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Keith Downie has now dropped some exciting Newcastle United transfer news involving Darwin Nunez.

The Lowdown: Offer reports

The St. James’ Park faithful have reportedly already made an offer for Nunez, as they look to chase a marquee signing in the summer window.

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He is one of the most sought-after players in European football at the moment after scoring 33 goals in just 38 matches in total over all competitions so far this season (Transfermarkt).

The Latest: Nunez watched

Speaking to GiveMeSport, Sky Sports journalist and North East reporter Downie has now shared that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) have indeed ‘watched’ Nunez ahead of a potential move in the summer, although he did not confirm if an offer has been made:

“Nunez is someone they’ve looked at, they’ve watched. I think a proven goalscorer on the European stage will be one of the main priorities, if not the priority in the summer.”

The Verdict: Exciting

It is certainly exciting for the Toon Army to be linked with a player like Nunez going into the summer, even if Downie believes they are just at the scouting stage right now.

After their 1-0 win at home to Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Wednesday night, they are almost certainly safe now on 40 points, and so can start planning ahead in the long-term project.

They will struggle to attract Nunez ahead of other teams with no European football to offer, but at 22 years of age, you would think that there could be another opportunity to sign him down the line, once the Tyneside outfit really start to make a name for themselves on the world stage.

In other news, find out what big NUFC update this transfer insider has now revealed here!

Brian Lara might not have played active cricket for four years but he is one of the 21 names to attract the highest reserve price of $400,000 ahead of the IPL players’ auction, to be held in Bangalore on January 8 and 9

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Dec-2010Brian Lara might not have played active cricket for four years but he is one of the 21 names to attract the highest reserve price of $400,000 ahead of the IPL players’ auction, to be held in Bangalore on January 8 and 9. Alongside Lara, in the same bracket, are the former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, the Indian trio of Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and IPL first-timers Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Graeme Swann, Michael Yardy and Luke Wright, all part of England’s 2010 World Twenty20 winning side.Brett Lee, Shaun Marsh and Mahela Jayawardene, who all played for Kings XI Punjab, will also enter the auction at the highest base price. They will be joined by other prominent IPL names such as Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chris Gayle.Players valued at a reserve price of $400,000

Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee, Shaun Marsh, James Anderson, Kevin Pietersen, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Yuvraj Singh, Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Brian Lara, Chris Gayle

Almost as interesting as the names who have made it to the auction list of 416, are the players who haven’t. The most notable absentees – in addition to Pakistan’s cricketers, who continue to get the IPL cold shoulder – are some of Australia’s biggest current players: Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson. Andrew Flintoff, who became the most expensive buy in the IPL when Chennai Super Kings signed him for $1.55 million ahead of the second season, has been left out too. Flintoff had retired from professional cricket last September. Also missing from the 2011 pool is the retired Australian pair of Matthew Hayden and Glenn McGrath, who played in the previous editions of the IPL after ending their careers.Jacques Kallis and Muttiah Muralitharan, who featured significantly for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai in the first three seasons, find themselves in the $300,000 bracket. Zaheer Khan and Yusuf Pathan are the big Indian names in that list, which also includes Andrew Symonds, Shaun Tait, Kumar Sangakkara, and Angelo Mathews.Sourav Ganguly, who was Kolkata Knight Riders’ ‘icon’ in the first three seasons, has been relegated to the third band of players whose base price is $200,000. Gautam Gambhir, who led Delhi in 2010, and the Australian pair of Michael Hussey and Doug Bollinger, who played crucial roles in Chennai’s victorious IPL and Champions League campaigns in 2010, are also in that bracket, along with Dirk Nannes, Eoin Morgan, Robin Uthappa and Sanath Jayasuriya. Eighty-seven players are at the next level – a base price of $100,000 – the biggest names being Tamim Iqbal, R Ashwin, Morne Morkel and Ben Hilfenhaus.Previous IPL auctions have shown that base prices are not indicative of the final amount for which the franchise will buy the player. For example, at the first auction in 2008, Ishant Sharma was listed at $150,000 but was bought by Kolkata at $950,000, while Hayden was listed at $250,000 and was bought by Chennai at $375,000. “With the requirement of each franchise minimal, virtually more than half of these players in the auction list will not attract any attention,” an IPL official said.Only 12 players were retained by their teams ahead of the auction, with three of the eight existing franchises – Punjab, Deccan Chargers and Kolkata – choosing to release all their players into the auction pool. As a result, those three franchises will have the entire complement of $9 million at their disposal for the auction, while the other teams will begin the auctions with purses reduced in accordance to the number of players they retained. Chennai and Mumbai, who retained the maximum allowed four players each, will go into the auction with only $4.5 million to spend.The season is set to go ahead with 10 teams and 74 matches as originally planned, since the BCCI is not likely to move the Supreme Court after it lost High Court appeals against the stay orders granted to the termination of Punjab and Rajasthan. The auction plan sets at rest speculation that the auction would be delayed by the various court cases the IPL is currently fighting.

Celtic defender Boli Bolingoli looks set to leave Parkhead in the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by The Scottish Sun, who claim that, with Ange Postecoglou targeting the signing of a new left-back ahead of Celtic’s 2022/23 campaign, the 26-year-old is set to be jettisoned by the Greek-Australian coach come the end of the season.

A report by the same publication earlier this month revealed that, following the termination of his loan deal with Russian side FC Ufa, the former Belgium youth international had not rejoined the 56-year-old’s first-team squad at Lennoxtown, and was instead training by himself in his native country.

Bolingoli must go

Considering the complete disaster Bolingoli’s £3m signing has proven to be for Celtic, it would appear an extremely wise move for Postecoglou to do everything in his power to move the left-back on this summer – even if it means paying the defender off for the remainder of his current contract at Parkhead, which is set to expire in May of 2023.

Indeed, despite having spent the best part of three years as a Celtic player, the £1.35m-rated Belgian has featured in a total of just 31 fixtures for the Hoops, having only made two appearances following the arrival of the Bhoys’ current manager.

And, when taking into account the fact that the former Rapid Vienna full-back is reported to be earning a substantial £15.5k-per-week at Celtic Park – more than the likes of Reo Hatate, Liel Abada and Tom Rogic – it is clear for all to see that the annual £750k salary of the player who Michael Stewart dubbed “disgraceful” could be put to much better use by Postecoglou in the upcoming transfer market.

As such, it would indeed appear as if the club must do everything they possibly can to rid themselves of Bolingoli this summer, something which, following the latest reports, it appears as if the 56-year-old Bhoys boss is preparing to do – something that will undoubtedly come as music to the ears of the Parkhead faithful.

AND in other news: Celtic now plotting 7-figure bid for 14 G/A sensation, he’s perfect for Angeball

Kenya’s World Cup preparations got off to a losing start as they went down to a Gujarat side in Ahmadabad by 38 runs

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jan-2011Gujarat 264 for 6 (Juneja 117) beat Kenyan XI 226 for 9 by 38 runsKenya’s World Cup preparations got off to a losing start as they went down to a Gujarat side in Ahmadabad by 38 runs.Kenya won the toss and put the hosts in, a decision which looked to have paid off as Gujarat slid to 21 for 3. But Manprit Juneja (117) and Chirag Gandhi (64) posted 137 for the fifth wicket to help their side to 264 for 6 off 50 overs.”When I went to the crease, the ball was moving around and we had lost a couple of wickets,” Juneja said. “So I tried to occupy the crease and played the shots only after I got settled in. The move paid off today.”Kenya’s response was laboured, and only a fourth-wicket stand of 78 between top scorer Tanmay Mishra (46) and veteran Steve Tikolo (42) offered them hope, but Mishra was run out after which the middle and lower orders were unable to up the pace and they finished on 226 for 9.

Sunderland have the chance to finally make their way into the Championship and out of League One as the play-offs are set to begin in the coming days.

Having played 46 games in the league so far this season, the Black Cats have won 24, drawn 12 and lost ten, scoring 79 goals and conceding 53 in the process.

One player that has been a particularly prominent figure for the Wearside club this season is defender Callum Doyle.

Since arriving at the Stadium of Light back in the previous summer transfer window on loan from Manchester City’s U23 side, the centre-back has made 41 appearances across all competitions.

After only missing two league games between the start of the season and March, the 18-year-old has only made three appearances since then.

Despite this lack of regular action in recent weeks, the teenager has still shown what a capable player he is at such a young age and why the club should try and sign him on a permanent deal in the summer.

With the highest number of interceptions (48) to his name in the squad, Doyle also has the second-highest number of tackles (40) under his belt behind Carl Winchester (63).

This shows just how much of a talented defender the £3.4k-per-week gem is off the ball.

In terms of his work on the ball, the youngster has also shown his effectiveness on the pitch by racking up a higher average of passes per game (47.1) than any other Sunderland player to start more than eight league games.

Back in August, the Englishman was on the end of some high praise from journalist James Copley who said that “if you could build the perfect centre-back in a laboratory, the end result would look a lot like Callum Doyle.”

Taking all of this into account, it’s safe to say that bringing the City youth prospect has been a solid move from the Black Cats.

Moving forward, with the summer transfer window on the horizon, whether the club end up moving into the Championship or staying in League One, they should definitely make an approach to the Premier League club to try and see if they would be willing to allow Doyle to leave on a permanent basis and continue his journey with the Black Cats.

Should the Wearside club secure his signature on a permanent deal in the summer, it would surely blow fans at the Stadium of Light away when you consider his performances and enormous potential in the game.

In other news: Neil must finally unleash SAFC’s rarely seen 19y/o prodigy who’s got a “bright future”

Charlie Eccleshare has dropped an update on the future of Tottenham Hotspur winger Steven Bergwijn.

What’s the talk?

In a recent post on Twitter, The Athletic journalist revealed that the 24-year-old forward is now expected to leave Spurs this summer, with Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici happy to sanction the sale of the Netherlands international at the end of the current campaign – with Ajax believed to be among the interested clubs.

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In his tweet, Eccleshare said: “Steven Bergwijn expected to leave this summer, with THFC not standing in way as he seeks regular football. Ajax among interested clubs.”

Supporters will be gutted

While it is true that, following his £27m move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium back in January of 2020, Bergwijn has somewhat struggled to hold down a place in the Spurs team, the news that the club are already willing to cash in on the winger this summer is nevertheless sure to have left many supporters gutted.

Indeed, in a recent poll ran on Football FanCast, the majority of the Tottenham faithful revealed that they do believe the £73k-per-week forward is good enough to play for Spurs, while, in a further poll, supporters also made it clear that they would like Conte to give the Dutchman a chance in his starting XI.

And, while, on the face of it, Bergwijn’s returns this season are not overly impressive, having scored three goals and registered one assist over his 22 Premier League appearances, when factoring in the winger has directly contributed to a goal every 128 minutes of league football played – a much better record than Lucas Moura’s record of one goal contribution every 236 minutes – it is clear to see that the 24-year-old can impress when given the opportunity to do so.

However, with it now looking as if the £16.2m-rated attacker will be moving onto pastures new this summer, it appears as if Bergwijn will not go on to fulfil his undoubted potential at Spurs – something that will certainly be an extremely disappointing outcome for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium faithful.

AND in other news: Antonio Conte could land the next Dembele as Spurs plot bid for “unreal” £68m signing

An allround performance from James Hopes led Queensland to a comfortable six-wicket victory against New South Wales, who never recovered from a top-order collapse to be shot out for 125

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-2011
ScorecardAn allround performance from James Hopes led Queensland to a comfortable six-wicket victory against New South Wales, who never recovered from a top-order collapse to be shot out for 125.Luke Feldman bowled David Warner with his first delivery, and in his third over, had Phil Hughes caught by Andrew Robinson as NSW slipped to 11 for 2. Alister McDermott kept up the pressure and dismissed Phil Jaques and Moises Henriques in successive overs to worsen NSW’s woes at 33 for 4.Hopes stepped up to claim four of the remaining six wickets as NSW crumbled to 125 in the 35th over. Peter Forrest resisted with a patient 34, but his run-out was the last thing NSW needed. After rain intervened, the match was shortened to 38 overs, but Queensland needed only 31 to knock off the revised target of 117. Hopes provided a solid start with 41 off 56 deliveries, and Nathan Reardon and Joe Burns finished the job.Queensland go joint-fourth, level on points with Western Australia, but they have played one more game. NSW remain in third position.

The Ireland story: they held kept their grip on the game both while fielding to begin with and later while chasing the target, before control slipped away at the most crucial moments

Nagraj Gollapudi in Mohali11-Mar-2011The Ireland story: they held kept their grip on the game both while fielding to begin with and later while chasing the target, before control slipped away at the most crucial moments. In the morning, for 35 overs, Ireland had put West Indies under house arrest till the pirate from Trinidad – Kieron Pollard – walked in, imposed himself and forced a jailbreak.Then, even with half their batsmen back in the dressing room with nine overs and 79 runs to go and a batting Powerplay in hand, Gary Wilson raised hopes of a victory having compiled an impressive fifty. Suddenly, he was ruled out in dubious fashion. Ireland got distracted and the Shamrock was crushed.It was a case of so near yet so far. Even the absence of Trent Johnson, who failed to recover from a knee injury, had not deterred the Irish. Boyd Rankin had a new companion with which to share the new ball in Alex Cusack. With an agile field providing ample support both men bowled a tight line and a perfect length.Surprisingly the West Indies opening pair of Devon Smith and Shivnaraine Chanderpaul seemed like they were carrying putters instead of bats in hand as they carefully avoided playing any big strokes. Their circumspection only helped Ireland who cashed in. After 15 overs West Indies had not lost a wicket but a score of just 50 seemed a tad too slow.Surprisingly the greenish tinge on the pitch had predicted a lot of seam movement and some early wickets for the fast bowlers. The perceived dawn raid by the fast men never came. Far from being dejected, the Ireland bowlers kept on leveraging the advantage. After 24 overs West Indies were on a far from promising 89. Next over Kevin O’Brien picked up two wickets. By the time the ball was replaced Ireland seemed in a dominant position at 138 for 3.To get out of the hole they had dug themselves in, the pair of Smith and Kieron Pollard opted for the batting Powerplay immediately. And that is where Ireland faltered for the first time. George Dockrell, the left-arm spinner, had been introduced past the 30-over mark, but he had already stamped his authority by dismissing Ramnaresh Sarwan in his second over. In the following over he kept Pollard under check, giving only five runs.Gary Wilson kept Ireland afloat but departed at a crucial time•Getty ImagesBut for some unknown and unexplained reason he was removed. Thereafter Pollard established himself and snatched the game away from Ireland – 57 runs came in those five overs when the field was in. West Indies smacked 133 runs off the final 15 overs. Dockrell remained busy on the ropes, fetching the ball instead of delivering it.”I have no complaints for the boys. They bowled pretty well. Coming out in the first 15 overs I know we did not pick up any wickets but they were going at less than three [an over]. That was a great effort. We picked up momentum there. We picked wickets at crucial times. But Kieron Pollard came in and played a great knock and it is hard to defend when he plays like that. We knew what power they had in the middle order and just had to try and contain them. You also have to give credit to Devon Smith the way he played. He did not find it easy to start with but he caught up coming forward in the middle overs,” William Porterfield, the Ireland captain said.He reckoned Ireland were still in the contest while they discussed the gameplan for the chase. “When we came out at half-time we it was a par score and very, very chaseable,” he said. At the halfway stage Ed Joyce and Wilson had just started their union. Joyce, who had a sum of 52 runs in the previous three matches, had got off to the most fluent starts with two graceful cover drives as soon as he walked in. He continued to regale the senses with his wristy drives. Wilson was an able partner and both men steadily built a platform. Their settled minds caused distress for Darren Sammy, who was busy changing fields and swapping bowlers.Even when Joyce left, bowled round the legs by Andre Russell, Wilson had immediately moved into a commanding position to take control. But just like he had taken the pressure off Joyce, he needed a man to stand by him. Kevin O’Brien disappointed and went for the big shots straightway and vanished quickly. Ireland could not bring the spirit of their Bangalore evenings to Mohali. Luck deserted the Irish today as Wilson perished to a questionable umpiring decision.”We got ourselves into a pretty good position going into the last ten overs. The wicket changed a lot more than we maybe expected. It kept low and got slightly harder. We lost a few wickets at pretty crucial times. Niall and Ed partnership started the rebuilding and then Gary came and along with Ed they were going going pretty strongly till we lost a couple of wickets in the 40th over which delayed the batting Powerplay slightly which kind of set us back,” was Porterfield’s analysis.

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Antonio Conte is ‘seemingly not happy’ after what the club have officially ‘accepted’, as shared by Alasdair Gold.

The Lowdown: Huge two games ahead…

The Premier League top-four chasers now face a huge few days as two crucial top flight games await in the race for a coveted Champions League place next season.

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Qualifying for Europe’s most prestigious competition or not will cause a major ripple effect over the summer for Spurs.

Finishing above north London rivals Arsenal and beating them to the punch could gift sporting director Fabio Paratici and chairman Daniel Levy a significant financial windfall for the summer transfer market, potentially appeasing Conte and his chances to remain in London.

Missing out may well have the opposite effect with a lot riding on Thursday’s blockbuster derby clash against the Gunners at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Burnley then follow Arsenal very soon afterwards in the Sunday lunchtime kick off this weekend, a fact Conte really is not pleased with.

The Latest: Gold shares Conte feeling…

As shared by Gold, the Italian is ‘not happy’ that Spurs have ‘accepted’ to face Michael Jackson’s side at that time and day so soon after their huge bitter rival clash.

Relaying quotes from Conte’s pre-match Arsenal press conference in a football.london piece, the reporter also said on Twitter:

“Plenty from Conte on the quick turnaround for Spurs between the Arsenal and the Burnley matches. He’s seemingly not happy that the club accepted the Sunday lunchtime kick-off and seems to suggest that it’s not what big clubs do.”

The Verdict: Right verdict?

The former Chelsea boss will need every bit of assistance possible to make Spurs’ previously unattainable Champions League dream, and depending on the result tomorrow, Conte’s side may well have been boosted by further rest.

Alas, with the fixture set in stone, Tottenham will have to navigate the demanding end-of-season schedule as they look to bring European football back to N17, with supporters surely hopeful Conte’s frustration transforms into well-placed aggression on the pitch.

In other news: Fabrizio Romano: Conte could now lose ‘monster’ Spurs player who’s ‘expected to leave’! Find out more here.

Mumbai Indians have not broken the bank of new purchases, and will rely on their four retained players to be leaders in their respective departments

Dustin Silgardo09-Apr-2011The Big PictureWhen the Ambani group bought the Mumbai franchise for $111.9m, they would have been pleased with the investment, given the sheer size of Mumbai’s cricket-following masses, and the larger-than-life status of their “icon” player Sachin Tendulkar. However, over a period of time, a team’s success must start to match its popularity in order to maintain the fans’ support.After a poor first two seasons, Mumbai reached the finals of IPL 3, and have maintained the core of the squad who got them there. They retained four players – the maximum allowed – and all four are leaders in their respective departments: Tendulkar’s responsibility is to give the team a solid start, Kieron Pollard is in charge of accelerating in the middle and end overs, Lasith Malinga is the pace spearhead, while Harbhajan Singh leads the spinners.Those four will be key, and Mumbai have added to their list of matchwinners: new signings Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharma are destructive in the Twenty20 format, as is the lesser known Davy Jacobs. With those three joining Tendulkar, Pollard and Ambati Rayudu, the batting line-up looks formidable, and with the presence of several allrounders adding bowling options, Mumbai look like one of the most well-balanced teams in the tournament.The stage could not have been better set for a Mumbai victory. India’s World Cup win has had a particularly galvanising effect on the city which staged the final, and with Tendulkar owning most of the prestigious individual batting records in the game, all that’s left in the nature of sentimental firsts, would be for him to succeed as a captain.Key PlayersFew bowlers have the ability to stop the flow of runs and make key strikes in the late overs that Lasith Malinga has. His mix of yorkers and slower balls has fetched him 33 wickets in two seasons with Mumbai, and with Clint McKay missing the season with an injury, he will have to shoulder the responsibility of carrying an attack that looks short of death bowlers.Kieron Pollard was given a lot of the credit for taking the team to the finals in the last tournament, but it was Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu who were the second and third highest scorers for Mumbai respectively. With Tiwary gone, Rayudu will need to be prolific in the middle order. He racked up the runs for Baroda in the Ranji season, and his conventional style of batting will add some solidity to a batting line-up that features the violent Pollard and Symonds.Rohit Sharma will be expected to cover for the loss of Tiwary, if not produce more than he did. The $2mn price tag will be a lot to live up to, but Rohit has the added incentive of trying to get back into the Indian squad, after he was left out of the World Cup XV. He has been impressive in past editions, scoring runs at a quick pace and chipping in with wickets too.Big name inAndrew Symonds’ inclusion in the Mumbai squad has caused as much of a stir because of his dynamism as a cricketer, as for the prospect of him playing alongside Harbhajan Singh, the man he accused of racially abusing him during India’s tour of Australia in 2008-09. Symonds can be as destructive as Pollard, but there is no way of ascertaining what sort of form he will enter the IPL in, since he has not played professional cricket in nine months.Big name outZaheer Khan was picked up by Bangalore in the auction, which means Mumbai will have to hope Munaf Patel’s cutters and Dilhara Fernando’s split-finger slower ball will be enough to support Malinga in the fast-bowling department. Dhawal Kulkarni has not quite kicked on from making the Indian Test squad for the tour of New Zealand back in 2009, while Abu Nechim is a fairly unknown quantity.Below the radarAt $190,000, South African wicketkeeper-batsman Davy Jacobs was a bargain for Mumbai. He brought himself to the notice of IPL franchises with his performance for Warriors in the Champions League T20 in 2010, during which he top scored in his franchise’s run to the final with 286 runs in six matches. With Sanath Jayasuriya and Shikhar Dhawan no longer a part of Mumbai Indians, Jacobs could find himself opening the batting with Tendulkar.Last three seasonsTendulkar missed half the first season with an injury; Harbhajan Singh led the team, until he was banned for an infamous altercation with Sreesanth, at which point Shaun Pollock took over. The distractions didn’t help Mumbai, but it was their lack of quality foreign players that saw them miss out on the knockout stages. Jayasuriya scored 514 runs in 14 matches, but the sight of Luke Ronchi and Dominic Thornely filling up the overseas players’ slots never inspired confidence.In the second season, the opening pair of Jayasuriya and Tendulkar amassed plenty of runs between them, but the bowling, apart from Malinga, struggled. Zaheer Khan was only fit for six games, Mumbai were weak in terms of domestic players, and ended up finishing second-last in the table.Last year’s run to the finals was built on Tendulkar giving the team starts on a regular basis, and Rayudu, Tiwary and Pollard capitalising on them. Mumbai topped the league, hammered Royal Challengers Bangalore in the semi-finals, but then succumbed to nerves and some odd decision-making in the finals against Chennai Super Kings.