Celtic "really want to compete" in the Champions League next season and "make a mark" in the competition, according to Sky Sports' Anthony Joseph.

What did Joseph say about Celtic?

Celtic will once again enter the Champions League group stage after winning the Scottish Premiership last season and will be hopeful of making a slightly bigger impact in Europe's premier competition next year than they did last.

Drawn into a difficult group with then reigning champions Real Madrid, RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk, Ange Postecoglou's side only managed two points – two 1-1 draws with Shakhtar.

A couple of humblings by Real Madrid and competitive but ultimately fruitless encounters with Leipzig resulted in an underwhelming European venture, but luckily for the Hoops they have another chance to shine on the continent this year.

Who Celtic's opponents will be this time round will become apparent at the end of August, but the Scottish side will be hoping for a more favourable draw than last season.

According to journalist Joseph, the Hoops are relishing the chance to make amends for last season's European performances, now with Brendan Rodgers back at the helm at Parkhead.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT: "In my conversations with contacts and sources, they keep stressing that they really want to compete in the Champions League and make a mark in Europe.

"And certainly, in the new format, they feel they have the foundation and the budget to win the league this year and put themselves in that position to get that increased Champions League revenue, and the increased amount of matches and really make a mark."

The Champions League is set to change format in the 2024/25 season which will result in a shift to an overall league table and will move from teams playing six games to eight games in the opening round.

The revenue that each club makes from playing two extra games could be significant and Celtic will be hopeful of building themselves into a force on Europe's biggest stage.

Scottish clubs have generally struggled to compete with the more traditional 'big league' clubs in recent years, despite a storied history in Europe in the past, but the Hoops are evidently eager to change the narrative around clubs north of the English border.

While it will be nigh on impossible for Celtic to replicate the Lisbon Lions of 1967, they will be desperate to make it beyond the group stage for the first time since the 2012/13 season.

Who are Celtic signing?

If last season's treble-winners want to spring some surprises in the Champions League they will need to invest heavily this summer.

Rodgers' task of improving his squad in the market will have been made significantly easier by the £25m his side are to receive for Jota's move to Saudi Arabia. While not all this will be spent on new recruits, it certainly allows Celtic to invest in keeping Rangers at bay for another year.

The Bhoys have already brought two new faces to Parkhead with Odin Thiago Holm and Marco Tilio, the latter a potential replacement for the departing Jota.

The two youngsters will likely be only the beginning of a wave of new signings in Glasgow as Rodgers receives the backing he needs to continue Celtic's dominance in the Scottish Premiership.

Celtic have been linked with former loanee Mohamed Elyounoussi, as well as Fabian Rieder and Yang Hyun-jun in recent weeks, with Celtic preparing their attack on Europe next season.

يقود نادي مانشستر سيتي الإنجليزي سباق التعاقد مع أحد نجوم فريق بايرن ميونخ الألماني، منافسًا عدة أندية بما في ذلك ليفربول.

وتشير تقارير إلى تنافس ليفربول ومانشستر وباريس سان جيرمان وبرشلونة، على صفقة من بايرن ميونخ.

ويجذب جمال موسيالا لاعب بايرن ميونخ الشاب، اهتمام كبار الأندية الأوروبية، وقد يعود مجددًا للدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

موسيالا البالغ من العمر 21 عامًا، سبق ولعب في فريق تشيلسي للشباب، وهو لاعب أساسي مع بايرن ميونخ لمدة أربعة مواسم حتى الآن، وشارك في أكثر من 150 مباراة مع الفريق الأول.

وفاز موسيالا بأربعة ألقاب في الدوري الألماني مع بايرن ميونخ، كما لعب 27 مباراة دولية مع ألمانيا.

اقرأ أيضًا | أكانجي: ريال مدريد يسجل من العدم.. والفوز عليهم برباعية كان الأفضل على الإطلاق

وذكرت صحيفة “إندبندنت” أن مانشستر سيتي يفكر في تقديم عرض لموسيالا في انتقالات الصيف.

وتوضح الصحيفة أن ليفربول مهتم أيضًا بموسيالا، إلى جانب برشلونة وباريس سان جيرمان، لكن مانشستر سيتي يقود السباق.

ويمتد عقد موسيالا مع بايرن ميونخ حتى عام 2026، وبحسب التقرير لا يوجد ما يشير إلى توقيع عقد جديد.

Liverpool remain keen on strengthening their midfield ahead of next following a potential exit for Fabinho and now a new update has emerged on a potential transfer target.

What's the latest on Liverpool's interest in Kalvin Phillips?

According to Sky Sports' senior reporter Melissa Reddy, Liverpool are considering a number of midfield options with Manchester City's Kalvin Phillips named.

Reddy revealed on Twitter:

"Liverpool had been assessing longer-term candidates to replace Fabinho. Profile might shift as they'll require an immediate starter. Among the names mooted have been Sofyan Amrabat, Ryan Gravenberch, Kalvin Phillips and Romeo Lavia…"

What is Kalvin Phillips' injury record?

After securing the services of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, Jurgen Klopp would've been feeling confident going into pre-season with the midfield rebuild that has been started.

However, the German coach could now be set to lose another midfielder after already letting go of Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner this summer, as his defensive midfield mainstay Fabinho is looking set for a move to the Saudi Pro League.

The Liverpool star did not travel with the squad to Germany this weekend ahead of a potential £40m switch to Al-Ittihad this summer and he is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia to complete his move.

As a result, new sporting director Jorg Schmadtke will be working hard to identify worthy replacements for the Brazilian stalwart, however, a move for Phillips could see the club fall into another Keita nightmare with fitness issues a real cause for concern.

After a stand-out tournament in Euro 2020 with England, Phillips was not only named England Player of the Year but also attracted the attention of Pep Guardiola – securing a £45m move from Leeds United to Man City last summer.

However, the former Leeds talisman – who has a reported £35m price tag – has struggled to reach the standards that he delivered in the European tournament due to fitness and injury issues over the last two years.

Since February 2021, the 27-year-old – hailed for his "outrageous" passing by teammate, John Stones – has had three separate incidents of long-term injury amounting to 204 days in recovery and missing out on 38 fixtures, demonstrating that he is prone to long spells on the sidelines, something that would be catastrophic for Liverpool if they were to sign the player.

Injuries in midfield were a constant issue last season for the Reds with Thiago Alcantara, Jordan Henderson and Keita picking up multiple issues over the campaign, with the latter tallying up an injury record that saw him unavailable for selection on 18 occasions during his five-year stint at Anfield; missing a whopping 105 fixtures.

As a result, the Merseysiders were stung by their £48m capture of the 5 foot 8 dud back in 2018, with the 28-year-old having gone on to depart on a free transfer last month, thus proving a real wasted venture for the club.

That lack of reliability and availability across the midfield ranks could well have played a key part in Liverpool missing out on Champions League football, struggling in cup competitions and finishing fifth in the Premier League, something that the Liverpool boss will be desperate not to repeat next season.

With that being said, Liverpool should avoid signing Phillips this summer if other options are available to take advantage of, as the Man City menace's injury issues could be a huge risk not worth taking.

Klopp certainly won't want to endure a repeat of the club's Keita disaster…

Celtic's squad will continue to be in almost complete overhaul this summer, with Brendan Rodgers admitting via The Scottish Sun that he plans to get rid of several fringe players.

When did Brendan Rodgers take over at Celtic?

The Scottish Premiership outfit once more claimed the league title in 2022/23, courtesy of another impressive campaign led by Ange Postecoglou. Having led the Hoops to first place in both of his campaigns in charge, it meant that the Australian certainly had a successful tenure during his time at Parkhead. It also meant that he ended up on the radar of other teams – and he was eventually poached to manage Tottenham ahead of the next campaign.

It left Celtic needing to fill their managerial position once more, and the club settled on bringing Brendan Rodgers back to Scotland, re-signing their old coach in the middle of June 2023.

Having left Leicester, with the Foxes heading towards Premier League relegation, he was available to bring in free of charge – release fee wise at least – and the Hoops jumped at the opportunity to bring the former Liverpool man back to the club. During his last stint with the side, he managed to bag two Scottish Premiership titles, two Scottish Cups and three Scottish League Cups.

Even more impressive is that he also went unbeaten domestically during his first year at the helm – so fans will be delighted to see him back in the hotseat.

What's the latest Celtic transfer news?

He now has some work to do in order to get the squad back to his liking ahead of the 2022/23 season. He's already seen several deals take place under his leadership, with four incomings and three outgoings for the club already. They parted with a seven-figure fee to bring in Odin Thiago Holm from Valerenga for starters, and have also spent a similar amount to snap up Hyun-jun Yang from Gangwon FC.

Rounding out their business, they've added a winger in Marco Tilio and have signed 26-year-old Tomoki Iwata. They should still have plenty of funds available though, with the Hoops having sold Jota to Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League for a fee which hit nearly £30m. Conor Hazard has left for Championship Plymouth and Adam Montgomery has departed on loan.

And that certainly doesn't look like it will be the end of their transfer business. According to boss Rodgers, via The Scottish Sun, Celtic will offload even more of their squad players this summer, with the manager feeling that the squad needs to be cut down ahead of the new season. It's unclear which players will be shown the door, but he said: "We will be looking to trim the squad. That will be the natural process. I've already spoken to a couple of players and I'm sure I will do over the course of pre-season.

"You have to be honest with players. Even if it's a tough conversation, it's the most humane way and the most direct way to tell them the plan. If that's to move on and get playing football, then that's what they have to do."

Rodgers then clearly already has a vision in place about the type of squad he wants at his disposal. Having already won pretty much all there is to win with Celtic previously, you would trust him to mould the squad to his liking in order to repeat the feat in 2023/24.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:41

Agarkar: Sri Lanka’s inexperience showed

Sri Lanka had lost five ODIs to South Africa already this year, but had hoped that months later, playing for a different trophy, they could apply the lessons learned during that walloping. It wasn’t to be. The gulf in quality between these teams was borne out by the margin of South Africa’s victory: 96 runs.In fact, South Africa may reflect that despite Hashim Amla’s velvet 103 from 115 balls, and Faf du Plessis’ efficient 75, they were not quite explosive enough during the death.They had begun indifferently with the ball too, allowing a pugnacious Niroshan Dickwella to unsettle them in the Powerplay, but soon, the middle-overs mastery of Imran Tahir took grip, and Sri Lanka’s chase of 300 lay all but scuttled, as they slumped to 155 for 6 in the 30th over. In wiping the remainder of Sri Lanka’s innings out in clinical fashion, South Africa have confirmed, if there was any doubt, that they are serious contenders for the trophy. Tahir’s final figures were 4 for 27, but his effect on the match was even more substantial than those numbers lay out.Meanwhile Sri Lanka, for whom it is now a compliment that only one important catch was dropped, gleaned only minor personal positives from the match. Dickwella set the chase off to a roaring start, Upul Tharanga contributed a half-decent fifty, Kusal Perera stood firm at one end while the lower order crashed around him, and Nuwan Pradeep showcased a slowly burgeoning range of skills with the ball. But these are not the kinds of performances that win matches.The defining periods of play were the middle overs in each innings: having picked the less-aggressive spin option in Seekkuge Prasanna, Sri Lanka allowed Amla and du Plessis to prosper too easily during those overs, and with the bat, lost five wickets for 66 runs from overs 11 to 30.For Amla, who had set South Africa on course for 299 – an imposing score, given the slightly slow nature of the surface – this innings may not rank as one of his best, but it did get him to the milestone of 25 ODI hundreds in 11 fewer innings than any previous batsman had managed it. He now also sits alongside Sachin Tendulkar, Kumar Sangakkara and Ricky Ponting to have 25 hundreds in both Tests and ODIs.He was cautious to begin with, as Sri Lanka delivered some exceptionally tight overs. Initially, he hovered in the crease, dabbing and squeezing his way into the innings. Not until the penultimate ball of the first Powerplay did he venture a boundary: a flick off Pradeep over the leg side. He made only 26 off the first 40 balls he faced.But following the departure of Quinton de Kock, whe nicked off to Pradeep, Amla playd with more ambition. There was a six over long-off, off Asela Gunaratne, in the 19th over, and in the 24th he slunk down the pitch to send Seekkuge Prasanna sailing over the deep midwicket fence. In between those two shots he had reached fifty, and suddenly, was scoring at close to a run a ball.His partnership with du Plessis was the most fruitful of the innings, and the pair hauled South Africa to a position of strength with their quickening 145-run stand. Amla, having provided the innings its thrust during the overs when du Plessis was feeling his way into the game, allowed his partner to make the riskier plays during the middle overs, saving for himself the role of turning the strike over. In fact, between the 24th and 43rd over – when he got out – he hit only one boundary. South Africa scored only 78 runs in the last 10 overs, thanks again to some tight bowling by Pradeep, with support from Lasith Malinga and Suranga Lakmal. Of those runs, JP Duminy contributed 38 in the space of 20 deliveries.Sri Lanka will particularly rule the rate at which their innings crashed and burned, because by the end of the first Powerplay, they had scored 55 more runs than South Africa had managed at that stage of the innings. Dickwella led this charge, flitting about the crease to carve the quicks over the offside, then jumping across to leg to whip them over leg, during his 33-ball 41. With Tharanga also batting confidently through those overs, it seemed inconceivable that Sri Lanka would not at least mount a muscular challenge to South Africa’s total.In the end, Tahir became their downfall, just as he had been during that bilateral series earlier in the year. Dinesh Chandimal got himself run-out trying to get off strike in Tahir’s first over, before Chamara Kapugedara was trapped in front by a googly three balls later. Tharanga then launched a ball into the hands of deep cover, and Asela Gunaratne squirted a catch to square leg, and pretty soon, a rapid start had turned into a procession of wickets. Perera stuck around for 66 balls and hit 44 unbeaten runs, but Sri Lanka were already out of contention for most of his stay. Tahir came back to take the final wicket, and Sri Lanka were all out in the 42nd over.

Glasgow Rangers manager Michael Beale has been a busy man throughout the summer transfer window so far as he has made a number of signings to bolster the squad.

The Light Blues head coach has officially completed six new signings as a reaction to the club's failure to secure a single trophy by the end of the 2022/23 campaign.

Sam Lammers, Cyriel Dessers, Kieran Dowell, Dujon Sterling, and Jack Butland have all joined on a permanent basis, whilst Abdallah Sima has also arrived on loan from Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion.

However, the 42-year-old boss still has well over a month to make further additions to his team and bringing in more creativity in the middle of the park should be one of his priorities.

No Rangers central midfielder produced more than four Scottish Premiership assists and Tom Lawrence, who only started four league matches, led the way with 1.8 key passes per game in that position.

Therefore, Beale must ignite the club's reported interest in FCSB creator Darius Olaru, who is available for a release clause of €4.9m (£4.2m), from earlier this summer.

How good is Darius Olaru?

The Romanian international is coming off the back of an exceptional campaign with the club and could be an excellent player for the Gers if he can translate that form over to Scotland.

Olaru has the potential to be Beale's own version of Manchester City superstar Kevin De Bruyne, who FCSB general manager Mihai Stoica claimed is similar to the 25-year-old maestro as they both provide 'assists decisively' and play 'total football'.

The left-footed wizard showcased his ability to carve open opposition defences with 2.2 key passes per game and 19 'big chances' created in total across 34 Superliga starts last season.

Meanwhile, De Bruyne racked up an outstanding 31 'big chances' created and averaged 3.1 key passes per outing in the Premier League for Pep Guardiola, which came after he produced 16 'big chances' for his fellow forwards throughout the previous top-flight campaign.

These statistics show that both players are capable of conjuring up excellent opportunities for their teammates in the final third on a regular basis from a central midfield position.

This is particularly useful in games against opposition who want to sit in a deep block, which requires creativity to open them up in order to win the match. De Bruyne and Olaru have both proven themselves to excel in these situations, based on their terrific form last term.

Last season, James Tavernier led the way for Rangers with 13 Premiership 'big chances' created.

This suggests that the Gers target would provide a significant creative boost to Beale's squad, particularly in the central midfield department.

The Romanian technician also registered 12 assists in 37 league games during the 2021/22 campaign, which is three more than any Light Blues star managed in their 2022/23 outings.

Olaru, who was once described as an "exciting" talent by scout Jacek Kulig, has the quality to be Beale's outstanding creative force on the pitch, and in midfield in particular, if he can adapt to Scottish football and replicate his FCSB form.

Therefore, the Gers manager must reignite the club's previous interest in ten-cap international to bolster his team's creativity ahead of next season, as the 25-year-old wizard could be his own version of De Bruyne by being a pass master in the middle of the park.

Nottinghamshire went for an overseas batsman to replace a bowler and Cheteshwar Pujara showed his class with a century

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge26-May-2017Nottinghamshire 357 for 5 (Lumb 117, Pujara 112) v Gloucestershire
ScorecardNottinghamshire’s decision to replace an in-form Test bowler with a batsman after James Pattinson’s call-up to Australia’s Champions Trophy squad might have been assessed as a gamble, but after Cheteshwar Pujara distinguished his home debut for the county with a century on a day when Michael Lumb also reached three figures it would seem slightly absurd to suggest anything of the sort.Pattinson’s 20 wickets were a key factor in Nottinghamshire starting the season with three straight wins, although Pujara, of course, is not just any batsman. With an average of 51.32 in 48 Test matches for India his quality is not in doubt and even after a 2016-17 season that comprised 13 Tests his appetite for more cricket is plainly as sharp as ever. Given that those 13 Tests yielded four centuries and eight half-centuries and four series victories you would expect nothing less.Overlooked by the IPL franchises for the third consecutive year, the vacancy at Trent Bridge has come at just the right time. After previous stints with Derbyshire and Yorkshire in county cricket, where he found the challenge of cricket in English conditions much to his liking, he needed little persuasion to take up the offer.He would have seen it as an opportunity, too, to reacquaint himself with how it feels to make runs in England ahead of next summer’s international series here, especially after enduring a relatively lean time on India’s last visit, in 2014.Pujara did make a second-innings 55 in the drawn opening Test at Trent Bridge that summer, which will have added a little something to the attraction of a run of games here and, in the warmest conditions of the summer so far against a weakened Gloucestershire attack, he looked at home almost from the outset, stroking five boundaries from the first 26 deliveries he faced, including two in a row off the left-armer Matt Taylor down the ground and through mid-on that were exquisitely timed.Gloucestershire actually bowled commendably well in the morning session, when they had surprised more than a few in the crowd by opting to bowl under a clear sky in already building heat. They are without Liam Norwell and David Payne through injury, depriving them of both their leading wicket-takers, yet a return of three wickets for 122 made it an even contest at that stage.Steven Mullaney rather threw his wicket away, clipping straight into the hands of midwicket after making 35 in what appeared to be one-day mode, but both Jake Libby and Samit Patel could console themselves with having succumbed to a good ball. Pujara was tested at times, too, with Gloucestershire twice convinced they had him caught behind.There was some grass on the pitch and word from the home dressing room – from Luke Fletcher, at least – was that the Nottinghamshire attack might have fancied it, too, even after the energy-sapping two days and a half they spent in the field in Cardiff last week.Yet as the sun reached its highest point in the sky and the sweet aroma of sun cream filled the air on the well populated upper deck of the Radcliffe Road stand it did begin to feel increasingly like the day full of runs that had been anticipated.The pivotal moment, perhaps, came shortly after lunch when Will Tavaré, at point, dropped a ludicrously straightforward catch from an undisputedly awful shot from Lumb off Craig Miles when the batsman had made only 12 and looked decidedly scratchy.Had it stuck Nottinghamshire would have been 151 for 4. It did not, though, Tavaré watching the ball into his hands but forgetting to close his fingers around it. And how Lumb made him pay.He and Pujara added 185 before the fourth wicket did fall, the latter caught behind somewhat tamely off a defensive push. Out for 2 on his county debut in Cardiff, he had put himself well in the black with 14 boundaries, pretty much all of them hit flat along the floor.Lumb went on to complete a century of his own, pulling Miles behind square for his 17th boundary, his first hundred for a year in four-day cricket and one he celebrated in much the same fashion as he did against Warwickshire last May, when his hundred ended a century drought in first class games spanning 32 months.He was caught at point after adding three more boundaries, rewarding Miles for his perseverance with the new ball in trying to tempt a loose shot.Nottinghamshire already look to have ensured that their unbeaten run continues. If they can now take 20 wickets in these conditions without Pattinson they will feel they made the right decision.

Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc says his side will have no trouble raising their game with their backs against the wall in a Group A Champions Trophy clash against England on Saturday

Alan Gardner06-Jun-2017Mitchell Starc returned to stump-rattling form at The Oval on Monday afternoon and, although rain deprived Australia of victory over Bangladesh, he was quick to switch focus to what is effectively a quarter-final against England in their final Group A match at the weekend.Two no-results have left Australia on two points, still second in the group but set to be overtaken by the winner of Bangladesh-New Zealand on Friday. While England have already qualified for the last four, Australia are likely to be in a situation where victory means progression and losing means an early flight home.”Our record’s pretty good in tournament play,” Starc said. “I reckon we probably perform at our best when we know it’s a knockout situation, when we need to really step up. I think that brings the best out of a lot of our players, so I think everyone’s looking forward to this fixture.”Australia captain Steven Smith had invited extra scrutiny of his pace attack after calling their performance against New Zealand last week “one of the worst bowling displays that we’ve put on for a very long time”. Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins duly responded, albeit against a more limited Bangladesh batting lineup, with spells that were both parsimonious and penetrating.The innings culminated in Starc’s of 4 for 1 – Nos. 8, 9 and 10 dispatched neck and crop – to suggest he has slipped into a groove in what was only his second outing since March, having missed the last several months after he suffered a foot stress fracture on Australia’s tour of India.”I think we had a much cleaner performance with the ball all round,” Starc said. “We all contributed, we had a fair bit to talk about after the last fixture. It’s been pleasing to put that on the board and respond after the New Zealand game.”It’s just nice to play cricket again, it’s been a long time. Nice to get these two games under the belt and get some rhythm back, great for the group to end on that positive note with the ball, leading into a big game now against England.”While Bangladesh had mounted a spirited effort in the tournament opener against England, scoring 305 for 6 before losing by eight wickets, their batsmen struggled noticeably with the extra pace generated by Australia’s attack – something Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said afterwards was an appreciable notch up.”It can be good and bad, obviously if you’re not on the money, like last week, it can go pear-shaped,” Starc said. “But we have got a bit of pace in the change-room so when we get it right, like we did today, we can close down the scoreboard and take wickets towards the back end as well. I think that’s something we’ve done pretty well over the last little period, being able to fight back with the ball if we haven’t started well.”There’s obviously been a lot spoken about it in the last couple of days and back home in some other series as well… We’ve always been able to fight back with the ball, so it was more of a complete performance today and hopefully we can do that on Saturday, as well.”Starc also referred to his productive new-ball partnership with Hazlewood, in which their contrasting styles allow them to pose searching questions of opposition batsmen. Although the tournament is only halfway through the group stage, Australia are so far the only team to twice take ten wickets in a match and Smith will be looking for an equally ruthless performance when they take on England, a familiar opponent and a team they defeated 3-2 in their last ODI meeting on these shores in 2015.”I don’t change my gameplan too much,” he said. “I like to stay pretty simple with the way I approach my cricket, regardless of where I am, it’s always pretty aggressive and I think I’m able to do that much easier when I’ve got Josh at the other end, who can hit a spot so consistently.”We change things depending on what conditions we’re presented, when we saw a worn wicket today we had to change our lengths a bit, obviously the spinner came in and there might have been a bit of turn. So we’ll assess the conditions. It might be a fresh wicket in Birmingham on Saturday. When we get there, we’ll talk about it, and talk about the lineup we’re facing as well.”We’ll just focus on what we need to do to beat England. We’ve played enough cricket against them over the last little while. We know a lot about their players.”

أكد سيف فاروق جعفر، لاعب وسط الزمالك، أن الفريق كان يحتاج للفوز على الأهلي، مشيراً إلى أنه كان هناك أكثر من فرصة لزيادة نتيجة المباراة.

وفاز الزمالك على الأهلي، بهدفين مقابل هدف، في المباراة التي جمعتهما اليوم الإثنين، ضمن منافسات الجولة العاشرة المؤجلة لبطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز.

وقال سيف جعفر خلال تصريحات عبر قناة أون تايم سبورت: “الحمد لله على المكسب، الأهلي ناد كبير، كنا نحتاج الفوز لأن بطولة الدوري مهمة بالنسبة لنا مثل إفريقيا”.

وأضاف: “الزمالك مليئ باللاعبين الجيدين وعلى قدر المسؤولية، المباراة ذهبت وأتت مثل أي مباراة في العالم والفريق الأحق هو من يفوز في النهاية”.

طالع | عبد الله السعيد: الفوز على الأهلي يعيدنا للمنافسة في الدوري.. وشيكابالا يطالب بضم لاعب الزمالك لـ منتخب مصر

وأتم: “كل كلام المدرب معنا ألا نقلق ونلعب على الفوز ونُهاجم ونُسجل، وفي آخر المباراة أهدرنا أكثر من فرصة وكان ممكن النتيجة تكون ثلاثية أو رباعية”.

وارتفع رصيد الزمالك إلي النقطة 21 محتلاً المركز العاشر في ترتيب جدول الدوري المصري الممتاز من 13 مباراة وله 4 مباريات مؤجلة.

Chelsea are "moving concretely towards" signing the French striker and wonderkid Elye Wahi after his breakout season for Ligue 1 side Montpellier, claims journalist Rudy Galetti.

Is Elye Wahi joining Chelsea this summer?

After selling enough talent to create an entire starting eleven of Premier League quality players over the last month or so, Chelsea look to have finally turned their focus to signings and bringing new faces to the club this summer.

They have already welcomed a few new names to Stamford Bridge thus far, with Nicolas Jackson joining from Villarreal, Diego Moreira from Benfica and Christopher Nkuku from RB Leipzig, who had agreed a deal to join the club earlier in the year but couldn't be officially announced until the season's conclusion.

Even with these attacking additions, the Pensioners are looking to add at least one more number nine to the squad before the new campaign gets underway.

The club were initially interested in signing Juventus' Serbian forward Dusan Vlahovic, but with the news that Paris Saint-Germain have agreed personal terms with the forward, they have instead turned their attention to Montpellier's 20-year-old striker, Wahi.

According to transfers expert Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea are now "advancing in talks" with the Ligue 1 outfit over the youngster's move, with plans to loan him out in the first year of his contract to get him more experience of first-team football.

The Daily Mail have also reported that the Blues are closing in on a deal for the player but that Serie A giants Inter Milan are also interested in bringing the young star to the San Siro next season, so the West Londoners better get a move on if they want to seal this deal.

What has Rudy Galetti said about Chelsea's striker search?

Galetti explained that the Blues were stepping up their striker search and that the Montpellier man was indeed a player they were looking at as one of the potential options.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, he said: "Chelsea have started to explore alternatives, and now Wahi is gaining a position on their strikers list.

"The Montpellier player could leave for around €35m (£30m) and Chelsea are moving concretely towards him. It cannot be excluded that the player could also go on loan somewhere."

How good is Elye Wahi?

There is a reason so many top clubs are circling the 20-year-old striker, and that's because he had an outstanding breakout year with Montpellier last season, only being slightly overshadowed for those outside of France by the performances of fellow youngster Folarin Balogun.

In his 33 league games for La Paillade last year, the 6 foot forward scored 19 goals and provided five assists, giving him a goal contribution every 1.3 games, seeing him earn an average match rating of 6.87, per WhoScored.

Although impressive for his age group, his underlying numbers aren't quite as good as you might expect given his output and could suggest an element of good fortune last season.

The counterargument to that is that he is just an incredibly clinical striker, which could undoubtedly be the case; it will just take another season or two to see which it is.

According to FBref, who compare players in a similar position across Europe's top five leagues, the dynamic forward sits in the top 7% for non-penalty goals, the top 23% for progressive carries, the top 30% for assists, the top 31% for progressive passes received, the top 35% for successful take-ons, and the top 36% for non-penalty expected goal, all per 90.

He's been a player that scouts have been aware of for some time, with Antonio Mango saying in 2022:

"He's a superstar, remember the name."

Should Chelsea decide to sign Wahi, it could be a decision that pays dividends in years to come, but it might be too soon to call it yet.