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Tottenham are "progressing" in talks with sporting director Joahnnes Spors and are also "discussing terms" with the club chief, according to reports.

Who could replace Paratici at Spurs?

Spurs and chairman Daniel Levy have plenty of work to do behind-the-scenes, with their search for a new permanent manager taking centre stage in particular.

Tottenham parted ways with former boss Antonio Conte nearly two months ago, yet after all this time, they're scarcely closer to making an official appointment.

Former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann, who arguably stands out as one of Europe's most exciting managers and is readily-available, is also out of the running for the Spurs job according to various reports.

Alongside their hunt for a new boss, Levy is said to be very keen on appointing a new sporting director to replace Paratici, with Benfica talent-spotter Rui Pedro Braz among the names under consideration.

The latter man is joined by the likes of Brenford director Lee Dykes, who has reportedly impressed Levy, alongside another name in Spors.

He currently operates as 777 Partners' Global Sporting Director, where Spors represents a plethora of clubs under their remit.

Indeed, the 40-year-old works for Genoa, Standard Liege, Red Star FC, Vasco da Gama and Melbourne, with Spurs apparently taking note of his exploits.

It is reported by Football Insider that talks have been held with Spors and are "progressing" behind-closed-doors.

The north Londoners are even said to "discussing terms" with him at this stage, coming after reports that certain managerial candidates like Luis Enrique have enquired over the club's structure.

The importance of a new director

As previously stated, the hiring of a new club chief to succeed Paratici could be crucial, as past managerial target Nagelsmann even apparently asked about that issue in an interview for the Spurs job (90min).

In terms of Spors, he could be an intriguing choice for Spurs.

The club chief began his career producing video analysis for Hoffenheim, and then went onto key scouting roles at other Bundesliga clubs like RB Leipzig and Hamburg.

His experience in scouting could feed into player recruitment and benefit Spurs in that regard, so it will be interesting to see if they opt to appoint him.

It looks likely to be another hectic summer at Manchester United, with manager Erik ten Hag no doubt keen to strengthen his squad even further with notable new additions, following what has thus far been an impressive debut season in charge for the Dutchman.

Clear progress has been made under 53-year-old's watch with United securing Carabao Cup glory and currently well-placed to finish in the top-four, although work is still needed to be able to go to that next level, with the former Ajax boss said to be particularly keen on signing a new striker and midfielder ahead of next season.

One other area of concern for Ten Hag will be the goalkeeping ranks, with current number one, David de Gea having endured an "alarming decline" of late and become a "massive liability" – according to The Mirror's Colin Millar – despite keeping 16 Premier League clean sheets so far this season.

The long-serving Spaniard's recent error in the defeat away to West Ham United – in which he failed to deal with Said Benrahma's tame, long range attempt – has further showcased that a change in the sticks may be needed, albeit with talks continuing over a new deal on reduced terms for the 32-year-old.

As per the Telegraph, however, it is not certain that the former Atletico Madrid man – who's existing contract is set to expire this summer – will remain as the number one choice even if he is to stay at the club beyond the end of the season, amid recent links to the likes of Borussia Dortmund ace, Gregor Kobel.

Despite the desire to splash the cash on a new addition, Ten Hag could already have a possible replacement for De Gea on the books in the form of Matej Kovar, with the 23-year-old having enjoyed a "stellar season" on loan at Sparta Prague, as per transfer insider Graeme Bailey.

Who is Man United's Matej Kovar?

As per the aforementioned Bailey, the Red Devils are considering whether to promote the Czech youngster next season in order to potentially "challenge" De Gea in the future, 'after emerging as one of the best young keepers in Europe' – according to 90min.

According to that latter report, Ten Hag and co have been keeping 'close tabs' on the 6 foot gem's progress throughout the campaign, with the aim of potentially making him an understudy or possible rival to De Gea for the 2023/24 season.

With current reserve option Jack Butland coming towards the climax of his short-term loan deal – and with Tom Heaton nearing the end of his current contract – there is a real need to bolster the goalkeeping department, hence turning to Kovar.

Amid De Gea's woes – having been criticised by club legend Paul Scholes for making the team "nervous" due to his errant distribution – the academy gem has blossomed out on loan, having been hailed as the "future of Czech football" by Sparta boss, Brian Priske.

The former Slovacko ace has conceded just 32 goals in 29 games across all fronts this season – keeping ten clean sheets in that time – after previously keeping four clean sheets in just six appearances while on loan at Burton Albion last season.

While a first-team appearance at United has yet to come to pass for the one-time Swindon Town loanee, it should not be too long before he is challenging De Gea's starting berth and potentially even ousting the £375k-per-week dud.

The future of the Red Devils' goalkeeping department could, quite literally, be in safe hands if Ten Hag does put faith in the exciting Kovar.

On an absorbing sunny Saturday, in front of a packed and rapt full house, Pakistan’s second innings listed and creaked but they hauled themselves to a dominant position

Andrew Miller at Lord's16-Jul-2016A month ago, on this very ground, Alastair Cook faced up to the press on the final day of the Sri Lanka series and bemoaned the fact that – after two facile victories in the opening two Tests of the summer – rain had robbed his developing team of a timely test of their mettle. “It would have been good to put us under pressure,” he had said. Well, he’s going to get his wish on Sunday, and no mistake.On an absorbing sunny Saturday, in front of a packed and rapt full house, Pakistan’s second innings listed and creaked and, with Chris Woakes producing yet another display of outstanding attacking swing bowling, they came close to capsizing on more than one occasion.And yet, by the close, Pakistan had ridden out the jitters and found sufficient resistance from their lower-middle order to put themselves in a position of undeniable dominance. With a lead of 281 already banked, and on a surface that is beginning to offer both turn and variable bounce, Pakistan know as well as England that – in the legspinner Yasir Shah, not to mention a potent trio of left-arm seamers – they have an attack that can wrap up a first victory at Lord’s since 1996.”I’d like to say we are just in front,” said Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach. “It’s very close, almost too close to call. I think we are in for a cracking day’s cricket tomorrow, if we can sneak another 19-20 and get just over 300, it’s going to be a very, very good Test match.”Moeen Ali, England’s offspinning allrounder, didn’t try to disagree with that sentiment. Having been bundled out for 272 on the second afternoon – with Yasir claiming figures of 6 for 72 in his first Test outside of Asia – he admitted that England’s batsmen would need to formulate a better plan second-time around if they want to avoid being shown up for the second innings in a row.”In the first innings, we didn’t bat very well, so we want to put that right,” Moeen said. “There’s a lot of us who want to score some runs, but it’s going to be tough. They are a very good bowling side and you saw in the first innings, they have a very good legspinner who’s going to cause us trouble.”England’s problems in the first innings stemmed largely from Yasir’s control. With little in the way of big spin on offer, line and length – allied to natural variation and the odd ripper – were sufficient to destabilise an England middle order for whom the legend of Shane Warne is but a distant noise in the commentary box. In the ten years since his retirement, practical experience of such artistry has been thin on the ground, and it showed in the manner of all too many dismissals.”The guys will come out with definite plans,” said Moeen. “We’ve been preparing very well against legspinners but, in the first innings, we didn’t play very well against him, and he got a lot of wickets, so he’s going to be the biggest threat tomorrow.”In the first innings we were caught in the crease a lot and didn’t use our feet against him. But sometimes, when it’s not spinning, it’s a little bit harder because he bowls very accurately. In the next innings, we’ll have to be good on our feet, whether back or forward, but the lack of bounce did us a little bit in the first innings. We are just going to have to play well. We’ve all got runs in the past so we are going to have to use that experience and play well against him.”On the evidence of Moeen’s own bowling performance, a lack of bounce won’t be the issue on a gently deteriorating Lord’s surface. If Misbah-ul-Haq’s suicidal mo(w) to deep midwicket was a clear case of batsman error, then the ball that did for an extraordinarily skittish Younis Khan clearly gripped before cannoning into his stumps off an inside edge.Still, Moeen was happy to accept the offerings, particularly after a fallow first innings in which a far more focused Misbah had beaten him out of the attack with a volley of dead-eyed sweeps and reverse-sweeps.”I actually felt like I bowled all right in the first innings, but Misbah … I just can’t bowl at him at times,” he said. “I try to do a holding job but it’s very difficult, so I was very pleased to get him out today. But I’m happy with how I’m bowling at the moment. I felt like it came out just as well [in the first innings] but I just got smashed. That can happen.”The assistance for Moeen, second-time around, may have had as much to do with the rough outside off that Pakistan’s trio of left-arm quicks had created, but the doubts, where Yasir is concerned, are already embedded in England’s minds. Arthur didn’t need much invitation to begin the probing on behalf of his team.”I think we saw there was a little bit on offer,” he said. “The one that got Younis gripped quite big. And it’s a little bit up-and-down as well, there’s variable bounce which is great, so hopefully it will assist Yasir in a big way.”The wider concern for England is that Pakistan’s team are far from a one-trick outfit. In fact, as Yasir himself admitted after the first innings, his own success had only arisen because he had set himself to do a holding roll for his seamers. But on that occasion, amid the emotion of Mohammad Amir’s return to the fray, their lines and their disciplines went fractionally awry, and Arthur was adamant they’d be better for having got all that out of their systems.Amir, he claimed, had been so nervous before his opening spell that he could barely grip the ball. But, he added, “he hit his areas more often than not and did a job at good pace. Hopefully he can take that into tomorrow. Everything that’s gone has gone now, he’s back out on the field, raring to go tomorrow, and hopefully he can bowl us to victory.”However, England’s task could and perhaps should be significantly less daunting than it already is. On a day when Woakes’ penetration kept them in the contest, Steven Finn produced his best spell of a difficult match, only to see two catches in three overs go down. The second, by Jonny Bairstow off Sarfraz Ahmed, was especially culpable, and Moeen admitted that England’s standards had not been high enough of late.”We spoke about it,” he said. “We haven’t been catching very well this summer, and we are going to have to get better. Going back to the Ashes [in 2015], the reason we won it was some brilliant catches. We held on to everything so we know we can field better. Hopefully we can go bang, bang tomorrow and keep them less than 300-310. It’s still going to be tough, but we’ve got players hopefully who can knock them off.”Pakistan, however, have a legspinner who can knock England off in return, and Moeen knows that he stands squarely in their way.”Pakistan spinners are always very attacking and tactically very good,” said Moeen. “Yasir is always attacking the stumps so, as a batter, you feel like you’ve got to play, but he does bowl bad balls as well. He’s a human being at the end of the day. He can have a bad day as well.”

Sunderland are now set to keep manager Tony Mowbray in charge, with the club already planning for next season, Sky Sports report.

What’s the latest Sunderland manager news?

The Black Cats were knocked out of the Championship playoffs by Luton Town on Monday, with Mowbray’s side failing to keep hold of their first-leg lead. The Hatters ran out 2-0 winners at Kenilworth Road to win the tie 3-2, and reports shortly after suggested that Mowbray was fighting to keep his job.

A number of coaches were linked with replacing the 59-year-old, including RB Salzburg boss Matthias Jaissle, former Alanyaspor manager Francesco Farioli and ex-New York Red Bulls coach Gerhard Struber.

However, there has now been a twist, with Sky Sports sharing news they’ve been “told” regarding Mowbray. They said he is set to stay at The Stadium of Light, with the manager and the Sunderland hierarchy “concentrating on a summer of player recruitment”.

“News to bring you and it concerns Sunderland and their manager Tony Mowbray.

“We think it’s business as usual as far as Mowbray and Sunderland are concerned with the club concentrating on a summer of player recruitment.”

Correct decision from Sunderland?

Mowbray, who arrived at the club at the end of August, enjoyed a productive first season with the Black Cats, losing just 11 of his 40 Championship games. He averaged 1.53 points per game in the second tier this season in what many forget was Sunderland’s first season back in the Championship.

Mowbray helped get the best out of a number of young players such as Jack Clarke and loanee Amad Diallo, with the latter of the two attackers nominated for the Young Player of the Year award, and it looks as if the decision to keep him on will sit well with plenty of supporters.

Journalist and Sunderland fan Josh Bunting said it would be “utterly mad”, “insane” and “naive” to part ways with Mowbray and has since said that he is “over the moon” the manager will remain at the club.

You could definitely argue that he has earned the right to take charge of an entire Championship season, and who knows, the aim for next year could be another top-six finish, with Sunderland officials seemingly making plans to get back into the top flight.

Kent bowled a backbreaking 200 overs in two days at Tunbridge Wells but had nothing for a draw to show for it by the end

ECB Reporters Network20-Jul-2016
ScorecardSam Northeast was phlegmatic about the draw•Getty ImagesBrave Sussex batted for their lives while Kent’s bowlers toiled fruitlessly under the sun as the two neighbouring counties fought out a high-scoring Specsavers Championship draw in Tunbridge Wells.Following-on some 242 runs in arrears at the start of the final day, Sussex lost only five wickets in the three sessions and had edged into a 13-run lead courtesy of Ben Brown and Chris Jordan when the sides shook hands on a draw just before 6pm. Kent banking 11pts to Sussex’s 8pts.Though his side failed to hammer home the advantage they held over all four days of the match, Kent’s Sam Northeast remained phlegmatic.”After all that effort and our bowlers sending down well over 200 overs in the past two days you want to win, but they were such tough conditions,” said Northeast.”To bowl them out for 333 was a seriously good effort, but knowing The Nevill Ground as we do it stays pretty true, the top doesn’t break up and it remains a pretty good pitch throughout. We tried different things but they didn’t work out, while Ross Taylor gave a two-day batting exhibition here and made a huge difference to the outcome of the match.”Facing a backs-to-the-wall fourth day after being dismissed for 333 on Tuesday, Sussex suffered only one casualty in the opening session when their former skipper Chris Nash went for 18.From the opening ball of the day Kent applied scoreboard pressure from both ends, sending down nine maidens in the first 16 bowled, before Nash departed in the 28th over of the day after miscuing a drive against left-arm spinner Imran Qayyum to Sam Northeast at short extra-cover.Kent had taken the new ball through Kagiso Rabada whose effortless action generated good pace, but with little or no luck. The South African had two concerted lbw appeals turned aside in another eye catching stint of 6-3-8-0.Left-arm spinner Imran Qayyum and off-spinner James Tredwell bowled in tandem with five close men around the bat, but were denied another breakthrough as Sussex lunched on 62 for 1.Despite the break Kent still found wicket-taking an issue on a slow pitch offering a modicum of slow turn, and were restricted to a further two wickets in the mid-session.Harry Finch (66) posted a 133-ball 50 before he push-drove to short extra cover off Tredwell, then Luke Wells (22) mistimed a drive to give Qayyum a return catch.Taylor, in his final four-day appearance for Sussex and fresh from a first innings 142, counter-attacked realising the importance of his side edging ahead in terms of runs to post 68 either side of tea.Kent pushed to the limits through Mitch Claydon and Rabada for a new-ball breakthrough, but luck was against them. Claydon’s in-duckers beat the inside edge only to miss the stumps on numerous occasions while Rabada’s stint of nought for 33 fail to reflect the numerous times he passed the bat and had lbw shouts turned aside.Taylor rode his luck a little, he was dropped at long off by Qayyum and then Kent’s stand-in keeper Callum Jackson grassed a tricky stumping chance, but otherwise the one-time Blackcaps skipper ensured his side would go home with a draw.With the game almost safe, right-handed Taylor holed out to cow corner to give Tredwell a second wicket, then Luke Wright (38) played back and down the wrong line to go lbw and give the former England spinner figures of three for 76 when stumps were drawn.In praise of his overseas professional, Sussex captain Luke Wright said: “Ross has been awesome the whole way through and we’ve relied on him a hell of a lot. I’m pleased to see him finish with two good scores that got us out of trouble.”He spoke about scoring quickly today because as soon as we went past their total it was the end of the game. He showed his experience here, he told us not to just try and block out but to counter, and it worked for us.”Wright added: “Once we finished on the wrong side of the toss we knew it was always going to be a hard game, particularly going into today following on. We thought it might break up and with Tredwell and Rabada to face we knew it would be tough, but I’m really pleased we saw it out.”It’s been the story of our four-day season that we’ve had to work really hard for our draws, but we can take a lot of positives from this.”We’re in a building stage with this squad, I’m a new captain and in Mark Davis we have a new coach, so we are in transition and we’ll need a bit of time and patience to bed in. The one thing we do want I attitude and fight, and I think we’ve shown that in bucketfuls here.”

Allrounder Salma Khatun will miss Bangladesh Women’s tour of Ireland next month, where they will play two ODIs and two T20s

Mohammad Isam28-Aug-2016Bangladesh Women’s squad

Sanjida Islam, Fahima Khatun, Ayasha Rahman, Jahanara Alam, Farzana Hoque, Nahida Akter, Lata Mondol, Panna Ghosh, Rumana Ahmed, Khadija Tul Kubra, Nigar Sultana (wk), Suraiya Azmin, Ritu Moni, Jannatul Ferdous

Allrounder Salma Khatun will miss Bangladesh Women’s tour of Ireland next month, where they will play two ODIs and two T20s. Salma injured her shoulder during training a couple of weeks ago and hasn’t sufficiently recovered.Apart from Salma, Sharmin Akhter and Shaila Sharmin have been dropped from the squad that played their last international assignment – the 2016 World T20 – with pace bowler Suraiya Azmin and allrounder Jannatul Ferdous being their replacements in the 14-member squad.They will play the T20s on September 5 and 6 while the two ODIs will be held on September 8 and 10. All four matches will be held at the Bready Cricket Club in Londonderry.Athar Ali Khan, the selector for women’s team and the tour manager, said that the team will miss the services of Salma but they have legspinners and a left-arm spinner to counter Ireland.”We will definitely miss the experience of Salma who is one of the leading players in the world,” Athar said. “She did join the camp but could not bowl and we thought it was in the best interest of the team that she was given time to recover as we have a long season ahead with the Asia Cup, World Cup qualifiers and hopefully the World Cup coming.”However, we still have a lot of variation in bowling, especially in the spin department. There are two legspinners (Fahima Khatun and Rumana Ahmed) and Nahida (Akter) is a wily left-arm spinner. Newcomer Jannatul Ferdous is a very exciting prospect who bowls offbreaks, can bat in the middle order and is a fine fielder. She has caught the eye.”Athar said that batting remains a worry but expects someone like Farzana to come good on tour. “The batting is a little bit of a worry as the openers Ayasha Rahman and Sanjida Islam have not been among the runs recently,” he said. “I am expecting Farzana Hoque who has been our best batter for a while to take the lead here and the others can bat around her.”We are a confident unit. Bangladesh is ranked above Ireland and our goal is to win the matches but the different conditions will be a challenge and we have to work really, really hard.”In the World T20 this year, Bangladesh lost all their group matches. Their last ODIs were in October 2015, when they lost both games to Pakistan. They have, so far, played two completed ODIs against Ireland, winning one. In the two teams’ T20I head-to-head, Bangladesh lead 2-1.

Celtic legend Scott Brown will one day dream of managing his former club and completing an emotional return to Parkhead, according to journalist Dean Jones.

What's the latest news involving Scott Brown and how has he faired as a manager?

Brown is regarded as a Celtic legend and was captain of the Scottish giants between 2010 and 2021. In total, the former Scotland international won 23 major honours in his senior career as a player, 22 of them with Celtic and one Scottish League Cup trophy with Hibernian where he came through the ranks, as per Transfermarkt.

The Scottish football Hall of Fame inductee took his first steps into coaching in 2021/22, spending nine months in a player-coach role at Aberdeen under Stephen Glass, as per Sky Sports.

Since then, he has gone on to become a manager in his own right at Fleetwood Town and enjoyed a decent first season as a head coach, leading the Cod Army to a 13th place finish in Sky Bet League One, with 14 victories, 16 draws and 16 losses in total.

Herald Scotland cite that Brown has earned glowing praise from Fleetwood Town chairman Andy Pilley, who has backed the Scot to lead the club towards a promotion push next term. Speaking in an interview back in March, Pilley said: “I’m really pleased with the way it’s worked out, I like him personally and I like him as a football manager, he’s a pleasure to have around the place."

He then added: “I don’t think we’ll need major surgery in the summer, we can invest in some quality players, we need quality over quantity. I want to push for the play-offs or the dream of the Championship next season, I really think it can happen."

What has Dean Jones said about Scott Brown potential returning to Celtic?

Journalist Jones thinks that although it is unrealistic that Brown will return to Celtic in any capacity right now, he will have aspirations of linking up with his old club again in the future.

Jones told FFC: "Ultimately, I doubt he's had any clear indication if it's actually on the cards or not, so, I'm not sure how much there is to read into it. He's done a decent job so far, he's early into his managing career and still finding his feet in that world, but of course, that's the sort of job he's going to have aspirations for."

Is Scott Brown returning to Celtic a possibility in the future?

Not in the immediate term, you wouldn't think, due to the fantastic job Ange Postecoglou is doing at the helm; however, it is something that could definitely crop up in the future if Brown continues to grow his stock as a manager.

Brown was asked about the possibility of returning to Celtic in the future in an interview with Sky Bet via The Mirror and played down the chances of it happening any time soon, stating: "I've got another year left at Fleetwood Town and I’m looking forward to coming back here in pre-season, giving it another go and hopefully push higher up the table. We’re in a good place – we've had a good season – but there’s always room for improvement, we'll take it one game at a time."

Postecoglou is in charge at present and has made a huge impact at Celtic, winning four of five available trophies to him, including back-to-back Scottish Premiership titles. The Australian coach also has a chance to win his fifth trophy in charge of the Hoops in early June, when they take on Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the final of the Scottish Cup.

Most Celtic fans would warmly receive the prospect of Brown returning to the scene of his former glories in the coming years. Nevertheless, they are besotted with the work Postecoglou has done and will be keen to see the 57-year-old remain in his post for as long as possible.

West Indies’ batting coach Toby Radford said that the side couldn’t counter Pakistan’s game plan of spin on a ground with a slow track and big boundaries and were also hampered by poor Powerplays

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-20161:49

Pakistan’s game plan of using spin paid off – Radford

West Indies’ batting coach Toby Radford rued another poor batting display from his side in their 16-run loss to Pakistan in the second T20I in Dubai. Having lost the series, Radford said that West Indies couldn’t counter Pakistan’s game plan of spin on a ground with a slow track and big boundaries. Poor starts in the Powerplay didn’t help their cause, he added.In the first T20I, West Indies were struggling at 25 for 5 after the first six overs and were eventually bowled out for a paltry 115. In the second, chasing 161, they lost three wickets in the Powerplay putting only 20 runs on the board. Radford pointed out that West Indies were unable to switch to a mode that focused on accumulating runs through singles and twos, like Pakistan have done in the matches so far.”The first Powerplay yesterday and today were every similar. Yesterday we were five down, three down in the first six today,” Radford said after the game. “And I think the big difference when you looked at Pakistan in the first six was they were 38 for 1 and 39 for 1 on both days.”Clearly the game plan from Pakistan has been to have slow wickets to bowl a lot of spin and have very big boundaries. West Indies are known to be a big, six-hitting and boundary-hitting side, normally play on quicker pitches and slightly smaller grounds. But it’s up to us to find a way around that.”Pakistan have bowled well, they have actually fielded well. When they batted, they showed on a slow wicket and a big outfield that it’s actually all about knocking the ball into gaps and doing a lot of running. They ran a lot of twos tonight which I think really stretched us, and I don’t think it was ever going to be a game for lots of boundaries because I don’t think it’s that type of surface and that type of outfield.”While Radford praised seamer Sohail Tanvir, who picked up 3 for 13 in his four overs, Pakistan’s T20 captain Sarfraz Ahmed also credited the innings played by Shoaib Malik at No. 4. Malik, who became only the third Pakistan player to score more than 1500 T20I runs, chipped in with a useful 28-ball 37, and added 69 with Sarfraz for the fourth wicket before falling in the last over. That partnership helped Pakistan garner 60 runs off the last six overs. Sarfraz finished unbeaten on 46 off 32 balls.Sarfraz also stated that the team management had decided to send in Umar Akmal at No. 6 to bolster the lower order, which had been missing a finisher.”It was our strategy to play Umar Akmal at No. 6, since we needed a finisher in the lower order. We scored about 50 runs in the last five overs and we felt that was enough as we had set a target of a 150+ score,” Sarfraz said. “A lot of credit goes to Shoaib Malik too, the way he played with me at the end. We needed a senior player to stay at the wicket and he did that for us.”Pakistan went in with an unchanged side for the second match, leaving out fast bowler Mohammad Amir. Sarfraz stressed that the management wanted to give players confidence through a longer stint in the side and Amir was a part of the side’s plans for the future.”We have tried to keep a winning combination so we didn’t try to change too much,” Sarfraz said. “That is also our target – to give players a longer run in the side to build their confidence. Mohammad Amir is our main bowler and he will definitely play an important role for us in the future.”

Burnley romped their way to the Championship title with 101 points to secure promotion to the Premier League and Vincent Kompany must now navigate the summer transfer window to improve his squad.

Back in April, it was reported that the Clarets were interested in a deal to sign Ryan Kent on a free transfer from Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers.

Since then, the Gers have confirmed that the former Liverpool attacker will be leaving upon the expiry of his contract at the end of the month, which means that Burnley will be able to snap him up for nothing if they can beat other clubs to his signature.

The £18k-per-week magician has also been linked with Udinese, Bologna, and Fenerbahce and this suggests that Kompany will need to convince the forward to turn down other offers.

How did Ryan Kent perform this season?

He enjoyed a strong campaign in the Scottish Premiership with Rangers and showcased his creative flair, which could make him Burnley's new Dwight McNeil.

Kent scored three goals and assisted ten in 29 appearances in the top flight for the Light Blues and produced 2.2 key passes per match for his teammates, which led to nine 'big chances' in total.

This came after the 26-year-old magician scored three times and assisted an eye-catching 19 goals in 46 outings in all competitions for the club in the 2021/22 season.

Journalist Andrew Dickson once claimed that the ace is "completely unplayable" when he is at his best and the aforementioned statistics illustrate that as the maestro has proven that he has the quality to provide chances and assists on a regular basis from out wide.

This makes him a potential match-winner for his side as the wizard has the ability to carve open opposition defences to create openings for his fellow attackers.

Therefore, Kent could be Burnley's new McNeil as the academy graduate had similar qualities during his time at Turf Moor. Prior to joining Everton last summer, the England U21 international was an excellent creator for the Clarets. He created 23 'big chances' in his last three Premier League seasons combined and made at least 1.3 key passes per game.

The 23-year-old assisted 17 goals in 147 outings for the Clarets and only scored seven times. This shows that, like Kent, McNeil is a creative threat who does not offer much in the way of goals from a wide position, which is why Kompany could find the next version of the Toffees star by swooping for the soon-to-be ex-Rangers dynamo.

A round-up of the Group C matches on the fourth and final day of the first round in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-2016At the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur, Hyderabad romped to a nine-wicket win against Goa, after being set a target of 35. Hyderabad lost Akshath Reddy for 2 after 21 runs had already been knocked off the target. Tanmay Agarwal stayed not out on 27 and took the side home in B Anirudh’s company.The day began with Goa 5 for no loss in their second innings, having conceded a first-innings lead of 224 runs. Goa had several solid contributions – Sagun Kamat (55), Snehal Kauthankar (34), Saurabh Bandekar (51), Shadab Jakati (28) and RR Singh (30) – but none managed to convert it into a century. Ravi Kiran, the new-ball bowler, led the way with 3 for 40.Batsmen had a field day at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai as the Haryana-Services clash laboured to a draw. Haryana walked away with the first-innings honours. Services began the final day on 148 for 2. Nakul Verma, unbeaten on 54 overnight, added 24 more to top-score with 78, while Ravi Chauhan and Shamsher Yadav also raised half-centuries to help Services respond strongly with 329 for 6 declared. Nitin Saini took centrestage, scoring 101 in their chase of 279. Saini was unbeaten when proceedings ended with Haryana on 136 for 1.Over at the Bengal Cricket Academy Ground in Kalyani, Kerala took first-innings points against Jammu & Kashmir. J&K had been reduced to 106 for 5 in response to Kerala’s first-innings 306, and managed to add just 15 more to that tally before being shot out for 121, conceding a 185-run first-innings lead. KS Monish and Iqbal Abdulla, the left-arm spinners, inflicted the bulk of the damage, taking seven wickets between them.Asked to follow on, J&K were brought down to 91 for 4, with Abdulla taking two wickets. Shubham Khajuria showed resolve, resisting with an unbeaten 39 that came off 90 balls.The Himachal Pradesh-Andhra clash at the KIIT Stadium in Bhubaneswar ended in a draw after a 45-over final day. Play began with Andhra 47 for 1 in the first innings, trailing by 310 runs after Himachal amassed 357, courtesy centuries from Sumeet Verman (142) and Prashant Chopra (117).Prasanth Kumar and captain Hanuma Vihari, the overnight batsmen, both raised half-centuries, finishing unbeaten on 93 and 68 respectively. Andhra were 167 for 1 in 59 overs when stumps were drawn. Both teams shared a point each.