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Leeds United reportedly have a deal in place to sign exciting Espanyol youngster Mateo Joseph Fernandez in the January transfer window.

The Lowdown: January additions needed

The Whites have made a slow start to the season, with injuries arguably holding them back and Marcelo Bielsa’s squad depth being tested.

It means new faces in January could be important, ensuring Leeds pull clear of the relegation battle and look towards another mid-table finish.

One player who has been linked with a move to Elland Road in the past is Fernandez and a fresh rumour suggests a transfer will happen.

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The Latest: Youngster set for Leeds switch

According to The Daily Mail‘s Simon Jones, Leeds have a ‘deal in place’ to sign the 18-year-old Espanyol striker next month.

He is set to join the Whites on January 1st after the club triggered his release clause of £1.3m, having initially offered around £420k, with Victor Orta getting his man.

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The Verdict: Exciting long-term acquisition

While Fernandez wouldn’t necessarily come in as an immediate key man, he would be a long-term signing who could eventually challenge Patrick Bamford for playing time.

It is vital that Leeds continue to shine beyond the Bielsa era and signing players of the Espanyol man’s youth and quality can ensure that happens.

He has been described as a player of ‘great potential’ by journalist Javier Rodriguez Alonso, making him a potentially exciting arrival.

In other news, a journalist has made a Leeds transfer claim. Read more here.

West Ham United have opened talks concerning a deal to bring Patrik Schick to the London Stadium in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Italian media outlet Calcio Mercato (via London World), who claim that David Moyes’ side have entered into negotiations with Bayer Leverkusen regarding a £40m deal for the 25-year-old centre-forward.

The report goes on to state that the 58-year-old manager is keen to bring in attacking reinforcements into his side this month, as, since the sale of Sebastien Haller to Ajax in January last year, the Scot has had to make do with only Michail Antonio as an out and out centre-forward.

Moyes can finally replace Haller

Considering just how impressive Schick has been in Germany so far this season, in addition to the fact that the 6 foot 3 Czech international resembles the 6 foot 2 Haller in physical stature, should Moyes be able to get a deal over the line for the Leverkusen striker this month, he could well have finally replaced the Ivory Coast international at the London Stadium.

Indeed, over his 16 Bundesliga appearances in the current campaign, the £36m-rated man has been in devastating form, having already bagged an astonishing 18 goals, provided one assist and created one big chance for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 3.6 shots and making 0.6 key passes per game.

These returns have seen the £82k-per-week hitman who Bayer manager Gerardo Seoane dubbed an “incredible” talent average a quite remarkable SofaScore match rating of 7.33, ranking him as the ninth-best performer in the top flight of German football.

As such, should Schick be able to replicate this level of form following a potential switch to East London this winter, the 25-year-old would not only fill the Haller shaped hole in Moyes’ West Ham squad, but he could well go on to take Antonio’s starting spot leading the Irons’ attack.

In other news: Moyes must now launch WHU bid for £46k-p/w “phenomenon” as key transfer twist emerges

India are likely to face another stern examination of their technique against bouncers when they take on West Indies in a crucial Super Eight match at the Kensington Oval on Sunday

Andrew McGlashan in Bridgetown08-May-2010India are likely to face another stern examination of their technique against bouncers when they take on West Indies in a crucial Super Eight match at the Kensington Oval on Sunday. The hosts are set to unleash Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach on a top order that struggled against the short ball from Australia in a bid to keep their tournament alive.Both sides are desperate for victory having lost their first Super Eight matches by huge margins and another defeat would leave them on the brink of exiting the tournament. It now seems likely that either the financial powerhouse of world cricket or the host nation will not make it to the semi-finals.West Indies were awful against Sri Lanka as they missed six chances in the field, but India’s vulnerability against the short ball offers them a window of opportunity. At last year’s World Twenty20 they bounced India out at Lord’s on their way to the semi-finals and Chris Gayle didn’t hide the fact that it will be a tactic discussed in the build-up to this match.”We can use the short ball but at the same we have to be careful because it’s a small ground and they have quality batters who can make adjustments,” he said. “But it’s certainly something we will put into our plans.”Taylor and Roach were impressive with the new ball against Sri Lanka but weren’t backed up by the fielding. It was the first time in the tournament that West Indies’ two quickest bowlers had been paired together after Taylor struggled with injury during the group stage. Roach, meanwhile, was left out after the opening game against Ireland but his return of 2 for 27 against Sri Lanka was commendable as West Indies conceded nearly ten an over.MS Dhoni is well aware that his team will be targeted but is confident they can respond despite being rattled by Australia’s trio of Dirk Nannes, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson. “It’s the same stuff that Indians have been facing for the last 10, 15, 20 years and some of the best batsmen in the world have come from India so there’s no reason why they can’t do it,” he said.With the early starts for the first match each day it is leaving the captains with a conundrum over what to do at the toss. Michael Clarke said he was surprised India bowled with just two frontline seamers in the attack and Gayle hinted that he may prefer to defend a total even if that means holding back his quicks.”Whichever team bats second will be under pressure, especially when they are chasing a total over 170,” he said. “If you lose a few early wickets you are on the back foot and I’m sure it’s something teams will be looking at. But with the first game starting at 9.30 there can sometimes be a bit in the wicket.”

A round-up of the latest matches from the Metbank Pro40 in Zimbabwe

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2010Nick Compton’s powerful form continued with an unbeaten 90 to set up a 36-run victory for Mashonaland Eagles against Southern Rocks. He hit seven fours and two sixes in his 80-ball innings, adding 93 for the third wicket with Forster Mutizwa who clubbed 62. Their stand formed the backbone for a strong total of 257 for 6 and they made the perfect start in the field when Chad Keegan trapped Steve Marillier lbw first ball. Keegan added two more wickets and Rocks slid to 53 for 5 in the 13th over to leave them a mountain to climb. Steve Tikolo threatened to turn the innings around with 68 off 55 balls, but Rocks were well behind the D/L target when rain ended the contest in the 30th over.Mountaineers put in an impressive bowling display to earn a 78-run victory against Matabeleland Tuskers which was enough to gain a bonus point and move them ahead of their opponents on run rate. Donald Tiripano was the star with 4 for 16 to remove Tuskers middle order after Tinashe Panyangara had claimed two important wickets despite being expensive. The Mountaineers top order also struggled, but the difference was Timycen Maruma who hit a brisk 67 off 48 balls to lift them to 205 for 9 which proved more than enough.

Aston Villa’s season so far has been a story of two halves already, with the side facing a relegation battle under Dean Smith in 16th and then appointing Steven Gerrard who has restored Villa’s expectations of a potential top half finish as they currently sit 12th in the Premier League table after just seven games in charge.

Gerrard hasn’t had the opportunity to put his stamp on the squad in the sense of bringing in the right players to suit his style of play and his vision for the future at Villa Park, but he has had the time to work with a squad full of quality, with a number of signings made in the summer of this year, with the likes of Leon Bailey and Emi Buendia joining the ranks.

The former Rangers manager will have had enough time though to get settled in and experience working with the crop of players he already has at the club, giving him the right amount of time to establish which areas need more strength and where the squad need to offload players.

One player who has failed to make an impact on the side since he joined in a shock move during the summer is Danny Ings and now he has been called out for his lack of quality by former Villa player and all time top goal scorer, Gabby Agbonlahor;

“Every time I’ve watched Ings and Watkins play together it hasn’t worked, something isn’t working with their connection,” Agbonlahor told Football Insider.

“Ings is a goalscorer. He will have come in on very good wages and it was a £30million fee, you’ve got to try and make a place for him in the team.”

It is no surprise Agbonlahor has spoken out to expose the centre forward, when you look at the lack of presence and effectiveness in the first half of the season, there is no reason why Gerrard shouldn’t ruthlessly axe Ings until he can prove he can offer more to the team.

The £100K-a-week earning centre forward has scored just three goals since joining the side, with only one of those goals actually contributing to a win, with the other two scored in 3-2 defeats against Watford and Wolves.

On Twitter, an interesting statistic has surfaced from popular fan account @VillaAnalytics that further confirms the poor form displayed by the 29 year old;

“Danny Ings has the lowest non-penalty xG per 90 (0.15) and the lowest xA per 90 (0.02) of any Premier League forward this season. [understat, >800 minutes played].”

Gerrard has an important decision to make on Ings future in the starting line up for Aston Villa, and should take a closer look at how the striker can come back into the goal scoring form he was famous for at Southampton with 46 goals in just 100 appearances for the Saints.

In other news, Napoli could snatch Tuanzebe within 48 hours

Andrew Strauss suffered a setback in his warm-up for England duty when he wasdismissed for a single for Middlesex against Worcestershire at New Road

09-Apr-2010
ScorecardAndrew Strauss fell for 1 in his first innings back after an extended break•Getty ImagesAndrew Strauss suffered a setback in his warm-up for England duty when he wasdismissed for a single for Middlesex against Worcestershire at New Road.He went for a big hit off young paceman Richard Jones and was caught behind by Ben Scott, who is making his debut for the hosts following a loan move from Lord’s. Strauss’s early departure followed the exploits of England’s latest pace prospect Steve Finn who had curbed Worcestershire’s progress by taking 5 for 69.The 21-year-old spearheaded his side’s fightback after the home team had been boosted by an opening century stand between Daryl Mitchell and Phil Jaques. Mitchell was among Finn’s victims after top-scoring with 85, including 11 fours off 177 balls, in Worcestershire’s total of 287 off 87.3 overs. By the close Middlesex were 12 for 1 off six overs, with England captain Strauss having faced 11 balls in a 12-minute spell at the crease.Vikram Solanki’s men had been put into bat in front of a sun-soaked 1,000-plus crowd and made healthy headway before Finn grabbed his first four wickets for one run in 19 balls either side of the tea interval. It was a damaging burst for Worcestershire, who began their innings in positive fashion with Jaques, back on board for the first half of the season afterenjoying fruitful stints at New Road in 2006 and 2007, soon making his presencefelt along with Mitchell.Vice-captain Mitchell was particularly cautious in the early stages and, after surviving an lbw appeal against Tim Murtagh while on eight, eventually nudged into double figures after 52 minutes. Jaques then carefully moved on to 25 before getting away with a two-handedhip-high chance to Dawid Malan at second slip off Iain O’Brien. Mitchell, however, steadily began to increase the tempo and by lunch was unbeaten on 44 with Jaques 35 not out in Worcestershire’s total of 85 without loss off 29 overs.Shortly after the interval Mitchell, the only New Road batsman to top 1,000 Championship runs last season, reached his half-century with seven fours off 101 balls. His partnership with Jaques reached three figures in the 36th over before Middlesex finally made a breakthrough in the following over thanks to debutant paceman O’Brien claiming the 300th first-class wicket of his career. The New Zealander trapped Jaques leg before for 47, including five fours, after putting on 105 with Mitchell.Last term relegated Worcestershire produced only one opening Championship century stand which failed to arrive until mid-June in their sixth game of the campaign. Solanki managed just eight before he inside-edged to wicketkeeper John Simpson off Gareth Berg who earlier in the over had seen Mitchell survive a slip chance hile on 60.The same combination then accounted for Moeen Ali before Mitchell and Alexei Kervezee took Worcestershire to their first bonus point shortly before the stylish Kervezee was bowled middle stump by Finn for 44.He smacked 10 fours off 37 balls and put on 65 in 11 overs with Mitchell who departed in Finn’s next over when he was held at first slip by Strauss.Lively Finn quickly struck again after tea to remove Scott who was out for a duck, as was Gareth Andrew who also departed to the Simpson-Finn double act. Ben Smith, who put on 57 with Jones for the eighth wicket, finally became Finn’s fifth scalp after making a valuable 46.

Derbyshire pair Chris Rogers and Wayne Madsen notched a new club record openingpartnership against Northamptonshire as the visitors took complete control onday two at Wantage Road

28-Apr-2010
Scorecard
Chris Rogers continued his prolific start to the season•Getty ImagesDerbyshire pair Chris Rogers and Wayne Madsen notched a new club record openingpartnership against Northamptonshire as the visitors took complete control onday two at Wantage Road.Skipper Rogers returned to haunt his former employers by notching an impressive141 while South African right-hander Madsen ended the day unbeaten on 163. Rogers spent two seasons in Northamptonshire colours in 2006-07 but oldfriendships were put out of the window as he and Madsen passed the previousDerbyshire best against Northants, 216, set by Alan Hill and John Wright back in1979.Nicky Boje and James Middlebrook threatened a Northants revival with a wicketapiece in quick succession just before the tea interval but Madsen and PaulBorrington (41 not out) easily saw Derbyshire through to a commanding positionat the close.Derbyshire began the day 163 runs behind Northants on 57-0 with Australianone-Test-wonder Rogers resuming on 31 and Madsen on 17. The opening pair were untroubled in reaching their first hundred partnership of the season in the 30th over and Rogers was the first to pass 50 with a four through mid-wicket from his 84th ball.Madsen brought up his patient half-century in near-identical fashion four overslater in 123 balls. With the hosts’ attack toiling, the only half chance came when wicketkeeper Paul Harrison could not quite hold on to a sharp catch from Rogers offMiddlebrook and the partnership had grown to 163 by lunch.Rogers then coasted to his century from 170 balls and he brought up the 200partnership with the following ball. Middlebrook then thought he had snared Madsen with a sharp catch at short leg from Vishal Tripathi but his appeals fell on death ears.And Madsen compounded Middlebrook’s misery when he had the honour of settingthe new record with a four through extra cover before hitting a single in the63rd over to put Derbyshire ahead.The former KwaZulu-Natal man went on to make his ton in 213 balls, includingone six smashed straight down the ground off Boje. Middlebrook was the man to finally break up the partnership in the 74th over, trapping Rogers lbw to bring his superb innings to an end.Northants claimed a second wicket in the next over when Garry Park, who facedseven balls without scoring, edged Boje to Andrew Hall at slip. But any thoughts of a home side fightback were quickly extinguished by Paul Borrington and Madsen whose partnership of 103 ensured Derbyshire ended the day with an innings victory in their sights, 157 runs ahead going into day three.

Journalist Pete O’Rourke has made a claim regarding Celtic’s possible permanent swoop for Tottenham’s Cameron Carter-Vickers, Give Me Sport report.

The Lowdown: Carter-Vickers under Postecoglou

Carter-Vickers was the club’s final addition over the summer, joining on deadline day in a season-long loan deal that includes an option to buy next summer.

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Since then, the 23-year-old has been an ever-present figure at the back under Ange Postecoglou, making 20 appearances in green and white.

He’s missed just one Scottish Premiership fixture following his move and was hailed as an ‘excellent professional’ by Kenny Dalglish.

The Latest: O’Rourke’s claim

Give Me Sport shared the latest news on Carter-Vickers making a permanent Parkhead switch, suggesting both Celtic and the player are keen on a full-time move.

Reporter O’Rourke gave his thoughts on a possible permanent swoop to Give Me Sport, admitting he wasn’t sure if the Hoops could reach the £10m asking price, as reported by The Daily Record.

“Cameron Carter-Vickers has made a big impression since his loan move from Tottenham, but I’m not sure if Celtic could reach that £10m valuation that Spurs are looking for a permanent deal, though.”

The Verdict: Club record fee

Should Celtic stump up the fee for Carter-Vickers, they’d reportedly have to pay two separate add-ons which would take the deal over £10m.

That would make him the club’s most expensive signing of all time, eclipsing the £9.27m move that made Odsonne Edouard’s loan permanent from Paris Saint-Germain.

There’s no denying that Carter-Vickers has impressed at Celtic Park, however, £10m is a lot of money, especially with the Hoops already spending over £20m in the summer and seemingly looking at four January permanent additions in Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi, Daizen Maeda and on-loan Jota.

In other news: Devlin shares worrying injury update on Celtic ace after bone ‘break’. 

A number of Sunderland fans were left rather displeased at confirmation of the Black Cats’ opponents in today’s FA Cup first round draw.

For the second successive season, the Wearsiders will welcome Mansfield Town to the Stadium of Light in the first round, and they will be seeking to avenge last year’s shock 0-1 defeat to the Stags when the teams face off on the first weekend of November.

Mansfield were a lowly 22nd in League Two at the time and coincidentally they are in the same position in the current standings, with Lee Johnson’s Sunderland hoping that their place near the top of League One will be reflected when Nigel Clough brings his team to Wearside.

The Black Cats have exited at the second round or earlier in each of the last three seasons since dropping into League One, which brought with it the necessity to enter in the first round, two steps earlier than when they were in the Premier League and Championship.

Sunderland fans react to cup draw

Sunderland posted confirmation of their first round opponents on their official Twitter channel when the draw was made on Sunday afternoon, and these Mackems weren’t too pleased with the sense of deja vu:

“I swear we play the same handful of teams in cup competitions every season. Port Vale in the next round no doubt (assuming we reach the dizzy heights of the second round this year).”

Credit: @nathanlawsn

“This is a good draw for me on a personal level, but it’s possibly the most uninspiring tie we could have gotten from the club’s perspective. Let’s just hope it’s better than last season…”

Credit: @joey__burton__

“Oh no, not again lads”

Credit: @matty_corrie

“It’s time for the FA to give proper respect to the big team in the lower league and start heating up the balls to give us a fun tie. Consistently miserable draws”

Credit: @JusticeForCatts

“Yawn”

Credit: @spj7104

“Stags again. We stagnated against the same opponents last season”

Credit: @DanielJenks89

In other news: Many Sunderland fans raged at this Black Cats player over the weekend

Enner Valencia could be a shrewd signing for Wolves due to his experience over younger squad members, according to journalist Luke Hatfield.

The Lowdown: Wolves linked with Valencia

Wanderers were linked with a surprise move for Valencia earlier this month, as Bruno Lage looks for potential January reinforcements.

Considering Valencia is now 32 and didn’t set the world alight in the Premier League at West Ham and Everton, it wasn’t a rumour to get overly excited about.

The 67-time capped Ecuador international has only scored 11 times in 75 appearances in England’s top flight.

The Latest: Journalist talks up move

Despite this, Hatfield told Give Me Sport that he believes Valencia could be a good signing for Wolves, providing experience in the squad:

“He’s much more likely to hit the ground running than either a really young player like Silva or someone who’s come in from abroad and has not seen the league before like Willian Jose.”

The Verdict: Short-term fix

Valencia is unlikely to be someone who comes in as a regular starter, given his limitations and age, but he could help fill the void left by the possible exit of Adama Traore.

He does have knowledge of the Premier League, too, which could be an advantage, and 34 goals for his country is not to be sniffed at, in terms of offering quality from the substitutes’ bench or starting the odd game.

That being said, if Valencia was to be the only January addition, it would be disappointing, with more quality needed if Traore is to move on.

In other news, one Wolves player has been linked with a move abroad. Find out who it is here.