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BBC pundit Danny Mills has suggested that Manchester City could agree on some kind of deal with fellow Premier League rivals West Ham for the signing of Declan Rice this summer after a ‘bizarre’ new contract development.

The Lowdown: Midfield duo set to depart

It was reported by the Daily Mail earlier this week that Ilkay Gundogan has been told by the Sky Blues hierarchy that he is free to leave the club at the end of the season despite still having just over one year remaining on his current contract.

Cityzens captain Fernandinho has also recently announced that he will be departing the Etihad upon the expiration of his contract, which will leave Pep Guardiola a little bit light in the midfield area heading into next season.

Irons star Rice is someone who the Manchester outfit have been linked with for a while now, and as a result of their maestro being in high demand, the Hammers offered him a new eight-year deal to try and keep him at the London Stadium.

However, it’s claimed that this massive offer has been turned down by the player, causing even more speculation about where his future might lie.

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The Latest: An ideal replacement

Mills believes that the City boss will already have someone lined up to replace the departing duo and thinks that it could well be Rice he’s set his sights on.

He told Football Insider: “Declan Rice would be the obvious one for that.

“You would presume he’s turned down that bizarre eight-year contract from West Ham.

“City’s recruitment is usually pretty good. They will have known for a while that Fernandinho was going to leave, especially with his age. Gundogan, likewise.

“I don’t think there are too many youngsters coming through in that position. They’ve got a lot of attacking talent in that number 10 role.

“So it wouldn’t surprise me if they’ve got somebody lined up. You don’t tend to hear too much about their transfer business and then it’s done.

“It’s like Haaland, we were all assuming and then he signed one week and it was done. They’re good at keeping their business quiet until it’s announced.

“If it’s not Rice it could easily be someone else from abroad that they’ve got their eye on and think will fit into what they do.”

The Verdict: One for the future

If it does turn out to be the 29-cap international that City are after, he could prove to be a great signing for them in the long-term, especially considering that he’s only 23 years old and is already dominating on the domestic, European and international stage.

Rice, called ‘incomparable’ by David Moyes, has yet again been a standout performer for West Ham this season, where he’s averaged 2.1 tackles, 1.7 interceptions, and 1.3 clearances per top-flight 90 minutes, via WhoScored, showing the grit and determination he constantly has to win the ball back for his side.

Man City are on course to get their hands on yet another Premier League trophy this Sunday if they manage to secure a victory against Aston Villa, and if winning plenty of silverware is something that Rice wants to achieve in the imminent years of his career, then the Etihad might just be the perfect next destination.

In other news… an ex-BBC pundit has claimed that one City star’s rumoured exit could be a ‘done deal’.

تخطط البرازيل لإحضار جوزيه مورينيو كمدير فني جديد لها وفتحت محادثات مع مدرب روما بعد تجاهل كارلو أنشيلوتي.

منتخب البرازيل الفائز بكأس العالم خمس مرات كان أحد المرشحين للفوز بالبطولة هذا العام في قطر، لكن فريق تيتي ودع البطولة في وقت مبكر من ربع النهائي أمام كرواتيا بركلات الترجيح.

ثم استقال مدرب البرازيل بشكل مثير بعد ساعتين فقط من الهزيمة المفاجئة، لينهي فترة ست سنوات قضاها في تدريب المنتخب.

رحيل تيتي ترك دورًا شاغرًا على رأس إحدى أعظم الدول الكروية ويعتقد أن مورينيو يُنظر إليه على أنه شخص يمكنه تولي المسؤولية.

رئيس الاتحاد البرازيلي لكرة القدم إيدنالدو رودريجيز أرسل ممثلاً إلى أوروبا بهدف إيجاد أفضل المدربين الأجانب المتاحين.

كان ينظر إلى أنشيلوتي – الذي يخضع لعقد مع ريال مدريد حتى عام 2024 – على أنه خيار للبرازيل لكنه لا يريد ترك العملاق الإسباني قبل ذلك ما لم يتم إقالته.

والآن، ذكرت صحيفة “La Repubblica” أن البرازيل فتحت محادثات أولية مع الوكيل خورخي مينديز بشأن انتقال مورينيو.

في عام 2017، عندما كان مورينيو مديرًا فنيًا لمانشستر يونايتد، اعترف المدرب بأن إدارة البرازيل في المستقبل ستكون “مثيرة”.

وقال في ذلك الوقت: “أعتقد بعد متابعة مانشستر يونايتد أنني بحاجة إلى وظيفة أسهل من مانشستر يونايتد، ويجب أن يكون تدريب المنتخب البرازيلي أكثر صعوبة”.

مضيفًا: “من الواضح أنه سيكون مثيرًا، أي مدرب يريد العمل مع أفضل الأندية ومع الأفضل، من الواضح أن المنتخب البرازيلي هو قائد النجاح، من الواضح أنه يتمتع بالموهبة، بغض النظر عن الجيل، الموهبة تظهر دائمًا”.

اقرأ أيضًا | بعد ترك هولندا.. فان جال يفتح الباب أمام تدريب البرتغال

وأفاد: “لكن يجب أن أعترف أنه يجب أن يكون الأمر صعبًا، ففي كل برازيلي يوجد مدرب، وفي كل صحفي يوجد مدرب أفضل من المدرب، أعتقد أنه يجب أن يكون بلدًا صعبًا للعمل فيه، ولكنه أيضًا بلد شغوف”.

كان هناك الكثير من التكهنات حول مستقبل مدرب روما، حيث كان وطنه البرتغال مهتمًا أيضًا بالتعاقد معه بعد إقالة فرناندو سانتوس.

تشير آخر التقارير في إيطاليا إلى أن روما لا يريد أن يغادر مورينيو النادي، والمدير الفني متعاقد معه حتى عام 2024.

في الأسبوع الماضي، ذكرت صحيفة “كوريري ديلو سبورت” أن مينديز التقى برئيس الاتحاد فرناندو سواريس جوميز دا سيلفا لمناقشة خطط مورينيو الحالية.

يحظى روما باهتمامه في الوقت الحالي لكنه يأمل ألا يقف النادي في طريق رغبته في إدارة المنتخب بحلول يونيو 2023.

وسيتحدث مورينيو مع مالكي روما لإيجاد حل، ويعتقد البرتغاليون أنه من المرجح أن يطلب إعفاءه من عقده مع النادي قبل عام لتولي مسؤولية البرتغال.

Liverpool centre-back Joe Gomez continues to be a player that Aston Villa ‘like’ ahead of a possible move, according to journalist Ashley Preece.

The Lowdown: Gomez linked Villa move

The 24-year-old has found himself largely out of favour at Anfield this season, with Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate all preferred to him in the Premier League.

For that reason, it could be that Gomez leaves Liverpool at the end of the campaign, in order to be a first-choice centre-back elsewhere and secure his place in Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad.

Villa have been the club most strongly linked with a move for the Englishman, as Steven Gerrard looks to make summer reinforcements.

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The Latest: Preece provides update

Responding in a Q&A for The Birmingham Mail, Preece claimed that Villa’s interest in Gomez is still undoubtedly there:

“It’s one Villa like. Gerrard really keen on that but it’ll be down to Gomez himself to force a move out of Liverpool this summer. Two years left on his Anfield deal so a decision needs to be made.”

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The Verdict: Primary summer target

Gomez is someone who Villa should be looking at as one of their main transfer targets, considering the quality he possesses, having been hailed as ‘world-class’ by Jurgen Klopp in the past.

Granted, the defender has suffered some serious injuries over the years but he is fit again now and there is no shame in not being able to start regularly for a truly great Liverpool team.

With the World Cup looming, Gomez will be desperate to make Southgate’s squad and a switch to Villa Park could aid that, with Gerrard bringing him in as a guaranteed starter who could help improve the defence.

In other news, an exciting Villa transfer claim has emerged. Read more here.

Glasgow Rangers earned all three points in the Scottish Premiership at Saturday lunchtime to set themselves up nicely for their UEFA Europa League clash.

Scott Wright and James Tavernier ensured of the win in the end, but Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team did make it hard for themselves, as Leon Balogun was given a straight red card just shy of the half-hour mark, as they conceded to Ross Tierney just a few minutes later.

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As such, The Transfer Tavern have now used statistical experts SofaScore to analyse who the three worst performers (to have played at least 45 minutes) were for the visitors on the day, with these three perhaps looking over their shoulders regarding their places in the XI on Thursday:

Glen Kamara

With a 6.6 overall rating, Kamara ranks in third here as both Balogun and Amad Diallo did not play 45 minutes.

Criticised for his role in Motherwell’s goal, the Finland international lost the ball cheaply eight times in total, while he also lost three of his duels, made no clearances and did not block any shots on his goal.

Calvin Bassey

Coming on for Diallo in a defensive change after Balogun’s sending off, Bassey did not shower himself in glory with a 6.5 rating.

The 22-year-old lost one of his two duels, made no interceptions or tackles, blocked no shots and gave the ball away twice, making one foul in the process.

Borna Barisic

Barisic ranked as the Teddy Bears’ worst performer with a 6.3 rating given.

The left-back was unsuccessful in six of his duels, while he also failed to block any shots, was dribbled past twice and lost possession a mammoth 27 times, the second-most of any player on the pitch.

In other news, find out what ‘huge blow’ for the Gers has now emerged here!

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Wasim Jaffer was the only Mumbai batsman to offer some resistance•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Rest of India continued to dominate against Mumbai, dismissing them for 274, but chose not to enforce the follow-on and extended their lead to 439 at stumps on the third day in Jaipur. Jaidev Unadkat and Piyush Chawla picked up seven wickets between them, as only Wasim Jaffer resisted for Mumbai with a half-century. There were only two partnerships of any substance for the Ranji Trophy champions – one between Jaffer and Ajinkya Rahane for the second wicket, and another one for the ninth wicket between Iqbal Abdulla and Dhawal Kulkarni.Yuvraj Singh came in ahead of S Badrinath at the fall of Shikhar Dhawan’s wicket in the second innings, and survived a few close calls to remain unbeaten on 10.The difference between the two seam attacks was obvious in the morning when Unadkat, Abhimanyu Mithun and a largely erratic Umesh Yadav – all of whom were much quicker than Kulkarni and Usman Malvi – made the Mumbai batsmen hurry their shots.One pacy short delivery from Unadkat made Sushant Marathe top-edge a pull to mid wicket in the fourth over of the day, to provide the initial breakthrough. That brought Rahane – who had made an unbeaten century against the Australians in the tour game in Chandigarh a week ago – to the middle. He dominated the 75-run stand with Jaffer, driving and punching through the off side for boundaries at will. At 103 for 1, and both batsmen going strong, Mumbai looked like they, too, would prosper in good batting conditions. But Rahane, on 41, hit R Ashwin straight to midwicket where Badrinath pulled of a brilliant diving catch.Three overs later, Chawla foxed Abhishek Nayar – who came in ahead of Rohit Sharma – with a googly to claim a simple caught-and-bowled off the leading edge. Four overs later, he bowled Rohit with a delivery that pitched on leg, turned across the face of the bat, and took the off bail. From 103 for 1, Mumbai had slumped to 124 for 4.Jaffer was left to wage a lone battle, getting behind the line and playing late, but driving and lofting when the opportunity presented itself. He scored most of his runs through midwicket and mid-on, but also drove elegantly through extra cover. However, once he was caught at first slip off Chawla after lunch for 71, trying to guide a full delivery to third man, Mumbai were staring at a follow-on situation.Though Abdulla and Kulkarni resisted briefly with a 70-run partnership after Mumbai had collapsed to 200 for 8, Unadkat returned to run through the tail, finishing with 4 for 41. He used the quick short delivery to good effect, getting three of his four wickets through catches off top-edged pulls. Chawla had earlier displayed his entire repertoire, flighting the ball, getting it to turn and bounce, and making judicious use of the googly.Despite the 394-run cushion, Yuvraj chose to bat again and Rest of India raced to 45 off 10.1 overs for the loss of Dhawan, who was out early to a short ball from Kulkarni.

As per ESPN, Manchester United are at a crossroads with out of form forward Marcus Rashford regarding a new contract. 

The lowdown: Rashford’s demise at United

Having burst onto the scene in 2016 with a debut brace against FC Midtjylland, the academy graduate appeared to have the footballing world at his feet. Since then, the England international has accrued 93 times in senior football for his boyhood club, adding 58 assists in 298 matches.

As a remarkable 300th club appearance looms, the 24-year-old has endured a difficult 2021/22 campaign thus far and desperately needs to re-ignite a stalling career at Old Trafford.

However, where Rashford may ply his trade in the long-term remains in question…

The latest: Rashford contract confusion

According to sources who have spoken to ESPN, United ‘want’ the 46-cap England international – whose career is ‘at a crossroads’ – to sign a new deal with the club to replace his current contract, which expires in 2023.

It is claimed that United have an option to trigger a 12-month extension, although Rashford may decide to move on if the Red Devils aren’t ‘delivering’ for the versatile forward.

The report added that any newly-appointed manager could view the out-of-sorts attacker as a ‘problem’ and decide to cash in on him.

The verdict: Is it time to move on?

Whilst his ailing form would suggest that United would be wise to call time on Rashford this summer, it isn’t all that cut-and-dried given the proven track record and the history of the player.

So far this season, the Manchester-born attacker has scored just five times and provided two assists in 27 appearances, way short of the 36 direct goal contributions from last term.

Once hailed as ‘unplayable’ by ex-United favourite Louis Saha, the £63m-valued star should have enough credit in the bank to stave off talk of a departure, although there is no immediate need for a new deal just yet given the 12-month extension option that the club hold.

In other news, Manchester United are closing in on a managerial target. Find out more here.

علق مجدي عبد الغني لاعب الأهلي السابق والإعلامي الحالي، على قرار مجلس إدارة القلعة الحمراء بإحالة قرار شطب عضوية الكاتب الصحفي إبراهيم عيسى، وهناء حمزة نائب رئيس اتحاد الكرة الطائرة، إلى الجمعية العمومية.

وقال عبد الغني في تصريحات عبر برنامجه “البلدوزر” على قناة “الشمس”: “الإخلال بنظام النادي إن العضو يدخل (ويعمل فتوة) لكن أن تتخيل أن اللائحة تقول بأن أي شخص ينتقد الأهلي وقرارته يتم شطب عضويته؟!، لو رفعوا قضية سيحصلون على حكم في اليوم التالي”.

طالع أيضًا | مجدي عبد الغني: أزمة بين لجنة التخطيط وكولر بسبب لاعب الأهلي

وأضاف: “لأنهما لم يخترقا أي بند من لائحة النادي، في وقت من الأوقات كنا نقف في حديقة النادي نُطالب بعزل عبده صالح الوحش، ولم يفعل لهم أحد شيئَا، وفي قناة الأهلي كانوا يسبون محمود طاهر وهو رئيس النادي ولم يفعل أحد لهم شيئًا”.

وواصل: “(هو في إيه يا جماعة متفردوش عضلاتكم أوي كده)، هي مجرد إختلافات في وجهات النظر، هل لا يصح أن أختلف معك؟ إذا كنت أنت مُختلف معي”.

واختتم: “هل سنفعل مثل مرتضى منصور؟ رئيس الزمالك يشطب عضويات في النادي، هل ستفعلون مثله؟ من الأولى أن تشطبوا عضوية مرتضى في الأهلي”.

تساءل ضياء السيد مدرب منتخب مصر السابق عن معايير اختيار اللاعبين المنضمين لقائمة الفراعنة التي أعلنها المدير الفني البرتغالي روي فيتوريا استعدادًا لمواجهة بلجيكا وديًا في شهر نوفمبر الحالي.

وضم فيتوريا لقائمة منتخب مصر 24 لاعبًا محليًا بينهم 8 من الأهلي و6 من الزمالك. طالع التفاصيل

وقال ضياء السيد خلال مداخلة هاتفية ببرنامج “بوكس تو بوكس” المذاع على قناة “اي تي سي”: “طالبت اتحاد الكرة بالإعلان عن بنود مشروع فيتوريا، وكان يجب من الكشف عن الخطة المتفق عليها مع المدرب لأن ذلك سيمنعنا من التدخل في جدل الاختيارات”.

وأضاف: “تصريحات فيتوريا لم تعجبني والتي أكد فيها أنه ضم كريم فؤاد (خلال معسكر سابق) عندما لم يكن يثق الأهلي فيه، لأن هذه الأمور ستدخله في أزمات مع الأندية”.

واستأنف: “فيتوريا يجب أن يكشف معايير اختياره للاعبين وهدفه مع المنتخب، وهذا الأمر سيحميه أمام الجماهير من الانتقادات”.

طالع أيضًا.. فيتوريا يوضح معايير اختيار محمود علاء وعبد الله جمعة لقائمة منتخب مصر.. وموعد انضمام محمد صلاح

وأردف: “اندهشت من استبعاد كريم فؤاد بعد تألقه مع الأهلي، وحتى الآن لا نرى خطة واضحة  لفيتوريا، فأنا لم أرَ في الاختيارات هذا الأمر”.

وتابع: “عبد الله جمعة لم يشارك مع الزمالك مؤخرًا والآن في منتخب مصر هو ومحمود علاء أيضًا، وعلى الجانب الآخر كريم فؤاد متألق مع الأهلي ولم يتم ضمه”.

واختتم: “كان لابد من استغلال الأجندة الدولية ورفض مواجهة الأردن خسارة لنا”.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has been pleased by the unity of purpose shown by those involved in running cricket in the country

Cricinfo staff15-Jun-2010ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat, who recently visited Zimbabwe with ICC president David Morgan to meet with Zimbabwe Cricket officials, has been pleased by the unity of purpose shown by those involved in running cricket in the country, and believes that a gradual return to Test cricket by the national team is only a matter of time.”The biggest change has been the togetherness of everybody working for Zimbabwe cricket in the same direction,” Lorgat told Cricinfo’s Switch Hit podcast. “Everybody seems to be on the same page. There’s no doubt they want to see the team starting to perform well. So everybody is doing the right thing.”What was quite encouraging for me was that many if not all of the recommendations that we had made in early 2009 following the task team visit in November 2008 have been very enthusiastically adopted by the Zimbabwe board. I’m pleased that people have taken on board those recommendations. They all seem to be working together, from across the spectrum among Zimbabweans, they seem to be working in the same direction.”Peter Chingoka, the Zimbabwe Cricket chairman, has said Zimbabwe are looking to return to Test cricket in 2011 with a home series against Bangladesh, while New Zealand are talking positively about resuming ties, but it will still be some time before they engage the strongest teams in the five-day game”What was also quite heartening from listening to the key Zimbabwe board directors was that they understood that they needed to progress over a period of time,” Lorgat explained. “So playing some of the top sides is not on their horizon at the moment. They really want to play against teams they can compete with, and that’s why Bangladesh is being mentioned, and I think that’s in the planning stage.”That view was echoed by Zimbabwe Cricket’s managing director, Ozias Bvute, who said that Zimbabwe are hoping to play against the lower ranked Test sides and the A sides of the stronger nations as they look to gain experience of different conditions and re-establish themselves in the world game.”It would be premature for us to jump straight into a normal playing schedule like all the other nations,” he said. “Instead we are working on a new calendar which will hopefully see us play Bangladesh, West Indies and then New Zealand over the next two years. We are yet to approach any of these boards with our request though we would like Bangladesh to play in a Test match here in Zimbabwe soon after the 2011 World Cup ends in April next year.””We will engage the rest of the cricketing world with the objective of playing once-off fixtures in Zimbabwe over a period. We recognize that in the short term, it may not be commercially viable for the other nations to have Zimbabwe touring but we will engage them with the prospect of allowing our national team to play their A sides in their countries. This will allow our team to familiarize themselves with other playing conditions and ultimately gain more experience.”Bvute suggested that Zimbabwe could return to a normal cricketing schedule in five to six years, and that while recent results have been encouraging, a lot of work still needs to be put in before the team can be consistently competitive.”The gradual re-entry is intentional to allow our cricketers to build confidence and gain momentum,” he explained. “Supreme to all this is the integrity of the results such that they are reflective of competitive cricket matches. Crucial to us is that we set out a re-entry programme that is gradual and responsible and that will allow us to assess ourselves over a period of time. It will not happen overnight.”

The Athletic’s Sam Lee has given his verdict following the news that Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo has signed a contract extension.

The Lowdown: Cancelo’s rise at City

The Portuguese defender became the most expensive full-back of all time in 2019 when he signed for Manchester City from Juventus in a deal worth £60m, with Danilo heading the other way for £34m.

Since arriving at the Etihad Stadium, the 27-year-old has played an integral part in Pep Guardiola’s side, having totalled 106 appearances for the Citizens. That includes 22 Premier League outings this season, where he has amassed one goal and five assists in becoming one of the team’s best performers, according to WhoScored metrics.

Cancelo signed a six-year deal when he joined the Sky Blues, keeping him at the club until 2025.

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The Latest: Cancelo signs contract extension

Despite having three years left on his contract, City have been looking to tie down Cancelo on a long-term deal. On Tuesday morning, the club announced that the full-back has signed a two-year contract extension, which will keep him at the Etihad until 2027.

The Athletic’s Man City reporter Lee shared this news on Twitter along with a link to his corresponding article, beaming that it is ‘a fitting reward’ for the 27-year-old’s impressive form.

He proclaimed: “New deal for Joao Cancelo, a fitting reward for his emergence as a key City player and his phenomenal form over the past few months in particular”.

The Verdict: Great business

Cancelo is currently one of the most valuable full-backs in world football, with Transfermarkt estimating his value at a cool £54m.

When the initial lockdown happened, the defender struggled to adapt to life in England and thus wanted to leave the club. However, he overcame this to duly become one of the key components of Guardiola’s side.

Former City midfielder Nigel de Jong has offered some effusive praise of the 27-year-old, saying: “We can have a healthy discussion and debate on who is the best right-back in the world and Cancelo is certainly up there for me. It’s not only his versatility but also the fact he is as strong defensively as any right-back or left-back in the world.”

Taking everything into account, this seems like a brilliant bit of business by City, and it’s no wonder that Lee has voiced his firm approval of Cancelo’s contract extension.

In other news: These Manchester City fans approved of one prospective successor to Pep Guardiola