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West Ham are interested in signing Sevilla and Morocco striker Youssef En-Nesyri in the January transfer window, according to a new report from Fichajes.

The Lowdown: Potential January reinforcements

The Hammers are enjoying an excellent season so far but squad additions in the winter could help take them to another level. David Moyes’ side will hope to continue challenging for a top-four finish, but that could be a struggle without changes to the current squad.

An exciting new report has emerged regarding El-Nesyri, who scored an impressive 18 goals in La Liga last season and a further six in the Champions League and has been given the nickname ‘Hurricane Youssef’.

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The Latest: En-Nesyri linked with West Ham move

According to Fichajes, West Ham are eyeing up a move for the 24-year-old, who could be available for €50m (£42m), which would almost break the club’s record transfer fee set by £45m man Sebastien Haller.

Daniel Kretinsky’s investment in the Hammers means that funds could be available to snap up the Moroccan, who has scored 11 goals in 39 caps for his country and was the subject of an unsuccessful €35m (£29.5m) bid from the east London club during the summer transfer window.

The Verdict: Perfect mid-season addition

This is the kind of signing which would feel like a statement of intent by West Ham at a time when they are looking to complete with the most successful teams in the country.

En-Nesyri is a proven striker who has delivered in La Liga for a number of seasons now and he could provide strong competition for Michail Antonio in attack, something which is sorely lacking at the moment.

With both domestic and Europa League commitments for the Hammers over the winter and into the New Year, it could also allow Moyes to shuffle his pack more regularly. It’s hard to feel that a move for En-Nesyri wouldn’t make perfect sense.

In other news, some West Ham fans are excited about another transfer rumour. Read more here.

Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan has recovered from the ankle sprain he suffered at practice and will resume training on the eve of the first Test

Cricinfo staff14-Nov-2009Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan has recovered from the ankle sprain he suffered at practice and will resume training on the eve of the first Test against India in Ahmedabad starting on November 16. The captain Kumar Sangakkara also confirmed that one of Prasanna Jayawardene and Kaushal Silva will keep wicket, meaning that Dilshan will play as a specialist batsman.The Sri Lankans go into the Ahmedabad Test without match practice, after their only three-day warm-up game in Mumbai was washed out.”Dilshan has recovered from the minor injury he had due to accident at the warm-up,” Sangakkara said. “He is fine now and batting well. We will have to see how well he does tomorrow.”Prasanna has been doing great with the gloves. Kaushal is on a maiden Test tour but has been scoring a good amount of runs for the A side and in domestic cricket. One of them is going to get the first game.”Dilshan kept wicket and batted in the middle order in the three Tests against Pakistan at home during August, stepping in for the injured Jayawardene, which allowed Sri Lanka to accommodate allrounder Angelo Mathews, who chipped in as the third seamer. However, Jayawardene returned for the two Tests against New Zealand that followed and Dilshan was promoted to open the innings. Sri Lanka have four wicketkeepers in the squad, including the captain himself.That flexibility, Sangakkara said, was Sri Lanka’s strength and it extended to all departments of the game. “The guys are relaxed and enjoying themselves as the pressure is not on us. We do have a balanced side this time and have options of playing various combinations of fast bowlers and spinners giving us more flexibility.”We have got a mix of youth and experience, a good variation of pace and spin plus over seven or eight batsmen. And all of them have been doing well in their own disciplines. We are looking forward for them to go into the first Test and enjoy themselves, play good hard cricket and hopefully come out on top.”Sangakkara said he was pleased with the composition of the five-member pace attack, including Mathews. “We have fast bowlers like Dammika Prasad and Thilan Thushara who are bowling at the speed of 145-plus kph,” he said. “Then we have Nuwan Kulasekara at 130 and Chanaka Welegedara who can hit 140 as well. Speed does not really matter unless it is accompanied with accuracy.”

As Rangers headed into the international break they will have done so with glee as the Gers sat top of the league with everything appearing to be rather rosy at Ibrox.

There was a Scottish League Cup semi-final to prepare for and Steven Gerrard will have been confident about Rangers making the final.

However, he is no longer in Glasgow. The Gers have lost their title-winning head coach to south of the border and instead of a straightforward break, they had to work harder than ever to replace him.

The new boss is well known at Ibrox and brings with him a CV that eclipses that of Gerrard.

On Thursday afternoon, it was confirmed that Dutch coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst would become the 17th permanent manager of the club.

He has won the Eredivisie with Feyenoord in what stands out as his proudest achievement to date as a manager. However, his expertise guided the Netherlands-based side to two cup triumphs too.

The 46-year-old will also bring with him an experience of managing some of the finest players to grace European football. That list includes Liverpool hero Dirk Kuyt and Premier League winner Robin van Persie.

The former Arsenal star was a revelation under van Bronckhorst’s watchful eyes, bagging 25 times in 45 matches under the new Rangers manager’s tutelage.

Of course, it is hard to compare van Persie to anybody in the Gers squad but their head coach will undoubtedly require somebody who can fire in the goals on a regular basis.

Ryan Kent will, of course, be vital to retaining their Premiership crown but Alfredo Morelos will also need to start firing.

El Bufalo has been out of form this term with just four league strikes but it surely won’t be long before he becomes his ruthless self again.

The £33k-per-week earner may see a new manager as the perfect opportunity and if he starts scoring regularly again, he will become van Bronckhorst’s next van Persie in Scotland.

Morelos has been consistently linked with a move away from Glasgow but ahead of the January window, Ross Wilson and co must ensure he stays put.

He is a man capable of carrying them to the title and if we consider his goal record, it becomes clear why he’s being mentioned in the same breath as one of the Netherland’s great modern centre-forwards.

The dominant Colombian forward has beaten the goalkeeper on 101 occasions since arriving at Rangers and his iconic playstyle has earned some eye-catching appraisals.

“He was like a jungle cat who hadn’t been trained,” former coach Carlos Restrepo said of his youth days.

“He has a body type like an ox,” Restrepo added in an interview with The Athletic.

Van Persie was more technical than physical, something Morelos typifies, but their goalscoring records certainly match up.

Van Bronckhorst will surely relish the opportunity to coach him each day.

AND in other news, Rangers sealed dream deal over “physically powerful” £230k gem, GVB will love him…

A round-up of the first day’s action from the sixth round of matches from the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

Cricinfo staff09-Nov-2009Group ARain forced an early end to the first day’s play at the Gaddafi Stadium but not before Karachi Whites dismissed Lahore Shalimar for 257. Sohail Idrees and Ali Raza scored 74 and 71 but only Mohammad Saeed scored more than 30 among the other batsmen. Fast bowler Tabish Khan took the most wickets for Karachi, 3 for 69, while Ali Mudassar, Akbar-ur-Rehman and Shahzaib Ahmed took two each.Fifteen wickets fell on the opening day between National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in Faisalabad. PIA were dismissed for 179 after they were sent in. Kamran Sajid’s 43 was the highest individual contribution and PIA collapsed from 68 for 1, with Uzair-ul-Haq taking 4 for 51. NBP’s top order also struggled: only two of the top seven batsmen reached double figures as they slumped to 55 for 5 at stumps. Ali Imran and Aizaz Cheema took two wickets apiece for PIA.Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) made a solid start to their match against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) in Gujranwala. The WAPDA openers thrived after they were put in to bat, adding 145 for the first wicket. Rafatullah Mohmand scored 62 while his partner Adil Nisar made 104 before both batsmen fell before rain stopped play. WAPDA ended the day on 204 for 2.Two Group A matches between Habib Bank and Sui Southern Gas Corporation in Rawalpindi , and between Pakistan Customs and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited in Islamabad had no play on the opening day because of rain.Group BRain curtailed the first day’s play between Abbottabad and Peshawar to only 15 overs in Abbottabad. The Peshawar bowlers took advantage during the small window, reducing the hosts to 34 for 3. New-ball bowlers Riaz Afridi took 2 for 21 while Nauman Habib claimed 1 for 12.Quetta’s bowlers reduced Faisalabad to 234 for 7 on the opening day in Sargodha. Farrukh Shehzad top-scored with 81 for Faisalabad, and Naved Latif made 60, but the contributions from the rest of the batsmen were meagre. Arun Lal took 3 for 62 for Quetta while Nazar Hussain and Arshad Khan took two apiece.Rizwan Haider took 5 for 60 to help Multan dismiss Hyderabad for only 197 on the first day at the Niaz Stadium. Hyderabad’s openers made s solid start but once they reached 81, Rizwan began to cut through the batting line-up. They slumped to 101 for 4 and then lost their last three wickets for one run. Captain Faisal Ather’s 63 was the highest score. Multan’s openers, Babar Ali and Kashif Naved, added 99 in reply before Naved was out for 61. Multan ended the day on 127 for 1.Shahzaib Hasan scored 127 for Karachi Blues but a poor performance from the rest of the batsmen resulted in them being dismissed for 297 against Lahore Ravi at the National Stadium. Asad Shafiq scored 48 at No. 3 but Mohammad Irshad took 5 for 59 to trigger a collapse from 183 for 1 to 297 all out. Lahore ended the day on 15 for 1 after Sohail Ahmed was dismissed for a duck.Rain washed out play on the first day between Islamabad and Rawalpindi in Islamabad .

The Olympic Stadium in East London has emerged as a potential venue for floodlit Twenty20 cricket

Andrew Miller22-Oct-2009The Olympic Stadium in East London has emerged as a potential venue for floodlit Twenty20 cricket, after the London Development Agency (LDA) claimed it had been in talks with the ECB, and two first-class counties, in a bid to firm up a “legacy” for the 80,000-seater venue once the 2012 games have finished.In a statement, the LDA said it had “engaged with two professional cricket clubs and the national governing body of the sport to explore opportunities for professional cricket (particularly Twenty20 cricket) to be played in the legacy stadium post-2012 and proposes to identify areas within the legacy park where cricket nets and recreational cricket can be played.”The organisers of the 2012 Olympics are determined that the stadium should not be rendered obsolete after the games, and a number of other sports – including London football clubs, rugby league and union, and athletics – have all been approached. However, the exponential growth of Twenty20 cricket, coupled with the current inadequate venue sizes that currently exist around the country, makes the cricket option an especially convenient fit.Lord’s is currently the largest venue in the country, but even it boasts less than half the capacity of the Olympic Stadium, and Middlesex, who play their home games there but lease the ground from the MCC, are excited by the possibilities that have been tabled.”I think it’s a fantastic notion, an absolutely brilliant idea,” Vinny Codrington, Middlesex’s chief executive, told Cricinfo. “We understand that two counties have been approached, but we are not one of those. However, now that it has been mooted, we might well go back to them and propose it ourselves. We can’t play all our matches at Lord’s for a variety of reasons, and a stadium of that size would be a real asset to cricket.”Codrington’s comments follow on from those of the MCC chief executive, Keith Bradshaw, who told told the Observer in July that cricket at the Olympic Stadium would be a “huge strategic advantage”. However, Bradshaw subsequently clarified those remarks in an MCC statement, and vowed that Lord’s would “hit the competition head on” if a rival venue came into existence in London.”There is a difference between considering an idea inevitable and lending support to it,” he said. “I believe Lord’s is the best place to watch cricket in the country and I intend to keep it that way irrespective of whether another London ground emerges or not. Lord’s may be the biggest ground in the country but MCC is determined to retain its intimate, traditional character even if capacity is increased through development. We are a ground and not a stadium, and no one here wants that to change.”When contacted by Cricinfo, the ECB denied any knowledge of the proposal, while Essex is also keeping tight-lipped. However, with an untapped Asian market on the doorstep of the stadium, particularly the vast Bangladeshi community in nearby Tower Hamlets, there are clear economic reasons to bring cricket to the East End.One London club, however, has already ruled itself out of further discussions. “We were contacted by the Olympic authorities six months ago, asking if the county would be interested,” Paul Sheldon, Surrey’s chief executive, said. “However we declined, saying that The Oval’s facilities were good enough and that such an arrangement would not make financial sense. “The response from Kent, on the other hand, was positive. “We haven’t been approached but we’d be happy to look at imaginative proposals if they were put forward,” Paul Millman, Kent’s chief executive, told Cricinfo. “Kent has a large catchment area that extends into London, and there is a huge opportunity at present to build on the success and interest in Twenty20 cricket.”Millman added that Kent’s immediate priority was to push the development of the St Lawrence Ground at Canterbury, as well as Tunbridge Wells and Beckenham which have proved popular for Twenty20 matches in recent seasons. However, he said that the prospect of hosting ‘London derbies’ at the Olympic Stadium, against the likes of Middlesex, Essex and Surrey, would be an avenue of particular interest.What is more, the shape of the stadium is perfectly suited to cricket, which – like athletics – requires an oval-shaped playing surface, unlike football and rugby, which are better suited to rectangular arrangements. The Melbourne Cricket Ground proved how versatile such venues can be when it was refitted for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. In November 2005, the outfield was stripped to lay down a new running track. Four weeks later, the turf had been re-laid ahead of the Boxing Day Test against South Africa; and in March 2006, it was stripped back once more for athletics to take centre stage.With the LDA increasingly taken by the notion, the chances of the plans getting the go-ahead are beginning to look more favourable. “Given that the public purse has paid half a billion pounds for the Olympic Stadium, it makes perfect sense to examine every possible sporting use in legacy mode alongside the athletics,” said the shadow sports and culture minister, Hugh Robertson, back in July.And more recently, Somerset’s chief executive, Andy Nash, delivered a scathing assessment of English cricket’s awareness of the possibilities of Twenty20 cricket, following his county’s early exit from the ongoing Champions League. “I think back to Twenty20 finals day and it was like watching Des O’Connor,” he declared. “It was very flat and very uninspiring. When you go to India and sit in a stadium that is full, the contrast between that and the way we offer up T20 cricket could not be more stark.”

Mark Footitt, the left-arm fast bowler, has been released from his contract at Nottinghamshire

Cricinfo staff25-Aug-2009Mark Footitt, the left-arm fast bowler, has been released from his contract at Nottinghamshire.Footitt, 23, played against Oxford UCCE in June this year, but has failed to be included in the first team since.”It’s a shame things haven’t worked out for Mark, but hopefully he will have the opportunity to go on trial with another county before the end of the season and get a fresh start,” said Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire director of cricket.Footitt took 23 wickets from nine first-class matches with Nottinghamshire, but suffered with injuries, including a bulging disc in his back which ruled him out of last season.

It may have been pouring with rain at full-time at Old Trafford on Sunday evening but for Liverpool, all they could see was sunshine and rainbows.

This was a blisteringly good performance from Jurgen Klopp’s men as they completely demolished one of their biggest rivals on their own patch.

The Reds struck five unanswered goals past Manchester United as a devastating hat-trick from Mohamed Salah really put the gloss on what is proving to be a fine season for the Egyptian.

There have been cries in recent weeks that he is the best player on the planet and despite United’s woeful defending on Sunday, he was still mesmerising in the opposition’s penalty area.

None of his goals were of the pure ingenuity we saw versus against Manchester City and Watford but he was still a class apart.

However, we want to focus on the player who provided the goal that sealed his match ball; Jordan Henderson.

The midfielder’s future in Merseyside appeared to be in doubt at the beginning of the campaign but after penning new terms at Anfield, he is continuing to deliver consistent performances on a regular basis for the Reds.

It was a timely performance from the England international who with Thiago Alcantara injured and Curtis Jones only regaining his fitness, was one of the stars of the show for Klopp.

His ball for Salah’s third and final goal was stupendous. He took the ball in midfield and then sprayed a quite delightful pass in behind that left Liverpool’s most important player to prod the ball home.

It was a piece of play that rolled back the years to a former Liverpool captain, one that goes by the name of Steven Gerrard.

Henderson might not like those comparisons but on the biggest of stages, he handled the pressure just as Stevie G did on so many occasions.

He ran the game in the middle of the park and put in a near-perfect display that will undoubtedly have sent the supporters home happy.

As well as providing that delicious ball in behind for Salah to add the club’s fifth, the 31-year-old completed 128 passes at a success rate of 96%.

That is a mind-boggling number, especially when you consider that he made more passes over the 90 minutes than Fred, Scott McTominay, Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba put together.

His touch count of 144 was also more than McTominay and Fred combined, exacerbating just how good he was this weekend.

What made Henderson’s impact even better were the three key passes that he provided for his teammates.

Incredibly, the experienced midfielder only conceded possession on six occasions. Given how many times he picked up the ball, that is a phenomenal tally, one that proved just how composed he was in the middle of the park.

Liverpool’s attackers will deservedly grab the headlines in tomorrow’s newspapers but Henderson deserves praise too. He laid the platform with a delicate display from the base of Klopp’s XI.

AND in other news, Signed for £0, now worth £7.2m: Klopp has struck gold on “unbelievable” LFC beast…

Shakib Al Hasan starred with a delightfully aggressive ton in Bangladesh’s second straight win in the five-match series against Zimbabwe

The Bulletin by Sriram Veera11-Aug-2009 Bangladesh 320 for 8 ( Shakib 104, Tamim 79) beat Zimbabwe 271 (Williams 71, Coventry 61) by 49 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outShakib Al Hasan scored his third one-day hundred•Associated PressShakib Al Hasan starred with a delightfully aggressive ton as Bangladesh recorded their second straight win in the five-match series against Zimbabwe. Tamim Iqbal laid the platform with a patient half-century before Shakib took over to propel Bangladesh to their highest ODI score. Zimbabwe put up a fight, courtesy fine half-centuries from Charles Coventry and Sean Williams, but the target proved beyond their reach.Bangladesh’s strategy in the field was simple: keep a tight line and wait for the pressure of the steep target to start telling on the batsmen. And it worked. Coventry provided some momentum to the chase by counterattacking after the early wickets. There was a very skillful hit over extra-cover against Syed Rasel and a couple of big sixes against the offspinner Naeem Islam but he fell trying to keep pace with the asking rate.Post Coventry’s exit, Williams played a gem of a cameo, filled with improvisations, but he too became a victim of the run-rate. He notched up his highest ODI score and not only used his feet well against the spinners but also repeatedly put the reverse sweep to good effect to upset the rhythm of the bowlers. He ran hard between the wickets and kept picking singles and twos to keep the scorecard moving. Near the end of the chase, he took more risks, charging out to the seamers as well. He sashayed down the track and heaved Nazmul Hossain to the cowcorner and slapped him over covers but fell while failing to clear long-on. Elton Chigumbura biffed around in the end to raise the home side’s hopes but could only succeed in reducing the margin of the loss.Bangladesh’s win was set up by their batsmen led by Shakib, who provided momentum with an imposing knock. Bangladesh were 108 for 1 in 25 overs but Shakib ensured that they finished strongly.The feature of his innings was his skill in repeatedly picking the gaps: there were quite a few hits over extra cover, a few to the straight boundary and many swings to midwicket. He started carefully, dealing in singles and twos to reach 15, before breaking free with two pulled boundaries. The explosion started in the 38th over, bowled by the part-time spinner Williams, with Shakib, who was denied the services of a runner just prior to the over, swinging twice over midwicket boundary. He went on to crash Ray Price to the straight boundary before lifting Prosper Utseya over long-off and twice over extra-cover as he made full use of the batting Powerplay.He was aided by some poor fielding and was dropped twice in the inner circle: when he was on 59, Stuart Matsikenyeri spilled a sitter at midwicket off an attempted reverse-sweep against Utseya and when he was on 71, Price dropped another off a top-edged paddle-sweep.Shakib went on the rampage after the twin drops. He looted 19 runs, with the help of three boundaries that included a stunning six over long-off, off the 44th over bowled by Chamu Chibhaba. He brought up the hundred in 63 balls and celebrated it with a cheeky scoop shot off Ed Rainsford before he was run out going for the third run after Mushfiqur Rahim had slashed to deep point. Rahim sought to make amends for his mistake with some big hitting in the end to push Bangladesh well past 300.The platform was laid earlier in the day by Tamim, who forged a more staid partnership with Junaid Siddique at the top of the order. Only four fours came in the first fifteen overs and only one boundary was hit in the air. It not only reflected the intent of the batsmen but also the disciplined lines and length of the new-ball bowlers Elton Chigumbura and Rainsford. If there was to be any criticism, it has to be said that they perhaps strayed to the middle and leg line a touch too often against Tamim, which shows up in his wagon wheel: Tamim picked 48 runs on the on side.For their part, the batsmen were absolutely focused on playing themselves in before going for their shots. Things were looking good when Siddique was run out. He pushed Utseya, who brought himself on in the 11th over, to the left of short midwicket, was caught in a yes-no situation with Tamim and couldn’t get back to his crease in time. Tamim, himself, was run out soon in a comical fashion. He had missed to connect a leg-side delivery but was stranded in the middle due to a faulty call from Shakib and was easily run out by the keeper. However, it didn’t prove to be a major set back as Shakib set the stadium ablaze with his power-hitting.

Spurs are planning for life with Harry Kane despite an intense summer of speculation, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano this week…

What’s the word?

The Italian journalist delivered a fresh update on the England international’s current situation and the general feeling behind-the-scenes at Hotspur Way, with the January transfer window soon on the horizon.

Speaking on his ‘Here We Go’ podcast, Romano revealed:

“Tottenham are really planning with Harry Kane now.

“The atmosphere around Harry Kane is relaxed now. It’s not a fight like it was earlier in the summer.

“Let’s see what is going to happen next summer, but as of right now, the situation is really relaxed around Harry Kane, and for Manchester City, there is nothing going on with Kane now.”

Fans surely buzzing

For club and country in 2021/22, the 28-year-old talisman has been horribly out of sorts, having yet scored in the Premier League this term. The reasons for his poor form are somewhat explainable but they are not 100% fact.

Perhaps the failed move to defending champions Manchester City has played its part, or the fact that he barely had a pre-season following Euro 2020, or it could even boil down to Nuno Santo and his tactical system.

But he’s certainly not kicking up a fuss publicly and he did commit to the club in an announcement on social media after returning on the pitch earlier in the season.

However, this latest update should provide a major source of encouragement that the situation in the summer will not boil over into January, meaning Nuno and Spurs can continue business as usual heading into 2022.

It also means that Kane will, at least, see out the current campaign, in which he will undoubtedly turn his form around and that should please much of the Lilywhites faithful who will love the fact that their star man is here to stay.

The long-serving youth product has found the net at least 24 times in every season since 2014/15, so there is nothing to fear just yet.

It has also only been five league starts for Kane so far this term, whilst he has bagged six goals across European and domestic cup competitions.

If everything is good behind-the-scenes as Romano claims, then it’s surely a matter of time before the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium crowd see their leading man firing on all cylinders once again.

AND in other news, Spurs handed quadruple squad boost ahead of Newcastle clash…

Former Nottingham Forest star Nigel Jemson insists that the signing of Djed Spence is a good one for the club after his arrival on loan.

The 21-year-old has joined the club on loan from Middlesbrough and made his debut at the weekend against Huddersfield Town, as Forest earned their first win of the season.

Spence had made 70 appearances in total for Boro and was actually linked with a potential move to the Premier League prior to making the switch to Forest.

West Ham United had been touted to make a swoop for Spence, as had Everton, but he has instead moved to another Championship club.

Jemson believes that the deal is a good one for Forest as they look to climb the table in the next few weeks.

Indeed, Forest have sacked Chris Hughton after a dismal start to the season that saw them go seven games without a win, although they were victorious at the weekend.

Jemson said: “You are surprised, when he has been linked with Premier League clubs and when that doesn’t happen, he comes to Nottingham Forest. Yes, it’s a coup for us.

“Whether Middlesbrough wanted a big fee from the Premier League clubs to try to cash in and they weren’t prepared to pay it, I don’t know.”