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Manchester City are now chasing a defender who would help fix their defence and bring the best out of Josko Gvardiol at the Etihad Stadium.

Guardiola backs Gvardiol

It was almost a perfect first season for Gvardiol at Manchester City as the Croatian appeared 28 times on the way to helping his side to their fourth consecutive Premier League title.

However, this season has been less impressive, with the 22-year-old looking out of place at left-back and producing some uncharacteristic errors to go alongside his increasingly characteristic eye for goal.

Man City keeping tabs on "spectacular" next Ballack who may replace Rodri

Guardiola desperately needs reinforcements.

ByTom Cunningham Nov 29, 2024

A centre-back by trade, he has been asked to play at full-back by Pep Guardiola – something that he has taken to well during his time at the Etihad, though there is still the feeling that his long-term position is in the heart of defence.

The Manchester City boss defended his poor form after a series of errors saw his side thrashed 4-0 by Tottenham, explaining: “He’s so young, he will learn. It will be a good experience.

“Of the players that played, he was the best player on the pitch.

“He is so young, he will learn. He’s a fantastic player, a fantastic boy, and now more than ever he must be helped.”

Now, the Citizens have been linked with a new defender who may allow Gvardiol to revert to his more natural position.

Manchester City eye "special" defender

Reports in Spain claim that the Citizens are keeping a close eye on Atalanta defender Matteo Ruggeri after a series of fine performances.

The Italian full-back, who plays as a wing-back in Gian Piero Gasperini’s high-flying Atalanta side, scored a “special” goal to help his team reach the final of the Europa League last season – a tournament that they ultimately went on to win.

This season, he has continued his strong form, starting 10 games in Serie A as his side push for the first title in their history, with the Bergamo outfit currently a point behind reigning champions Inter.

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Ruggeri still has almost four years left to run on his £15k-a-week deal with Atalanta, but that has not stopped clubs circling for his signature ahead of the summer transfer window, with the report adding that Liverpool and Manchester United are also keeping tabs on the 22-year-old as they look to bolster their own ranks.

His arrival at the Etihad could allow Guardiola to return to a more natural back four, while his overlapping runs may well allow more freedom for the likes of Savinho and Jack Grealish further up the pitch, with both players yet to find form this season.

And at 6 foot 1, his addition wouldn’t see the Citizens lose any of their physicality in defence, while adding another dimension in attack.

Zak Crawley reprieved after being caught off a no-ball late in the day

Alex Malcolm06-Jan-2022Usman Khawaja has produced a comeback century of the highest class to put Australia in another commanding position at stumps on day two of the fourth Test against England at the SCG.Khawaja’s silky 137 from 260 balls underpinned Australia’s 8 declared for 416, but it would have been more without a magnificent lone hand with the ball from Stuart Broad. After writing publicly about his frustrations at being left out in two of the first three Tests, Broad backed up his words with his 19th Test five-wicket haul including the crucial wickets of Khawaja and Steven Smith for 67, having knocked over David Warner on day one.England had to face a frightful five overs before stumps and Zak Crawley got a major reprieve. He nicked Mitchell Starc to first slip with Warner taking the catch head high. As Crawley walked off for what would have been a 12-ball duck, replays showed Starc had overstepped. Extras were the major contributor as the ball nipped and bounced prodigiously but Haseeb Hameed and Crawley survived another brutal examination from Starc and Pat Cummins.Related

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Usman Khawaja raises the roof amid groundswell of support

Khawaja was the star of the day for Australia. Playing his first Test in more than two years after he was dropped during the 2019 Ashes, he made his ninth Test century in his 45th Test, and his first in an Ashes series since making 171 in the SCG Ashes Test four years ago. Khawaja’s innings was proof he remains one of Australia’s best batters despite only playing due to Travis Head’s Covid-19 diagnosis.He was calm and composed throughout on a pitch that was not the traditional SCG batting paradise. He played some sparkling pull shots off Mark Wood and Broad and attacked Jack Leach and Joe Root with his full repertoire, scoring boundaries via reverse sweeps, cover drives and pull shots. Beyond his trademark stroke play, his ability to withstand some excellent spells of fast bowling was particularly noteworthy. As Australia lost Smith and Cameron Green in quick succession when Broad made the second new ball talk, Khawaja calmly kept the good balls out and was unflustered as several misbehaved on a surface becoming increasingly uneven.He did offer one chance on 28 that England will rue. Leach had barely troubled him on a leg stump line from around the wicket, but finally pitched outside off and found the outside edge as Khawaja prodded forward. The edge went past Jos Buttler’s gloves and deflected off his thigh before floating to Joe Root’s right, but the skipper failed to grasp it.From then on Khawaja was flawless and had the crowd so engrossed and invested that they booed Australia captain and New South Wales darling, Cummins, in the penultimate over before tea when Cummins retained the strike with an untimely single. But the skipper was immediately back in the good books, sneaking a single early in the next over to give Khawaja three balls to reach his century before the break. He only needed one with a neat tuck behind square sparking a standing ovation.Usman Khawaja latches onto a pull•AFP/Getty Images

Earlier in the day, Khawaja shared a 115-run stand with Smith, their seventh together in Tests, their third at the SCG and their first since the last Ashes Test in Sydney in 2018. He also shared invaluable stands with Cummins and Starc. The latter was worth 67 to help Australia press to 400 with Starc making 34 not out, his third score of 30-plus for the series.Smith looked destined for a century of his own as he cruised to his second fifty of the series and his sixth consecutive fifty at the SCG. His only concern in the opening session, where Australia made 83 without loss, was keeping his bat dry as several brief showers interrupted play momentarily.Smith looked impenetrable. He played a contemptuous on-drive off James Anderson’s first ball after one rain delay. He also picked off anything fractionally straight and dealt with an unsuccessful short-ball barrage that left Ben Stokes wicketless and unable to bowl for the rest of the day. Stokes failed to complete his 14th over due to sharp pain in his left side. He left the field with grave concerns but returned after lunch and fielded without issue.But Broad stopped Smith in his tracks with his outstanding spell with the second new ball. In one over he deceived Smith completely as he shouldered arms to a good length ball that hit him in front of middle and leg. But it had seamed back considerably and he was given not out, and the decision was proven correct as England lost a review proving it was missing leg stump. Broad got his man for the ninth time in Test cricket two balls later as he turned Smith inside out with a back-of-a-length leg cutter that took the outside edge. Broad added to his haul finding Cameron Green’s outside edge with a fuller cutter. Green’s struggles in the series continued as the only boundary in his 5 came from a nick that went between first and second slip.Alex Carey missed a golden chance to cash in against a weary attack, holing out for just 13 trying to slog-sweep Root from the rough outside off. It was Root’s seventh wicket in England’s last three Ashes tours in Australia making him the equal-most successful England spinner across those tours.Broad returned later to bounce out Cummins with a brutal lifter that brushed the top of the bat handle on the way through to Buttler. He also knocked over Khawaja with a beauty late in the day. It was another leg cutter that nipped off the seam, caught the inside edge and ricocheted onto leg stump.Broad had been described as a caged lion prior to the Test by England assistant coach Graham Thorpe and his five wickets was just reward for a lion-hearted effort. He also went past Bob Willis to claim the second-most Ashes wickets for England behind Ian Botham, and became the second-oldest visiting quick to claim a five-wicket haul in Australia behind Sir Richard Hadlee. He did suffer the ignominy of Nathan Lyon launching his last ball into the stands at midwicket but he deserved the warm applause he got walking off after Australia’s declaration.

Says India’s last-minute rejig of their batting order may have done them more harm than good

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Nov-202110:52

Jayawardene: Role clarity and team construction lacking in Indian team

India have fallen behind in the race to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup, and according to Mumbai Indians’ head coach and former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene, they may have contributed to their own downfall a little bit by fiddling with a settled batting order.Rohit Sharma was pulled out of his usual position at the top of the order in the game against New Zealand and made to bat at No. 3. While that was in response to an injury – Suryakumar Yadav – and the replacement’s – Ishan Kishan – best chance of success being at the top, it left too many players dealing with unfamiliar roles. In the end a rejigged line-up could only post 110 for 7 and was soundly beaten.”You can be flexible. But not with your top-three batters,” Jayawardene said on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out. “I think most teams if you take, you don’t have too much flexibility in that top three. They are settled. They are the ones who are going to give you that initial tempo, who are going to go about things. And then you have that guy at No. 3 who is going to glue things together and bat in both halves of the innings and the rest of the guys are the ones who will probably get floated in and around.”Jayawardene, in his tenure as Mumbai Indians coach, has seen a lot of India’s players up close and he believed that the team would have been better served if Rohit had stayed at the top of the order.”That’s his role he plays in T20 cricket and Virat Kohli is either an opener or No. 3. I think KL Rahul would have been able to play that No. 4 role because he has that ability to change and adapt.”In an ideal scenario, if India had a good start and had a settled thing, even Rishabh Pant could have batted No. 4 – given they [New Zealand] had a left-arm spinner [Mitchell Santner] and a legspinner [Ish Sodhi], he would have got more licence to then play knowing that he had two-three batters behind him.”So rather than making all those changes they should have done just that subtle change – one in, one out – and then maybe one batter changing positions, rather than three batters changing their slots, would have made a bit more sense. Especially going against a very good New Zealand new-ball attack because it was always going to do a little bit in those three-four overs.”Related

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Jayawardene found it odd that India would ask their players to adapt to new responsibilities in the middle of a World Cup. “If you batted them in those correct positions, they are familiar with those roles and they would have executed,” he said. “If they had failed in those roles, then that’s a question you can always ask. But if you are pulling guys away from those particular roles where they are quite familiar with, then it’s always going to be a tough one.”Especially when you are going into a World Cup, you should have a steady, stable, settled set-up where everyone understands where if someone fails, that’s my role, to go in, consolidate and then kick on, get the tempo going again. I think that’s where India struggled. Especially having lost to Pakistan and then going into another big match, once you unsettle that, the fear of failure and all those thought processes creep into your game.”With back-to-back losses, India’s chances of making the semi-finals are complicated. But Jayawardene is not writing them off. “They still have an opportunity. Anything can happen. And if they sneak through to those semi-final spots they are a force to reckon with. But if they don’t have a successful T20 World Cup, there’s another one coming pretty soon [in Australia in late 2022] and obviously it’s an opportunity for them to look at some of the other options that they have.”We see a lot of young Indian players coming through, we’ve seen it in the IPL as well, in the big stage, playing with fearlessness. They bat just the situation, they don’t bat anything other than that. So that’s something you need in T20 cricket. Bit of experience and bit of fearlessness to guide you through those tough situations.”

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Ainda aguardando uma resposta de Tite, convidado pelo agora diretor técnico Abel Braga, além de buscar um vice de futebol e um diretor executivo – um nome apareceu nesta segunda-feira (15), o Internacional pode negociar um meia e trazer um centroavante. Conforme apurou o Lance!, Bruno Tabata tem chances de ser repassado a outro clube, enquanto direção vê na saída de Pedro Raul do Ceará a chance de trazer um antigo sonho da direção colorada.

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➡️Tudo sobre o Colorado agora no WhatsApp. Siga o nosso novo canal Lance! Internacional

O Alvirrubro corre contra o tempo para montar o Departamento de Futebol e, ao mesmo tempo, reforçar o elenco e negociar alguns nomes. A reapresentação acontece no dia 3 de janeiro, com o Gauchão começando no final de semana de 10 e 11.

Inter pode negociar meia e trazer centroavante

Em meio à correria para montar o Departamento de Futebol, a direção alvirrubra cogita liberar o meia Bruno Tabata. O camisa 17, custaria em torno de 2 milhões de euros, ou R$ 12,7 milhões no câmbio atual. O valor, porém, poderia ser menor. Uma negociação serviria para diminuir a folha de pagamento, liberar espaço no grupo e ter capital de giro.

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Ao mesmo tempo, o Inter está de olho na situação de Pedro Raul, centroavante que atuou pelo Ceará nesta temporada. Com contrato com o Corinthians até dezembro de 2028, o jogador estava emprestado, com os dois clubes dividindo o salário, de cerca de R$ 700 mil. Há concorrência, contudo, da MLS e da Rússia.

Alex Brasil viria como executivo

Ex-executivo da base do Timão, clube o qual deixou há dois meses, Alex Brasil está na mira Colorada. A informação foi antecipara pelo repórter identificado Lucas Collar. O Lance! confirmou o interesse. Em conversa por telefone, o dirigente, no entanto, disse não ter recebido nenhum contato.

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– Fico lisonjeado com o interesse, mas não recebi nenhum contato do clube – afirmou em conversa com o Lance!.

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Dois jogadores titulares do técnico Abel Ferreira no Palmeiras na última temporada chamam a atenção da diretoria pelo fato de seus contratos vencerem no final de 2022. O meia Gustavo Scarpa e o lateral-direito Marcos Rocha encabeçam uma lista de seis atletas cujos vínculos com o Verdão se encerram neste ano.

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Além deles, integram a lista o lateral-esquerdo Victor Luís, os atacantes Deyverson e Luan Silva e o goleiro Marcelo Lomba, novo reforço alviverde para a temporada.

O LANCE! apurou que a diretoria palmeirense já tem o aval de Abel para buscar a renovação com os titulares. As tratativas deverão ter início nesta quarta-feira (5), quando o elenco se reapresenta na Academia de Futebol.

Há precaução principalmente com a situação de Scarpa, já que a diretoria teme a concorrência com clubes estrangeiros nas negociações.

Entre os outros nomes, a situação mais emergencial é a de Deyverson. O heroi do título da Copa Libertadores 2021 tem vínculo com o time alviverde até o final de junho e já pode assinar pré-contrato com outra equipe e se transferir de graça.

Ao L!, fontes da diretoria escondem se há interesse do clube na renovação. A presidente Leila Pereira teria interesse na permanência de Deyverson, pelo status que ele ganhou após o gol do título continental. Mas o assunto deverá ter andamento somente com o aval de Abel e sua comissão técnica, a partir de quarta-feira.

+ CONFIRA O CAMINHO DO PALMEIRAS NO MUNDIAL DE CLUBES

As outras situações estão mais encaminhadas. Luan Silva originalmente tinha vínculo até dezembro passado, mas o clube teve de prorrogar o contrato até março por conta da obrigatoriedade prevista para jogadores machucados. O atacante se recupera de uma das três cirurgias feitas no joelho esquerdo e não interessa mais ao clube.

Victor Luís, cujo vínculo vai até o final do ano, não faz parte dos planos de Abel e negocia sua transferência para o Ceará.

Lomba, contratado este ano para a reserva de Weverton no gol palmeirense, tem uma espécia de ‘acordo de produtividade’ e sua renovação depende de cumprir ou não critérios estabelecidos.

O ex-goleiro do Internacional chega ao clube ao lado do atacante Rafael Navarro e do meia Eduard Atuesta. O objetivo do Palmeiras é fechar mais contratações nos próximos dias. Um zagueiro e um centroavante estão na mira.

O clube corre para resolver duas pendências surgidas antes de sua reapresentação, no caso o impasse com as situações do meia Lucas Lima e do atacante Luiz Adriano, que não se reapresentarão com o restante do elenco e não deve continuar. Esse último, inclusive, perdeu até mesmo a camisa 10 na relação da nova numeração divulgada.

O Verdão tem até o dia 24 de janeiro para definir a lista de inscritos no Mundial de Clubes, nos Emirados Árabes Unidos. A estreia será no dia 8, na semifinal, quando enfrenta o vencedor de Al-Ahly (Egito) e Monterrey (México).

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Club are top of Division One heading into ‘Super September’ title run-in

Matt Roller24-Aug-2021

Warwickshire have become the latest club to bolster their squad ahead of the County Championship’s ‘Super September’, signing the Barbados seamer Chemar Holder for their Division One run-in.Holder, who made his Test debut in New Zealand last December, will fly to London on Friday after the conclusion of West Indies’ Test series against Pakistan in Jamaica, and is due to be available for Warwickshire’s away fixture against Lancashire on August 30.Holder was the leading wicket-taker in the 2019-20 West Indies Championship, spearheading Barbados’ title-winning attack, and was part of the squad that toured England and New Zealand last year then made an ODI debut in Bangladesh at the start of 2021. He was not retained by St Lucia Kings in the CPL despite playing a part in their run to the final last season, opening up the opportunity to play county cricket.The decision to sign an overseas fast bowler is a change of strategy from Warwickshire, who employed top-order batters Pieter Malan and Hanuma Vihari as their international signings earlier in the summer. But with Dom Sibley set to be available after being dropped by England and fast bowlers Henry Brookes and Olly Stone both out for the season, they have opted to add depth to their seam-bowling stocks.Related

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Warwickshire start the final stage of the Championship top of Division One, carrying forward half the points they accumulated in their group games against Nottinghamshire. They finished seventh out of eight teams in the old Division One in 2019 and were winless in last summer’s Bob Willis Trophy, but have impressed in first-class cricket since Mark Robinson’s arrival as head coach.Paul Farbrace, Warwickshire’s director of cricket, said: “We’re delighted to add Chemar to our bowling unit ahead of what is an exciting four games in the LV= Insurance County Championship. Chemar is a young, tall, fast bowler who will offer us something different as we look to build on our impressive start.”In the red-ball game Chemar has impressed internationally and domestically and I know he’s extremely excited to wear the Bear and Ragged Staff. I’d like to thank batsmen Hanuma Vihari and Pieter Malan for their contributions, and we look forward to welcoming Chemar very soon.”Holder said: “Warwickshire is a fantastic club with a proud history of winning trophies and overseas stars. The Bears squad have a great opportunity to win a trophy this season and I can’t wait to contribute and help the team achieve their goals. I’m incredibly excited to test myself in such an illustrious competition.”

Arsenal had hoped this would be the season their title dreams came true, but those hopes are fading fast and swift action is needed in the market

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No team earned more Premier League points than Arsenal during 2024. Much to the Gunners' dismay, that was not enough to win them last season's title, nor to see them move into the new year top of the table. In fact, they are nine points behind pace-setters Liverpool heading into their first fixture of 2025.

After coming so close in each of the last two campaigns, the desire within those London Colney walls to end a two-decade long wait to become kings of England again is stronger than ever. Their window for the season is closing though and they need to make some changes in order to gun down the Reds.

There are a few items for Mikel Arteta and Co. to check off their to-do list for January if they are to ensure the 2024-25 season goes down as a successful one. They can't afford to stand still when they are in the chasing pack.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  Find Saka cover

  Arsenal have already had to do without captain Martin Odegaard due to injury for a sizeable chunk of this season already, and now they must soldier on without Bukayo Saka, who could miss up to three months of action after a hamstring tear.

  Arteta has already stressed that internal solutions are available to him, with many of his forwards capable of playing on the right to fill the creative and physical void left by Saka. Gabriel Martinelli has taken up the immediate responsibility of stepping into his shoes so far, using his slightly different skillset to scamper down the line and act as a more traditional winger. The upside of this profile was evident in their 5-1 thumping of Crystal Palace after Saka was forced off, though Ipswich managed to slow this approach down with an ultra-defensive setup despite Arsenal running out 1-0 winners.

  There are others who could deputise for Saka, with Arteta's suggestion that Kai Havertz could play there perhaps the most intriguing solution suggested so far. Remember, it wasn't until around this time last season that the German moved from midfield to attack. We may have another whacky experiment on our hands to ignite the title charge after all.

  In regards to any potential new signings, there have been extremely tentative links to Bayern Munich duo Leroy Sane and Kingsley Coman, but one name pops off the screen unlike any other.

Advertisement

• Getty Images Sport
  

  The Rashford gamble

  It's him. Of course it's him. Of course it's Marcus Rashford. Why wouldn't it be Marcus Rashford?

  This isn't about replacing Saka like-for-like, rather to simply add more goals to a stale open-play attack in need of some fresh impetus – the demolition of Palace was an outlier across the season and Arsenal have undoubtedly slowed down when it comes to creating chances on live balls. Rashford too has already cited his desire for a 'new challenge' and the path to redemption via Arteta's Arsenal is one well trodden by the likes of Havertz and the recently rejuvenated Gabriel Jesus.

  Manchester United are going to have a tough time trying to sell their homegrown star, in part due to his wages and in part due to his nose-dive form over the last 18 months or so, and it would be typically opportunistic of Arsenal to go all in on Rashford at this lowest ebb.

  It would, however, also go against Arteta's mantra for calmness and control, whether that's on the pitch or off it. Nine points is a rather sizeable gap to chop away at, and maybe violently veering left when everyone expects you to head right would provide the shot in the arm needed to get that challenge off the ground. They might not even need to fork out a transfer fee in order to acquire him, with some reports suggesting United are open-minded about a loan. It's not like they'd be letting him leave for a competitive rival at this point, either.

  Rashford insists his best years are still ahead of him – whether anyone whose best years are still ahead of them would feel the need to say that is a debate for another day – and it was only two seasons ago he looked like the best forward in the league. If that player is still in there, Arteta could rediscover him again.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  Bring forward new striker plans

  Maybe Arsenal's search for goals, to make up for the impending Saka shortfall or otherwise, shouldn't lead them down the Rashford path of uncertainty, rather a more reliable source instead. That's easier said than done, particularly in the January window.

  The two out-and-out strikers most persistently linked with the Gunners are Swedish duo Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres, though they come with their own particular risks. In the case of Isak, Newcastle are said to be demanding at least £150m for an injury-prone player with over three years left to run on their deal, while Gyokeres turns 27 in 2025 and is yet to play in one of Europe's top five leagues.

  This is before you even consider whether Newcastle or Sporting CP would want to do business in January. From an Arsenal perspective though, this could be the month to get a march on their rivals ahead of what will surely be a summer of striker transfers. It wouldn't hurt to at least put the feelers out there, would it?

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  Get Sterling sharp again

  Since joining Arsenal on a deadline day loan from Chelsea at the end of the summer window, Raheem Sterling has played only 426 minutes across 11 matches. In that time, he's registered a measly one goal and two assists.

  It's been an underwhelming period of his career to this point, but the Arsenal faithful should not lose hope in Sterling just yet. His moment is coming and he needs to be ready for it upon his return from injury in the coming weeks.

  The primary reason behind Sterling's move to the Emirates Stadium in the first place was the influence of Arteta, the man widely credited with making the winger the scoring extraordinaire he turned into at Manchester City during their respective days up at the Etihad Stadium. It was Arteta who coached him the art of arriving at the last line to score tap-in after tap-in, which has become Sterling's signature move.

  Arsenal will need some meaningful contributions from Sterling at some point before the season is out. It's in their interests to keep him on his toes and prepare him.

Neymar was back on the pitch and back among the goal as Al-Hilal faced Al-Fayha in a mid-season friendly.

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Neymar scores in unofficial friendlyFirst goal for Al-Hilal in 14 monthsBrazilian only just back from hamstring injuryFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

The Brazilian superstar fired Al-Hilal into the lead, with the game against their fellow Saudi Pro League side finishing 2-0 after ex-Barcelona winger Malcom grabbed the second. Neymar had all the time in the world when converting a first-time shot from near the penalty spot. He was also heavily involved in the second, helping to win the ball back high up the pitch.

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Although only an unofficial friendly, it is Neymar's first Al-Hilal goal in over a year, since October 2023 in the AFC Champions League. He suffered an ACL injury soon after, but then played just twice following his long-awaited comeback in October of this year before a hamstring injury ruled him out for almost another two months.

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Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR NEYMAR?

Even after regaining fitness for a few weeks, Neymar wasn't able to play in the first half of the Saudi Pro League season due to Al-Hilal maxing out their quota of foreign players – no such rules exist in the AFC Champions League. But he will be hoping to get on the pitch domestically as soon as possible and make up for lost time, nearly 18 months after he quit Paris Saint-Germain for a eye-watering contract in the Middle East. Al-Hilal have a King's Cup match against Al-Ittihad on January 7, before league action resumes against Al-Orobah four days later.

The chances of AB de Villiers featuring in this year’s T20 World Cup have dimmed, with Cricket South Africa stating that he has decided “once and for all, that his retirement will remain final”.Related

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• de Villiers to discuss T20 WC comeback with SA coach Boucher

• If de Villiers is ready and willing, he will be at the T20 WC – Boucher

de Villiers retired from all international cricket in May 2018, but has been active in franchise T20 competitions. Last month, when he was playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2021, it emerged that he was in discussions with South Africa coach Mark Boucher over a possible comeback with a view towards featuring in the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in October-November in India.On Tuesday, CSA announced in a release that discussions with de Villiers have concluded. There was little other detail on this development, with the release largely focusing on the squads that have been named for South Africa’s upcoming Test and T20I tour of the West Indies.At the time when de Villiers revealed he had been in talks with Boucher, he had sounded enthusiastic about the prospect of a South Africa comeback.”Last year, he asked me if I would be interested. And I said, ‘absolutely’. And come the end of the IPL, we will have a look at where we are at with regards to my form and my fitness,” de Villiers had said.”Also, the situation with his team – he’s got to look at his guys who have been performing well over the last while. If there’s no space for me, so be it. If I can slot in there, it will be fantastic if all those things fall in place. Waiting for [the chat with] Bouchy towards the end of the IPL, and we will then plan accordingly.”Ever since his sudden retirement announcement in 2018, talk of a comeback has constantly surrounded de Villiers. He came closest to ending his retirement on the eve of the 2019 ODI World Cup, when he made a last-minute offer of an international return, but was rebuffed by the then team management.Hopes of a de Villiers comeback had intensified after a new leadership group including director of cricket Graeme Smith and coach Mark Boucher – both former international team-mates of de Villiers – took over the national team’s reins towards the end of 2019, but those hopes now seem extinguished.de Villiers, 37, is among South Africa’s greatest-ever batters, their fourth-highest run-getter in Test cricket and their second-highest in ODIs and T20Is. He remains one of the world’s finest T20 players, and was in red-hot form during IPL 2021 before the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic brought the tournament to a premature halt, scoring 207 runs in six innings at an average of 51.75 and a strike rate of 164.28.

Leeds United fans will pray that this Championship season is the one where the Whites win promotion back to the Premier League in resounding fashion having just missed out last campaign courtesy of the lottery of the playoffs.

There is a feel-good factor in the air at Elland Road that they can wrestle free of their tag as bottlejobs on the big occasion, with the hope that an emphatic win against second-tier new boys Portsmouth on the opening day can start the 46-game marathon in the best possible way.

Daniel Farke will feel that he is still a body or two short from having the finished squad that he thinks could be capable of winning promotion in style though, with a new move now in the works.

Leeds in the hunt for FC Koln star

Leeds aren't just looking to bolster their options out wide, with Norwich City's Jonathan Rowe a target, but their midfield areas could also be strengthened.

As per German outlet BILD, Leeds could still come out on top regarding their pursuit of FC Koln midfielder Dejan Ljubicic, if they're willing to cough up some significant cash.

Leeds are in the money again with Crysencio Summerville's sale to West Ham United injecting some much-needed funds into the transfer kitty, and so the Whites could be prepared to splash out on the Austrian star, with BILD speculating that £6.8m should be enough for Ljubicic to move to West Yorkshire.

Suffering a relegation down to the Bundesliga 2 last campaign, Koln must have known it was going to be a tall order to keep a firm grip on their 26-year-old gem ahead of the new season, with Ljubicic now even stating that he 'dreams' of a major move away from Germany.

How Ljubicic can be Farke's next Gruev

Farke will hope he can mould this potential recruit into his next Ilia Gruev, who shone last campaign after once being a relatively unknown entity from another German club in Werder Bremen, to the point where Borussia Dortmund have even been sniffing around for his services.

Gruev would slowly but surely become a key cog in the Whites' first team, going on to make 35 appearances in all competitions, forming a solid duo in the holding midfield spots with the now departed Glen Kamara.

The Leeds number 44 was unerringly cool on the ball under pressure across the frantic full campaign, finishing the regular season in the Championship with a 92% pass accuracy on average per clash, alongside firing home one memorable strike against Norwich City in the playoffs, before Wembley heartbreak eventually greeted Farke's men.

The nine-time Austria international starred on the opening day of the Bundesliga 2 season for his current employers, as can be seen looking at the table above, displaying shades of Gruev's game with three key passes notched up, alongside a willingness to disrupt play and battle with three duels bravely won.

Leeds might well have been watching on to cast an eye over their target once more, presumably encouraged by what they saw to now be tempted into bidding the excessive £6.8m being thrown about, with his assist on the day gifting Koln a goal in the 2-1 loss.

Scoring 11 goals to date whilst donning a Koln jersey, including this sublime strike at the start of 2024, Ljubicic could give Farke's men another attacking option in the middle of the park akin to new loan signing Joe Rothwell, who also has a long-range rocket up his sleeve.

Farke will be happy with the players that he has to choose from currently, with the likes of Wilfried Gnonto and Georginio Rutter remaining fixed in their West Yorkshire postcodes for the time being alongside Gruev obvious positives, but new arrivals such as Ljubicic would really strengthen this top squad even more.

Forget about Rowe: Leeds could make move to sign "remarkable" PL winger

The Whites could decide to swoop for the talented youngster this summer.

By
Dan Emery

Aug 8, 2024