Sunderland are interested in a deal to bring Tom Ince to the Stadium of Light this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Football League World, who claimed that Sunderland and Ipswich Town are two clubs interested in a deal for the Stoke City winger, although neither are believed to have made a concrete offer for the 29-year-old at present.

The report added that a number of other clubs are also keeping a close eye on the situation of the former England under-21 international, although the Black Cats and the Tractor Boys are thought to be leading the race for his signature.

Finally, it is claimed that the forward does not appear to be part of Michael O’Neill’s first team plans at the bet365 Stadium, despite having featured for the club in pre-season.

Imagine him and Pritchard

Ince did not enjoy the best of seasons in 2020/21, starting just five Championship games for Stoke and on loan at Luton Town, but should the winger go on to seal a move to Sunderland this summer, it is clear that he possesses the ability to make a real impact in the third tier.

Indeed, as recently as the 2018/19 season, Ince played a starring role for Stoke after joining from Huddersfield Town in a £10m move, with the £1.35m-rated man scoring six goals, providing seven assists and creating seven big chances over his 38 Championship appearances, taking 2.7 shots and making 1.2 key passes per game.

These returns saw the man who Nathan Jones dubbed a “massive” player earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.04, ranking him as the club’s best performer in the league that year.

It is evident that the £27k-per-week Ince is indeed a very talented player; he has just found form and game-time hard to come by in recent seasons – something which could also be said about another of Sunderland’s summer signings in Alex Pritchard.

Indeed, prior to his disappointing spell with Huddersfield, the 28-year-old impressed during his time at Norwich City, scoring eight goals and registering 12 assists over his 43 Championship appearances for the club.

As such, if Kyril Louis-Dreyfus does go on to secure Ince’s signing this summer, and Johnson manages to get both the 29-year-old and Pritchard firing once again, Sunderland fans could well be set to enjoy a festival of attacking football at the Stadium of Light next season. We believe that the Black Cats chairman should do all he can to land the Stoke winger ahead of the upcoming League One campaign.

In other news: Louis-Dreyfus set to seal Sunderland masterclass for record-breaking starlet, fans will be buzzing

A prediction has been made by Noel Whelan regarding when he thinks the Newcastle United takeover process may be concluded.

The Lowdown: Arbitration adjourned

As shared by the official website of the St. James’ Park faithful, the arbitration hearing between themselves and the Premier League has now been adjourned until early 2022 because of issues with the disclosure of evidence.

The hearing was expected to take place this month, but now further delays have been implemented, leaving things in limbo for the foreseeable future.

The Latest: Whelan on takeover process

Whelan, a pundit who played as a striker for the likes of Leeds United and Coventry City, has since given his thoughts on the takeover process to Football Insider, claiming that he cannot see it being concluded even next year, leaving a question over just how long it will take:

“I think it’s been a farce ever since it first started, to be quite honest with you.

“This doesn’t surprise me that they don’t want to disclose any kind of findings. They’re going to drag it on as much as they possibly can.

“It’s not good for Newcastle because they want this takeover done. They want the takeover done because it’s going to improve and bring more money into the football club.

“It’ll strengthen their squad and position in the Premier League.

“You can never see this one settling very quickly because there’s two strong personalities at either end of this: Mike Ashley and the Premier League.

“The Premier League will need to make sure they’ve got all their documents in order, as will Mike Ashley.

“The process is going to drag on. I probably can’t see it getting concluded in 2022 either.”

The Verdict: Worrying

These are certainly worrying times for the Toon Army, as they go into yet another season with uncertainty surrounding the North East club.

Even though the arbitration hearing is now set to take place next year, there is a chance that it could be delayed even further as it has done already.

If Whelan’s prediction that the process may not even be concluded before 2022 is right, then a serious question has to be asked over how long the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium will be willing to wait and ultimately, whether a takeover on Tyneside will ever be completed.

In other news, find out which £50,000-per-week target is attracted to a Magpies move here!

تحدث أحمد مرتضى منصور عضو مجلس إدارة نادي الزمالك عن أزمة لاعب فريق السلة أنس أسامة وقرار مقاطعة رابطة الأندية وملابساته، إلى جانب أزمة التجديد لطارق حامد لاعب القلعة البيضاء.

وقال مرتضى في تصريحات تلفزيونية ببرنامج “الماتش”: “أزمة أنس أسامة وتوقيعه للاتحاد السكندري والزمالك؟ مشهد غير منضبط، مرتضى منصور صرح أن علاقتنا بالاتحاد السكندري تاريخية، لو اللاعب وقع بالفعل للاتحاد يجب أن يكون هناك عقاب رادع”.

الزمالك يعلن تجديد عقد أحمد فتحي لاعب فريق الطائرة

وأضاف: “الاتحاد السكندري دائمًا عندما يطلب لاعبين كرة قدم من الزمالك ندعمه، ولا أعتقد أن لاعب كرة سلة سيكون سببًا في تأثر العلاقة بين الناديين”.

وأردف: “أعتقد أن الموضوع يمكن أن يتم حله بشكل ودي حتى لا يتأثر مستقبل اللاعب، ولا أتمنى أن يتم تصعيد الأمر للاتحاد الدولي، لكن ما أستطيع تأكيده أن أنس أسامة وقع للنادي والإجراءات سليمة بنسبة مائة بالمائة”.

وواصل: “أوليفر روي سيرد علينا غدًا بشأن تدريب فريق كرة اليد، ومدرب آخر إسباني، وسأطرح الأمر على مجلس الإدارة”.

وعن معنى مقاطعة رابطة الأندية، قال منصور: “هذا يعني أن هناك تجاوزًا حدث من رئيس الرابطة في حق نادي الزمالك، وكان علينا أن نرد بالطرق الشرعية، ولا يصح بأي حال من الأحوال أن يحدث تجاوز في حق رئيس الزمالك لسنه ومكانته”.

واستكمل: “الزمالك سيخوض مبارياته في الدوري بشكل طبيعي، ولكن كان يجب أن تكون هناك وقفة وأعلنا عدم تمثيل أحد لنا في الرابطة”.

مرتضى منصور: الزمالك سيضم لاعبًا قويًا جدًا من الأهلي

واستطرد: “ننافس على الفوز ببطولات خلال الوقت الحالي، والوقت غير ملائم للحديث عن التعاقدات الجديدة، أو التجديد مع طارق حامد، والإعلان سيكون في الوقت المناسب، نحن نحاول تهيئة الأجواء لتحقيق نتائج إيجابية”.

وتابع: “قبل يوم 30 يونيو جميع اللاعبين في كل الفرق سيكونون قد حصلوا على مستحقاتهم كاملة عن الموسم الحالي والماضي”.

وأتم: “اتمنى بالتأكيد ضم لاعبة بحجم ثريا محمد لصفوف الزمالك، وتفاوضت مع جميع لاعبات كرة السلة في المستوى الأول من أجل الانضمام للزمالك ولكن هناك عقبات، ومن ضمن تلك العقبات هي أن الفريق لا ينافس على المراكز المتقدمة في المواسم الماضية”.

Kane Williamson led a fightback for New Zealand Under-19s as they built a 156-run lead against England in the second Test at Worcester

Cricinfo staff03-Aug-2008
Scorecard
Kane Williamson led a fightback for New Zealand Under-19s as they built a 156-run lead against England in the second Test at Worcester. Greg Smith had just enough time to bring up his 150 when he ran out of partners, but not before England had taken a first-innings advantage of 30 in reaching 402, with Ben Brown making 49.New Zealand’s second innings got off to a shaky start as Ian Saxelby dismissed both openers to have them 38 for 2 and three runs later Stuart Meaker claimed another wicket, Fraser Colton for a duck. Meaker struck again soon after with the wicket of Craig Chapoca and they were in trouble at 65 for 4.But Williamson stood firm, reaching 108 by the close from 113 balls, and he was supported by Harry Boam who brought up his half-century just before the end of play. New Zealand will have to play aggressive cricket on the final day if they want to level the series after losing the opening Test at Taunton.

Fulham have been dealt a blow in their bid to secure Aboubakar Kamara an exit from Craven Cottage this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Peter Rutzler, with The Athletic journalist revealing in a post on Twitter that talks regarding the 26-year-old’s proposed £4m switch to Aris Salonica have collapsed.

In his tweet, Rutzler said: “It’s understood that talks regarding a £4m transfer for Fulham’s Aboubakar Kamara to Greek Super League side Aris Salonica have broken down.”

Silva will be fuming

Considering just how poor Kamara has been for Fulham in recent seasons, reports that a deal which would have seen the striker seal an exit from Craven Cottage this summer – particularly for a fee of £4m – has fallen through is sure to have left Silva frustrated.

Indeed, over his 11 Premier League appearances for Fulham last term, the £1.8m-rated man scored no goals, registered no assists and missed one big chance, averaging just 0.2 shots on target per game.

These returns saw the man Claudio Ranieri dubbed “disrespectful” when he dislodged regular penalty taker Aleksandar Mitrovic to hit a spot kick in 2018, only to duly miss, earn an average SofaScore match rating of 6.36, ranking him as the Cottagers’ fifth-worst performer in the top flight.

Seemingly as a result of these disappointing displays, in addition to his considerable £21k-per-week wages, Scott Parker subsequently sent the Mauritania international out on loan to Dijon for the second half of the campaign.

As such, it would very much appear as if Kamara’s time at Fulham is all but up, and with Aris having offered an extremely generous figure for the striker, this move would have been a fantastic outcome for Marco Silva and the west London club.

However, with his proposed switch to Greece now appearing dead in the water, Tony Khan and Fulham’s transfer team will now have to get to work on finding the 26-year-old a new club.

In other news: Khan could have finally replaced Fulham legend with “outstanding” £19k-p/w beast

According to Calciomercato.it, Lilywhites target Takehiro Tomiyasu ‘wants’ to join Tottenham and an agreement has already been reached with Bologna for a ‘maximum of €20 million (£16.9m)’ – but there’s one last hurdle.

The Lowdown: Spurs in Tomiyasu talks…

Spurs managing director Fabio Paratici has had his eye on Tomiyasu for quite some time now with talks dating back to the beginning of last month.

Tottenham originally had a £12.9m (€15m) bid, plus an extra £2.6m (€3m) in add-ons, rejected by Bologna according to Sky Sports, but The Athletic then brought an update stating that a move was being finalised.

Updates went quiet on Tomiyasu just before and during the Olympic games, with reliable reporter Alasdair Gold revealing that sources on the player’s side were ‘confident’ a deal would still be done after he returned.

The Latest: Tomiyasu back on the cards?

Calciomercato.it have provided a fresh update on the saga from Italy, and they believe a Spurs agreement is already in place with Bologna to the tune of £16.9m.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-latest-gossip/” title=”Tottenham latest gossip!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

They add that Tomiyasu ‘wants Tottenham’ and intermediaries are currently working to overcome the ‘latest obstacle’ preventing his arrival at N17.

This last hurdle in the deal, with talks having been ‘non-stop’ as they put it, concerns the ‘terms of payment’ – but intermediaries are apparently at work behind the scenes to resolve this issue.

The Verdict: Get it done…

For what should be one of their more fairly straightforward transfers of the window, Tottenham have certainly taken their sweet time in securing a deal for the Japan international.

As such, we believe he should still be brought to north London as a versatile ace who can solve two problems at once for new boss Nuno Espirito Santo.

The 22-year-old can be slotted in at both right-back and centre-back and finished the 2020/2021 Serie A campaign as one of Bologna’s most consistent defenders.

According to WhoScored, he averaged the joint-most clearances per 90 (3.3) out of the entire squad and joint-second most tackles in that time (1.5).

Still young and with plenty of years ahead of him, a £16.9m fee is totally worth it for a versatile and promising talent.

In other news: ‘Wow’, ‘Fantastic’…Sky Sports pundit blown away by ‘huge’ claim involving Spurs, find out more here.

Manchester United have no intention of selling forward Anthony Martial during this summer’s transfer window, according to reports.

What’s the story?

The 25-year-old had been heavily linked with a move to Italian champions Inter in recent days as they search for Chelsea-bound Romelu Lukaku’s successor.

However, according to Sky Sports, Martial is believed to be part of United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans for the upcoming campaign, ruling out an Old Trafford exit.

Fans will be absolutely buzzing

Martial has often been a frustrating figure for the Red Devils since his arrival from Monaco six years ago, with world-class performances often coming between lengthy barren spells in front of goal.

He appeared to add a much-needed consistency to his game throughout the 2019/20 campaign, though, bagging 23 goals and laying on a further 12 assists in 48 appearances for United.

Staying true to his infuriating nature, Martial was unable to build upon that fabulous season last term. A serious knee injury ended his campaign early, limiting him to just 16 goal contributions in 36 outings.

In his place, the likes of Marcus Rashford, Edinson Cavani and Mason Greenwood thrived for Solsjaer’s charges, and the arrival of former Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho has threatened to push the Frenchman further down the pecking order.

Nevertheless, with Marcus Rashford facing up to 12 weeks out following shoulder surgery and Jesse Lingard also facing a spell on the sidelines after testing positive for Covid-19, Solskjaer is not expected to allow Martial to leave this summer.

This latest revelation is likely to leave the club’s supporters absolutely buzzing. Although he can be a constant source of frustration, Martial is still only 25 and has a very respectable record for the club considering his age.

In all competitions, the versatile forward has found the back of the net on 78 occasions in 258 games for the 20-time English champions, providing 50 assists along the way.

That’s an impressive return for someone yet to hit their peak years, and Martial could benefit from the improved support system Sancho’s arrival will bring.

Therefore, a large section of United’s fanbase will be delighted to see him pull on a red shirt next season; they’ll just be hoping it’s the Martial of 2019/20 rather than 2020/21 that turns up.

And, in other news…John Murtough plots Man Utd move for “technically savvy” £35m gem, he has “everything” 

MatériaMais Notícias

Este domingo é o dia. No Rio, em Minas e no Paraná, clássicos previsíveis decidem quem leva a taça. E é a rivalidade, muito mais do que mais um título estadual, que mobiliza o torcedor. Já não há ingressos para o Fla x Flu do Maraca ou o Atlético x Cruzeiro do Independência. Com torcida dos dois times, apesar das tentativas cerceadoras de sempre dos procuradores de plantão. Torcida dupla que também haverá na Arena de Itaquera para ver a confirmação do 28° título estadual do Corinthians. O que não aconteceria se o adversário não fosse a Ponte, mas Santos, Palmeiras ou São Paulo. Uma outra aberração.

O Couto Pereira também vai encher para o Atle-Tiba. Já no Gauchão, impedido de jogar em casa por uma exigência esdruxula do regulamento, o Novo Hamburgo – “intruso” que só precisa de um empate para quebrar a série de seis títulos do Inter – fretou ônibus gratuitos para a torcida percorrer os 96 quilômetros de serra até Caxias.

A exceção do domingo são os campeonatos baiano e pernambucano, que terão apenas o primeiro jogo das finais de ida e volta. O mesmo Ba-Vi de sempre e Sport x Salgueiro, outro intruso, estreando o árbitro de vídeo da CBF em jogos oficias no país. De norte a sul, haverá motivos para comemorar. Não só títulos. Mas terem chegado ao fim esses torneios marcados pela incompetência, o descaso e as bizarrices das federações. Vejam aqui mais algumas delas (semana passada, publicamos outras cincos, Confira aqui!):

1 – Quando as quartas de final do Paranaense já haviam começado, com os jogos de ida realizados, uma decisão da Justiça puniu o J.Malucelli com a perda de 16 pontos pela escalação irregular de um jogador. E tudo teve de começar de novo, com o Londrina ganhando uma segunda chance – havia perdido o primeiro jogo – e passando a enfrentar outro time, o Rio Branco. Um remendo absurdo, em que a federação rasgou o próprio regulamento, já que a eliminação do Malucelli mudou a classificação de todos os times e deveria ter mudado também os confrontos das quartas.

2 – Sob o pretexto de manter os clubes em atividade, a Federação Paulista insistiu em promover o tal campeonato do interior. Mas jogar, nesse caso, não é sinônimo de ganhar ou perder. É de ter prejuízos. O torcedor não é bobo não joga dinheiro fora, ainda que os ingressos tenham preço de banana. O resultado: 96% dos jogos fecharam no vermelho. Red Bull e Ferroviária, em Campinas, teve apenas 75 pagantes que geraram uma renda de R$ 440 e um prejuízo de R$ 28 mil. Qualquer torneio escolar desperta maior interesse.

3 – Voltando ao Gauchão, para explicar a injustiça de que foi vítima o Novo Hamburgo. Embora a média de público da competição tenha sido de 4.500 torcedores (só Grêmio, com 15 mil e Inter com 14 mil ultrapassaram essa marca), de apenas 11 dos quase 80 jogos terem registrado um público superior a 10 mil pessoas, a federação estabeleceu que, para os jogos finais, essa deveria ser a capacidade mínima dos estádios. A Arena do Vale, do clube do Novo Hamburgo, tem 5 mil. O clube ainda tentou colocar arquibancadas tubulares, mas foi impedido. E terá de jogar fora de casa, apesar de ter tido a melhor campanha do campeonato.

4 – Se a Federação Gaúcha peca por excesso de rigor, a Ferj erra por excesso de liberalidade. O Carioca virou a casa da mãe Joana, onde todo mundo jogou onde quis. De Natal, onde a Arena das Dunas recebeu Flamengo x Boavista, a Brasília que assistiu a Fla x Vasco, passando por Cariacica onde o Fla enfrentou o Flu. Da várzea de Los Larios, na Baixada Fluminense, ao calor de Moça Bonita que desde o século passado não tinha tanto jogo, teve campinho para todo lado. Enquanto o Botafogo, numa implicância juvenil, impedia o Flamengo de jogar no Nilton Santos

5 – Chegamos, enfim, à maior bizarrice de todas: a atuação dos dirigentes, especialmente os chamados grandes clubes, nos tais conselhos arbitrais que as federações realizam antes dos campeonatos começarem. É ali que boa parte das mazelas contadas aqui, neste domingo e na semana passada, são decididas com a aprovação dessa cartolagem. Por masoquismo, negligência, esperteza. Ou será apenas burrice?

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In a rather bland match at Trent Bridge, Lancashire beat Nottinghamshire comfortably by five wickets

John Ward at Trent Bridge22-Jun-2008
Scorecard
Francois du Plessis scored an unbeaten 57 in Lancashire’s five-wicket win over Nottinghamshire © Cricinfo Ltd.
In a rather bland match at Trent Bridge, Lancashire beat Nottinghamshire comfortably by five wickets. Two fifties were scored, one on each side, and Francois du Plessis played a good all-round role for Lancashire.In windy conditions, Nottinghamshire won the toss and decided to bat. Their innings was built on a sound second-wicket partnership of 57 between Adam Voges (51) and Samit Patel (31 off 20 balls), that had them quite well placed at 69 for 2 when Patel fell in the tenth over. His best shot was a six over extra cover, into the strong wind, off Kyle Hogg.Chris Cairns began his innings with a thick edge for four but did not settle; he made 8 before he was caught at deep midwicket by fellow New Zealander Lou Vincent, who was in action again later in the over when a superb return from the deep ran out Chris Read for 2.Voges went to his 50 off 41 balls, but was out next ball, holing out to Andrew Flintoff on the midwicket boundary. Most of the runs after that came from Mark Ealham, who hammered 28 off 21 balls, including two sixes. With two overs to go, Notts had only 122 for 5 but Ealham took them past 150 before being caught at long-off from the final delivery. The fielder, again, was Vincent, but he juggled the ball three times before holding it – catching was not easy in such a wind and the fielders held some very good high ones.As so often in this competition, the most successful and economical bowlers were the spinners, Simon Marshall taking 3 for 27, including Ealham in his four overs, and du Plessis 1 for 13 in three. Again Flintoff did not bowl, and had not been expected to.Lancashire were all Mal Loye at the start. He swung Darren Pattinson over square leg for six in the second over and raced onwards, taking his team to 41 for 1 in five overs – the wicket being Vincent to a superb leg-side stumping for 4. But then Loye tried a reverse sweep and skied a catch to backward point, having made 32 off 23 balls.This slowed the scoring rate and after ten overs Lancashire were 70 for 2, one ahead of Notts at that stage. But Stuart Law and du Plessis produced the good partnership that the home team did not have, and they drew ahead again. When Law fell for 33, this brought in Flintoff.He showed understandable signs of nerves at first, being close to lbw and then run out off the first ball he faced. A thunderous straight drive for four will remain in the memory, but then he drove at Rob Ferley and was bowled for 13, off nine balls.All this time du Plessis had been chugging along at a good rate but somehow without great charisma – his 50 came off 33 balls, and his eventual unbeaten 57 contained seven fours and a six, yet somehow this valuable player does not quite capture the imagination. He did deservedly capture the Man-of-the-Match award, though. Lancashire were home with four balls to spare, but it was the expected result, without excitement. Andre Adams and Ealham took two wickets each, though Ferley was again the most economical with 1 for 23 off his four overs.

Hamza Choudhury is keen to join Newcastle United on loan in pursuit of game-time, according to The Northern Echo’s Scott Wilson. 

The lowdown

Newcastle had hoped to agree a temporary deal for Choudhury in January, only for Brendan Rodgers to stand in the way, and the 23-year-old remains on the Magpies’ shortlist.

He was limited to just four Premier League starts last season, making a further six appearances off the bench (via WhoScored).

Rodgers has hailed Choudhury as ‘one of the best’ at winning the ball back and also described him as a ‘tough’ individual.

The latest

According to Wilson on Twitter, Choudhury is ‘ready to push’ for the move ‘to ensure he plays next season’ and has told his representatives to take the necessary steps.

Newcastle are aware of this development and are prepared to open talks with Leicester, but only once ‘they know where they stand’ with Joe Willock.

As Wilson explains, only two domestic loans are allowed at any one time, and Newcastle are looking to strike a season-long deal with Arsenal. If they’re successful, they would need to decide whether to use their second domestic loan slot on another midfielder.

The verdict

It’s easy to understand why Newcastle are hesitant. Steve Bruce is working within what’s been called a ‘meagre’ transfer budget this summer, so loans will be key to strengthening the squad and staving off the threat of relegation.

Willock has to be to the top target, having proven his value to the Magpies following a hugely successful loan spell earlier this year. That move would halve Newcastle’s domestic loan quota, but they shouldn’t necessarily shy away from Choudhury simply because he too is a midfielder.

Where Willock offers a box-to-box presence and a goalscoring threat, Choudhury is a different kind of player. He is more destructive and excels at protecting a defence, so he could complement the Arsenal man’s skillset nicely if both players end up at St James’ Park for the 2021/22 campaign.

In other news, Mark Douglas says Newcastle have been offered this player.