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With Callum Wilson looking likely to leave, Newcastle United have reportedly made their first approach to sign an 18-goal forward and are even willing to pay a big fee to secure his signature this summer.

Callum Wilson could leave Newcastle for free

After spending five years at Newcastle, Wilson could be set to leave the club as a free agent when his current contract comes to an end next month. The experienced striker is yet to put pen to paper and left St James’ Park in tears following what is likely to be his final game for the club against Everton.

Despite his contract situation and his emotions at full-time last weekend though, Eddie Howe remained coy on Wilson’s future. The Newcastle boss told reporters: “Let’s wait and see. We will sit down with his representatives.

“I’m not sure about the thought it’s going to be huge change in the summer. There could be. I’m in a position where I don’t know what’s going to happen. You never know going into any summer with transfer activity, ins or outs you never know the numbers.”

With or without a new contract, however, it must be said that replacing Wilson would be no bad idea for the Magpies. The experienced striker has often struggled on the injury front, forcing Howe to play the likes of Anthony Gordon in the lead role of his frontline when also without Alexander Isak throughout the season.

Given that they’ve got Champions League football to offer now too, Newcastle and PIF could set their sights on some of Europe’s top talents. And whilst names such as Jonathan David have been mentioned, it could yet be another Ligue 1 talent who arrives.

Newcastle make first Kalimuendo approach

According to L’Equipe, as relayed by Sport Witness, Newcastle have now made their first approach to sign Arnaud Kalimuendo and are ready to pay a big substantial fee to secure the Stade Rennais forward.

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The Frenchman has enjoyed an excellent season in France, scoring 18 goals in all competitions whilst also setting up another two throughout the campaign. At 23 years old, the forward still has his best years to come and represents the type of player who would be an ideal backup for Isak.

Praised for how “dangerous” he is around the box by U23 scout Antonio Mango back in March, Kalimuendo would be ready to take the Premier League by storm if Newcastle made their move.

The Magpies already suffered in the past when attempting to balance European football with Premier League action, but the arrival of the depth provided by players like Kalimuendo would go a long way towards avoiding that problem this time around.

Whilst their search for a new manager is one that will steal the biggest headlines this summer, Rangers have also now reportedly set their sights on signing a Premier League contract rebel.

Rangers still searching for Clement replacement

After a disastrous campaign in the Scottish Premiership, the Gers and incoming new owners 49ers Enterprises must get things right this summer. The last thing they need is to be back to square one this time next year if their first managerial appointment goes wrong. It’s not a job which lacks potential suitors though, handing Rangers several opportunities.

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Whilst names such as Rafa Benitez and Jose Mourinho have been mentioned as of late, however, it’s Sean Dyche who Rangers legend Ally McCoist believes can turn things around at Ibrox.

In a chat with Football FanCast, the former striker said: “Sean Dyche would be an interesting one for me. His teams have always been very very competitive but particularly his Everton side, it’s always a struggle and a fight. I’d like to see him in a team that are expected to win every week. I think he would enjoy that as much as anything, I really do.

“So, it’s a well-sought after job and there will be no shortage of people going for it. Mourinho was obviously there recently and he is somebody who certainly a lot of Rangers fans would take to and appreciate but I just think the most important thing is they’ve gotta get it right.”

Meanwhile, as that search continues, those at Ibrox have also kept one eye on an all-important summer transfer window. Again, it’s one that the 49ers must get right and, again, several targets are already reportedly emerging – including a young Premier League contract rebel who could arrive at a bargain price.

Rangers chasing Derry deal

According to Pete O’Rourke of Football Insider, Rangers are now chasing a bargain deal to sign Jesse Derry after the 17-year-old rejected the chance to sign a professional contract at Crystal Palace.

Sparking interest from around Europe, Derry is reportedly open to a move abroad and could yet get the chance to complete a move to Ibrox or to their Old Firm rivals Celtic this summer. Whilst clubs will have to pay a compensation fee, the price of that deal should be far cheaper than it would have been had the winger penned a professional deal at Selhurst Park.

Given his goalscoring exploits at youth level this season too, there’s no doubt that the Eagles will be losing a rising star. Derry has scored as many as nine goals in eight U18 Premier League games this season and may only continue that record if he joins Rangers.

Financially speaking, meanwhile, welcoming a player who’s on the rise rather than a more established name would also make perfect sense for Rangers. Developing future stars before selling them on for profit is something that would bring the Gers success on and off the pitch.

If it wasn’t already evident, Saturday’s 1-1 draw away to Everton potentially proved the final nail in the coffin for Arsenal’s title hopes, with the Gunners slipping to their 11th Premier League draw of the campaign at Goodison Park.

With the gap now at 11 points – and with leaders Liverpool in action on Sunday afternoon – all hope looks to be lost for Mikel Arteta’s side. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.

The north Londoners will rightly point to further controversy surrounding officiating following the bizarre decision to penalise Myles Lewis-Skelly for a foul on Jack Harrison, although the injury-hit visitors will be ruing their failure to kill the game off once again.

Indeed, as noted by Opta, the trip to Merseyside represented the seventh time this season that Arteta’s men have been drawn a game despite taking the lead – the most of any team in the division – with even the return of Bukayo Saka failing to provide the desired effect on this occasion.

The Emirates outfit will point to the absence of Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz amid those goalscoring woes, albeit with the stricken pair having scored just 12 league goals between them this term, it is evident that a new centre-forward remains the priority this summer.

Latest on Arsenal's search for a striker

The hope will be that signing a striker will prove the difference for the Gunners next term, albeit it is not guaranteed that such a move will help to end the lengthy wait for league glory, with Liverpool, for instance, looking set to romp to glory despite lacking a prolific, consistent number nine.

That said, having failed to add a new marksman since the signing of Jesus back in the summer of 2022, the striking berth remains the focus this summer, with rumours already rife regarding a move for Sporting CP sensation, Viktor Gyokeres.

The towering Swede isn’t the only figure on Arsenal’s shortlist, however, with Anfield Watch reporting that the north Londoners are among the clubs showing an interest in Eintracht Frankfurt starlet, Hugo Ekitike.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

As per the report, while it is Liverpool who are working on a deal for the 22-year-old, both the Gunners and Manchester United have also held talks with the Frenchman’s representatives, with those negotiations said to have been ‘positive’.

As such, the suggestion is that all three Premier League sides will be battling for the in-form striker’s signature this summer, with Frankfurt said to be willing to cash in for a fee of around £68m.

If Arsenal are to win that race over the coming months, there would certainly be shades of Nicolas Anelka about that exciting deal.

Why Arsenal could be targeting the next Anelka

It is hard to ignore Thierry Henry when discussing French strikers who ripped up in north London, yet before the club’s record scorer, there was Anelka, with the now-retired marksman arriving as a 17-year-old back in 1997, before going on to win the PFA Young Player of the Year award in that double-winning campaign.

While far younger than Ekitike currently is, Anelka mirrors his compatriot in having been schooled by Paris Saint-Germain for a time, with the ex-Chelsea man rising up through the club’s youth ranks before making his first-team debut for the Ligue 1 side in 1996.

As for Ekitike, the 6 foot 3 ace started life on the books at Reims, albeit before then moving to PSG on an initial loan deal in 2022, where he scored just four times in 33 games in all competitions.

Games

27

Goals

13

Scoring frequency

159mins

Big chances missed

12

Assists

4

Big chances created

7

Key passes*

1.4

Pass accuracy*

77%

Successful dribbles*

1.6

It has taken a move to Germany for the youngster to ignite his career, although on recent evidence, he is proving himself to be “one of the strikers out there”, in the words of analyst Ben Mattinson, with Ekitike simply “ready to explode”.

In 56 games for the Bundesliga side, Ekitike has netted 23 goals and registered a further ten assists, mirroring Anelka in his ability to operate as an out and out centre-forward, or in a left-wing berth.

Like Anelka at the time – who Arsene Wenger described as his “biggest find” during his early years at Highbury – the Frankfurt talisman hasn’t yet reached the status of a household name, although with 19 goals to his name this season, he certainly will do soon.

Not only a clinical finisher, what also sets Ekitike apart is his silky ability in possession, as shown by the fact he ranks among the top 9% of European strikers for progressive carries, as well as in the top 3% for successful take-ons per 90.

Like Anelka – who former teammate Martin Keown claimed could “destroy defences” – the former Reims man boasts that perfect blend of speed and trickery, making him a frightening prospect at the top end of the pitch.

While at £68m, Ekitike certainly won’t come cheap, he could represent the perfect, long-term investment for Arteta and co – as long as he sticks around for longer than Anelka did, that is.

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Kraigg Brathwaite targets greater discipline and consistency ahead of two-match home series with South Africa

Nagraj Gollapudi28-Jul-2024You want West Indies to be good at Test cricket? You want them to win matches consistently and not just a one-off Test victory every now and then? Then give them regular opportunities to play more Tests. Otherwise, it is very difficult to expect them to perform when they get to play Test series every six months. That is how West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite put in a nutshell the predicament of his inexperienced Test team and why the visitors lost the Richards-Botham Trophy 3-0 to England.This is the second Test series Brathwaite’s team had played so far this year, having drawn the two-match series in Australia in January. Though several players featured in the domestic four-day West Indies Championship between February and mid-April, only a few had any real experience of English conditions by the time West Indies arrived in July for the Test series. A three-day warm-up match against the ECB’s County Select XI at Beckenham, which was affected by a rain on a slower pitch, was their only preparation ahead of the Lord’s Test.Undercooked and underprepared, that was the general theme that underpinned West Indies’ plight this series. Brathwaite, though, said he was “excited” to look ahead with West Indies playing South Africa in a two-Test home series, which starts in Trinidad from August 7. “I’m very excited that we have two Test matches in a week’s time because we need more cricket,” Brathwaite said at the post-match presentation on Sunday afternoon. “Being in this competitive and this intense international game, when you are playing it more against good players, you will improve. [When Test series are] being spaced six months apart, it’s kind of tough.”Related

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But the counter to Brathwaite came from his team’s head coach, Andre Coley, who believed to get more matches West Indies would need to justify their “case” by winning more. “The Catch-22 is: to get more matches they [West Indies] need to be performing in the matches that you do get for some kind of case to be made about increasing the number of matches,” Coley said afterwards.Coley did, however, point out that West Indies would need better preparation ahead of Test series, especially through a combination of more practice matches to allow his players to get a better understanding of the local conditions. “For the matches that we do have, it’s really an opportunity for us to be the best that we can and then potentially look at how we lead into Test matches, if there’s an opportunity for us to maybe have more [warm-up] matches in that particular environment, if it’s foreign to us, or engage in more bilateral discussions where these things can be facilitated.”However, both captain and coach were on the same page in their immediate review of why West Indies lost to England. While Coley said they could have “competed better”, Brathwaite said West Indies lacked “discipline” in every facet thus restricting them to being “good in phases” but not for long stretches of a game.”[Our] discipline altogether wasn’t good,” Brathwaite said. The blame lay with both batters and bowlers, he said.After the second day’s play at Lord’s, Jayden Seales, who won the West Indies Player-of-the-Series award with 13 wickets, said it was “frustrating to look at the scoreboard” because his batters had failed in both innings which eventually cost them the first Test. Though the batters came good at Trent Bridge in the second Test, with Kavem Hodge scoring his maiden century, Brathwaite blamed the bowlers for not being “as good” as they were “supposed to be” in the first innings and the team for fluffing catches.

“It’s about having within this squad a certain level of bravery to be able to stand up to that [extreme pace] and expect that this is the level of cricket that you are at, but at the same time, it’s not beyond you”Andre Coley on his players’ battles against Mark Wood

At Edgbaston, West Indies’ bowlers failed to create any sustained pressure after reducing England to 54 for 5, allowing them to post 376 in their first innings. While there were some good spells, there never seemed any structured plan to dominate or restrict the England batters. By the time Mark Wood and Ben Stokes combined to pull the guillotine, West Indies were defeated in mind and body language, in front of a cheering full house.Why did the bowlers fail to impose themselves? “Really and truly we weren’t as consistent as you need to be,” Brathwaite said. “If you look back, the guys [England batters] scored a lot of runs square of the wicket. You want to be hitting top of off stump. We didn’t hit that area long enough. You had some decent pitches in the second and third Tests and if you have a good pitch you pretty much are going to score on both sides.”It wouldn’t always be easy to control it and obviously when you are playing against good batsmen, you give them momentum. So one thing you have got to do is get back to where we were in Australia: you look at the percentages and where we pitched the ball there – consistently on that top of off stump. We weren’t there consistently throughout this series and that put a lot of pressure on controlling the run rate.”Coley, too, agreed, saying that after picking up three wickets on the first evening, if England were bowled out under 300, West Indies could have had “some kind of lead” but it was “definitely a missed opportunity”.Mikyle Louis raised his maiden Test fifty•Getty Images”There’s history around the series,” he said. “The fact that we had the trophy and now pretty much turned it over with a young emerging side, there would’ve been a lot said about this being a walkover. Obviously, we should have competed better, but we did show a lot of fight during the series.”West Indies, Coley pointed out, were not exactly going home empty handed. There were some takeaways and as an example he presented the case of Mikyle Louis, who became the first player from St Kitts and Nevis to play Tests for West Indies, making his debut at Lord’s and completing his Test initiation with a maiden fifty at Edgbaston, having faced among the fastest spells of extreme pace bowling from Wood at Trent Bridge first and then again in the third Test.Coley said that Louis, 23, was brave, but importantly the England experience would teach him a lot. “I can remember having a conversation with Louis about Mark Wood, about playing back home first-class cricket where potentially maybe 10, 20 people in the stands [watching] versus 20,000 people in the stands [in England] and then the uproar when the bowler comes in. So definitely, it is a steep learning curve for him and the other battles.”That’s the game. You keep learning. There were instances as you would’ve seen or able to recall in the second Test or even here where we really stood up to that and played pretty well. So it’s really about replicating that and having, for me, within this squad a certain level of bravery to be able to stand up to that and expect that this is the level of cricket that you are at, but at the same time, it’s not beyond you. Just being positive and having as much common sense as possible.”

Stats highlights from the second ODI in Cairns, where New Zealand were bowled out for just 82

Sampath Bandarupalli08-Sep-202282 New Zealand’s total in the second ODI in Cairns is their sixth lowest in this format and lowest ever in Australia. Their previous lowest total in Australia was 119 against the hosts in 1998 in Sydney. It is also their second-lowest total against Australia, behind the 74 all-out in 1982, in Wellington.2 Australia are only the second team to win successive men’s ODIs despite losing their first five wickets inside 70 runs. Australia lost their fifth wicket at 54 in this game and recovered from 44 for 5 during the first ODI. Pakistan were the first such team to achieve this, having won from 34 for 5 against Australia and from 64 for 5 against India on successive days at the Gabba in 2000.Related

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113 Australia’s winning margin in terms of runs in Cairns, which is the fourth-highest in men’s ODIs for any team with a first-innings total less than 200 runs. The biggest such win is by 120 runs when South Africa defeated Zimbabwe in 2018 while defending their total of 198. Sri Lanka against India in 1986 and Zimbabwe versus Afghanistan in 2016 registered 117-run wins defending less than 200.