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Celtic are beginning to probe in the summer window and could turn to someone who is a familiar face in the eyes of Brendan Rodgers as they strengthen from middle to front, according to a report.

Celtic return for Kieran Tierney kickstarts summer business

The Bhoys have already recruited Kieran Tierney as a statement addition this month and more signings are expected to follow as building for next campaign enters full view.

Speaking after confirmation that the Scotland international is back in Glasgow, Scott Brown believes Tierney could become the next Celtic captain if he manages to hit the ground running during his second spell.

He explained: “It’s probably the best move Celtic’s made. Looking at Kieran, Brendan Rodgers got the best out of him before, he knows what he’s like.

“I’m sure he probably tried to sign him when he was down at Leicester as well. You can see longer term, Kieran will probably be next Celtic captain.”

Ending a long wait for what will become an emotional reunion, Rodgers could look to bring Motherwell midfielder Lennon Miller to Celtic as links continue to persist following the 18-year-old’s sparkling debut for Scotland against Liechtenstein.

Celtic submit formal bid for new attacker who's being scouted by Liverpool

The Bhoys are beginning to step up their summer business.

BySean Markus Clifford Jun 11, 2025

Fulham striker Callum Osmand will also arrive at the Bhoys for training compensation, emphasising the Bhoys’ commitment to landing value for money in the market.

Free or nominal transfers may not be the most glamorous mode of operation, but there are plenty of exciting stars out there who don’t cost the earth in the grand scheme of things.

Leaning into that theme a little further, Celtic have now turned their attenton to a versatile star who is known to Rodgers that could strengthen their pool of options.

Celtic plotting move for Fousseni Diabaté

According to Africa Foot, Celtic are tracking Lausanne Sport star Fousseni Diabaté amid his availability on a free transfer once his contract expires at the Swiss Super League outfit.

Intriguingly, the Mali international was previously at Leicester City and was labelled a “talent” by Hoops boss Rodgers despite being out on loan while the Irishman was in charge at the King Power Stadium.

Fousseni Diabate in 2024/25 – all competitions

Appearances

40

Goals

8

Assists

9

Capable of playing on either flank or as an attacking midfielder, newly-promoted Ligue 1 outfit Paris FC have emerged as another serious contender for his signature, though they will be joined by several other European clubs in the hunt for his services.

Lausanne have offered a two-year extension to Diabate in an attempt to retain his services. Nevertheless, he isn’t keen on penning a new deal, which could pave the way for a bargain swoop from the Bhoys to land the 29-year-old.

One or two wingers will be necessary after Jota was ruled out for several months due to injury, so it is intriguing to see that Celtic are doing their due diligence on that front.

Chelsea have now held talks over a deal for the “new Erling Haaland”, but a deal will not be cheap, with his current employers set to hold out for a fee of £71m, according to a report.

Blues set sights on Haaland-esque striker

Crystal Palace’s shock FA Cup final victory on Saturday ensured that Haaland is set for his first trophyless season since arriving at Manchester City, with Eberechi Eze scoring the only goal in a game that had no shortage of controversy.

The decision not to show Dean Henderson a red card for handling the ball outside the box has raised eyebrows, while there was also bemusement over the fact that Haaland opted to let Omar Marmoush take his side’s penalty, which was saved.

That said, the Norwegian’s goal record since arriving at the Etihad Stadium remains stellar, having reached the 30-goal mark in all competitions for the third season on the spin.

Season

Appearances

Goals (all competitions)

2022-23

53

52

2023-24

45

38

2024-25

42

30

As such, almost any club from across Europe would be interested in signing a striker capable of emulating the 24-year-old, and Chelsea may now have found one, with a report from Spain revealing they are locked in a thrilling battle to sign RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko.

The Blues are fighting it out for Sesko with Premier League rivals Liverpool, but a deal will not be cheap, with the German side set to hold out for a fee of €84m (£71m), which could be a potential stumbling block, as neither English club are willing to fork out a fee in that ballpark.

The report also states that negotiations have not been easy up to this point, which suggests that talks have already been held, but it remains to be seen whether the two parties are able to come to an agreement.

New target: Chelsea now hatch plan to sign "powerful" PSG defender for £0

The Blues are aiming to sign a Paris Saint-Germain player on a free transfer this summer.

ByDominic Lund May 18, 2025 Sesko could be the "new Erling Haaland"

Such is the 21-year-old’s potential, there have been suggestions that he could progress in a similar way to the Man City star, with scout Jacek Kulig claiming he may be the “new Erling Haaland.”

While the Slovenian is yet to be as prolific as Haaland once was in the Bundesliga, he enjoyed a solid 2024-25 campaign with Leipzig, picking up 13 goals and five assists in 33 league appearances, while also impressing in the 2023-24 season.

At the moment, Chelsea seem to be some way off striking an agreement for Sesko, but should the German side be willing to lower their asking price, there are plenty of signs he could be a fantastic long-term addition for Enzo Maresca.

Newcastle United advanced to third place in the Premier League when they thrashed Crystal Palace at St. James’ Park on Wednesday evening.

Now, Jason Tindall will lead the Magpies out at Villa Park as Eddie Howe continues to recover from pneumonia. Aston Villa fought valiantly but failed to stage a comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League in midweek, thus heightening what will be billed as a six-pointer of sorts.

Newcastle – Remaining Premier League Fixtures

Date

Opponent

League Position

19/04/25

Aston Villa (A)

7th

26/04/25

Ipswich Town (H)

18th

04/05/25

Brighton (A)

10th

10/05/25

Chelsea (H)

6th

18/05/25

Arsenal (A)

2nd

25/05/25

Everton (H)

13th

Unai Emery’s side sit in seventh place, five points behind Newcastle. Therefore, it’s paramount that United avoid defeat in the Midlands, reinforcing their strong position as they look to return to Europe’s elite stage after lifting the Carabao Cup in March.

Newcastle team news

Howe isn’t the only one who will be absent on Saturday evening, with Sven Botman, Jamal Lascelles and Lewis Hall all still sidelined. A weakened backline, yes, but Newcastle have proved their resourcefulness when faced with depletion.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

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Tindall spoke in his pre-match press conference of the importance of keeping a winning formula intact, but having played only three days ago, several players will be eyeing a starting berth. Anthony Gordon, for one.

However, the frontline is firing on all cylinders right now and the Three Lions star may have to wait a little longer to return from the outset.

The stand-in Toon boss may want to make a small tweak to his midfield, though.

Why Newcastle should make a change in midfield

Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes are playing with such brio at the moment that to replace either of them would be a foolish notion. However, Joelinton could start this one from the bench without disrupting the overall fluency of Newcastle’s engine room.

Joelinton is a force of a player, a raging bull, and while he laid on an assist for Alexander Isak against the Eagles, the Brazilian was somewhat anonymous by his usual standards, winning three duels and taking just 33 touches before being hooked just after the hour mark.

Newcastle do have options to step in, should Tindall opt to freshen things up a tad. And who better to unleash than Lewis Miley, who has had to bide his time for minutes this term after an injury-disrupted start and the overall fluidity of Newcastle’s tried-and-tested starters.

Miley, 20, has been a breath of fresh air over the past few years, breaking from the Tyneside academy and making his name as a prospect of genuine potential, already praised for his “unbelievable” technical ability by fellow youth graduate Sean Longstaff.

Though he hasn’t featured all that often this term, the rangy midfielder could make a real impression here, stepping in due to Newcastle’s short turnaround.

His sole Premier League start of the season so far sparked a goal, and a rounded performance besides. As per Sofascore, Miley complemented his crisp, driven strike against Nottingham Forest by taking 63 touches, winning six duels and making two tackles and interceptions apiece.

Now, that dynamism could be utilised against Aston Villa. Miley’s technical, ball-playing quality will be well served against Emery’s hybrid style, looking to spark rapid transitions that could be countered by a midfield three including Miley, blending coolness with creativity.

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Newcastle have not given up on signing another rising star from Milan.

Posts ByBrett Worthington Apr 17, 2025

They started the season with 287 for 3 against RCB, and ended it with 278 for 3 against KKR

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2025

287 for 5 – SRH vs RCB, Bengaluru, 2024

At the Chinnaswamy Stadium, boundaries rained down as SRH redefined T20 brutality, obliterating their own record from earlier in the season to post a staggering 287 for 3. Travis Head led the charge with a career-best 102 off 41, Heinrich Klaasen pummelled 67 off 31, and Abdul Samad applied the finishing touches with an unbeaten 37 off just 10 balls. That helped SRH win the contest by 25 runs.

286 for 6 – SRH vs RR, Hyderabad, 2025

The big question heading into IPL 2025 was whether the first 300-plus total would be scored. SRH, the favourites to do so, came tantalizingly close and fell 14 short. The top five collectively faced 118 balls, and not one of them struck below 200. On his SRH debut, Ishan Kishan added to the fireworks, smashing his maiden IPL ton.

278 for 3 – SRH vs KKR, Delhi, 2025

SRH began IPL 2025 by smashing the second-highest total in IPL history, but then their big-hitters fell away dramatically and last-year’s runners-up were the third team to crash out of the race for the playoffs. However, they ended the season in trademark style, by clobbering KKR for 278 runs in Delhi, the third highest total in IPL history. Abhishek Sharma made 32 off 16, Travis Head 76 off 40, but Heinrich Klaasen was the show-stopper with 105 not out off 39 balls – the joint third-fastest hundred in IPL history.

277 for 3 – SRH vs MI, Hyderabad, 2024

The carnage in Hyderabad resulted in an 11-year-old IPL record falling, RCB’s seemingly-insurmountable 263 for 5 from 2013 fell by the wayside thanks to a breathtaking, collective show from the SRH batters. Klaasen spearheaded the carnage with an unbeaten 80 off 34, while Head and Abhishek Sharma blasted rapid fifties. Mumbai Indians gave a spirited chase but lost steam, falling short by 31 runs.

272 for 7 – KKR vs DC, Vishakhapatnam, 2024

A rampaging Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batting unit laid down an early marker for a season of run-fests with a commanding demolition of Delhi Capitals (DC). Sunil Narine blazed 85 off 39, Angkrish Raghuvanshi kept pace with 54 off 27, and Andre Russell provided the finishing fireworks with 41 off 19. Only Ishant Sharma’s tight final over, conceding just eight runs, stopped KKR from climbing even higher on this list.

266 for 7 – SRH vs DC, Delhi, 2024

SRH ventured where no team had gone before in a T20 powerplay. Head and Abhishek blazed their way to a jaw-dropping 125 for no loss in six overs. At that point, 300 looked like a terrifyingly real possibility. But with the field restrictions lifted, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel pulled things back, bringing SRH’s innings down to more earthly realms. Shahbaz Ahmed’s unbeaten 59 off 29 balls, however, still powered them past 260.

Former England captain admits personal tragedy helped change perspective, as he prepares for Red for Ruth Day at Lord’s

Matt Roller28-Jun-2023Andrew Strauss has a strong claim to be England’s most successful Test captain of the modern era: Ashes victories both home and away, more than twice as many wins as losses in charge, and a rise to the top of the ICC’s Test rankings clinched with a whitewash against India.And yet, as Strauss reflects on his career, he has a lingering sense that his team could have achieved more than they did. “We felt like we’d achieved everything we wanted to,” Strauss said, “but there was something slightly missing. And it was that excitement, that feeling of pioneering, trying new things. If I had my time again, maybe I would do things differently.”That view is informed, in part, by Strauss’s career since his playing retirement in 2012. As England’s managing director, he was an instigator of their white-ball revolution. Last year, back in the role on an interim basis, he appointed Rob Key to his old, position, and Key in turn then chose Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes as Test coach and captain.”That’s a reflection I’ve had for many years, starting with the white-ball revolution in 2015: that there are different ways to play the game,” Strauss said. “As I’m a bit older and have less hair now, my thinking on this has changed a bit from, ‘It’s only about winning’ to, ‘It’s also about how you win’.”That’s what Stokes and McCullum have done now: they’ve won, but they’ve won with style. They’re questioning centuries-held conventions in the game – and doing it with good reason. The game has evolved and changed dramatically over the last few years.”Strauss admits his glory with England was about personal goals and ambitions, whereas the foundation is about ‘something greater than me’•Getty ImagesBut Strauss’s perspective has also changed by events in his personal life. Five years ago, his wife Ruth was diagnosed with an incurable lung cancer that affects non-smokers. She passed away later that year, survived by her husband and their sons Luca and Sam.Strauss set up the Ruth Strauss Foundation in 2019 to provide support for families and raise awareness of non-smoking lung cancers, and Thursday marks the fifth annual Red for Ruth Day at Lord’s.”Seeing her courage and her bravery, you completely change your perspective in life about what’s important, where you get fulfilment and where purpose lies,” Strauss said. “I was very proud of what I was able to achieve in an England shirt but, in many ways, that was about me achieving my own goals and ambitions.”This is something much greater than me. I know how hard it is for all those families. It just breaks my heart that every day, there are hundreds of kids being put in the situation that my kids were put in. We can’t change that, but we can make it a little bit easier. If we’re able to do that, that warms my soul and I know it’ll be warming Ruth’s soul too.”The foundation has raised millions of pounds through previous Red for Ruth days, but the money itself is not the point. As Strauss puts it: “The Ruth Strauss Foundation is not here to raise money. The Ruth Strauss Foundation here is here to help as many people as possible.”But the Ashes provides an opportunity that other series do not: “People are going through this from all walks of life in all parts of the country, many of whom have never heard of Cricket or the Ruth Strauss Foundation. The Ashes Test match is hopefully a time when people that perhaps aren’t always watching cricket are suddenly tuning in.”Related

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In the past 12 months, the foundation has rolled out peer support groups for both the children and surviving spouses of people with incurable cancer. “People feel a really strong kind of desire and yearning to talk to people who’ve been through something similar to them,” Strauss explained.”It’s great having professional help, but it’s equally powerful just to talk to other people who’ve gone through it. And I think that’s even more the case for kids: kids find it hard to speak to adults, but they find it easier to speak to other kids. More broadly, [it’s about] having a conversation about death, which we’re just not very good at in this country.”In Strauss’s own case, “It was one of those situations that my friends and family, they just weren’t qualified to help me. And so I did reach out to people that had been through something similar; I hung on their every word. And of course for people that have been through it, it’s a lovely thing to share their experiences but also to remember their loved ones.”There was no shortage of criticism for England on Wednesday: for their selection, their catching, their lengths, their body language, their willingness to speak to Australia’s players. As Lord’s turns red on Thursday, perhaps it will provide an opportunity to remember that there are more important things to worry about.For more information and to donate to the Red for Ruth Foundation, click here.

She seemed like she had thrown her wicket away in the 80s again, but a stroke of luck saved her and she brought up her first hundred since 2019

Annesha Ghosh01-Oct-2021WV Raman, who was India Women’s head coach until earlier this year, remembers Smriti Mandhana as a “very chilled-out character” who didn’t overthink her game, or “talk cricket” too much, or overdo things at training.”She had it in her head all that time that ‘I need to provide a good start, I need to contribute a lot being a senior cricketer’ and stuff like that,” Raman recalled when speaking on Sony Sports India on Friday about Mandhana’s mindset when going through a dry run.He was alluding to the up-and-down phase after Mandhana’s breakout 2018 following the middle-to-late-tournament lull at the 2017 ODI World Cup. After racking up runs for fun and becoming the 2018 ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year, Mandhana kicked off 2019 with the promise of plenty, even hitting a blistering 105 in India’s very first match of the year. But in the 48 innings since, before Friday, not once could she get to three figures. In 12 of those innings, Mandhana lost her wicket after reaching a half-century. And had a front-foot no-ball – which also happened to be a full toss – by Ellyse Perry on day two of the ongoing pink-ball Test against Australia not ruled out a catch, Mandhana would have had a 13th missed hundred to her name.”I actually get scared of bad balls quite a lot. When that happened on the second ball of the day [I faced]… I got a full toss and I was like, ‘Oh, s***!’ I was like, ‘Oh, God, what is this! I prepared so much overnight, and I have got out to a full toss!’ For us, we thought the catch was taken and the no-ball came out of the box,” Mandhana said of the lifeline, regaling reporters with her animated narration after the truncated second day’s play at Carrara Oval.Related

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On a day when she hit 127, breaking the 72-year-old record for the highest score by a visiting batter in women’s Tests in Australia, Mandhana mostly looked the part of the “determined” batter she had set out to be, after finishing overnight on 80.In an in-play interview with 7 Cricket, she also acknowledged the mental hurdle that the protracted spate of near-misses had become: “Really happy that finally I got through this 80[-run] period because I keep getting out in 80s and 90s, so I was really focused and wanted to at least cross that and try and get to three figures… Disappointed I gave it away towards the end. Nevertheless, I am happy with the performance.”

“From 2018 to this year, the way I would have loved to bat, I was not able to. Even though I was getting the fifties or whatever scores I was getting, I was still trying to search the kind of feel I wanted to search”Smriti Mandhana

The monkey off her back, Mandhana opened up on what the anguish of losing her ability to bat the way she visualised felt like. This, especially when going through her past performances with elder brother Shravan and longtime personal coach Anant Tambvekar back at home.”From 2018 to this year, the way I would have loved to bat, I was not able to,” she said. “Even though I was getting the fifties or whatever scores I was getting, I was still trying to search the kind of feel I wanted to search. With family also I just kept asking about… we kept checking the videos of what has gone different. The only thing which I was working on was to try to get the kind of feel I wanted to get as a batter.”Whenever the tours were coming, I was not thinking about that because at the end whatever you bat at that time, you have to deal with it and just go forward and try and look to play the match. But, definitely, this series I was feeling much better as a batter and definitely wanted to make it count because of the few chances I had lost in the last two years [because of the lack] of my feel. So, I wanted to try and make it up and still want to try and make it up.””Runs will keep flowing – whether you go for them or not,” WV Raman recalls telling Smriti Mandhana•BCCI/UPCAMandhana had batted all of “two nets sessions” with the pink ball before opening the batting for India on Thursday. But it was down to her that India, despite the lack of familiarity with the pink ball or long-form cricket in general, had got into a position of strength, the opener laying the marker with her “tempo”, as Meg Lanning described it.On Friday, Mandhana added seven fours to take her tally to 23 boundaries in a 216-ball knock. And when the milestone came on the back of two fours – the second a deceptively languorous short-arm pull – off Perry in the 52nd over, an uncharacteristically energetic celebration followed.”In the 14-day quarantine [in Brisbane, ahead of the start of the series], I was doing all of that only: I was trying to visualise me batting and trying to celebrate my century,” she explained, deconstructing the celebration that saw her take the helmet off, raise both arms and tap her name on the back of her shirt with the bat, as if to make a statement.In his evaluation of Mandhana’s 127, Raman jogged his mind back to conversations when he would insist she “consumed overs”, for staying in the middle alone would be enough for her naturally fluent style of run-scoring to dictate the pace of her – and India’s – innings. “Runs will keep flowing – whether you go for them or not… even if you take some time, you will always make up,” he remembered saying.On the evidence from the first two days of the Test, she might be on her way to making up for the missed hundreds too.

يستعد الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي بيراميدز لخوض مواجهة قوية ومصيرية أمام نظيره فلامينجو البرازيلي، وذلك ضمن منافسات بطولة كأس إنتركونتيننتال، في لقاء يحظى باهتمام جماهيري وإعلامي كبير، نظرًا لقيمة الفريقين على المستوى القاري.

وكان فريق بيراميدز قد شق طريقه في البطولة بنجاح، بعدما تمكن من تحقيق فوز مستحق على أوكلاند سيتي النيوزيلندي بنتيجة ثلاثة أهداف دون مقابل، في الدور التمهيدي الأول.

جاء ذلك قبل أن يواصل عروضه القوية ويتغلب على الأهلي السعودي في مباراة ربع النهائي، ليحجز بطاقة التأهل إلى الدور نصف النهائي من البطولة.

وعلى الجانب الآخر، نجح فريق فلامينجو البرازيلي، أحد أبرز أندية أمريكا الجنوبية، في التأهل إلى الدور ذاته عقب فوزه على كروز أزول المكسيكي، بطل أمريكا الشمالية، ضمن منافسات دور ربع النهائي، ليضرب موعدًا مع بيراميدز في مواجهة حاسمة على بطاقة التأهل للمباراة النهائية، والتنافس على لقب كأس التحدي.

طالع أيضًا | القناة الناقلة لمباراة بيراميدز وفلامينجو اليوم في كأس إنتركونتيننتال موعد مباراة بيراميدز وفلامينجو اليوم في كأس إنتركونتيننتال

ومن المقرر أن تُقام مباراة بيراميدز وفلامينجو في تمام الساعة السابعة من مساء اليوم السبت بتوقيت القاهرة، والثامنة مساءً بتوقيت مكة المكرمة، على ملعب أحمد بن علي بالعاصمة القطرية الدوحة، في لقاء يسعى خلاله بيراميدز لمواصلة كتابة التاريخ وتحقيق إنجاز جديد، بينما يطمح فلامينجو لتأكيد هيمنته القارية ومواصلة مشواره نحو اللقب.

ويمكنكم مطالعة مواعيد ونتائج جميع المباريات لحظة بلحظة عبر مركز المباريات من هنا.

He became only the third batter in first-class history to hit six sixes in an over, after Garry Sobers and Ravi Shastri

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Nov-2025

Meghalaya’s Akash Choudhary made history on Sunday, becoming only the third player in first-class cricket to smash six sixes in an over and scoring the fastest fifty in the format. He did so by hitting an unprecedented eight sixes in a row, en route to his 11-ball fifty.Primarily a seamer, Choudhary achieved the feat on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Plate Group match against Arunachal Pradesh in Surat. Coming in at No. 8 with Meghalaya 576 for 6, he began his innings with a dot and two singles before smashing six sixes off left-arm spinner Limar Dabi in the 126th over of the innings. Thus, he joined an elite club that previously included only Garry Sobers and Ravi Shastri. Mike Procter had also hit six consecutive sixes but across two overs.Choudhary continued his onslaught in the next over as well, hitting offspinner TNR Mohith for two back-to-back sixes to bring up his fifty. He broke the previous record – off 12 balls by Leicestershire’s Wayne White against Essex in 2012 – by one ball. Choudhary’s was also the second-fastest fifty in first-class cricket in terms of time taken (where data is available). He took nine minutes. The record belongs to Clive Inman, who took eight minutes for his 13-ball half-century for Leicestershire against Nottinghamshire in 1965.