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West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Alex Palmer's move to Luton Town has now stalled as journalist Alan Nixon shares a Hawthorns transfer twist.

Who will leave West Brom this summer?

Carlos Corberan's side have seen a plethora of last season's squad leave this summer, with Dara O'Shea, Jake Livermore, Archie Oliver, Rico Richards, Zach Ashworth, Karlan Grant and Kean Bryan all departing in some capacity.

Some of the aforementioned left the club on permanent deals, including O'Shea to Burnley for around £7 million, while the likes of Livermore departed West Brom as a free agent following the expiry of his contract.

After an inconsistent end to the 2022/2023 Championship season, the Baggies narrowly missed out on a play-off promotion spot, falling just short of Sunderland in sixth – and Corberan will be hoping his new-look side can mount a better challenge next campaign.

West Brom have just one confirmed signing under their belt as we now reach August and the final stretch of this transfer window – namely midfielder Jeremy Sarmiento on loan from Premier League side Brighton.

However, before Corberan's side announce further new arrivals, it appears more exits could be on the cards this summer and one player who has attracted serious top flight interest is shot-stopper Palmer.

Luton Town, after their fairytale promotion to the big time via a play-off win at Wembley, have been in talks to sign the 26-year-old who started 23 league games as West Brom's number one last season.

It was believed he was nearing a move to the Hatters, with newspaper journalist Nixon claiming both Luton and West Brom had agreed on a transfer fee for the keeper.

Sharing an update on his prospective departure, Nixon says there's been a twist, as he writes on his Patreon (via West Brom News).

According to the reporter, Palmer's move has now stalled due to personal terms. Indeed, Luton's need to insert relegation clauses into contracts has resulted in the transfer facing total collapse.

Palmer would have picked up a pay rise with his move to Kenilworth Road, but his wages would've also been cut dramatically if Luton face relegation at the end of next campaign.

As a result, the Englishman is no closer to leaving West Brom and it will be interesting to see what happens next.

How good is Alex Palmer?

The goalkeeper worked his way into the West Brom number one spot last season, earning praise and ultimately doing a solid job succeeding Sam Johnstone between the sticks.

According to WhoScored, Palmer ranked as one of their top 10 best-performing players by average match rating, with Corberan holding him in very high esteem.

After a 2-1 win over Sunderland last term, the Baggies boss singled him out for praise for some key saves, sayinh he deserves just as much credit as the goalscorers.

Corberan said:

"Alex Palmer I didn't play against before, but they are a group of players I knew before I came here. Palmer has grown very well, he's growing a lot and he's helping the team a lot.

"Maybe you don't change it at 2-0, maybe yes but maybe no. Maybe thanks to this save, we now have three points."

It took until the final session of the fourth day, but this absorbing Test took a decisive swing as England’s prolific lower order carried the lead away from West Indies

The Report by Andrew McGlashan28-Aug-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIt took until the final session of the fourth day, but this absorbing Test took a decisive swing as England’s prolific lower order carried the lead away from West Indies. Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes sped to a 117-run stand for the eighth wicket, to build on the work of Joe Root, Dawid Malan and Ben Stokes to tire out a three-man pace attack. Such was England’s surge that they were able to declare to leave a target of 322.Stokes and Malan, with contrasting half-centuries, had pushed England ahead with a stand of 91 but three wickets in 22 balls for Roston Chase opened the door. When Jonny Bairstow dragged on an ugly-looking reverse sweep, the lead was 158. By the time Moeen found long-on, just 23 overs later, it was approaching 300. And still there was no stopping England. Woakes eased to a 99-ball fifty and in a sign of the collective effort, England’s total was their highest without a century.On only four occasions have England overturned a bigger deficit than 169. One of them, famously, came at Headingley in 1981 when, incidentally, the stand that turned the match was worth 117 between Ian Botham and Graham Dilley. The partnership between Moeen and Woakes won’t go down in cricket folklore in quite the same way, but victory for England would be a remarkable turnaround even if the romantics (and those not associated with the England team) would probably have preferred the remarkable story of a West Indies victory.Moeen Ali’s thrilling counterattack put England into control at Headingley•Getty ImagesTheir openers negotiated six overs before the close, but to chase down this target would be the most extraordinary twist of the lot. Only Bradman’s Invincibles have chased a bigger target on this ground, although perhaps England’s own pursuit of 315 against Australia in 2001, scored almost entirely on the final day against a fine attack, offers a glimmer of hope. There were signs, however, in a testing last over of spin and bite that Moeen will be able to have a big say with ball after his batting heroics.Having been on top, or at worst even, for much of the first three days West Indies couldn’t sustain themselves long enough to make the final decisive inroads into England’s batting. When they emerged after tea the lead was still under 200, but a filthy over from Kraigg Brathwaite (whose action was reported after the first Test) set the tone for a period of play in which control was completely lost against Moeen at his counter-attacking best.When it needed one more big push from Shannon Gabriel, he hit the wall. He and Kemar Roach, who also wasted the second new ball, had bowled for most of the first hour amid West Indies’ early push for wickets, and when he returned after tea, Gabriel’s first two overs went for 28.The list of self-inflicted problems also grew. Devendra Bishoo, who had bowled just two of the first 70 overs in the innings, had Moeen caught behind off a no-ball on 32. It was an excruciatingly close call from S Ravi, with no recourse to check, in a match where plenty of no-balls have been missed but there was no reason for Bishoo to be so close to the line. Earlier in the day, Malan was dropped at slip on 29, one over after Root had departed, caught at the second attempt by Shai Hope in the gully. It could have been a crucial double breakthrough, but instead it was a reminder of Root’s own let-off, 62 runs earlier on the third day, when Shai’s brother, Kyle, had been the culprit.Malan’s innings was the least eye-catching of the day – he added 40 off 121 balls to his overnight score – and his tendency to drive away from the body should have brought his downfall, but Kieran Powell was put off at first slip when Shane Dowrich dived across him. Had it been taken, England would have been five down with a lead of 44. But he played an important part in forging England’s position and in a batting line-up that doesn’t lack for stroke-makers, the ability to soak up deliveries is valuable. The innings has probably booked him an Ashes tour.He was never fluent, needing 162 balls for his fifty, but he featured a stand of 118 with Root before the 91 with Stokes, who followed up his first-innings century with a 92-ball fifty. It was the second time Stokes had scored a century and a fifty in the same Test, the other being against New Zealand at Lord’s in 2015 when England also managed overturn a significant deficit. He was especially fluent after lunch, adding to the list of the blistering drives which have studded his performance across this match, as he took advantage of a tiring Gabriel with four boundaries in 11 balls.However, the shot that brought his dismissal should not escape some criticism, particularly as England’s lead had yet to get out of sight. Credit is due to the bowler, Chase, who got the ball to grip a touch out of the rough but picking out a man on the fence first ball after a break is not a good look.There was less blame attached to Malan’s dismissal. Earlier in the over, Chase had got a ball to jump from the rough and almost lob to point – something that will interest Moeen with ball in hand – and he was caught on the crease when a delivery straightened to take off stump. Bairstow was quickly out of the blocks with four boundaries, but then tried to reverse sweep Chase out of the rough and dragged on. England were far from safe, yet by the end of the day they were the only side with a realistic chance of victory.

Galatasary forward Wilfried Zaha once "made it clear" he wanted to join Arsenal, according to journalist Charles Watts.

Who will Arsenal sign?

Mikel Arteta's side have displayed no shortage of ambition this transfer window, having already completed a trio of marquee deals for winger Kai Havertz, midfielder Declan Rice and versatile defender Jurrien Timber.

Havertz arrived first, completing a £65 million switch from London rivals Chelsea, while Rice came as their biggest outlay of the summer in a record-breaking £105 million move from West Ham.

"We’re really happy that Declan is joining us," said Arteta after his arrival.

"He is a player with tremendous ability, who has been performing at a high level in the Premier League and for England for a number of seasons now. Declan is bringing undoubted quality to the club and he is an exceptional talent who has the potential to be very successful here."

Timber's arrival from Ajax will also strengthen Arteta's defence to no end, with the Netherlands international boasting real versatility.

Zaha, who left Crystal Palace as a free agent at the start of the summer, had been linked with a move to Arsenal recently so some supporters may have expected a potential swoop for the Ivorian.

Alas, that didn't come to fruition and he instead joined up with Turkish Super Lig giants Galatasary. Speaking to TEAMtalk, Arsenal reporter Watts has shared just how close he came to joining the club back in 2019.

During Unai Emery's tenure, he was a top transfer target, and he apparently "made it clear" he wanted a move to the Emirates Stadium at the time.

“I expected him to go to a different club rather than Galatasaray,” Watts told TEAMtalk.

“Interestingly, Francis Cagigao has just taken over as head of recruitment at Gala. He was at Arsenal for a long, long time. I wasn’t expecting Arsenal to do anything.

“Once that happened, I never really expected Arsenal to rekindle that interest."

How good is Wilfried Zaha?

We believe the winger would have been a serious coup for Arsenal on a Bosman deal this year, especially considering his haul of 14 goals in 33 appearances for Palace last season (WhoScored).

Zaha also bettered every single one of his teammates in terms of attempts at goal, key passes made and successful take-ons per 90 in the final third over 2022/2023 (WhoScored).

The 30-year-old also attracted more fouls than any other Palace player, highlighting what a tricky player he can be to play against.

Manchester United are still interested in signing Sofyan Amrabat from Fiorentina this summer but reports of an official bid have been dismissed by Fabrizio Romano.

Is Amrabat joining United?

While not the most glamorous signing of the summer, a deal for Fiorentina's Amrabat would certainly be an excellent piece of business for any side willing to make a move for the defensive midfielder.

Having excelled at the 2022 World Cup with Morocco, helping his nation become the first African team to ever make a semi-final of the competition, Amrabat continued his fine form heading into the second half of a hectic campaign.

Fiorentina reached both the Coppa Italia and Europa Conference League final, losing both 2-1 as their first piece of silverware since the 1996/97 season narrowly evaded them.

Amrabat was crucial to La Viola's success and looks set to finally move onto bigger and better things this summer with a host of Europe's top clubs circling the 26-year-old.

The midfield enforcer has been long linked with Erik ten Hag's Man United and journalist Romano believes that the Red Devils retain a strong interest in him, albeit dismissing any rumours suggesting an official bid has been placed.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano stated: "Also important guys to mention about midfielders – Sofyan Amrabat. Many of you asking me about reports of a bid from Man United. Guys, from what I'm hearing, Man United have not made an official bid for Sofyan Amrabat yet.

"Because as I told you days ago, I told you here on my platforms, Sofyan Amrabat is on the list at Manchester United. They like him, they want to negotiate for Sofyan Amrabat, but they know that Fiorentina want something around €40-35m [£34-30m].

"So, at the moment the priority at Man United is the new striker and then, after the Hojlund deal, they will focus on potentially new midfielder and new centre-back."

He added: "Outgoings are crucial. Man United are convinced that Fred will leave the club and so this could be the first step, and then they can have conversations for Sofyan Amrabat."

Given United are unlikely to move for a midfielder until they have sorted their striker situation, a deal for Amrabat could be some way off.

Fred has been linked with a move to Fulham and such a move could pave the way for Amrabat to make the switch to Old Trafford. Scott McTominay has also been linked away which would free up even more space for the Moroccan in midfield.

Who are Man United signing?

Now that deals for Mason Mount, Andre Onana and somewhat surprisingly Jonny Evans have been finalised, United are eager, as mentioned by Romano, to add Rasmus Hojlund to their ranks.

The 20-year-old Atalanta forward appears to be the Red Devils' priority but a potential fee of £86m means a deal is not nearing completion at present. Ten Hag is not willing to sanction such an expensive move for a relatively inexperienced player, with United hopeful of reducing La Dea's asking price.

Randal Kolo Muani or Dusan Vlahovic could be alternatives, although both would likely command similarly high transfer fees. However, both strikers offer more top-flight experience to Ten Hag than Hojlund.

There are of course other midfielders on Ten Hag's wishlist, with a bold move for Joshua Kimmich having even been touted, while his Bayern Munich teammate Leon Goretzka is also reportedly being followed by the Red Devils in what would prove to be a similarly difficult transfer to pull off.

Colin Ingram blazed his way to a second century in the space of eight days as Glamorgan clinched a five-wicket NatWest T20 Blast victory over Essex in a run-fest at Chelmsford

ECB Reporters Network16-Jul-2017
ScorecardColin Ingram is one of the stars of the NatWest Blast•Getty ImagesColin Ingram blazed his way to a second century in the space of eight days as Glamorgan clinched a five-wicket NatWest T20 Blast victory over Essex in a run-fest at Chelmsford.Ingram survived being dropped on 13 to post a format-best 114 from 55 balls which contained eight fours and nine sixes, his second ton in three games having also reached three figures with 101 against Sussex last Sunday.His efforts went a long way to helping Glamorgan overhaul Essex’s 219 for 4, in which Varun Chopra went to his maiden T20 century with a splendid 103 not out from 59 balls, with six fours and eight sixes.But the Essex opener somehow found himself on the losing side as, with two runs required off the last ball, Craig Meschede cleared the ropes for the 29th six of the day to end a thrilling match in which 443 runs were scored.Chopra shared an Essex record third-wicket partnership of 122 in 11 overs with Ravi Bopara, who hit five sixes in a 32-ball 63. Essex’s batsmen hit 15 sixes in total, and their 219 was the third highest they have compiled in the competition.Essex won the toss, but lost Dan Lawrence to the third ball, beaten by Michael Hogan’s pace, before Chopra and Tom Westley laid into the Glamorgan attack in a second-wicket stand of 70 in six overs.Westley was dropped at wide mid-on by Andrew Salter before slashing at De Lange to be caught on the third-man boundary by Meschede. Chopra continued apace, alongside Bopara, and reached his half-century off 30 balls.The Essex pair were having no problems clearing the boundary and Bopara only needed 26 balls to bring up his fifty in an Ingram over that went for 26 with two more sixes from Chopra, the second straight into the river which brought up the 100 stand.Bopara pulled Timm van der Gugton over midwicket for his fifth sixth before feathering the next ball to the wicketkeeper.Chopra took Essex past 200 with 10 balls left with a straight six off Graham Wagg and the century was reached off the penultimate ball when Chopra pulled a one-bounce four over midwicket off Hogan.Glamorgan’s attempt to rattle along at 11 an over got off to a poor start when Aneurin Donald tried an inexplicable ramp shot to a straight one from Jamie Porter in the second over and was bowled, bringing Ingram to the crease.The South African pulled Porter over midwicket for the 16th six of the day, though when he went for another in the same over he was put down by Essex captain Ryan ten Doeschate at long-on.Ingram had 13 at the time. Simon Harmer felt the brunt of Ingram’s relief with two sixes in an over costing 21, the first to long-off, the second over midwicket.David Lloyd helped Ingram put on 56 in five overs before he was caught at short fine-leg by Ashar Zaidi off Bopara.But Ingram was unperturbed and raced to his half-century from 23 balls with six fours and those three sixes. There were two more in an over by Porter, both in the cow corner area.Glamorgan captain Jacques Rudolph departed for nine, chipping Harmer high to Porter at short third man. But Ingram launched his sixth six off Zaidi and another off Harmer.His eighth, straight from a free-hit from Paul Walter, took him to his century from 50 balls. Number nine was pulled over midwicket off Bopara.Chris Cooke weighed in with three sixes of his own in an 83-run stand in seven overs for the fourth wicket before Ingram was run out at the non-striker’s end by Mohammad Amir.Cooke responded by hitting the next ball for six over midwicket before perishing on 49 to Walter’s catch on the cover boundary. It was left to Meschede to apply the coup de grace.

Everton could be set to bolster their attack in one fell swoop, finally handing Sean Dyche the perfect offensive platform to secure safety with ease.

Is Arnaut Danjuma joining on loan?

The first of which is all but confirmed, as Arnaut Danjuma reportedly completed his medical to join the club just yesterday. Given his dramatic change of heart in January, fans will likely be cautious about getting excited until he is properly announced. The deal will be a straight loan move for the full campaign.

However, some alternative fresh news comes courtesy of Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna, who took to Twitter to detail the future of Watford whiz Ismaila Sarr.

Whilst Olympique de Marseille have already sent the first bid, it is noted further down in his Tweet that there is also: "Interest from Everton".

The Senegalese speedster is expected to cost just €20m (£17m) this summer, after years of speculation regarding a potential exit from Vicarage Road.

How many goals has Ismaila Sarr scored?

The long-running interest in the 25-year-old is well-founded, given how the dynamic forward has starred in both the Premier League and the Championship. His acquisition alongside Danjuma would add something which the Toffees have been desperately lacking for some time now: serious pace.

After all, journalist Rob Blanchette had detailed the various reasons why even Manchester United should have considered making a move back in 2020, writing:

"Why do I like Watford’s Ismaila Sarr? He fits Ole's #MUFC build. He's young, hungry and electric. When you watch him, you feel there's a top-class player in him."

Such fiendish speed paired with technical precision makes him a true threat for every full-back he comes across, with last season only serving to emphasise that once again.

A tally of ten goals and six assists from all across the front line showcases his versatility, suggesting that even if Dominic Calvert-Lewin was to endure another injury-hit term, the natural winger would be able to deputise well.

These figures come following his debut year in England, in which he notched 11 goal contributions in the top flight despite falling to relegation. In the season following he would then record 23 goal contributions in the Championship alone.

There are few wide men who have boasted such consistently impressive goalscoring figures despite his side often struggling, with his total career goals having now reached 57.

Whilst Dyche will hope that Danjuma can post these kinds of figures in his quest to bolster a relegation-threatened squad, the last term has been tough for the Dutchman, who has seen his chances dwindle. Just ten LaLiga appearances led to his expulsion to Tottenham Hotspur, where he would only start once in the Premier League before returning to Spain.

However, during the 2021/22 season he would thrive for Villarreal, playing a key role in their remarkable Champions League run which culminated in a semi-final exit to Liverpool.

Posting 16 goals and four assists across all competitions, pundit Kevin Phillips even branded him a "nightmare for defenders" at the time. However, he earned that success whilst supplemented by additional attacking firepower. Samuel Chukwueze and Jeremy Pino offered that extra threat to take the shine off the 26-year-old, allowing him space to thrive.

Perhaps placing Sarr and Danjuma in the same side could actually help them both explode, surpassing their current peaks due to the headache their respective presence would cause for defenders. Whoever they choose to double up on would only free up the space for their counterpart to instead wreak havoc.

As such, this move could be the one that returns the former AFC Bournemouth star to his best and one that helps propel Everton to safety.

The BCCI’s medical team has advised him some rest ‘as a precautionary measure’

Sidharth Monga24-Jul-20170:56

Archive – India openers’ musical chairs

KL Rahul has been ruled out* of the Galle Test on July 26 with viral fever. He had missed the training on Monday, staying back in Colombo for observation even as the rest of the squad travelled south on Sunday. The BCCI’s medical team has advised the India opener further rest “as a precautionary measure”.Rahul was coming out of an injury lay-off after he hurt his shoulder during the Test series against Australia in February-March this year. He played through pain to end as third-highest run-getter in the series but missed the IPL, the Champions Trophy and the West Indies tour to recover from the injury. On his comeback he scored a quick fifty in the two-day warm-up match in Moratuwa, but he said he was nervous making his comeback after such a long lay-off.”You know that you are physically fit and you have done everything that you can, worked really hard, you are feeling stronger, you are feeling fitter,” Rahul told . “But the mind always tells you what if it happens again, what if you have to go through the same grind for three months, what if your shoulder is not ready, what if you [have] come back early?”India’s openers have been struggling with injury and illness for a long time now with the slots becoming a revolving door. M Vijay is already out as he has not fully recovered after the surgery on the wrist that he hurt during the Australia series. The two other openers in the squad are Abhinav Mukund and Shikhar Dhawan.* GMT 0915 The story was updated with the BCCI’s confirmation of Rahul’s unavailability

Manchester United target Andre Onana felt it was "impossible to reject the opportunity to play for Manchester United" and equally impossible to turn down "having a manager like Erik ten Hag" as the two have worked together at Ajax before, per transfers expert Fabrizio Romano.

Andre Onana is joining Manchester United

It's been an interesting summer at Old Trafford so far this year.

The early stages of the transfer window looked fairly bleak for fans of the club as the news was dominated mainly by disappointing updates surrounding the prolonged takeover process with little in the way of transfer news.

However, the completion of the deal to sign Mason Mount from Chelsea last month changed that, as now the club look set to complete the signing of Inter Milan's £47m goalkeeper Onana, and there are reports of the club's interest in Atalanta's exciting youngster Rasmus Hojlund.

The signing of Onana is particularly intriguing, as only a few years ago, he was already playing under Erik ten Hag at Ajax and helping the Dutch giants reach the semi-finals of the Champions League.

This previous relationship and mutual respect made this move to United all the easier for the Cameroonian keeper.

The calls from ten Hag helped convince Onana that he couldn't reject the opportunity to come and play in the Premier League for a club like United, per transfers expert Fabrizio Romano.

He explained the situation on his YouTube channel, saying:

"Sources feel that for Andre Onana, it was really impossible to say no.

"Andre Onana was really happy at Inter; he had a fantastic season there, he was very happy with the teammates, the manager, the city.

"But then what happened is Erik ten Hag started to call weeks and weeks ago, for Andre Onana, it was impossible to reject the opportunity to play for Manchester United, the opportunity to play in the Premier League, having a manager like Erik ten Hag, who already knows Andre Onana's skills, so it was the perfect match for Andre Onana's dreams and this is why he decided to accept."

What did Andre Onana win under Erik ten Hag at Ajax?

Onana joined the Amsterdam side's youth setup from Barcelona in January 2015 before making his full Eredivisie debut for the senior side a year later against Willem II Tilburg.

It wouldn't be until December 2017 that ten Hag would join the club, bringing immense success and a return to national dominance that was so synonymous with the side.

Despite not winning the league for four years in a row, ten Hag led the club to domestic triumph in each of his three full seasons in Amsterdam, a success that he shared with his new keeper Onana.

It wasn't just league dominance, though, as with both of them at the club, Amsterdam's premier club also won two Dutch Cups and a Dutch Super Cup.

It's clear that ten Hag was grateful for the performances of his then-keeper as he branded him a "masterful goalkeeper" in an interview he gave when he was still Ajax's manager.

The arrival of Onana could be one of the defining transfers of the Erik ten Hag era at United, and if the pair of them can replicate even some of the success they experienced in the Netherlands, then fans of the Red Devils will be in for a brilliant few years.

Saturday’s gala to celebrate Australia’s former World-Cup winning women’s players to be the site of an informal discussion between the two opposing parties

Daniel Brettig30-May-20173:46

What exactly is the Cricket Australia-ACA pay dispute?

The Australian women’s team will come face to face with Cricket Australia’s chairman David Peever, chief executive James Sutherland and the board of directors at a gala event on Saturday, as the pay dispute with the Australian Cricketers Association creeps to within a month of major dislocation to the game.Clea Smith and Jodie Fields, both key members of ACA staff, have been invited to the event at the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane as members of past women’s World Cup winning squads. The function was devised to recognise the achievements of those players and award them retrospective winners’ medals, but will also offer a rare chance for members of the two opposing parties in the pay dispute to meet in less formal circumstances.On the day Sutherland again pressed CA’s case to break-up the fixed revenue percentage model that has existed for the past 20 years, ESPNcricinfo has learned that the board is eager to resume talks on less confrontational ground. These would start with discussion of the principles shared by CA and the players in the board’s pay offer, with no intention of “trapping” the ACA into agreeing to the full offer and thus an end to revenue sharing.In acknowledging how relations between CA and the ACA have broken down over the past four years, the board believes that initial talks based around common ground, such as the need for women’s pay to rise substantially, would help to develop a better rapport between the parties. That would then be useful when the fundamental sticking points – namely CA’s intent to end revenue sharing and the ACA’s to retain it – are discussed.Numerous past collective bargaining negotiations between sport governing bodies and players’ representatives have begun this way, not least concurrent talks going on to reach a new deal between the AFL and the AFL Players Association, helmed by the former ACA chief executive Paul Marsh.His successor Alistair Nicholson has been thwarted in his efforts to build a CEO-to-CEO relationship with Sutherland, and has instead had to deal with CA’s lead MOU negotiator Kevin Roberts and the recently departed cricket operations chief Sean Cary. One attempt by CA to get the two negotiating teams together in the less formal setting of a BBL match last summer was cancelled when the board suspended negotiations in December ahead of the Boxing Day Test.A graphic of Cricket Australia’s pay proposal•Cricket AustraliaOn Thursday CA released their formal pay offer to the players, originally revealed on ESPNcricinfo, via the board’s website. This arrived as part of a board public relations campaign Sutherland described as no longer “sitting on our hands”. Sutherland, who helped bring the dispute to its current pitch of tension by threatening to leave all out of contract players unemployed if an agreement is not reached by the June 30 expiry of the current MOU, argued that “there aren’t many people in Australia” being offered an overall payment pool increase of 15% for the next year. The majority of that increase is taken up by increases to payments for women, while domestic male players face an effective freeze on their wages for state competitions.”In some quarters, we’re being perceived as being hard or unfair on the players in this situation,” Sutherland told the . “But it’s important to note that we have a player payment pool in this current year of $79m, and our proposal for next year is for a player payment pool of $91m. That’s a 15% increase. There aren’t many people in Australia getting an increase like that, or have an offer like that on the table.”We understand that 71% of what we spend our money on basically relates to elite and high performance cricket. Another 17% relates to what we call running the game. Just 12% goes to grassroots cricket. We need to find ways to increase that. It’s not enough.”We’ve identified that through a lot of reviews we’ve done leading into this new strategic planning cycle. While the ACA has addressed [grassroots] to some extent, they don’t know anywhere near the detail we do in terms of what is involved in managing these issues both at an operational level and at a strategic and policy level.”Sutherland also noted that the “status” of the Sheffield Shield was at issue in the debate. “People are used to the model and feel like they’re losing ground,” he said. “Status is not a bad word for it actually. I understand that there’s an element of this that’s about preserving the status and tradition of Sheffield Shield, for example, in the whole makeup of Australian cricket.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was rocked by the exit of one of his star players earlier this month as Portuguese winger Jota completed a move away from Parkhead.

The 24-year-old phenomenon opted to join Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad, where he will play alongside French internationals Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kanta, in a deal reportedly worth £25m.

However, the Hoops will not see all of that fee as Benfica, who sold him to the Scottish giants last summer, are due to receive £7.5m from their 30% sell-on clause.

£17.5m is still a hefty profit on the £6.5m they paid to sign the exciting winger on a permanent basis in 2022 and it could provide Rodgers with the funds he needs to find a replacement.

Who could replace Jota at Celtic?

The Northern Irish tactician could find Jota's heir by securing a deal to sign Yang Hyun-jun from South Korean side Gangwon FC this summer.

Football Scotland reported earlier this month that the club have agreed to a £2.1m deal to sign the young winger but the K League 1 outfit are pushing to keep their prized asset until January as they battle against relegation to the second tier.

Celtic must now push to bring him in immediately as the potential is there for him to be an exciting replacement for Jota heading into the 2023/24 Scottish Premiership campaign.

Yang's form for Gangwon in 2022 suggests that he could be an excellent addition for Rodgers as the 21-year-old magician impressed in spite of his team's average season.

The South Korean side scored 47 goals in 33 league matches and lost more games (14) than they won (13).

During that time, the South Korea U23 international plundered eight goals – 17% of the club's total – and created six 'big chances' for his teammates, which was rewarded with five assists.

The talented youngster, who was described as "highly creative" by FC Twente philosopher and analyst Joost van der Leij, was able to showcase his attacking quality as a scorer and creator without playing in a successful team.

Now, imagine what he could do as part of a dominant Celtic squad that scored 114 goals and won 32 of their 38 Premiership matches last season. 17% of that goal tally would work out as 19 strikes, which highlights the difference playing in a more productive outfit can make for an attacker.

Jota proved himself to be a consistent performer out wide as he scored 11 goals and provided 11 assists in 26 league starts for the Hoops, with only Kyogo Furuhashi (27) able to boast a better goal return for the club.

Yang, who is three years younger than the Portuguese ace, may not have reached those impressive numbers at the top end of the pitch in his career so far but his form for a struggling Gangwon side in 2022 indicates that he could thrive if given the opportunity to line up as part of a lethal Celtic attack next season.

Therefore, Rodgers could unearth a dream replacement for Jota by getting a deal over the line for the South Korean whiz and helping him to adjust to playing in a thriving team, which could – in turn – improve his output in the final third.