Southampton are interested in bringing Aston Villa duo Keinan Davis and Andre Green to St Mary’s this transfer window according to the Daily Mail.

What’s the story?

It’s no secret that Villa are desperately trying to raise funds to avoid going into liquidation and that could mean selling some of their prize assets.

20-year-old Keinan Davis broke into the first team last season and had a very impressive spell up-front, while Green, 19, would have added to his four appearances before he suffered a bad injury that ruled him out for the remainder of the season.

According to the Mail, the duo could be available for £3-4million and Southampton are keen on bringing the young duo to the south coast.

Are they worth it?

With so few senior games between them, it’s hard to judge the pair at the moment but they clearly have a lot of promise.

They are available on the cheap because of Villa’s financial troubles and Southampton would be wise to invest in two such talented English youngsters.

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They are unlikely to feature for the Saints any time soon and will likely be loaned out to gain more first-team experience, but they could represent a shrewd investment in years to come.

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Everton fans are praying they can sign Gelson Martins, after reports this week suggested Marcel Brands could do plenty of shopping in Portugal this summer.

According to a report from A Bola, William Carvalho is not the only Sporting CP player Everton are interested in this summer, and they could swoop for both Bas Dost and Gelson Martins.

While the links to Dost don’t seem to be causing too much excitement, fans would absolutely love to beat Arsenal to Martins.

The speedy winger has been the subject of interest from the Gunners, but could opt for somewhere like Everton if he feels he will struggle for playing time in North London. He reportedly has a whopping £60m price tag, but could go for much less due to the chaos surrounding Sporting.

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The report from A Bola says Brands has good connections in Portugal, which could give the Toffees the advantage in the race for Martins.

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The speedy winger grabbed eight goals and eight assists in 30 league games for Sporting last season, a sensational return for a 23 year-old.

Everton fans are praying they can get this one over the line, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Tottenham Hotspur have plenty of attacking talent in their squad, but if they want to move up to the next level, they require strength in depth.

Earlier this year, the North London outfit were linked with a swoop for Napoli star Dries Mertens.

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This particular nugget of transfer speculation has gone cold, but the attacker’s performance for Belgium in their opening fixture against Panama at the World Cup, may have peaked the club’s interest once again.

If it hasn’t, then the Premier League outfit should definitely take note.

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The 31-year-old, who is valued at £27m by Transfermarkt, scored a stunning goal in his nation’s 3-0 victory over their Group G opponents.

It was the first hit of the bunch as Mertens struck on the volley in the 47th minute, but he contributed more than just the goal.

The former PSV player matched Eden Hazard for most shots created during the contest, and he also turned provider by delivering a handful of crosses into the danger area.

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In a team that possessed the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Hazard, the Napoli star also thrived on an individual level.

Mertens may not fit in exactly with the youth model that Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has in place, but he would certainly add to what is already a prolific bunch.

As reported by The Daily Record, Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has admitted he would love to sign Umar Sadiq up to his first team squad at Ibrox this summer.

What’s the story?

Having made a host of signings throughout the spine of his Rangers squad so far this summer, Gerrard is currently preparing his side in pre-season training for their matches in UEFA Europa League qualifying next month.

However, it appears he is not done making acquisitions and has admitted one player in particular is impressing him – Roma’s Umar Sadiq.

As quoted by The Record, the Ibrox boss said:

We’re a fan of Umar Sadiq. He’d bring us a forward option – height, power, presence. He’s a player that works too hard believe it or not.

He does tons and tons of running. He’s very enthusiastic. He’s the type of player who gives you just as much out of possession as he does in possession which is very important.

We’ve got an interest but at the moment he’s still a Roma player. It’s ongoing. We have to be respectful and see how it progresses but he’s someone we like.

Bought by Roma for a reported £2m, can Rangers convince the club and striker that a loan move would be beneficial for all parties?

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Who is he?

Still just 21 years of age, Sadiq was signed by Roma in 2015 after banging in a barrel-load of goals for Italian team Spezia’s youth side. He’s made six appearances for the Italian giants since then, scoring two goals.

Much of his time recently has been spent out on loan, most recently to Eredivisie side NAC Breda last season where he scored five goals in 12 appearances, in the second half of 2017/18.

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That demonstrates he might be be ready for more regular first team action and with Rangers needing more depth in attacking to support Alfredo Morelos, Rangers could be the perfect destination.

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Leeds fans were getting excited when reports suggested they were moving closer to a deal for Matej Vydra, but Frank Lampard’s latest comments on the striker have got fans worried about another injury prone signing.A report in The Telegraph this weekend claimed Vydra’s switch to Elland Road is edging closer.The Czech international, who scored 21 Championship goals last season, has been heavily linked with an £11m move to Leeds, and his absence from Derby’s training camp in Tenerife has only increased the speculation.According to the Rams’ new manager though, the striker’s absence from the pre-season camp is nothing to do with any impending transfer, and is actually due to injury.[brid autoplay=”true” video=”257599″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Leeds’ opening fixtures for the 201819 Championship season”]“Vydra has stayed back, he had a small injury and he hasn’t trained properly at all so it was much better for him and the medical team to work back at the training ground,†Lampard said.“He has a week to get himself ready and hopefully then he’ll be ready to join the rest of the lads.â€Leeds fans are still hurting from the infamous January signing of Tyler Roberts, and they’re now starting to worry about signing another injured player.Injuries were a huge factor in last season’s capitulation after Christmas, and it seems to have left a lasting effect on fans, as they’re now turning against the idea of signing Vydra.You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has appointed IFM, a sports marketing company, to investigate the poor attendances at the matches against England.

Cricinfo staff23-Nov-2009Cricket South Africa (CSA) has appointed IFM, a sports marketing company, to investigate the poor attendances at the early matches against England. The first Twenty20, played on a Friday evening at the Wanderers attracted only 16,600 fans, in a 34,000-capacity stadium, while under 8000 showed up for the second at Centurion on a Sunday.The glut of international fixtures has been a contentious issue recently, with concern that the overloaded calendar is forcing supporters to pick and choose between events. South Africa is a prime example, having already hosted last season’s IPL, the Champions Trophy, rugby union’s Lions tour and football’s Confederations Cup during 2009, while they will host the football World Cup in June and July next year.Locals might simply have reached sporting saturation and want to save their cash for major events. With these growing concerns, Gerald Majola, the CSA chief executive, is urging fans to get in touch and help administrators understand why supporters are staying at home.”We like hearing from the fans. The last fan survey we ran provided some interesting insights, some of which we have already followed up on,” he said. “People asked for more information so we launched our Facebook and Twitter platforms which have been extremely popular and has dramatically improved our interactions with fans.”Falling crowd numbers for one-day fixtures, which traditionally have been well attended, doesn’t bode well for the upcoming Test series which have often been a harder sell. South Africa hosted Australia last year to contest the top spot in Tests but the games took place in front of almost empty stands.Marc Jury, the managing director of IFM, the company commissioned to study the trend, believes the problem could lie with cricket being designed to favour TV audiences over live ones.”Through our research across different sporting codes we have always encountered the response that the ‘energy and atmosphere’ of live sporting events is a critical element in drawing supporters to the ground,” he said”Something that is evident is the live experience has not kept pace with the ease and comfort of the ‘TV product’ and thus people often choose to watch from their living rooms instead of Row F. Too often rights holders make decisions based on gut-feel and not by listening to what their fans want.”

England’s women’s team were awarded team of the year at the Sports Journalists’ Association Awards on Wednesday.

Cricinfo staff10-Dec-2009England’s women were rewarded with the team of the year title at the Sports Journalists’ Association Awards on Wednesday.The award caps a remarkable year that has seen them win the World Cup, the Twenty20 World Cup, retain the Ashes and defeat Australia 4-0 in the NatWest one-day series.The Sports Journalists’ Association is made up of more than 700 members and the award was presented at the annual British Sports Awards lunch at The Brewery in London.Claire Taylor, who amassed 199 runs in four innings in the Twenty20 World Cup and 342 runs at 64.80 in the World Cup, was also rewarded at the ceremony, finishing third in the sportswoman of the year category.Clare Connor, the ECB head of women’s cricket, said: “It is a massive honour for the team to win this award and to receive recognition from the sports journalists after a phenomenal year for women’s cricket.”With a tour to India followed by the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies and a home series against New Zealand, the next seven months will present exciting challenges for the team to sustain this year’s level of success.”Not only have the players achieved impressive results on the pitch this year but their success has encouraged huge numbers of girls to participate in our sport which is crucial for our long-term development.”The awards continue a week of good news for the team after coach Mark Lane won coach of the year and high performance coach of the year at the UK Coaching Awards ceremony on Tuesday.The team can look forward to a packed schedule next year, beginning with a five-match ODI and three-match Twenty20 series against India in February before the team heads out to the West Indies in April to defend their World Twenty20 crown. They will then begin a series of home fixtures against New Zealand in June.

Cricket Kenya’s chief executive Tom Tikolo has resigned after it was discovered US$10,000 was unaccounted for

Martin Williamson21-Dec-2009Cricket Kenya’s chief executive Tom Tikolo has resigned after it was discovered US$10,000 he claimed while in the West Indies for a tournament last year was unaccounted for. The news comes after a week-long investigation by CK officials.Rumours that Tikolo was being questioned started circulating last week and he quit after a meeting with the board on Sunday. It is thought he has offered to pay the money back to CK.In a rather vague statement, Tikolo said he had stepped down for the good of the game adding, “I want to deny any wrong doing in all the dealings mentioned in those allegations”.It appears that Tikolo asked for the allowance, which was on offer from the sponsors of an Under-15 tournament in the West Indies in May 2008 which he attended, to be paid to him in cash. He subsequently claimed a bag containing the money was stolen a few days later, a fact he reported to the sponsors but not to the local police. The Kenyan board only became aware of this last week. Tikolo said he was too frightened to report the loss to his bosses and so decided to say nothing about it.However, there were inconsistencies in Tikolo’s story. He conducted his exchanges with the sponsors through his private email and not his official CK one. All other boards had the allowances paid into their central bank accounts, as is normal. He also told sponsors he needed to be paid in cash as his side was returning home through Dubai and he needed the money to pay for matches taking place there. But there were never any such games arranged.The matter might never have come to light had an ex-employee of CK not hacked into Tikolo’s private email and discovered the exchanges. They were then passed on to a former player who circulated them to the national and international media. Other emails have been reprinted by local newspapers but those appear to have serious issues regarding their authenticity, and there seems little doubt that some parties with wider agendas have been looking to exploit the situation.”When my personal mail is hacked into for the purpose of casting aspersions on my integrity, the honorable option for me is to step aside,” Tikolo said. “I urge you not to cry as I am not dead. But for those faceless enemies that are out to tarnish my reputation, do not rejoice as there is no grave that you will dance around on and collect soil for your traditional rituals.”The news will be a blow to the current administration of CK as they have always sought to distance themselves from the financial shadows which dogged the discredited old Kenyan Cricket Association.It will also be a shock to the wider cricketing community as Tikolo, a former Kenyan international and older brother of Steve, is a much-respected figure. A former ICC development officer, he became CK’s chief executive in 2005 and had forged a reputation as one of Africa’s most trusted administrators.Quite why a sponsor paid cash in this way is another matter which should be investigated. There are also question marks over the role of West Indies Cricket Board officials after it emerged that Donald Peters, the former chief executive, was consulted by Tikolo after the alleged theft and yet the matter remained private until now.

Kevin Curran, the Zimbabwe Under-19 coach, says his side are in good shape to upset a few of the bigger nations at the World Cup in New Zealand

Marc Ellison14-Jan-2010Kevin Curran, the Zimbabwe Under-19 coach, has said his side is in good shape to upset a few of the bigger nations at the World Cup in New Zealand and refused to use the current unstable political situation in his country as an excuse for lack of depth and preparation.Curran, the former national coach, who was criticised for telling his players to simply compete before looking to win matches, was upbeat about his side’s’ chances and saw his role as a chance to give something back to his country.”I’ve been involved in Zimbabwe cricket since 2000 and for me politics and sport have never mixed. My job is to actually give back what I learned when I first started my career and cricket has come a long way. In the last three or four months everybody has really tried to get cricket going in the right direction and we’ve gone a long way,” Curran said.”I don’t know why so much is being made of the [political] situation. To be honest I’d like to do my best and give back what I learned in the sport. If you look anywhere in the world there are things that work well and things that haven’t worked so well. I just think from a cricketing point of view there are a lot of talented players in Zimbabwe and I’m trying my best to get the best out of them.”Curran believed the political situation at home did not deter teams from travelling to Zimbabwe, pointing to the Pakistan Under-19 team tour of 2009. “We’ve had a really good build up this year. We had a series against Pakistan where they came and toured Zimbabwe, we’ve had a tour to Bangladesh which was a really good experience for our young guys and then we went via Johannesburg, played at their High Performance Centre and played against their Academy.”There’s been quite a lot of cricket for these guys, where in the past World Cups they haven’t had many warm-up games to get that exposure because they come straight from school cricket. And then to play on the international stage is quite a big step. I’ve tried to give them as much exposure as possible and from February when I took over, they’ve certainly improved 50%, so we’re hoping for some good things.”Zimbabwe are paying the price for their poor showing in the 2008 event in Malaysia where they finished 14th, thanks to disappointing losses to Malaysia, Nepal and Ireland. As a result, they are being grouped in 2010 with hosts New Zealand and Sri Lanka. However, Curran doesn’t see the tough group as an issue, saying he has faith in his team to do the job.”Basically only two go through in our Group out of New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Canada [and Zimbabwe] so it’s tough. I’m quietly confident that if we get it right on the day we’ve got the players to beat all three of those sides.”We’ve shown against Pakistan where we beat them once and we came very close against Bangladesh. In fact, we should’ve won a couple of games against Bangladesh. It was just through a little bit of inexperience perhaps that we lost those games. We competed in all of them and that’s the bottom line at this level when guys come from school boy cricket and haven’t had that exposure as long as they are proving that they are learning every time, they are going to become good cricketers.”Hopefully I can keep this side together for the next two years and hopefully there’s one, two, maybe three players who can go on and push to play for the national side in the not-too-distant future.”Curran has changed the trial system that was in place for the Under-19 team selection. Previously, trials would be conducted at the end of the school year, but Curran felt that the system was dated and that too many youngsters were falling through the net.This time around, in February, he sent scouts out to look for the best young players and report back to him before selecting a squad of 70. A series of trial matches followed and the squad was whittled down to 35 with which Curran worked closely for three months before finally settling on the 15 for the World Cup.He is far happier with the new system and, even though his side haven’t had the same international exposure as some of the other teams at the tournament, he is confident that their preparation stands them in good stead.”Obviously it would have been nice to have a few more practice games but what I will say for the organisers of the cricket has been fantastic. Just today we had a warm-up game against Afghanistan at Lincoln in one of the outer grounds and I don’t think I’ve seen an outfield like that on some of the Test grounds I’ve played. The facilities have been unbelievable and people have gone out of their way to do the right thing. For these young guys whatever happens in the tournament, they are going to come out better people and better guys.”Curran is aware he must watch how he approaches the players regarding the tournament and be careful not to blow things out of proportion.”I think sometimes young guys are a bit naive and maybe that’s a good thing because if you hype it up too much for them it can complicate things for them more. We’ve done a lot of hard work off the field and our preparation in that sense has been pretty good, so they’ve just got to go out there and enjoy the occasion.”If you make it too big an occasion then perhaps you won’t get the best out of them. I want them to just go and express themselves and, should they do that, they have the capability to do well.”

At the start of the series Chris Gayle tipped a 4-1 win for West Indies, but given their predicament he would probably settle for 1-4

Peter English11-Feb-2010

Match Facts

In the mood: Ricky Ponting finished Tuesday’s win in Adelaide with 57 not out•Getty Images

Friday, February 12, SCG

Start time 1325 (0325 GMT)

The Big Picture

At the start of the series Chris Gayle tipped a 4-1 win for West Indies, but given their predicament he would probably settle for 1-4. Calling the tourists out-classed in the opening exchanges is being polite to guests and if they lose in Sydney on Friday the five-game contest will be decided with two matches spare.After West Indies’ fight in the Test series earlier in the season, the follow-up campaign has been hugely disappointing, although Gayle hasn’t been helped by a batch of injuries which kept many of his best men at home. Batting has been the most serious problem, with the tourists managing 143 on the way to a 113-run loss in Melbourne, and 170 in Adelaide after being 4 for 16. The second game, which was watched by only 8378 spectators, was finished in the 27th over of the chase.Australia have been outstanding throughout the limited-overs segment of the summer and are on a 10-match winning streak. With a 2-0 lead, the hosts have been able to rest key players in Shane Watson and Brad Haddin, but there won’t be any relief for West Indies as the locals pursue an undefeated summer.

Form guide (most recent first)

Australia WWWWW

West Indies LLLLL

Watch out for…

Everything for West Indies currently revolves around Chris Gayle. The match in Adelaide was basically over after Gayle’s first-ball departure and he must find a way to escape from the restrictions Australia have placed on him. Over the past week Gayle has remained cheery and upbeat in public but in his private moments he must feel like a one-man band. He is so important that at the moment the scenario is Gayle out, game over.Ricky Ponting has run into some good form with scores of 55, 49 and 57 not out in his past three games, but will be wanting more. With his developing team doing incredibly well, he can relax at the crease, which isn’t a good thing for the opposition bowlers. He pulled Kemar Roach in Adelaide, showing he is not haunted by the fast man’s short balls which got him in the Perth Test, and will look to sign off with a century to seal the series.

Team news

The wicketkeeper Tim Paine and Adam Voges come into the squad for Shane Watson and Brad Haddin, who are resting. Paine has opened in 14 of his 15 ODIs and will slot in with Shaun Marsh at the top. With Watson out, Australia could play all four fast men and Nathan Hauritz, which would leave James Hopes and Voges to miss out.Australia (possible) 1 Shaun Marsh, 2 Tim Paine (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Cameron White, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Mitchell Johnson, 8 Ryan Harris, 9 Nathan Hauritz, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Doug Bollinger.West Indies were unchanged in the second game but after two horrible defeats will have to do something to spruce up the side. Gayle has talked about needing some substance in the middle order, which could give Brendan Nash an opening, while Wavell Hinds is another option, possibly for the struggling Runako Morton.West Indies (possible) 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Wavell Hinds, 3 Travis Dowlin, 4 Narsingh Deonarine, 5 Brendan Nash, 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Dwayne Smith, 9 Nikita Miller, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Kemar Roach.

Pitch and conditions

Pakistan chose to bowl first at the SCG last month and were rolled for 127 in their chase as the bowlers took advantage of seaming conditions. It has been another wet lead-up and there are storms predicted for Friday afternoon, along with a maximum of 31C. If that happens the bowlers will be happy again.

Stats and trivia

• West Indies’ top six batsmen have scored 150 runs in the past two games while Australia’s top four have managed 310
• Only one game at the SCG has been won by the batting side from the final ball of the 50th over. That came in 1995-96 when Michael Bevan starred against West Indies
• West Indies have twice scored fewer than 100 at the SCG, with 87 in 1992-93 and 91 in 2000-01
  

  Quotes

  “At 2-0 down in a five-match series, this is the time for some of our players to come of age.”
  
  
  “Every time we start a series that’s our goal, to go undefeated. It’s no different in this series. We played really well against Pakistan. We gave them nothing and we’ll be doing that against the West Indies.”