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Newcastle United could now reportedly sign Boubacar Kamara before the summer transfer window ends.

The Lowdown: Successful season

Kamara enjoyed a successful 2020/21 season with Marseille, as he helped them reach fifth place in the Ligue 1 table and thus achieving qualification for the UEFA Europa League in the process.

The supremely versatile midfielder played in 35 games in total in the division, winning no fewer than 6.9 of his duels per match as well as averaging 2.5 tackles, 1.3 clearances and one interception per game (Sofascore).

The Latest: Kamara update

As per L’Equipe (via Sport Witness), Kamara would not mind changing teams before the window shuts, and Marseille have had ‘good discussions’ with the St. James’ Park faithful.

However, they have only made an offer of around €14m (£11.9m), which is a long way from the €40m (£33.9m) price being quoted.

That approach was rejected by the president of Marseille Pablo Longoria, who is also in talks with Sevilla about Kamara, and is ‘more inclined’ to accept an offer from them instead.

The Verdict: Avoid

While Kamara is clearly a very good player – he was even once dubbed a ‘phenomenon’ by his former teammate Rolando back in May 2020 – £33.9m is simply way too much money for the North East club to spend on one player at this moment in time, with the Magpies in limbo waiting for takeover developments.

They already have quite a lot of cover in the centre of midfield with the likes of Isaac Hayden, Jonjo Shelvey, Jeff Hendrick, Sean and Matty Longstaff and what looks to be the likely arrival of Joe Willock from Arsenal.

Thus, with any money they have free in the bank, they should be using it to strengthen in other areas of the pitch, such as finding an out-and-out centre-back.

In other news, find out which NUFC star has now been backed to be sold to a Premier League rival here!

Michael Hussey has seen no signs from Matthew Hayden that he is about to retire and would be stunned if the opener was not part of next month’s tour to South Africa. Hayden scored 39 in the second innings to continue his horrible run at home this season a

Cricinfo staff06-Jan-2009
Matthew Hayden has struggled in the series against South Africa, averaging 19.50 in six innings © Getty Images
Michael Hussey has seen no signs from Matthew Hayden that he is about to retire and would be stunned if the opener was not part of next month’s tour to South Africa. Hayden scored 39 in the second innings to continue his horrible run at home this season amid increasing pressure to call time on his 103-Test career.Hussey was in the dressing room when Hayden returned from his final five-day innings in Australia – he has talked about bowing out in England next year – after being bowled trying to heave Morne Morkel over midwicket. “He was fine,” Hussey said. “I was padding up when he came in, sometimes he comes in calm, sometimes he’s not so calm. He put his gear down and didn’t say too much.”Hayden, 37, has not spoken to his team-mates about walking away and has received regular backing from the side and the selectors, who were under fire for choosing him in Sydney instead of a younger option. “He hasn’t said anything to us,” Hussey said. “From my point of view, I hope he keeps going. From what I see inside the camp, he’s very hungry for runs. I’m not seeing any signs that he wants to call it a day.”

Marcus Bent reckons that Calum Chambers would be an amazing signing for his former side Crystal Palace.

The Patrick Vieira era is well underway, with the Frenchman already adding four players to his squad in Michael Olise, Marc Guehi, Joachim Andersen and most recently, Conor Gallagher on loan from Chelsea.

Despite several high-profile departures, Palace have managed to keep talisman Wilfried Zaha up to now, and are building an impressive squad ahead of the new campaign.

According to 90 Min, Vieira is hoping to make another defensive addition in the shape of Chambers, with Arsenal open to offloading the 26-year-old.

Chambers, who’s racked up 149 Premier League appearances, has been with the Gunners for seven years but hasn’t quite managed to establish himself as a regular despite his ability to play in more than one position (as per Transfermarkt).

But he ended the campaign as Arsenal’s first-choice right-back and has been used heavily there already in pre-season which would suggest that he could still be in Mikel Arteta’s plans.

With Palace desperately needing another right-back following the departure of Nathaniel Clyne, Bent recognises the Arsenal defender’s quality.

He exclusively told FFC:

“Calum Chambers is a good player, whether Crystal Palace can get him, they have to look at that, but he would be an amazing signing.”

Ravel Morrison was once described by Sir Alex Ferguson as the “the best kid he’s ever seen”, and Dean Windass believes that another Manchester United great, Wayne Rooney, should give him a chance at Derby.

Morrison, still just 28-years-old, has played for no less than 11 different clubs since leaving Old Trafford nine years ago, but has spent just a single season at all but one of those.

His last adventure was a brief stint with Dutch outfit ADO Den Haag, but he played just five times across all competitions.

Morrison has played a limited amount of football in recent seasons but is currently on trial with the Rams as he looks to finally fulfil at least some of his incredible potential.

He has started each of Derby’s two pre-season friendlies, playing the first hour against Man United before 72 minutes in Saturday’s defeat at Salford United.

Rooney’s side are currently under a transfer embargo, but Morrison is a free agent following his release from Den Haag back in January, meaning he could become an option for the Derby boss should he impress in the coming weeks.

Windass exclusively told The Transfer Tavern that Rooney could be perfect for the troubled United academy graduate:

“The boy has got so much ability. He’s had his off the field problems, but Wayne will know him, and will know what a talent he is.

“Maybe he needs a Wayne Rooney, who will go ‘come on, the penny has got to drop with you some time. Do you want to come and play in the Championship with me?’

“Everyone makes mistakes, you don’t become a bad player overnight. He would be a great signing for Derby, so let’s have a look and see what his attitude is like.”

John Ward reports from the first day of Yorkshire against Sussex at Scarborough

John Ward at Scarborough17-Sep-2008Somerset 160 for 3 (Suppiah 58*, Langer 55) v Yorkshire
ScorecardIt was a dull grey day in Scarborough; not a drop of proper rain fell during playing hours, but due to bad light only 44 overs were permitted by the umpires. There was much interesting cricket in this time, however, as Yorkshire bowled very well, only to be met with determined Somerset batting, with the balance of luck falling perhaps more on the side of the visitors.A damp outfield meant that the start of play was delayed by half an hour. This was umpire Barrie Leadbeater’s final match on home soil before his retirement, and a report stated that he was only 15 lbw victims short of the record for any umpire in top-class cricket. If this influenced Darren Gough’s decision to bowl first on winning the toss, it backfired, as Leadbeater was not very co-operative with his index finger on this occasion.Somerset seem to have acquired the habit of entertaining from the first ball of the match. Two matches ago, at Nottingham, Justin Langer was lbw to the first ball; last week at Taunton he survived a similar appeal by the narrowest of margins. This time, with Arul Suppiah in the side, he decided to go in at No. 3, but still had to face the second ball of the innings. Marcus Trescothick took strike, attempted a footwork-free swing at Matthew Hoggard’s first ball, well outside the off stump, and edged it to the keeper, a remarkable lapse from a batsman of his quality.The Yorkshire seamers did a fine job in fairly helpful conditions, but luck was on the side of the batsmen, although nobody could begrudge it to them as they fought their way through. Hoggard troubled Langer, who nevertheless struck him twice through the covers for four. His policy seemed to be to hammer the loose ball to the boundary and block the rest, as evidenced by the statistic that his fifty contained no fewer than 12 fours in 71 balls.Langer hit one crisp four after another and reached his landmark in the course of hammering Darren Gough for five boundaries in six balls. With 55 to his credit, though, he tried to slog Adil Rashid before having a look at him, and lobbed a catch into the covers.At the other end Suppiah hung on like a limpet, but was not as slow as he appeared, simply because he did not have much of the strike. He did a good holding job for his team, while Zander de Bruyn (0) fell lbw, sweeping, to Rashid as umpire Leadbeater finally answered one of numerous close appeals in the affirmative.The afternoon session was marred by bad light and poor Yorkshire fielding. Richard Pyrah, usually reserved for one-day cricket, missed Suppiah on 34 at third slip off Deon Kruis, and in the same over survived a much harder chance offered by James Hildreth, then on 13. Later on, with 26 to his account, Hildreth survived as Gerard Brophy fluffed a simple stumping, this time off Rashid. In the meantime the score progressed from 103 to 160 with three wickets down, despite two breaks for bad light. Suppiah was gradually opening up, playing some good shots through the covers, and reached his 50 off 112 balls.Tea was taken early after the second stoppage, and play never resumed afterwards. The natives grew restless, as is only to be expected in Yorkshire, and there were visions of such headlines as “Umpire lynched in final home match.” It did seem as if the umpires were unduly pernickity for at least part of the time when play was not taking place, and one would have thought that the players themselves, with their teams so desperate for points at this stage of the season, would have wanted to get on with the game.But such is the caution of professional cricket, and they tend to give the impression they would rather play with a football on the outfield (as Somerset did) than get on with the real game. With the match unseasonably late for Scarborough, they only had about half as many spectators as usual for this championship match, although still well over a thousand. Most of them as they trailed home today would probably have described themselves as dissatisfied customers.

Beau Casson, the left-arm wrist spinner, has been chosen in Australia’s third Test team for Thursday’s final match of the series

Cricinfo staff10-Jun-2008
Brad Haddin will play through the pain in Barbados © Getty Images
Beau Casson, the left-arm wrist spinner, has been chosen in Australia’s third Test team for Thursday’s final match of the series against West Indies in Barbados. Stuart MacGill’s retirement in Antigua opened a spot for Casson while Brad Haddin will play despite carrying a broken ring finger on his right hand.”Beau’s been named in the eleven … it’s exciting for him,” Ricky Ponting told AAP. “He’s fitted in extremely well … he’s worked hard and now he’s got an opportunity to play in a Test, which is great.”Casson had a strong end to the Pura Cup season to prove to the selectors he was Australia’s best option behind MacGill, but he was not expected to play on the tour. He will be the country’s 401st Test representative and will be able to operate safe in the knowledge the team, which leads the series 1-0, has already recaptured the Frank Worrell Trophy.Ponting believes Casson has already benefited from his time with the squad. “He has come along in leaps and bounds as a person,” Ponting told . “He has been a little bit more outspoken than at the start of the tour. It has helped his bowling a lot, and if you talk to him, he feels he has become a more consistent bowler now than when he arrived, and this is a good sign for him.”I have had a pretty close look at him throughout this tour, and I have had a few good chats with him about his bowling. He is pretty eager to learn, but he’s well sorted to tell the truth. He knows his stuff pretty well, and it’s obvious he’s had a fair bit of help along the way.”Luke Ronchi was called into the squad as a shadow player for Haddin, who hurt his hand in the opening Test. However, Haddin refused to succumb to the injury and will battle through the pain in Barbados.Australia 1 Phil Jaques, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 Michael Clarke, 6 Andrew Symonds, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Brett Lee, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Beau Casson, 11 Stuart Clark.

Mohammad Asif has been confirmed as the player who tested positive for a banned substance during the Indian Premier League

Cricinfo staff14-Jul-2008
Mohammad Asif has once again landed in trouble on charges of doping © AFP
Mohammad Asif has been confirmed as the player who tested positive for a banned substance during the Indian Premier League (IPL), the league has announced. The IPL, though, hasn’t revealed the drug that was found in the sample that Asif, who played for the Delhi Daredevils, provided during random testing.The IPL compared the result from the WADA-approved laboratory in Switzerland [that tested the samples] with the data collected by IDTM, the Sweden-based independent agency that organised the tests, and confirmed Asif as the player whose sample was positive.The IPL medical committee then scruntinised the form filled by Asif prior to the test to verify but he had not applied for or been granted an exemption for the drug found in the sample. “It was also checked if Asif had applied for and was granted a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE),” an IPL release said. “It was found that Asif had not applied for a TUE. A note in writing has been sent to the player and his home board and to the franchise on the findings.””I am shocked and surprised because I was extra cautious and never used any banned substances,” Asif told . “I don’t know what to do. I will decide the next course of action only after consultation with my lawyer.” Asif was detained in Dubai for possession of contraband drugs last month for 19 days and he is already the subject of a board inquiry into those events.Because of the globally unique nature of the case – Asif, as a Pakistani, tested positive at a domestic Indian tournament approved by the ICC – there is bound to be some confusion over final jurisdiction in the matter. The ICC had said in a release on Sunday that it was the responsibility of the BCCI to “deal with the process in a timely and fair manner”. Though initially the PCB said they would also take action against Asif, the case is not so clear anymore.Shafqat Naghmi, the board’s chief operating officer, told Cricinfo that the ICC and PCB anti-doping policy don’t specifically account for such a case. “Our anti-doping policy is aligned with the ICC’s, but that doesn’t account for a situation like this. But article 15.3.1 in WADA’s code says that in the case where an international player tests positive in another country’s tournament, the rules of the overall global governing body – the ICC here – are likely to apply.”We need to study it a bit more before we make a decision: who will form a tribunal in this case? The BCCI or the PCB? We think it is likely that the BCCI will form a tribunal and ICC’s anti-doping policy will apply,” Naghmi concluded.Asif now has the right to request that his ‘B’ sample [supplied at the same time as the one that tested positive] be sent for analysis, which he and his representative can attend along with an IPL representative. Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said the procedure will take about two weeks in case Asif sends his ‘B’ sample for testing.If the ‘B’ sample also tests positive, the matter will be taken up by the IPL’s drugs tribunal, comprising of Sunil Gavaskar, Dr Ravi Bapat (ex-Vice Chancellor of Maharashtra University of Health Sciences) and lawyer Shirish Gupte. The tribunal will study the issue and take a decision in accordance with the ICC’s anti-doping code.Asif played eight of Delhi’s 15 matches in the IPL, and shared the new ball alongside Glenn McGrath. He split the webbing on his right hand during the tournament. Greg Shipperd, the coach of the Delhi Daredevils, said he was unaware if any of his players had taken illegal substances. “They’d be pretty silly if they did take something they shouldn’t,” Shipperd told .Asif, along with Shoaib Akhtar, had tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone in PCB’s internal tests ahead of the Champions Trophy in 2006. He was banned for one year, which was overturned on appeal. Asif also cleared a dope test in August 2007 ahead of the World Twenty20 in South Africa.

A wicket apiece for Australia’s trio of fast bowlers consolidated their position of dominance at the end of the second day of the Melbourne Test

Stephen Lamb27-Dec-2002A wicket apiece for Australia’s trio of fast bowlers consolidated their position of dominance at the end of the second day of the Melbourne Test. Justin Langer eventually reached a career-best 250 and Steve Waugh 77, while an unbeaten 62 from Martin Love contributed usefully to another awesome total of 551 for six before Waugh’s declaration. By the close England had reached 97 for the loss of Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan and Mark Butcher.Glenn McGrath made Australia’s first breakthrough when Vaughan, after reaching 11 without apparent difficulty, got a bottom edge onto his stumps as he tried to force a delivery of the back foot.Brett Lee then accounted for Trescothick, and was unfortunate not to dismiss Nasser Hussain as he reached 97 miles per hour in a hostile spell. Trescothick had made 37 and was threatening a major innings when he tried to avoid a short ball which brushed his glove on the way through to wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist.Hussain survived a concerted appeal in Lee’s next over when a delivery brushed his shoulder. The England captain also survived trial by television when he drove Stuart MacGill to mid-on, where Jason Gillespie appeared to take a low catch. Hussain was ruled not out when replays were inconclusive. However Gillespie had his own slice of good fortune when he removed Butcher lbw despite an inside edge.Earlier Langer moved past his highest Test innings of 223 against India in Sydney three years ago. He would not have done so if Vaughan had held on to a straightforward catch at short extra cover off Craig White, allowing Langer to move on to 224. Eventually after hitting a six and 30 fours, he was dismissed two overs before the declaration, caught at short third man by Andrew Caddick off the expensive Richard Dawson.England’s first success of the morning was the wicket of Waugh, who had added 15 runs to his overnight total when he edged a lifting White delivery to James Foster. Martin Love was missed on 25 when he drove Mark Butcher to Vaughan at point, who again spilled the catch. Love had added 151 runs for the fifth wicket with Langer when he was finally dismissed. Gilchrist was then bowled heaving at Dawson to trigger the declaration.

The Celtic departure lounge is beginning to become a busy social hub right now.

Kristoffer Ajer is on the verge of heading to England, while Odsonne Edouard could still move towards the exit door.

What’s the word?

The Hoops are in danger of losing a number of players this summer, with Callum McGregor also appealed by the opportunity of moving south of the border.

Another player linked with a move to the Premier League is Ryan Christie. The Scotland international is fielding interest from Crystal Palace, but fresh reports dictate that they’re not the only club vying for his signature.

According to The Scottish Sun, Christie is set to receive a ‘life-changing’ offer from Saudi club Al-Hilal. His contract expires in January and he is essentially free to leave the Hoops without much money being involved.

Time to go

After the arrival of Liel Abada this week and the potential signing of Kristijan Lovric, this feels like the ideal time for Celtic to part company with Christie.

The attacking midfielder has been a wonderful servant to the club, scoring 40 goals and registering 41 assists in 142 outings. He was on fire in 2019/20, finding the net on 20 occasions.

However, much like Celtic in general, he endured a torrid 2020/21 campaign. Christie only beat the goalkeeper seven times last season and was relentlessly hounded by a number of supporters.

It was easy to see why. Although he was fielded out of position on the wing, the Scotland international had a nasty habit of attempting shots on goal from long-range instead of taking the smarter option of finding a closer teammate.

Talking about his form last season, Frank McAvennie told Football Insider: “He’s stopped chasing the ball, he looked so eager at the start of his career. Now he doesn’t look bothered.

“He’s lost his hunger, his appetite. That said, he was playing out of position last season.

“He became a bit of a laughing stock, he was just picking the ball up and shooting but he deserved some slack.”

With that in mind, it would be a surprise if the £12,000-per-week earner had any role to play under new manager Ange Postecoglou.

With a bid from Al-Hilal in the pipeline, Christie must use it as his excuse to finally leave Glasgow behind. Last season showed us that it’s time for Celtic to sever relations with the 26-year-old.

AND in other news, Postecoglou can seal his best Celtic signing yet in “exciting” 48-goal animal…

A journalist has claimed that Tottenham Hotspur could make a transfer offer for Haris Seferovic in the summer window.

The Lowdown: Kane situation unclear

The future of Harry Kane at Spurs is currently unclear, as Fabio Paratici has recently admitted that he would like to keep him after the England international captain reiterated his desire to leave (Sky Sports).

Whether the 27-year-old stays or goes, Nuno Espirito Santo’s team will surely be looking to bring in a new striker, whether that would be to replace Kane or play as a backup to him.

The Lowdown: Seferovic interest

As per Italian football journalist Rudy Galetti, the north London club are ‘interested’ in a move for Seferovic and are ‘thinking about making an offer’.

He describes the transfer saga as an ‘evolving situation’ and claims that the Benfica forward could make a move to the Premier League.

The Swiss international is currently valued at around €25m (£21.4m), and it may be a deal to watch as the window progresses.

The Verdict: Sign

Whatever happens with Kane, Tottenham should be looking to snap up a proven goalscorer in Seferovic.

The 29-year-old managed 26 goals and a further seven assists in 48 games across all competitions across the 2020/21 season (Transfermarkt) and carried that form into Euro 2020 with Switzerland.

Seferovic scored two headers against the reigning world champions and tournament favourites France in their last 16 tie, showing just how much of a beast that he can be in the air. With a 6 foot 2 frame, he should have no difficulty at all in coping with both the physical and aerial demands of the Premier League.

In other news, find out which ‘crazy’ ace has been touted a ‘dream’ signing for Spurs