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Sheffield Wednesday must work to secure a deal for Southampton’s 19-year-old centre-back David Agbontohoma after Lee Bullen confirmed that a contract offer is on the table for the defender.

What’s the talk?

Under-23’s head coach Lee Bullen has revealed that Wednesday have spoken to Agbontohoma and made a formal offer to the centre-back. Bullen has said that he was impressed by the “powerful” youngster when he saw him play and believes that he would suit Darren Moore’s style of play. He told Yorkshire Live:

“The latest thing on David is that he went and played a game at Stoke, but we’ve made a formal offer to him.

“We’re just waiting to hear back from David, and I think there has been a counter-offer come back, but I don’t know exactly where we are with it.

“We’re not going to be throwing bucketloads of money about, especially at U23 level. I really liked what I saw, I thought there was big room for improvement, and I think that he plays the way that Darren Moore would like to play – and he’s also big, powerful and quick

“We’d love to have him on board, but ultimately the decision is in their boat.”

He won’t cost a penny

Agbontohoma is out of contract this summer and Yorkshire Live claim that he is expected to depart from St. Mary’s upon the expiry of his deal at the club. This means that Sheffield Wednesday will not have to pay a transfer fee to bring the centre-back to Hillsborough ahead of next season and will avoid, as Bullen explains, spending bucketloads of money on new additions.

They can add a promising young centre-back to their ranks and he won’t cost them a penny in transfer fees. Sheffield Wednesday just need to make sure that they have offered him the right wages and bonuses to get him to sign across the dotted line. Bullen has said that a counter-offer has come back, although he does not know where they are with that but Wednesday should meet his demands, as long as they are not hugely unreasonable for an under-23’s player.

The centre-back may not be a player for the first-team next season, but that does not mean that this is not a good deal for the club. Agbontohoma made 18 appearances for Southampton’s under-23 side this season, including two appearances against senior sides in the EFL Trophy, which suggests that he could be a player primed for the youth ranks next term.

However, at the age of 19, he has plenty of years left ahead of him to develop and as Bullen says, he has the qualities Moore looks for in a defender which could make him the ideal player to bring in and develop into a first-team option in the coming years.

AND in other news, this pundit is backing £10k-p/w ace to fire SWFC to glory next year

Former Southampton vice-president Les Reed has told The Transfer Tavern that the club made an enquiry to sign Naby Keita before his move to Liverpool.

The Saints did business with the RB group before attempting to sign Keita, as they lured Sadio Mane to the club.

Mane arrived from Salzburg for a fee of £10m, making 75 appearances and scoring 25 goals, while registering 14 assists.

Liverpool paid £34m to sign the Senegal international from Saints and Reed says that his success ultimately inflated the price of any deal for Keita.

The Reds paid £48m to secure the signing of the midfielder when they snaffled him away from Leipzig, and Reed believes the RB group have the development and sale of players down to a fine art.

Keita has actually struggled during his time at Liverpool, making a maximum of 25 appearances in the Premier League over the past three seasons.

Speaking exclusively to TT, he said: “We made enquiries about Naby Keita after Sadio. And that then doubled, it was kind of, you blew us out of the water with Sadio and we’re not letting that happen again.

“I had quite a good relationship with Ralf Rangnick, he’s a proper negotiator, but I think Red Bull wised up. And then the Red Bull empire grew and it was like having four Ajax’s rather than one, if you like, and they really got onto the recruitment of young players, the development of young players, and selling them on for a profit really, really well, almost machine-like.

“And that put the prices up for them, so that was one area.”

New Zealand representative Anna Corbin and leading men’s wicket-taker Andrew Penn were named the Wellington cricketers of the year recently

Lynn McConnell16-Apr-2002New Zealand representative Anna Corbin and leading men’s wicket-taker Andrew Penn were named the Wellington cricketers of the year recently.Corbin, who was voted the most outstanding player in women’s domestic cricket at the New Zealand Cricket Awards, had an outstanding season and won a place in the TelstraClear White Ferns team named to tour India, but which subsequently had their tour abandoned. She made the tour to Australia for the annual Rosebowl series.Penn headed off Stephen Fleming and Paul Hitchcock for the men’s award after a 40-wicket haul in the State Championship, including 10 wickets against Canterbury. He also scored 226 runs with a best score of 66.Amber Little was named the most promising secondary schools’ women’s cricketer ahead of Emily Hobbs and Katrina Arnold.Amanda Green was the most outstanding women’s under-20 player, with Hobbs and Arnold finalists again.Luke Woodcock, who made his first-class debut this season after a year at the New Zealand Cricket Academy, won the Eddie Cameron Memorial Cup for being the most outstanding cricketer under 20 years. He was the Wellington A team’s leading scorer and when promoted to first-class level, he celebrated with a wicket with his first ball. Other finalists were Stephen Murdoch and Simon Allen.Among the annual Norwood Awards, the Tawa Club won the Norwood championship for the club with the highest average number of points per team.Frances King was named the women’s outstanding batsman, with Megan Wakefield and Arnold the other finalists. While in the bowling section Corbin took the best bowler prize from Green and King.Grant Donaldson took the men’s outstanding batsman from Fleming and Leighton Morgan. Hitchcock took the bowling prize, with his five for 10 in the State Shield match against Central Districts top of his list of achievements. Other finalists were Ashley Turner and Penn.Matthew Walker won the award for best all-round performance from Woodcock and James Franklin.The outstanding fieldsman went to Mayu Pasupati, ahead of Jeetan Patel and Matthew Bell.However, Bell picked up the award for best and most enterprising captain from Ben Jansen and Pasupati.Among other awards presented, Eastern Suburbs won the Club Championship Royal Visit Cup. The best and fairest award went to North City while North City won the Under-23 Colts competition.The Majorie Sweetman Memorial Trophy went to Nadine Dawson for the player with most wickets, 31, in the senior women’s competition. Maia Lewis won the Judith Sadler Memorial Trophy for most runs, 349, in senior women’s cricket.Stephen Hotter won the Ron Murray Cup for the player with most wickets in the inter-city senior men’s competition. He took 50. Donaldson, with 504 runs, won the Arthur Dick Cup for the player with most runs in the men’s competition.Groundsman of the year was Andrew Searle of Maidstone Park while the Bartercard Club men’s and women’s players of the year were Graham Murray and Jane Hunter-Siu respectively.The Hutt Valley Cricket Awards were also made at the function. The J Atkin Salver for the best bowling performance by a Hutt Valley player in any match went to Penn for his efforts against Canterbury when taking eight for 21. Turner was the other finalist.The batting award went to Upper Hutt 2A grade player Doug Warren who scored 200 not out against the Tokelau Sports Club, moving from 87 overnight to 200 in just 21 overs. Richard Jones and Bell were the other finalists.The Sam Platt Cup for the most outstanding match by a Hutt Valley player was shared by Jones and Bell for their 229-run stand for Wellington against Otago with both batsmen achieving centuries.The Hutt Valley cricketer of the Year award went to Robbie Bird.The A J Rohrs Memorial Trophy awarded to the most promising player under 20 years went to Scott Rennie while the Sir Walter Nash Trophy for the most promising under-26 player went to Turner.

Durham’s record Championship stand carried them to an eight-wicket win against Nottinghamshire at Chester-le-Street

Tim Wellock02-Jun-2001Durham’s record Championship stand carried them to an eight-wicket win against Nottinghamshire at Chester-le-Street.Skipper Jon Lewis made 112 and Queenslander Martin Love 149 not out put on 258, 52 more than the previous record, before Lewis was out with two needed.Durham reached their target of 315 five minutes before the start of the final hour, making a mockery of the visitors’ declaration, which left them a minimum of 102 overs to get the runs.Love needed 105 balls for his 50, two more than his captain, but then dealt almost exclusively in boundaries, hitting 25 fours in his 232-ball knock.Lewis profited from too many short balls outside off stump, reaching 112 from 227 balls against a team who were again without acting captain Darren Bicknell because of a side strain.His absence left Paul Johnson to shuffle the bowlers with no hint of success as they became increasingly dispirited in a strong, cold wind.After winning the toss, Nottinghamshire had dominated the game for three days. The loss of almost half a day to the weather may have forced their hand, but in the end they did not bowl anywhere near well enough to justify their bold declaration.They made a breakthrough on 55, when Michael Gough edged to second slip, and Andrew Harris went close to bowling Love on nine.But little got past the Australian after that as he cruised effortlessly past his previous best score of 67 in his six Championship innings.

Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak is a bit surprised at the emphasis that India will lay on the fast and seam bowling department

Staff Reporter16-May-2001Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak is a bit surprised at the emphasis that India will lay on the fast and seam bowling department. Streak has recently read in some of the newspapers and web sites that India would be touring Zimbabwe with five medium pacers. He feels that things may not work in India’s favour even with five fast bowlers.In a telephonic interview to a vernacular daily in Kolkata, Streak has said, “This time we are going through a prolonged winter. The weather is very dry. So the Indian seamers will not get the help that they had received during their last tour and India will not be able to achieve anything with their medium pacers.”Even though Henry Olonga proved to be a match winner in the last Test India played in Zimbabwe in 1998, Streak has no idea as to what the pitches will be like. “We will be playing two Test matches, one at Harare, and the other at Bulawayo. The Board officials and the groundsmen will decide on the nature of the pitches. However, we will not be dependent solely on our pace bowlers. We would prefer to have a balanced attack that can trouble all the Indian batsmen,” said Streak. He also added, “We know that India have always suffered against the fast bowlers on tours. Even then, this time they have a very competent batting line up. So we would prefer an attack with variety.”Streak is well aware that the Indians after their Test series win against Australia are gunning for their first overseas victory since 1993. However, he points out, “The series will be very tough for India. They should not forget that they will be playing in conditions that are familiar to us. The matches will be hard fought and we are not going to give in a single inch.” The Zimbabweans have watched India’s ace spinner Harbhajan Singh quite closely during the series against Australia and are not worried. They feel that Harbhajan will not be able to repeat the Australian performance against Zimbabwe. “First of all, Harbhajan will not be able to derive the same amount of turn that he did against Australia as the pitches are quite different from what he has bowled on so far,” said Streak. He also added, “In the last few years, we have played quite a significant number of matches in the sub-continent. Our batsmen have become quite adept at handling spin bowling. Moreover, there is Andy Flower and Alister Campbell, two players who have always played the Indian spinners quite well.”Streak also informed that even though they are the underdogs against India, he was very hopeful of putting up a good show. “Some new players have come up and they have the capability to deliver the goods.”

Glasgow Rangers fans were livid with the BBC after they interviewed former owner Craig Whyte.

Whyte’s spell as owner of the Gers was a controversial one, to say the least. He purchased the club from Sir David Murray for just £1 in 2011, and he would end up owning for a year – he contributed heavily to the club going into administration and therefore dropping out of the Premiership and down to League Two.

Recently, Whyte was interviewed by the BBC about his spell at the club. Not only did he say that owning the Gers was the biggest regret of his life, he also revealed that he thought he had done nothing wrong. It is fair to say this did not go down well with the Gers fans – not only because of the interview’s content, but also the fact that the BBC had even given him the column space to share his thoughts.

The supporters were livid, and they took to social media platform Twitter to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Whyte interview below

“Chris McLaughlin cementing his Ibrox ban”

Credit: @wardstarfc

“An absolute embarrassment that the @BBCSport think this is newsworthy. And they wonder why so many grudge their ridiculous licence fee.”

Credit: @bbn1978

“Isn’t it embarrassing that @BBCchrismclaug isn’t allowed access to the club so instead goes to a criminal charlatan who tried to defraud and destroy a Scottish institution. Then instead of condemning him for the business & careers ruined he is offered a platform”

Credit: @petera1872

“This is shameful. It’s why McLaughlin and the BBC are not welcome at Ibrox. A puff piece on a guy who tried to kill our club.”

Credit: @Rangers_9293

“Final nail in the coffin for me. It’s not just McLaughlin (He should never be inside Ibrox again anyway) but the entire sports team editors and all need to be gone.”

Credit: @wfl71

“Hope they never get let back in again tbh”

Credit: @Stegthomson1

In other news, Rangers have been linked with this midfielder.

Aston Villa look set to move on two longstanding scouts in a major reshuffle behind the scenes, according to Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Villa’s major spending plans

Villa spent over £90m during the current campaign on five permanent transfers, and it looks as if another spending spree is on the way at Villa Park.

Owners Wes Edens and Naseef Sawiris have pumped around £400m into the club since taking over in 2018, and according to Football Insider back in March, they will spend big this summer in a bid to keep hold of club captain Jack Grealish.

The Latest: Friday meeting planned

According to Football Insider, Mick Brown and Alan Wood are set to leave the club.

A Villa source revealed that both Brown and Wood have been told to attend a meeting at the club’s Bodymoor Heath training headquarters on Friday.

The report described the likely parting ways of Brown and Wood as a surprise, with the pair working on potential signings under sporting director Johan Lange.

The Verdict: A bold move

It’s safe to say that Villa’s spending during the 2020/21 campaign has been a lot better than their 2019/20 business.

The likes of Ollie Watkins, Matty Cash and Emiliano Martinez have been revelations under Dean Smith, although the loan signing of Ross Barkley hasn’t really worked out.

However, a number of the arrivals in the 19/20 season have either been injured for large parts of their stay or struggled on the pitch – Wesley Moraes, Tom Heaton, Mbwana Samatta, Bjorn Engels and Jota spring to mind.

It seems as if Villa have their heart set on an off-field revamp, though, which could have real significance to Lange going forward.

In other news: Villa keen on Premier League international, many fans are delighted, find out more here. 

Former Leeds United goalkeeper Nigel Martyn has compared Illan Meslier to Iker Casillas, in terms of the career he could end up enjoying.

The Whites have enjoyed an excellent season back in the Premier League, with numerous individuals performing impressively.

The likes of Stuart Dallas, Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha all stand out, in that respect, but Meslier is another who has been an influential figure.

The 21-year-old Frenchman has been a model of consistently between the sticks, playing with a maturity beyond his years and thriving with the ball at his feet too, enjoying a 78 percent pass completion rate in the league this season.

[freshpress-quiz id=“351040″]

Martyn heaps praise on Meslier

Speaking to Leeds United News about Meslier, ex-England international Martyn tipped him to have similar success to former Real Madrid and Spain legend Casillas:

“Look at Iker Casillas at Real Madrid, he got into the team at an early age and look at the career he had. It is probably good for France going forward because he’s starting so young.

“Imagine how good he will be when gets to his late twenties, he might be on 300 or 400 games by then. With experience comes a better player.

“I think he has had a great season personally – but I don’t think I could look back on a season of mine where I haven’t made a mistake.”

Transfer Tavern take

It is certainly massive praise from Martyn, but it is understandable to see the comparisons, considering Meslier is already flourishing at such a young age.

In fairness, Casillas was already playing in a Champions League final at a similar age, suggesting he was on another level still, but the Leeds hero has incredible potential and has been described as ‘fearsome’ by Tony Cascarino recently, praise which is evidenced by the fact he has missed just one league fixture this term and made the second-most saves in the league.

For now, he just needs to continue to shine for the Whites, adding to his 43 total appearances, but he looks like a future France No.1 in-waiting.

In other news, Leeds have been linked with a move for a hugely exciting winger – find out who it is here.

With Celtic’s season now done and dusted after crashing out of the cup, the Bhoys can focus solely on their hunt for a new manager.

Neil Lennon has been out of the job for an extended period of time now but the Hoops are finding life difficult in finding a replacement.

What’s the word?

Interim manager John Kennedy dealt his chances of landing the Celtic job an almighty blow on Sunday when they tasted defeat at Ibrox in the Scottish Cup fourth round.

With that in mind, Eddie Howe is still very much the favourite to land the gig after holding advanced talks with majority shareholder Dermot Desmond.

The arrival of Dominic McKay should help to accelerate things behind-the-scenes but the ball it would seem is very much in Howe’s court.

That’s because according to Hoops pundit Frank McAvennie, the 43-year-old has actually been offered the role.

In an exciting update, McAvennie said the following when speaking to This is Futbol: “Everyone knows he wasn’t coming in until the summer. If you’ve offered somebody the job, which I believe they have, and he said ‘I need time to think about it’ – a couple of days, even a couple of weeks to speak to his family and friends and find out about the club, give him a couple of weeks, but a couple of months you can’t give him.”

Big dilemma

This has been a rather stressful few weeks for Desmond and the rest of the Celtic board.

After passing on Roy Keane the main man has very much been Howe.

Unfortunately, the former Bournemouth boss has been mucking them around pretty significantly in recent weeks.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-celtic-manager-and-transfer-news-howe-lampard-klimala-ajer-gossip” title= “Read the latest Celtic manager and transfer news!”]

The Englishman held talks and looked to be on the verge of taking over before a number of obstacles stopped Celtic from getting a deal over the line swiftly.

One of the primary issues has been relating to Celtic’s director of football. They want to hire Fergal Harkin but Howe is only keen on seeing his companion from the Cherries, Richard Hughes, join him at Paradise.

Wanting his own backroom staff is a fair enough request but it’s not fair on the Hoops for him to keep them waiting until the summer.

After all, he could then join a different club instead. Crystal Palace and Brighton are reportedly keeping tabs on his situation so they could quite easily swoop in from under Celtic’s nose.

At some point, Desmond is going to have to pull the plug and focus on other targets. The Bhoys are too big a club to let someone like Howe boss them around.

If anything, it sums up their torrid season. They have been tormented by their biggest rivals and now they’re being led astray by Howe too.

The club have a big dilemma on their hands at the moment.

AND in other news, Forget Laxalt: Celtic ace had a “horror show” on Sun, Dykes called him a “nightmare”…

Tottenham Hotspur are looking to sign a new central defender as a top priority this summer…

What’s the word?

That’s according to reliable football.london reporter Alasdair Gold, who has named Fulham loan sensation Joachim Andersen as a potential target.

The 24-year-old Dane has been courted with interest by Spurs in the past, and is among the centre-back options they are considering making a move for ahead of next season.

Scott Parker’s side have no option-to-buy the player, which means the Cottagers are at no advantage when the window re-opens, whilst Daniel Levy has previously negotiated with Andersen’s parent club, Lyon, and their president Jean-Michel Aulas.

Bye-bye Alderweireld?

Spurs may well have the third-best defensive record in the Premier League as it stands, but it’s clear to see that Jose Mourinho is concerned by the lack of leadership across his back four, having lost former vice-captain Jan Vertonghen in the summer.

Eric Dier is perhaps the most vocal of all his current central options, but his absence from the starting XI from the last five league games is cause for concern for the foreseeable future, as are his inconsistencies.

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In contrast, Joe Rodon, 23, and Davinson Sanchez, 24, are nowhere near hitting their peak in the role and need considerable guidance, which is something they do not appear to be getting from Toby Alderwerield, who is a quieter influence in the dressing room.

The Belgian has also been linked with an exit this summer too. According to Voetbal24, the 32-year-old is a wanted man back in his home country, with Club Brugge keen to sign him.

Spurs’ biggest problem in signing a new ‘leader’ for Mourinho’s defensive line is finances, so the sale of Alderweireld could well help aid that, especially as Andersen’s impressive displays in the English top-flight – on top of the three years remaining on his Lyon contract – will surely see him become a coveted man in the summer.

Despite it being his first campaign in England, the Denmark international has worn the armband in 54% of his 24 league appearances. Only two players have performed better for Fulham as per average WhoScored ratings, who have graded Andersen at 6.86. A figure that neither Dier, Sanchez or Rodon can match.

Andersen, who is currently valued at just €20m (£18m) by the CIES Football Observatory, has been dubbed Fulham’s equivalent of Ruben Dias by Martin Keown and drew high praise following his performance against defending champions, Liverpool.

The Mirror’s chief football writer John Cross lauded the 6 foot 4 leader as “magnificent” whilst Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher was audibly left in awe during his commentary.

An Alderweireld would be a hard exit to sanction, but Sky Sports reporter Michael Bridge believes Andersen is exactly in the same mould as the long-serving Spurs man.

“Joachim Andersen reminds me of Alderweireld,” he wrote on Twitter.

On that basis, Levy should pull out all the stops for the Fulham loanee this summer. He can be the colossal presence Mourinho desperately requires in that backline for the foreseeable future.

AND in other news, Levy must strike dream Mourinho deal for £49.5m-rated “leader”…