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Newcastle United are reportedly ready to sign a “ridiculous” £25m international defender during the January transfer window, with his current club already lining up his replacement.

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It has been a solid period in the season for the Magpies, who haven’t been perfect by any means, but have picked up some important results in the Premier League. On Saturday, they strode to a 4-0 win away to Ipswich Town, thanks to the in-form Alexander Isak’s hat-trick, and they now sit eighth in the table after the weekend action.

It is important that reinforcements continue to be added to Eddie Howe’s squad, however, with a lack of investment in the summer causing frustration for both the manager and sporting director Paul Mitchell. Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford continues to be linked with a move to Newcastle in 2025, as they look to nail down a successor to Nick Pope.

The Magpies’ centre-back options feel sparse currently, not least after lengthy injuries to Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles, and Barcelona defender Eric Garcia is thought to be a target for Newcastle. He has found it hard to be a key man at the Catalan club this season.

Meanwhile, the Magpies are reportedly in the race to sign Southampton’s highly-rated teenage midfielder Tyler Dibling, who looks like a player with a huge amount of potential. His technical ability has shone throughout the season, despite Saints’ vast struggles in the Premier League.

Newcastle ready to move for £25m centre-back

According to MilanLive [via Sport Witness], Newcastle are ready to move for AC Milan centre-back Fikayo Tomori, with a January move not ruled out. Milan are lining up Lazio’s Mario Gila as a direct replacement for the England international next month and want to raise funds before they complete that move.

The Magpies aren’t the only Premier League club showing an interest, however, with both West Ham and Aston Villa also mentioned in the report. It is thought that £25m could be enough to acquire the services of the England international.

Tomori could be a great signing for Newcastle, while a return to English football may also appeal to him, enhancing his hopes of getting himself back in the England fold more regularly.

At 27, the former Chelsea man could be coming right into his peak years, with Ally McCoist heaping praise on him in the past in a game against Newcastle: “That is a ridiculous tackle incredible. Almiron goes with his left-foot as he thinks it’s a tap-in, if he goes with his right-foot then it’s a goal. Tremendous tackle.”

Tomori possesses Premier League experience, making 17 appearances in the competition, and could represent a cheaper alternative to Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi, who continues to be linked with a move to the Magpies in a deal that could cost around £70m.

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The fact that Milan potentially have a successor lined up can only bode well for Newcastle, suggesting that a January switch isn’t out of the question.

May usually ushers in the monsoon season in the country, but Chattogram and Dhaka will host international cricket in the month this season

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Mar-2022Bangladesh will play a home Test series in May, for the first time since 2015, when they face Sri Lanka in a two-match series, which is part of the World Test Championship (WTC). May usually ushers in the monsoon season in Bangladesh, but Chattogram and Dhaka will host international cricket in the month this season.Schedule

1st Test: May 15-19, Chattogram
2nd Test: May 23-27: Dhaka

Sri Lanka will arrive in Bangladesh on May 8 and will head straight to Chattogram, where they will play a two-day practice match, which begins on May 11, at the MA Aziz Stadium. The venue last hosted an international match in 2005 and is now mostly used for warm-up tour games in Chattogram. The Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, also in Chattogram, will host the first Test from May 15. The second – and final – Test will be played in Dhaka from May 23.Bangladesh, who are currently playing the first Test in South Africa, have a month-long break after the South Africa tour ends on April 12. Most of the players, though, will be involved in the 50-overs Dhaka Premier League, which is likely to end before the Eid break in early May.After the home Test series against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh are scheduled to travel to the Caribbean in early June for a full tour.Sri Lanka are currently placed fifth on the WTC points table, having win two of four Tests they’ve played in this cycle. They beat West Indies 2-0 at home before they lost 2-0 to India in India. Bangladesh are ninth on the table, having won just one of their four matches.This is also the first time that Sri Lanka will be touring Bangladesh during May, having previously visited the country mostly during the winter months. Sri Lanka have the wood over Bangladesh, having won all four previous Test series against Bangladesh. Sri Lanka are familiar opponents for Bangladesh – the two have faced each other in 22 Tests, with Bangladesh winning just once.

England’s World Cup rivals may write them off at their peril when the tournament kicks off in New Zealand this week, Tammy Beaumont says.Beaumont believes defending champions England have the ability to upset Australia, the runaway title favourites, in their tournament opener despite suffering a chastening Ashes series defeat last month. England were beaten 12-4 in the multi-format series, with their only points coming from two washed-out T20Is and the drawn Test. The tourists were bowled out for modest totals in all three of their ODI matches with the Australians sweeping that leg of the series 3-0.Related

• McGrath switches focus to World Cup after season she 'never would have imagined'

• Ecclestone, Shrubsole dismantle South Africa

“I feel like a lot of people have sort of written us off in a way,” Beaumont said. “I remember we had a lot of people trying to call us favourites last time and you know, we’re still the holders of the World Cup, so I think you write us off at your peril really.”To go back-to-back and retain your trophy away from home is always difficult, although I think the conditions in New Zealand are quite similar to home. Winning a World Cup at any time is a massive achievement but particularly when we’ve gone through Covid and all the bubbles and restrictions and stuff like that for the last two years, to come out here and hopefully perform really well will be a good testament to the team.”Beaumont said England’s World Cup preparations had run more smoothly than the lead-up to the Ashes in which training and warm-up matches were badly affected by rain once the squad had emerged from strict Covid-prevention measures and quarantine. Since their New Zealand quarantine period ended three days early following an easing of government guidelines, England have defeated Bangladesh by 109 runs in their first warm-up fixture and South Africa by six wickets in the second, which was reduced to 35 overs per side because of rain.England begin their World Cup campaign on Saturday and Beaumont backed her side to turn the tables against Australia.”I guess we know their plans,” Beaumont said. “So we’re ready to go against them. You’ve got to play everyone at some point. We played India the first game of the last World Cup and lost, and it didn’t necessarily affect us.”We’ll take on Australia, I think on our day we can beat them. We’re in a good place at the moment to go into that game regardless of the Ashes results, but yeah, I don’t think one game is going to necessarily ruin your World Cup hopes, hopefully. It’s a good time to get back out there and give it a good crack.”Tammy Beaumont has been a vital presence for England as an opener•Getty Images

As in the last World Cup, Lauren Winfield-Hill is expected to accompany Beaumont at the top of the order, having come into form during the warm-up clashes with a half-century against Bangladesh – she scored 14 off 15 against South Africa – after a protracted battle to post a big score. In 11 ODI innings since the start of last year, she is averaging 25.63 and hasn’t reached fifty in the format for more than five years.Debutant Emma Lamb replaced Winfield-Hill for the third ODI in Australia – the final fixture of the Ashes tour – but fell for a second-ball duck, leaving selectors without a convincing argument to make a longer-term switch for the World Cup.Beaumont’s highest score during the Ashes was 50 in the third ODI, but she has been a vital presence as an opener since before England’s 2017 World Cup triumph.England are also looking for their middle order to gel amid a dearth of regular contributors dating back to their home series against New Zealand towards the end of last year, which the hosts still managed to win 4-1.”I don’t think the problem has just been in the middle order,” Beaumont said. “Everyone has got to take accountability. I didn’t have the best series with the bat in the Ashes so I think everyone’s got to step up.”We’ve had some really good chats about not necessarily just what we need to do but actually how we need to do it and we need to get back to playing quite aggressive cricket and taking the game on. Today you saw Lauren really go for it up front and then it’s easier for the others to follow in and the middle order to really get stuck in when they’re not behind the eight ball.”I think in the Ashes constantly we as the top order were putting an incredible amount of pressure on that middle order to kind of mop up the mess we’d made so for me, it’s accountability for the whole top order really and the middle order.”

The future of a Chelsea star is now in doubt with La Liga giants Barcelona prepared to make an “audacious” swoop and steal him away from Stamford Bridge, despite Enzo Maresca’s admiration of the player.

Players on the brink of leaving Chelsea

There are a good few members of Maresca’s squad facing quite uncertain futures in west London, as they also attract interest from Europe and closer to home.

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Chief among them is out-of-favour left-back Ben Chilwell, who has played just 45 minutes in all competitions this term – a brief cameo against English minnows Barrow in the Carabao Cup.

The Englishman, who was one of the captains under Mauricio Pochettino, has failed to make a single Premier League matchday squad and wasn’t named in their Europa Conference League list either – with Maresca deeming Chilwell surplus to requirements.

Arsenal (home)

November 10

Leicester City (home)

November 23

Aston Villa (home)

December 1

Southampton (away)

December 4

Tottenham (home)

December 8

Chilwell is attracting interest from Serie A, La Liga and clubs in England, though, so the £200,000-per-week defender has plenty of options for when he inevitably quits Chelsea, following nearly half a decade of service.

Meanwhile, another player who seems destined to leave Chelsea is young midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka. It is believed the likes of Barcelona and AC Milan are targeting Chukwuemeka, who has failed to establish himself as a regular for the Blues since joining them from Aston Villa in 2022.

The likes of Mykhailo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile and Axel Disasi have also been tipped for the exit door in recent months, with the trio not exactly firm favourites under Maresca, but a more high-profile name who is being mentioned as a candidate to leave is now marquee signing Enzo Fernandez.

The Argentine World Cup winner, who cost BlueCo around £107 million to sign from Benfica last year, recently lost his place alongside Moises Caicedo to Romeo Lavia in the midfield – prompting concern over the player.

Fernandez has endured a torrid private life off the field, with Maresca giving the 23-year-old public backing amid questions over his position in the team.

“At this moment Enzo is not playing but there is no problem with Enzo,” said Maresca on Fernandez’s future at Cobham.

“The noise about Enzo is because clubs pay so much money for them, people expect they will always be the best. That is not so. The only reason he is not playing is just because the physicality I prefer is from (Moises) Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.”

Barcelona prepared to swoop for Fernandez amid Chelsea doubt

However, despite Maresca’s backing, it is believed Fernandez’s future at Chelsea has been plunged into doubt.

That is according to The Sun, who write that while the midfielder is happy in London, that could certainly change if he’s relegated to the bench on a regular basis over the coming season.

It is “increasingly unclear” whether he will stay at Chelsea long-term, with Barcelona and Inter Milan now prepared to make an ambitious move for Fernandez as they seek to take advantage of the situation.

Barca have been linked with Fernandez by other media sources recently, like reliable journalist Simon Phillips, so this could be one to watch.

“He is a world champion player,” said Mauricio Pochettino of Fernandez during his time in charge.

“Look, when he signed one year ago, he arrived after nearly two years with no holidays, no rest, with the pressure, still young, different environment, different language, different culture, a team that needs time to build. All of these types of circumstance, you need time.”

Kylian Mbappe revealed who he wants to face in the Champions League Round of 16 after scoring a sensational hat-trick to dump Manchester City out.

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• Mbappe was in incredible form against City
• Scored three goals to fire Real to a 3-1 victory
• Frenchman already thinking about the next round

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Los Blancos produced a masterclass in front of their home supporters, dismantling the reigning Premier League champions and marching on to the knockout stage. Mbappe stole the show with his three goals which fired Madrid to secure a 3-1 victory in the second leg, sealing a dominant 6-3 aggregate win over Pep Guardiola’s team. Now, they await the draw to determine whether they will face Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen in the Round of 16.

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  Atletico has been one of the standout teams in La Liga this season. They are currently in third place, just a point behind joint leaders Real Madrid and Barcelona. They have also enjoyed a strong European campaign, securing automatic qualification for the knockout stages. Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen has also been highly impressive. They secured a top-eight finish in the newly formatted Champions League group stage while keeping their Bundesliga title ambitions alive. They trail German powerhouse Bayern Munich by eight points, with several matchdays yet to be played.

• WHAT MBAPPE SAID

  Speaking after the match, Mbappe expressed his preference, stating, "Honestly, I would rather we are drawn against Atleti. They and Bayer are two great clubs and it would be difficult either way. But in the next round, it would be much better for us if we don't have to travel – we travel so much!"

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  WHAT NEXT FOR REAL MADRID?

  Madrid’s dominant performance against City reinforces their status as one of the tournament favourites as they look to extend their record tally of 15 top-tier European titles. With their Round of 16 spot secured, Carlo Ancelotti’s men will now shift their attention back to La Liga, where they will host Girona at the Bernabeu on Sunday.

Board takes action in wake of Azeem Rafiq racism investigation

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Nov-2021

Headingley during the England-India Test match in August•Associated Press

Yorkshire have been suspended from hosting international and major matches, including the Hundred final, following an ECB board meeting to discuss the implications of the Azeem Rafiq racism investigation.The club had been due to host the third Test against New Zealand at Headingley in June next year, as well as an ODI against South Africa and the potential for knockout fixtures in the Hundred, as the host venue of Northern Superchargers. They were also scheduled to host an Ashes Test in 2023.However, in a statement, the ECB said that the club would be stripped of its major-match status until such time as it has “clearly demonstrated that it can meet the standards expected of an international venue, ECB member and first-class county”.A senior Yorkshire player, Gary Ballance, who on Wednesday admitted to using racist language towards his former team-mate Rafiq, has also been suspended indefinitely from England selection.”It is clear to the Board that YCCC’s handling of the issues raised by Azeem Rafiq is wholly unacceptable and is causing serious damage to the reputation of the game,” the ECB said in a statement. “The ECB find this matter abhorrent and against the spirit of cricket and its values.”There is no place for racism or any form of discrimination in cricket and where it is found, swift action must be taken. This matter must be dealt with robustly if the sport is to demonstrate its commitment to truly being a game for everyone.”The removal of major matches is the latest blow to a county that has been fighting to manage its reputation ever since the conclusion of an investigation into allegations of institutional racism, stemming from a series of interviews by their former captain Rafiq, including with ESPNcricinfo, last year.After initially refusing to make public the findings of an independent report, the ECB finally received a full copy last week, including the revelation – reported by ESPNcricinfo – that the racial slur “P**i” had been deemed an equivalent term to “Zimbo”, the nickname that Rafiq was understood to have used for Ballance.This led to an outpouring of condemnation towards Yorkshire, mostly notably from the UK health secretary, Sajid Javid, who demanded that “heads should roll” in a reply to the ESPNcricinfo story on Twitter.Related

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Gary Ballance admits to racial slur against 'closest friend' Azeem Rafiq

Headingley loses Emerald as title sponsor as Yorkshire racism crisis deepens

A raft of sponsors have subsequently severed ties with the club, including Headingley’s title sponsors, Emerald Group Publishing; Nike, the club’s kit sponsor, and long-term local supporters, Yorkshire Tea and Tetley Bitter.There is potential for further embarrassment for the club, and by extension, English cricket, when senior Yorkshire board members, including chairman Roger Hutton, chief executive Mark Arthur and director of cricket Martyn Moxon, appear before the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee on November 16. Rafiq is also expected to give testimony, under the protection of parliamentary privilege.Julian Knight MP, the DCMS select committee chair, said: “The ECB’s action in taking international cricket away from Yorkshire should act as a short, sharp shock to bring the club to its senses. Like the rest of us, I imagine the members of Yorkshire County Cricket Club will be questioning why the board is still in place.”As for Mr Ballance, I’m choosing at this time not to comment on the specifics of the case. However, it would have been completely unacceptable if they had left him eligible for selection for the England cricket team.”The ECB board has pledged to hold Yorkshire to account in relation to their handling of the matter. “Given recent events, it is clear there are serious questions regarding the governance and management of YCCC,” the ECB statement continued. “The club’s failure in relation to actions and responses to their own report represent a significant breach of its obligations to the game.”The statement further added that the ECB executive will commission a review of Yorkshire’s governance “to consider whether the existing arrangements are fit for purpose”, while the board has also confirmed that the Cricket Disciplinary Committee, the independent tribunal that adjudicates on all breaches of the board’s code of conduct, will scrutinise the findings of the Rafiq investigation and take appropriate action.

Australia are expecting a trial by spin against Bangladesh despite their top-order collapse to England’s seamers on Saturday night in Dubai.Australia’s semi-final hopes hang in the balance after their net run-rate took a hammering courtesy of the England loss, and the irony of their tournament hinging on defeating Bangladesh and West Indies was not lost on assistant coach Andrew McDonald.The recent 4-1 series defeat to Bangladesh remains fresh in the mind of the Australians although they are confident some more experienced personnel will hold them in good stead on Thursday, given five of Australia’s seven specialist batters at the World Cup did not tour Bangladesh recently.Related

• Australia's T20 credentials and tournament hopes on a knife-edge

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• Finch: Australia facing 'must-wins' against Bangladesh, West Indies

• Hamstring injury puts Shakib out of remainder of T20 World Cup

“We’re going to get a little bit of a trial by spin, which has been a great challenge over the last sort of 12-18 months,” McDonald said. “But, we feel as though with Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell coming back into that [team], along with Aaron Finch, David Warner, we’ve probably got some more capable players in terms of the ability to play spin than what we had on the last tour. It’s not to say that those guys on the last tour weren’t going to develop into great players of spin, but they were early on in their journey. And that was the first time that they’ve been exposed to such conditions. And it’s not uncommon for people to fail on their first tour to the subcontinent. That’s what happened to us, but we feel as though we’ve got better capabilities within this team. But it’s literally going to be a similar trial by spin in my opinion.”Nasum Ahmed and Shakib Al Hasan took 15 wickets between them in the recent series, but Bangladesh have lost Shakib for the remainder of the tournament due to a hamstring injury. The conditions in Dubai are also not going to be anything like the sticky spinning tracks Australia faced in Bangladesh.Australia learned plenty of lessons from the England loss, not least of which was how to navigate batting first in Dubai given the success of teams that have won the toss and sent the opposition in. But McDonald believes the toss will not have as big an impact on Australia’s next two matches as both are day games.”At the moment, we are seeing some difficulties with teams batting first, and that is an ongoing discussion internally, how we would approach that given another opportunity with it with a night game at Dubai,” McDonald said. “But at the moment, our focus is clearly on Bangladesh, 2 pm start. And then once we get through that one, it’s another 2 pm start down at Abu Dhabi against the West Indies. So the relevance of that conversation at the moment is probably just parked, but it’s going on in the background.”The major debate in the Australia camp is around team selection and structure. Australia opted for seven batters and four bowlers in their first two matches against South Africa and Sri Lanka and secured two wins. They opted for six batters and five bowlers against England, citing Ashton Agar’s ability to match-up to England’s top order as the reason to drop allrounder Mitch Marsh after Glenn Maxwell was taken for 16 in his solitary powerplay over against Sri Lanka. Marcus Stoinis also bowled three overs for 35, but Australia still won the game easily with Aaron Finch able to deploy Mitchell Starc’s overs with more flexibility due to the use of the allrounders.Australia lost wickets in the powerplay against England and were exposed, with Maxwell forced to bat against the new ball. The game was all but over when Australia slumped to 4 for 21. How Australia structures their side against Bangladesh remains a work in progress, but Marsh’s recent good form against them in Bangladesh will no doubt bring him back into calculations.”We’ve got a lot to work through,” McDonald said. “We’ll be picking the best team based on conditions and the opposition.”Two spinners have served us well in the past. Clearly, seven batters were chosen in the first couple of games and Ashton was unlucky not to be a part of those teams. We went in favour of the three quicks and the one spinner with Glenn Maxwell to do the second spinning duty.”So all those things we take into consideration, whoever misses out is always going to be unlucky, and it’s always going to create discussions and debates as to what our best team is. And that’s probably a reflection on the depth that we have, and hopefully, we can navigate our way through the next couple of games, pick the right teams, and only hindsight will tell us whether they’re right or wrong.”

Southampton are crying out for someone to lead the line with more conviction, having scored just one meagre goal so far this season in the Premier League.

It is of course only early days with just three league games done and dusted, but it is worrying that the only strike the Saints have managed to bag this campaign so far has come from a player who usually lines up in the right-back position in Yukinari Sugawara, who scored late on away at Brentford last time out.

Both Adam Armstrong and Ben Brereton-Diaz have been unable to find the back of the net so far as Southampton’s leading stars up top, with Armstrong fresh off a Championship season where he rifled home 24 strikes to help the South Coast side triumphantly win promotion

Neither players can boast the fact that they will be remembered in Southampton folklore anytime soon like former attacking heroes Gareth Bale or Theo Walcott, with both homegrown talents exciting those on the South Coast once upon a time with their raw ability as wide-eyed youngsters.

Their best days in football wouldn’t come about until after they left St. Mary’s behind, however, much like this transfer misfire who never settled at Southampton but was a prolific menace elsewhere.

Billy Sharp's transfer to Southampton

Sharp would join the Saints mid-way through the 2012/13 season with a reputation for being a goal machine in the Championship, having helped himself to 40 strikes in total across two campaigns and a half in the second tier with Doncaster Rovers.

Only costing a reported £1.8m to land too, Nigel Adkins – the Saints boss at the time – must have thought he’d struck gold, especially after his heroics in front of goal aided Southampton in returning to the Premier League that same season.

Sharp would net a mightily impressive nine strikes from just 15 clashes in the second tier to help his new employers achieve promotion, before then finding his time with the Saints would begin to unravel.

He would be continually be chucked back out on loan to a whole host of EFL clubs, to further show off his deadly goalscoring instincts in the Championship with the likes of Nottingham Forest, Reading and back at Doncaster, with the sharpshooter never given a fair crack at the Premier League when playing for the South Coast side.

The ex-Southampton number 11 would only make a further three appearances for the club before walking away in 2014 to return to more familiar surroundings in Yorkshire, way away from the South Coast location he had struggled to grow attached to, and nearer to his former clubs in Doncaster and Sheffield United.

Saints manager Ronald Koeman would only offload Sharp for £600k when he did leave, a big loss on the alleged £1.8m they had previously forked out to win his services, but he would end up also being somewhat of a flop for his next employers in Leeds United.

It wouldn’t be until Sharp rejoined his beloved Blades that he would get back into his goalscoring groove once more, only managing five goals from 35 games for Leeds, but putting that way behind him when turning into a lethal beast at Bramall Lane.

Sharp's rebirth at Sheffield United

Sharp is well remembered for his many different spells with his hometown club, with his third and final spell with the Blades definitely his most impactful and memorable.

The 5 foot 9 livewire would rejoin his boyhood employers when they were swamped playing in League One, with his former Saints manager in Adkins very much struggling at the helm to breathe life back into the sleeping giants.

That wouldn’t stop Sharp from at least raising the spirits of a dejected Blades fanbase with his knack of instinctively finishing chances, with 21 league strikes registered during his first season back in South Yorkshire, even as United slumped to a disappointing 11th placed finish.

It wouldn’t be until Chris Wilder – who is also born and bred from Sheffield like Sharp – stepped up to replace Adkins that the Blades would start to jump up the leagues, with Sharp and Wilder a match made in heaven.

Sharp would fire home a staggering 30 league goals during the 2016/17 campaign as United won the League One title in style, before then helping his rejuvenated troops seal another promotion up to the Premier League during the 18/19 season, courtesy of 23 league strikes being hammered home from 40 contests.

All of these goals would come about after the veteran striker rejoined the ranks at Bramall Lane for just £500k, as Southampton watched on wondering what could have been if the now 38-year-old attacker had acclimatised to his St Mary’s surroundings better in the Premier League.

Top five top goalscorers in Championship history
Player	Amount of clubs	Games played	Goals scored
1. Billy Sharp	6	397	130
2. Jordan Rhodes	6	379	123
3. David Nugent	5	415	121
4. Ross McCormack	5	331	120
5. Chris Martin	8	444	114
Sourced by Transfermarkt

His exploits in the second tier for United and many more clubs would lead to Sharp being crowned the Championship’s record all-time goalscorer, with 120 goals registered in the division from 397 clashes in total.

That isn’t the only mind-boggling statistic involving the 38-year-old’s plentiful goal numbers either, with his career goal tally – which continues to go up and up even to this day – now surpassing both Bale and Walcott’s own outputs, who are legends on the South Coast, unlike Sharp.

Sharp's form this season

Both Bale and Walcott – who notched up totals of 185 goals and 132 goals respectively before calling it a day – pale in comparison somewhat to Sharp’s ever-growing amount, who is still a feared striker for defenders to come up against now plying his trade in League Two.

He has remained close to Sheffield too, with the ageing attacker back at another of his former employers in Doncaster, where he continues to be effective.

League Two top five goalscorers – 24/25
Player	Club	Games	Goals	Goal conversion %
1. Molyneux	Doncaster	5	4	31%
= 1. McGoldrick	Notts County	5	4	33%
= 1. James Berry	Chesterfield	5	4	31%
4. Billy Sharp	Doncaster	5	3	43%
= 4. Michael Cheek	Bromley	5	3	25%
Sourced by BBC Sport

Looking at the table above, with the addition of his three strikes from five games to date this season, Sharp’s bumper career tally goes up to an astronomical 276 goals, showing that there’s a lot of life still left in his legs.

Of course, he will be preparing for his retirement at some point soon, with his spell at Southampton not exactly one he will revisit in his head with much sentimentality when he does hang up his boots for good.

But, the likes of Armstrong back at St. Mary’s in the present still has time on his hands to become an even more loved figure at Southampton this season if he can soon break his goalscoring duck, and score the vital strikes that see his side steer away from relegation doom.

Southampton have struck gold on "awesome" gem who's worth more than Diaz

Southampton fans are already loving this new Saints ace.

By
Kelan Sarson

Sep 9, 2024

After bringing in Miguel Almiron from Newcastle, the Five Stripes have now broken the league transfer record for their new star striker

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Atlanta sees MLS record bid accepted by MiddlesbroughFive Stripes sign striker Emmanuel Latte LathForward will cost reported $22 millionGet the MLS Season Pass today!Stream games nowWHAT HAPPENED?

Atlanta United have had an MLS record bid in the region of $22 million accepted by English Championship side Middlesbrough for Ivorian forward Emmanuel Latte Lath. The 26-year-old has signed a deal through 2028, with a club option for 2029 as a Designated Player.

The striker joins the Eastern Conference side ahead of the 2025 season, just days after the announced the return of former club star Miguel Almiron from Newcastle United.

The Ivory Coast international scored 29 goals across 67 matches for over the past two seasons in England.

Latte-Lath's transfer passes the previous MLS record transfer fee that was set by FC Cincinnati this offseason when the Eastern Conference side added forward Kevin Denkey to their ranks for $16.2M.

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"We're excited to sign Latte Lath and look forward to welcoming him to the club and the city of Atlanta," said Chief Soccer Officer and Sporting Director Chris Henderson. "He’s a forward with excellent pace and good goal-scoring instincts. His ability to stretch the field will add another dimension to our attack. At 26 years old, he’s entering the prime years of his career and has already shown his goal-scoring ability in multiple leagues in Europe."

Atlanta is currently in the midst of a winter overhaul, after cleaning house during the 2024 MLS campaign that saw the club transfer Caleb Wiley, Thiago Almada, and Giorgis Giakoumakis out of the club for north of $50 million in transfer fees. In addition, they moved on from head coach Gonzalo Pineda, sacking him in the summer, and appointing interim head coach Rob Valentino to ride out the rest of the campaign.

The club made one major signing over the summer, adding Russia international and 2024 UEFA Europa League champion Alexey Miranchuk to their ranks, paying Atalanta a reported $10M for his services.

Over the second half of the season, Valentino overachieved with the club, seeing them into the playoffs where they shockingly eliminated Lionel Messi's Inter Miami in Round One of MLS' Best-of-3 series. They were eliminated in the Conference semifinals by Orlando City.

This offseason, they appointed former MLS Cup-winning manager Ronny Deila as head coach, handing him the reigns to the program going forward while appointing Henderson, previously at Inter Miami, as their new Sporting Director.

DID YOU KNOW?

Two other Ivory Coast internationals joined MLS this offseason, with Wilfried Zaha signing for Charlotte FC and Jonathan Bamba for the Chicago Fire.

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AFPWHAT NEXT FOR ATLANTA?

The are currently in MLS preseason action, working under new head coach Deila. Their first match of the MLS season arrives on Feb. 22 against CF Montreal.

Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, and Niroshan Dickwella have all been suspended from international cricket for a year for breaking Sri Lanka’s bio-bubble on a night out in Durham last month. They have each also been fined 10 million rupees (USD 50,000 approx), and will not be allowed to play domestic cricket for six months, which rules them out for much of the next season.In addition, they will be in probation for two further years, during which another year’s suspension will hang over their heads. SLC has mandated counselling with a doctor recommended by the board as well.Related

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• Durham bubble breach: Gunathilaka, Mendis, Dickwella likely to face long suspensions

The suspensions are shorter than those recommended by the independent panel that had been commissioned to inquire into the the incident. That committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge Nimal Dissanayaka, had recommended two-year suspensions for Gunathilaka and Mendis, who were deemed to have priors, and an 18-month suspension for Dickwella.Despite Gunathilaka having served two previous suspensions, and although Mendis had caused the death of a pedestrian while driving last year, the board has opted to hand them the same sentence as the one imposed on Dickwella, who had no prior disciplinary breaches. Although the international suspensions are shorter than the inquirers had recommended, the fines are understood to be twice what were suggested.The three players are being dealt with this harshly partly because of the public backlash against their actions. Had it not been for footage, captured by members of the public and posted on social media, Sri Lanka’s medical staff may not have been aware that these players even left the team hotel and breached the bio-bubble on June 27.They will be a significant loss to the national team, however. Dickwella was the Test team’s No. 1 wicketkeeper, and was on the fringes of the limited-overs teams. Gunathilaka was one of Sri Lanka’s white-ball openers, while Kusal Mendis was finding his way back into the national teams following a patch of lean form.The suspensions do not necessarily have to be career-ending for the three players. Gunathilaka will be 31 before he is eligible to play for Sri Lanka again. Dickwella will be 29, and Mendis 27.In addition to breaching the bubble, the cricketers were found guilty of violating the team’s curfew, which was 10:30pm, and “bringing disrepute to Sri Lanka Cricket and the country”.