Newcastle United are monitoring Nottingham Forest forward Brennan Johnson ahead of a potential move to St. James’ Park, according to journalist Steve Kay.

What's the latest on Johnson's future?

The Welshman is an academy graduate at the City Ground having worked his way up through the youth ranks to become an integral member of Steve Cooper’s first-team, making 103 senior appearances to date.

The Reds attacker’s contract isn’t set to expire for another three years, but being his side’s top-performing offensive player in the Premier League, has caught the eye of PIF and Eddie Howe, though not for the first time.

Back in April 2022, The Independent credited the Magpies with an interest in the 21-year-old, and despite a deal failing to come to fruition at the time, it sounds like the hierarchy could be about to use the upcoming window to take a second bite of the cherry.

Speaking to NUFC Blog, Football Transfers reporter Kay revealed that Newcastle are once again tracking Johnson as they consider their options for the summer. He said:

“Eddie Howe is looking for a young versatile attacking player who is Premier League proven and able to play on both wings. Brennan Johnson fits into that profile perfectly and has been watched by Newcastle. There are other clubs looking at him; Manchester City and Aston Villa to name two. City want a long term replacement for Mahrez and Emery is desperate to sign a winger in the window, having recently played John McGinn on the right.

“If a substantial bid arrives from a big club this summer, I’m told Forest will find it hard not to accept because of the spending power of clubs like Manchester City and Newcastle. The prospect of European football, possibly even playing in the Champions League, could also turn his head.”

Should Newcastle submit an offer for Johnson?

Nottingham Forest being promoted in 2021/22 means that Johnson only has experience of one top-flight season under his belt, but having been hailed the “shining light” of his squad by journalist Josh Bunting, Newcastle should test the waters following his impressive debut campaign in the Premier League.

The World Cup participant has posted 73 goal contributions (47 goals and 26 assists) in 156 appearances throughout his career, with 13 of those coming across all competitions so far this term.

Even if he’s not always on the scoresheet, the £30k-per-week gem is constantly looking to produce moments of quality in the final third having recorded a total of 55 shot-creating actions and 51 shots since the beginning of the season, which are both the second-highest out of all of his teammates in the Midlands, as per FBRef.

Finally, Johnson is a versatile operator having played in seven various positions since first bursting onto the scene, including everywhere across the frontline and even in three roles in the midfield, so this will be another attractive attribute to Howe and one that could tempt him into making an approach in the weeks ahead.

Liverpool are expected to complete the appointment of Jorg Schmadtke as the Premier League club's new sporting director "in the next days", according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.

Who is Jorg Schmadtke?

Schmadtke is a German former professional manager turned sporting director and has vast experience off the field, having previously carried out spells with Alemannia Aachen, Hannover 96, FC Koln and most recently Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, and since Julian Ward announced back in November that he would be departing at the end of the season, FSG appear to have identified the 59-year-old as a potential ideal successor.

As quoted by The Telegraph, Jurgen Klopp confirmed during a public interview that he holds an existing relationship with his compatriot, but insisted that any kind of move being completed would not simply be as a result of their friendship, and now, the behind-the-scenes figure is set to put pen to paper on a short-term deal.

Are Liverpool appointing Schmadtke?

Taking to Twitter, Romano revealed that Liverpool are closing in on a deal for Schmadtke, with the appointment likely to be finalised imminently over the course of the next week. The Italian reporter wrote:

"Jorg Schmadtke will be in England in the next days in order to sign the contract as new Liverpool director, as expected. Former Wolfsburg director will work with Jurgen Klopp on strategy and signings — the manager will remain crucial figure to make decisions."

Schmadtke only announced his retirement five months ago, so the fact that he’s willing to come out of it so soon must mean that he believes he can help Liverpool progress over the summer – and there is plenty of work for him to be getting underway with, especially in strengthening the midfield area, which has been highlighted as a priority position.

The Dusseldorf native has a good track record of identifying stars in the making, having signed Wout Weghorst at Wolfsburg, who had a fantastic spell at the club posting 92 goal contributions in 144 appearances, while he is now, of course, playing in the top flight with Manchester United.

Football Insider has already reported that FSG will give the sporting director the opportunity to extend his stay should he impress during his work in the coming months, and a longer-term contract would be fully deserved should he manage to secure the club's top targets alongside Klopp ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.

Scorecard1:18

‘Dravid helped us be calm’ – Mandeep

India A’s spinners, led by Yuzvendra Chahal, took eight wickets between them to lead the side’s 57-run win over Australia A in the final of the Quadrangular A-team one-day series in Mackay. Chasing 267, Australia A lost all but two of their set batsmen to spinners, eventually folding for 209. Earlier, Mandeep Singh’s 95 and Manish Pandey’s 61 had guided India to 4 for 266. This is also India A’s third successive win over Australia A in the final of an A-team tournament, with the previous wins coming in July 2014 and August 2015.Australia A began their chase promisingly with a 31-run partnership between openers Cameron Bancroft and Kurtis Patterson before the latter was bowled by Dhawal Kulkarni in the seventh over. A 51-run partnership for the second wicket between Bancroft and Nic Maddinson further strengthened Australia A’s chase but India A fought back through wickets from Karun Nair, whose part-time offspin accounted for both batsmen. Despite a few quiet overs in the middle, Australia A captain Peter Handscomb and Alex Ross kept the asking rate in sight during their brisk 77-run stand, until Kulkarni got the breakthrough with Ross’ wicket.Chahal and Axar Patel wrapped things up quickly after that. Axar’s left-arm spin dismissed Handscomb for a top-score of 43 in the 39th over, and Chahal took four of the next five wickets to seal a win by the 45th over. Australia A’s last six wickets fell for only 26 runs.India A had a quiet start after losing Nair in the second over but recovered through a string of half-century partnerships. Mandeep was part of two of those partnerships, with Shreyas Iyer (41) and Pandey, during his 108-ball stay. The opener struck 11 fours in his second successive fifty before he was out caught behind off Joe Mennie, five short of what would have been his fourth List A century.India A scored only five boundaries in the last 15 overs but still scored 100 runs, steered along by Pandey with help from Kedar Jadhav who chipped in with 25 off 33. Pandey, the India A captain, who has been in good form through the tournament, surpassed David Miller on the series run charts with his 61, ending with a tally of 359 runs in seven innings, including two centuries.The lack of boundaries, Mandeep said after the game, was largely due to the slow outfield. The resulting difficulty in run-scoring, he said, made his knock of 95 one of his best so far. “More than the wicket, I think it was the ground. I knew that I had to run hard on this ground, take a lot of twos and threes. I think I probably did that, that’s why I got success,” he said. “Definitely it was very hard, because in India you get a lot of boundaries, so definitely it was one of my harder innings, but I enjoyed it.”

Liverpool look to finally be enacting serious changes around Anfield as Jurgen Klopp looks to reshape his squad ahead of next season, with several players set to leave the building in the summer.

James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino have all confirmed their departures come the off-season and they likely won't be the only experienced names to swap Merseyside for elsewhere.

One man who will be staying around is club captain Jordan Henderson, who has been at the Reds since 2011; however, Redmen TV pundit Paul Machin thinks that Klopp may start to phase out the £140k-a-week ace starting from next year.

What has Paul Machin said about Jordan Henderson?

Speaking to Football FanCast, pundit Machin believes that Henderson, alongside teammates Thiago Alcantara and Fabinho will play less minutes next campaign.

Machin told FFC: "I think Liverpool need to start to push Fabinho, Thiago and Henderson out of the first 11 more in the season coming. They're all brilliant footballers, but they all need to be playing around 2500 minutes, 2000 to 2500 minutes, which is about 1500 less for Fabinho, it's about 1000 less for Henderson and it's not far off what Thiago ended up on, but Thiago hasn't had an understudy, which has been his problem."

In 2022/23, Henderson, who has been hailed as "exceptional", has made 42 appearances for Liverpool across all competitions and registered three assists, as per Transfermarkt.

Nevertheless, WhoScored report that he has averaged a match rating of just 6.58/10 for his exploits on the pitch for Liverpool this term, which ranks him 16th out of their 27-strong squad in terms of consistency in performances, demonstrating obvious room for improvement.

Former Liverpool captain Graeme Souness also criticised Henderson for his reaction to criticism of his performances in November 2022 writing in his column for The Daily Mail, where he stated: "You’ve got to have a thick skin to be an elite athlete. Doubters are just something you have to deal with. I don’t think Jordan will be getting much sympathy from any quarter, given the lifestyle that football affords him, after more than a decade as a Premier League player. The only opinions he has to be concerned about are those of his manager Jurgen Klopp and the Liverpool coaching team."

FBRef shows that Henderson hasn't been able to bite into challenges to the same effect as normal over the past year and hasn't fared too well when compared to his positional peers in the art of successful tackles, ranking comfortably in the bottom 20% for this metric against midfielders from Europe's top five divisions, averaging just 1.50 per 90 minutes.

Henderson may well have his qualities in and around the dressing room, though it looks like he could well have further competition for his place at Anfield. Various sources have stated that Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount, Sporting Lisbon ace Manuel Ugarte and Bayern Munich's Ryan Gravenberch are all transfer targets for the Reds, which could mean regular starts become hard to come by for the 32-year-old.

It looks likely that he will remain on the books either way; nevertheless, Klopp will need to avoid clinging on to sentiment if he is to get Liverpool back to where they belong next term.

نجح فريق غرناطة في إدراك التعادل أمام مُضيفه برشلونة، في المباراة بين الفريقين بمنافسات الدوري الإسباني “الليجا”.

ويستضيف ملعب “مونتجويك” مباراة برشلونة وغرناطة، في إطار منافسات الجولة الرابعة والعشرين من الليجا، موسم 2023/24.

وسجل ريكارد سانشيز سندرا هدف تعادل غرناطة في شباك مارك تير شتيجن، بالدقيقة 43 من المباراة.

الهدف جاء بعد كرة عرضية مثالية من فاكوندو بيليستري، قابلها ريكارد سانشيز بتسديدة من داخل منطقة الجزاء في الزاوية لتسكن شباك برشلونة. هدف تعادل غرناطة أمام برشلونة

وكان لامين يامال سجل هدف التقدم لصالح برشلونة بالدقيقة 14 بعد تمريرة عرضية من جواو كانسيلو.

ويمكنك متابعة التغطية المباشرة لمباراة برشلونة وغرناطة لحظة بلحظة بالفيديو من خلال الرابط.

West Indies legspinner Samuel Badree has described Pakistan as a “very, very dangerous team” which can “demolish any opposition.”

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Sep-2016Legspinner Samuel Badree has described Pakistan as a “very, very dangerous team” which can “demolish any opposition.” West Indies face them in three T20Is from Friday in the UAE and Badree insisted his side was”wary of the challenge” posed by Sarfraz Ahmed and his men despite the gap in rankings. West Indies, having won the World T20, are at No. 3 and Pakistan are No. 7.”On their day, they can demolish any opposition, and we are wary of that challenge,” Badree said. “We respect every opposition that we come up against, and we are going to do the same against Pakistan. We are going to prepare well, knowing that Pakistan are a very, very dangerous team.”The responsibility of living up to that reputation has fallen on a few rookies, and Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur gave them a glowing recommendation. “The players we have brought in – Imad Wasim, Babar Azam, Sohail Khan, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Nawaz – they take the game on. They don’t fear failure, which is fantastic. They are the guys we want to build this one-day cricket brand around.”West Indies, however, would have to find a way to cope without two of their best T20I players. Chris Gayle is injured and Andre Russell withdrew from the tour for personal reasons.”It’s a different team from the team that won the World T20,” Badree said. “We have a lot of new guys, a few players who are making their debuts on this tour. A number of our guys have been here before – the likes of [Sunil] Narine, [Dwayne] Bravo, [Kieron] Pollard. So we are looking forward to some very good games of cricket and, of course, we’d like to win the series and remain as one of the best T20 teams in the world.”One of the newer faces is opening batsman Evin Lewis, who made his maiden first-class, List A and T20I centuries in 2016 and has been named player of the year by the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board. That maiden T20I ton came against India in Florida in which Lewis and Johnson Charles shared a 126-run opening stand to lay the platform for a match-winning total of 245.”I said [to myself] that this could be my opportunity to put myself on the world stage and I went out there and played positively and it paid off for me so I was happy about that,” Lewis said of the knock. “Johno [Johnson Charles] is a pretty attacking batsman like myself so there is less pressure on me. When he scores, it makes it easier for me to score also.”A factor that could make this series, which also includes three ODIs and three Tests, compelling could be the mercurial nature of both sides.”Pakistan are very similar to us in terms of their consistency – or lack, thereof,” Badree said. “One day they will give a brilliant performance, just like us, then the next, they leave a lot to be desired.”West Indies begin the tour with a warm-up match against Emirates Cricket Board XI on September 20. There is a day-night Test in the schedule as well.

Celtic put in a disappointing performance last time out as they were beaten 3-0 in the Old Firm clash with their rivals at Ibrox in the Scottish Premiership.

Ange Postecoglou's side have already been crowned champions of the division for the 2022/23 campaign and allowed their standards to slip in the defeat last weekend.

The Hoops now have a chance to react to that result by putting St Mirren to the sword at Parkhead this afternoon in their 36th league match of the season.

Postecoglou could make a number of changes to his starting XI, however, after a number of poor individual performances against Michael Beale's team.

Will Hyeon-gyu Oh start against St Mirren?

South Korea international Hyeon-gyu Oh must be ruthlessly ditched from the side this afternoon after his woeful showing at Ibrox last weekend.

The centre-forward, who joined from Suwon Bluewings for £2.5m in January, was provided with a huge opportunity to showcase his quality in the Premiership's showpiece event and failed to grasp it.

Oh started ahead of Kyogo Furuhashi, who has scored 24 league goals this term, in what was a bold call and did nothing to prove that he should be starting more matches moving forward.

The 22-year-old played 63 minutes of the 3-0 defeat and struggled badly in and out of possession – as per Sofascore, the dud only had seven touches of the ball and missed one 'big chance' to go along with his solitary completed pass.

This shows that the Korean forward did not do enough to get involved in the match and was left isolated on his own up front, whilst the lightweight also flopped in the one moment he had to make an impact by failing to score the aforementioned 'big chance'.

Oh's lack of presence in the no.9 position was on full display as the striker lost 100% (2/2) of his physical duels and this shows that the attacker did not put his body about to cause issues for the opposition's defenders and that led to his lack of involvement in possession.

The January dud did not show enough of a desire to force himself into the game and Postecoglou must ruthlessly ditch him from the XI in order to bring Celtic's top scorer back into the side.

Kyogo has scored 24 goals in 29 Premiership starts this season and has proven himself to be a reliable goalscorer for the Hoops, which is why he should start through the middle ahead of the underwhelming Oh, who flopped in the Old Firm clash, today.

Keaton Jennings produced another virtuoso display on the first day of Durham’s County Championship match at home to Surrey

ECB Reporters Network12-Sep-2016
ScorecardKeaton Jennings continued his fine form for Durham•Stu Forster/Getty Images

Keaton Jennings produced another virtuoso display on the first day of Durham’s County Championship match at home to Surrey.The country’s leading run-scorer ran the day’s final ball from Stuart Meaker to third man for the four which took him to 200 and his Championship total for the season to 1,510.”I’ve had a lovely message from James Taylor with some really nice words, which means a lot coming from a guy who has played a bit of Test cricket,” he said. “There’s no chance of me going back to South Africa. I decided to make a career here. This is my home now and I’m ready to play for England if they want me.”He ensured the relegation-threatened hosts recovered from a four-wicket burst by Mark Footitt by taking them to 393 for 9 at the close of a day on which it was confirmed in a brief statement that Scott Borthwick has rejected a three-year deal in favour of a move to Surrey who have also secured Mark Stoneman.While the locals are leaving, Jennings has signed a four-year deal and it was another South Africa-born player, Brydon Carse, who helped him in the recovery.Making his comeback in place of the rested Chris Rushworth, the paceman contributed 32 to a stand of 79, then Mark Wood continued the resistance by making 28.Durham had hoped for a big innings from their other returning England man, Ben Stokes, but after scoring 24, all in fours, he had his stumps splattered by Footitt.Stokes was stuck on the crease as the ball speared through his defences, but two of Footitt’s wickets came from poor deliveries.Paul Collingwood reached for a full, wide one and gave a catch to gully, while Graham Clark spooned a catch to mid-wicket.Jennings became the first batsman to score seven Championship hundreds in a season for Durham with a reverse paddle for four after playing back five balls from left-arm spinner Zafar Ansari on 99.That was his 18th four and after reaching his century off 171 balls he stepped on the gas with his next 50 coming off 61.”It’s a day I will remember. It’s very special to take a club record from players like Paul Collingwood and Michael Di Venuto,” he said.When the new ball was taken he slipped into overdrive as a series of imperious straight drives off the Curran brothers brought 30 runs off three overs. His fourth 50 came off 51 balls.After Durham chose to bat on a run-laden pitch Borthwick had the next highest score with 38 before Tom Curran skidded one on to him for an easy lbw verdict.Stoneman was out for 20, having survived an edge off the excellent Curran on 11 before Ben Foakes accepted an easier chance off Stuart Meaker.Meaker had Wood caught at second slip for his third wicket, leaving Graham Onions to keep Jennings company while he collected the runs which took him past 1,500 runs.

Manchester United only scored 58 Premier League goals during 2022/2023, the lowest out of any side in the top six and there is no doubt Erik ten Hag needs to sign a top-quality striker or two during the summer transfer window.

Indeed, out of those 58 goals, only seven of those were scored by out-and-out centre forwards, with Cristiano Ronaldo (one) and Anthony Martial (six) getting on target, further emphasising the point that the Dutchman needs proper firepower if he is to mount a title challenge next term.

With regard to this, the Old Trafford side have set their sights on Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic according to Gazzetta dello Sport and any potential move may cost Ten Hag around €90m (£78m), however this is much cheaper than the reported £100m it could cost for United to sign Victor Osimhen this summer, a known transfer target.

This suggests that the Serbia striker could be an ideal Osimhen alternative for the Dutchman ahead of 2023/2024 and could allow him to focus on other areas of the team rather than splurge the majority of his budget on just one player.

Could Manchester United sign Dusan Vlahovic?

With the Bianconeri failing to qualify for the Champions League due to a fresh ten-point deduction, the Serie A side could be willing to sell Vlahovic during the transfer window, just 18 months after signing him.

There is no doubt Osimhen has enjoyed the better campaign out of the duo, scoring 30 goals compared to the 14 for Vlahovic.

However since 2019/20, there hasn’t been much of a difference in their total goal record, with the Nigerian international finding the back of the net 76 times compared to 72 for the 23-year-old, proving that he is a more than adequate alternative.

Indeed, even this term, there isn’t much in it with regard to goal-creating actions per 90 (0.33 to 0.29), shot-creating actions per 90 (2.67 to 2.1) and shots per 90 (1.84 to 0.94), with the Serbian coming out on top for the first metric.

Journalist Emmet Gates lavished praise upon him last year, saying:

“Dusan Vlahovic has the ability to be a generational talent, but he's suffering in this iteration of Juventus.

“To paraphrase a famous Zlatan line: He's a Ferrari being driven like a Fiat.”

Perhaps a change of scenery would do him the world of good, and a talent like his deserves to be showcasing his ability in the Champions League.

Those statistics show that there isn’t much difference between him and Osimhen in various metrics this term, and as he would cost significantly cheaper, Ten Hag must make the move as soon as possible.

An update has emerged on Everton and their plans to bolster their attacking options in the upcoming summer transfer window…

What's the latest on El Bilal Toure to Everton?

According to the Daily Mail, the Toffees are stepping up their interest in Almeria centre-forward El Bilal Toure as they eye a swoop to sign the ace.

The report claims that the club are keen on the 21-year-old as they want a replacement for current striker Neal Maupay, who could leave to join Salernitana in Italy.

It is stated that the La Liga outfit value the young forward at £25m and it remains to be seen how much Sean Dyche's side are willing to splash out on him this summer.

Who is El Bilal Toure?

He is a 6 foot 1 number nine who currently plays in the top-flight of Spanish football with Almeria and the marksman could be a huge upgrade on Maupay.

The Frenchman, previously of Brentford, averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.56 across 27 appearances in the Premier League and contributed with one goal and zero assists, starting 11 times, as the flop failed to consistently make an impact at the top end of the pitch.

He missed seven 'big chances' and did not create a single one for his teammates over the course of the campaign, which shows that the dud was wasteful in front of goal and offered almost nothing from a creative perspective, as he made 0.3 key passes per match.

Toure, meanwhile, has averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.79 and plundered six goals and two assists in 20 outings in La Liga – starting 14 times. This suggests that the titan could provide more quality than Maupay in the final third if he can translate his form for Almeria over to England.

The youngster, who has completed 71% of his passes, was once dubbed a "major talent" by journalist Graeme Bailey and his form in 22/23 has started to back that up as the ace is making a big impact in a major European league despite his young age.

Maupay, 26, struggled badly in the top flight and did nowhere near enough to prove himself to be a reliable option for the manager heading into next season.

Therefore, Dyche swooping to bring Toure to Goodison Park could improve the club's squad as the Mali international has the ability to offer far more in front of goal than the ex-Brentford man.

This means that ruthlessly ditching the current Toffees striker in favour of a £25m swoop for the La Liga hotshot could be a terrific piece of business by Everton.