According to Portuguese media outlet A Bola, Newcastle United are one of the Premier League clubs interested in signing FC Porto winger Yacine Brahimi, rated at £22.5m by Transfermarkt, this summer.

The 28-year-old only has one year left on his contract, and it appears as though Magpies manager Rafa Benitez could be considering making an ambitious swoop for the left-sided attacker, who helped his club reach the knockout stages of the Champions League this season.

The forward scored 12 goals and provided a further 10 assists in 49 appearances in all competitions for the Portuguese top flight champions, and it would certainly be a huge coup for the Tyneside outfit if they could bring the Algeria international to St James’ Park.

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However, the fact that he is a left winger suggests that Benitez, who can secure a Top 7 finish for his side next season by completing a £16m striker deal, isn’t confident that he will be able to re-sign Chelsea wide man Kenedy following a successful loan spell in the second-half of the 2017/18 campaign, where he showed his quality and quickly became a real fans’ favourite.

We asked Newcastle supporters to vote on our poll to see whether they would prefer to sign the Brazilian or Brahimi, and a whopping 71% said they would rather see the 22-year-old Blues man come back.

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Kenedy’s future may well depend on the Chelsea managerial situation with Antonio Conte’s future seemingly in doubt, but Benitez doesn’t appear to be hanging around in finding potential alternatives.

Southampton are in danger of missing out on signing Quincy Promes from Spartak Moscow as Inter Milan are planning a £41m bid, according to soccer.ru.

What’s the word?

Promes – valued at £21.6m by Transfermarkt – was heavily linked with a move to St Mary’s in the January window, but a transfer never came to fruition.

The mid-season market is not the easiest time to bring in top-class talent, so there were suggestions that the Saints would revive their interest at the end of the campaign.

If they are to do so, then they need to move quick as Russian outlet soccer.ru are reporting that Inter Milan intend to bid around £41m for the winger.

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That figure is significantly higher than Southampton’s rejected club-record £25m attempt in January.

What should Saints do?

The coastal club are in desperate need of some pace and power from the width given that Sofiane Boufal and Nathan Redmond were the club’s only realistic options last season.

The attacking department certainly needs some work and having Promes at his disposal would make manager Mark Hughes a happy man.

However, it is unclear whether Southampton have the funds to compete with the likes of Inter, and a lot will be based upon the player’s wishes.

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The Saints managed to avoid relegation from the Premier League, but would their brush with the drop make Promes reassess his options?

Time will tell, but Hughes and his team need to move fast if they want to be part of the transfer battle.

The 2018 World Cup is well underway and there are a number of players that have already made a big impact for their country in their opening group game, and surely some of them will have caught the eye of new Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa

The Argentine will surely be keen to make some big moves in the transfer market to ensure the Yorkshire outfit, whose fans have called on their club to sign a 27-year-old South American winger who starred in the World Cup on Saturday, are serious about securing a Premier League return in the 2018/19 season following another disappointing campaign, in which they went from genuine automatic promotion candidates at the start to mid-table mediocrity by the end.

If the 62-year-old is to bring his famous 3-3-3-1 formation to Elland Road then he will need the players that will work in that particular system, and strengthening all across the pitch may well be his priority.

The veteran boss will already have some targets in mind, but he may have been convinced by the impressive displays of a number of individuals in Russia, too.

Here are three World Cup stars that Bielsa has surely added to his summer transfer wishlist…

The 26-year-old’s future at club level is certainly up in the air right now considering he has just finished a loan spell with Grasshoppers Zurich from Jiangsu Suning – where is contract expires at the end of 2018 – but he may well have earned himself a move with a brilliant display for Argentina against France on Saturday.

The defender, who can also play as a defensive midfielder, impressed against the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann by making seven clearances and two interceptions, as per WhoScored.com, while he was decent in possession of the ball too to suggest that he could be more than a good Championship player for Leeds.

The Udinese midfielder may only be a bit-part player for his club and be 33 years of age, but he put in a monstrous display in the middle of the park for Iceland in their impressive 1-1 draw with Argentina on Saturday.

The Serie A man made three tackles, two clearances and two interceptions, as per WhoScored.com, as he helped to keep the likes of Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero quiet when they dropped deep, and his ability to either play a defensive or attacking role in the middle of the park may mean he is ideal in a Bielsa side.

Mile Jedinak showed for Aston Villa how important he is despite the fact he is getting no younger, and perhaps Hallfredsson could have a similar impact at Elland Road.

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Bielsa’s sides in the past have thrived with a big centre-forward up top – like when he had Fernando Llorente at Athletic Bilbao – and he may want to bring one to Elland Road this summer in order to get the most out of his preferred system.

One option could be Dzuyba, whose future with Zenit Saint-Petersburg appears to be in doubt after he joined fellow Russian outfit Arsenal Tula on loan until the end of the season during the January transfer window.

The 6ft 5in centre-forward certainly made a big impression as a substitute for his country in their 5-0 win against Saudi Arabia last week, scoring one and assisting another despite only having 11 touches in his 25 minutes on the pitch, while he also netted in the success against Egypt.

Do you agree, Leeds fans? Let us know below.

Manchester City expect to sign Napoli’s Italian international midfielder Jorginho by the end of the week, according to Sky Sports. 

What’s the latest, then?

Sky Sports report that City’s long-running pursuit of the Napoli man is set to come to a conclusion before the end of the week.

They claim that while a medical is yet to be arranged, a £46.5m deal will be concluded as soon as the final details, which include the payment of a five per cent sell-on fee to Jorginho’s old club Verona, are ironed out.

They also report that Jorginho has concluded his family holiday and is ready to jet to Manchester to have a medical as soon as the agreement is finalised.

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City are already streets ahead

It was a procession for Manchester City in the title race last season and even without any additions, it would be tough to bet against Pep Guardiola’s men clinching glory at a canter this time around as well.

The Spaniard has his pick of Europe’s players in some ways, because the prospect of joining his revolution is so appealing and the arrival of another technical maestro, to replace the disruptive and ageing Yaya Toure will only make them even tougher to beat.

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Guardiola’s recruitment at City has been immaculate so it is tough to picture Jorginho being anything other than a perfect fit.

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Liverpool fans are absolutely crucifying Lyon owner Jean-Michel Aulas after the 69 year-old contradicted himself, and they have a feeling the Nabil Fekir saga is not over yet.

Not too long ago, Lyon’s Fekir looked all set to become Jürgen Klopp’s second big money signing of the summer.

A midfield trio of Fabinho, Naby Keita and Fekir would be quite the transformation from the Reds, and fans were getting excited about their new look team.

The deal for the young Frenchman fell through just before the World Cup though, and after weeks of speculation about what happened, Aulas has finally had his say on the saga… and we’re still none the wiser.

“I am not in discussions with Liverpool anymore,’ Aulas said.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”257647″ player=”12034″ title=”Three reasons we love to hate… Brazil and Argentina”]

“Nabil was supposed to join Liverpool, I gave the green light. It didn’t happen because things went on too long.

“I have always listened to what players want, because in terms of relationship for me they are very much my children, my sons.”

Many fans suspected the deal died because of a medical issue, so Aulas’s comments that the deal “went on too long” are confusing to say the least.

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After seemingly ending any hope of a move though, the Frenchman went on to say “nothing is ever dead in the footballing world,” and fans are now confident a deal is still on the table.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

South Africa’s coach, Mickey Arthur, believes that Duncan Fletcher’s insight into the England dressing-room could be a vital factor for the forthcoming Test and ODI series

Cricinfo staff18-Nov-2009South Africa’s coach, Mickey Arthur, believes that Duncan Fletcher’s insight into the England dressing-room could be a vital factor for the forthcoming Test and ODI series, after he linked up with the South Africa squad in Potchefstroom on Tuesday to resume his role as a batting and tactical consultant.Fletcher coached England for seven years up until 2007, and guided the team to unprecedented success in that time, including six series wins in a row leading into the 2005 Ashes. He led England on two tours to South Africa, starting with his maiden series in charge in 1999-2000 and culminating in a memorable 2-1 triumph five years’ later.During England’s warm-up match against South Africa A at Potchefstroom, however, Fletcher could be seen sitting in the stands alongside the South Africa chairman of selectors, and afterwards Arthur was delighted to speculate about the nuggets of information that will be divulged in the coming weeks.”I think Duncan’s voice in the dressing room just before a series against England is going to be brilliant,” Arthur told reporters after the match. “He’s with us until the second ODI and then he comes in five days before the first Test match, and he works with our Test squad until the end of the first Test.”Fletcher performed a similar role for South Africa on their historic tour of Australia in December and January last year, when they won their first series in the country since the end of Apartheid. “It’s a no-brainer really,” said Arthur. “When we signed Duncan last year we signed him for the Australian series, especially the one in Australia, and obviously thinking of the England series.”He flew in today and worked with us in a training session this morning. I brought him to Potch because we wanted to discuss a couple of things. It’s great having his knowledge around. I always think you need to keep refreshing, you need to keep stimulating the environment and the players. And we’ve done that by bringing in different voices at crucial times.”Although England’s squad is significantly different from last time Fletcher was in charge, during the 2007 World Cup, many of the key personnel were among his stalwarts, not least the captain, Andrew Strauss, and Paul Collingwood, whom Fletcher first selected in the summer of 2001.”The simple fact is he knows a few of us pretty well,” Collingwood told Cricinfo. “He knows our characters pretty well, but his main asset is his technical brilliance. He knows our techniques pretty well and I’m sure he will give some tips to the South Africans. But our technique and mentality towards the game probably changes all the time, so that’s a way to combat them when we come out and play our cricket in the middle.””I don’t know how he’s going to feel,” said Arthur, when asked if Fletcher would feel awkward about revealing inside information, “but Duncan brings a lot to us.”

Afghanistan and USA will meet in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers in February for the main event in the West Indies

Cricinfo staff15-Dec-2009Afghanistan and USA will meet in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers in February for the main event in the West Indies, but any potential political embarrassment will be diluted with the match taking place in Abu Dhabi.The two teams have been pooled with Ireland and Scotland in Group A of the Qualifiers, which will be hosted in the UAE from February 9 -13. Kenya, Netherlands, Canada and the UAE make up Group B. from April 30-May 16.The winner of the tournament will join South Africa and India in Group C while the losing finalist will join Group D, which includes West Indies and England. Ireland, Kenya, Scotland, the Netherlands, Afghanistan and Scotland have made it directly into this qualifier on the basis of their ODI status while the UAE and USA are participating at the ICC’s request.The 17 matches will be split over five days between Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium (six games) and the Dubai Sports City (11 games). The Super Four matches and final will be played in Dubai.

Ricky Ponting has conceded he could move down the order to finish off his outstanding career – but only if there is someone better at No.3

Cricinfo staff13-Jan-2010Ricky Ponting has conceded he could move down the order to finish off his outstanding career – but only if there is someone better at No.3. Ponting’s form during the Australian summer has been poor and he has only one game left against Pakistan, starting in Hobart on Thursday, to improve his record of 216 runs at 27.An elbow injury has hampered Ponting since he was hit by Kemar Roach in Perth, but there has been talk of the captain shifting from his preferred spot to allow a new face to tackle the newer ball. “If I don’t think I’m the right person to bat there then I won’t bat there,” Ponting told the Australian. “If I think there’s someone else better equipped than me to bat at No.3, then that time may come [to move down the order].”Despite his small returns, Ponting is confident of a return to form that will end the talk over his position. “It was only a few games ago that I felt right at the top of my game. I felt really good at the start of the season,” he said. “I know that one-day cricket is a different form but I thought during that one-day series in India was as well as I’d ever played. That’s not that long ago.”The place of Shane Watson at the top of the order is not under threat and Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, believes it could be his in the long term. Watson was thought to be better suited in the middle, but has starred since replacing Phillip Hughes in England, scoring 819 runs at 63 in eight Tests.”All I can say is that we thought it was the right position for Shane, and he’s really nailed it,” Hilditch said in the Herald Sun. “It’s nice to know he can bat anywhere in the order, but he may well open for the rest of the career. I’m sure he’s thrilled to be doing well as an opener and I think he could continue in that position.”

Pakistan’s cricket community lost a great personality, a person who was known as the encyclopedia of Pakistan cricket and someone who most importantly ushered in a new era of sports journalism in the country

Waheed Khan05-Feb-2010Pakistan’s cricket community lost a great personality, a person who was known as the encyclopedia of Pakistan cricket and someone who most importantly ushered in a new era of sports journalism in the country.For someone who had worked closely with him and under his guidance at , the genial and colourful personality of Gul Hameed Bhatti will be missed sorely because he set new standards in sports journalism and in encouraging young talent; his passion for cricket rubbed off on anyone who came in to contact with him.Born in Lahore in September, 1947, Bhatti dabbled as a pilot in the national airlines and worked in the public relations department in PTDC before turning to his twin passion of journalism and cricket. In 1973-74, he entered the world of the sports media.He served as the editor of the popular (Pakistan) magazine, which was known as the bible of Pakistan cricket internationally and played a big part in making the careers of several outstanding cricketers.He also combined with Abid Ali Kazi and the late Noman Badar to launch the cricket statisticians association of Pakistan and the annual Pakistan cricket book. It is difficult to really underline here the tremendous contribution Bhatti made to Pakistan cricket but suffice to say if anyone wanted to find out details of some obscure record or details of a particular domestic match played in the ’50s or in the ’90s, Bhatti Sahib was the final word.After joining the in 1990 as its sports editor, he succeeded in changing the trend of sports journalism in the country by making it investigative, colourful and informative while moving away from the existing trend of drab and dull lengthy analyses and the heavy dependence on agency stories.He was an editor who backed his reporters completely. was his usual question and once a reporter convinced him his story was factual and correct he had nothing to worry about.Bhatti had the capacity to absorb all the pressures and dissent that came from the top or from angry officials and players and his message to them was clear: “I will back my reporters all the way.”He was promoted as the editor of the newspaper but his first love remained sports, a position to which he returned after a few years.Bhatti remained jovial even after the death of his wife, Razia Bhatti, in 1996, herself a fearless journalist and editor of the magazine who later launched . But the loss of his wife affected him and his health began to deteriorate and after overcoming a bout of throat cancer, he suffered a brain stroke last year and was bed ridden. He passed away on Thursday night after another brain stroke and due to the failure of his vital organs. Even after his death, the contribution and position of Gul Hameed Bhatti in Pakistan journalism and cricket will remain at the top. We will all miss you Bhatti Sahib.

Michael Klinger and John Hastings, two players who switched states to gain greater opportunities, have been rewarded for their post-move success at the Allan Border Medal night in Melbourne

Brydon Coverdale15-Feb-2010Michael Klinger and John Hastings, two players who switched states to gain greater opportunities, have been rewarded for their post-move success at the Allan Border Medal night in Melbourne. The South Australia batsman Klinger was named the State Cricketer of the Year for the second consecutive season, while Hastings received the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year award having established himself as a key man in Victoria’s line-up.Klinger scored 36 votes and beat the Victoria pair of Chris Rogers (29) and Brad Hodge (27) for the state title. During the voting period, which ran from December 24, 2008 to February 1, 2010, Klinger scored 1532 runs at 56.74 across all formats. He was the leading Sheffield Shield run scorer last season and is again near the top this summer.The two consecutive prizes for Klinger have justified his decision to leave Victoria during the 2008 off-season, at which time he had made 1569 first-class runs at 27.05. His tally is now 3504 runs at 41.22 and the two strong years must have him firmly in the minds of the Australian selectors.Another state-switching success story was Hastings, the Victoria allrounder, who moved from New South Wales at the end of 2006-07. Hastings, 24, decided that his opportunities were likely to be greater with the Bushrangers than in a Blues line-up where he would compete with Moises Henriques as the preferred young allrounder.Hastings finished with 46 votes, well clear of the New South Wales allrounder Steven Smith on 30 and the Queensland fast bowler Ben Cutting (8). Hastings has played every Sheffield Shield match for the Bushrangers this season and is second on the competition wicket tally with 25 victims at 25.12, and he has been a valuable player in the shorter formats as well.”It seems a long while ago now,” Hastings said of his move south. “Three years ago [Victoria coaches] Greg Shipperd and Simon Helmot gave me a call and said do you want to come down to Victoria and see if you can try your luck down here and it’s been brilliant. I feel like I’m a lot stronger and a lot fitter than I was last year.”Across all formats during the voting period, Hastings scored 324 runs at 29.45 and took 49 wickets at 22.77 in 17 matches. He joins a list of Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year winners featuring elite names such as Brett Lee, who won the inaugural prize in 2000, Nathan Bracken, Shane Watson and Ben Hilfenhaus.The Women’s International Cricketer of the Year was Shelley Nitschke, who claimed her second title having also won last year. Nitschke (71 votes) scored a narrow win from Lisa Sthalkear (64), having made 631 runs at 35.05 in 18 ODIs during the voting period and collecting 17 wickets at 29.47.