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According to Spanish news outlet Diario AS, Tottenham Hotspur boss Nuno Espirito Santo personally wants to sign Adama Traore for his new club and it is believed chairman Daniel Levy is now ‘preparing an offer’.

The Lowdown: Spurs in attacker hunt…

As well as new defenders, Spurs have been tipped to add to their forward line this summer as August 31 fast approaches.

The likes of Dusan Vlahovic and Lautaro Martinez have been linked as out-and-out striker additions while Denmark sensation Mikkel Damsgaard has been repeatedly mentioned alongside Spurs too.

Now, as per this report from Spain, it appears Levy and Nuno have their sights set on yet another attacking target.

The Latest: Spurs ‘preparing an offer’ for Traore

As per Diario AS, the Lilywhites boss personally wants to reunite with his former favourite player at Wolves and is eager to sign him for Spurs this summer.

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The Molineux side have slapped a €40 million (£34.1m) price tag on his head amid Tottenham’s interest but it is believed Levy and Nuno ‘preparing an offer’ around that amount to ‘take over the player’.

AS also believe that Wolves plan to use that money for their own transfer plans as they plot a swoop for Valencia forward Goncalo Guedes.

The Verdict: Unmissable opportunity?

Nuno himself never held back in his praise for the ‘amazing’ player during his time in the Midlands (The Athletic), and given Traore’s ridiculous price drop when compared to last year, it could be an unmissable opportunity to sign him for just £34.1m.

Fabrizio Romano, writing for Calciomercato in October 2020, stated that Wolves valued him at around €100 million (£85.3m) – with that figure now allegedly dropping by more than half.

The 25-year-old still has plenty of years at the very top level in his locker and nobody completed more successful dribbles per 90 in the Premier League than him (4.1) over 2020/2021 (WhoScored).

He could prove to be a real bargain and Nuno already knows exactly how to get the very best out of him.

In other news: Bid pending: Spurs offer now expected to sign ‘incredible’ player after behind the scenes talks, find out more here.

With the England team in Chennai for the first Test, ECB officials have arrived in Mohali to inspect the conditions for the second Test in Mohali, from December 19 to 23

Cricinfo staff09-Dec-2008
Reg Dickason, ECB’s security advisor, had managed to convince the England team about security arrangements for the first Test in Chennai © Cricinfo Ltd
With the England team in Chennai for the first Test, ECB officials – including Reg Dickason, the security advisor – have carried out preliminary meetings in Mohali over the viability of staging the second Test there from December 19-23.A decision on the Test is not expected before Wednesday, when the officials will be joined by Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, and England players’ union chief Sean Morris, but officials of the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) are confident the clearance remains a formality.Dickason arrived in Mohali around mid-day and held separate talks with PCB officials and senior police officers. “It was a preliminary meeting to review the security arrangements,” Dickason said. “A detailed meeting will be held tomorrow.”IS Bindra, the PCA president, said a final decision would be taken on Wednesday once Dickason inspects the ground and holds further meetings with the ground and security personnel, among others. “Once they give the final nod we will start selling tickets,” Bindra said. The PCA, he said, was confident of fulfilling Dickason’s security requirements and would provide “foolproof security for the match.”Bindra rubbished reports that England were unhappy with Mohali, especially its proximity to Pakistan and lack of an international airport. “It was the ECB who were keen to play at Mohali,” he said. “The PCA was a bit hesitant initially since the season was over and laying a new wicket was also not easy. Despite the short notice we have done the needful so that the match can be conducted smoothly.”The BCCI has ruled out, at least for the moment, the possibility of shifting the Test from Mohali. Mohali was picked as the venue for the Test instead of Mumbai, the original venue. “Mohali was always officially the venue for the second Test as far as the BCCI was concerned and that stands,” Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI chief administrative officer, told Cricinfo.

Kevin Pietersen has said he will spend some time out of the spotlight before responding to the recent events

Cricinfo staff08-Jan-2009
Kevin Pietersen made no comment as he raced through Heathrow airport © Getty Images
Kevin Pietersen has said he will spend some time out of the spotlight before responding to the recent events which led to him quitting as England captain, although his representatives said he remains fully committed to the tour of West Indies.Pietersen arrived back from South Africa on Thursday morning, a few hours before Andrew Strauss was officially unveiled as captain. He had released a statement yesterday, shortly before boarding his flight in Durban, announcing his decision to step down after just five months in charge but will wait before making any further comments.”In light of recent events between the ECB and myself, I’m going to take some time out to reflect on the situation and spend time with family and friends,” he said in a statement. “I will be responding to the current press speculation in due course.”Strauss said he had already spoken to Pietersen a few times since agreeing to take over as captain. “He wished me well. KP has been very supportive so far. Clearly, it is a tough situation for him and I’m sure he has his own side of the story.”

While Leeds United may not have had the greatest starts to the Premier League season, they will be hopeful of tasting their first victory of the new campaign when they take on Crewe Alexandra in the second round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side come into the game off the back of a 2-2 draw against Everton on Saturday, and the Whites boss will surely be ringing the changes to give a few youngsters and fringe players the chance to shine.

One starlet who Bielsa should be looking to unleash tonight is Crysencio Summerville.

Described as a “bag of tricks” by Chris Powell – his former coach when he was a teenager at Dutch side ADO Den Haag – the 19-year-old scored a hat-trick against Burnley on just his second start for the under-23s last season.

In total, he bagged an impressive six goals and provided a further six assists in just 12 Premier League 2 games, netting in the final game of the campaign.

Against Guiseley during pre-season, it was Summerville who put in the kind of performance which will have given Bielsa some food for thought.

After watching his goal-scoring display, Leeds Live’s Joe Donnohue said on Twitter: “Cody Drameh and Crysencio Summerville were great together down the right flank for Leeds’ U23s last season. Seems like more of the same this year. Drameh an excellent carrier, weightless going forward. Summerville a wriggler, impossible to handle.”

The 19-year-old is an exciting winger who can play on either flank, and while he might be diminutive in stature at just 5 foot 9, he more than makes up for it with his quick feet and agility, much like Leeds talisman Raphinha.

Summerville himself said earlier this year: “I often hear that there are doubts because of my physical condition, but when you are on the field, you are not concerned with that. There are often big defenders in front of me, I have to be smart about that. I know I’m agile and try to play with my mind.”

The fact that the young Dutchman was named on the bench against the Toffees on Saturday, and was only brought on at half-time in the under-23s’ 4-2 defeat to Spurs, could well be an indication that he will feature tonight against Crewe.

Given how his directness and willingness to make things happen is so similar to Raphinha, Leeds fans will surely be in for a treat if he starts tonight.

Meanwhile, Phil Hay has dropped a Leeds United transfer update…

A round-up of the second day of the sixth-round matches of the regional four-day competition

Cricinfo staff15-Feb-2009
Dwayne Smith powered Barbados’ innings © The Nation
Powered by Adrian Barath’s 192 and five wickets from young left-arm slow bowler Imran Khan, Trinidad & Tobago took complete control over Leeward Islands at St Augustine. Leewards had done well to reduce T&T from 280 for 4 to 349, thanks to Gavin Tonge’s six wickets, but their batsmen struggled to hand the home side a lead of 141 by stumps.Barath resumed on 163 and looked set for a maiden double-century, but Tonge bowled him eight short. That sparked a collapse of six wickets for just 27 runs, with Tonge taking a career-best 6 for 86. Leewards were off to a shaky start, with Ravi Rampaul striking early blows. It was Imran, however, who did the most damage with his slow stuff. Having never picked up a first-class wicket in five previous appearances, Imran took five in 69 deliveries. His strikes included the only half-centurions, Montcin Hodge (55) and Omari Bankas (55).The T&T openers added 13 in the remaining two overs of the day.Dwayne Smith continued his excellent match in Crab Hill, hitting a century to almost single-handedly carry Barbados to 271 against Combined Colleges and Campuses. Barbados’ bowlers backed up Smith’s efforts by reducing CCC to 128 for 5, a lead of just 55.Smith’s four wickets had helped Barbados bundle out CCC for 198, but his batting proved far more crucial. There was only one half-century, Kevin Stoute’s 50, in what was an otherwise disappointing batting card. From an overnight 53 for 2, Bardados found themselves 55 for 4 as Kevin McClean struck in the morning. Smith and Stoute added 160 there on, Smith being the dominant partner, but CCC again hit back to reduce Barbados from 215 for 5 to 271. Smith’s 155 was an outstanding effort indeed.With a 73-run lead, Barbados came out enthused. Their new-ball pairing of Pedro Collins and Corey Collymore, former West Indian fast bowlers alike, left CCC 8 for 3. Life was breathed back into the innings thanks to Chadwick Walton (46) and Romel Currency (56), but a double-strike by Nikolai Charles left Barbados in a strong position.A century to Donovan Pagon and 97 from David Bernard carried Jamaica to 441, after which Andrew Richardson took a wicket before stumps at the Providence Stadium. Guyana’s bowlers were made to work hard on the second day as Jamaica rallied from 149 for 3 to a large total. Pagon, who resumed on 39, lost the experience Wavell Hinds (42) early in the day but with Bernard, added 101 before he was run out for 105. Bernard found support from Keith Hibbert (37) and Nikita Miller (45) but was unlucky to miss a century bu a shave. Jamaica declared eight wickets down before Richardson bowled Shemroy Barrington for a duck in the four overs left in the day.

West Ham United announced the arrival of Nikola Vlasic earlier this morning and Irons fans can expect further deals to be done, according to a very reliable source…

What’s the word?

ExWHUemployee tweeted that the east London outfit were in talks with as many as four players heading into tonight’s transfer deadline, though it remains to be seen exactly who these players might be.

“Talks with 4 players scheduled (we won’t sign all 4),” he tweeted.

The Croatian playmaker has joined from CSKA Moscow in an initial €30m (£25.5m) deal, signing a five-year £66k-per-week contract at the London Stadium. He joins centre-back Kurt Zouma and goalkeeper Alphonse Areola as David Moyes’ third summer signing.

More business to be done!

This latest development should leave many supporters around the club absolutely buzzing as it looks like their side are trying to conduct more business before 11pm tonight.

Moyes could certainly do with another striker, as right now, he risks going into the next few months – when they’ll be playing two times per week – with just one senior option in the role, an injury-prone Michail Antonio.

Indeed, he’s currently the Premier League’s leading goalscorer on four goals but he hasn’t started over 24 league games since 2016/17.

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There is also the small matter of sealing Jesse Lingard’s potential return – something that Hammers assistant manager Stuart Pearce re-iterated his club would like to secure during an interview with talkSPORT last week.

Given the arrival of Vlasic in the no.10 position, it would be hard to see the Manchester United midfielder returning to the London Stadium today but you never know.

Moyes could potentially do with further cover in the full-back positions too, particularly at left-back, where Arthur Masuaku has had long-term injury problems, as well as deeper in the engine room as one injury to Declan Rice or Tomas Soucek means it’s the retiring Mark Noble up next.

All in all, the West Ham faithful should be thrilled to hear that the club is in talks with as many as four players today. There’s surely a good chance they get at least one of those over the line to bolster the Scot’s playing squad.

For now, we can expect the Irons to be busier today.

AND in other news, Moyes could repeat Lingard 2.0 with West Ham deadline day swoop for “unplayable” beast…

Leeds United could reignite their interest in Huddersfield Town midfielder Lewis O’Brien in the January transfer window, according to Sky Sports pundit Kevin Campbell.

The Lowdown: Endless O’Brien links

The Whites were linked with a number of players in the summer, but few individuals cropped up more than O’Brien.

The 22-year-old was constantly tipped to move to Elland Road, having shone for Huddersfield in recent years, making 86 appearances and winning the club’s Player of the Year award in 2019/20.

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The Latest: Pundit makes January prediction

Speaking to Football Insider, former Arsenal and Everton striker Campbell said Leeds could go back in for O’Brien in January, claiming the funds are available to bring him in:

“The money is there. Sometimes these transfers are to fatten your squad up. The player might not go into the starting 11 straight away.

“£8million to fatten the squad when Leeds actually have players who can do a job, maybe it wasn’t the priority.

“Maybe they will bide their time and return for him in January.”

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The Verdict: Shrewd mid-season addition

While O’Brien may not necessarily have been a must-need signing in the summer, he could be a shrewd acquisition midway through the campaign.

At that point, a gruelling season could be starting to take its toll physically and the midfielder could be a welcome addition, in terms of squad depth and options at Marcelo Bielsa’s disposal.

Not only that, but O’Brien’s age means he would come in as a long-term signing, rather than a short-term quick fix, suggesting Leeds are continuing to build towards the future.

In other news, Leeds have faced a potential blow regarding one transfer target. Find out who it is here.

In the first ODI in Napier, the Indian batsmen played to a plan and the bowlers took early wickets as they thoroughly outplayed the hosts. New Zealand’s carefully executed plans, which derailed India during the Twenty20s, came unstuck.

Sidharth Monga in Wellington05-Mar-2009
Daniel Vettori: “We’ve got to realise that to compete against India you have to be near-best.” © Getty Images
In the first ODI in Napier, the Indian batsmen played to a plan and the bowlers took early wickets as they thoroughly outplayed the hosts. New Zealand’s carefully executed plans, which derailed India during the Twenty20s, came unstuck.Daniel Vettori, New Zealand’s captain, was not a happy man after the loss because his plans weren’t executed properly. But on the eve of the second match, he sounded confident about getting it right this time.Before the start of the series, New Zealand last played India in an ODI back in September 2005. Those were the days of Venugopal Rao, Mohammad Kaif, JP Yadav, Ajit Agarkar and Ashish Nehra. Four years later, what New Zealand face is a dynamic and highly unpredictable side. Acknowledging this, Vettori said: “We’ve got to realise that to compete against India you have to be near-best.”Facing the prospect of going two-down in a five-match series, New Zealand couldn’t have come to a better venue than the Westpac Stadium. They haven’t lost an international here since December 2005.Against England in June last year, they put behind the disappointment of the Twenty20s and started the series on a winning note. in December-January, they levelled the series against West Indies after a defeat first-up. They started a successful campaign in Australia last month by bowling them out for 148.”I suppose we do have a little bit of reputation coming into Wellington for these sorts of games and playing reasonably well,” Vettori said. “So we are confident that we can bounce back pretty quickly. It’s a ground we enjoy playing at, and hopefully all those things move towards a win for us.”I love coming to Wellington and playing cricket. Even Test matches. The Basin [Reserve] is synonymous with Test cricket in this country and now I think for the one-dayers, you get one of your better crowds in Wellington. The crowd turns up excited about the game, and it feels like a real one-day game of cricket. That’s what the guys look forward to. And it is a proper cricket ground as well, with big boundaries, which lot of us bowlers get excited by. Just feels like a cricket ground.”The tour has followed a trend till now. In all three games, India have batted first. In all three matches, they have made quick starts. The rest of the game has been decided by how well the New Zealand fast bowlers have come back. In the Twenty20s, they managed to get quick wickets, followed by smart stifling jobs by Daniel Vettori. And though they failed in the first ODI, Vettori is not looking at a change of personnel or plans.”We are tying to find the balance between being tough on them [the bowlers] and also realising that they have done a pretty good job for a while now,” Vettori said. “I think they understand where they went wrong and how to rectify that. We are hoping that Napier is a bit of an aberration in terms of our bowling performance, but we need some guys to step up and replicate the form they have shown previous to that game.”If you look at the guys who played in the last game, Ian Butler bowled really well, Kyle Mills has been our best bowler for a long time and Iain O’Brien has been pretty impressive in his start to international cricket. We will have a hard look at Tim [Southee] coming back into the side, but I would probably err on the side of backing these guys to get the job done this time around.”The familiar battle lines have been drawn: India’s flair and unpredictability against New Zealand’s method and combativeness. It will be interesting to see what Vettori’s men come up with under pressure.

Usman Khawaja showed his emerging strength with an unbeaten 109 that rescued New South Wales

Cricinfo staff26-Feb-2009New South Wales 9 for 266 (Khawaja 109*, Hopes 4-78) v Queensland
Scorecard
Points table

James Hopes stepped up with 4 for 78, but Queensland could not stop Usman Khawaja © Getty Images
Usman Khawaja was preferred at No. 6 ahead of the sometime wonder boy David Warner and he showed his emerging strength with an unbeaten 109 that rescued New South Wales. The path for Warner, who has already been picked for one-day and Twenty20 internationals, to gain his first-class debut might have to head in another direction after Khawaja’s mature maiden century.The Gabba was working for the fast bowlers as the Blues fell to 3 for 39 and Khawaja arrived at 4 for 88, guiding them to the safety of 9 for 266 at stumps. It was an important display for Khawaja, who got his chance with the Test batsmen Simon Katich, Phillip Hughes and Michael Clarke away, and the team, which needs wins from the final two games to stay in contention to meet Victoria in the final. The Blues are currently fifth while Queensland are third, two points behind Tasmania.Khawaja’s salvage act continued until stumps and he struck 15 fours in his 169-ball stay. Aged 22, Khawaja had played nine first-class games before this match and managed a top score of 85.In the morning James Hopes, the stand-in opening bowler, quickly picked up Phil Jaques (7) and Greg Mail (6) and when Ben Laughlin gave Chris Hartley his second catch behind the Blues were in desperate trouble.Ben Rohrer and Dominic Thornely took them to lunch, but their 49-run rebuild ended with Chris Swan’s removal of Rohrer on 33. Thornely departed for 27, giving Hartley his 200th catch for Queensland and providing Laughlin with a second victim, but Khawaja provided some calm.Hopes returned to break up the partnership of Khawaja and Moises Henriques after they added a valuable 85 to avoid a disaster. Henriques was caught behind for 39 – Hartley has five catches – and Hopes backed up by knocking over Daniel Smith for 7. Ben Cutting chipped in with two late wickets, finishing the day by getting Beau Casson (2).

Aston Villa will consider loaning out exciting 18-year-old Aaron Ramsey in January, according to The Athletic’s Gregg Evans. 

The lowdown

Two developments this week underlined Ramsey’s potential. First, he was nominated for the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award for August, having netted two goals in their first three matches (via avfc.co.uk).

He has now been directly involved in 18 goals (scoring 12 and setting up six) in just 24 appearances for Mark Delaney’s youth side (via Transfermarkt).

He then earned a call-up to the England under-21 squad, jumping up from the under-19s following injuries to Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott and Tottenham Hotspur’s Ryan Sessegnon.

The latest

According to Evans for The Athletic, Villa thought about loaning Ramsey out during the summer window, but with some ‘key senior players’ either injured or ill, they decided against such a move. However, the possibility is expected to be revisited during the next transfer window.

Villa are ‘carefully mapping out a pathway’ to the first team for the attacking midfielder, who has been ‘highly thought of for years’.

The verdict

Ramsey is a serious talent, and his record at under-23 level suggests that he’s more than ready to make the step-up to the men’s game.

You’d imagine that he’ll be sent to the Championship, but it’s about finding the right team, the right manager and the right style of play to ensure that it’s a productive loan spell.

Look at Elliott, whose injury led to Ramsey’s England promotion. He has now made his breakthrough at Liverpool after a move to Blackburn Rovers last season proved to be a perfect fit, making 18 goal contributions in 42 appearances at Ewood Park. His is an obvious case study for the Villa starlet to try and emulate if he is loaned out in the winter.

In other news, many Villa fans were left fuming by this news.