One point adrift of leaders Celtic with a game in hand, Rangers are set for a fiery end to the Scottish Premiership season. And as the final Old Firm derby of the season nears, Gers chiefs have reportedly turned their attention towards turning one particular loan deal permanent this summer.

Rangers transfer news

It's been quite the turnaround from Rangers, who instantly galvanised under Philippe Clement before scaling what looked an impossible climb back into the title race and now in control of the Scottish Premiership's outcome. January certainly helped the former AS Monaco boss too, with Oscar Cortes, Mohamed Diomande and Fabio Silva all arriving on loan. Diomande in particular has had some impressive moments, including his goal against St Johnstone.

The midfielder is set to join on a permanent basis this summer due to Rangers' obligation to buy in his initial loan deal. He's not the only loanee who may be around next season, either, with reports indicating that the Gers want to also turn Silva's loan deal permanent this summer.

According to Pete O'Rourke of Football Insider, Rangers are set to make contact with Wolverhampton Wanderers over securing a permanent deal for Silva in the coming months.

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Any deal will reportedly have to be for a cut-price, however, given that the Scottish giants will not be able to sanction a big-money deal this summer even with Champions League qualification. What's more, Silva's reported salary of £80k per week is already a hefty fee in itself, only adding to the cost of the potential transfer.

Still just 21-years-old, it would be quite the piece of business from Rangers if they managed to secure a relatively cheap deal to sign Silva this summer. The young forward has certainly shown signs that he's getting closer to his best form too, perhaps making a move to Ibrox ideal for all parties involved.

"Incredible" Silva has earned permanent move

With four goals to his name in 15 appearances, with nine of those being starts, Silva has shown plenty of signs that he's on course to take a huge step towards his potential under Clement to earn a permanent deal. It remains to be seen whether the Gers can agree the right price with Wolves, of course, but it's certainly one worth pursuing.

In what will be Clement's first full season in charge, those at Ibrox may have the opportunity to be defending their Scottish crown if all goes well in the remainder of the season. And they'll want as much of the current, potentially successful squad available to do that, including Silva, who earned plenty of praise during his Wolves days.

The club's executive chairman, Jeff Shi, told the official Wolves website when Silva first joined: "Fabio is a young player who shows not only incredible technical ability but also his game intelligence for a player of his age is top class."

Batsman says if India don’t give up wickets to the tactic, they can dominate

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-20202:06

‘Opening the innings isn’t new to me’ – Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill believes that India’s success in New Zealand will depend on how well they negotiate the short ball, especially considering it is the weapon of choice for one of their best bowlers – Neil Wagner.New Zealand endured a tough time on their tour of Australia late last year but Wagner emerged as one of the significant positives from the 3-0 thrashing. The short ball remained his ultimate weapon and it even accounted for Steven Smith four times. In the home Test series against England that preceded that tour, Wagner laboured on surfaces that had nothing to offer him, bowing long spells full of short balls to help New Zealand get back in the game.”I think their bowling attack has been taking a lot of wickets with the short ball, especially Wagner,” Gill said on the eve of the Indians’ practice match in Hamilton. “If you see the last series they played against Australia, when nothing was happening in the wicket, they were really relying on the short ball. I think as a team, as a batsman, if we could take that out of the picture and not give wickets to the short ball, it will be really helpful for us.”Gill warmed up with scores of 83, 204* and 136 with India A in New Zealand earlier this month, and from his recent experience, he picked out the one challenge that awaits batsmen in those conditions.Wagner dominated Smith and Warner in this series•ESPNcricinfo Ltd”I think the wickets here are really good to bat on, especially when we played the days game in Christchurch, the wickets were really good to bat on,” Gill said. “The only challenge that we were facing was the bounce. The bounce was really good and it was really consistent. Keeping the wind factor in mind, it was not that easy to consistently pull and hook the ball.”With those scores, Gill has made a strong case for selection as an opener with Mayank Agarwal in the Test series. It’s currently a toss-up between him and Prithvi Shaw, who has also had a recent run of good form.”Obviously, our [his and Shaw’s] careers started at the same time but there is no fight [for the spot] as such. Both of us have done well in our positions. It’s up to the team management, who they will play. Whoever gets the chance will try to make the most of the opportunity and not let it go waste.”It was in New Zealand last year that Gill made his India debut. As he gears up in hope to showcase his skills in whites for India, he also explained how fitness has been central to his development, especially while playing in the longer format.”I don’t know about control over the mind but if you are fitter, you are confident that I can play a longer innings, I won’t be that tired,” Gill said. “If I am playing in a test match, I can back myself to play 300 balls, 350 balls and after that, when you go out to field, I won’t be that tired. My legs won’t be that tired. Those are the challenges.”I think I have grown as a player, I have grown in confidence and in other aspects of my game. I think I have learnt a lot of things over the last few years. On my fitness, fielding, not just on my batting.”

Paris Saint-Germain's post-Kylian Mbappe era is gathering pace after the signing of Rennes star Desire Doue for a reported €50 million (£42.6m/$55m).

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Mbappe leaves PSG for Real MadridFrench side enter new eraComplete €50m Doue signingWHAT HAPPENED?

PSG have confirmed winger Doue has signed for the Ligue 1 giants on a five-year contract. After being linked with Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Manchester United, the French outfit have won the race to sign the 19-year-old.

AdvertisementTHE BIGGER PICTURE

PSG have entered a new era, without their talismanic, record-scorer Mbappe, who left for Real Madrid earlier this summer. Finding a way to replace his goals and still be a force in France and Europe is a big task. While it is not fair to put all of that pressure on Doue, he and the club will hope he can hit the ground running for them this season after his big-money signing.

Getty ImagesWHAT DESIRE DOUE SAID

He told the club's website: “I'm delighted to be joining Paris Saint-Germain. I'm really excited, and also happy and proud. It's a dream come true. I can't wait to discover the Parc des Princes in a PSG jersey and to play in front of these fans."

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WHAT NEXT?

Doue, who scored seven goals and bagged six assists in 57 appearances for Rennes in Ligue 1, helped France win a silver medal at the Olympics and after a break, he will link up with his new PSG team-mates in the coming weeks.

West Ham have set their sights on a Diego Simeone transfer target amid technical director Tim Steidten's search for a new forward.

West Ham's need for more goal threat as they make early summer plans

Regardless of whether manager David Moyes will still be at the London Stadium post-June 30, with his contract set to expire on that date as things stand, there is little arguing that the east Londoners could do with more goal threat in their squad.

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The Hammers arguably need a new front man.

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Michail Antonio (34) and Danny Ings (31) aren't getting any younger, and both have only scored a combined five Premier League goals this season.

Moyes' side are heavily reliant on star winger Jarrod Bowen for the majority of their goal threat, but as highlighted by the England international's recent injury, which caused him to miss their Europa League first-leg defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, they need other attacking outlets.

Jarrod Bowen

19

Mohammed Kudus

13

Tomas Soucek

9

Lucas Paqueta

8

James Ward-Prowse

6

West Ham failed to replace Gianluca Scamacca last summer, following the Italian's return to his homeland with Atalanta, and that is something which Steidten apparently intends to do when the window reopens.

Indeed, Brentford striker Ivan Toney is attracting interest from West Ham ahead of the summer, with his Bees deal expiring next year.

Toney will be a man in demand given his proven top-flight ability, having scored 20 league goals last season, so West Ham have alternatives to the former Peterborough United ace.

Steidten is thought to be keeping tabs on Toulouse's star Thijs Dallinga as another option from abroad, while it's also believed that they could add another threatening winger to their ranks to chip in going forward.

West Ham are casting their net far and wide in that regard, and South America could be a fruitful pool of talent for them.

West Ham set sights on Jhon Arias who's wanted by Simeone

This is where West Ham's interest in signing Fluminese forward Jhon Arias comes in.

The Colombia international, highlighted as "one of the players to watch" ahead of the summer's Copa America, is also a personal target of Atletico Madrid boss Simeone, according to journalist Christian Martin.

“[Atletico Madrid manager Diego] Simeone has him in the pipeline as an interested party. Jhon Arias could end up on Los Colchoneros’ team with a value between €15million and €17million," said Martin to Colombia's version of AS this week.

“West Ham, Burnley, Wolverhampton and Crystal Palace, would also be on the list of suitors.”

According to WhoScored, the 26-year-old is "very strong" at key passes in the final third and adept at both crossing and dribbling, which will come as enticing for supporters.

Big Picture

Are New Zealand the new South Africa? Luck has deserted them in close finishes and Super Overs and, much like big-ticket semi-finals for South Africa, such games are becoming a portent of national heartbreak for New Zealand. They have lost tie-breakers with alarming consistency: three across formats in the last seven months, and six out of seven overall.Although, as Kane Williamson admitted later, the match probably shouldn’t have gone into the Super Over at all.On the upside for New Zealand, they played their best game of the series, even outplayed India for most part. On the downside, they still lost. It goes to show the narrow margin for botch-ups in T20s compared to the longer formats. It also goes to show the gulf between the two sides.India always had the better hand, even if they didn’t always play their cards right in Hamilton. Eventually, their depth came to the fore as they broke out of jail not just once, but twice, through the efforts of Mohammed Shami and Rohit Sharma. With the series in the bag, experimentation is on the cards starting in Wellington. While India would want to give the likes of Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav some game time, they may equally want to rest someone like Shami who has by far bowled the most number of overs by an Indian quick since the start of the home season in 2019: 192.3 overs, followed by Umesh Yadav who is more than hundred overs behind.For New Zealand, barring the possibility of an odd change, the onus is likely to be on continuing the good work they put in in Hamilton, and trying to get across the line if they get close again.Virat Kohli is pumped after India forced the match to a Super Over•Getty Images

Form guide

New Zealand LLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
India WWWWW

In the spotlight

Mitchell Santner, who played a key role in New Zealand’s World Cup win over India last year, hasn’t had the best series with the ball so far. With just two wickets and an economy rate touching nine, he needs to step up. The one thing in his favour going into the fourth T20I in Wellington is his excellent record at the venue: nine wickets in five matches at an economy rate of under six. He will hope to feed off past success and rediscover his best with New Zealand’s bowling unit struggling to tie down the Indian batsmen.Jasprit Bumrah was miserly as ever•Getty Images

Only four times in 47 innings has Jasprit Bumrah been taken for more than 40 in a T20I, and Hamilton was one of those rare occasions. In addition to the 45 he conceded in four overs of the tied match, he also went for 17 in the Super Over. Most of these runs came from Kane Williamson’s bat, as he cracked the Bumrah code. How Bumrah responds in Wellington will make for compelling viewing, as this match-up gathers momentum ahead of the ODIs and Tests.

Team news

Virat Kohli has already indicated that India will be looking to change things up with the series decided in their favour. The possible changes could include Navdeep Sani coming in for Mohammed Shami and at least one of Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav replacing either Yuzvendra Chahal or Ravindra Jadeja. While there may not be too many changes on the batting front, there’s always a chance that India might tinker with the batting-order to give the likes of Manish Pandey a proper go.India: (probable) 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 KL Rahul (wk), 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Manish Pandey, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Ravindra Jadeja/Washington Sundar, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Yuzvendra Chahal/Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Shami/Navdeep Saini, 11 Jasprit BumrahFor New Zealand, the one possible change could be the inclusion of seam-bowling allrounder Daryl Mitchell. He could be a near like-for-like replacement for Colin de Grandhomme, who was only available for the first three matches, and had an ordinary series.New Zealand: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Colin Munro, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Daryl Mitchell 6 Tim Seifert (wk), 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Scott Kuggeleijn. 9 Tim Southee, 10 Ish Sodhi, 11 Hamish Bennett

Pitch and conditions

The team batting first has won four of the last five at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington. The average score of the team batting first in the last five matches is 178. Pacers have taken more wickets at the venue since January 2018 but spinners have been marginally more economical.A typically blustery but clear day is in the offing, although that’s usually more of a factor at the open Basin Reserve.

Stats and trivia

• Rohit Sharma has played in 99 T20I innings in 107 matches. Only Shoaib Malik, with 105, has played more T20I innings.
• New Zealand have won their last six T20Is at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington, a run dating back to 2014
• New Zealand’s eight wins at this venue is their most at any ground in the world

The MLS club have added the former Dortmund attacking midfielder on a free transfer.

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• Reus left Dortmund as a free agent in June.
• Signed two-and-a-half year deal with MLS side.
• A boost for the Western Conference leaders.

• (C)Getty Images
  

  WHAT HAPPENED?

  After months of speculation, Reus has made his long-awaited MLS move official, penning a contract with Western Conference leaders LA Galaxy, the club announced on Thursday. The Galaxy acquired Reus' discovery rights from Charlotte FC in exchange for $400,000 in General Allocation Money – split between 2024 and 2025. His contract will last until the end of the 2026 season, at which point Reus will be 37.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  In Reus, the Galaxy are getting one of the most effective players in recent Bundesliga memory. The attacking midfielder totaled 301 goal contributions in 12 seasons for Dortmund – and won Bundesliga Player of the Year three times. He helped Dortmund win the German Cup twice, and appeared in two Champions League finals.

• WHAT GREG VANNEY SAID

  LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney hailed Reus' quality in a statement: "We are excited to welcome Marco to the team. He is a proven winner and leader whose talent and vision for the game will integrate seamlessly into the group as we prepare for the restart of the league and the run into the playoffs.”

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• USA Today Images
  

  WHAT'S NEXT FOR REUS?

  The German will join up with the Galaxy when MLS reopens play on Aug. 24. Vanney's side currently sit two points clear atop the Western Conference.

It was an odd day for Arsenal on Sunday. While they dropped two points away from home and surrendered top spot to Liverpool, there is a renewed sense of belief in the club's Premier League title credentials.

Mikel Arteta's men finally ended their dreadful run of results at the Etihad, took a point back to north London and stopped Manchester City from scoring at home for the first time since October 2021.

It wasn't an entertaining game, not by any stretch, but it was a defensive masterclass from the Gunners, and one of the shining lights, as he so often has been this season, was Declan Rice.

Declan Rice's game in numbers

While the game produced very little attacking football to excite fans – just three shots on target proves as much – it did provide plenty of brilliant defensive performances to analyse, with Rice's efforts just in front of his back four worthy of notable praise.

This is an opinion shared by the Standard's Simon Collings', who awarded the Englishman an 8/10 on the night, writing that he 'put in a big shift' when out of possession and that he 'broke up play so well' despite having to play 'deeper than he has recently.'

The Englishman's numbers from the match, while not spectacular at first glance, help to reveal how vital his role in the team was. In his 95 minutes of action, the £105m man played one key pass, maintained a passing accuracy of 86%, succeeded in his one dribble, won four of eight ground duels, made three tackles, and took 45 touches – the third most in the team.

Declan Rice's game vs City in numbers
Minutes	95'
Key Passes	1
Passing Accuracy	25/29 (86%)
Dribbles (Successful)	1 (1)
Ground Duels (Won)	8 (4)
Tackles	3
Touches	45
All Stats via Sofascore

It wasn't a vintage performance that'll be clipped up for fans to watch in ten years, but the 25-year-old titan was everywhere for the Gunners, led from the front and played an essential role in Arteta's plan to stifle the treble winners, which is precisely what he did.

That said, there was another starter who was just as, if not more important for the visitors, a player who has a genuine case for being the most important player in the team this year.

Gabriel Magalhães' importance to Arsenal

The player in question is Brazilian centre-back Gabriel Magalhães, who has been quietly putting in brilliant performances all year for the north Londoners, while the attention has been on his teammates like William Saliba and Rice.

Yesterday was no different. While the Gunners' defensive unit was seriously impressive overall, he stood out and made arguably the best striker in the world – Erling Haaland – look distinctly average.

After the game, Collings awarded the 26-year-old an 8/10, rightfully named him his 'star player', claimed he 'made countless blocks and tackles' and described him as a 'warrior at the back.'

However, it wasn't just yesterday that the former LOSC Lille ace was a titan at the back for Arteta; he's been one all year.

The club have conceded just 23 goals in the 37 games the São Paulo-born ace has started, which works out to be around 0.62 goals per game.

In contrast, in the four games the "unstoppable" star, as talent scout Jacek Kulig described him, wasn't on the pitch, the club conceded three goals, which works out to around 0.75 goals per game.

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By
Jack Salveson Holmes

Mar 27, 2024

Ultimately, it can be quite tricky to summarise a defender's importance to a team through statistics, but Gabriel's importance to Arteta's title-challenging Arsenal side cannot be ignored, and if they can get over the line in May, it'll have a lot to do with him.

Everton secured their place in the Premier League for another season with a 1-0 win, thanks to a goal from Idrissa Gueye, over Brentford at Goodison Park last Saturday.

The Toffees can now look ahead to the summer transfer window and plot how they could improve the squad by dipping into the market to add to the group.

Sean Dyche and his team will be hoping to avoid costly mistakes throughout the window, as the Blues have been burned many times in the past by spending poorly.

The signing of Fabian Delph from Manchester City in the summer of 2019 turned out to be a dreadful piece of business by the club, as they were rinsed by the central midfielder during his time on Merseyside.

How much Everton paid for Fabian Delph

According to Sky Sports, the Toffees splashed out a fee of £9m to secure the England international from the reigning Premier League champions.

Marco Silva, who was the Everton manager at the time, described him as a "high quality" player who would offer the team quality on the pitch and in the dressing room.

Fabian Delph's Man City injury history

Season

Injuries

Days missed

Games missed

2015/16

4

126

30

2016/17

1

126

31

2017/18

3

61

13

2018/19

3

75

17

Stats via Transfermarkt

As you can see in the table above, Delph missed a staggering 91 games for club and country during his time with the Cityzens, and only made 89 competitive appearances for them.

This shows that the Toffees were bringing in a player with a track record of injury problems, which meant that he arrived at Goodison Park with the potential to be a liability from an availability perspective.

How much Fabian Delph cost Everton

Those injury issues did turn out to be a problem for him at Everton as he went on to miss a whopping 63 games for club and country in three seasons on Merseyside.

The experienced flop made just 41 appearances in three seasons with the Blues, 36 of those coming in the Premier League, before being released on a free transfer in the summer of 2022.

Delph, who was described as a "complete disaster" by journalist Paul Brown, had to be spoken to by manager Carlo Ancelotti after Instagram messages had been leaked – showing him arguing with multiple frustrated supporters who had messaged him.

He replied to one fan, who had claimed they would have done better on the pitch for the wages the Englishman was being paid, calling them 'delusional'.

Per Salary Sport, the former Aston Villa star earned £5.2m on £100k-per-week during his first season with the club, in which time he made 13 league starts.

The English dud then raked in £4.7m-per-season, on £92k-per-week, over the next two years at Goodison Park during the 2020/21 and 2021/22 campaigns, in which time he started ten top-flight games combined.

This means that Delph earned a whopping £14.6m in wages over his three seasons with Everton, despite only making 23 Premier League starts during that period, on top of the £9m fee they paid Manchester City to sign him.

Overall, the Toffees were rinsed of £23.6m by the former England international, who was injured for more matches than he played for the club before leaving on a free transfer.

Related Everton could hit jackpot by selling "complete" star for 6,900% profit

The Toffees titan has been linked with a move away from Goodison this summer.

Posts ByDan Emery Apr 30, 2024

Tom Brady claimed he will take Lionel Messi to Birmingham City after the NFL legend was present at Inter Miami's 2-0 win over FC Cincinnati.

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• Brady watches Inter Miami win 2-0
• Meets Messi and Miami owner Beckham
• Jokes he will take Messi to Birmingham

• Getty
  

  WHAT HAPPENED?

  Brady became a minority shareholder at Birmingham City last year and has been actively involved in the footballing circuit. The NFL legend is now retired and made his way to Inter Miami's DRV PNK Stadium ahead of their Major League Soccer clash against Cincinnati.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Brady met up with Messi and Inter Miami owner David Beckham and the trio watched from the stands as Luis Suarez scored a first-half brace to secure the Herons' spot in MLS Playoffs. The three also posed for a photo together as Beckham labelled the two superstars as 'The greatest'.

• WHAT BRADY SAID

  Under Beckham's post, Brady commented that he plans to take Messi back with him to Birmingham City. He said: "I'm bringing Lionel Messi back to Birmingham with me. Sorry, David Beckham."

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• Getty
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR MESSI?

  The eight-time Ballon d'Or is currently out injured and is not expected to return for some more time. However, Beckham and Inter Miami boss Tata Martino will hope that Messi will be able to return in time for the start of the playoffs in October.

Manchester City have confirmed the signing of Ilkay Gundogan on a free transfer, bringing him back from Barcelona just a year after he left.

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Gundogan makes Man City return on a free transferReunites with English side a year after Barca moveWas not considered part of Hansi Flick's plansWHAT HAPPENED?

The Germany international left City at the end of the 2022-23 season, opting to join Barcelona instead of extending his stay with the Premier League champions. However, Pep Guardiola's team have snapped him up again on a free transfer, committing him to a one-year contract.

AdvertisementManchester CityTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Despite playing an important role for the Catalan club last season, Gundogan was told he was not guaranteed a regular starting spot under new coach Hansi Flick and was made available for a transfer. There were reports of interest from Saudi Arabia, but he opted to rejoin his former team-mates in England.

WHAT GUNDOGAN SAID

"I’m incredibly happy, happy to see my teammates, the staff, people that I had seven years with and an amazing time with," Gundogan said as his return to City was announced. "Many ups and a few downs but an incredible experience. When you leave this place, you spend a year away and you then start to appreciate the place even more. You realise what you had, how amazing the time was and how big the Club is. The best Club in the world and I think in terms of football – getting back onto that level and coming back a year later is an incredible feeling. I am very pleased, very happy and I feel privileged to share the dressing room again with these amazing players."

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DID YOU KNOW?

Gundogan spent seven years with City after joining from Borussia Dortmund and went on to make over 300 appearances. He won five Premier League titles, four League Cups, two FA Cup crowns and the Champions League before he left for Barcelona.