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Newcastle United have now made contact with Arsenal for striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ahead of a potential move in this January transfer window.

What’s the story?

According to Italian journalist Rudy Galetti, the Magpies are “trying” for the Gabon international, and that “contact” has already been made with the Gunners for the maverick striker.

It’s added that a “possible loan is being discussed”, and that crucially, Aubameyang himself “would like the destination”.

Fans will be buzzing

While Aubameyang may not have covered himself in glory this season either on the pitch or off it – he’s netted just four goals in the Premier League and was recently stripped of the Arsenal captaincy by Mikel Arteta – he still remains a class player who could provide Newcastle with genuine quality up front.

It was only a couple of seasons ago that Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville was waxing lyrical about the striker, and how good he is compared to the rest of the Premier League’s elite forwards.

He said: “Including me, we have stopped short of announcing Aubameyang as world class. We’re happy to go with (Sergio) Aguero, we’re happy to go with (Sadio) Mane and (Mohamed) Salah, (Roberto) Firmino, (Harry) Kane… all these players who have graced the Premier League in the last two or three seasons.

“I feel that Aubameyang doesn’t get that same credit and maybe it’s something that comes from when he first entered into English football. I think he’s been absolutely sensational, and I think now’s the time for us all to start recognising the quality and the brilliance of this player. He fights for the team, he’s always there, and for me, he’s everything you would want in a football player.”

The man with 294 career goals to his name could be the perfect replacement for the injured Wilson for the remainder of this Premier League season.

Galetti’s update that the Magpies have now made contact for him, and that Aubameyang himself is interested in a move to St James’ Park is sure to have fans absolutely buzzing.

Meanwhile, Newcastle United have held talks with this director of football candidate…

Andrew Strauss used his return to the scene of his Ashes-winning triumph last summer to rediscover his batting form for Middlesex in their London derby against Surrey.

18-May-2010
Scorecard
Mark Ramprakash was the mainstay of Surrey’s first innings with a superb 223•Getty ImagesAndrew Strauss used his return to the scene of his Ashes-winning triumph last summer to rediscover his batting form for Middlesex in their London derby against Surrey.Strauss finished the second day of the County Championship Division Twoclash on 54 not out after earlier watching former England batsman MarkRamprakash turn an overnight century into a superb 223 as Surrey totalled 490. With Scott Newman also hitting an unbeaten 79 in his first match against hisformer county, Middlesex reached 148 for 0 in reply by the close.England captain Strauss certainly needed some runs in his last countyappearance before the start next week of the two-Test series againstBangladesh.In 11 previous Championship innings for Middlesex this season, Strauss had madeonly 262 runs at an average of 23.81, with just one half-century. In threefurther Clydesdale Bank 40 one-day innings, he had managed only another 60 runswith a top score of 26.Strauss, who missed the short winter tour to Bangladesh in order to rest, alsohad to watch from afar as Paul Collingwood and the England Twenty20 team becameworld champions with their magnificent victory against Australia in theCaribbean on Sunday.He would not have wanted to link up again with England without some significantruns behind him and it was his good fortune to find himself batting on a trueOval surface.Ramprakash’s innings, too, showed Strauss just what was possible as the 40-yearold moved on majestically from his overnight 125. It was Ramprakash’s 11th double-ton for Surrey, putting him just one behind SirJack Hobbs’ county record of 12. Hobbs, though, made 144 centuries for Surrey;this was Ramprakash’s 57th three-figure score for the county.In addition, Ramprakash moved into joint fifth position in the all-time list offirst-class double-century makers when he thrashed a short ball from Dawid Malanthrough the covers for four. He now has sixteen in his career, putting him levelwith Hobbs, CB Fry and Graeme Hick.Gary Wilson hit 10 fours in an excellent 62, dominating the strike and thescoring in an 88-run stand with Ramprakash for Surrey’s seventh wicket, beforehe was stumped giving Malan the charge.Ramprakash was eventually ninth out, hitting high to long on, after facing 395balls and striking a six and 26 fours in a 564-minute stay at the crease.Surrey also announced during the day that Younis Khan, the former Pakistanbatsman, will be joining the club until mid-July and could be in the country intime to play in Friday’s Clydesdale Bank 40 fixture against Glamorgan inCardiff.Surrey professional cricket manager Chris Adams said: “I am confident thatbringing a world class player such as Younus Khan to Surrey will have a verypositive effect on the side.”As well as benefiting from the weight of runs we hope he will bring, we havea number of young batsman who will doubtless benefit greatly from being able totrain and play alongside him.”Brian Lara, however, will not be joining Surrey for the Friends Provident T20following talks between the club and the great West Indian, and Indianleg-spinner Piyush Chawla – Surrey’s original overseas signing for this season -has been refused permission to play county cricket by the BCCI.

Paul Collingwood shone with the ball on his first Durham appearance of the season before rain wrecked their Friends Provident t20 match with Derbyshire

13-Jun-2010
ScorecardLoots Bosman helped Derbyshire to an excellent start before the rain•Getty ImagesPaul Collingwood shone with the ball on his first Durham appearance of the season before rain wrecked their Friends Provident t20 match with Derbyshire.England’s World Twenty20-winning captain conceded only 21 runs from his four overs, but the Dynamos were still facing a daunting run chase after the Falcons plundered 172 for 3 from 19 overs. Loots Bosman scored his second half century in the competition and former Somerset batsman Wes Durston hit two sixes and seven fours in an unbeaten 71 from 53 balls.Derbyshire were only five short of their biggest Twenty20 score at Derby before rain forced the umpires to take the players off the field and resulted in the North Group match being abandoned. Collingwood was the only bowler to trim the Falcons’ wings as his two England team-mates Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett came in for some rough treatment.Plunkett went for 18 off one of his four overs which cost 40 while John Sadler dispatched Harmison for two sixes in three balls over mid-wicket before the rain arrived. Durston followed his explosive century at Trent Bridge on Friday with another impressive display of clean hitting in an opening stand of 89 with Bosman.The South African cut Harmison for six and also smashed nine fours in a 32-ball 57 before he was run out going for a second by Plunkett’s throw from long on in Collingwood’s first over. Although Durston lifted Collingwood over long on for six, it was the only boundary off the England all-rounder who cleverly took the pace off the ball to restrict the batsmen.But the rest of the Dynamos attack suffered as Greg Smith and Robin Peterson also cleared the ropes to take the Falcons to what was their second highest Twenty20 total on home soil. It would have tested even Durham’s formidable line-up of big hitters but with no sign of an improvement in the weather, umpires Nigel Long and Michael Gough called the match off at 5.20pm with both sides taking a point.

The coach Mark Greatbatch felt the unit was a balanced one but that few players would need to be tested in the warm-up games

Cricinfo staff24-Apr-2010New Zealand’s squad for the third ICC World Twenty20 features a mix of rookies and players on the comeback trail from injury, but that has not been a deterrent for a side that believes they are genuine contenders for the title in the Caribbean.Coach Mark Greatbatch felt the unit was a balanced one but few players would need to be tested in the warm-up games before New Zealand open the tournament against Sri Lanka on April 30. “We think we have some dynamic batters, who can be lethal in this form of the game. Our bowlers are also very effective Twenty20 performers,” he said.Jesse Ryder, Jacob Oram, Kyle Mills, Ian Butler and Aaron Redmond are still undergoing rehabilitation ahead of the first game and there is a concern that they may play even when not 100% match fit.Ryder has not played international cricket since last September, having been sidelined with a series of injuries, and described his progress as “probably not 100% but it’s as good as it’s going to get.””I’ve been out for about six months and to come back and to score runs like I did has been good,” he said.Oram, on the road back to full recovery from a knee injury, believed the side was capable of reaching the semi-finals as they did during the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007. “If we can get everyone fit then we’re a real chance to go all the way,” he said.”On surfaces expected to play slow and low, New Zealand’s selectors have included a phalanx of spinners. Daniel Vettori, the captain and arguably the canniest spinner in Twenty20, will be backed up by Nathan McCullum, Rob Nicol and Redmond. “Obviously the squad balance we’ve got … means that if they’re [the pitches] going to turn and be slow there’s definitely going to be the option of using more spin,” said Greatbatch.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith believes his country’s ongoing tour of India is not an indicator that the players, who are scheduled to feature in the IPL soon after, are comfortable with security arrangements for the tournament

Cricinfo staff23-Feb-2010Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, has said his country’s ongoing tour of India is not an indicator that the players who are scheduled to feature in the IPL in March are comfortable with security arrangements for the tournament.Smith returned to South Africa after the second Test in Kolkata because of a finger injury and missed the three-ODI series, which began in Jaipur amid a reported terrorist threat in the city. “The guys were nervous before the game but we need to trust the process we have always used with CSA and the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA),” Smith told . “We would prefer to play in a more peaceful environment but that’s the nature of the world we live in at the moment.”Players remain concerned about the security issues for IPL. This is a big event with lots of different players, stadia, hotels and travel arrangements. The help and assistance we get for this event from our players association will be very important to us. Everyone is monitoring the situation very closely at the moment.”Tony Irish, the SACA chief executive, said, “The Jaipur threat was investigated by CSA’s security consultants, Nicholls Steyn and Associates. We will rely on their advice as to its legitimacy, what level of risk it presents to the team and what security measures are necessary.”He also agreed that the IPL represented a very different set of circumstances to a national tour where security was more easily controlled. “The IPL is an Indian domestic tournament and the players go there as individuals playing for eight different franchise teams,” Irish said. “The boards of the different countries can’t really be expected to review the security plans so it falls to the players associations in each country to do this for players. We take that responsibility very seriously. I can’t think of anything more important than player safety and we won’t compromise in any way on that.”Meanwhile, the Australian Cricketers’ Association said it would help formulate a list of security demands following a meeting attended by the majority of Australian cricketers due to play in next month’s tournament.Security fears regarding the upcoming IPL have intensified after the 313 Brigade, Al-Qaeda’s operational arm in Pakistan, issued a warning to “the international community” not to send its representatives to major sports events being staged in India.Tim May, the chief executive of FICA, warned of a spate of player withdrawals from the tournament due to security concerns, and the England team’s security adviser Reg Dickason said the threat from the 313 Brigade was credible and that security could not be guaranteed in India.

Offspinner Gareth Batty has rejoined Surrey from Worcestershire, signing a three-year contract from next season having left the county in 2001

Cricinfo staff27-Aug-2009Offspinner Gareth Batty has rejoined Surrey from Worcestershire, signing a three-year contract from next season having left the county in 2001.The addition of Batty will strengthen Surrey’s spin attack, adding to Chris Schofield and Simon King who are already in the squad.”Getting Gareth on board will certainly bring healthy competition for bowling places within the squad,” said Chris Adams, the Surrey manager. “Having several options within the spin department is integral to a successful team and I now feel confident that we have a lot of depth there now.”Batty, 31, already had a stint at The Oval from 1998 to 2001, but moved to New Road where he has taken 318 wickets with an average of 33.37 and hopes the move will boost his international chances.”I still have aspirations to get back playing Tests for England again and I feel that the move to Surrey will help me do that,” he saidBatty has played seven Tests for England having made his debut against Bangladesh in 2003 and was part of the one-day squad that toured the Caribbean earlier this year.

West Ham United return to Premier League action as they head to Turf Moor to face Burnley this afternoon.

David Moyes’ side do so on the back of an impressive 3-2 victory over then table-toppers Chelsea last weekend and after Saturday’s action, the Irons remain in fourth position and can narrow the gap to the third-placed Blues with three points today.

The Scot, however, is dealing with a number of injury problems, so he faces a tricky dilemma when it comes to team selection. He lost both Kurt Zouma and Ben Johnson during that victory, leaving him light on defensive options.

So what sort of side could we see up in Lancashire? Here’s what Football FanCast are predicting ahead of kick-off…

There could be as many as ten changes from Thursday’s defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the conclusion of their Europa League group stage campaign. And it’ll be two enforced alterations from last weekend, too.

Between the sticks, first-choice shot-stopper Lukasz Fabianski is set to return over designated cup ‘keeper Alphonse Areola and given the sheer volume of injuries in defence, Moyes could tweak his formation here at Turf Moor.

During his pre-game press conference, the Scot hinted that he could utilise Declan Rice in defence and that could well happen with doubts still lingering over Aaron Cresswell.

Therefore, the vice-skipper may join Issa Diop and Craig Dawson in a back-three in what would be a major call, whilst Vladimir Coufal resumes duties on the right, with Arthur Masuaku taking the spot at left wing-back.

The £12m-rated Czech Republic international, dubbed a “machine” by Mark Noble, lost his place to Johnson, so he has a good opportunity to prove his worth to Moyes today.

It means Tomas Soucek needs a new partner in the engine room and that could be Manuel Lanzini. Meanwhile further up the pitch Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen are the preferred options to help support Michail Antonio.

The Spaniard didn’t start against Chelsea but did feature in midweek, though with the Algerian winger out of form, he could start back-to-back games.

AND in other news, Rob Newman could sign Moyes’ next Jarrod Bowen in West Ham swoop for £12m “special talent”…

Rangers have the chance to make it three wins in a row under Gio van Bronckhorst as they prepare for Premiership action on Wednesday night.

The Gers travel away to play Hibernian in the top-flight, shortly after their 3-1 defeat to them in semi-final of the League Cup prior to the Dutch manager’s official arrival at Ibrox.

They have beaten Sparta Prague and Livingston in his first two games in charge, with the latter coming in the form of a 3-1 win on Sunday.

Time to shine

One change van Bronckhorst could make to the starting XI is unleashing central midfielder John Lundstram, who is yet to make his first appearance for the Dutchman.

The summer signing from Sheffield United has not hit the ground running in Scotland and has been unable to secure a regular place in the side. However, the arrival of van Bronckhorst offers him a clean slate and a chance to show what he is truly capable of at this level.

Therefore, it could now be his time to shine for the Gers. He can use the frustration of his season so far to motivate him further to put in an excellent display against Hibernian and help the ex-Feyenoord coach to win his third game in succession.

Last year, former Blades manager Chris Wilder claimed that he is ‘exemplary’ with his attitude off the pitch. 

He told The Sheffield Star: “The way he has been in the changing room when he hasn’t played has been exemplary. And then he comes back in and plays like he has.

“I think that’s a fantastic example of how you should be as a professional footballer.”

This shows that the £6.3m-rated beast has the mentality required to come in from the cold and be ready to perform, as Wilder pointed to his professionalism.

He has shown signs of promise in the Premiership this season, with a 91% pass completion rate over the course of the campaign. The midfielder has also won 56% of his duels, showing that he has the strength to go along with his impressive passing.

However, his goal contributions from midfield could be unlocked by van Bronckhorst. He managed five goals and three assists in the 2019/20 Premier League campaign for Sheffield United, but only has one goal contribution in 11 league matches for Rangers.

By unleashing him against Hibernian and showing faith in his ability, the 46-year-old coach could give Lundstram the confidence to show off his full potential as a Rangers player. This is why he should be offered the opportunity to start in central midfield.

AND in other news, Gio could unearth Goldson 2.0 in “superb” Rangers teen who is “going to be massive”…

Ian Blackwell has joined Warwickshire on loan from Durham until the end of the season.

George Dobell15-Aug-2012Ian Blackwell has joined Warwickshire on loan from Durham until the end of the season.Blackwell, the 34-year-old former England allrounder, who has played one Test and 34 ODIs, has fallen out of favour at Chester-le-Street but will join Warwickshire in order to deputise for their overseas player, offspinner Jeetan Patel, who has been recalled to the New Zealand Test squad for their tour of India. Blackwell will join Warwickshire ahead of this Sunday’s CB40 game against the Unicorns at Wormsley.While left-arm spinner Blackwell is somewhat overweight in comparison to most modern cricketers and has a poor throwing arm, he remains a fine cricketer. He has scored over 11,000 first-class runs at an average a fraction under 40 and claimed career-best bowling figures – 7 for 52 – in his last first-class game, against Australia A at the start of August.Blackwell will provide Warwickshire’s main spin bowling option for the next few weeks. The club’s first choice left-arm spinner, Chris Metters, is unavailable through injury and young allrounder Paul Best is deemed too inexperienced for the burden. Warwickshire, with four games to go, lead the County Championship by 11 points with a game in hand on second-placed Sussex.Warwickshire expect Patel back in time for their final Championship match – against third-placed Nottinghamshire, who are 21 points behind Warwickshire having played the same amount of games – but retain slim hope that he may be back in time for the penultimate game, against Worcestershire at New Road.Ashley Giles, director of cricket at Warwickshire, said: “Ian is a very experienced cricketer, with almost 400 first-class wickets and international honours. With Jeetan Patel away for the next four weeks after winning a call-up to New Zealand’s tour of India, Ian will play an important role as the senior spinner in the team.”He joins us after taking seven wickets against Australia A two weeks ago, and with key matches coming up in the County Championship and CB40, we’re very pleased to secure his services. I would like to thank Geoff Cook and Durham for allowing us to bring Ian to Warwickshire on loan.”Ian Blackwell said: “I’m pleased to have the opportunity to go on loan to Warwickshire and play some first team cricket. It’s been frustrating not being selected at Durham and I’m keen to get out there and prove not only my fitness, but also that I can still make match-winning contributions. I want to be back playing for Durham and this is a means of achieving that.”Durham head coach Geoff Cook added: “This is a great opportunity for Ian to play first-class cricket and get some time in the middle against strong opposition. Our current first XI have built some real momentum in four day cricket and as a result opportunities for Ian to break back into the squad, due to the conditions and surfaces that we have been faced with, have been limited.”We took him to Notts in order to try and give him a game if the conditions were right, however as that wasn’t the case it is important for him to get some cricket under his belt and going on loan to Warwickshire allows him to do that.”

New Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard will oversee his first game in charge of the club when they take on Brighton at Villa Park on Saturday afternoon.

Villa lured the former Liverpool captain away from Ibrox as the man to replace Dean Smith in the dugout, and he will have his task cut out to claim a victory against a Seagulls side performing above expectations this season – ahead of the weekend, they find themselves in seventh place and not far off the top four.

Given the wretched run of form that Villa have had, losing five league matches on the spin, getting the home crowd roaring by naming a forward-thinking line-up ahead of the game could be the perfect start for Gerrard in the Midlands.

While Danny Ings hasn’t exactly enjoyed a barnstorming start to his own career at Villa Park, his inclusion in the starting XI could spark a fire up front.

Former Premier League striker Clinton Morrison once compared him to Robbie Keane for his “first-class” movement, while Ralph Hasenhuttl, his former boss at St Mary’s, lauded his exploits as “unbelievable”.

The £16m-rated striker enjoyed a decent campaign in the Premier League last season, firing in 12 goals in just 29 top-flight games – that followed up from his outstanding season the year before when he bagged 22 goals and finished just behind Golden Boot winner Jamie Vardy (23).

The 29-year-old got his Villa career off to the perfect start with two goals in his first two games, but goals have been far harder to come by since then, with his team’s overall struggles not being the most ideal situation either.

However, with Gerrard having worked with the likes of Alfredo Morelos and Jermain Defoe north of the border, the Villa boss will feel confident that he can get Ings firing again, and he could start by doing it against Brighton on Saturday.

A new manager and a new setup could be exactly what the summer signing needs to thrive at Villa Park.

Meanwhile, Villa must finally sign this long-term transfer target…