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Everton have reportedly now made contact over the potential signing of Harry Winks.

The Lowdown: Out of favour

The 26-year-old has fallen out of favour under Antonio Conte, having played just 24 times under the Italian over all competitions last season, and only completing the full match in eight of those appearances (Transfermarkt).

With Yves Bissouma signing from Brighton and Hove Albion, the Englishman is likely to fall further down the pecking order, so he could seek a move away this summer.

The Latest: Everton make contact over Winks

As per Football Insider, Everton outfit have now made Winks a ‘top priority’ after officially registering their interest in the player.

A source from the Merseyside club has revealed that they have ‘made contact’ over a potential deal, which would cost them in the region of £20m.

The Verdict: Avoid

Dubbed a ‘fabulous’ player by former Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson, Winks has shown his qualities in the past, making his senior England debut in 2017, but he has not played for his country since 2020 (Transfermarkt).

His dip in form has coincided with that of his club, who made the Champions League final three years ago but have only just managed to get back into the competition recently with a fourth-placed finish last season.

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Astonishingly, Winks has only managed 11 goal contributions in more than 200 games for Tottenham (Transfermarkt), the kind of numbers which would hardly impress Everton manager Frank Lampard.

With the possibility that the Toffees could lose Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin this summer, the 43-year-old would surely want to sign a midfielder who can contribute more goals and assists than what Winks has done in north London.

In other news, find out which ‘incredible’ ace the Toffees are now most keen to sign

Leeds United star Mateusz Klich is facing an uncertain future at Elland Road, having failed to deliver in recent months…

What’s the word?

That’s according to ever-reliable Mirror journalist David Anderson, who delivered his verdict on the Poland midfielder to GIVEMESPORT this week.

When asked if the 31-year-old was in doubt in west Yorkshire, he replied:

“I’d say so.

“He hasn’t quite done it, and don’t forget he’s someone that’s been singled out by the fans for abuse on social media. Remember after the Chelsea defeat just before Christmas, and he actually hit back at them, which isn’t what you really want to see.

“You look around that dressing room, and I think someone like Klich, he’s willing enough and he’s trying but he’s just not really delivering.”

Time’s up?

Klich has been ever-present in Leeds’ starting XI over the last few seasons and his regular involvement under former manager Marcelo Bielsa even led him to claim that he could play for “all the best teams in the world,” back in November 2020.

But that’s something that has since changed some 18 months later with the Pole struggling for form and consistency, albeit in a relegation-threatened Whites side.

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After Jesse Marsch’s arrival in the dugout, Klich only managed to play the full 90 minutes in two of his 12 league games in charge and he failed to start the final game of the season, the all-important 2-1 victory over Brentford, as per Transfermarkt.

WhoScored graded Klich as United’s 16th-best performer with a paltry average rating of 6.37. Only three players who started 15 or more games managed a poorer return.

Indeed, such performances led to some criticism, with Sky Sports pundit Clinton Morrison describing the £34k-per-week ace as “non-existent” and LeedsLive reporter Beren Cross suggesting that he got “bullied” by a relegated Watford midfield.

And with the arrival of Brenden Aaronson, a player that Marsch has worked with before at RB Salzburg, it does seem likely that the 38-cap international will be swept aside heading into 2022/23.

When you throw in the emergence of Lewis Bate and the likely return of Adam Forshaw from injury, then Klich could well be running out of opportunities at Elland Road.

His time is surely up now.

AND in other news, Fabrizio Romano: Leeds have “opened talks” to sign “the next Declan Rice”, could be Joffy 2.0…

The summer transfer window is officially underway and Tottenham will be lining up moves to improve their squad in the coming weeks.

Fabio Paratici has already been hard at work to bolster the team with deals for Fraser Forster and Ivan Perisic, with both players arriving on free transfers.

Spurs will now be looking to strengthen the group in other areas of the pitch and one position they are reportedly looking to add in is centre-forward.

Football London recently claimed that Napoli striker Victor Osimhen is a player Paratici is eyeing a deal for, with the Serie A club reportedly wanting €110m (£94m) for their star man.

Conte’s own Ciro Immobile

By securing a deal for the Nigeria international, Conte would have his own version of his compatriot Ciro Immobile in north London.

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Both players are outstanding Serie A goalscorers who have proven that they have what it takes to score goals on a regular basis in a major European league. In fact, FB Ref lists the Lazio goal machine as one of the most similar players to Osimhen in Europe, based on their respective statistics.

In the Italian top-flight last term, Immobile managed an outstanding 27 goals and two assists in 31 matches – missing 16 ‘big chances – for his club. This shows that he was lethal in front of goal and a consistent presence at the top end of the pitch.

Meanwhile, Osimhen produced 14 goals and two assists in 23 starts in the division – missing six ‘big chances’. Whilst his goalscoring record was not quite as good as the Italian’s, he did miss fewer big opportunities and still registered an impressive return in front of goal.

One key difference between the two players, however, is their age as the Napoli man is nine years younger than Immobile.

Emmet Gates dubbed Osimhen’s potential as “frightening” and former Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo added to that by saying:

“He’s the future, he’s going to do so well in football. I love him, he’s down to earth, he’s hard-working, he has a future and he has the mentality of a winner, that’s what I love about him.

“He has that lion’s heart. I love him, I just want him to keep working hard the way he’s doing, he’s going to break so many records in Europe and Nigeria.”

These quotes, alongside his age, suggest that he has the scope to develop further in the future and reach the heights of the experienced Immobile.

Therefore, Spurs can sign their own long-term version of the Italy international by snapping up Osimhen and that is why Paratici must close a deal for the attacker in the coming weeks or months.

AND in other news, Paratici now eyes Spurs deal for “impressive” £15m machine, he’s silenced Lewandowski…

BBC pundit Alan Hutton has claimed that Liverpool will be ‘raging’ after news has emerged that Mohamed Salah has turned down the opportunity of an injury scan whilst away on international duty.

The Lowdown: Salah rejects Liverpool request

It was reported by BBC Sport earlier this week that the 29-year-old had rejected the Reds’ request for him to have tests on a mystery injury before participating in Egypt’s match against Guinea on Sunday.

In a post-match interview, manager Ehab Galal confirmed that the forward did indeed have a problem before the game kicked off, but that he decided to ‘play through it’, rather than getting it checked out by the medical team.

The Latest: Hutton’s ‘angry’ Salah claim

Speaking to Football Insider, Hutton claimed that Liverpool will be far from happy with Salah taking any unnecessary risks ahead of the start of the new season.

“Liverpool will probably be raging. It’s things I’ve seen throughout my own career, this kind of battle between club and country.

“The player wants to play for this country, which is obviously great, but for the club, they obviously pay him the big wages. They expect him to be ready for pre-season and fighting fit.

“If he needed an operation, for talking sake, and he’d miss four, five weeks because of it, you could get that done now. He’d be back in time.

“Hiding the scan results or not showing Liverpool what’s going on, it masks over all that. They’re left in the dark.

“Of course, you’re going to be angry about that. It’s just natural you want your best players fit and ready to go for the start of the new season.

“It’ll be interesting to see what comes out from it. It’s not ideal hiding it from the club.”

The Verdict: Durable as ever

Salah did sustain a groin injury during the FA Cup final against Chelsea which saw him forced off the pitch, but was able to make a return before the conclusion of the season, having featured in the final day Premier League victory against Wolves to then going on to play the full 90 minutes of the Champions League final prior to leaving for international duty.

The 5 foot 9 talisman is an extremely durable player for Jurgen Klopp, having missed just three games through injury in his entire Reds career, so we don’t see this as a major issue.

He currently finds his future at Liverpool very much up in the air as he enters the final 12 months of his contract at Anfield, but if he is to remain on Merseyside, the Reds will expect their star man to be fully fit ahead of the start of the new season, while Egypt’s absence from the World Cup will force him to rest in the usually hectic winter period.

In other news… Liverpool are reportedly in talks with one of their first-team starlets over a possible new deal.

Newcastle United and their new owners showed during the January transfer window just how capable they are when it comes to securing deals for players to join the Tyneside club.

Having lost a considerable number of Premier League games from the start of the season to the opening of the winter market, the Magpies unsurprisingly brought in some new faces to help them upgrade what was a rather leaky defence.

Now that the Toon comfortably secured their place in the top flight for next season, their focus can turn to the summer transfer window and where they can add further upgrades to their squad.

One man who has recently been linked with a move to St James’ Park and who could be a big improvement on current Toon midfielder Sean Longstaff in particular is Nabil Fekir.

After scoring 69 goals and delivering 46 assists in 193 appearances for Lyon, the midfielder joined Real Betis three years ago in a deal worth a reported £17.7m.

Since then, he has gone on to make 118 appearances for the La Liga side across all competitions, finding the net 22 times and providing 23 assists along the way.

To compare his recent La Liga campaign with Longstaff’s latest Premier League season at Newcastle, the Frenchman racked up more goals, assists, shots and crosses and even won more tackles than the Magpies ace.

This highlights just how impressive an all-around midfield option the £36m-rated talent could be for Howe.

Labelled a “a world champion with tremendous quality” by Angel Haro, Fekir was also called a “genius” by the Betis president.

Having ended the recent La Liga campaign as the fourth-highest rated player in the entire division, with a higher performance rating that the likes of Casemiro, Sergio Busquets, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos according to WhoScored, this further highlights how much of a star Fekir has been.

While it may be difficult for PIF and Newcastle to persuade Betis to sell their midfield maestro, it could be a transfer which blows the roof off St James’ Park if it materialises, coming as a real statement of intent from the Tyneside club ahead of their first full season under Saudi ownership.

In other news: Howe can land his own Varane as Newcastle eye move for “confident” £27m-rated machine

It has been over a week since Rangers ended their season by winning the Scottish Cup with a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Ryan Jack and Scott Wright.

The Gers failed to win the Premiership as they finished runners-up to their arch-rivals and they lost the Europa League final on penalties in Seville, with a win at Hampden on the final day a good way to finish the campaign.

With no Rangers football to enjoy, supporters may have tuned in to the play-offs in England during the previous weekend.

Nottingham Forest secured their promotion to the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Huddersfield at Wembley and any Gers fans watching will have recognised their captain – Joe Worrall.

He spent the 2018/19 campaign on loan in Glasgow as he made 32 appearances and scored one goal for Steven Gerrard. At the end of his time at Ibrox, it was reported that the now-Aston Villa boss opted against pursuing a permanent deal as he wanted to go after alternative targets in the window.

This was a huge disaster from the head coach as he has developed into a superb centre-back who is now set to play in the top-flight for Forest next term.

Midlands reporter Matt Davies once compared him to “Wolverine” after a speedy recovery from injury and his steeliness at the back played a significant role in Forest’s promotion. He made himself a rock at the heart of the defence

In the Championship, he averaged an excellent SofaScore rating of 7.07 as he helped his team to keep 16 clean sheets. He won 63% of his duels and made 3.7 tackles and interceptions per game as he delivered brilliant performances on a regular basis.

Worrall was exceptional on the big stage in the play-off final. As per SofaScore, he made six tackles, one interception, two clearances and won seven of his 12 duels as he stood strong to keep the likes of Danel Sinani, Lewis O’Brien and Jordan Rhodes at bay.

Earlier this year, the 6 foot 4 colossus was linked with a £15m move to West Ham and he was touted with a switch to Brentford for the same price in 2021. Premier League clubs have taken an interest in the defender and his valuation – pre-promotion – seemed to be clear.

Forest may demand more for his services now that they find themselves in the top division but he is, at worst, a £15m player on current form and that is why Rangers had a howler with him.

The Gers opted against attempting to bring him back to Ibrox and they will now have to watch him either seal a big-money move to West Ham, or play regular football in the Premier League with Forest.

AND in other news, GvB can find Kemar Roofe 2.0 in Rangers swoop for “clinical” gem who “rarely misses”…

Liverpool forward Divock Origi will join AC Milan this summer, journalist Fabrizio Romano confirmed on Sunday.

The Lowdown: Origi misses Anfield farewell

The Reds missed out on winning the Premier League title on Sunday afternoon, beating Wolves 3-1 but also seeing Manchester City win 3-2 at home to Aston Villa.

Sadly, Origi was unable to play any part in proceedings because of injury, meaning the Belgian couldn’t feature in what was his final home game for the club.

He has been widely expected to join Milan in the summer, with a farewell ceremony held on the Anfield pitch on Sunday.

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The Latest: Romano shares further update

The player’s exit has of course been confirmed by the club, but taking to Twitter, Romano has shared a further update on what comes next.

Origi will indeed be trading Anfield for the San Siro once the season is over, exiting on a free transfer:

“Divock Origi’s farewell today with Liverpool fans. He’s now leaving the club on a free transfer.

“Origi’s now set to join fresh Serie A champions AC Milan.”

The Verdict: Paris swan-song?

Origi is a hugely popular player for Liverpool and it was such a shame not to see him available against Wolves, although he did receive a great reception after the game.

There is still potentially another opportunity for Origi to produce one more huge contribution, however, with the Champions League final looming on Saturday night.

You wouldn’t put it past him to score against Real Madrid in Paris, although it isn’t yet known if he is available or not. It would be a perfect way to end a legendary Liverpool career.

In other news, James Pearce has reacted to some Liverpool injury news. Read more here.

West Ham United may be one step closer to signing Watford striker Emmanuel Dennis ahead of the summer transfer window, according to journalist Daniel Moroney.

The Lowdown: Hammers plot bid…

Numerous reports have indicated that the Nigeria international is a target for manager David Moyes and the east Londoners ahead of what could be an interesting transfer window.

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Both The Daily Mirror and Football Insider claim West Ham are seriously interested in Dennis with the latter publication stating talks have already been held with the player’s agents in London.

This comes after the Hornets star shone for his relegated side in the Premier League over 2021/2022, but they are now ready to sell him.

The Latest: Moroney makes big West Ham claim…

According to Watford journalist Moroney, who writes for Off The Ball and Back Page Football, the Irons are in talks to sign Dennis with the 24-year-old and his representatives even reaching a ‘verbal agreement’ with West Ham.

He explained (via Twitter):

“Emmanuel Dennis and his representatives have reached a verbal agreement with West Ham.

“West Ham are yet to agree a fee with Watford but discussions are ongoing and an agreement is expected to be met soon.

“Watford FC still waiting for an official bid.”

The Verdict: Exciting?

While it remains to be seen whether West Ham can tie up the deal with an official bid yet to be on the table, Dennis’ allegedly agreeing to join Moyes comes as some good potential news.

The Super Eagles striker was Watford’s standout player over the season, finishing the campaign as their top goal scorer with ten and ranking in as their best all-round performer by average match rating (WhoScored).

Taking this into account, it’s little wonder members of the media called Dennis a ‘superb signing’ at Vicarage Road as it now looks likely he’ll be on the move again.

In other news: Talks held: Club chief flies to London as West Ham eye ‘incredible’ player move…find out more here.

With Tim David joining Pollard and Tymal Mills joining Bumrah, they have the end overs covered with bat and ball

Vishal Dikshit24-Mar-2022

Where they finished in 2021

Defending champions in 2021, Mumbai missed the playoffs race by just one spot, losing out on net run rate. They left things a bit too late in the season to have a decent chance of qualifying.

Potential first XI

1 Ishan Kishan (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma (capt), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Tim David, 7 Daniel Sams/Fabian Allen, 8 Tymal Mills, 9 Jaydev Unadkat, 10 M Ashwin, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Player availability

From the players signed at the recent auction, only Jofra Archer is unavailable for the upcoming season, which leaves the Mumbai squad well-stacked.

Batting

At the auction, Mumbai did a pretty good job of covering the holes that Quinton de Kock and the Pandya brothers had left. Their top three of Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav looks solid, and Kishan can also move to No. 3 or 4 if they decide to open with Anmolpreet Singh, whom they tried at the top once last season, against Chennai Super Kings.Related

• Absence of overseas players could hurt Capitals in opener against Mumbai Indians

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The finishing job will be in the destructive hands of Kieron Pollard and Tim David at Nos. 5 and 6, with an allrounder in Daniel Sams or Fabian Allen to follow. Among their overseas options, they also have “Baby AB” Dewald Brevis, the Player of the Tournament in the recent Under-19 World Cup, who finished with an average of 84.33 and strike rate of 90.19 while dispatching the ball to all parts of the ground.The only question they need to answer is whom to bat at No. 4 if Suryakumar slots in at No. 3. Their options are either the newly acquired Tilak Varma, who has shown his potential for Hyderabad in the domestic circuit, or Anmolpreet. Mumbai may also feel the lack of Indian options if any of the first-choice batters is injured or out of form.

Bowling

Jasprit Bumrah will continue to spearhead the attack, and along with a rejuvenated Tymal Mills could well give Mumbai the league’s best death-overs attack. But in the absence of Trent Boult, who set the powerplay on fire in IPL 2020 and the first half of IPL 2021, Mumbai will have to think about their new-ball options. Bumrah usually bowls just one over in the powerplay, so the onus may fall on Jaydev Unadkat and Sams, who have T20 economy rates of 7.22 and 7.10 in that phase since IPL 2019.Tilak Varma could be a handy left-handed option in the middle order•ICC via GettyFor the middle overs, Mumbai lack, like before, a top-quality spinner. With M Ashwin and Mayank Markande as their only Indian options and Allen as an allrounder, Mumbai might miss the experienced big-name spinner they would have wanted for the second half of the tournament when pitches are likely to turn more because of the constant use of the four grounds hosting the league stage.

Young players to watch out for

Among Indian names, Mumbai signed 19-year-old Hyderabad batter Tilak Varma, whom head coach Mahela Jayawardene called a “massive talent” on Wednesday, for his hard-hitting strokeplay. A left-hand batter, Varma could bat at No. 3 if Kishan’s is the first wicket to fall, to maintain the right-left combination. Varma struck 139 off 123 against Delhi in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy and finished the 2020-21 season of the 50-overs competition with an impressive tally of 391 at an average of 97.75 and a strike rate of 97.26. In the 2021-22 Syed Mushtaq Ali (T20) Trophy, he struck his 215 runs at 147.26.

Coaching staff

Mahela Jayawardene (head coach), Zaheer Khan (director of cricket operations), Shane Bond (bowling coach), Robin Singh (batting coach), James Pamment (fielding coach)

Poll