Birmingham City are now believed to be interested in completing the signing of a “fantastic” £8m midfielder in the summer transfer window, according to a new transfer update.

Davies discusses Birmingham's summer business

The Blues are back in the Championship after a stunning season in League One in which they cruised to the league title ahead of Wrexham, and it will be fascinating to see how they fare.

It’s now a case of Birmingham nailing their summer transfer business, with manager Chris Davies admitting last month that certain players could move on, and new faces may come in.

“To be honest, I’ve found it hard to look into next season whilst this season is still going on. I haven’t had time to sit down and say, ‘Right, who’s staying and who’s going?’ Now it’s all wrapped up and we’ve got seven weeks to pre-season, ‘Ok, what do we need?’ We’ve got the core of a really strong team there but we do need to add, of course we do. The details of that are still to be decided.”

In terms of potential new signings, former Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi has been linked with a move to St Andrew’s this summer, with the Japanese now plying his trade at Ligue 1 side Rennes. Now, a new update has emerged regarding another possible addition for Birmingham.

Birmingham want to sign "fantastic" £8m midfielder

According to a new update from journalist Alan Nixon on Patreon, Birmingham are in the mix to sign Nottingham Forest midfielder Lewis O’Brien this summer.

He is also wanted by Southampton, following their relegation from the Premier League to the Championship, in what is expected to be an auction for his signature.

O’Brien, who cost the Reds £8m in 2022, could be a really astute signing for Birmingham this summer, considering he has proven his quality in the Championship in his career, making 162 appearances in the competition, as well as playing 13 times in the Premier League.

An all-action midfielder who could add real quality for Davies in the middle of the park, he once scored at St Andrew’s in a 2-0 win during his Huddersfield Town days, as well as being lauded by former teammate Jonathan Hogg.

“His attitude is fantastic and his work ethic. Everything about him; he’s a top kid with a bright future ahead of him. We know he is going to play in the Premier League. Whether it is with Huddersfield Town or not, he will get there. His attitude will drive him there.”

Still only 26, O’Brien is at the perfect age to come in and have an immediate impact for Birmingham, and the idea of a move away from Forest could appeal to him, rather than warming the substitutes’ bench most weeks at the City Ground.

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Davies will know the importance of signing players who have shown in the past that they can excel in the Championship and the Englishman certainly ticks that box emphatically.

Bangladesh made a big stride towards securing a Super Eights berth at the T20 World Cup 2024 with a confident 25-run win over Netherlands in the first international fixture in Kingstown in close to a decade.It was a welcome return to form for Shakib Al Hasan, who scored his first fifty in 20 T20I innings to shepherd Bangladesh to 159 for 5. Netherlands made a good fist of the chase, moving to 111 for 3 in the 15th over. But legspinner Rishad Hossain struck three times in four balls spread across two overs to change the course of the game.Related

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With Shakib and Mustafizur Rahman tightening the screws alongside Rishad, Netherlands fell in a heap, losing 4 for 6 in the space of 16 balls. They still had an outside chance with 36 needed off the last two overs, but Mustafizur Rahman’s cutters proved too much to handle in the 19th over. He kept slanting the ball across, and the batters kept swishing and missing. He conceded just three runs in that over, having given away just one in the 17th, and Netherlands were eventually restricted to 134 for 8.

Bangladesh fly away despite Dutt’s strikes

With the Bangladesh top order studded with left-handers, Netherlands brought Aryan Dutt in for his first game of the tournament and he immediately repaid their faith. Introduced in the second over, he removed the Bangladesh captain with his second ball. It was an innocuous length ball outside off, which Najmul Hossain Shanto reverse-swept straight to first slip.Dutt struck again in his next over, with a lot of help from Sybrand Engelbrecht. Litton Das eyed a slog-sweep only to get a top-edge well in front of square. But Engelbrecht, stationed behind square, sprinted to his left , put out a full-length dive and picked up a screamer inches off the turf.Despite the early losses, Bangladesh continued to score at a fair clip. Tanzid Hasan struck Vivian Kingma for two fours and a six in the third over before Shakib picked another four off Paul van Meekeren in the fifth. Shakib then laid into Logan van Beek in the sixth over, smashing him for four fours to take Bangladesh to 54 for 2, comfortably their highest powerplay score of the tournament.1:42

Maharoof: Shakib was prepared for Netherlands’ short-ball tactics

The middle-overs squeeze

Netherlands weren’t backing down, though. Captain Scott Edwards rung in the changes and the bowlers made sure to stick to their lengths. According to ESPNcricinfo’s logs, Netherlands only veered into the full lengths four times in 10 overs from the seventh to the 16th, and Bangladesh’s scoring rate dropped. The pressure told on Tanzid, who mistimed a pull to deep backward square leg in the ninth over, while Towhid Hridoy had his leg stump flattened by Tim Pringle in the 13th. Bangladesh managed only 58 runs in the middle ten overs with five fours and a six, and lost two wickets.

Shakib the glue as Bangladesh end strongly

The last time Shakib scored a fifty in T20Is was in October 2022 against Pakistan. At the T20 World Cup, he hadn’t breached the half-century mark since 2016. But on this crucial day, Bangladesh’s stalwart stood tall.He scored his first seven runs at a run-a-ball, and picked up his once he got the hang of the surface. And even when the runs dried up in the middle phase, he kept rotating strike without panicking. He reached his fifty off 38 balls and hit de Leede for back-to-back fours in the final over to finish unbeaten on 64 off 46 balls, his innings studded with nine fours.There were important contributions from Mahmudullah (25 off 21) and Jaker Ali (14* off seven) as Bangladesh collected 47 runs off the last four overs.Bas de Leede is stumped off Rishad Hossain•ICC/Getty Images

Bangladesh keep chipping away

With 349 runs in nine innings, Michael Levitt came into this tournament as Netherlands’ highest run-scorer in T20Is since the start of 2024. However, he’s had a dismal start to his T20 World Cup with scores of 1 and 0 against Nepal and South Africa. He seemed to change the tide against Bangladesh when he drove Mustafizur through the covers in the first over. Then, when he smashed Taskin Ahmed over the roof at deep midwicket, it seemed his campaign was back on track.But Levitt’s joy was short-lived. In the fifth over, he top-edged a cut off Taskin to Hridoy at point. In the next over, Max O’Dowd smashed a length ball straight back to Tanzim Hasan, and Netherlands ended the powerplay at 36 for 2.Vikramjit Singh hit Shakib for back-to-back sixes in the seventh over and slog-swept Rishad over deep midwicket in the ninth. His sprightly 16-ball knock was cut short when he was stumped, walking past a tossed-up delivery from Mahmudullah. But at 69 for 3 in the tenth over, Netherlands were still in with a chance.

Rishad triple-strike gives Bangladesh the W

Netherlands seemed to be giving Bangladesh a proper fight when Engelbrecht and Edwards were at the crease. The duo ran superbly and got the boundaries at regular intervals during a 31-ball stand of 42 for the fourth wicket.When Rishad was brought on to bowl the 15th over, Netherlands required 56 off 36. The legspinner’s first two overs had gone for 19 and he knew this over could decide the match. It did, in Bangladesh’s favour.With his fourth ball, he got Engelbrecht to top-edge a legbreak straight up, with Tanzim taking the catch at point. Two balls later, he had de Leede stumped with a ball that spun sharply past his outside edge. Mustafizur then got into the act by taking out Edwards, and when Rishad sent back Logan van Beek at the start of the 18th over, the game was as good as done.Dutt struck a six off Rishad later in that over, but he and Pringle had no answers to Mustafizur’s cutters in the 19th. Eventually, Netherlands fell well short of their target. The result does not knock them out of contention, nor does it give Bangladesh a sure-shot place in the Super Eight. It has, however, knocked Sri Lanka out, and given Bangladesh an excellent chance of advancing from Group D.

Glasgow Rangers head coach Russell Martin is set to bring a new style of play to Ibrox when his team takes to the field for the start of the 2025/26 campaign.

The former Scotland international plays a ball-dominant style that will see the Gers look to dominate possession and break teams down next term.

In order to build a squad that is suited to the way that the former Southampton manager wants to play, though, there will be players who have to move on in order to make way for new recruits.

One player who looks set to be on his way out of Ibrox is centre-back Robin Propper, as it was recently reported in his home country that he has agreed a deal to return to FC Twente on a three-year contract.

The Rangers Review also recently claimed that the Dutch giant is ‘expected’ to leave the club, amid interest in Leicester City central defender Conor Coady, who could come in as his replacement.

Why selling Robin Propper is a good move by Rangers

This proposed move back to FC Twente is a good move by Rangers and a good move for the defender because he did not settle in well at Ibrox on the pitch.

Propper did not do enough in his performances to show that he was ready for the physicality of the Scottish Premiership, which was a clear problem early on in his career in Glasgow.

In December 2024, the centre-back lost 100% (2/2) of his duels and was substituted at half-time against St. Johnstone, which led to him being criticised by former Gers midfielder Derek Ferguson.

The BBC Sportsound pundit said: “Propper is struggling. He’s been pretty vocal over the last couple of weeks that he’s finding it tough in our league. He’s been asked the question early on. It’s quite worrying when you see him struggling as bad as that. Look at the body language – he’s looking for a way out already.”

As you can see in the table above, the 31-year-old centre-back also struggled with the physicality of European football in the Europa League, as he lost the majority of his duels on the deck and in the air.

These statistics and the criticism of his play in the Premiership illustrate exactly why the decision to allow him to move back to the Netherlands is a good one for all parties involved.

Propper may not be the only first-team player to move on from Ibrox before the Martin era officially gets underway on the pitch, though, as another dud is attracting interest from elsewhere.

Five teams eyeing deal for Rangers forward

According to the Daily Record, a number of teams are showing an interest in Rangers winger Ross McCausland during the summer transfer window.

The report claims that FC Cincinnati, Plymouth Argyle, Cardiff City, Basel, and OH Leuven are all eyeing up a potential swoop for the Northern Ireland international.

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It states that they are all keeping tabs on his situation at Ibrox heading into the summer, which shows that there is plenty of interest from clubs across the globe and in the UK.

The Daily Record adds that McCausland is keen to remain at Rangers and would like to be a part of Martin’s project, but that the Scottish head coach could be willing to listen to offers for the academy graduate.

It reveals that the former Norwich City centre-back is still assessing the squad and that no final decisions have been made either, which means that the attacker’s future is still up in the air.

However, Rangers must take advantage of the level of interest in McCauland, with five teams eyeing him up, and cash in on him this summer.

Why selling McCausland is as important as Propper

As aforementioned, it is a good call to sell Propper because he did not deliver on the pitch and the Light Blues need more strength and quality in that area of the park to be successful under Martin next season.

Since making the breakthrough as a first-team regular under Philippe Clement in 2023, McCausland has failed to prove that he is good enough to be a key player for the Scottish giants moving forward.

The 21-year-old attacker has shown some promise at times, including scoring his first goal for the club in the Europa League in the clip above, but has not delivered consistently enough in the final third.

To date, McCausland has scored three goals and provided six assists in 44 appearances in the Premiership, and racked up seven goals and seven assists in 66 games in all competitions for the first-team.

As you can see in the table above, the Northern Irish dud ended the 2024/25 campaign without a single goal to show for his efforts in the league, whilst he had as many red cards as goal contributions.

McCausland was once described as an “explosive” player by talent scout Jacek Kulig, but he has failed to kick on since exploding onto the first-team scene at Ibrox. The winger has gone from an exciting young talent to just another one of the players, like Propper, who needs to be replaced.

Put simply, the Gers academy graduate does not offer enough in front of goal to be a key attacking figure for Martin moving forward, as shown by his lack of end product in the Premiership in particular, which is why it is as important to sell him as it is to sell Propper.

This could provide the new Rangers manager with a chance to replace him with another winger in the summer transfer window, with the hope that any new recruit could come in to offer more goals and assists to win vital points for the team moving forward.

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It is now down to Kevin Thelwell and Martin, though, to field offers and work with the interested parties to find the best solution for all parties involved.

There was a point during the overtures of the summer transfer window that Liverpool were clear ahead of any hopefuls in the race for Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike.

Liverpool are considered frontrunners in the race to sign the French forward, but Chelsea and Manchester United are also locked in negotiations with the Bundesliga club and the player’s representatives.

It’s an open race, and one which the Anfield side will be frustrated that they cannot advance in, given Darwin Nunez still sits firmly in Arne Slot’s squad. The Uruguayan striker is expected to leave the club this summer but, despite interest from Serie A and the Saudi Pro League, real progress has not yet happened.

Luckily, not much should change on the Ekitike front just yet, with his employers standing firm on their €100m (£85m) price tag – a valuation they don’t seem keen to meet.

Since Nunez is all but set to go, it would be wise for the Reds to search for alternatives, and Viktor Gyokeres is a name that has been bandied about.

Liverpool's interest in Viktor Gyokeres

Newcastle United qualified for the Champions League and does have the capacity to double down on their staggering £150m valuation of Alexander Isak.

Thus, alternatives like Ekitike and Sporting’s Gyokeres have been mapped out, and the latter is certainly an attractive option, given he has scored 97 goals across 102 appearances for the Portuguese club.

Arsenal and Manchester United have both shown more concrete interest than Liverpool in recent weeks, even if the Reds are keen, with the Gunners sure to be emboldened by the striker’s intimation that he would rather move to the Emirates than Old Trafford.

There’s no doubt that Gyokeres would prove an upgrade on Nunez, whose natural talent hasn’t been enough to make things click in England’s top flight, but the former is 27 and Sporting chiefs want his €100m (£85m) release clause met, which would put him in the same park as Ekitike.

Liverpool reportedly made contact with the Sweden international back in May, though there are concerns that his ridiculous rate of scoring would struggle to translate into Premier League life, and that’s why Liverpool have made contact with an exciting upgrade.

Liverpool open talks for Nunez replacement

As per the latest from TEAMtalk, Liverpool believe they have found a way to offload Nunez and solve their quest for a number nine at the same time.

Indeed, that’s by offering the 25-year-old, along with Federico Chiesa, to Napoli in return for Victor Osimhen, with talks having already happened regarding a potential swap deal.

Osimhen, 26, has just completed a successful loan spell with Galatasaray after a divorce from the Naples side, and his summer transfer is a given.

Valued at £60m, the Nigerian goalscorer is more affordable than the other forwards we’ve mentioned, and if Nunez, Chiesa or both are included in the package, he would be cheaper still.

Why Liverpool should sign Victor Osimhen

Frugality has been something that dissenters have targeted FSG with for a while, but who can say Liverpool’s owners have been anything but ambitious in the market thus far this month?

Even so, there’s a lot going on in the Anfield offices, and the coffers aren’t inexhaustible. Osimhen represents an affordable deal for an elite-level marksman.

Ekitike has a high ceiling, but the Frenchman isn’t as refined as Napoli’s man right now, and perhaps Osimhen is also more accomplished than Gyokeres, who has yet to prove himself at age 27 in one of Europe’s top five leagues.

Indeed, the rangy centre-forward has been hailed for his “world-class” finishing by Sky Sports’ Dougie Critchley, and that’s something Liverpool have been lacking at the front of the ship to be sure.

24/25 – Galatasaray

41

37

8

23/24 – Napoli

32

17

4

22/23 – Napoli

39

31

5

21/22 – Napoli

32

18

6

20/21 – Napoli

30

10

3

But goalscoring isn’t Osimhen’s sole forte. Powerful, robust and more dynamic than he might seem at a glance, the £83k-per-week striker likes to drive forward with the ball at his feet and make things happen for his teammates.

Make no mistake, Gyokeres is a high-level finisher and complete in his forward play, but Liverpool would be gambling in bringing him to the Premier League over someone more proven in Osimhen. The Premier League champions, after all, need the best of the best.

As per FBref, he ranked among the top 4% of forwards across Europe last season for shot-creating actions, the top 18% for progressive carries and the top 16% for ball recoveries per 90.

This shows that he’s mobile and efficient in utilising his athleticism, not just standing as a target man in spite of his prowess in the box.

Silky and stylish and all the rest, Osimhen would be a credit to Liverpool’s first team, bringing a fiery personality and a winning mentality.

Gyokeres is a physical force of a player himself, but he simply hasn’t achieved the same heights as Osimhen despite being a year his junior, and given that he would cost more, Liverpool will need to consider their options carefully, lest they make the wrong choice and hinder their chances of defending their Premier League title with Slot at the helm and indeed struggle to conquer trophies on tournamental fronts.

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Ben Stokes is set to make his first appearance in the Hundred for three years this summer. ESPNcricinfo understands that he has been made available by the ECB to play the second half of the group stage for Northern Superchargers, where he will be coached by Andrew Flintoff.Stokes made two appearances for the Superchargers in the inaugural season of the Hundred in 2021 but has not played since taking over as England’s Test captain, despite being named in their squads. He has instead opted to rest between Test series, having struggled with a chronic knee injury which prompted surgery after the 50-over World Cup last year.He suffered a severe panic attack the morning after his most recent appearance in the competition, which came at Trent Bridge in July 2021, when he collapsed on the floor of his hotel bathroom. It was depicted in , Stokes’ documentary with Sam Mendes, and prompted him to take a prolonged break from the game later that year.But ESPNcricinfo can reveal that he has been made available for four group-stage games this season — and the knockout stages, should the Superchargers qualify — starting with an away fixture against Birmingham Phoenix on August 6. It means one of England’s great allrounders will play under another, with Flintoff due to begin his first role as a head coach next week.Related

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The Hundred starts on Tuesday (July 23) but men’s teams will be light on star names in its first week due to a clash with the third Test against West Indies. It also overlaps with the latter stages of Major League Cricket, where many of the Hundred’s leading overseas players have spent the last two weeks.England’s batters will be released to play straight after the third Test at Edgbaston, while the allrounders and bowlers in the squad will be made available from August 6 onwards, for the second half of the group stages. Shoaib Bashir and Mark Wood do not have Hundred contracts, while the availability of Dillon Pennington and Matthew Potts will depend on their potential involvement in Birmingham.The ECB are due to confirm a number of injury replacements on Thursday, with Will Smeed (Phoenix) and Tash Farrant (Oval Invincibles) both set to miss the competition with hamstring injuries. Riley Meredith (Trent Rockets) and James Neesham (London Spirit) have signed short-term deals as cover for Joe Root and Zak Crawley respectively.Elsewhere, Tim Southee has replaced Naseem Shah at Phoenix after he was denied a No-Objection Certificate by the PCB, while New Zealand allrounder Mitchell Santner will deputise for Daniel Sams at Superchargers who has been ruled out due to a knee injury.

“I’m going to play the way I’ve been playing so far, nothing will change,” says India’s new T20I captain

Andrew Fidel Fernando26-Jul-20243:31

Suryakumar: ‘Nothing changes, will play the same way I have been so far’

In the cliche, the new leader of any organisation comes in, shakes things up for the sake of stamping their identity on the outfit, springs new ideas, and puts themselves at the centre of all things. It happens often in TV comedies. Perhaps even more so in real life.If we are to believe what he is saying, Suryakumar Yadav might not quite be kind of leader though. Ahead of his first match as permanent captain (he has led India in seven matches in an interim capacity before), he promises to be a steady hand on the rudder. And why would he be anything else? India don’t have Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli to call on any more in T20Is, but the majority of their World Cup-winning troupe is still intact, even if all of their stars are not on show in this series. Why try to fix what is not broken?”The same train will continue,” Suryakumar said. “Only the engine has changed. The bogies (carriages) are the same.”Related

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If this sounds jovial, it’s because India’s new captain has cause to be. His opposite, Charith Asalanka, is inheriting a team that is struggling to qualify for major global tournaments.India, meanwhile, do not just have a World Cup-winning team, they also have an IPL-winning coach in Gautam Gambhir. He and Suryakumar have worked together before at Kolkata Knight Riders. Suryakumar described their connection in glowing terms.”It’s now been 10 years since we’ve been working together, even though I went into a different franchise in 2018 and he also went to another. We used to keep in touch, talk about the game, even if we were in different teams. There have been learnings in the last six years too when I was not with him.”Our bond is special, we have spoken about the upcoming three T20s, not in great detail but we know each other fairly well, we can read each other’s body language. There are some things he understands even if I don’t say them in words. There’s a special bond between a captain and coach. I’m very excited for this journey.”Gambhir is not the only one who has sowed into the Suryakumar journey, however. Rohit has been his captain, both in the India side and in previous seasons of the IPL. Rohit has taught him plenty, Suryakumar said.”What I’ve learned from Rohit is that he is always a leader on and off the field, not just as a captain, there’s a big difference in the two. A leader stands with his players and guides them about how to play T20s, how to win games, and that’s what I’ve learnt from him.”On his own, explosive batting style, Suryakumar does not expect the captaincy to be any impediment.”I don’t think my batting style will change, as such. There will be pressure, but pressure is always there, otherwise there’s no fun in playing. I’m going to play the way I’ve been playing so far. Nothing will change. It’s better for me, in fact, because I can tell the team openly what brand of cricket we have to play in T20s going forward. I’ll enjoy it more and can probably pass on the pressure on to others (laughs) and enjoy my game.”