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Arsenal could revive their interest in Newcastle United’s Freddie Woodman, Chronicle Live journalist Lee Ryder has claimed.

The lowdown

Arsenal have a ‘pressing need’ for a second-choice goalkeeper but it was revealed on Wednesday that talks over a potential deal for Sheffield United’s Aaron Ramsdale were ‘on the brink of breaking down’ (via The Athletic).

The Blades were demanding £35million for Ramsdale when Arsenal hoped to pay around half that figure.

Woodman is set to start Newcastle’s Premier League opener at home to West Ham United on Sunday with Martin Dubravka and Karl Darlow both sidelined.

He spent last season on loan at Swansea City, keeping a league-high 21 clean sheets for the beaten playoff finalists. The 24-year-old’s Transfermarkt value has now climbed to £9million.

Newcastle and Arsenal have already done business this summer, of course, with Joe Willock’s permanent move announced on Friday.

The latest

Ryder reports that, earlier in the summer, a swap deal was discussed whereby Woodman would head to the Emirates and Willock would return to Tyneside.

That was abandoned after Dubravka and Darlow were hit with separate issues, but Arsenal could now re-open conversations after encountering frustration in their Ramsdale pursuit.

The verdict

Newcastle might not stand in Woodman’s way when Dubravka or Darlow return to the fold, but it will be interesting to see what the player himself decides.

Will the allure of Arsenal persuade him to accept another back-up role, or will he express a preference for first-team football elsewhere?

Off the back of his displays for Swansea last season, he really ought to be a starting ‘keeper in the Premier League.

In other news, Newcastle have reached an agreement for this perfectly-named ace. 

The ICC will look into a complaint from the BCCI against Clive Lloyd, the ICC cricket committee chairman, for suggesting the unrecognised ICL and the IPL, run by the BCCI, should learn to co-exist

Cricinfo staff21-Nov-2008The ICC will look into a complaint from the BCCI against Clive Lloyd, the ICC cricket committee chairman, for suggesting the unrecognised ICL and the IPL, run by the BCCI, should learn to co-exist. However, Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said it would first check with Lloyd to understand the context and veracity of the remarks that were reported in an Indian newspaper.Confirming the ICC had received an email from N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, on the issue, Lorgat told Cricinfo the ICC would approach the issue in a “fair and appropriate” manner. There was no time-frame involved in the process, he said.Asked about the ICL during a private visit to Mumbai last week, Lloyd, the former West Indies captain had told that “there’s nothing like having a discussion to break the ice”, and suggested the West Indies needed leagues like the ICL and the IPL to revive the game in the country.The BCCI on Thursday wrote to the ICC seeking action against Lloyd and compared the situation to the stepping down of Sunil Gavaskar as ICC cricket committee chairman earlier this year. Gavaskar was asked by the ICC to choose between his ICC role and that of a media commentator.Lorgat said he didn’t believe the comparison was valid. “We need to first establish if the merits of the case are the same,” Lorgat told Cricinfo. “Personally, I don’t believe so. We need to just ensure he does not make comments that are not appropriate. And if it is different case we need to establish exactly what the facts are without which it is very difficult to make comments.”The BCCI has adopted a hard-line position against ICL, and banned players associated with it from all forms of official cricket. It has also refused to entertain requests from the ICL for recognition, and pushed for a worldwide ban on players and officials associated with the Twenty20 league.Interestingly, the BCCI’s Asian allies have emerged with conflicting policies on ICL. Sri Lanka Cricket, headed by Arjuna Ranatunga, has allowed six ICL players to participate in a domestic competition, while Javed Miandad, the new director-general of the Pakistan board, has questioned the intent of the bans enforced by past PCB administrations on players contracted with the ICL.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Leeds United midfielder Carlton Palmer believes a deal for Ryan Kent is one that could easily get done following Rangers’ elimination from the Champions League.

As reported by The Athletic, Kent has been of interest to Leeds for a while and it could now be easier to get him out of Ibrox after his side’s Champions League setback.

The Rangers winger is yet to really take off this season but was thoroughly impressive last term as he helped Steven Gerrard’s men to the title.

He scored eight goals and produced seven assists in the Gers’ regular Scottish Premiership campaign, providing a serious threat down the left flank.

On Leeds’ chances of signing the 24-year-old winger before the transfer window closes, Palmer told FFC:

“I think the noises coming out of Rangers now… even Steven Gerrard himself has said Rangers going out of the Champions League is a huge financial loss for them. So, you know, I think he’s accepted that he may lose one or two of his better players.

“I think it’s basically the numbers game now. If Leeds can come back with the right numbers for Ryan, I think that’s a deal that could quite easily get done.”

Given their long-term interest and the predicament Rangers are in following their Champions League exit, it probably would not be a shock to see Leeds make a bid for Kent before the transfer window closes.

The quarter-final line-ups were decided at the end of the seventh round

Cricinfo staff21-Dec-2008Gujarat 394 (PA Patel 206, Panchal 59, TK Patel 48) beat Orissa 162 (Behera 49, Parmar 6-53) and 154 (Behera 50, Parmar 6-51, TK Patel 3-46) by an innings and 78 runs
Scorecard

Ajinkya Rahane followed up his first-innings 80 with an unbeaten 82 as Mumbai sealed a nine-wicket win over Punjab at the Brabourne Stadium © Cricinfo Ltd
Niranjan Behera fought hard yet again, but there was not much support from the others as Orissa crashed to an innings-and-78-run defeat in Bhubaneshwar. It was surprising that a game which meandered on the third and fourth, with Gujarat crawling at two runs an over, ended in a result. Orissa once again found it tough to handle Mohnish Parmar, who bettered his first-innings 6 for 53 with figures of 6 for 51 – his best match-haul in first-class games.Overnight on 382 for 8, Gujarat could add only 12 to their total, with Timil Patel missing out on a half-century by two runs. Orissa’s openers progressed slowly as they played out nearly 17 overs, but wickets started to fall regularly once Amit Singh struck. Only the top order managed to stick around for a substantial amount of time at the crease in an innings which lasted 58.4 overs. Timil backed up Parmar with three wickets in his 14.4 overs.Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel said he was pleasantly surprised with Parmar’s performance on what looked to be a slow wicket. “We were keeping our fingers crossed, for we expected the Orissa batsmen to put up a good fight,” he told the .
ScorecardDelhi’s hopes of making the quarter-finals were over on the third day, and what could have been a gripping final day’s play turned out to be a slow end to a disappointing season for the defending champions. Allrounder Rajat Bhatia scored his first hundred of the tournament, and Pradeep Sangwan his maiden first-class fifty, as Delhi reached 688 after resuming on 505 for 5. A win was clearly not on Delhi’s minds: they started the day with a lead of 210 and played out 53.5 overs till they were bowled out. For Rajasthan, Pankaj Singh took three wickets to add to his scalp of Virat Kohli on Saturday.Delhi struck two early blows in Rajasthan’s second innings, which ended at 55 for 3 in 19 overs as the match finished in a draw.Vijay Dahiya, the Delhi coach, said the batsmen had gained valuable batting practice even though they had missed out on a place in the last eight. “We knew that we had no chance of reaching the quarterfinals, so we didn’t see any point in declaring,” he told the . “Even an outright win wouldn’t have been enough to overtake Saurashtra as they were way behind on run-quotient.”Tamil Nadu 475 for 6 dec (Mukund 162, KD Karthik 113, Ashwin 103*) and 389 for 7 dec (AB Karthik 107, Kumar 90, Ganapathy 53*) drew with Railways 314 (Goud 97, Cheluvaraj 65, Mahesh 4-90)
ScorecardTamil Nadu, who had opted against the follow-on on the third day, used the fourth for some valuable batting practice ahead of the quarter-finals. Opener Arun Karthik scored a century, and Suresh Kumar and C Ganapathy made half-centuries as the match ended with them declaring their second innings at 389 for 7.Karthik, overnight on 27, went on to his second first-class hundred in only his fourth game, hitting 17 fours in a 133-ball107. Suresh Kumar missed a maiden first-class ton, scoring a career-best 90 off 120 balls, with 11 fours and two sixes. The lower order then took the opportunity to score quick runs. C Ganapathy’s unbeaten 50-ball 53 was his first half-century, and Yo Mahesh made an equally brisk 47 before he was out stumped. The two put on 101 for the seventh wicket, the only century stand in the innings. Tamil Nadu, who finished on top of Group B, will meet Bengal, the qualifiers from the Plate League, in the quarter-finals.
ScorecardMumbai maintained their supremacy, thrashing Punjab by nine wickets in their final match of the group stage. Ajinkya Rahane and Wasim Jaffer swiftly overhauled the target of 149 before the stroke of lunch on the final day. Rahane added an unbeaten 82, to go along with his first-innings 80, and combined well with his captain as the undefeated 130-run second-wicket partnership extinguished Punjab’s hopes. (Read the full report.)Quarter-final line-up (December 26-29)
Gujarat v Uttar Pradesh in Vadodara
Mumbai v Himachal Pradesh in Ahmedabad
Saurashtra v Karnataka in Mumbai
Tamil Nadu v Bengal in Bangalore

England look like needing a new captain for the second time in five months so who are the candidates for one of the toughest jobs in English sport?

Andrew McGlashan07-Jan-2009
Leading man: Andrew Strauss is favourite to replace Kevin Pietersen now he is certain of his Test place © Getty Images
Andrew Strauss
The frontrunner to take over, and many believe Strauss should have been made England captain for the 2006-07 Ashes ahead of Andrew Flintoff. The ECB would probably have liked him to be a candidate when Michael Vaughan stood down, but he was still battling to secure his place back in the top order. Twin hundreds in Chennai confirmed him as a long-term fixture once again, and now his calmness could be just what the team needs during these tumultuous times. His previous short spell as captain, in 2006, brought an impressive series win against Pakistan and even when Kevin Pietersen took the role the thought still remained his time would come.
Pros A senior player with previous captaincy experience, respected by his team-mates
Cons Not part of the one-day or Twenty20 set-upAlastair Cook
Like Michael Atherton, Cook has carried the tag of an FEC (Future England Captain) since he made his nerveless debut against India in 2006. Despite a below-par 2008 he is still a fixture as opening batsman in the Test team, but has lost his one-day place and will struggle to make the grade in the limited-overs game as a one-paced player. At just 24 it would be a very young appointment and he would be best left to work on his own game without the burden of leading a team. He has plenty of time to rise to the top of the English game.
Pros A long-term pick which would allow planning for the future
Cons Like Strauss, only a Test certainty and still very youngAndrew Flintoff
Still the talismanic figure of English cricket and a good barometer of how the team is performing. His return from a long-term ankle injury has added another dimension to the team in all formats and he carries a huge amount of respect from team-mates and opposition. However, following the 5-0 Ashes whitewash he said he wouldn’t want to take on the captaincy again and England will be loath to over-burden such a key figure with leadership duties. Flintoff is best suited to being the heartbeat of the side with bat and ball.
Pros A chance for him to prove he can lead a team after the Ashes whitewash would be a motivation
Cons He’s too important to the team and already has enough on his plateRobert Key
If the ECB finally decide to look outside the Team England bubble, Kent captain Key will be the leading figure from the domestic scene. His name was touted when Vaughan stepped down and his captaincy style has developed since taking the role with Kent, even though the county has struggle on the field. He is a calm, laid-back leader who would allow the players to be their own people and would have no problem fitting back into a side which includes good friends Flintoff and Steve Harmison.
Pros A new face would bring new ideas, and at the same time would freshen up a batting order that has become stale
Cons Would have to justify his place with runs at the same time as learning international captaincy.Paul Collingwood
He resigned the one-day captaincy at the same time as Vaughan stood down and probably the only thing in his favour is that he can command a place in all formats of the game. When he was in charge of the one-day side he struggled to make his presence felt and was involved in the run-out controversy involving Grant Elliott at The Oval when he refused to recall the batsman.
Pros A tough character for tough times, possibly as short-term solution
Cons Wasn’t quite up to it previously and is seemingly always fighting for his place.Michael Vaughan
He resigned in tears, saying he’d put everything he had into the captaincy for five years. Would he have anything left to give with England crying out for some stability? His credentials aren’t in doubt, but the same problem would arise as when he quit over his batting form. However, with the most important series this year being the Ashes it might be the desperate solution to a desperate situation.
Pros Been there, done that and won the Ashes
Cons Has had his time and no chance to prove any batting form

According to Sky Sports News reporter and Sunderland fan Tom White (via The Sunderland Echo), the Black Cats are in talks to sign Arsenal’s Ryan Alebiosu on loan.

The Lowdown: Positive start to the new season

The Stadium of Light outfit have started the season positively. Of the six games they have played this term, they have won five and lost one (Sky Sports).

Lee Johnson and co have been busy in the transfer market, bringing in seven new players (Transfermarkt), and it seems they may not be done yet.

The Latest: Sunderland eye Alebiosu

As per White, Sunderland are in talks to bring in Alebiosu from the Gunners.

Speaking to Roker Report (via Sunderland Echo), he revealed the deal is not at an advanced stage, saying:

“We are in for a player from Arsenal called Ryan Alebiosu. Never seen him play, hadn’t heard of him until someone told me about him. We’re in for him but at this stage it’s only in talks. He’s a full-back, don’t even know if he’s right or left.”

The Verdict: Unknown quantity

As White says, Alebiosu is something of an unknown quantity. The 19-year-old is yet to make a single first-team appearance for the London outfit, although he has turned out 46 times for the Premier League’s side’s youth sides. A right-back, he has also played at left-back on occasion according to Transfermarkt.

It is unclear whether Johnson is looking to capture the teenager to become a starter or long-term project, but his experience with a club at the highest level could come in handy as Sunderland look to earn promotion to the Championship. It remains to be seen whether the Black Cats get a deal over the line.

In other news, Sunderland fans were livid with this former player’s interview.

Express & Star reporter Luke Hatfield believes Wolverhampton Wanderers target Duje Caleta-Car would be an exciting deadline day signing if they can get the deal over the line, although Sky Sports’ Lyall Thomas has reported a move is unlikely before 11pm.

The 24-year-old Marseille defender has been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League for some time and turned down a switch to West Ham United last year.

According to French media outlet RMC Sport, Wolves have become Caleta-Car’s latest suitors and have tabled a £12.85million bid. The report suggests Marseille are looking to cash in on the Croatia international, who made two appearances at Euro 2020.

The 24-year-old has yet to feature for Marseille this season and new Wolves head coach Bruno Lage, who succeeded Nuno Espirito Santo in June, could be keen to strike a deal before the transfer window slams shut tonight.

Hatfield, who admits Wolves have been linked with a number of central defenders throughout the window, believes Caleta-Car would improve Lage’s backline.

He told The Transfer Tavern: “Central defence is a position where they need to strengthen.

“Caleta-Car would be an exciting signing and it rings a little bit more true when compared to other players who have been linked to Wolves. It seems like a more reasonable link than some other names.

“He could be an interesting signing if it were to happen.”

The Rajasthan Royals have picked a young fast bowler, Kamran Khan, out of obscurity for the second season of the IPL

Cricinfo staff17-Feb-2009The Rajasthan Royals have picked a young fast bowler, Kamran Khan, out of obscurity for the second season of the IPL. Not much is known about him except that he impressed Darren Berry, Rajasthan’s director of coaching, during a recent Twenty20 tournament in Mumbai.Kamran, 18, a left-arm fast bowler, has never played first-class cricket. Primarily a tennis-ball bowler, he now finds himself with a Rs 12 lakh (approximately $24,000) contract with Rajasthan. “I can’t express how happy I am. I knew I would play for a big team one day, but I never thought it would come so early,” Kamran, 18, told , the Mumbai-based tabloid.His coach, Naushan Khan, told Cricinfo that his ward, who joined him five years ago, was a complete novice when he came to Mumbai from his hometown, Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. “He was very raw when he first met me, and most of his experience was, and remains, with a tennis ball,” said Naushan. “We have worked on his action and tried to develop him into a proper pace bowler. Kamran’s work will hopefully start to yield results. I don’t think it has really hit Kamran yet that he will be in the same squad as so many big players.”We entered him into the Mumbai Police squad for a Twenty20 tournament at the DY Patil Stadium recently, and he impressed plenty there. Darren Berry happened to be there and he was impressed with Kamran.”Kamran took seven wickets in three matches in the Twenty20 tournament.This is not the first time the Rajasthan management has unearthed a player and sent everyone scurrying to find out his antecedents. Before the inaugural IPL they signed up the greenhorn Dinesh Salunkhe, who came into the spotlight through a TV talent-hunt show but had yet to play a first-class match.

Leeds United could choose to sell a big-name player in order to follow the Leicester City model, according to journalist Graham Smyth.

The Lowdown: Leeds in a great place

The Whites are enjoying a wonderful period in the club’s history, with Marcelo Bielsa guiding them back into the Premier League and establishing them as a top-half team, playing exhilarating football along the way.

Leeds now have a formidable squad capable of battling across various competitions, and in someone like Kalvin Phillips, they have a genuine international star in their ranks.

[freshpress-quiz id=“359346″]

The Latest: Star player could be sold

While Phillips isn’t specifically mentioned, the Yorkshire Evening Post‘s Smyth has responded to a question on Twitter and claimed that Leeds could eventually opt to sell one of their prized assets, hinting at the way Leicester City have cashed in on players before reinvesting:

“No I don’t imagine so. But if they’re going to follow the Leicester model someone’s likely to be sold at some point aren’t they?”

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-15/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Inevitability about it?

In truth, the Whites will find it impossible to keep hold of their best players forever – sadly, that is the nature of modern football, with richer clubs eventually getting their own way.

It could be that an enormous offer comes in for Phillips next summer, for example, at which point Leeds may feel selling him on and building the squad with those funds could be more beneficial in the long-term.

In an ideal world, someone of Phillips’ calibre would remain at Elland Road forever, but it may end up making more sense to part ways and use it to their advantage, assuming he wants a fresh challenge.

In other news, Leeds have been tipped to sign one player in January. Find out who it is here.

Nuwan Kulasekara has attributed his rise to the elite of international cricket’s one-day bowlers as down to to his perseverance and hard work over the past year

Sa'adi Thawfeeq07-Feb-2009
Nuwan Kulasekara has performed consistently and is currently No. 2 in the ICC ODI rankings. © Getty Images
Nuwan Kulasekara has attributed his rise to the elite of international cricket’s one-day bowlers to to his perseverance and hard work over the past year. Only five points separate Kulasekara from Daniel Vettori on the ICC’s official rankings of ODI bowlers, and the Sri Lankan medium-pacer said he was just glad to be able to contribute to the team’s cause.Kulasekara has climbed to No. 2 in the ICC rankings for ODI bowlers after an impressive run of performances since his return to the team in April 2008. In that period, he has taken 45 wickets at an average of 20.97, including five wickets in the last two ODIs of the series against Pakistan, where he wrecked the top order to help his team win both the games by sizeable margins.”In the last 12 months or so I have performed very well taking wickets consistently in one-day cricket. That is the reason why I was able to come up in the rankings,” Kulasekara said.The 26-year-old has improved so much that his captain had the confidence to make him the spearhead of the fast-bowling attack on occasions when veteran Chaminda Vaas was left out of the side. Kulasekara did not fail in the challenges that was thrown at him, and kept on improving.Explaining his success as a new-ball bowler Kulasekara said: “Bowling with the new ball I am able to get my natural inswing going. It is very effective when I pitch it on a good line and length. That’s how I obtain the majority of my wickets.”To add to his swing Kulasekara has also developed a slower ball and learnt to vary his deliveries. He admitted that he had also increased his arm speed which has enabled the ball to skid on to the batsmen at a much quicker pace than what he was bowling at the beginning of his career.Kulasekara worked with Sri Lanka fastbowling coaches Champaka Ramanayake and Anusha Samaranayake and continues to do so with team head coach Trevor Bayliss and his assistant Paul Farbrace. “They have taught me the basics and brought new ideas on how to bowl a slow ball, how to vary balls and study batsmen,” said Kulasekara.”I don’t want to compare myself with anyone. I try to do bowl to my strengths depending on the state of the match. My deliveries vary from batsmen to batsmen. My role in the team is to get early breakthroughs with the new ball. I have been successful so far in doing that. I want to assist the team to win matches and be an important member of it. I hope to be a part of the 2011 World Cup side.”