Category Uncategorized

MatériaMais Notícias

Tudo sobre

CorinthiansJair Ventura

Mohsin Khan, the Pakistan coach, compared his team’s whitewash against England to the 1992 World Cup triumph after the 3-0 margin was sealed with a 71-run victory in Dubai. It was the first time since 1907 that a team had won after being dismissed in double figures in the first innings of a Test and completed Pakistan’s first cleansweep over England.”Today is like a dream come true,” Mohsin told . “It’s not a very experienced team but it’s very talented. Today, the captain and all the players have proved they are one of the best in the world. It’s a great achievement for the Pakistan team.”Pakistan’s captain Misbah-ul-Haq always believed his team could fight back from their poor first innings which had seen them 44 for 7 before lunch on the opening day. The fightback started with the bowlers and was built on by Younis Khan and Azhar Ali who struck the only hundreds made in the series.”After being bowled out for 99 nobody thought we could come back,” Misbah said. “But that is what this Pakistan team has been doing for the last year and a half, coming back in pressure situations. Everybody performed well, especially the bowlers. Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman brought us back into the game then there was a wonderful batting performance from Younis Khan and Azhar Ali. I think that was the difference in this game.”As they have throughout the series, England struggled to combat Pakistan’s spinners. Ajmal took four wickets in the final innings to take his series tally to 24 at 14.70 which earned him the Man-of-the-Series award. But it wasn’t all spin that ended England’s hopes of a consolation victory as Umar Gul took out key middle-order scalps in another penetrative spell.First he struck with the old ball to extract Ian Bell and then Eoin Morgan with the new ball to ensure no lower-order heroics from Stuart Broad or Graeme Swann. Having also taken a four-wicket haul in the previous Test in Dubai at the start of the series Misbah was full of praise for his senior fast bowler.”He’s a wonderful bowler, whenever we need him he performs well,” he said. “Today he gave us four precious wickets. He’s a matchwinning bowler and he showed that again today.”For Andrew Strauss the defeat completed a chastening three weeks where England’s credentials as the leading Test team have been left in tatters. The bowlers couldn’t have done more to try and keep their side in the series but time and again the batting failed to respond and Strauss admitted the constant failures were unexpected.”I’m a little surprised we didn’t get bigger scores over the three matches,” he said. “That was a consistent failure on our part but you have to give credit to Pakistan. When they got their noses in front they didn’t let us back in. We have to learn lessons from this. I’m a great believer you don’t become a great team overnight or a bad team overnight.”

Rahul Dravid has called on cricketers to give up “a little bit of freedom of movement and privacy” if it helps keep the game free of corruption

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Dec-2011

Rahul Dravid has called on cricketers to give up “a little bit of freedom of movement and privacy” if it helps keep the game free of corruption. Speaking at the Sir Donald Bradman Oration in Canberra, Dravid said players should treat the inconveniences of dope tests, the possible scrutiny of finances, or even lie-detector tests as necessary measures to keep the sport clean.”Cricket’s financial success means it will face threats from outside the game and keep facing them. The last two decades have proved this over and over again,” Dravid said. “The internet and modern technology may just end up being a step ahead of every anti-corruption regulation in place in the game.”As players, the one way we can stay ahead for the game is if we are willing to be monitored and regulated closely. Even if it means giving up a little bit of freedom of movement and privacy. If it means undergoing dope tests, let us never say no.”If it means undergoing lie-detector tests, let us understand the technology, what purpose it serves and accept it. Lie-detectors are by no means perfect but they could actually help the innocent clear their names. Similarly, we should not object to having our finances scrutinised, if that is what is required.”The radical idea of lie-detector tests was first mooted by the MCC to strengthen anti-corruption measures. The proposal was backed by former Australia captain Steve Waugh, who took a lie-detector test himself, and England captain Andrew Strauss also said he would be willing to undergo such an examination. The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA), however, was opposed to the idea and its chief executive Tim May said lie-detector tests were “far from foolproof”.Dravid, the first foreign player to deliver the Bradman oration, said that players needed to sacrifice a bit of personal comfort for the good of the game. His comments came at the end of a year during which three Pakistan players – Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir – were found guilty of spot-fixing during the tour of England in 2010. They were sentenced to jail terms after a trial at Southwark Crown Court.”When the first anti-corruption measures were put into place, we did moan a little bit about being accredited and depositing our cell phones with the manager. But now we must treat it like we do airport security because we know it is for our own good and our own security,” Dravid said. “Players should be ready to give up a little personal space and personal comfort for this game, which has given us so much. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.”

This Test series is only five days old, but already Michael Clarke’s Australians can sense victory. Their win inside four days in Galle was impressive, but even more encouraging for the country’s fans was the way Australia started the second Test in Palle

The Report by Brydon Coverdale08-Sep-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRyan Harris picked up 3 for 38•Associated Press

This Test series is only five days old, but already Michael Clarke’s Australians can sense victory. Their win inside four days in Galle was impressive, but even more encouraging for the country’s fans was the way Australia started the second Test in Pallekele, as an attack led by Ryan Harris bundled Sri Lanka out for 174 on a good batting pitch, and then the openers took the score to 60 for 0 before bad light stopped play.Shane Watson was on 36 and Phillip Hughes had made 23, and both men had played some wonderful shots, showing just how friendly the surface was. Australia know about one-sided days like these. They’ve been on the wrong side of a few over the past couple of years. This time it was Sri Lanka’s turn to wonder what more could have gone wrong.Their problems started before a ball was even bowled, as their best spinner from the previous Test, Rangana Herath, was ruled out due to a finger injury. If that wasn’t bad enough, the man they wanted to replace him, the mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis, woke up with a sore back, and rather than risk him, they named the legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna for his debut.Things started to look up when Tillakaratne Dilshan won the toss and chose to bat on a pitch that, compared to last week’s Galle dustbowl, seemed like a road. It was the last thing that went right for Sri Lanka for the entire day. They stumbled to 14 for 3 and Michael Hussey at gully take a screamer to get rid of the centurion from the first Test, Mahela Jayawardene, but there was one moment that encapsulated the day.Smart stats

Sri Lanka’s 174 is joint fifth on the list of their lowest first-innings scores at home after batting first. The lowest is 71 against Pakistan in Kandy in 1994.

For the third time in three innings (innings with ten partnerships only), Sri Lankan batsmen failed to post more than one fifty-plus stand. While they had no fifty-plus stand in the first innings in Galle, they had one each in the next two innings.

The partnership struggles for Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene continued against Australia. They have now aggregated only 158 runs in seven stands at an average of 22.57.

Angelo Mathews scored his fourth half-century overall and his second of the series. In 14 Tests, he has scored 685 runs at an average of 38.05 with a highest score of 99.

The opening partnership between Shane Watson and Phillip Hughes is the fifth fifty-plus opening stand for Australia in Sri Lanka. The highest is 138 between Greg Blewett and Michael Slater in 1999.

It came when the world’s fifth-ranked Test batsman was dismissed by the 125th-ranked bowler. Kumar Sangakkara had been steering Sri Lanka out of trouble, and had made a patient 48 when Michael Clarke asked Hussey to have a trundle. Hussey, 36, delivers gentle medium-pacers and had taken only two Test wickets: Paul Harris and Dwayne Bravo, both of whom had been caught in the deep.However, Sangakkara’s concentration lapsed and he prodded Hussey’s third ball straight to short cover. Hughes took the catch, the Australians mobbed Hussey, and he went on to complete a wicket maiden. Hussey was in shock. So were Sri Lanka.The only highlight for the hosts was a fighting half-century from Angelo Mathews, who showed similar resilience in the first Test. He played some fine strokes, including lofting a six off Nathan Lyon’s offspin, but even more impressive was the six he slammed down the ground off Harris to bring up his fifty.But Mathews was running out of partners, and he was caught behind for 58 when he chased Mitchell Johnson, and the end came quickly for Sri Lanka. The final wicket arrived when Chanaka Welegedara was taken at third slip by Trent Copeland off the bowling of Johnson, and Sri Lanka’s 174 was their fifth-lowest total batting first in a Test at home.As if to rub it in, Watson and Hughes then cruised the final session, and Sri Lanka’s one moment of hope was when Prasanna appealed for lbw against Watson. The umpire gave Watson not out and Dilshan immediately asked for a referral, which showed the ball struck Watson in the “umpire’s call” zone and would have clipped the stumps with the same dubious margin. The uncertainty meant the decision was not overturned, but had the on-field umpire given Watson out, he would have stayed out.The Sri Lankan fast men hadn’t found the same swing and seam movement that Australia’s bowlers did in the morning. The first hour was especially difficult for the batsmen, with both Harris and Copeland moving the ball both ways.Some deliveries in Harris’ opening spell were almost unplayable, as he angled the ball in to the right-handers and then moved it away off the seam. However, it was the left-hander Tharanga Paranavitana who was the first victim, for a 12-ball duck, when he got a thin edge behind to a ball that went on with the natural angle from over the wicket.Copeland then produced a near perfect offcutter to get rid of Dilshan for 4. Dilshan has struggled to find the right rhythm in this series, either playing too many shots or too few, and this time it was the latter that brought his downfall when he shouldered arms to a delivery that nipped back sharply off the seam and clipped the very top of the off stump.But the most uplifting moment for the Australians in the early stages came when Hussey, the oldest player in their team, hurled himself to his left at gully to take a brilliant one-handed catch. Jayawardene had got a thick edge off Copeland and the ball was almost past Hussey when he clutched it in his left hand, and he was quickly mobbed by his team-mates.Sangakkara and Thilan Samaraweera steadied with a 43-run partnership before Samaraweera (17) was caught behind off the inside edge, the victim of another Harris delivery that nipped in off the seam. He was followed soon after by Prasanna Jayawardene, who blasted a quick 18 but fell in the first over from Lyon, when he mistimed a sweep and was caught at deep midwicket.Prasanna was one of several batsmen who let themselves down with poor judgment, and the Sri Lankans must come out of their slump quickly if they want to keep the series alive. If the second day is anything like the first, this time on Friday it might all be too late.

Scorecard
Lancashire cruised to an eight-wicket win over Unicorns to pick up only theirthird Clydesdale Bank 40 victory of the season.After bowling Unicorns out for 179, Junaid Khan claiming four wickets,Lancashire reached their victory target with a massive 12 overs to spare,finishing on 182 for 2 at the Colwyn Bay Cricket Club Ground.Captain Steven Croft led the way with an unbeaten 59 off 51 balls forLancashire while there were good contributions from Karl Brown (42 not out) andopeners Stephen Moore (40) and Tom Smith (35).Lancashire move onto seven points with the win – four points behind joint GroupC leaders Somerset and Essex – while winless Unicorns remain bottom of thestandings with just one point from nine games.The part-timers, having won the toss and opted to bat, looked on course for achallenging total as they 75 without loss in the 14th over. However, Lancashire started their fightback by claiming the important wicket of Unicorns opener Michael Thornely, who had struck nine fours in a 38-ball 47 before he was caught by Paul Horton off the bowling of Stephen Parry.Thornely`s opening partner James Campbell then fell soon after for a patient26, and although Josh Knappett (42) and Luis Reece (19) helped take the score upto 114 for two, the wheels then quickly came off for Unicorns. Aside from the top four, only Amar Rashid (10) and Dan Wheeldon (14) managed to get into double figures as Unicorns lost their final eight wickets for 65 runs.Pakistan paceman Junaid was the pick of the Lancashire attack as he finishedwith figures of four for 29 off 7.3 overs – all four victims being bowled -while Simon Kerrigan took two for 21 off eight. Lancashire made short work of their reply with all of their top four finding the boundary with regularity.Moore clubbed two sixes and four fours as he shared an opening stand of 58 withSmith (six fours and a six), and a 31-run second-wicket partnership with Croft.The departure of Moore brought Brown to the wicket and he combined with skipperCroft for an unbroken 93-run stand, the pair finishing with 10 fours and foursixes between them as Lancashire ran out comfortable winners.

Ozias Bvute, the managing director of Zimbabwe Cricket, has hit back at suggestions that his organisation reneged on an agreement to host Ireland for a ODI and first-class tour in late 2011

Andrew Miller13-Apr-2011

Ozias Bvute, the managing director of Zimbabwe Cricket, has hit back at suggestions that his organisation reneged on an agreement to host Ireland for a ODI and first-class tour in late 2011. The change of heart, he said, came as a result of Zimbabwe’s commitments both to the Future Tours Programme and their own domestic competition, and not out of fear of being upstaged by a team that has been barred from participating at the 2015 World Cup, despite currently sitting above them in the world ODI rankings.”It is very unfortunate that recent media reports aim to portray Zimbabwe as unwilling to play against Ireland and insinuate that the reason is based on an attempt to ostracise them,” said Bvute. “Zimbabwe has suffered greatly from the politics of exclusion and we would not wish that on any one. Sport is about participation and increasing the numbers that participate to allow for the sustainability of any given activity.”Zimbabwe’s original proposal, in October 2010, had been for Ireland to play three ODIs and a five-day unofficial Test in October/November 2011, as preparation for their New Year visit to New Zealand. However, on March 23, a fortnight prior to the Mumbai meeting in which Ireland’s World Cup fate was sealed, that plan was shelved after New Zealand themselves confirmed they would be touring Zimbabwe in that period, having already postponed their scheduled visit in May/June.Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland’s chief executive, confirmed that Zimbabwe had not been at fault in the negotiations. “Ozias is absolutely correct,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “In the recent Chief Executives Committee meeting, he was extremely supportive of the associates and spoke out strongly in their favour. There is nothing sinister in this whatsoever. We were initially in conversation about travelling to Zimbabwe at the end of the year, but as one of the smaller Full Member nations, they have to wait for the bigger members to organise their own schedules. Simply, there was a clash between the time we wanted to come down, and the contractual obligations they are required to fulfil through the FTP.”Bvute continued: “Cricket Ireland can confirm that when they toured here in September we voluntarily made them an offer to arrange fixtures against them and have since been in communication with their administrators.”Our last correspondence proposed January 2012 as a possible date. Zimbabwe has a full international and domestic calendar this season and we are not obliged to play against Ireland.”Our offer to arrange playing opportunities with them is spearheaded by nothing less than the spirit of sportsmanship and inclusion. With the Australian and South African A sides, Bangladesh, New Zealand and Pakistan all having confirmed to tour Zimbabwe between June and November this year there is simply no slot available to accommodate them in 2011.”In correspondence with ESPNcricinfo, Bvute emphasised the priorities for Zimbabwe cricket going forward, which are to build a sustainable domestic structure that will enable the team to hold its own in future ICC events, regardless of how future tournaments are organised. “So the question of having to possibly qualify for a slot in the World Cup poses no heartache for us,” he wrote. “Come the 2019 World Cup our strategy should have brought forth a crop of elite players who are able to stand their ground against any team, full-member or not.”Our long term strategy is to grow our domestic cricket and increase the spectatorship numbers for our local games. The people in Kwekwe, Mutare, Masvingo and Bulawayo will only support their franchises if they can expect to see players that they can identify. The greater the crowds the more likely the corporate world is to further support the game. It is our hope that in the future, with these efforts, we will have a domestic competition that is in itself financially viable and sustainable.”

After Australia’s quicks blew New Zealand away in Nagpur, their coach had said the top order needed to bat for 35 overs, but against Sri Lanka, the entire line-up was gone by then; this time to spin

Nagraj Gollapudi at the Wankhede Stadium18-Mar-2011New Zealand may wonder how far they have progressed after the seven-wicket defeat against Australia three weeks ago. Then, as now, their batsmen failed to build partnerships. Then, as now, New Zealand collapsed without putting up a fight. The only difference: back then they were tried by pace, while today the noose was tightened by the spinners. Just replace Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait and Brett Lee with Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis and Lasith Malinga.So have New Zealand become such an easy picking? Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka captain, was confident that New Zealand never liked the variety in his bowling attack. And it was not a recent allergy they had developed. “We kind of understand that they find the variation in our bowling attack a bit troublesome,” Sangakkara said after the 112-run victory. “They find Mendis, Malinga and Murali quite difficult, so we try to maximise on that particular fact.”The only time New Zealand’s batsmen showed some promise was when Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor were steadily beginning to rebuild the innings after the early loss of the openers. Ryder was timing the ball well, while Taylor showed the same spirit visible during his match-winning century against Pakistan. But it was not an easy pitch – it was taking sufficient turn, and coupled with a good bounce, it was a shot in the arm for the spinners. Also the dew made the ball skid. Patience was New Zealand’s life vest. Sadly their batsmen left too many loose ends and lost their way pretty quickly.After the demoralising loss to Australia, John Wright, the New Zealand coach, had imposed a condition that it was mandatory the top order lasted for at least 35 overs. The other rider was that not more than three wickets could be lost. On Friday, the New Zealand innings folded in exactly 35 overs. “We just did not get there,” Taylor, New Zealand’s stand-in captain for the game, said. “We put plans in place to try to achieve them and today we did not do it.”Jesse Ryder timed the ball well before he edged one from Ajantha Mendis•Getty ImagesIt would be harsh to single out Taylor because he was only filling in for the injured Daniel Vettori, who has been sidelined by a knee injury. Also, the absence of Kyle Mills, a frontline bowler, has not helped matters. New Zealand’s problems were aggravated when Hamish Bennett, Mill’s replacement, was forced to leave the field midway into his fifth over after he picked up a calf strain.Taylor felt that Bennett’s absence in the crucial middle overs allowed Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene to establish themselves and lay a good foundation. “In losing Hamish Bennett, we lost a little bit of firepower during the middle stages. But the way we came back to restrict them to 260 with a bowler down was not too bad. But we just kept losing wickets. At the end we were up with the rate but when you keep losing wicket 260 becomes a big target.”The loss will not hurt New Zealand’s cause much as they have already booked a quarter-finals’ berth. Even if it is not yet clear who their opponent will be, Taylor felt that it was important for the players to regroup fast and start from a new page. “The confidence would have taken a dent. But we have played some good cricket over the last little while. We have got to think positively. In the next couple of days we will know who our opponents are and then plan accordingly. The break allows us to recover from the injury toll.”

The Bombay High Court has upheld the stay on the termination of Rajasthan Royals issued by the judge hearing the arbitration case between the franchise and the BCCI. The board had earlier appealed against the order issued by the arbitrator, Justice BN Srikrishna, on November 30 that gave the team back all its rights under the franchise agreement, allowing it to participate in the player auction currently scheduled for January 8 and 9. Justice S Vazifdar, who is hearing the case, ruled in Rajasthan’s favour today.The court, however, modified the arbitrator’s order, adding conditions similar to those it issued in the Kings XI Punjab verdict last week, where it granted an interim stay on the franchise’s expulsion, subject to certain stipulations. In Rajasthan’s case, the court has asked for the owners – Manoj Badale, Suresh Chellaram and Lachlan Murdoch – to file an affidavit stating that “they are in control of their respective investment companies”, and to specify how they control these companies, by January 3, 2011. The franchise will also have to provide a bank guarantee, from a nationalised Indian bank (a bank owned by the government of India), worth $20.83 million – $18 million to cover the players’ salaries over two years and $2.83 million to cover their contract with the BCCI.Rajasthan’s lead counsel, Janak Dwarkadas, argued that the guarantee for players’ salaries should be reduced to $11.8 million because the franchise had retained Shane Watson and Shane Warne at a stipulated cost of $3.1 million per year, and the pair had agreed to sign with them knowing that the team was involved in legal proceedings. The court responded by saying the two players could choose to provide no-objection certificates saying they did not need their salaries protected by the court. If they do so, Rajasthan will be free to deduct $6.2 million from the bank guarantee amount.Rajasthan’s IPL affiliation was terminated by the BCCI on October 10 on charges of transgression of shareholding and ownership norms that threatened to “shake the very foundation of the tender process”, as the notice put it. The two sides then decided to settle their dispute over the termination through arbitration on November 15 after Rajasthan had filed a case in the High Court challenging the board’s decision to take the step unilaterally.Both parties argued their case over four days, after which Srikrishna ruled in Rajasthan’s favour. The crux of his argument was that the BCCI all along knew Rajasthan’s ownership patterns, and that by communicating with it for three-and-a-half years – and accepting the guarantee money – effectively approved of it.The BCCI now has the option of appealing against the decision to the Supreme Court, but the court is closed for two weeks beginning December 17, meaning the franchise is practically guaranteed to take part in the auction, unless it is postponed again – something that the BCCI is reportedly considering. The decision is another blow to the board’s attempts to host an eight-team IPL in 2011, as opposed to the original decision made in Lalit Modi’s tenure – to field 10 teams from the fourth season onwards.The arbitration proceedings between Rajasthan and the board will proceed independent of the court’s decision on the issue of termination, and the stay will remain in place until six weeks after the arbitrator’s final ruling on the case.

Confusion surrounds the fate of the five-match one-day series between Sri Lanka and West Indies, which is scheduled to begin in rain-hit Hambantota on Thursday

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2010Confusion surrounds the fate of the five-match one-day series between Sri Lanka and West Indies, which is scheduled to begin in rain-hit Hambantota on Thursday, with reports today suggesting the two national boards were working on rescheduling the series for January. The confusion was heightened by the circulation of an “official statement” by Sri Lanka Cricket, which was later denied, and by the absence of any official confirmation or denial from the West Indian side.Adding to the bizarre situation was Chris Gayle’s Twitter update – the former West Indies captain tweeted as early as Wednesday afternoon that the series had been officially called off and that he was headed out of the country.Hambantota, which also hosts the second ODI on Saturday, has been hit by torrential rain over the past few days, with players unable to have any outdoor practice. Given the likelihood of rain affecting both ODIs, it appears SLC had proposed a deferred three-match series starting at the end of January, and were awaiting an official response from their counterparts in the West Indies. The time difference – nine-and-a-half hours – was not helping matters.Rain has been the only constant in this ill-timed tour, with the players spending most of the time during the three-Test series in dressing rooms. The weather-induced stalemate pushed Sri Lanka from third to fifth in the ICC Test rankings, and Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka captain, went on to describe the series as the worst of his life.If the poor weather continues through the one-day leg, it could upset both sides’ plans to finetune their preparations for the 2011 World Cup. Sri Lanka have rested Muttiah Muralitharan for their last assignment before the big event, and are looking to identify their best back-up spinner. Offspinner Suraj Randiv has been favoured in recent times, but Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis, both of whom are in the squad for this series, are also in the hunt. Having sat out the Test series, seamer Lasith Malinga will also look forward to hitting his straps ahead of the World Cup.West Indies endured a forgettable time against South Africa in May-June, losing 5-0, and will be eager to turn a corner here. Their performance in the first Test in Galle, on the back of a tremendous triple-century from Gayle, hinted at the beginning of a resurgence, but the washouts in the next two Tests robbed them of the chance to build on the momentum. The Tests offered little insight into Darren Sammy’s abilities as a captain, while his personal form was shoddy. He has plenty riding on this series, and will hope for enough action to assert his leadership on the group, and find some confidence with both bat and ball.The series was meant to hand World Cup auditions for the new ground in Hambantota and the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo which is slated to host the last three matches. Little is known about the pitch at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, though a notoriously low-scoring A match in September had raised doubts about its nature, doubts that were shot down by curator Anurudda Polonowita and national selector Ranjit Fernando.Another striking feature of the ground is the distance between the square and the boundary – estimated at 100 metres by Fernando. Given the conditions, one can expect a low-scoring tussle under the lights with the bowlers having a big say in the proceedings. If the rain stays away, that is.

According to a report from the Daily Star, Tottenham Hotspur are considering a move for Bayern Munich forward Serge Gnabry with 

The lowdown: Rise to stardom

The 26-year-old has undergone a bizarre rise to prominence on the elite European stage having struggled at Arsenal and West Brom before rediscovering form back in Germany.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-newest-updates/” title=”Tottenham newest updates…” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Gnabry only mustered 11 Premier League appearances during spells across the two English clubs and was sold to Werder Bremen for £4.5million in 2016 (Daily Mail).

Now a return to north London could be on the cards…

The latest: Conte ‘pushing’

As per the report from the Daily Star, Tottenham are considering an ‘ambitious swoop’ for the German international.

This comes as manager Antonio Conte is personally ‘pushing the club to table a cut-price deal’ for Gnabry given his contract situation, telling Spurs make a move.

Described as a ‘contract rebel’, Gnabry is set to become a free agent in 2023 (Transfermarkt) and Bayern are could be ‘willing to listen to offers’ for the man once hailed as ‘world class’ by Rio Ferdinand.

The report states that the Bundesliga giants ‘won’t be held to ransom’ by the 31-cap Germany ace, sparking interest from the Lilywhites.

The verdict: Make it happen

So far this season Gnabry has scored 16 times and provided 10 assists in 42 appearances across all competitions and would be a superb addition to Conte’s squad at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as the Italian, alongside transfer chief Fabio Paratici, attempts to strengthen the N17 ranks.

Predominantly a right-winger, the versatile attacker can operate across the frontline and would provide an alternative to Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski and the potentially outgoing Steven Bergwijn whilst also being capable of operating centrally.

Boasting a superb 7.34 average Sofascore rating this season, the Stuttgart-born star keeps illustrious company alongside Leroy Sane, Neymar and Mohamed Salah when using the Fbref comparison tool and would therefore be a top-level capture despite the previous links with elsewhere in north London.

In other news: Tottenham officials dispatched to club as they allegedly eye ‘unbelievable’ £33m man for Conte! Find out more here.