedro Sepulveda, who was speaking on Fabrizio Romano’s Twitch stream this week, Palhinha will only be targeted by Wolves if his fellow countryman leaves and as Football FanCast have previously outlined, he’d be a perfect like-for-like successor.

Therefore, it isn’t unfair to suggest that if Spurs win the race, then Nuno may well get his own Neves on the hallowed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium turf next season.

Both players are quarterback-like presences in the engine room.

For instance, the Wolves star managed an 84.4% passing accuracy, whilst also recording an average of 2.4 tackles per game in the Premier League.

By comparison, Palhinha managed just shy of that in terms of passing, recording 83.4% and better tackling returns, with an average of 3.3 tackles per outing. That increased to 4.5 at Euro 2020, too, via WhoScored.

Nuno may already have a defensive beast in Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg but during his time at Wolves, he wasn’t afraid to double up on such an influence as Leander Dendoncker, who can also play at centre-back, was often deployed alongside Neves.

He could look to repeat this anchorman tandem by signing Palhinha, only further bolstering those potential comparisons.

Sporting boss Ruben Amorim claimed the 26-year-old powerhouse is a “special player” to MaisFutebol (via Manchester News Today), whilst Portuguese football expert Marino Peixoto added further weight to that argument, suggesting that he has had a “simply phenomenal season” for Lisbon last term.

A Transfermarkt valuation of £16.2m may be some way off his whopping £51m release clause but if he’s a player that Nuno wants, then it’ll be on Fabio Paratici and Daniel Levy to make it happen.

In Palhinha, the 47-year-old could well discover his new Neves.

AND in other news, Paratici could finally replace Dembele with Spurs swoop for “complete” £26m “machine”…

كشف مستشار نادي برشلونة الفني، جوردي كرويف، موقف الإدارة الفنية في العملاق الكتالوني من بيع لاعب وسط الفريق الأول لكرة القدم، فرينكي دي يونج، في الميركاتو الصيفي المقبل.

وازدادت الشائعات في الساعات الماضية عن إمكانية رحيل دي يونج من برشلونة إذا جاء عرضًا مناسبًا، بعد استبدال الهولندي وغضبه من مدربه تشافي هيرنانديز في مباراة رايو فاييكانو الأخيرة.

اقرأ أيضًا | مدرب وفاق سطيف لـبطولات: قصتي مع الأهلي بدأت منذ 15 عامًا.. وموسيماني من أفضل المدربين في تاريخ إفريقيا

وتحدث كرويف في تصريحات مع إذاعة “كادينا سير” الإسبانية، وقال: “يسألونني عنه لأن هناك بعض الانتقادات أو الشكوك حوله، لكنه لاعب ذو قيمة فنية عالية داخل الفريق وفي كرة القدم”.

وأضاف: “ليس هذا الوقت المناسب للحديث عن هذا النوع من الأشياء، نحن في منافسة قوية، والجميع يركز بدرجة شديدة لتحقيق الأهداف التي نناضل من أجلها”.

وتابع: “فرينكي لاعب صاحب قيمة فنية كبيرة، ولا نريد أن نتحدث عن هذا الأمر في هذا الوقت غير المناسب”.

وعن ليفاندوفسكي: “لا أفضل الحديث عن أي اسم، روبرت لديه عقد مع بايرن ميونخ، لكن الحلم يظل مجانًا لأي شخص، لكن ليس بالنسبة للاعبين”.

وهالاند: “لقد أجاب رئيسنا خوان لابورتا بالفعل عن هذا الأمر، لذلك في النهاية ليست هناك حاجة للرد”.

وتجديد ديمبلي وجافي: “في هذه الأسابيع سنعرف ما إذا كانت المفاوضات في طريقها الصحيح أم لا، كان تجديد أروخو مشكلة واستمرت لفترة، نريد أن نحقق نفس النجاح مع لاعبين آخرين، في النهاية نحن في فترة تفاوض”.

وعن الصفقات الجديدة في الصيف: “نحن نعمل على تدعيم الفريق من خلال رؤيتنا الخاصة، كرة القدم تتغير وعلينا أن نكون منفتحين على تلك التغييرات، علينا أن نحافظ على أسلوبنا وطريقتنا في القيام بالأشياء”.

وتشافي: “هناك ثقة وصبر، يجب أن يكونا معًا، لقد خضنا مباريات رائعة في الأشهر الماضية ولكن إذا عدت إلى ديسمبر سترى الفارق، كنا في المركز السابع والثامن والتاسع، كان هناك حماس لحصد اللقب، لكن كانت هناك خيبات للآمال، علينا أن نلبي طلبات المدرب حتى نعود للمسار الصحيح والمنافسة على الألقاب”.

وعن ريال مدريد ونتائجه في الفترة الماضية: “عندما تحقق نتائج إيجابية متتالية، فهذا ليس حظًا، ميزة تعتمد على الشخصية والعقلية التي يتحلى بها اللاعبين، عدم الاستسلام أبدًا، عليك أن تمتلك القليل من الحظ كذلك”.

Shane Warne has been denied another crack at South Africa’s batsmen as he battles the hamstring injury which has interrupted one of his best seasons of spin bowling.

Michael Crutcher30-Mar-2002Shane Warne has been denied another crack at South Africa’s batsmen as he battles the hamstring injury which has interrupted one of his best seasons of spin bowling.Warne admitted he wasn’t ready for today’s fourth one-day international in Bloemfontein after failing to shake the niggle suffered during the hour before he played his 100th Test in Cape Town three weeks ago.Warne played on and bowled 141 overs in the final two Tests but the injury prevented him from playing three one-day games and Australian team physiotherapist Errol Alcott wanted the 32-year-old to rest until at least Wednesday’s fifth match in Durban.It was good news for South Africa’s batsmen, who again failed to handle Warne this season as he claimed 37 wickets from six Tests at an average of 24.72Warne was convinced he was bowling better than at any stage since returning from the shoulder injury which threatened to derail his career four years ago.”I wanted to keep on that form in the one-dayers, but it’s not to be. Now I suppose I’m going to be a bit rusty coming back for the last couple,” Warne said.”Finally, after a few years of inconsistent form and injuries, I got back to being very happy and confident with my bowling – I don’t think I could have bowled any better in these six Tests against South Africa.”I’ve been bowling so well, besides the second innings in Durban when I was just too sore with my leg.”Warne and batsman Michael Bevan, who also has a sore hamstring, will spend another day as drinks waiters for an Australian team which leads the seven-matchseries 2-0 following a dramatic tie in Potchefstroom last Wednesday.Australian selectors have seen a bright side to the injury problems, with Queenslanders Nathan Hauritz and Jimmy Maher impressing in the series, and Warne has also found a positive thought.”I’d love to be out on the park, but the break probably did me the world of good,” he said.”When you think about what we’ve had – the Australian summer, India, England, the Australian summer, South Africa – it’s been a pretty long 12 to 18 months, so 10 days off doing nothing much apart from being a gym junkie has been pretty good.”(The hamstring) feels a lot better but it’s still not right. If I play and bowl or dive for a caught and bowled or something, and I’m out for another four to six weeks, it’d be no good to anyone.”It wouldn’t be fair to team or myself to come back too early.”But Warne has still fired a verbal shot at South Africa’s batsmen, insisting the inclusion of young opener Graeme Smith to the Proteas’ squad was a boost forAustralia.”A few of the South Africans have a few technical things against the quicks with the new ball and that’s obviously why guys like Smith have been brought in but he’s probably got more problems than a few of them,” Warne said.”I know he had one or two good innings in the Tests but in Cape Town I think he was out three times before he got to nought and he went on and got 50. He playedpretty well after that.”He’s only young and hopefully he’ll learn by those experiences and be good for South Africa but him coming into the team is probably going to help us.”

MatériaMais Notícias

Alejandro Guerra, enfim, tem data para ser apresentado no Palmeiras: o meia concederá sua primeira entrevista como jogador do Verdão nesta quinta-feira, após o treino. Lá será divulgada a sua numeração, possivelmente a 18, que o acompanha ao longo da carreira. O evento acontecerá na sede da Faculdade das Américas, patrocinadora do clube.

Foi graças ao aporte da parceira que o atual campeão brasileiro buscou o armador de 31 anos no Atlético Nacional (COL). O Palmeiras gastou R$ 10 milhões no atleta, e uma fatia da verba veio dos quase R$ 28 milhões que os patrocinadores cederam para esta contratação, além da compra de parte dos direitos econômicos de Fabiano e Dudu.

Guerra já treina com o restante do grupo, participou na segunda do jogo-treino contra o Nacional e foi bem. O jogador ainda não foi regularizado, pois aguarda a liberação do seu visto de trabalho, que está em processo de finalização. Diante disso, ele não jogará contra o Botafogo-SP, domingo, mas espera-se que tenha condições de enfrentar o Ituano, na segunda rodada do Paulista.

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Having looked after the “bowling speeds” list on CricInfo for the past couple of years, I must say that the events of the last few weeks have been rather bewildering

Eddie Smith04-May-2002Having looked after the “bowling speeds” list on CricInfo for the past couple of years, I must say that the events of the last few weeks have been rather bewildering. We have seen Shoaib Akhtar unveil his new found genuine extra yard of pace in Pakistan, we’ve seen the 100 mph mark broken on a single horizontal velocity radar device, and the most puzzling and quite humorous “revelation” of all, was the fact that Brett Lee had registered 161.8 kph on the IDS Sports radar guns in Australia in the 2000/1 season.Over the past 16 months or so I must have received 60 emails regarding that particular ball. In hindsight the correct thing to do would have been to add a little note to the bowling speeds list to let the public why that measurement was not listed. I did not do that. Instead, I chose to answer each and every one of those e-mails with a standard reply which I will now pass on.The ball in question was recorded by the IDS Sports company After many years in the field they have the business of recording bowling speeds down to a fine art and very few erroneous speeds actually get to the T.V monitors. The 161.8 kph from Lee to Walsh in Brisbane was one such ball. however.Three IDS radar instruments are trained at the ball, and are triggered just prior to the time of a ball’s release by the bowler. The three radar guns in question usually display the same result, give or take a kph or so. A slight difference occurs when one radar actually records the ball at the exact point of release and thus will record a slightly higher reading than the other two which capture it a split second later. The speed at the point of release is what is displayed on the T.V monitors and at the ground.If, say, the one particular gun records a speed of 160 kph and the other two record 142kph and 141kph, then it is assumed that the 160 kph speed is incorrect. A certain message will then usually appear on the gun in question to inform the gun’s handler that a microwave emitting device has interfered with the frequency of that particular gun and the highest speed recorded is dismissed as a error.In the case of the ball in question, this is exactly what took place, except for the fact that this particular ball escaped the net so to speak. The speed of 161.8 kph did appear on the public’s television screens and many people may have seen it. What makes this particular situation a little humorous and more than a little disturbing is the fact that 16 months after the event, the ball is making headlines all around the world.I use the word humorous because that very day and later in the telecast, the ball in question was referred to by Richie Benaud. Now I personally didn’t bother to keep the tape for reference, but in general terms Mr Benaud said that the ball from Brett Lee to conclude the West Indian innings showed up as above 160kph, but the actual ball speed was 142kph as recorded by the back up radars. Obviously the anonymous person who managed to help this video into the hands of Brett Lee’s manager must have missed the afternoon’s telecast, or simply chose to ignore those words by one of cricket’s very best and experienced commentators.This matter was resolved a mere hour or so after the event, but 16 months later it raises its head in what must at least be deemed as highly unusual circumstances.Just for the record. Brett Lee’s fastest ball of the 2000/1 season in Australia was recorded at 150 kph in the Perth test. Following ankle injuries, Brett Lee’s speed had not yet returned to that of the 1999/00 season in which he was consistently around and beyond the 150kph mark. From memory, the bowling spell in question was constantly around the 144kph mark and definitely no single ball of that spell exceeded 150kph. Brett Lee’s fastest recorded delivery is 157.4 kph and he has not broken the 100mph mark, as yet.