All posts by h716a5.icu

Leeds United have been handed a major boost as news emerges over the club receiving a Premier League windfall.

What’s the story?

Marcelo Bielsa’s side ended the season in style in the last few weeks of the campaign, racking up four consecutive wins, producing some superb performances to secure wins over the likes of Spurs and Burnley.

That late flurry of points saw them leapfrog the likes of Everton and Aston Villa into ninth, and Football Insider have now revealed a report which shows the financial impact of their strong end to the season.

They claim that Leeds have “pocketed a stunning £133m broadcasting windfall from their first season back in the Premier League.

“This is made up of an equal share of £76m from domestic and overseas rights, £21m prize money for where they finished in the table, a £19m facility fee for their number of live matches and £17m overseas TV money.”

Radrizzani will be buzzing

As is commonly known, the Premier League’s prize money is broken down by where a team finishes, so Leeds’ late-season form saw them clinch a bigger sum of money than they originally would have had they finished somewhere outside of the top ten.

The Elland Road club won their final four league games of the Premier Lague season, which meant they finished in 9th place. Had they failed to win two of those four games, they would have finished as a bottom-half side, which would have meant they’d have received less prize money.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/leeds-united-marcelo-bielsa-transfer-gossip-rumours-news-elland-road-rodrigo-de-paul” title=”Read the latest Leeds transfer rumours and news!”]

With the pandemic takings its toll on every club’s finances up and down the country, and across the world too, that bit of extra cash from finishing the season strong is a welcome boost ahead of the summer transfer window.

Andrea Radrizzani will be absolutely buzzing that Bielsa’s side were able to go on a really hot streak and secure that extra windfall, and it could even prove to be the difference when it comes to putting down that little bit more to secure a potential transfer target this summer.

Meanwhile, a major update has emerged about Marcelo Bielsa…

Tariq Saeed09-Apr-2002

Bangladesh-A team clinched the champion trophy in triangular Malaysia Challenge Cricket Tournament by defeating USA by seven wickets in a one-sided affair

Shahryar Khan29-May-2002Bangladesh-A team clinched the champion trophy in triangular Malaysia Challenge Cricket Tournament by defeating USA by seven wickets in a one-sided affair. Bangladesh-A finished the tournament, winning all the matches they played.The task of playing against USA (Quite a new name in cricket world) wasn’t at all daunting as the North Americans got by with a meager 127 for 8 after 38 overs (It was a curtailed match). Bangladeshi spinners Rafique and Shabbir Khan bowled brilliantly with their combination of left and right arm off break, hauled five wickets. Shabbir captured 3 wickets for 12 where Rafique claimed 2 for 21.Jignesh Desai hit unbeaten 41, the top score for USA, when they elected to bat first. They faced the collapse at the middle order, which demolished their hope to make a fighting total.Leg spinner Alok Kapali emerged as a batsman in this match, hitting a match winning 57 runs in his 70 ball innings, featured with five cracking fours. Kapali and opener Hannan Sarkar shared a 65-run partnership between them in the second wicket after losing Moniruzzaman (7) cheaply.Hannan contributed with his run-a-ball innings (42 runs off 43 balls) and sent the ball five times to the rope. Both batsmen departed, leaving their team a just a bit away from winning. Aminul Islam (Not out 10) and Tushar Imran (Not out 8) did the rest of the job with 4 overs still remaining.

Everton striker Moise Kean will not be heading to the European Championship this summer.

The 21-year-old, who spent the season on loan at Paris Saint-Germain, has failed to make Roberto Mancini’s updated 28-man Italy squad, which was trimmed from 34 on Sunday (Liverpool Echo).

Kean had looked set to be involved for Italy

Kean was in the starting line-up on Friday night as Italy faced San Marino in a friendly but he was withdrawn at half-time after failing to find the net against the side ranked 210th and last in the world.

According to PSGhub, Kean picked up an injury in the game, explaining his exclusion from Mancini’s reduced squad.

The 21-year-old scored 16 goals for PSG this season, more than Neymar in fewer minutes played, but he had not been a success at Everton, netting just four times in 37 appearances so far for his parent club.

Fabrizio Romano relayed the news of Kean’s Italy omission and also offered the latest on his future. PSG are apparently in negotiations with Everton over a permanent deal for the frontman.

The Blues are supposedly willing to sell him, having spent an initial £25.1m to recruit him from Juventus in 2019. The player is now valued at £31.5m by Transfermarkt.

Everton fans flock to Kean update

These Everton fans on Twitter took a dim view of Kean’s omission from the updated Italy squad, with some alluding to Graeme Souness’ criticism of the striker upon his arrival at Goodison Park two years ago.

“Who is surprised? PSG, take him off our hands, please”

Credit: @cal_ycfc_efc

“Cash in on this fraud ASAP”

Credit: @WAJG_96

“Huge bummer… I really thought he’d turned the corner and got his confidence back so this will hurt…”

Credit: @KClayFootball

“Hate it when Souness is right”

Credit: @MainManMina

“Gutted this kid never worked out for us. He will be a top player in the future.”

Credit: @Everton1878Ste

“I don’t believe it, Souness was right about him all along.”

Credit: @BT_1878

In other news, many Everton fans were buzzing about this potential incoming.

Nottingham Forest have been linked with a swoop for Almeria defender Mathieu Peybernes, as reported by Nottinghamshire Live.

The Lowdown: Exits aplenty at the City Ground

The Reds will likely be looking to add some defensive quality and experience to the ranks after a disappointing 2020/21 campaign saw them finish 17th in the Championship.

Forest fans may expect reinforcements across the back line moving into next season after fellow enforcers Michael Dawson and Michael Hefele were let go upon expiry of their contracts [Nottingham Forest FC].

Conjecture also continues to grow surrounding a potential exit for West Ham and Crystal Palace target Joe Worrall [The Athletic]. As a result, Chris Hughton may be ready to dip into the transfer market to acquire suitable positional replenishments ahead of 2021/22.

The Latest: Three clubs interested in Peybernes

Forest are now said to be courting Peybernes as part of their summer rebuild [Nottinghamshire Live]. Interestingly, he plied his trade at Real Zaragoza for some of last season on loan from parent club Almeria, making 14 appearances for Los Blanquillos [Transfermarkt], who are also said to be eyeing a permanent swoop for the former France Under-21 international [Nottinghamshire Live].

Said to also be attracting attention from divisional rivals Swansea City, the East Midlands club will need to move swiftly in order to secure his signature [El Periodico de Aragon].

The Verdict: Now is the time for Forest to make their move

Peybernes would represent a solid addition to the fold at the City Ground. The 30-year-old has also been something of a long-term target for the club, as Forest were known to have an eye on his situation last summer [Nottinghamshire Live].

The 1.86m-tall (6 foot 2) defender’s capability to attack the ball with utmost aggression, alongside his reputation as a fearless tough tackler (2.1 tackles per game in 2016/17 with Bastia), would make him an ideal introductory 2021/22 acquisition at the Reds. Contractually, he only has 12 months left on his Almeria contract [Transfermarkt].

With the player reportedly craving “stability” [Nottinghamshire Live] and considered dispensable enough by his parent club to be loaned out, this move could be an amicable solution for all parties as they press on with their respective transfer window activities.

New Brighton: Cheshire 357-3 (AJ Hall 138, D Leech 83) Derbyshire 266 (I Parkin 63; S Eaton 4-41, J Whittaker 3-46) Cheshire won by 91 runs

CricInfo26-Jun-2002New Brighton:
Cheshire 357-3 (AJ Hall 138, D Leech 83)
Derbyshire 266 (I Parkin 63; S Eaton 4-41, J Whittaker 3-46)
Cheshire won by 91 runs

Leicester City should revisit their interest in Fenerbahce defender Attila Szalai this summer as Brendan Rodgers looks to bolster his first-team squad.

What’s the story?

The 23-year-old only moved to the Turkish giants in January but emerged as a potential target for the Foxes back in April, according to Hungarian outlet Blikk.

Szalai made 22 appearances for Fener last season, catching the eye of several sides thanks to his dominant displays.

Imagine him and Fofana

Brendan Rodgers is reportedly in the market for a new centre-back after the experienced duo of Wes Morgan and Christian Fuchs departed the King Power Stadium.

The former Liverpool and Celtic boss switched between a back four and a back five in 2020/21 depending on the opposition last season, with Wesley Fofana, Caglar Soyuncu and Jonny Evans the first-choice picks at centre-half.

However, all three picked up lengthy injurie at various points throughout the campaign, forcing Rodgers to play the likes of Daniel Amartey, Timothy Castagne and James Justin out of position to plug the gaps.

A new man is, therefore, required by the current FA Cup holders ahead of the new season if they’re going to stand any chance of fighting on multiple fronts.

Qualifying for the Europa League brings large amounts of opportunities and issues for a club like Leicester, where a lack of squad depth can cruelly undermine efforts.

In Szalai, director of football Jon Rudkin could solve a multitude of Leicester’s defensive issues in a single signing.

The Hungary international is a versatile talent, often playing in a back three or back four at previous club Apollon Limasso in Cyprus, meaning adapting to Rodgers’ changing styles should pose few problems.

Another attractive attribute of the youngster is his size. At 6 ft 4, Szalai should be able to cope with the physical demands of the Premier League with ease, and his 21 Super League outings last season produced three goals, highlighting his aerial threat from set-pieces.

Left-footed centre-backs are a rare commodity and at Leicester, none of their options are naturally comfortable away from their preferred right-hand side.

Evans is comfortable using both feet, but Szalai makes good use of his stronger left foot, often playing passes out from the back or dribbling his way upfield in search of a teammate.

His size and skillset, therefore, make him the perfect partner for the highly-rated Fofana. The right-footed, slim-built Frenchman would benefit from a more powerful companion, and that duo could form the base of Leicester’s defence for years to come if the Foxes can bring Szalai into the club.

And, in other news…Rudkin spends £66m, Tielemans stays: How Leicester City could line-up next season 

New Zealand’s fighting defiance to create history at the end of today’s drawn second Test with the West Indies at Grenada won the admiration of New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive Martin Snedden

Lynn McConnell03-Jul-2002New Zealand’s fighting defiance to create history at the end of today’s drawn second Test with the West Indies at Grenada won the admiration of New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive Martin Snedden.A first series victory in the West Indies had been well taken by the TelstraClear Black Caps and Snedden said it was an outstanding effort by relative newcomers to the side, Scott Styris and Robbie Hart, to help secure the draw.”It is much more satisfying to fight your way out of trouble than being saved by the weather,” Snedden told CricInfo today.”I have admiration for the way they fought themselves out of a hole today.”It has been a huge achievement to win a first Test series in the West Indies. While any overseas Test victory is a significant effort, this was especially satisfying,” he said.People of an older age would recall the days, not so long ago, when the West Indies caused havoc in world cricket and it was nice now to have a New Zealand team returning the favour, he said.From a New Zealand point of view the tour had been significant for the way the side was consolidating itself.”For the first time we absolutely deserve our third position on the ICC Test Championship,” he said.New Zealand had been performing more consistently than any other side in the world other than Australia and South Africa. It would possibly have struggled against Pakistan in the recently abandoned second Test, but then so would most other teams with Shoaib Akhtar in his menacing form.The performances of Styris and Hart had been good to see and underlined the greater depth of players that was emerging.It was also a good sign for domestic cricket that players did have the ability to step up.”Both players are products of our domestic cricket rather than our elite programme.”The sharp return of Shane Bond has shown how useful it is to have a top-class fast bowler with the ability to rattle batsmen.”He has a tidier, more sustainable bowling action and that is fantastic to see,” he said.Snedden was full of admiration for Stephen Fleming’s captaincy and said day one of the first Test had been the most crucial part of the series and Fleming’s performance in scoring a century, and taking control, had inspired the side to a Test, and series, win.Fleming continued to grow in the captaincy and his batting was improving.”Captaincy at such a young age was a huge burden for Stephen. It was too early and there was too much pressure especially when at that stage he was not a totally established Test batsman. Some of the criticism he received would have been hard to take.”But he coped with that and continued fighting rather than throwing in the towel,” Snedden said.There was a significant development of leadership potential in the side with Craig McMillan and Daniel Vettori both possible future leaders while Hart, with his extensive first-class captaincy experience, was another who could help the leadership in the side.And Snedden said when Chris Cairns was in the side he also offered significant leadership back-up for Fleming.As well as providing Bond with good preparation for the West Indies tour, the exercise of taking players to Darwin to prepare for the Test side of the tour had also been worthwhile.”Mark Richardson showed that he is a class Test opener and like Hart, and Chris Martin who didn’t get the chance to show it, they showed the benefits of that.”And that second innings partnership between Richardson and Lou Vincent was also crucial, there was a bit of pressure on them when nearly 100 runs behind,” he said.

Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa is interested in signing his fellow Argentine Pedro de La Vega this summer.

What’s the story?

According to Depo, the Whites are keen on landing the versatile 20-year-old winger, with the likes of Aston Villa, Fiorentina and Atalanta also said to be in the running to land him.

The report adds that the starlet is expected to leave Lanus this summer due to the amount of transfer interest in him.

Bye-bye Helder Costa

With Football Insider having recently claimed that Leeds are open to offers for the £70,000-a-week Helder Costa this summer, the Whites would surely be better off cashing in on him and bringing through De La Vega.

Costa endured a nightmare campaign in the Premier League last season for Bielsa’s side, scoring just three times and providing only three assists in 22 games in the division. That has prompted former Leeds players like Noel Whelan to brandish him a “massive flop”, and it’s hard to argue against that assessment.

In De La Vega, they would be getting an exciting young talent who can play on the right like Costa, as well as the opposite flank and through the middle.

A profile from Goal read: “Playing out wide does seem to favour him, however, with his footwork and ability to both play a killer pass and provide the finishing touches to moves having led to him being compared to Angel Di Maria in some quarters, albeit a right-footed version of the Paris Saint-Germain star with slightly more skill than agility.”

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/leeds-united-marcelo-bielsa-transfer-gossip-rumours-news-elland-road-rodrigo-de-paul” title=”Read the latest Leeds transfer rumours and news!”]

Dubbed as a “real talent” by South American football writer and podcaster Tom Robinson, the £9m-rated gem actually averaged more dribbles than Leeds star Raphinha last season – 2.8 per game compared to the Brazilian’s 1.9.

At just 20, De La Vega could turn into a real superstar under his fellow Argentine in Bielsa.

Meanwhile, Fabrizio Romano has dropped a major Leeds update…

Somerset’s fast bowling crisis deepened this morning when Graham Rose reported that he had a tight hamstring and was unlikely to be able to bowl on the final day of the championship match against Yorkshire at Scarborough

Richard Walsh13-Jul-2002Somerset’s fast bowling crisis deepened this morning when Graham Rose reported that he had a tight hamstring and was unlikely to be able to bowl on the final day of the championship match against Yorkshire at Scarborough.It also seems unlikely that the 38 year old will play in the Sabres NUL game against Yorkshire Phoenix tomorrow in the hope that he will be available if required for the Cheltenham and Gloucester quarter-final against Worcestershire at Taunton on Wednesday.Fast bowlers Andrew Caddick and Richard Johnson are already on the injured list, but both hope to be fit for Wednesday’s big match.The situation has been compounded by injuries to Pete Trego and Joe Tucker, who would normally have been drafted in to fill the vacancy left by `Rosie’s’ injury.Rather than risk Graham Rose in tomorrow’s match the Cidermen were left with a fast bowling dilemma.Chief executive Peter Anderson told me this morning: “Kevin Shine told me about the Graham’s injury problem, and we discussed a number of options. In the end we decided to go for youth, and re-signed Paul Jarvis as cover for the match tomorrow, and have him for Wednesday if needed!”Thirty seven year old Jarvis is an experienced campaigner, having played in nine test matches and sixteen one day internationals during a twenty year career in the first class game. He began his career at Yorkshire in 1981, before moving onto Sussex in 1994. He joined the Cidermen in 1999 but retired at the end of the 2000 season.Since leaving Somerset, Jarvis has kept himself in good physical shape and plays cricket professionally in South Wales.Meanwhile tickets for the quarter final on Wednesday are selling steadily, and by the end of yesterday nearly 3500 had been sold.With a good weather forecast, and a fascinating match in prospect the advice to anyone who intends to be at the County Ground on Wednesday is to purchase their ticket in advance.