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Crystal Palace have made no signings to enhance their first team squad so far during this transfer window, but with one week left to go, Patrick Vieira could be close to signing one player for the Eagles.

What’s the word?

According to Italian news outlet TuttoJuve, Crystal Palace are getting ‘closer and closer’ to signing Juventus outcast, Aaron Ramsey.

The report suggests that Vieira is trying to ‘convince’ the ex-Arsenal player to join the South London club on a move this month, and will ‘leave the door open’ pending his imminent departure from the Serie A.

Ramsey has been linked with a move to Palace continuously over the last month with the French manager even signing the praises of the 31-year-old recently when asked about the rumours of a move.

“I believe he is a really strong player,” Vieira said at his press conference last week.

“He’s going to have a lot of options, I would say.”

Fans will be delighted

Eagles fans will be delighted to see Ramsey added into the midfield this season, especially considering they are yet to sign anyone this winter. And many supporters took to social media after their third defeat in their last five games on Sunday afternoon at home to Liverpool.

One fan simply tweeted: “Sign Ramsey to bolster that midfield #cpfc.”

The £4.5m-rated midfielder who was once hailed a “real leader” by Martin Keown, could be a great transfer for Crystal Palace right now by adding his experience at the highest level in both Champions League and Premier League football.

Winning the FA Cup three times with Arsenal and a Serie A league title with Juventus to name a few of his achievements, he could definitely be a great influence on the side’s young attacking players and help with creating a winning mentality within the team to guide them to a top-half finish in the last few months of the season.

The connection to fellow former Arsenal midfielder, Vieira, could be the positive factor that leads Ramsey to Selhurst Park amid interest from a number of clubs including Tottenham Hotspur and Burnley, with the opportunity to work under a legend of his former club in a similar position surely a big pro when it comes to the Welshman weighing up his options over the next week.

In other news: Crystal Palace still keen on signing Eddie Nketiah

Veteran seamer and Hampshire captain Dominic Cork held his nerve in a last-ball finish in Canterbury to clinch a tense two-run win over Clydesdale Bank 40 Group C rivals Kent

25-Jul-2010
Scorecard
Veteran seamer and Hampshire captain Dominic Cork held his nerve in a last-ball finish in Canterbury to clinch a tense two-run win over Clydesdale Bank 40 Group C rivals Kent.Chasing Hampshire’s par-for-the-course 40-over total of 238 for 7 on a tricky St Lawrence pitch, Kent needed 13 off Cork’s final over of the game with six wickets still intact. Home opener Joe Denly chipped a single from the first ball to reach a 107-ball century – the first by a Kent player in this year’s competition – but it was Cork who kept his cool.Former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood clubbed a boundary off the next ball, then a two and a single to rotate the strike but Denly, having dug out one sublime yorker, was unable to reach the ropes again – allowing the Royals to bag their third win of the CB40 campaign.Kent’s pursuit had been based around a fine second-wicket stand of 136 in 24.1 overs between Denly (102 not out) and acting captain Martin van Jaarsveld. But once the South African went for 73, Kent’s run-chase began to unravel as Geraint Jones and Darren Stevens went cheaply, leaving Denly and Mahmood with too much to do at the death.Hampshire, who were invited to bat first after losing the toss, found it heavy going early on as both their left-handed openers Jimmy Adams and Michael Lumb struggled for their timing on a slow pitch. Though Kent helped their cause by leaking four wides in the first four overs from Stevens and Mahmood, the Royals were struggling to hit boundaries and the pair only reached the ropes five times in the opening 13 overs.The partnership ended with 48 on the board when Jimmy Adams (20) skied James Tredwell’s fourth ball to long-off, where Amjad Khan took a fine catch on the run. Without ever finding his best form, Lumb reached a 54-ball 50 with five fours only to toss away his wicket to the very next delivery, stumped giving Tredwell the charge.Despite Tredwell’s return of three for 40, Hampshire increased the tempo late in the innings with cameo knocks from Neil McKenzie (40) and former Kent batsman Michael Carberry (46). Rookie seam bowler Matt Coles returned for a second stint at the Nackington Road End and profited in the dash for late runs as Carberry, McKenzie and Sean Ervine (13) all holed out to give him flattering figures of three for 59.

The 2010 Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa will be a success but there are challenges to build its popularity, the tournament’s CEO Sundar Raman has said

Cricinfo staff31-Aug-2010The 2010 Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa will be a success but there are challenges to building its popularity, the tournament’s CEO Sundar Raman has said.Last year’s tournament drew low television ratings and relatively sparse crowds in India, the world’s largest cricket market, for matches not involving IPL sides. Raman admitted the lack of team recognition is a problem and one the tournament committee is working hard to fix.”For us it is very important that people know the teams,” Raman said in an interview with , a website that covers the business of sport in India. “South Africa is going to be different because they are used to a club culture. Now we are starting with an advantage because they know the two South African teams and they know the three IPL teams, so recognition is not 3 on 12 [last year] but it’s 5 on 10. So that’s a big advantage for us.”At the same time, Raman said that in any global tournament, be it the cricket or football World Cups, there will be teams that are unfamiliar to a particular country’s fans. “Here you have three teams to follow, and not one team to follow. That is the big advantage [for Indian fans].”Still, despite the club culture in South Africa, ticket sales have been mixed to this point. Raman expected Durban and Port Elizabeth to have full houses but said there were concerns about Centurion, which doesn’t have a home team in the tournament, and Johannesburg, which does not feature either an Indian or a South African team.”See CL T20 we have to be clear is not going to get international visitors, rather it’s going to develop the local market. That’s the big challenge for us and I think that’s what we should start focusing on rather than trying to get the world to descend on South Africa.”The other important change this year, Raman said, is to let the quality of cricket be its own advertisement instead of diluting it with Bollywood-style entertainment. The tournament was conceived as a global event, so what entertainment there will be is aimed at a global audience, which is why Enrique Iglesias was chosen to sing the theme song.”It has to have relevance,” Raman said. “Someone like Enrique cuts across genres and brings in a new set of audiences. Our belief has always been that T20 is a great platform to get new audiences into the game. For us this is a big advantage. Bringing in Enrique, taking the tournament to South Africa, adds more fans.”The tournament, which begins on September 10, is being aggressively promoted around the world. In India, ESPN Star Sports (ESS), which owns the broadcast rights, has signed Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan as the event’s brand ambassador and has been running a string of ads featuring the actor and players such as Sourav Ganguly and Andrew Symonds. The three IPL teams – Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians – are also running their own marketing campaigns to drum up excitement among their fans.”Each of the sub-licensees of ESPN Star Sports are promoting it in a big way,” Raman said. “Eurosport is broadcasting in 13 languages, then they have ESPN broadcasting in the Caribbean market. It’s a big investment that all of us have made in this. Australia is doing some serious promotion through publicity and on-air promotions. So the tournament is being promoted pretty heavily through our broadcasters.”The end result is an event Raman believes will appeal to the viewer in India and the spectator in South Africa. “I am more confident than I was last year because I have seen what the product was last year. I believe that not only will it be a huge success in India but it will be far more well received in India. You have to acknowledge India is the market where there are sizeable TV audiences and South Africa is where the stadium audiences are.”

Tottenham Hotspur have submitted a bid for Luis Diaz as they look to bolster Antonio Conte’s attack this January transfer window…

What’s the word?

According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, the north Londoners offered around €40m (£34m) for the FC Porto winger but it’s not going to be enough to tempt them into a sale this month.

The 25-year-old is keen on playing in the Premier League and talks remain ongoing ahead of a potential deal before Monday evening’s deadline.

“Luís Diaz deal. Player and agent side there’s no problem despite rumours, he dreams of PL – Tottenham know that personal terms won’t be an issue.

“€35/40m opening bid is not enough to convince Porto. Talks still on while deal is considered not easy between clubs,” he tweeted.

Added firepower

Conte is desperate to see new additions to his squad this week and Diaz would be quite the coup indeed.

Although the Colombian winger is not in one of his three priority positions – right wing-back, centre-back and striker – he would still be a fine and much-needed acquisition.

Spurs have struggled in attack this season and that’s largely due to the form of Harry Kane, having scored just five goals in 19 league appearances. If he’s out of form, then there is little hope in the final third as he’s their only senior striker.

[snack-amp-story url = “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/tottenham-hotspur-thfc-spurs-transfer-rumours-gossip-conte-paratici-levy-updates” title=”Read the latest Spurs news, transfer updates and much, much more!”]

Not to mention Heung-min Son’s continued absence through injury.

Last season, the Lilywhites were able to call upon Gareth Bale as a third-string to their attacking bow and whilst he didn’t feature as much as he probably would have liked during that loan spell from Real Madrid, he was still a major influence in the penalty box.

Indeed, the Welsh favourite still hit double figures across all competitions – as per Transfermarkt, Bale scored 16 goals and laid on three assists across 34 appearances, in which only 19 were starts.

He averaged a direct contribution every 87.7 minutes – one goal or assist every game.

Spurs never replaced him during the summer and they are now paying the price for that.

In Diaz, sporting director Fabio Paratici can add another source of firepower to Conte’s attack.

The 31-cap sensation has delivered 16 goals and six assists in only 28 appearances for the Portuguese giants so far this season, and that includes impressive outings in the Champions League, too.

Valued at £36m by Transfermarkt, the 5 foot 10 dynamo has been dubbed a “livewire” in the final third as well as being “phenomenal” by Portuguese football expert Alex Goncalves.

The fact that Premier League rivals Liverpool and Manchester United have also been mooted with interest only further highlights the talent that Diaz has on offer and it means Spurs must make sure they are leading the race to sign him come Monday evening.

Diaz could be a frightening prospect alongside Kane and Son in attack for Conte, so Paratici and co must do everything to pull this one over the line.

AND in other news, Fabrizio Romano reveals Spurs’ first January signing is “advanced”, Conte will be buzzing…

The umpires Tony Hill and Billy Bowden suspected one of Mohammad Amir’s colossal no-balls in the Lord’s Test was deliberate, but only as a means to intimidate the batsman Jonathan Trott

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Sep-2010The umpires Tony Hill and Billy Bowden suspected one of Mohammad Amir’s colossal no-balls in the Lord’s Test was deliberate, but only as a means to intimidate the batsman Jonathan Trott. The major overstep from the third ball of the 19th over was a central part of the spot-fixing allegations against Amir first published in the .It was a short delivery that troubled Trott, who was on 21 at the time and went on to finish with 184. Hill said he and his fellow New Zealander Bowden had no inkling about any possible spot-fixing, but the extent of the no-ball raised questions in their minds about whether it was intentional.”We never suspected a thing,” Hill told the . “There had been the big overstep in particular and in our minds that was more a deliberate overstep to have a go at Trott, who had been batting so well.”Billy and I chatted about that and thought it seemed deliberate, especially as it was dropped in short. But it all seemed to be one of those things that fast bowlers have been known to do to get an advantage.”Hill was the man who called another no-ball from Mohammad Asif, which was also mentioned in the original allegations. He said the Asif delivery was much less of a concern as he stepped over by only a narrow margin.”The one at my end from Asif was not a helluva lot over,” Hill said. “He is generally pretty accurate [with his front foot]. It is the Glenn McGrath type thing where the foot comes down always in the same spot. When it alters slightly you think it is unusual but like McGrath, or anyone when they try harder, can occasionally go over.”Hill said he and Bowden were kept up to date on the allegations after the third day’s play and it turned into a later night than usual for the officials. He described as “eerie” the feeling out in the middle on the morning of the fourth day, as England wrapped up the match quickly.”It was very quiet out there,” he said. “Both teams were very quiet. You always expected something to be said out there but it wasn’t. They just got on with playing the game.”From our point of view it was a matter of trying to concentrate like hell so we weren’t caught up in the moment. I was expecting a few verbals, but thankfully both sides concentrated on the cricket side of things. It was almost quiet.”

A key update has emerged on Rangers and their attempts bring John Souttar to Ibrox during the January transfer window…

What’s the talk?

Daily Record reporter Andy Newport has revealed that the Gers have had an offer turned down for the centre-back on deadline day.

He tweeted: “Hearts knock back a bid of around £400k from Rangers for John Souttar.”

Devastated

Rangers fans will be devastated by this news for several reasons.

Firstly, it has come far too late into the window. They will be frustrated by the club’s lack of speed in trying to secure a deal for him this month, having secured the pre-contract agreement on January 14. Ross Wilson has had just over half of the month to snap him up before the summer and has now waited until deadline day to make an offer which still is not good enough to be accepted.

Therefore, the supporters will be devastated with the club’s weak attempts to sign him to bolster Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s squad immediately. If Wilson was serious about landing him in January, then the offers should have been made as soon as a pre-contract was in the bag, rather than in the final days of the window, leaving Hearts with no time to replace him.

The fans will also be devastated as it means that they will not be able to watch him boss the defence in Glasgow for the Light Blues before next season. He is a top-quality Premiership player and could have improved the club’s backline in the weeks and months had he joined on a permanent deal this month.

Souttar has averaged a brilliant SofaScore rating of 7.40 so far this season, showing off his ability and consistency at this level as he has been able to turn in superb performances week-in-week-out in the Scottish top-flight. This is why the Ibrox faithful will be far from pleased that they will need to wait until later in the year to see him play.

AND in other news, Wilson heading for last-gasp Rangers blunder as Jordan Campbell drops big D-Day update…

Journalist Rahman Osman believes Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira could drop Vicente Guaita to stick with Jack Butland against Chelsea this weekend.

The Lowdown: Palace’s run to the semi-final

Palace have enjoyed a solid and sometimes exciting first season under Vieira and are now preparing for a Wembley showdown with their London rivals.

The Eagles have defeated Millwall, Hartlepool United, Stoke City and Everton on their way to the last four, conceding just twice.

Butland has played every minute of domestic cup action this season, with Guaita first choice in the league, and Osman thinks the Spaniard, who Roy Hodgson labelled as ‘excellent’, will be dropped following the 2-1 loss to Leicester last time out.

The Latest: Guaita to be axed?

Osman shared a story on London World on Wednesday, looking at three Palace stars Vieira may leave out this weekend.

One of those was Guaita, with the reporter believing Vieira will ‘break the heart’ of the 35-year-old by sticking with Butland at Wembley.

The Verdict: Right decision?

Some managers decide to bring back their first choice ‘keeper in the latter stages of cup competitions, but it only seems fair for Vieira to leave Guaita out and stick with Butland – just look at how Caoimhin Kelleher rewarded Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final this year.

Butland made a big blunder against Millwall in the third round but hasn’t been troubled much in the FA Cup since then, though he could be a much busier man on Sunday.

We will soon find out what Vieira decides in regards to selection, however, bigger calls may have to be made outfield, especially with injury concerns to Tyrick Mitchell and Michael Olise.

In other news: Vieira now wants Parish to bring 25-assist star to Palace; club preparing to lose their player

Ricky Ponting has been picked to the lead the World ODI team of the year by a specially-appointed selection panel chaired by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Oct-2010Ricky Ponting has been picked to lead the World ODI team of the year by a selection panel chaired by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd. The team was announced during the ICC Awards in Bangalore on Wednesday. Ponting has been given this honour for the second time at these awards – he was also named captain in 2008. India captain MS Dhoni has been picked as wicketkeeper for the third straight year.The XI includes five players from Australia, two from India, two from England, plus Daniel Vettori and AB de Villiers – the sole representatives from New Zealand and South Africa.Lloyd, the chairman of the panel, said: “It was a very difficult task in selecting this year’s ODI team but looking at the line-up I feel it has great balance and depth. It would be a tough team for anyone to beat.”Lloyd was joined on the panel by former Australia batsman Matthew Hayden, former England bowler Angus Fraser, former Zimbabwe player and England coach Duncan Fletcher and former India allrounder Ravi Shastri.ODI team of the year: Sachin Tendulkar (India), Shane Watson (Australia), Michael Hussey (Australia), AB de Villiers (South Africa), Paul Collingwood (England), Ricky Ponting (capt, Australia), MS Dhoni (wk, India), Daniel Vettori (New Zealand), Stuart Broad (England), Doug Bollinger (Australia), Ryan Harris (Australia).

Manchester United are predicted to make huge changes this summer, including the appointment of a new manager and now Fabrizio Romano has made a huge claim on the transfer plans at Old Trafford.

What’s the word?

According to popular transfer insider and journalist Romano, Manchester United are already making plans to sign their next striker, with Richarlison and Darwin Nunez named as two players the club are interested in.

The Italian took to his YouTube channel to make the claim:

“Erik ten Hag knows how important it is to decide who is the perfect striker for Manchester United as soon as possible.

“For example, Darwin Nunez, and Richarlison are already players they have discussed internally.

“The perfect striker will be discussed with ten Hag before jumping into negotiations. Man United will 100% sign a new striker regardless of what happens with Ronaldo.”

Supporters will be excited

Following the shocking 4-0 defeat at Anfield on Tuesday evening, supporters will surely be excited that the wheels are in motion to start making changes and improving the squad with Richarlison and Nunez named as potential candidates.

Richarlison is currently embroiled in a relegation battle at Everton, however, at just 24 years old could be a great signing for Man United to improve the quality in the front three.

The Brazilian striker usually plays on the left wing to accommodate his partnership with Dominic Calvert-Lewin who plays in the centre-forward role at Goodison Park but has proven he can also be effective in his team-mate’s role too following his absence this season through injury.

The Toffees attacker has scored 49 goals in 145 appearances for his current club, but with the right service and guidance could have the potential to become a much more consistent goal threat and would be a good prospect for replacing Marcus Rashford if he was to leave Old Trafford at the end of the season, as per reports.

Nunez is a hugely hot prospect for many Premier League clubs with Liverpool and Arsenal also speculated to be interested in securing his signature this summer following a fantastic season so far from the Benfica striker.

The 22-year-old has scored an impressive 33 goals in 38 appearances for his Portuguese club and has caught the eye of several clubs following his Champions League performances scoring six goals in the competition against Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Ajax.

With that being said, if ten Hag does join the club he will have a challenge on his hands to identify the right players to make an instant impact on the struggling Man United side to ensure next season they have the opportunity to compete for trophies, and signing a new strike force is clearly a promising priority.

AND in other news: Ten Hag must brutally axe “terrible” MUFC flop who made just 11 passes v LFC

Trevor Barsby, the Queensland coach, has slammed Australia’s selectors for their treatment of the allrounder James Hopes, who has been left out of next week’s one-day series against Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2010Trevor Barsby, the Queensland coach, has slammed Australia’s selectors for their treatment of the allrounder James Hopes, who has been left out of next week’s one-day series against Sri Lanka. A 15-man squad was chosen but surprisingly there was no room for Hopes, who has not missed any of Australia’s past 15 ODIs but will instead line up for the Bulls.This year has also been one of Hopes’ best on the international scene; he has won two Man-of-the-Match awards since February, having never claimed that honour in his first 71 one-day internationals. Despite his record, Hopes has reportedly been told by the selectors they are looking to take only two allrounders, Shane Watson and Steven Smith, to next year’s World Cup.”I’m not sure what is going on,” Barsby said on Wednesday. “I hope this decision just means they wanted to give James some [domestic] cricket after the Indian series. I would be disgusted if, after having done everything that has been asked of him in the Australian side – whether that be opening the batting, opening the bowling, closing out the innings at No. 6 or 7 or bowling at the death – that they would even think of discarding him like this.”It’s not the sort of treatment you expect of a player who does whatever job was asked of him, and does it by executing his skill to the very best of his ability. You won’t hear the bloke himself complain, that’s not his way. He just gets on with things and puts the team first. But I can say without a shadow of doubt that he remains one of the best players in the country in the limited-overs arena and hopefully the selectors continue to acknowledge that.”Hopes has played 84 ODIs since his debut in 2005 and has a decent collection of 1326 runs at 25.01 and 67 wickets at 35.58, but he is often the first man dropped if the selectors want a different balance. At 32, next year will probably be his final chance to play in a World Cup after he was overlooked in 2007.