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Leeds United are keen on signing RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol, according to Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Previous interest

The Whites were linked with a move for Gvardiol following promotion back to the Premier League. However, the 20-year-old, who journalist Izak Ante Sucic told BBC Sport is “built like a tank”, snubbed a move to Elland Road to sign for RB Leipzig.

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Gvardiol made 18 appearances under Jesse Marsch at Leipzig, and with the American now in charge at Elland Road, it looks as if the Croatia international is wanted once again in Yorkshire.

The Latest: Source reveal

FI shared a story on Thursday morning regarding Leeds and Gvardiol after being informed by a Whites source.

They claimed that Leeds are stepping up their interest in the defender and Victor Orta has had scouts watching him at recent matches ahead of a potential summer move.

The Verdict: Club-record deal?

The report adds that Leipzig now value Gvardiol at £27m, so it looks as if Leeds will need to hit their club record to sign the centre-back this summer, matching or eclipsing the £27m they spent on Rodrigo.

A defensive overhaul is in the pipeline over the coming months, with Robin Koch a player who could be set to leave the club ahead of Marsch’s first full season in charge.

Gvardiol may well be the man to arrive as a marquee signing, so a move could once again be one to watch closely.

In other news: Fabrizio Romano reveals big transfer blow for Leeds as key 21 y/o target now set to move elsewhere

Everton are reportedly now in ‘pole position’ to land Steve Hitchen as their new Director of Football (DoF).

The Lowdown: Hitchen leaves Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur announced the exit of Technical Performance Director Hitchen on Wednesday evening, and football.london journalist Alasdair Gold revealed that he sent a heartfelt email to staff at the North London club explaining why he left.

The move was apparently due in part to the presence of new Spurs transfer guru Fabio Paratici, whose ex-Juve fingerprints are all over their deadline day moves for Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski.

With the Goodison Park faithful rapidly making changes of their own, as both Marcel Brands and Rafa Benitez have already left midway through this season, Hitchen is now being eyed for a role in Merseyside.

The Latest: Everton favourites

As per The Athletic journalist Jack Pitt-Brooke, Hitchen is now in ‘pole position’ to land the DoF job at the Toffees following his resignation from Spurs:

“Steve Hitchen in pole position for Everton DoF job after resigning from Spurs.

“- Signed Suarez for Liverpool in 2011

– Returned to Spurs 2017, close bond with Poch

– Convinced Poch to sign Lucas Moura. Got him Ndombele

– Tried to get Poch back in 2021.”

The Verdict: Shake-up needed

With the Blues lurking just outside of the relegation zone in the Premier League and the mood around the club at an all-time low before Benitez’s exit, a real shake-up is needed on the pitch and at boardroom level.

Described as a ‘shrewd operator’ by Pitt-Brooke, Hitchen does not seem to someone that would take anything lightly at EFC, and so could be the exact kind of character that they need to come in and shake things up from the outside.

Gold has claimed that he had little involvement in the Lilywhites’ last two transfer windows, with Paratici doing most of the work. Given the north London outfit’s failures to sign both Adama Traore and Luis Diaz in January, perhaps Hitchen is someone who should have been given more trust with regards to recruitment, something Everton in particular have been heavily criticised for in recent years.

In other news, find out which seven players will miss Brentford here!

Mark McAdam has dropped an update on the future of the Celtic-linked Siriki Dembele.

What’s the talk?

In a recent post on Twitter, the Sky Sports journalist revealed that AFC Bournemouth have now agreed a deal for the Peterborough United winger – whom Celtic had been linked with signing on a pre-contract agreement earlier this month, with the forward’s current contract at the Weston Homes Stadium set to expire at the end of the season.

In his post, McAdam said: “AFCB have agreed a deal with Peterborough for winger Siriki Dembele. The club still need to agree personal terms so still some way to go on this one as things stand. Expecting AFCB to be big players between now and tomorrow’s deadline.”

Fans will be fuming

Considering just how impressive Dembele has been for Peterborough in recent seasons, the news that Celtic now look set to miss out on a deal for the forward – particularly as he is available on a free transfer at the end of the season – to a Championship side is sure to have left the Parkhead faithful fuming.

Indeed, over his 42 League One appearances last season, the £1.35m-rated winger was in remarkable form for Posh, scoring 11 goals, providing 10 assists and creating an enormous 17 big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.8 shots and making 1.5 key passes per game.

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These returns saw the £2.6k-per-week sensation earn a highly impressive seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.06, ranking him as his club’s joint seventh-best player in the third tier of English football.

The 25-year-old – who is more than capable of operating from either wing, in attacking midfield and at centre-forward – has continued this fine form into his 24 Championship outings in the current campaign, having already bagged five goals, registered one assist and created seven big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of one shot and making one key pass per fixture.

These metrics have seen the Peterborough star once again average an impressive SofaScore match rating of 6.87, ranking him as Darren Ferguson’s fourth-best performer in the second tier.

As such, it is clear for all to see that Dembele would have made a fantastic addition to Ange Postecoglou’s attacking arsenal at Celtic Park, however, following McAdam’s latest update, it would now seem as if the 25-year-old will follow in the footsteps of Riley McGree and Hannes Wolf in opting to join a Championship side ahead of the Bhoys in the January transfer window.

In other news: Ange must seal Celtic deal for £4m gem dubbed “one of the best”, he’s a big upgrade

An exciting Newcastle United transfer claim has been made regarding their plans for the rest of the January window…

What’s the talk?

Magpies reporter Chris Waugh has stated that he is expecting further signings between now and the end of the month, with the club prepared to increase their efforts in the coming days.

Replying to a fan’s question on The Athletic, he said: “Nice to chat with you, too! I do expect more, yes. Centre-back is the priority and it’s something they’re keen to finally get sorted. Nothing is imminent, though, but I do expect they’ll try and push it on this week.”

Delight for Eddie Howe

Eddie Howe will surely be delighted with this news, as it suggests that his squad will be strengthened further by the end of the month.

The former Bournemouth boss will want as many players in as possible to improve his side as the results have simply not been good enough this season. Newcastle are 19th in the Premier League table and on course to be relegated from the top flight, which is why new additions could be crucial as the current squad have hitherto proven themselves to be short of the quality required for this level.

Kieran Trippier and Chris Wood have already been added to the squad and both played in the 1-1 draw against Watford on Saturday. The former showcased his quality with a fine display, winning nine duels, making five tackles and four interceptions and creating two chances for his team-mates from right-back, as per SofaScore.

This suggests that he is up for the fight and able to bring quality to the table, so results could improve if the club manage to sign a few more players who are able to do the same. If they can continue to pick up experienced professionals like Trippier to come in and hit the ground running, it could be a major boost for the Toon.

Therefore, Howe will be delighted with the news that the club are set to push on this week in the transfer market to make further signings. It is now up to Nick Hammond and PIF to ensure that they are able to get deals over the line to strengthen the squad and give the head coach the best possible chance of keeping the Magpies in the top flight beyond the end of the current campaign.

AND in other news, Terms agreed: NUFC closing in on third January signing who will leave Howe elated…

William Porterfield, the Ireland captain, has said the extra motivation of moving above Zimbabwe in the ICC rankings will egg his side on to complete a 2-0 sweep

Cricinfo staff16-Jul-2010William Porterfield, the Ireland captain, has said the extra motivation of moving above Zimbabwe in the ICC rankings will egg his side on to complete a 2-0 sweep of Bangladesh in the one-dayers in Belfast. Ireland comprehensively won the first match on Thursday by seven wickets, with Porterfield’s unbeaten century being the cornerstone of the victory.”It is only a fantastic result if we can make it 2-0 tomorrow [Friday],” Porterfield said after Thursday’s win. “We need to win both games to stay above Zimbabwe in the [ODI rankings] table and that will be the target.” A loss in the second ODI will keep Ireland in 11th spot, while a win will push them to 40 points, six clear of 10th-ranked Zimbabwe.In the first game, Porterfield was named Man of the Match for his fifth ODI century – his first against a Test-playing nation. His brisk 118-run opening stand with Paul Stirling set up a comfortable victory with five overs to spare. “That’s as good an innings as I’ve ever played for Ireland,” he said. “I was feeling good from the word go. Paul Stirling took a lot of the pressure off me with the way he batted. After that Alex Cusack was solid and made sure there would be no collapse.”The one aspect of the team’s performance he was unhappy with was the fielding. “We dropped a couple of catches, so we will be out to eradicate that, but the team have been batting like that for a while now and it was great to carry on the form the lads showed in Holland.”

What was a rout on day three was harder graft on day four as South Africa’s fast bowlers, for the second time in as many days, worked their way through the West Indies line-up to deliver a comprehensive 163-run victory

The Bulletin by Sahil Dutta13-Jun-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Morne Morkel took two important wickets as South Africa completed a four-day victory•AFPWhat was a rout on day three proved harder graft on day four as South Africa’s bowlers, for the second time in as many days, worked their way through the West Indies line-up to deliver a comprehensive 163-run victory.For West Indies fans, the past fifteen years has been a case of dragging positives out the wreckage of defeat and today only Chris Gayle, who resisted stoically for 73, and Dwayne Bravo emerged with much credit. While in charge of England’s bowlers recently Ottis Gibson had twice watched South Africa denied by iron-willed resistance, but in his first Test as West Indies coach there were no heroics from the batting team.Instead it was Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, the most incisive new-ball pair in the world, who took the plaudits. Fast bowling has suffered under the torrent of lifeless pitches and endless cricket in recent times, but the South African pair gave the few spectators at the Queen’s Park Oval memories of old as they efficiently chipped their way through the tired surface and West Indies’ top-order.Graeme Smith rewarded his bowlers with some rest when, on day three, he chose not to enforce the follow on and South Africa began the day by cautiously extending their lead to 456 before finally declaring after an hour this morning. It was an unnecessarily conservative effort first-up from the tourists but they still had more than enough time to complete their task.Morkel was the man who did the damage early on in the first innings, and he picked up from where he left off immediately second time round, trapping Travis Dowlin in front with his first ball of the innings. It brought Brendan Nash to the crease, batting at least two places too high at No. 3. Nash had forged a Test career on nuggety defiance but in circumstances seemingly made for him, he was instead intent on swiping his way to glory. Inevitably, he was soon found out, pushing loosely outside off stump to give Steyn an early wicket.At that stage it looked as though West Indies may fold quickly again, but Gayle found a willing partner in Shivnarine Chanderpaul and launched an entertaining counter-attack. Where in the first innings he tried to block and nurdle, this time round he reverted to his preferred see-ball-hit-ball method. There were some memorable shots as he raced to a half-century in 62 balls, none more so than a check-drive straight back over Morkel’s head for six. Yet throughout there was the feeling he was West Indies’ only hope. Gayle may well possess the broadest shoulders in the Test game but the burden of carrying this team must be taking its toll.He could only watch on helplessly as Chanderpaul lost concentration and fenced aimlessly at Jacques Kallis to end a 55-run stand and the home team’s best period of resistance. Thereafter South Africa steadily chizzled away as the game meandered to its inevitable result.Paul Harris did his best Ashley Giles impression, offering little more than accuracy as Smith rotated his pace bowlers from the other end. Gayle’s continued defiance lured optimistic West Indians into dreaming that he may be able to repeat his marathon hundred at Adelaide last year, but this time conditions were more testing and the task more futile.Eventually Morkel landed the killer blow, removing him for the second time in the match. Gayle was pinned on the crease as he played around his front pad and, knowing his team’s fortunes would depart with him, thought longingly about a referral before dragging himself off.Narsingh Deonarine, who had also impressed in Australia, looked fraught throughout his stay here. His movements were exaggerated and edgy and after a couple of well-timed drives, he could not withstand a round-the-wicket attack from Steyn. Hanging on the back foot he played around a full ball to become another West Indian batsman trapped lbw.It ended a useful stand with Bravo who, after surviving a close bat-pad shout, played with the exuberance and flair missing from his first innings. Having stroked his way to 49 he got embroiled, and eventually defeated, in a game of patience with Harris. Sticking with monastic commitment to a line outside leg stump, Harris frustrated Bravo and was eventually rewarded when Bravo chipped tamely to midwicket. Harris has a thoroughly unglamorous role in this side, holding up an end while Steyn and Morkel attack, but he did it well and deserved a reward.As has so often been the case recently, West Indies were left looking to salvage little but pride from a hopeless situation. Instead Dinesh Ramdin gifted Lonwabo Tsotsobe a first Test wicket. While lacking the gifts of his senior colleagues, Tsotsobe was accurate and cut his fingers over the ball effectively to restrict all the batsmen he came up against and deserved some luck.It was left to the spinning duo – Sulieman Benn and Shane Shillingford, who had done well earlier in the day to limit South Africa to 51 runs in 18.3 overs – to bring some cheer to the West Indies fans. The old ball had made survival easier and they batted merrily during a 66-run stand in almost 15 overs. Benn was finally undone by Alviro Petersen and Shillingford duly followed. Fittingly it was Steyn who finished the job, bowling Nelon Pascal off an inside edge to give South Africa their eighth successive victory over West Indies this tour.

Celtic midfielder Ewan Henderson is seemingly set to leave Parkhead for Hibernian during the January transfer window.

The lowdown

Celtic have told Henderson he’s free to go this month, rather than waiting until the summer when his £3,300-per-week contract expires.

Should he join Hibernian, he would link up not only with former Celtic coach Shaun Maloney, but also with his brother Liam.

21-year-old Henderson has made 11 appearances in total for Celtic but only one of those has come this season, and that was in the Europa League dead-rubber against Real Betis.

The latest

Patrick McPartlin of the Edinburgh Evening News reports that ‘progress [is] being made’ in Hibs’ pursuit of Henderson.

Clubs in Italy are also said to be interested, but Hibs are leading the race and are hopeful of wrapping up the move in advance of the Scottish Premiership’s resumption on 17 January.

The verdict

Ange Postecoglou doesn’t look to have much use for Henderson. Prior to the winter break, he included him in his matchday squad on just six occasions.

It’s hard to argue he’s a valued member of the roster, and so it’s probably best for both parties that he moves on.

Henderson did grab his opportunity when it was presented to him, netting what Pat Bonner called an ‘incredible’ goal against Betis, but it’s clearly made little difference to his situation in Glasgow, and the move feels like a win win all-round.

In other news, Noel Whelan reacts to two big Celtic developments.

Dinesh Karthik, who contributed a crucial 38-ball 69 in Delhi’s victory against Rajasthan, is pleased with his batting form and believes he is ready to take over the role of finisher in the India’s limited-overs teams

Cricinfo staff04-Apr-2010Dinesh Karthik, who contributed a crucial 38-ball 69 in Delhi Daredevils’ victory against Rajasthan Royals, is pleased with his batting form and believes he is ready to take over the role of finisher in the India’s limited-overs teams.”I can proudly say that I can be a good finisher. I would take that role of a finisher any day, it’s a high-pressure job; MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh have been doing it for sometime now and I want to take over that job,” Karthik told the . “I have been able to finish a few games for Delhi Daredevils and I want to do the same for the Indian team as well.”Karthik is second only to Virender Sehwag in the list of run-getters for Delhi so far in IPL 2010, with 210 runs at an average of 30.00, and a strike-rate of 140.93. His form in the middle order, in addition to his wicketkeeping skills, has been crucial to Delhi’s cause in the tournament.”I do feel that I have been batting very well recently. It’s tough for me to compare how I was batting before and now, but I am obviously very happy with the way my batting is shaping up and with the way I’m hitting the ball.”For me, it has never been about being flashy, or about telling people how many shots I have in my kitty. When I am playing those shots I am just reacting to what the team requirements are. Over the years you learn and it comes through sheer experience. I also spend a lot of time at the nets – in fact, I have been working a lot with my coach Jayaram [former Kerala captain] but I think some of the decisions to play the shots come with my mental strength,” Karthik said.Karthik has had a tough time at the highest level, where he faced reasonable success as a Test opener before MS Dhoni displaced him, first behind the stumps and later from the starting eleven. Since then, he has cemented his place as India’s second-choice keeper, and in recent times, forced his way back as a specialist batsman. Karthik attributed his comeback to his ability to take stock of things and improve on his weaknesses.”When you get dropped, you do sit down and try and reassess. After I was dropped two years back after the Sri Lanka series, I had a serious rethink on my game, and the way I was going. When you are down or you get out cheaply, people talk about you, one needs to make a note and sit down patiently and assess the merits and demerits.”I realised that there was a problem with my mindset – I used to get worked up very easily and I needed to improve my keeping. I made a conscious attempt to rectify those mistakes and I can confidently say that I have improved drastically since then,” Karthik said.Karthik was not too concerned that his wicketkeeping was not required by the national side. “I don’t think too much about keeping when I am with the Indian team. Obviously I am only there as a back-up for Dhoni and I concentrate on my batting. When I get back to the domestic circuit, it does take a while to adjust back, because I haven’t kept for a while. But that’s a bargain I am willing to take to play for India,” Karthik said.

Aston Villa may make a move for Southampton midfielder Oriol Romeu in January, according to The Athletic’s Gregg Evans.

And a number of Villa fans have been reacting to the news on social media.

Villa are looking at bolstering their centre-back and central midfield ranks over the next two windows, according to Evans. He revealed in his transfer mailbag last week that Johan Lange will present a number of midfield options to Steven Gerrard, with a move for Romeu possibly being looked at after Villa tracked him in the summer.

The defensive midfielder has been with The Saints since 2015 and is under contract for a further 18 months. He’s made 17 Premier League appearances this season, however, Villa midfielders John McGinn and Douglas Luiz have outperformed Romeu, as per WhoScored.

Romeu, who has racked up 59 Premier League yellow cards throughout his career, also turned 30 in September, and it seems as if a number of Villa fans don’t want to see the Southampton man make the move to the Midlands.

Villa fans react

Total Villa shared Evans’ claim regarding Romeu on Twitter on Wednesday lunchtime. This is what these supporters had to say in reply, with many not exactly thrilled at the links and one describing the Spaniard as a ‘liability’.

“Too old, there’s younger alternatives. We picked up a 29 year old in the summer from there on 100k per week. The epitome of stupidity is to repeat the same mistake twice.”

Credit: @WanyeAVFC

“We can do so much better”

Credit: @KishinJay

“He’s a liability. Gets too many cards and gives away too many fouls.”

Credit: @LoseLbsMakePar

“Not for me”

Credit: @NathanCotterill

“Doesn’t fit what the club want, doesn’t fit the age profile and isn’t an improvement on what we have. Nonsense rumour”

Credit: @AVFCLancelot

“Overrated”

Credit: @vizzy9

In other news: ‘Even worse’ – Many AVFC fans flock to Preece’s January transfer update.

After making no mistake in picking up all three points in their previous Premier League outing against Norwich City, Aston Villa are back in action once again this weekend with a home clash against Burnley next up for Steven Gerrard’s side.

On the chalkboard

In terms of which players Gerrard could select to be in his starting XI to take on Sean Dyche’s side, one player that featured in their midweek victory that should be in the team to face Burnley is Jacob Ramsey, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £15,000-per-week according to Salary Sport.

In the 90 minutes he was on the pitch for against Norwich, Ramsey showed Gerrard just what a significant midfield player he can be for the Villans by showing his ability in both an attacking and defensive sense.

Going forward, as well as scoring Villa’s opening goal in the first half, Ramsey managed to make two key passes, have a total of three shots at goal and complete one successful dribble.

In a defensive regard, Ramsey managed to win seven of the 10 duels he was involved in and make two tackles in the game, showing how much of a well-rounded midfield player he is.

This performance earned the 20-year-old an impressive overall match rating of 8/10 from SofaScore, making him Villa’s second-highest rated player on the day as he was deservedly called “outstanding” by Gerrard.

Birmingham Live also picked up on his solid performance against Norwich by saying that it was a “coming-of-age performance from the 20-year-old who looks every bit a Premier League player,” as well as adding that Ramsey is “growing into a proper player.”

With this in mind and the fact that Villa have the likes of Morgan Sanson, Anwar El Ghazi, Leon Bailey, Bertrand Traore and Marvelous Nakamba out for the weekend’s game, even though Gerrard may have little option but to start Ramsey, his performance against Norwich certainly showed that he should be in the team based on his quality alone, not the inavailability of others.

Even though Carney Chukwuemeka managed to grab an assist in the match against Norwich after coming off the substitutes bench, the fact that Ramsey has more minutes in the league under his belt this season suggests that he would be the better fit to start against Burnley rather than Chukwuemeka on this occasion.

In other news: AVFC handed big injury boost ahead of Burnley clash that’ll have Gerrard buzzing – opinion