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A potentially worrying update has emerged regarding the future of Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba.

What’s the story?

The France international has been heavily linked with a move to Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain throughout the summer after entering the final year of his contract with United.

However, the shock arrival of six-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi at the Parc des Princes meant that PSG were no longer able to finance a move for Pogba in the current transfer window.

Now, according to The Independent’s chief football writer Miguel Delaney, the Ligue 1 club are willing to pay Pogba a whopping €600,000 (£510,000) per week for the start of the 2022/23 season as they attempt to lure him away from his boyhood club. As it stands, the 28-year-old will be available on a free transfer at the end of the current season, and his preference is to leave Manchester.

Solskjaer will be absolutely fuming

Pogba came through the ranks at United after arriving in Manchester from Le Havre in 2009 but only made a handful of substitute appearances before departing for Juventus in 2012. After winning four Serie A titles and two Italian Cups during a four-year stint in Turin, the 6 foot 2 maestro returned to English shores in a then world-record £89m deal in 2016.

The Frenchman was expected to propel the Red Devils back to their former glory and inspire them to multiple major trophies, but things haven’t quite gone as planned. In 207 appearances for the Old Trafford outfit, Pogba has bagged 38 goals and laid on a further 46 assists for his teammates, winning the Europa League and EFL Cup along the way.

He has often been criticised for a lack of consistency and an apparent poor work ethic when on the pitch, although in truth United have hardly provided him with an environment built for success.

The Jose Mourinho era was a tough spell for players and fans alike, and the subsequent transitional period under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was just about undoing the damage that the controversial Portuguese coach had caused.

However, there’s now a very different feel about the 20-time English champions. Under their Norwegian, they’ve recorded consecutive top-four finishes in the Premier League for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.

The additions of Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane this summer could catapult United back into title contention for the first time since their legendary Scottish manager moved to the boardroom.

Pogba is also currently in the best form of his United career and has been produced top-class performances since last December. An incredible four assists on the opening day of the campaign against Leeds United over the weekend showcased his importance to the Red Devils.

Therefore, the possibility of losing him next summer will surely leave Solskjaer absolutely fuming. With the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea continuing to strengthen their squads, the Red Devils can’t afford to wave goodbye to one of their most influential and important stars.

In other news… “Still a chance”: Journo drops Man Utd transfer update that will leave fans excited 

If we really want to increase the number of players available for the national team and get guys into training, we need to do something about the drug problem in this country.We’ve heard more talk this week about the number of players not turning out for the national squad and as someone who has been around cricket my whole life I can tell you the biggest problem is marijuana. If we could stop people smoking weed we would have triple the amount of players available.It’s a serious social issue and it’s something we really need to address. If you can’t give up marijuana to play for your country and reach the pinnacle of your sport then you have a serious, serious problem.I know for a fact that there are a lot of players who won’t give up weed to play for their country. It’s crazy. Kids as young as 13 and 14 are getting hooked on it.If we invested money into educating people and stopping the country’s marijuana problem it would do more for sport than anything. We’ve had this problem for years and we have turned a blind eye to it but we can’t turn a blind eye any more because it’s right there in front of us every day.Every football match you go to, every cricket game you go to, you have the scent of marijuana.You can’t hide from it because it’s everywhere you go.The Bermuda Sun

The appointment of Patrick Vieira as manager could be a game-changer for Crystal Palace when it comes to signings, says former Premier League midfielder Carlton Palmer.

After missing out on the likes of Nuno Espirito Santo and Lucien Favre, Steve Parish and the rest of the Palace board turned to Vieira and decided to make the Frenchman Roy Hodgson’s successor.

Since then, the south London club have gone on to sign the likes of Conor Gallagher, who snubbed Palmer’s old side Leeds United in the process, and Joachim Andersen. And Palmer believes more players will be lured to Selhurst Park by Vieira’s presence.

Speaking exclusively to FFC about the Arsenal legend’s recent appointment, he said:

“It’s a game changer in terms of attraction. Who wouldn’t want to play for a legend of the game, Patrick Vieira?

“He was a phenomenal football player, phenomenal football player, so he will have huge pulling power for his name.

“I think it’s a good signing for Crystal Palace and it could be a good fit for Patrick Vieira.”

On top of Gallagher and Andersen, Palace have also brought in Marc Guehi from Chelsea, who is arguably one of the most promising centre-backs in the country right now, so this is turning out to be a really good transfer window for the Eagles.

Floyd Reifer hammered his second match-winning century of the week for the Boatyard XI in the annual Fred Rumsey Pro-Am Festival at Queen’s Park yesterday.The left-hander slammed 12 fours and eight sixes in a blazing 112 not out off just 45 balls in an hour to pilot his side to a nine-wicket win over the Mews XI.On Monday, Reifer hit eight fours and six sixes in a blistering 109 not out off 98 balls to lead the Boatyard XI, captained by former England Test opener Bill Athey, to an exciting one-wicket victory over Combined Schools.The schoolboys seemed on course for their second victory of the tournament when they reduced the Boatyard XI to 59 for six in reply to their total of 151, but Reifer launched a fierce attack on their bowling to see his team home with one ball to spare.Needing 13 runs to win off the final over with the last-wicket pair at the crease, Reifer lifted Kenroy Williams for two sixes and a single to seal victory.Summarised scoresCombined Schools 151 in 32.1 overs (Corey Scantlebury 34, Rico Weekes 21; Bill Athey 2-32, Chris Braddock 2-33, Floyd Reifer 2-37). Boatyard XI 155-9 in 34.5 overs (Floyd Reifer 109 not out, Bill Athey 18; Davin Wiggins 2-19, Derick Bishop 2-31). Boatyard XI won by one wicket.Mews XI 170-8 of 24 overs (Chris Adams 50, G Welch 47, G Warner 27; B Athey 2-20, F Reifer 2-24) Boatyard 176-1 in 17.5 overs (Floyd Reifer 112 not out – 45 balls, 12×4, 8×6, Steve Rhodes 48) Mews XI won by nine wickets.

A generally young team was again sent on the tour.But unlike in 1952 when the wicket and weather conditions wereagainst them, this time the sun, out in all its glory, seemed tobe in their favour

Partab Ramchand16-Aug-2002In the midst of one of the worst-ever periods in their crickethistory, India toured England in 1959 only to end up with thekind of record team members see in their nightmares. Out of 33first-class matches, the Indians won only six and lost 11 whilenot all of the remaining 16 were honourably drawn.

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A generally young team was again sent on the tour.But unlike in 1952 when the wicket and weather conditions wereagainst them, this time the sun, out in all its glory, seemed tobe in their favour. However, the batsmen again found the pace ofFreddie Trueman and Brian Statham too hot to handle.

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All five Tests were lost, this being the first time that Indiasuffered such a whitewash. Incidentally, it was only the thirdtime in Test history that a team had lost all five matches. Therecord was even more unpalatable considering the fact that it wasone of the best English summers for years and that the home teamthemselves were not very confident having just been thrashed inAustralia during the winter.In fact, they commenced their rebuilding process by trying outmany new players and even then they were good enough to swampIndia. Three of the matches were lost by an innings, two defeatswere sustained inside three days and two more matches must surelyhave been concluded with two days to spare but for interferencefrom the weather.A generally young team was again sent on the tour. But unlike in1952 when the wicket and weather conditions were against them,this time the sun, out in all its glory, seemed to be in theirfavour. However, the batsmen again found the pace of FreddieTrueman and Brian Statham too hot to handle. What was even moredisconcerting was the fact that the batsmen surrendered theirwickets tamely even to lesser-known new ball bowlers like AlanMoss and rookie Harold Rhodes and also to spin bowlers like BrianClose, Tom Greenhough and Ray Illingworth.The selection of the team was made in the wake of thedisappointing five-match home series against the West Indies thatwas lost badly. For various reasons, Ghulam Ahmed, Vinoo Mankad,Gulabrai Ramchand and Dattu Phadkar were not selected and therewas a new captain in Dattajirao Gaekwad. Pankaj Roy was hisdeputy and it was obvious that the batting would revolve aroundthese two, Polly Umrigar, Vijay Manjrekar, Chandu Borde, NariContractor and Bapu Nadkarni. The bowling, meanwhile, was tohinge mainly on Subash Gupte, making his long awaited first tourof England, the medium pacers Ramakant Desai and RamanSurrendranath and the two all rounders Borde and Nadkarni.It was, then, the collective failure of both the batsmen and thebowlers that led to the rout in the Tests. The fact that onlyContractor (233) and Umrigar (230) topped the 200-run aggregatemark symbolises the batting failures. Despite arriving after hisclassic batting display against the West Indies, which saw himget 109 and 96 against Wes Hall and Roy Gilchrist in the finalTest at New Delhi, Borde was a failure getting only 140 runs inseven innings.Roy improved upon his dismal record of seven years before butstill proved to be easy meat for the pacemen, as evidenced by hismeagre return of 179 runs from ten innings. Gaekwad never reallygot going and India were further handicapped by Manjrekar playingin only the first two Tests before a knee problem ruled him outfor the rest of the tour.Fortunately, Abbas Ali Baig, a 20-year-old freshman at OxfordUniversity, proved to be a worthy replacement. At Manchester, hescored a century in his first Test, becoming the first Indian tohit a century on debut abroad. Moreover, the fact that he did soon the same ground at which Ranji had achieved a similar featagainst Australia back in 1896 added a touch of colour.Umrigar was the only other century maker in the series. He scored118 at Manchester in what proved to be his last Test innings inEngland, hooking and pulling his old adversary Trueman withgusto. But perhaps the most courageous knock was played byContractor at Lord’s when he carried on to make 81 in over fourhours despite having one of his ribs broken by a ball from BrianStatham early in the innings.The bowling failed to rise to the occasion. Gupte no doubt tookthe most number of wickets in the series – 17 – but these cost34.64 apiece. Desai was harshly treated, his 12 wickets beingobtained at an average of 50.16. The best bowler wasSurendranath. Relishing the conditions that aided his swingbowling, he finished at the top of the averages with 16 wicketsat 26.62 apiece. Nadkarni with his left-arm spinners was at beststeady while the English batsmen negotiated Borde’s leg-spinnerscomfortably.On the tour, Umrigar was again the most commanding batsman. Hegot five centuries, three of them double hundreds – one knock of252 not out against Cambridge University being the then highestscore abroad by an Indian. He ended the tour with 1826 runs andbut for a hand injury that ruled him out of the last few matcheson the tour, would surely have crossed the 2000-run mark.Gaekwad (1174), Roy (1207), Borde (1060) and Contractor (1183)were the others to cross the 1000-run mark, though given a fulltour it is safe to assume that both Manjrekar (755) and Baig(673) would have made the four-figure mark too.As far as the bowling was concerned, Gupte with 95 wicketsfinished top of the heap but considering his reputation, thefigure fell below expectations. Surendranath, given a lot of workhad 79 wickets while Borde (72) and Nadkarni (55) did reasonablywell. Desai, however, was a bit of a letdown finishing with 45rather expensive wickets.As only to be expected in a one-sided series, England had thingstheir own way. Peter May, Colin Cowdrey, Mike Smith and new boyGeoff Pullar got hundreds while Ken Barrington was a model ofconsistency. The old firm of Statham and Trueman mowed down theIndian batting repeatedly and even Greenhough’s leg spinnerscaused the visitors some trouble. Ultimately, it was bothtechnical difficulties and a lack of fighting spirit that sawIndia go down tamely.

Writing on Twitter, reliable reporter Fabrizio Romano has made a Celtic transfer claim as he lifts the lid on yet another big development.

The Lowdown: Bhoys been busy…

Over this last week alone, Celtic have got Ange Postecoglou’s reign off to a brilliant start and have been very busy in the transfer window.

The Hoops have just confirmed the signings of both Liel Abada and Japan international Kyogo Furuhasi whilst also bolstering their youngsters in the B team.

Indeed, Celtic announced just yesterday evening that they had secured Republic of Ireland Under-21 international Bosun Lawal on a three-year deal from Watford, even beating Chelsea to his signature.

Now, Romano has lifted the lid on another big development.

The Latest: Romano makes exciting claim…

Making an exciting claim, the Italian reporter says Celtic have completed an agreement to sign Rubin Kazan defender Carl Starfelt, and Postecoglou isn’t done there.

Indeed, on top of this, the Scottish giants are also on the hunt for a new right-back after sealing the Starfelt deal.

Celtic have a few candidates on the shortlist with ‘talks ongoing’ for Royal Antwerp ace Aurelio Buta.

“Celtic are looking for a new right back after agreement completed to sign Carl Starfelt as centre back from Rubin Kazan,” Romano tweeted. 

“Brandon Soppy is one of the options – talks ongoing also with Royal Antwerp for Portuguese right back Aurélio Buta.”

The Verdict: Yet more big news…

Celtic appear to mean business this season as they aim to steal back the SPFL crown, with arch rivals Rangers halting their dominance last season.

The Hoops dominated over an imperious 10-year spell before Steven Gerrard’s side made it 55 and Celtic supporters will be hoping they can seize back control of the Scottish top flight.

Making this many moves – and nearly all for young talent – is certainly the right way to go about it and Postecoglou’s debut season as manager will be one of the most interesting campaigns in the last few years.

In other news: ‘What a day’, ‘Yesssss’, ‘Holy moly’…Celtic fans rave as club drop another announcement, find out more here.

MatériaMais Notícias

Ricardo Oliveira será dúvida para o Santos até a véspera do clássico contra o Corinthians, que será no sábado, às 18h30, na Arena, pela 7ª rodada do Paulistão. O camisa 9, que levou 15 pontos na cabeça, na orelha direita, após um choque no jogo contra o Botafogo-SP, foi reavaliado por um médico especialista nesta quarta-feira e foi vetado de ter contato físico até sexta-feira.

Na véspera da partida, ele será reavaliado. Até então, a recuperação acontece dentro do prazo previsto. Neste período, o capitão santista ficará na academia aprimorando a forma física.

Na atividade de terça-feira, o técnico Dorival Júnior armou um time indicando que, caso o centroavante não tenha condições de jogar, Kayke será o substituto.

Dos três gols marcados pelo Santos na Arena Corinthians, dois são de Ricardo Oliveira, ambos em 2015. O Peixe treina no período da tarde desta quarta-feira.

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All Frizzell Women’s County Championship matches are one-day 50 over perside

ECB Media Release28-Jul-2002All Frizzell Women’s County Championship matches are one-day 50 over perside. There are three divisions of six teams in the tournament, which isrun on a round robin basis within each division, with relegation and promotion for the teams finishing top and bottom. All matches take place at University Grounds, Cambridge from Saturday 27th – Wednesday 31st July.Division OneReigning Champions, Yorkshire, secured their second win on day two, beatingSurrey convincingly by eight wickets. England’s young fast bowler LauraSpragg took 3 wickets for a miserly 4 runs from her eight over spell beforeEngland team-mate Melissa Reynard reached 64 not out, including nine fours,in response to the Surrey total.

Surrey:         129 all out (49.3 overs)Yorkshire:      130-2 (35.5 overs)

Promoted Sussex recorded their first win of the Championship beatingStaffordshire by three wickets at King’s College. England and SussexCaptain, Clare Connor, took two wickets to add to her five wicket haulagainst Yorkshire on Day One. England’s young development squad bowlerCharlotte Burton took 3 for 25 and New Zealander Haidee Tiffen also took 3for 21 playing for Sussex. England’s Laura Newton took 3 for 27 from 5overs for Staffordshire.

Staffordshire:          150-9Sussex:                 151-7 (47 overs)

Berkshire have retained their strong challenge to Yorkshire by beatingNottinghamshire by 49 runs at Fitzwilliam College. England’s prolificbatsman Claire Taylor scored 78, including nine fours and a six to add toher 59* yesterday.

Berkshire:              169-6Nottinghamshire:        120 all out

Division TwoSomerset beat newly promoted Middlesex by five wickets at Queen’s College.Middlesex’s Beth Morgan reached 70* as Middlesex finished on 165 for 8. Inreply, Somerset’s Jan Godman made 58 from 63 balls and was assisted by 46from Sarah Collyer and 35 from England’s Hannah Lloyd.

Middlesex:              165-8Somerset:               166-5 (47.5 overs)

Kent beat Hertfordshire by 202 runs at St John’s Ground thanks to 104 fromPaula Flannery. In Kent’s match yesterday England batsman Charlotte Edwardsreached 151* giving Kent two wins from two games. Hazel Lovegrove took 4Herts wickets for just 1 run as Kent secured a second convincing victory.

Kent:                   226 all outHertfordshire:           24 all out

Division ThreeHampshire made it two wins in two days as they defeated Warwickshire atChurchill Ground by six wickets.

Warwickshire:           101-8Hampshire:              105 - 4 (30.1 overs)

Newcomers Durham recorded their first County Championship win as they beatEssex by 77 runs at Trinity Old Field. Durham’s women’s cricket developmentofficer, Pauline Peel, top-scored with 51 opening the innings for Durham.

Durham:                 228-7Essex:                  151 all out (49.1 overs)

Cheshire beat Wiltshire by six wickets at Press Ground with Dawn Prestidgetop-scoring for Cheshire with 54, including seven fours.

Wiltshire:              155-6Cheshire:               157-4

The selectors have announced their side for the match against CFX Academy at Country Club in Harare this coming weekend

Derrick Townshend22-Mar-2002The selectors have announced their side for the match against CFX Academy at Country Club in Harare this coming weekend. The twelve players making up theteam are:Williams – captain, King – vice-captain, Dabengwa, Ewing, Mahachi,McKillop, Mukandiwa, Mupariwa, Siziba, Strydom, Townshend and Walker.Walker is a new cap, a sound right-hand batsman and wicket-keeper, who will probably keep wicket in the match, allowing Siziba to concentrate on his batting where he is in prolific form. Walker comes into the side in place of Warren Gilmour, who has left for England, to play both cricket and hockey for about nine months.The other change in the side is Townshend for Kenny. With the Academy track likely to be flat, the luxury of three spinners doesn’t allow a balanced bowling attack. The seam attack is likely to be Mukandiwa and Townshend, followed by Strydom and Mahachi, with the spin coming from Dabengwa and Ewing. If the bowlers bowl line and length, they should be able to contain the Academy batting line-up and allow the batsmen to chase or build a decent score, something they have not been able to do in the previous two matches.New cap Walker is likely to open the batting with Siziba, allowing the outer form of talented King a chance to make runs batting at three. The side is beginning to blend and should be more positive, and hopefully the elusive victory may be forthcoming.

Many Wolves fans have been flocking to a transfer update involving Ruben Neves.

As per The Times, Arsenal have begun work on a deal to try and sign the former FC Porto midfielder in the summer window. He has been made available for sale in order to try and raise some funds for the incoming Bruno Lage to spend in the market.

Neves has been a key player for the Midlands club over the past few seasons, from being part of the squad which won promotion to the Premier League in 2018 and then being a mainstay in the team ever since.

The Portugal international averaged more tackles (2.4), interceptions (1.8), shots (1.9), passes (54.9) and long balls (5.3) per game in the top flight than both Leander Dendoncker and Joao Moutinho in the 2020/21 campaign (WhoScored), showing just how important he is to the heart of their midfield.

It is not a surprise that many Wolves fans do not want him to leave, especially to go to a rival Premier League club.

Wolves fans react to Neves transfer update

These Wolves supporters flocked to the transfer update as it was shared on Twitter, with one describing Neves’ potential departure as a ‘terrible idea’:

“Don’t need this first thing on a Sunday”

Credit: @bigafizzy

“It’s a weird one because he deserves so much better than being at a club run the way we are, but selling Ruben would be the final straw.”

Credit: @ashleynixon95

“@ThekidEG please my guy don’t do it”Credit: @bibb_wwfc”Selling one of you best players to a rival is a terrible idea. This is a massive shout sacking the best manager in 40 years and selling your best midfielder – if we have a few uninspiring purchases and a bad run of fixtures Lage will be under huge pressure.”Credit: @tommartin5″I really hope this a lie. @rubendsneves_ is ours haha and part of the pack. @Wolves do not sell him please!”Credit: @celders23″This better not happen bc we will be in serious trouble”Credit: @CharlesMaiden6In other news, find out what transfer update has left these Wolves fans fuming.