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Reliable journalist Miguel Delaney of The Independent has shared a fairly promising West Ham transfer update involving Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun.

Who will West Ham sign next?

After officially completing the signing of Mexico international midfielder Edson Alvarez, who joins from Ajax this week, manager David Moyes will be thrilled to finally get a player through the door.

It's been a positive week at the London Stadium following a window of real frustration in parts, with West Ham recently seeing their move for exciting forward Carlos Borges hijacked at the last minute.

However, the signing of Alvarez marks a possible swing of good fortune, as the east Londoners are also thought to be closing in on moves for both Man United's Harry Maguire and Southampton's James Ward-Prowse.

This will come as music to the ears of Irons supporters who are eager to see their side reinvest the £105 million received for former star Declan Rice.

Gianluca Scamacca, who recently put pen to paper on a move to Atalanta after just one year at West Ham, will also need replacing before deadline day on September 1.

Read the latest West Ham transfer news HERE…

As a result, Moyes' side have been linked with a host of strikers to come in for the Italian, including Arsenal forward and USA international Balogun.

The 22-year-old, who has been subject to intense interest from Inter Milan and Monaco recently, is also on the Hammers' radar as journalist Delaney shares a promising update.

According to the reliable reporter, writing a piece for The Independent, West Ham are "emerging as main competitors" to sign Balogun alongside Monaco.

It is believed they're the only two clubs capable of meeting Arsenal's asking price of £40m-plus, and while Balogun is "open" to joining either side if a move to Milan isn't possible, it is believed staying in England comes as "more attractive" to him.

Arsenal are also seeking one more sale to balance the books and free up space in their squad, indicating they're more than willing to do business.

How good is Folarin Balogun?

The attacker shone on loan at Reims in Ligue 1 last campaign, scoring 21 goals in the French top flight, with Gunners boss Mikel Arteta showring his starlet with real praise.

The Spaniard called Balogun a really committed and brave player, all the while claiming he has something special in his locker.

“I’m so happy for him,” Arteta said.

“He’s a boy that has a really clear idea of what he wants to do with his career. He’s really ambitious, really committed and really brave.

“We discussed a lot before he made that move whether it was the right place to go and the other choices he had. He was so convinced. I’m really happy for him because he deserves what he’s getting.

“When you look at the numbers and what he is doing, it’s just incredible. It’s very rare to see that. But he’s got something special, that’s why we decided to give him a long-term contract and have faith in him and give him the long period that he needs now, because the loan he is having now is really different to the one he had before at Middlesbrough."

أعلن اتحاد الكرة موعد مباراتي منتخب مصر أمام بوركينا فاسو وغينيا والتي تجمع بينهما ضمن منافسات التصفيات المؤهلة لـ كأس العالم 2026.

ويتواجد منتخب مصر في المجموعة الأولى لـ تصفيات كأس العالم 2026 بجانب منتخبات بوركينا فاسو وغينيا بيساو وسيراليون وجيبوتي وإثيوبيا.

ويتصدر منتخب مصر ترتيب المجموعة الأولى لـ تصفيات كأس العالم برصيد 6 نقاط، بعد الفوز في أول جولتين أمام حيبوتي وسيراليون.

وتلقى اتحاد الكرة خطابًا من الاتحاد الدولي لكرة القدم “فيفا” بشأن تحديد مواعيد مباريات منتخب مصر في شهر يونيو.

موعد انطلاق معسكر منتخب مصر القادم استعداداً لمواجهتي بوركينا فاسو وغينيا بيساو

وتعد هذه هي المرة الأولى التي يحدد خلالها الاتحاد الإفريقي “كاف” بالتنسيق مع الاتحاد الدولي، مواعيد مباريات تصفيات إفريقيا المؤهلة لكأس العالم، وإلغاء النظام المتبع قبل بذلك بمنح الاتحادات الأهلية تحديد مواعيد المباريات. موعد مباراتي مصر أمام بوركينا فاسو وغينيا بيساو في تصفيات كأس العالم 2026

وتقام مباراة مصر أمام منتخب بوركينا فاسو يوم 7 يونيو القادم في القاهرة ضمن مباريات الجولة الثالثة للتصفيات.

بينما يواجه منتخب مصر نظيره غينيا بيساو يوم 10 من يونيو بملعب الأخير.

وجه أشرف صبحي وزير الشباب والرياضة، الشكر إلى مجلس إدارة النادي الأهلي برئاسة محمود الخطيب على استضافة بطولة إفريقيا لكرة الطائرة “رجال” وسيدات”.

وأقيمت بطولة إفريقيا للرجال على صالتي الأمير عبد الله الفيصل والشهداء بمقر الجزيرة، خلال الفترة من 12 إلى 24 أبريل الجاري، توج بها النادي الأهلي.

وتنطلق بطولة إفريقيا لكرة الطائرة “سيدات” اليوم الجمعة وتستمر حتى 4 مايو المقبل.

طالع | موعد والقناة الناقلة لمباراة الأهلي وناصرية بجاية الجزائري اليوم في بطولة إفريقيا للطائرة سيدات

وقال صبحي خلال تواجده في حفل افتتاح بطولة إفريقيا لكرة الطائرة اليوم بالنادي الأهلي: “أولاً أوجه التهنئة للنادي الأهلي على فوزه ببطولة إفريقيا للكرة الطائرة رجال التي استضافها مؤخرًا”‎.

وأضاف: “الاتحاد الإفريقي للكرة الطائرة برئاسة بشرى حجيج يبذل جهودا كبيرة لتطوير ‏اللعبة وضعها على الخريطة العالمية وحرصه على إقامة البطولة في مصر‎”.

ووجه وزير الشباب والرياضة الشكر لـ محمود الخطيب، رئيس النادي ومجلس الإدارة على استضافة البطولة، مشيدًا ‏بالجهد المبذول في تنظيم البطولة من اللجنة العليا المنظمة برئاسة محمد الدماطي رئيس اللجنة العليا المنظمة، ومي عاطف نائب ‏رئيس اللجنة‎”.

وأشار إلى أن هناك خطط استراتيجية لتطوير الرياضة المصرية، ومن بينها الكرة الطائرة التي بات لها ‏وجود دائم على مستوى الدولة.

Zimbabwe’s head coach believes his team has the goods to beat any side, but constantly losing talent has not made their job easy

Sa'adi Thawfeeq28-Jun-2017

Zimbabwe’s consistent spells as the bottom-ranked team, 25 years after being granted Test status, are down to sporadic scheduling and the subsequent migration of players, said their head coach Heath Streak. Speaking to the media ahead of the first match of their Sri Lanka tour, Streak highlighted the difficulty of retaining talent with large gaps in the calendar.”It’s well-documented [that] there have been a lot of players who have left and are playing around the world who come from Zimbabwe,” he said.SL focused on moving ahead, insists Mathews

Sri Lanka have had troubles of their own, with fast bowler Lasith Malinga given a suspended ban of six months for a breach of contract, mere days after Graham Ford resigned as head coach. The captain Angelo Mathews, however, insisted the team will not be distracted by these off-field episodes.
“What happens outside the cricket field, we don’t think a lot about it. Our job is to concentrate on our cricket. As players we always look to perform well,” said Mathews.
“It’s beyond our control (Graham) Ford leaving. Our job is to go out there and perform at our very best. Fordy has been fantastic, one of the best in the business, but we’ve got to move on and look ahead towards this series.”

“It’s been tough for Zimbabwe to retain some of these players and hence we are constantly rebuilding. We’ve got a lot of young guys in our team. If you look around the world, and look at Zimbabweans internationally, we’ve got the likes of Gary Ballance, the Curran boys Sam and Tom, who just debuted for England, and Kyle Jarvis playing county cricket successfully.”We’ve got a lot of these guys out there whom we are trying to lure back. Part of their problem is the volume of cricket that Zimbabwe plays. That’s something that we can’t address, obviously. It’s a Catch 22 situation. We’ve got to play good competitive cricket for other countries to give us matches and that’s something we are really targeting [to do].”Hopefully we can get some of those players to return to Zimbabwe and complement a talented group of players that we have brought to the shores of Sri Lanka. It’s going to be a challenge because of the lack of cricket. We have these big gaps in between series and that’s probably our biggest challenge to get the guys to get used to playing at elite level.”The situation, in addition to having an impact on Zimbabwe’s performance on the field, has also been ‘a big challenge’ for Streak as head coach.”You inherit the players and your job is to try and get the best out of them. I certainly think that the team we’ve got here has got the ability to win against any side,” he said.”We had some good preparation coming into the series and I am looking forward to a lot of guys who can pull around. The future of Zimbabwe cricket is brighter if we keep doing the right things.”

Pakistan’s decision to call off their tour of Bangladesh in July and August has taken the BCB by surprise, though the board said it was yet to receive official communication from the PCB.”We are really surprised. Even a month ago we knew that the tour was on,” BCB’s media committee chairman Jalal Yunus said. “There was a discussion between both board chiefs during this week’s ICC meeting in Dubai. This upcoming series was ours to host according to the FTP. In 2015 the two boards went into a deal that we will play two series for the following two years in Bangladesh.”There was even a financial issue, which was dealt with at the time. They said they wanted to play here [in Bangladesh] till 2017. They wanted Bangladesh to play two T20s in Pakistan before continuing the series here. We don’t want to play there. We want to stick to our schedule, which has the whole series being played in Bangladesh.”Yunus said the BCB had learned of the PCB’s decision through the media. “If the series does get officially cancelled, we have to go into discussion with them. We have cleared the financial issues so there’s no need to talk about those things now. We haven’t heard anything from them in official correspondence. We heard it through the media that they want to cancel the tour.”Bangladesh last toured Pakistan in 2007-08, for a five-ODI series. Since then, Pakistan have toured Bangladesh twice, in 2011-12 and 2015. They PCB said it was cancelling this year’s tour because Bangladesh had not reciprocated with a return visit.If the tour is off, Bangladesh will have a break in July this year, because their next fixtures after the Champions Trophy in June is a proposed home series against Australia in late August.

Ross Taylor has declared himself 85-90% fit and should be available to play the Champions Trophy

Firdose Moonda28-Mar-2017It’s only March but Ross Taylor has come up with a resolution for next year – or maybe just next season – already. “I think I am going to start [keeping count of] how many games I can play without getting injured,” Taylor joked during a stint on the , SkyTV’s daily tea-time interview slot, during the fourth day’s play between New Zealand and South Africa in Hamilton. “Calf, hammies, side-strains, fingers, bones. It’s just disappointing that it’s South Africa I have missed a few times.”Taylor has missed some part of the last three series against South Africa, the first in the aftermath of the captaincy debacle in 2012-13, the second a limited-overs series in 2015 following surgery after a groin injury sustained in Zimbabwe, and now the last two Tests in this series, after tearing a calf in the first.Although Taylor admitted that not having to front up to “Morkel and Rabada is probably not a bad thing,” he said he would like to play as much as he can in the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup, which is being touted as the swansong of his career. His most recent injury has served to spur him on to ensure he gets there. “I just need motivation when things aren’t going well, when you get a bit tired of day-in, day-out cricket, just a nice little reminder to say why you play this game. Hopefully I can get through that.”For now, Taylor has declared himself 85-90% fit and should be available to play the Champions Trophy and the triangular tournament in Ireland, also featuring Bangladesh, which precedes the ICC event. New Zealand will be without their IPL players for that tri-series, which will make Taylor’s presence even more important and he hopes he can play a role in mentoring some of the younger players. “You want to expose young players to get the depth in the squad that we are comfortable with,” he said. “[So] we have 20 players at any time that can be very competitive against any side in the world.”One thing he may not be teaching them is to copy his signature celebration of sticking his tongue out on reaching a century. “I did it when I was youngster growing up – I got a cheeky hundred, I was dropped a couple of times and then I got a cheeky hundred so I did it. When my daughter was growing up, she was 2 or 3, she said, ‘Daddy, can you get a hundred for me and poke your tongue out?’ So that’s what I do now,” he said.Taylor has had the chance to do that in two ODIs and a Test this summer, which is not his best tally but has contributed to what he regards as an overall period of good progress for the team. “It has been a great summer,” he said. “Regardless of what happens [in this Test], it has been a successful summer. We retained the Chappell-Hadlee and got some convincing results against Pakistan and Bangladesh. We could finish off the summer really well with a Test victory here and we’ve seen some young players coming through and some veterans stepping up.”The highlight, though, has been the way Kane Williamson has stepped up to the captaincy. Since taking on the job in July last year, Williamson has scored 1079 runs at an average of 59.94 which includes four Test hundreds. He has also become the fastest New Zealander to 5,000 runs and equalled Martin Crowe’s century haul, and Taylor believes there’s no limit to what he can achieve.”He is only 26. He is in fantastic form and he scored a great hundred here. Add into it how the team played in Wellington, going into a must-win match and having to step up at a crucial time, to get a century here – every one starts talking about how many he is going to get,” Taylor said. “He could go down as our best batsman.”

West Bromwich Albion narrowly missed out on a place in the Championship play-offs last season as they finished three points off the top six.

Carlos Corberan, who arrived at the end of October 2022, was unable to drag his side into the promotion mix and the Spaniard may be hoping for better luck next term.

The former Huddersfield Town coach has just over two months left of the summer transfer window to build a squad that will be capable of fighting at the top end of the table over the next 12 months.

One player who has been linked with a move to The Hawthorns is a defensive midfielder from the Premier League. Journalist Darren Witcoop recently tweeted:

"West Brom keeping an eye on the future of Aston Villa midfielder Marvelous Nakamba. The Zimbabwe midfielder was wanted by West Brom in January before joining Luton. Luton interested in re-signing Nakamba but Albion also have him on their summer list."

Would Marvelous Nakamba be a good signing for West Brom?

The Zimbabwe international would be a terrific addition to the squad as his performances on loan with the Hatters last season showcased his ability to be an excellent player in the Championship.

Nakamba's displays for Luton suggest that the quality is there for him to be a big upgrade on one of Corberan's midfielders from the 2022/23 campaign – Jake Livermore.

The Baggies veteran, who is set to officially leave the club on Saturday upon the expiry of his contract, averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.7 across 17 league matches last term.

He scored one goal and created 0.2 chances per game for his teammates to go along with 1.6 tackles and interceptions per Championship outing – 0.8 of each. The 33-year-old dud did not rank in the top five performers for the club in either of the aforementioned defensive statistics, whilst his Sofascore rating placed him 19th among the squad.

Nakamba, who was described as a "Duracell battery" by Luton boss Rob Edwards, averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.84 across 17 league games, which would have placed him in the top ten performers for the Baggies.

The 29-year-old battler also completed an eye-catching 3.8 tackles per game for the Hatters. This is 1.8 more than any other West Brom player managed, with Okay Yokuslu's club-leading two tackles per match looking relatively unimpressive in comparison to the Villa midfielder's contributions last term.

These statistics suggest that Nakamba would produce a higher standard of performance than Livermore every week, while also being able to win the ball back for his side far more frequently compared to the English enforcer and the rest of Corberan's squad.

This is why the Baggies head coach must work hard to secure a deal for the £30k-per-week stopper if Luton are unable to strike an agreement for his services.

ScorecardBeau Webster scored his third first-class hundred•Getty Images

An unbeaten hundred from Beau Webster set Victoria a stiff target of 361 out of which they scored 44 without losing a wicket by the end of the third day in Hobart.Resuming the day on 3 for 127, Tasmania lost Jordan Silk for 76 on the seventh ball of the day, but Webster kept knocking runs off in the company of some lower-order batsmen. He forged stands of 70, 98 and 47 with Jake Doran (24), Simon Milenko (51) and Sam Rainbird (32) respectively even as the Victoria quicks picked wickets. Webster was not out on 122, his third first-class hundred, before Tasmania declared on 9 for 387. Chris Tremain finished with 4 for 97 while Jon Holland and Dan Christian took two wickets each.Victoria openers Travis Dean and Marcus Harris played out 17 overs to end the day with them needing another 317.

PSL franchise Quetta Gladiators have signed Pakistan’s Abdul Razzaq as their assistant and bowling coach

Umar Farooq01-Dec-2016PSL franchise Quetta Gladiators have signed Pakistan’s Abdul Razzaq as their assistant and bowling coach. He will join the team for the second edition of the league, replacing Englishman Ian Pont, whose one-year contract wasn’t extended after the first edition.Officially, Razzaq is still available for international selection, but his appointment could be a foray into professional coaching, which he has never done before.However, it has sparked a controversy as Pont took to Twitter to express his frustration about not being told that he was replaced after a successful stint in the first edition.”I have just found out on social media, that I have been replaced as assistant and bowling coach for 2016 PSL runners-up, Quetta Gladiators,” Pont wrote in a statement released on his Twitter account. “Naturally, I respect the franchise’s decision to bring in someone else. That is their right.”I do find it highly unprofessional not to have seen contacted by anyone from Quetta Gladiators about this beforehand, and only to discover the fact from a tweet by Abdul Razzaq who has been roped in as my replacement.”Worse still, it is extremely late for me to approach another franchise in the PSL and had I been told what Quetta was planning, I could have at least had the chances to do so. The PSL is a really good competition and it was Shahid Afridi who personally advised me to go into it. I hope it goes from strength to strength.”Putting my own disappointment aside, I wish Abdul very well in his new role. I am sure the fans will welcome him. Perhaps he can go one better and help win the PSL. Cricket is rife with poor communication and muddled thinking. However, remaining professional is a prerequisite regardless.”Quetta were reluctant to address the matter in public, hoping to sort the issue with Pont in person. ESPNcricinfo learnt that Pont’s agent was given a hint that the team was unlikely to extend his contract but did not get a confirmation until Razzaq’s appointment. The PSL management has also intervened to address this issue on its own.Quetta were the runners-up last season, losing the final to Islamabad United in the UAE. The second edition is set to be played from February 2017, in Sharjah and Dubai, while the final will probably be played in Lahore, subject to security clearances. Pakistan wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed continues to lead Quetta.Razzaq last played for Pakistan in 2013, in a T20 against South Africa, and was last seen in Pakistan’s domestic circuit in 2015. His international career spanned 17 years after he had made his debut in 1996 against Zimbabwe in Lahore, a month before his 17th birthday. He has played 46 Tests, 265 ODIs and 32 T20Is, besides representing five counties.

West Indies have dropped Kieron Pollard and Denesh Ramdin from their ODI squad for next month’s tri-series in Zimbabwe, which also features Sri Lanka

Colin Benjamin12-Oct-2016West Indies have dropped Kieron Pollard and Denesh Ramdin from their ODI squad for next month’s tri-series in Zimbabwe, which also features Sri Lanka. Courtney Browne, the head of West Indies’ selection committee, informed Pollard and Ramdin about their axing via email.The emails, accessed by ESPNcricinfo, were sent by Browne earlier this week. Browne’s message to both players was straightforward, saying they had been dropped and telling them they were free to seek clarification from him or the selection panel if they wanted. Considering the squad has not been officially announced yet, ESPNcricinfo sought a comment from the WICB on Wednesday, but the board did not respond.Both Pollard and Ramdin had poor returns in the recently concluded limited-overs series against Pakistan in the UAE. Pollard managed 43 runs in the three T20s, and bowled two overs, going wicketless. In the three-match ODI series, which West Indies lost 3-0, Pollard scored 42 runs at an average of 14.00. He took one wicket in the 12 overs he bowled across the three matches.Ramdin, who was recalled to the ODI squad, compiled 79 runs at 26.33 in the three ODIs and did not feature in the T20s. Browne’s selection panel had dropped Ramdin from the squad for the four-Test series at home against India earlier this year. Ramdin made the news public on Twitter before the squad was announced, and was subsequently sanctioned by the WICB.Ramdin has endured difficult times in the past 18 months. Despite helping West Indies level the Test series 1-all at home against England, Ramdin was stripped of Test captaincy immediately after the 2-0 home Test series loss to Australia.Pollard, meanwhile, has had mixed returns since returning from knee surgery last November. Pollard was picked for the tri-series at home in June, involving Australia and South Africa, and was instrumental in West Indies finishing as runners-up, scoring 205 runs at 41.00 including two half-centuries.Browne, who replaced former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd as chairman of selectors in June, has taken some bold decisions during his short tenure, including dropping Darren Sammy after he had led West Indies to their second World T20 title.Sammy did not hide his frustration when he called the symposium organised by the WICB and the West Indies Players’ Association in July, to clear the differences between the board and the players, a “publicity stunt” on his Twitter account.