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It's been a quiet transfer window for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City as they try to chase down Liverpool in the Premier League title race. The reigning champions have sealed a £12.5m deal for young River Plate midfielder Claudio Echeverri, but he'll be remaining in Argentina for the entirety of 2024 before he lands at the Etihad, so they won't feel the immediate impact of that move.

Now, it looks like City are about to do another deal, this time within the City Football Group (CFG), for a player who can slot straight into the upper echelons of their academy.

Tibidi making City move

According to French outlet RMC Sport, Man City are signing Alexis Tibidi on loan from French second-division Troyes, who are of course part of the CFG, and an announcement is imminent. The report acknowledges that the move is a "surprise", particularly after previous loan club NEC Nijmegen expressed concerns over the player's "investment".

However, City are hopeful the player will benefit from a temporary stint at the Etihad where he will have the opportunity to train with the first-team on occasion, under the tutelage of Guardiola himself, and play for the under-21s.

Tibidi can get back on track at City

It was only 12 months ago that Tibidi joined the CFG with Troyes, signing from Stuttgart in a €2.3m transfer. He'd played 13 games during his stint with the German club but found most success on loan in Austria with Altach, where he scored five goals in 16 matches.

In the second half of last season, the winger hardly featured for his new club, notching just 72 minutes over the course of three substitute appearances in Ligue 1. Tellingly, he played more than double that number for the B-team (153).

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That's where the loan to the Netherlands came in. The goal was to get him playing consistent first-team football in order to further his development, but partly because of the aforementioned dissatisfaction with his attitude, he didn't feature at all.

That prompted Troyes to recall him at the end of the year, and now City have intervened in the hope of getting his career back on track. This is a player who was regarded as a "top talent" when he joined Troyes and, at 20, he still has time on his side. The opportunity to work with Guardiola from time to time and take part in some of the highest-level training sessions in world football could be invaluable.

City could also use the help for their under-21 side. After romping to the Premier League 2 Division 1 title by 13 points last year, they've tumbled all the way down to the bottom of the 26-team table this term, having collected just six points from their 11 games. The hope will be that adding a player who already has decent experience of the senior game will be a lift to those struggling academy talents too.

JJ Watt admits that shock talk of Vincent Kompany leaving Burnley for Bayern Munich is filling the “adrenaline void” created by his NFL retirement.

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• American football icon involved with Clarets
• Could be about to lose head coach
• Belgian boss reportedly wanted in Bavaria

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The American football legend is accustomed to facing the stresses of life in professional sport. He forged a successful career out of facing those challenges head on, but has been forced to branch out after hanging up his cleats in the States for the final time.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Watt, along with his former USWNT star wife Kealia, acquired a stake in Burnley as Kompany was guiding them to the Championship title in 2022-23. The highs of that promotion-winning campaign have been countered by relegation out of the Premier League in 2024.

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  WHAT JJ WATT SAID

  There may be more bad news on the way at Turf Moor, with former Manchester City captain Kompany supposedly ready to swap Lancashire for Munich and an opportunity to work with Harry Kane and Co at Bayern. Watt has responded to those rumours by posting on social media: “People often ask if European football ownership helps fill the adrenaline void from playing…There are definitely days!”

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• WHAT NEXT?

  Watt and the rest of Burnley’s board may be about to find themselves in the market for a new manager, with the Clarets preparing to enter a busy summer that will also deliver plenty of movement on the transfer front as they ready themselves for life back in the second tier of English football.

Daniel Farke has spent much of the season down a body at left-back after Leeds United's Junior Firpo suffered a serious knee injury. Firpo only played his football of the season in November and has started just the one Championship game up to this point, coming off the bench on seven occasions.

The Dominican set-up two goals in Leeds' 3-0 victory over Birmingham City last time out, but that seemingly hasn't stopped up Farke considering some alternative options in his position. Indeed, it seems that Leeds may dip into the market for a familiar face.

Taylor named as possible option

Charlie Taylor joined Leeds at the age of nine and, after loan spells at Bradford, York City, Inverness and Fleetwood, he established himself in the first team, winning the club's player of the year award in the 2015/16 season. However, just a year later, he chose to leave Elland Road at the end of his contract despite receiving an offer to extend his stay (BBC Sport). He had the opportunity to join Premier League club Burnley instead, and he took it.

Taylor ticked past 100 first-team games in his initial spell with Leeds, scoring three times and assisting 13 more, but he may have the chance to add to that tally, with journalist Graeme Bailey telling the One Leeds Fan Channel that a comeback could be on the cards. "I keep hearing Charlie Taylor's name," he says, explaining that "a left-back is someone they want" and predicting that one will arrive in West Yorkshire.

Taylor reunion makes a lot of sense

Bailey says that "Leeds fans are quite indifferent" about the prospect of Taylor returning, and that's not especially surprising when you consider the circumstances in which he left. When it came to it, he snubbed the club who had originally given him his shot, although he could hardly be blamed for wanting to play top-flight football when Leeds were struggling to get promoted.

Still, rather than holding any past grudges, the Elland Road faithful should focus on the team's current prospects, and Taylor's huge experience could be a real asset. He's played 126 games in the second tier and even more (149) in the Premier League, which could come in handy if Leeds, currently fourth in the Championship and on course for the play-offs, go up.

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Journalist Andy Jones has called him "phenomenal", while his manager Vincent Kompany has spoken highly of his professionalism on more than one occasion. Last season, when he had to fill at centre-back, Kompany applauded Taylor's "open-minded" approach and willingness to help the team in whatever way possible (Burnley Express), and earlier this year, he praised the veteran's performance against Nottingham Forest after being left out of the squad the previous weekend.

"The seasoned professionals…at a certain age you know the only reward you get is if you put in the work in training every day, then your chance might come.His chance came and he took it with both hands and we are happy with that."

At the age of 30, and with only six months left on his deal, you dont imagine that Taylor would command a particularly large fee. As such, this is a move that could make a lot sense – minimal risk, and the opportunity for a healthy reward.

The news is a serious blow to Sri Lanka’s chances in the next Test, and the consequences of this hamstring injury may also be keenly felt in South Africa

Andrew Fidel Fernando26-Jan-2019Sri Lanka fast bowler Lahiru Kumara has been ruled out of the second Test against Australia in Canberra and the South Africa tour next month, with a hamstring injury. Kumara had sustained the injury on day two of the first Test in Brisbane, and had been off the field for the entire third session, as Sri Lanka sought to bowl Australia out. He did not come out to bat on day three, with Sri Lanka going on to lose by an innings and 40 runs.”Kumara is out for four to six weeks. So he’s out of the next game,” Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal confirmed after the loss.The first Test against South Africa starts in two and a half weeks, on February 13, in Durban, effectively ruling Kumara out.Kumara is the second Sri Lanka quick to pick up a hamstring injury on this tour, after Nuwan Pradeep was also ruled out last week. He is the third Sri Lanka player overall to leave the team with a hamstring complaint during their ongoing southern hemisphere tours, with Angelo Mathews having sustained a hamstring strain during the second Test against New Zealand.The news is a serious blow to Sri Lanka’s chances in the next Test, and the consequences of this injury may also be keenly felt in South Africa. Kumara is the fastest bowler in Sri Lanka’s pace battery, and had been among their most penetrative bowlers in the recent Tests against New Zealand. He had been especially impressive on Sri Lanka’s 2016-17 tour of South Africa, where he took 11 wickets at an average of 26.45.To compound troubles, Chandimal also revealed that another quick, Dushmantha Chameera, who took 1 for 68 at the Gabba, had been added to the growing injury list, although the nature or the extent of his injury is not known.”Dushmantha is also injured. So we’ll need to get another two quick bowlers,” Chandimal said.However, no replacement has yet been named for Kumara or Chameera, with Kasun Rajitha almost certain to play in the second Test. Left-armer Vishwa Fernando is also with the team, having replaced Pradeep in the past few days.

While Handscomb’s batting technique has been widely dissected and analysed, Australia captain Tim Paine stressed that Mitchell Marsh’s bowling was a significant factor in the selectors’ decision

Melinda Farrell in Melbourne25-Dec-20183:46

‘Kohli is up for a contest regardless of who’s watching’ – Paine

Australia have left the door open for Peter Handscomb to return to the side for the final Test against India after he was dropped in favour of Mitchell Marsh for the Boxing Day Test.Handscomb made a total of 68 runs across four innings in the first two Tests of the series, but he was in the running for a place in the team before being left out partly because of his strength of batting against spin on what may be a slow MCG pitch. Speaking ahead of the match, Tim Paine , the captain, acknowledged it would be a blow for Handscomb to be dropped midway through the series but suggested there could be a way back for him into the squad for the Sydney Test with some improvements.”Pete knows there’s things we’d like him to work on and improve and he’s going to be around the group this week and going to Sydney, a place where it normally spins,” Paine said. “I think Pete will come back into the fold pretty quickly because he’s renowned as probably our best player of spin. He’s got things to work on like we all do. We all want to get better every day and I know he’ll be doing everything he can to get back in the side.”I’m sure Pete would be upset, but you know I think he’s had conversations with the selectors that there’s a few things that they would like him to work on and Pete’s open to that. We know that Pete, at his best, is going to score a lot of Test runs and, not just his batting, he brings a hell of a lot to our side in terms of his fielding, his experience and just the way he generally goes about his cricket.”So we love having him around the group and we’re sure he’ll score a lot more runs for Australia.”Last summer, Handscomb was replaced by Marsh after two Tests, playing in the Brisbane and Adelaide matches against England before missing the final three Tests. Amid the fallout of the Newlands scandal, he joined the XI for the final Test in Johannesburg but after he failed to make runs for Australia A in India, he was left out of the squad for the two-Test series against Pakistan in the UAE in October.While Handscomb’s batting technique has been widely dissected and analysed, Paine stressed that Marsh’s bowling was a significant factor in the selectors’ decision.”We did it last year in the Ashes as well and again the majority of this decision has been made around the fact that it’s a long series,” said Paine. “We’ve played a lot of hot days and our bowlers have big workloads so we think Mitch can come in and do a really good job with the bat and, obviously, he’ll be great support for our bowlers.”

Manchester United’s season slumped to a new low in midweek as they lost 4-3 to FC Copenhagen in the Champions League, despite leading both 2-0 and 3-2 during the tie.

Erik ten Hag is now a man under serious pressure, as the result at Old Trafford means United have won just one of their opening four matches in Europe’s premier competition.

With games against Bayern Munich and Galatasaray to come in the coming weeks, their hopes of securing qualification to the knockout phase are on a knife edge.

Not only that, but the Red Devils are also out of the EFL Cup, while they currently occupy eighth spot in the Premier League table – losing five of their first 11 matches – and this run of form has been United’s worst start to a season since the 1962/63 campaign.

The club could count on Denis Law and Bobby Charlton back then, yet who in this current United side is going to make the step-up to salvage something from this woeful term so far?

Ten Hag has been besieged by injury problems while the likes of Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes have struggled to replicate the form they displayed during his first season in charge, one in which the club won the EFL Cup and finished third place in the league.

With his job looking increasingly on the line with every poor result, is could be time for Ten Hag to drop some of his underperformers and unleash some young talent in the squad, with Malachi Sharpe currently impressing in the academy.

Malachi Sharpe’s youth statistics

The 17-year-old joined the Red Devils from Derby County in 2021 and his promise was clearly noticed by the United hierarchy as he signed his first-ever professional contract in 2022, thus committing his future to the club.

The right-winger was just 15 at the time and moved straight into the U16s squad, but he even went on to play for the U18s, showcasing his incredible potential.

The youngster made three appearances for the U18 side during his first season in Manchester and while last season offered him no opportunities at that level, the current campaign has been much more profitable.

Across just five games in the U18 Premier League and the UEFA Youth League, Sharpe has scored three goals and he looks like a dangerous threat on the right-hand side of the attack.

Although born in Nottingham, Sharpe has gained five caps for the Scotland U17 side, managing to score on his debut against Northern Ireland back in October 2021 and his next step will be to make the jump up to U19 level.

Previously hailed as an “exciting talent” by one source, there is no doubt his future looks promising, and Ten Hag could unearth United’s next Alejandro Garnacho by giving him some experience around the first team squad in the near future.

Malachi Sharpe could be Man Utd’s next Alejandro Garnacho

The Argentinian winger arrived in Manchester from Atlético Madrid back in 2020 as a highly thought of 16-year-old and across the last three years, he has emerged as a regular in the senior setup.

He made his debut during the 2021/22 campaign and really began to make people sit up and take notice last term, as the youngster featured 34 times for the first team under Ten Hag, and it looked as though they had a new star in the making.

Garnacho netted five times during his breakthrough campaign, and he shares a similar goalscoring eye with Sharpe, who is always looking to create opportunities for himself.

Another 15 appearances have followed this season and while he has only scored once, the winger is still a teenager and has plenty to learn during his journey.

Sharpe could certainly take confidence from the fact that Garnacho has made such a positive impression in the first team over the previous 18 months, and he could be the next one on the conveyor belt to make the step-up under Ten Hag.

Considering how poor United have been on the wing this term, a senior chance might not be a million miles away, especially as he does have more goals than Antony during 2023/24.

Malachi Sharpe has scored more goals than Antony this season for Man Utd

As previously mentioned, the Scottish youth international has scored three goals in just five matches so far, while Antony has failed to get on the scoresheet at all for the senior side.

The Brazilian cost United a staggering £81.3m from Ajax during the summer of 2022 and given he had registered 22 goal contributions for the Dutch side – 12 goals and ten assists – combined with his age, it looked as though the club had signed a wonderful talent who was yet to hit his peak.

He did score eight times last season, but his form has nosedived during the current campaign, as the 23-year-old has failed to score or even grab an assist across 11 matches in all competitions, a woeful return given just how big a financial outlay was spent on him.

The right-wing position is becoming a bit of a problem for Ten Hag recently. Marcus Rashford was even deployed there in midweek but ended up being sent off and with Antony failing to live up to the hype, it could give some youngsters a chance to show the Dutchman what they are made of.

Sharpe is not only outscoring Antony, but also Jadon Sancho, Rashford and Garnacho this season, demonstrating how impressive he has been in front of goal for the U18 side in recent months.

Of course, he isn’t an immediate fix to a much wider problem and throwing him in the deep end could harm his development. Having the teen sensation around the matchday squad, however, could prove to be an invaluable experience and make the transition from the academy to the senior side that much easier.

Sharpe has plenty of qualities which could see him emerge as the new Garnacho at United in the coming years and, at his current rate, he could soon be outscoring every single player at the Red Devils.

Might the supporters see him make his first-team debut before the end of the season? Only time will tell, but it will be worth the wait for when it does happen.

The fast bowler joined R Ashwin and Virat Kohli in complaining that it goes too soft too early

Alagappan Muthu in Hyderabad12-Oct-20181:08

Umesh echoes Kohli’s SG ball reservations

There are more rumblings against the SG ball with Umesh Yadav joining R Ashwin and the captain Virat Kohli in complaining that it goes soft too early and gives them little chance of taking wickets.After West Indies moved from from 113 for 5 to 295 for 7 at stumps, Umesh was asked about how India have been giving a lot of runs to the lower-order in Tests this year and he said: “If you are saying that lower order has scored runs, then you must realise that in India with SG Test balls on these kind of flat tracks you neither get pace nor bounce.”What happens with SG balls is that they become soft after 20 overs so the batsmen coming later don’t face much difficulty. So tailenders know that it will neither swing nor reverse. You just have to wait for something to happen and keep trying. But you can’t really do it on such a big ground, the ones and twos keep coming.”All you can do is to bowl one spot but then you will realise that nothing is happening even off the pitch nor is it swinging. So when middle and lower order comes in they know that ball has become soft and it doesn’t come at a pace and batting becomes easier.”Given these concerns, it was strange to see India choosing to take the second new ball only seven overs after it had become available. Nevertheless, they appear quite upset; enough that they’re blaming the SG ball for their being unable to break through the opposition as quickly as they’d like.And it wasn’t like India had a bad day in the field either. Even though they had to make do with only four bowlers – Shardul Thakur picked up a groin injury while bowling his second over – they managed to pick up seven wickets in 95 overs. Umesh himself had Shai Hope lbw in the 32nd over, dismissed Shane Dowrich in the same way in the 60th over and then had Jason Holder caught down the leg side with the second new ball.Kohli had claimed that a poor quality ball will lead to a lot of “dead sessions” in Test matches, but in India, only five of the last 25 games have ended up not yielding a result – and two of them – South Africa 2015 and Sri Lanka 2017 – were heavily rain-affected. In any case, SG has said that it is open to sitting down with the BCCI and if needed raise the seam of their balls by 1 or 1.5 mm to address this issue.

The 25-year old fast bowler had been reported for a suspect action in December 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Aug-2018

West Indies fast bowler Ronsford Beaton can resume bowling in international cricket after the ICC approved his remodelled action.Beaton was suspended from bowling earlier this year after he failed an independent assessment of his bowling action, which had been reported as suspect during an ODI against New Zealand in December 2017.On August 13, his remodelled action was re-assessed at Loughborough University in England, where the amount of elbow extension for all his deliveries was within the 15-degree limit allowed by the ICC. Beaton missed playing the CPL this year to work on his action and was replaced by Ali Khan at Trinbago Knight Riders.Match officials are still at liberty to report Beaton if they find he is not using his legal action, footage of which will be handed to them in due course.

The 49-year old’s tenure will end following the tours to India in October and Bangladesh in November, after which he will move to England to take charge at Middlesex

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-2018Stuart Law has resigned as West Indies’ head coach after less than two years in the job. The 49-year-old’s tenure will end following the tours to India in October and Bangladesh in November, after which he will move to England to take charge at Middlesex.Law was credited with improving West Indies’ standing in Tests during his time in charge, as well as securing qualification for the 2019 World Cup. He was also involved with moves to bring back a number of star players, such as Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard, after disagreements with the board.”I have had to make the difficult decision to leave my role of head coach with CWI,” Law said in a press release. “It has been very enjoyable, and I believe we have made tremendous strides forward as a team during the past two years.”I will be taking a role with Middlesex which will keep me close to my family, whilst continuing within the cricket family. I wish the players and staff of CWI every success in the future.”Law took over from Phil Simmons, who was sacked in September 2016 on disciplinary grounds. He won six out of 15 Tests, including a famous chase of 322 at Headingley last year, and secured series wins over Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, as well as a draw with Sri Lanka.The team’s record was even more impressive in T20Is – eight wins in 19 matches including victory over a World XI team at Lord’s in May. It was a different story in ODIs, though. He took over with West Indies having failed to qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy and they had to make sure of a World Cup spot the hard way via the ICC Qualifier in Zimbabwe earlier this year.CWI chief executive Johnny Grave said: “I am disappointed that Stuart is leaving as I believe that we have made real progress under his leadership. I know it was a difficult decision for him and that ultimately the opportunity to work in England, where his family is now based, was a major factor in his decision. We will start the process to appoint a new head coach immediately.”Law has signed a four-year contract with Middlesex and will be their head coach for all three formats. He replaces Richard Scott, who left the club midway through the season with Middlesex struggling to mount a promotion challenge from Division Two of the County Championship. Law’s arrival also means the end of Daniel Vettori’s two-season spell as specialist T20 coach.A former Australia international who had a long county career with Lancashire, Essex and Derbyshire, Law said it was a “great privilege” to take on “one of the plum jobs in world cricket”. He has previously coached Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, as well as with Queensland and Brisbane Heat, and Cricket Australia’s high performance programme back in his home country.Middlesex were crowned county champions in 2016 but suffered relegation a year later. They have consistently underperformed in the limited-overs formats since winning the T20 Cup in 2008.”We have always tried to recruit the right kind of person at Middlesex and we believe Stuart is the right man to build on the foundations laid over the past decade,” Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s director of cricket, said. “He will provide a fresh voice and a fresh vision to inspire our players, and drive them towards our twin goals of promotion back to Division One of the county championship and limited-overs success.”I would like to take this opportunity to thank Richard Johnson for leading the 1st XI in the county championship since July. Richard has done an excellent job since taking over from Richard Scott and has helped Middlesex finish the season on a positive note.”I would also like to thank Daniel Vettori for his time and commitment to Middlesex as T20 coach. During the two spells Daniel had with us, he made a really positive impression on everyone at the club and we are grateful that he has been so understanding that the arrival of a new coach means that his specialist role will not be required next year.”

Leach felt soreness during the Royal London Cup match against Warwickshire last week and subsequent scans revealed the injury

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2018

Worcestershire captain Joe Leach has been ruled out for the remainder of the season after being diagnosed with a stress fracture of the back.Leach felt soreness during the Royal London Cup match against Warwickshire last week and subsequent scans revealed the injury.”Joe felt some soreness during the Warwickshire game and an MRI scan on Friday showed inflammation around the l5 region of the lumbar spine,” Worcestershire head of sports science and medicine, Ben Davies, said”He then had a CT scan on Tuesday which unfortunately showed a stress fracture in that region and he will miss the rest of the season. It will now be a case of resting and then rehab for Joe with the aim of making a complete recovery.”Leach has taken almost 200 Championship wickets between 2015 and 2017 and this season had claimed 23 wickets at 22.08 but Worcestershire will now have to cope without their attack leader. They face a relegation battle in the Championship and the T20 Blast starts next month alongside their quest to reach a Lord’s final in Royal London.Head coach Kevin Sharp said: “It is a big blow and Joe is gutted and quite upset at the minute. He has played such a major part for the club over the last few years.”It is life. Bowling is a very physical job. Joe has had very few injuries but very rarely do bowlers go through their career without some sort of injury.”We now have to regroup a bit. We have lost our captain for the rest of the season and we will have a think about things and sort that out over the next week.”The lads will also be gutted but there is a great spirit in this squad and they will want to do it for Joe on Sunday.”It means there will be an opening for others that might not have had an opportunity. We want the lads to stand up and be counted – and I’m sure they will.”