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Les Reed has warned Premier League clubs like former side Southampton that they should not expect instant success when spending up to £10million on their transfer targets ahead of the new season.

The former Southampton executive vice-chairman joined non-league Wrexham, where he is working with big-name co-owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, as an advisor last month.

During his time with Saints, Reed played a key role in getting a number of high-profile deals over the line during transfer windows, but current manager Ralph Hasenhuttl admitted back in April that the south coast outfit are shopping for players that will cost around £10m maximum.

The 68-year-old, who also enjoyed a spell as the Premier League club’s vice-chairman, was integral as Sadio Mane joined from Austrian outfit Red Bull Salzburg in 2014 for £10million.

Premier League bosses are currently scouring the transfer market as they look to improve their squads ahead of another energy-sapping campaign which is due to kick-off next month, with Southampton already adding Romain Perraud to their squad for around €12m (£10.3m).

Reed, formerly an FA technical director, feels clubs like Southampton looking to give up-and-coming talent an opportunity in the top flight must be patient.

Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, he said: “You can buy players for £10million or less, but they will be younger and less experienced and you have got to take a long-term view on them actually developing with you.

“The overnight successes, like Sadio Mane, are probably out of that league now in terms of cost.

“Agents have wised up in terms of the kind of salaries you are able to negotiate when you pluck someone relatively unknown.

“There is greater competition now as well. You can buy players for £10million and if your scouting, recruitment and analysis of those players is really top drawer and you can analyse the potential and have a good development culture, you can bring them through. But it’s a longer-term process rather than having them in the Premier League for one year and then selling them on for triple or quadruple what you bought them for.”

According to Le10 Sport, Tottenham are interested in signing Lille’s Renato Sanches this summer.

The Lowdown: Spurs preparing for new season

Spurs have finally secured a new manager in Nuno Espirito Santo (BBC), which means they can now properly prepare for the 2021/22 campaign.

They are yet to make any signings this summer, but they do appear to have a number of targets, one of which is Portugal winger Sanches.

The Latest: Spurs eye Sanches

Le10 Sport reported that Spurs are interested in the forward, who impressed in flashes for Portugal at Euro 2020.

They are said to have “strong feelings” for the 23-year-old, with Arsenal and Barcelona also interested in the former Bayern Munich man.

The Verdict: Resurrection

Sancho originally burst on to the scene at Benfica and then at Euro 2016, and Bayern signed him off the back of those displays. He was even compared to German World Cup winner Lothar Matthaus by Niko Kovac, while Pep Guardiola said he has “abundant quality”.

However, he struggled to live up to the hype at the Allianz Arena, and after a failed loan spell at Swansea City, he was duly sold to Lille. He has slowly but surely repaired his reputation in Ligue 1, making 29 appearances in all competitions last season as Lille won the league title (Transfermarkt).

Valued at £27m by Transfermarkt, it is not clear how much Les Dogues would demand for Sanches, but he could be an accessible target. Nuno could make a real statement of intent with this potential signing.

In other news, Tottenham are also eyeing a swoop for this Serie A midfielder.

Durham scraped home by six runs against Lancashire in an exciting match in the FP Trophy at the Riverside Ground

John Ward at Chester-le-Street18-May-2008
ScorecardDurham scraped home by six runs against Lancashire in an exciting match in the FP Trophy at the Riverside Ground. With the balance swinging first one way and then the other, the result was in doubt until the end, and it was the home crowd who went home celebrating.Despite a reasonably sunny morning after days of cloud at Chester-le-Street, Lancashire put Durham in bat, presumably because of a lot of moisture in the pitch. Quick scoring was difficult for everybody.Not that this appeared to be the case when Sajid Mahmood bowled a short, widefirst ball of the match to Michael Di Venuto, who slashed it through the coversfor four. Di Venuto was not permitted to continue the good form he showed againstYorkshire, however, as with just 9 to his credit, his partner Phil Mustard soldhim a dummy by calling for a single straight to square leg. He was run out forthe third time in four dismissals, and the fourth time this season.After 15 overs, Durham had struggled to 35 for 3, the bowler mainly responsiblebeing the impressive Kyle Hogg, who bowled his ten overs off the reel for 19runs, collecting the wickets of Mustard and Kyle Coetzer. Recovery came through thetwo South Africans, who added 101 together. Neil McKenzie fought his way tosome sort of form with 32, while Dale Benkenstein was more fluent with 64 off108 balls. He eventually skied a pull off Lancashire’s debutant StephenCheetham, whom he had earlier pulled for six. Cheetham took two wickets, butgenerally bowled too short.As Durham’s later batsmen struggled, a total of 200 seemed unlikely, but GaryPark came to their rescue. After playing himself in, he ran to 42 not out off37 balls, hitting two successive sixes in the final over, bowled by Mahmood. Mahmood is not proving successful as a death bowler at present,following his final over that conceded 17 to Yorkshire a week ago.Graham Onions, Durham’s pace bowling hero in their mid-week championship matchagainst Yorkshire, began with a ragged over, but tightened up to ensureLancashire struggled for runs. The real strangler was Callum Thorp, whoseopening spell of eight overs cost only eight runs, and Lancashire began to losewickets as they fought in vain to keep up – after 30 overs, they were only 81 for3. A vital blow to them was the loss of Stuart Law for 8, run out by a finepiece of fielding from Park. On the other hand, their opener Mal Loye wascrucially dropped at slip off Steve Harmison when he had 32.Slowly Loye and Steven Croft fought back, but they were struggling against arequired run rate of more than six an over. They needed 54 from the last eightovers, but there were six wickets in hand and a close finish beckoned. SteveHarmison was Durham’s man for the moment. Loye, looking a little desperate,finally skied a catch for 77, trying to hit him out of the ground, and Croftsoon followed, caught at the wicket for 48. At 170 for 6 in the 45th over,Lancashire were up against it.They needed 26 from the last three, but an over from Gareth Breese cost 11, despiteseeing Luke Sutton dismissed. Hogg, the most likely batsman to do the job,edged Thorp to the keeper for 15, and 11 were needed from the final over,bowled by Onions. Two runs scored off three balls, then Marshall was caught atthird man; the last wicket needed nine runs off the final two balls. AlthoughOnions was not at his best, Mahmood was unable to pull off the near-miracle,and Durham were home. Harmison had the best figures of 3 for 44, but Thorp’sten overs for just 14 runs and a wicket was also crucial.

Bangladesh have named a squad of 14 for their A tour of Ireland next week, in which they will play four games

Cricinfo staff19-Jun-2008Bangladesh have named a squad of 14 for their A tour of Ireland next week, in which they will play four games.Their first is a three-day game against Ireland A at College Park on June 23, before they travel to Eglinton to play the senior Ireland side for a Twenty20 clash.Bangor then hosts a 50-over match, the tour finishing with another at Stormont on June 29.Squad
Junaid Siddique (capt), Alok Kapali, Arafat Sunny, Dhiman Ghosh (wk), Farhad Hossain, Imrul Kayes, Mahbubul Alam, Nadif Chowdhury, Naeem Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Shamsur Rahman, Syed Rasel

Former Sheffield United striker Dean Windass is confident that legendary Blade Billy Sharp will be an important player for the club next season.

The Sheffield-born frontman has scored more than 150 goals across three separate spells, although he struggled to stamp his authority on Sheffield United’s two-year stay in the Premier League and was unable to save them from relegation.

The previous two seasons were Sharp’s first two in England’s top-flight, and the 35-year-old managed to score just six times in 41 outings, having been mainly used as a bit-part player behind the likes of David McGoldrick and Oli McBurnie, featuring for just 728 minutes across the 2020/21 Premier League campaign.

However, Sharp is proven at Championship level, and scored 23 league goals when Sheffield United won promotion back in 2018-2019.

By the end of next season, Sharp will be 36, and despite being one of six first-team strikers currently at Bramall Lane, Windass believes he could still prove the difference for Slavisa Jokanovic’s team.

He exclusively told Football FanCast:

“Billy Sharp will be a big player for them next year. I know he’s getting on a little bit, but he’ll still get you goals in the Championship.”

Tim Southee, the New Zealand fast bowler, is a doubtful starter for Friday’s one-off Twenty20 international after he sprained his right ankle during practice

Cricinfo staff10-Jun-2008
Tim Southee may miss the Twenty20 international against England on Friday © Getty Images
Tim Southee, the New Zealand fast bowler, is a doubtful starter for Friday’s one-off Twenty20 international against England at Old Trafford after he sprained his right ankle during practice in Nottingham on Monday.An MRI scan cleared Southee of serious injury, but he will miss New Zealand’s warm-up one-dayer against Worcestershire on Wednesday. Southee played in the first Test at Lord’s, but a stomach bug saw him miss the second at Old Trafford. The 19-year-old was fit for the Trent Bridge Test, but Iain O’Brien was favoured over him.New Zealand, who lost the Test series 2-0, will be seeking revenge in the limited-overs games against England, and Wednesday’s fixture is their only practice match ahead of one Twenty20 international and five ODIs. The visitors have been boosted by the arrival of Scott Styris and Mark Gillespie, and both will play at New Road. Jeetan Patel, Michael Mason and Peter Fulton find a place in the XI, while Kyle Mills, James Marshall and Gareth Hopkins miss out.New Zealand XI: Jamie How, Brendon McCullum (wk), Peter Fulton, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Daniel Flynn, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori (capt), Jeetan Patel, Mark Gillespie, Michael Mason.

The Rafa Benitez era at Everton hasn’t quite started with a bang but the Spaniard finally has his first signing at Goodison Park under his belt.

They welcomed Andros Townsend to the Toffees on Tuesday afternoon but in the midst of that excitement comes a potentially lusty blow to their ambitions.

What’s the word?

Both James Rodriguez and Richarlison have both been linked with the departure lounge this summer.

The Colombian has attracted interest from AC Milan with the player’s agent, Jorge Mendes, meeting with the Italian side.

It’s also been reported that the club’s previous manager, Carlo Ancelotti, wants to bring Richarlison to Real Madrid.

It looked like the former would actually stay but a fresh claim from Eurosport reveals that both are seeking exits from the club this summer.

The heart-breaking news suggests that the Everton pair are looking for moves to Spain.

Huge blow

If Benitez loses two of the club’s most influential players in the same window then it will be a colossal blow to their hopes of finishing in the European places. Consequently, it should also leave supporters rather angry.

James has only been with the Toffees for the best part of 12 months but he made a brilliant impact in Merseyside.

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The former Madrid star was a creative force and also popped up with some important goals. During his first term in English football, he provided six strikes and four assists. On top of that, no player managed more than his 1.7 key passes per match in the Everton side.

As for their Brazilian winger, only Dominic Calvert-Lewin beat the goalkeeper on more occasions.

Richarlison scored seven Premier League goals before becoming a regular for his national team at the recent Copa America.

Both players provided plenty of help to their top scorer last term and ensured that Ancelotti had a dynamic pairing to work with in the final third.

They worked in tandem nicely together but that could be demolished heading into the 2021/22 campaign.

With supporters given the green light to return to stadiums next season, it will surely enrage those who didn’t get to catch a glimpse of James in Everton colours.

Instead, they will make to make do with watching the likes of Townsend and possibly Demarai Gray.

AND in other news, Rafa could discover Everton’s new Leon Osman by signing “special” 34-cap maestro…

A round-up of the third-round matches of the Emerging Players Tournament in Brisbane

Cricinfo staff18-Jul-2008
Scorecard

Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 120 guided India to a comfortable victory © Getty Images
A splendid batting performance, led by Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 120, helped India Emerging Players to a comfortable seven-wicket win over New Zealand Emerging Players. The Indian batsmen showed resilience to overhaul a stiff target of 249 with nine overs to spare a day after they were mauled by South Africa Emerging Players.While Kohli, who led India Under-19s’ triumphant World Cup campaign earlier this year, stayed till the end to record the highest score in the tournament, it was Shikhar Dhawan who provided the early impetus. He dominated the opening stand of 93, before falling for 55. Captain S Badrinath and Suresh Raina were dismissed soon after but with Manoj Tiwary supporting Kohli with an unbeaten 60, India cruised to their second 50- over victory.Earlier, after being asked to bat, New Zealand made a competitive total thanks to opener Martin Guptill’s century. Their No. 5 Greg Hay (44) was the only other batsman to make a significant contribution. In contrast, it was a combined effort by the Indian bowlers – the six that were used took a wicket each.The result helped India move to the top of the table with eight points while New Zealand remained on five. by two wickets
Scorecard
A strong all-round show by Michael Hill guided Australia Institute of Sports to a two-wicket victory over South Africa. Hill’s three wickets and unbeaten 74 helped the hosts join India on eight points at the top of the table.As most teams have done in this tournament, Australia chose to field but there were no early breakthroughs as the South African openers, Blake Snijman and Dean Elgar, were involved in a solid 56-run stand. However, setting an example their lower-order team-mates were to follow, both did not carry on after making starts. Five of the South African batsmen crossed 25 but none went on to make a half-century, with Ahmed Amla’s 42 being the highest score.Australia’s chase of 235 was given a solid platform by the openers, who added 69 runs, but a dramatic collapse followed: 0 for 69 quickly becoming 5 for 93. Left-arm fast bowler Wayne Parnell, who was impressive against India on Thursday, triggered panic in the Australian camp with a three-wicket burst. Hill stayed till the end to shepherd Australia to victory with an over to spare. The presence of Thursday’s half-centurions Peter Forrest (No. 8) and Theo Doropoulos (No. 9) in the lower order helped Hill take Australia past the finish line.

Manchester City have been linked with a move for Bayern Munich winger Kingsley Coman recently and the Frenchman could prove to be Pep Guardiola’s next Leroy Sane at the Etihad.

What’s the word?

According to French news outlet L’Equipe (via City Xtra), City have joined Liverpool and Chelsea in showing an interest in the France international, although newly-appointed Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann is ‘determined’ to keep him at the Allianz Arena for the 2021/22 campaign.

City were linked with a move for the winger last summer but opted to sign Ferran Torres instead and despite the Spaniard’s impressive debut season with the Citizens, it seems as if a move for Coman this summer could be on the cards.

Man City’s next Leroy Sane?

Although City were able to bring in Torres as a replacement for Leroy Sane after he made the move to Bayern, the former Valencia man does not possess the raw pace that the German did, and also looks to have a future as a striker after impressing there in the final few games of the 2020/21 season.

Guardiola does have the rapid Raheem Sterling available to him on the left but he often prefers to cut inside, whereas Coman could provide an incredibly quick option down either wing, preferring to run to the byline and cross the ball in rather than going for goal himself.

During his time at Bayern, the 25-year-old has contributed 41 goals and 50 assists in 200 appearances, which suggests that he is more of a provider than a natural goalscorer, which suggests that he is a similar style of player to Sane, who excelled during his time at the Etihad.

Coman is certainly a big fan of the Spanish manager, sanging his praises in 2020, saying:

“I would say Guardiola [was my best coach] because he is the one who made me start playing a little more regularly even if I had played a few matches at Juventus.”

“For a player in my position, a winger who likes to hit and provoke, he is the best coach we can have because that is what demands us the most.

“He creates systems to have one-on-one situations and it’s the system where I can flourish the most. He didn’t ask me to have stats. He just wanted me to take, hit and centre. And that was what I appreciated very much.”

The “extraordinary” winger managed six goals and 12 assists in 35 games under Guardiola, which suggests that if City did have the option of bringing Coman in this summer, it would suit both parties. Txiki Begiristain should definitely look to sign him.

And, in other news… Txiki disaster: Man City heading for huge mistake with “complete” £11m gem

Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has backed the ICC’s decision to postpone the Champions Trophy until 2009

Cricinfo staff24-Aug-2008
Kevin Pietersen: ‘This is a huge decision and cricket can now take priority again’ © Getty Images
Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB], has backed the ICC’s decision to postpone the Champions Trophy until 2009.”The ECB supports the decision of the ICC to postpone the Champions Trophy untilOctober 2009,” Clarke said in a statement on Sunday. “The ECB made it clear to ICC Chief executive Haroon Lorgat at a meeting at Lord’s last week that the ECB had a duty to care for England players and officials as well as a desire to ensure theinterests of the media and spectators were not compromised.”Following the withdrawal of South Africa from the tournament last week, and widespread security concerns over travelling to Pakistan, the ECB were under pressure to avoid a situation whereby the decision would be made by the players, not the board. Before he was named the new England captain, Kevin Pietersen insisted that he had “reservations – 100% – about going to Pakistan”. Such concerns, however, have now been averted for the time being.”The ECB explained their reservations and security concerns about staging the tournament in the aftermath of the resignation of the Pakistan president, Pervez Musharraf, last Monday. These concerns were shared by four other competing countries at yesterday’s teleconference,” Clarke said in a statement.”The ECB recognises the outstanding efforts of the Pakistan Cricket Board in attempting to mitigate the risks surrounding the Champions Trophy and I will be meeting with the incoming chairman of the PCB, once an appointment is made, to discuss ways that our two boards can work together in the future.”Pietersen, meanwhile, has also supported the tournament’s postponement. “This is a huge decision and cricket can now take priority again,” he said. “All the players I know personally from other countries have expressed their concerns in terms of safety and security. It was good that this decision was taken out of our players’ hands.”