Category Uncategorized

Tottenham Hotspur are pursuing an out and out striker this winter alongside their interest in Brazilian winger Savinho.

Frank's Tottenham struggling for creativity and consistency

With Brentford, Thomas Frank established himself as a tactically astute manager, one whose adaptability saw the Bees establish themselves in the Premier League.

His achievements were enough for Spurs to choose him as Ange Postecoglou’s successor, though after a promising start, the Lilywhites have started to stutter. Tottenham have won just two of their last ten Premier League games, and far too often Frank’s team are finding themselves severly lacking in the final third.

Sitting four points adrift of sixth-placed Manchester United, Tottenham have unsurprisingly been linked with a number of incomings. Manchester City winger Savinho has been touted for a move to North London, as Spurs seek a replacement for Brennan Johnson.

Despite finishing last season as the club’s top goalscorer, Frank has allowed Johnson to leave and the Welshman has traded North for South London, joining Crystal Palace.

It would seem that, alongside a new winger to replace the new Eagles star, Tottenham are also keen to reinforce their current selection of number nines.

Tottenham want to sign Aghehowa

Long regarded as a promising talent, Samu Aghehowa joined Porto from Atletico Madrid in 2024 to play more first team football. The Portuguese giants have only benefitted from their decision, with Aghehowa scoring 45 goals for the club in just 69 appearances across all competitions.

Still just 21 years old, Aghehowa is understandably on the radar of many teams and according to CaughtOffside, the Spaniard is a player that Spurs are “very keen” on alongside their interest in Savinho.​​​​​​​

Richarlison has enjoyed a strong season so far, with eight goals to his name by the turn of the year. Mathys Tel and Randal Kolo Muani, two other Tottenham strikers, have netted just four combined though, whilst Dominic Solanke has struggled with injury issues.

Subscribe for in-depth Spurs transfer analysis via newsletter Get deeper context — subscribe to the newsletter for clear, expert breakdowns of Spurs’ transfer targets, player profiles and squad impact, essential reading for anyone tracking signings, tactics and how each move reshapes the team’s attack.

---

Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Aghehowa, who has been labelled a “box dominator” by scout Ben Mattinson, has the physicality a player needs to succeed in the English top flight. He would be an exciting signing, though certainly not an easy one. Reportedly, Porto have no interest in selling Aghehowa, meaning Spurs would need to meet the forward’s release clause of £86 million.

If Tottenham push on and prove successful in their bids to sign Aghehowa alongside Savinho, then perhaps Frank can enter the second half of the season with more threat and consistency in his side’s attack.

Related The end for Bentancur: £26m "monster" is now keen on joining Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly interested in a deal to sign a star who could end Rodrigo Bentancur’s time in North London.

Posts ByDan Emery

Scorecard
B Aparajith eyes up the off side•Sivaraman Kitta

Late defensive bowling from seamer K Vignesh and R Ashwin restricted Andhra to 198 for 7 in their chase of 218, after the visitors gave Tamil Nadu a scare on the final day in Chennai.Having conceded a first-innings lead of 133 and begun the final day on 112 for 2 in their second innings, Tamil Nadu scored at 4.66 an over before declaring at 350 for 6, setting Andhra 218 with just over 40 overs left in the day.The overnight pair of captain Abhinav Mukund and B Aparajith extended their partnership to 113 before Abhinav holed out for 95 off left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt. Aparajith went on to score his sixth first-class hundred – an unbeaten 108 – which included a partnership of 72 with opener M Vijay, who returned to bat after retiring hurt on the third day because of an ankle sprain.Andhra’s openers DB Prasanth and KS Bharat took them to 52 for 0 at tea, leaving them 166 to get in what would eventually be 26 overs in the final session. The openers extended their stand 85, before they were both dismissed by left-arm spinner Rahil Shah. Ricky Bhui made a run-a-ball 40, and the equation was reduced to 57 off 36 balls with seven wickets in hand when he fell. The rest of the middle-order struck at over 100 to bring Andhra close, but Ashwin’s dismissal of Ashwin Hebbar was followed by a K Vignesh over that went for only two runs, besides the wicket of B Sumanth.Andhra went in to the final over needing 20, but K Vignesh removed Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari off the second ball and conceded no further runs before the game was called off.

Scorecard
Yusuf Pathan struck his second quickfire century of the match, and was involved in another big partnership – this time with medium-pacer Atit Sheth for the eighth wicket – but couldn’t help Baroda from slipping to an eight-wicket loss against Madhya Pradesh in Indore.Baroda started the day on 41 for 1, having been asked to follow on after conceding a first-innings lead of 249. Overnight batsman Kedar Devdhar fell off the first ball of the day to Ishwar Pandey, who took five wickets in a collapse that saw Baroda fall to 68 for 7 only 13 overs into the day.Yusuf, who had put up 188 with Irfan Pathan in the first innings to rescue Baroda from 54 for 4, performed the rescue act, again, with Sheth. He hit 16 fours and seven sixes to finish with an unbeaten 136 off 154 balls, most of which came in a partnership of 218 with Sheth who brought up his maiden first-class century before falling to legspinner Mihir Hirwani (3-77) for 109. The pair struck at more than five per over, helping Baroda erase the deficit, but the innings ended on 318, shortly after they were separated. Chasing 70, Madhya Pradesh lost both Waseem Ahmed and Naman Ojha in the first over, but Harpreet Singh and opener Rajat Patidar saw the side home.

Scorecard
Tripura opener Udiyan Bose scored his second first-class century and Odisha’s left-arm-spinner Dhiraj Singh finished with 5 for 55 as the two teams took a point each following a truncated game in Cuttack. The final day saw 71 overs of play, after the first three days saw only two in total. Tripura, sitting on 156 for 3 courtesy an 83-run stand between Udiyan and Yashpal Singh, collapsed before declaring on 194 for 8. Manishankar Murasingh then took the only wicket to fall in Odisha’s innings of five overs before play was called off.

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan may have formed a solid opening combination at the top of India’s batting order, but Rohit feels that comparisons with the prolific Sachin Tendulkar-Sourav Ganguly duo are premature.Rohit and Dhawan have put up 2763 runs from 63 innings across formats at an average of 44.56, with eight centuries and 10 fifties between them. While that is still a fair bit away from the 6609 runs Tendulkar and Ganguly put up together, Rohit has “immense satisfaction” that people are already drawing comparisons between the two pairs.”Comparisons with India’s most successful opening pairing [Ganguly-Tendulkar] gives you immense satisfaction. Comparisons are a piece of joy,” Rohit told . “It would be great if me and Shikhar as an opening pair can achieve the success that these two accomplished in their illustrious careers.”We are still not there but both of us would like to entertain the fans and win as many matches as they have won for India.”Rohit, who was named Player of the Series in the recent ODIs against Australia for his 441 runs from five matches, also felt that even his personal best was yet to come.”This is not the best. Whatever I achieve, I would always tell myself that my best is yet to come. I have scored 441 runs in the ODI series in Australia. In the next big series, my target will be to score more than 441 runs. If I am satisfied with my past achievements, I will never be able to set higher benchmarks.”It is a fact that you need to get the basics right. The straight six over fast bowlers’ head is a shot which I play with my batswing being the extension of my arm. It is about timing and position of the body negligible power element in it. But when MS Dhoni bats in the 45th over with the ball going soft, you need those wrists and brute power to clear ropes. That’s why MS is special.”Despite Rohit’s heroics in the ODI series, India went on to lose 4-1, though the visitors sealed a historic 3-0 whitewash in the T20Is that followed. However, Rohit said that the T20 win could not be put on the same pedestal as India’s victory in the 2007-08 tri-series, owing to the quality of Australia’s bowling attack back then.”I agree that their bowling attack is not same as it used to be but does one expect that Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath would have played on forever? You can only score runs off the bowlers that you play against,” Rohit said. “Every win counts as that’s what you are supposed to do while playing for the country.”[2008] was so different. I was a 20-year-old on my second or third tour. The new captain [Dhoni] was just settling down. Imagine their bowling attack. Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken and a far younger Mitchell Johnson. The batting line- up was Hayden, Gilchrist, Ponting and Clarke. So that tournament win can’t be compared to this win but this is also special in its own way.”

Shane Harwood led Victoria’s attack with four wickets © Getty Images

ScorecardVictoria were well on the way to first-innings points at stumps on the first day after Shane Harwood led a fast-bowling demolition of Tasmania. Harwood collected 4 for 53 as the Tigers were bundled out for 168, justifying the decision by Victoria’s stand-in captain David Hussey to send Tasmania in.At the close the Bushrangers had eased to 1 for 111, trailing by 57 runs with Rob Quiney on 55 and Michael Klinger on 4. If Victoria overtake the Tigers’ score it will be the sixth time from as many games this season that Tasmania have been behind on the first innings.The competition’s leading wicket-taker Gerard Denton (ankle) was missing from Victoria’s line-up but Harwood and Peter Siddle proved just as dangerous. Harwood bowled Michael Di Venuto with the third ball of the innings and Siddle, who was returning from a shoulder injury, removed Michael Dighton and Travis Birt in his first spell.Tasmania were 6 for 85 shortly after lunch when Harwood picked up Luke Butterworth and Tim Paine in one over, and only George Bailey’s 40 and a late 27 from Chris Duval nudged the Tigers past the embarrassment level. Dirk Nannes took 2 for 45 and Siddle grabbed 3 for 33, meaning he has more wickets from his two games this summer than the Australian-contracted Ben Hilfenhaus has from five outings.Hilfenhaus was tidy with 0 for 26 from 13 overs, however Quiney and Nick Jewell were reliable for Victoria, adding 100 for the first wicket. Jewell was lbw to Jason Krejza late in the day for 42 but Tasmania need a dramatic turnaround on the second day to put their title defence back on track.

India succeeded in its first ever Twenty 20 international in Johannesburg and a domestic tournament is in the wings © AFP

The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Technical Committee, headed by Sunil Gavaskar, will meet in Chennai on January 20 to discuss the ICC rules and regulations on the domestic Twenty20 tournament in April.”The Technical Committee meeting in Chennai will discuss the rules and regulations for Twenty20 format of the game that we have received from the ICC,” said Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer. “We are planning to host the domestic Twenty20 event among all units in the first week of April.”The inaugural Twenty20 World Championship will be played in South Africa this September and the domestic tournament is being billed as a forerunner to the global event. The BCCI has not conducted any such tournament in the domestic circuit so far. India played their first Twenty20 International on their recent tour of South Africa and won it too.Shetty added that the committee will also review the Ranji Trophy points system and the recommendation of MP Pandove, the BCCI joint secretary, to play all the Super League group matches, semi-finals and final at neutral venues from next season. At present the matches are held on rotation on a home and away basis.

Shahid Afridi’s success against India – and his last Test appearance – make his selection almost self-explanatory © Getty Images

Pre-match press conferences should generally be taken with pinches of salt. In them the pitches are never poor, always sporting and with a little something for everyone. Team compositions are never announced, only inferred. No one player holds the key to anything, all players in the opposing camp are vital and unless a real minnow is involved, both teams start evenly. The toss is always important but never unhealthily so and first sessions are always crucial but not critical.The first question pitched to Inzamam-ul-Haq regarding the state of the pitch was banal enough but because it wasn’t about goodwill, hospitality and political ties, it told a story in itself. For the first time in three series, the cricket takes precedence and it hasn’t come soon enough because both teams are playing some decidedly competitive cricket. Inzamam’s press conferences are generally straightforward enough; straight answers come to straight questions but in recent times, they have become even more so. Primarily, it is because, in the Pakistan camp these days, relative stability is to be found.As has been hinted in the run-up to this series, little is likely to change or be surprising about the eleven Pakistanis who turn up tomorrow. Apart from finding openers, the major dilemma with Pakistan’s opening combination was that when they were found, they were lost almost immediately thereafter. Ten opening combinations in thirteen Tests says less about a lack of natural openers in the country than it does about the selectors’ willingness to give one pair an extended trial. Forget extended, even more than two Tests together few pairs got. For continuity’s sake more than anything else, Shoaib Malik, as Inzamam and Bob Woolmer have been keen to assert, is likely to retain his position as opener. Against a long and strong batting line-up, his bowling will provide one of two much-needed things – relief for the main bowlers and occasional partnership-breaking potential.The only other position over which hovered some doubt was at number six. With Asim Kamal’s exclusion from the squad, a question of three has become one of two: Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq. Inzamam was evasive obviously saying simply, “We have two good allrounders in our squad. One provides us with a spinning option and the other a fast bowling. They will help us with options in either scenario whether the pitch takes spin or whether it is helpful to faster bowlers. It is a good situation for us to have in the squad.” But it is likely, according to some in the team management that Afridi will play. His performances against India – in fact anyone – over the last year and that he scored 92 and took four wickets in his last Test appearance only add more credibility to that claim. The rest is self-explanatory.As for the rest outside team selection, who knows? Who is the stronger side, how will the pitch play, will the weather play a part, is it really as black and white as Pakistan’s bowlers against India’s batsmen, will the toss be crucial? Rumours of a green-top were, like Twain’s death, greatly exaggerated and the pitch looks remarkably similar to the one on which England crumpled in December. In between then and now, the weather took centre stage for a while but even that, as temperatures rise slowly and the sun sheds its shyness, is receding slightly. The weathermen, almost as perfunctory as cricket press conferences, say a cold spell is expected again, possibly during the course of the match but by then the game will have begun writing its story.Really, these are all side issues, only diverting attention from the morrow, when Shoaib charges in to Sehwag, or when Pathan skips in to Butt. Then we will await various, mouthwatering themes that will, fingers crossed, embed themselves underneath the very skin of this series. Will Shoaib be able to maintain his hostility through the series? How will Rana Naved-ul-Hasan acquit himself now that he is a frontline bowler? How will Danish Kaneria bowl against India, now with a reputation to uphold rather than make? And is Inzamam finally going to succumb to the law of averages that afflicts every great batsman, Bradman apart? From tomorrow, the real stories begin.Pakistan (probable) 1 Salman Butt 2 Shoaib Malik 3 Younis Khan 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt) 5 Mohammad Yousuf 6 Shahid Afridi 7 Kamran Akmal (wk) 8 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan 9 Shoaib Akhtar 10 Mohammad Sami 11 Danish Kaneria.

Bangladesh A 309 for 9 (Mushfiqur Rahman 110*, Chibhabha 4-46) v Zimbabwe A
ScorecardA career-best 5 for 63 from Shahadat Hossain put Bangladesh A in a strong position on the second day of the second Test against Zimbabwe A at Bulawayo. At the close, Bangladesh had reached 78 for 0 in their second innings, a lead of 188.Shahdat had caused Zimbabwe problems with the bat last night, helping Mushfiqur Rahim put on 47 for Bangladesh’s ninth wicket – Mushfiqur added just one to his overnight 110 this morning – but in a post-lunch spell today he ripped through Zimbabwe’s brittle middle order.Reply to Bangladesh’s 311, Zimbabwe had reached 90 for 0 when the dismissal of Vusi Sibanda for 42 triggered a remarkable collapse, all ten wickets falling for 101 runs in little over a session. Terrence Duffin made a solid 59, but thereafter only Tafadzwa Mufambisi with 31 offered any real resistance. And there was more gloom for the out-of-form Dion Ebrahim, who laboured for 27 balls making an unimpressive 5.Shahriar Nafees (35*) and Raqibul Hasan (40*) underlined the gulf between the sides as they extended Bangladesh’s lead at more than a run-a-ball in the final session, with few alarms.

The Pub Charity CCA Club Cricket Draw – November 1MENS CRICKET1st Grade Men:R3 – 1 & 8 Nov (2 Day)Ricc v St A Hag 3,HSOB v OC Hag 1,Syd v ES Syd 1,LPW v BWU Burn 1,Mar Bye.2nd Grade Men:R3 – 1 & 8 Nov (2 Day)Ricc v St A Hag 4,HSOB v OC Elm 1,Syd v ES `A’ Burw 1,LPW v BWU Gar 1,Mar v ES Budgies War 1.3rd Grade Gold Men:R3 – 1 & 8 Nov (2 Day)St A v OC HC 1,BWU Maroon v Ricc HC 2,HSOB Cavaliers v BWU Gold Hag 6,LPW v ES Gold Ensors 1,ES Blue v Syd Syd 2.3rd Grade Red:R2 – 25 Oct & 1 Nov (2-day)2nd day of 23rd Grade Black (Grade has been redrawn):R2 – 25 Oct & 1 Nov (2-day)2nd day of 24th Grade Men:St A A v Mar Ilam 3,BWU v Syd Muppets Burn 2,OC Cavs v St A B HC 3,LPW Yabbage v ES Hooters Burw 3.5th Grade Men:St A v Ricc Gold HC 9,BWU Blue v Mar Green Burn 3,BWU Maroon v OC Gold Elm 2,LPW Yaks v Ricc Hogs Ensors 2,BWU SNCC v BWU Gold Burn 4.6th Grade Men:Syd Blue v Mar Fozzie B’s Ilam 5,Mar Gold v St A Polo 4a,OC Tan v LPW Ensors 3,Parklands v OC SGC Polo 3a,BWU v Syd Red Syd 3.Presidents Men:St A Gold v HSOB Gold HC 8,St A Blue v Mar Ilam 1,BWU v Ricc+ Ilam 2,OC v Hospital Elm 4,LPW Gladiators v ES Gold Avondale 1,Syd v LPW Red Wool 1,Sum Misfits v ES Blue Bar 1.(+ Indicates G. Frampton Challenge Trophy holder)WOMENS CRICKET1st Grade Women:R3 – 1 Nov (1-day Cup)ES v LPW Burw 2,OC-Country v St A Elm 3.1st Reserve Grade Women:R1 – 1 Nov (1-day)St A v OC Country Malvern 1,BWU v ES Clare 1,Syd v Ricc HC 7.2nd Grade Women:St A v LPW Wool 2,Syd v Hare Malvern 2,OC Country Bye.3rd Grade:Ricc v Horn Horn HS,LPW v St A HSC,BWU v Syd Polo 2a.4th Grade Primary Girls:Senior Trad:St A Gold v LPW HC 8 ,ES v St A Grammar HC 9,OC Country v Horn HC 3.Junior Trad:St A v Nb HC 7.Junior Average:St A v LPW HC 4,HSOB v Syd HC 5,Syd Selwyn H v Cath G HC 6.

A combined team of girls from Wellington and Hutt Valley flew out from New Zealand yesterday to begin a four-match tour of the Argentine.The tour is the result of an invitation from the Argentine Cricket Association which has previously sent three youth teams to New Zealand on tours.Thirteen girls aged 13-16, all of whom have achieved representative cricket level, have taken up the invitation. The girls have raised $85,000 to make the trip from stocktaking and raffles while the New Zealand Community Trust, the Lion Foundation, Pub Charities and the Norwood Trust in Wellington have been very supportive of the tour.A cocktail evening was held in Wellington on October 29 to draw the name of the team sponsor, which went to McLaren Associates Management Consultants.The Minister of Sport and Recreation, and also Education, Trevor Mallard attended the evening along with the Argentine Ambassador and members of the boards for Cricket Wellington and New Zealand Cricket.Three of the team’s games will be played in Buenos Aires and one in Rosario.The girls will also take part in cricketing clinics and share their cricketing experiences with their hosts.Former New Zealand opening batsman Bruce Edgar is the coach of the team which is managed by Thelma Colquhoun.The team is being taken on a sightseeing tour of Buenos Aires today and this evening travels to Lomas de Zamora where they will play a hockey game tomorrow morning and a cricket game in the afternoon against Southern Districts at St Albans College grounds in Buenos Aires.On Monday the players will visit the Tigre Valley and on Tuesday they will play the Argentine Girls’ XI at St Georges College-Quilmes, Buenos Aires.Wednesday involves a bus trip to Rosario with sightseeing on the way and a cricket clinic on arrival before meeting their billets.On Thursday afternoon they will play a Rosario combined boys’ and girls’ team.That will be followed on Friday morning by a hockey game and in the afternoon a game of cricket against a combined Buenos Aires/Rosario side.The last game of the tour is next Sunday, against a North XI in Buenos Aires.The team leaves on the night after that game at 12.10am and arrives back in Auckland on December 18.Team members are: Chamindi Abeyratne, Melissa Burgess, Victoria Colquhoun, Lucy Doolan, Holly Edgar, Rosemary Froggatt, Lucy Goddard, Gaya Gnanalingam, Philippa Gueorgieff, Phillippa Gunn, Rachel Harris, Danella Pike, Gina Ropiana, Bruce Edgar (coach), Thelma Colquhoun (manager).

While central midfield is not exactly an area of Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic squad which is in desperate need of reinforcement, with the 56-year-old currently possessing nine senior options in the middle of the park, it would not be surprising to see some of these move onto pastures new this summer.

Indeed, the likes of Ismaila Soro, Nir Bitton and James McCarthy have not enjoyed a great deal of game-time under the Hoops coach so far this season, while the trio are also reportedly earning a combined £36.1k-p/w in wages.

Furthermore, while Callum McGregor and Yosuke Ideguchi are the two standout options in the more defensive role of Postecoglou’s three-man midfield following the departure of Scott Brown last summer, the Bhoys are somewhat lacking in a tough-tackling, play-disrupting option in that area of the pitch.

However, with the club having recently been linked with a move for Coventry City’s Gustavo Hamer in the summer transfer window, that could soon be about to change.

Celtic’s next Scott Brown

Making a £1.5m move to Coventry in 2020, Hamer arrived in England with a reputation of being something of a terrier in the middle of the park, with Dutch football expert and FootballOranje founder Michael Bell stating of the 24-year-old prior to his switch:

“He is a controlling midfielder. Has been through the Feyenoord academy, at Dordrecht and at PEC Zwolle too.

“He definitely loves a tackle and that’s why he has eight yellow cards this season in the Eredivisie, more than most in the league.

“However, he is so much more than a terrier and has a lot of technique and skill on the ball. He can spread passes around the pitch with ease and is an excellent set-piece taker. He is a strong player and fans will like his creativity and ability on the ball. He is still young too so has plenty of time to improve and grow as a player.”

These are all traits that the £2.25m-rated midfielder has demonstrated in abundance for the Sky Blues, with Hamer averaging 1.4 interceptions and 1.3 tackles and winning 2.9 duels per game over his 42 Championship appearances last season.

However, it was not only in a defensive capacity in which the former Netherlands under-20 international impressed. He also bagged five goals, registered three assists and created five big chances for his teammates, enjoying 57.7 touches of the ball, taking 1.8 shots and making 1.5 key passes per match.

These returns saw the player who Marko Marosi dubbed “unbelievable” earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.97, ranking him as Coventry’s best performer in the second tier of English football last term.

It has been a similar story over Hamer’s 29 Championship outings so far this season, with the £3.2k-per-week midfielder scoring three goals, providing six assists and creating nine big chances for his teammates. He has also averaged 1.5 key passes, 1.2 interceptions, 1.6 tackles and 1.6 shots and won three duels per game.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

These metrics have seen the Dutchman average an even more impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.15, ranking him as Mark Robins’ second-best player in the league.

As such, while the 24-year-old would undoubtedly replace Brown’s hardman presence in the Celtic midfield, it is clear to see that Hamer would also add an extra bow to the Bhoys’ creativity from the middle of the park. That leads us to believe that the Coventry City ace would make an exceptional addition to Postecoglou’s current options in the midfield engine room.

In other news: Celtic handed fresh injury boost as footage emerges, Postecoglou will be buzzing