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West Ham United were heavily linked with a move for Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke over the summer, and a journalist has now shared the chances of him joining in January.

The stats that show why West Ham want Solanke

Back in 2019, Solanke put pen to paper on the south coast from Premier League rivals Liverpool, and during his four years at the club, he’s gone on to become a regular feature of the squad, having made 193 appearances to date (Transfermarkt – Solanke statistics).

The Cherries striker has firmly established himself as Andoni Iraola’s best-performing offensive player so far this season (WhoScored – Bournemouth statistics), already notching up his best top flight goals tally in a season with eight.

Number Of Appearances

16

Shots Per Game

3

Aerial Wins Per Game

1.8

Dribbles Per Game

1.1

England’s former international was the subject of an enquiry and even an offer from the Irons during the previous transfer window, and while that proposal was swiftly rejected, that hasn’t stopped chiefs from wanting to take a second bite of the cherry. According to The Mirror, David Moyes’ side are preparing an improved bid for the 26-year-old ahead of the new year, but if the following update is to be believed, it won’t be an easy task to prise him away from the Vitality Stadium.

Fabrizio Romano says Hammers still "tracking" Solanke

Writing in his column for CaughtOffside, Fabrizio Romano confirmed that West Ham remain interested in Solanke, but as it stands, he’s more than happy at Bournemouth.

“I’ve been impressed with him this season as he always looked like an excellent player with great potential, but he’s now showing it more consistently. In terms of a transfer, he’s happy at Bournemouth but many clubs are tracking him, including West Ham. Let’s see what will happen, but for the moment I understand he’s happy there and performing very well.”

In the Premier League this season, Solanke has posted nine involvements (eight goals and one assist) in 16 appearances, showing how prolific he can be in the final third, but he’s constantly posing a threat to the opposition’s defence no matter if he hits the back of the net.

The Reading-born talent has recorded 48 shots over the course of the current campaign which is more than any of his fellow teammates (FBRef – Bournemouth statistics), highlighting how much he stands out in the attacking areas compared to his peers.

Sponsored by Adidas, the centre-forward is also a versatile operator having been deployed in five different positions since the start of his career, including everywhere across the frontline and even as an attacking midfielder, which will be yet another attractive attribute and reason why he's been on the radar for so long.

Standing at 6 foot 2, Solanke could be an ideal target man with his height up top and would be able to provide a real physical presence, making himself a handful to deal with, so should the opportunity present itself, the manager shouldn’t have to think twice about trying to get this deal over the line.

Tottenham are said to be eyeing moves for two exciting young players to bolster one area of the squad, with manager Ange Postecoglou keen on more options.

Spurs short in key areas

Ahead of the January transfer window, Spurs are reportedly looking to strengthen certain positions where they're seen as very light in numbers. One of them is at left centre-back, as an injury to star summer signing Micky van de Ven has exposed Tottenham's lack of quality alternatives to the Dutchman.

Postecoglou isn't helped by Cristian Romero's suspension either, with the Argentine and van de Ven's once budding partnership sorely missed during Spurs' recent 2-1 defeat to Wolves at Molineux.

Ben Davies and the previously out-of-favour Eric Dier filled in for the pair but couldn't quite muster their same star quality, with Spurs now targeting a host of central defensive options for the winter window. Uruguay star Sebastian Caceres, Everton's Ben Godfrey, Crystal Palace ace Marc Guehi, Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah and Bournemouth's Lloyd Kelly have all been linked with moves to Spurs as a result.

Elsewhere in the squad, there have been reports that the Lilywhites want to add a left-winger to their ranks. Indeed, this has lead to Tottenham holding a serious interest in signing Jota from Al-Ittihad – a player Postecoglou knows very well from his time at Celtic.

Another exciting winger linked with a move to north London is Juventus ace Samuel Iling-Junior, with journalist Pete O'Rourke sharing an update on the Englishman and another apparent attacking target.

Tottenham eyeing Nusa and Iling-Junior after Ange demand

Writing for Football Insider, the reporter claims Spurs are eyeing Illing-Junior and Antonio Nusa, as Postecoglou is very eager to add more quality on the flanks. This comes after injuries to Manor Solomon and Ivan Perisic, with Dejan Kulusevski, Brennan Johnson and Bryan Gil currently their only fit options right now.

Son Heung-min has thrived in a more central role after the departure of club legend Harry Kane over the summer, so the South Korea international will be staying right where he is. To bolster their attacking options, Spurs have Illing-Junior and Club Brugge sensation Nusa, who will apparently cost around £30 million according to O'Rourke, on their transfer target list for January.

Key passes

Dribbling

Aerial duels

Defensive contribution

The 18-year-old Nusa has two goals and two assists in nine Jupiler Pro League matches for Brugge this season, while Illing-Junior has been likened to AC Milan star Rafael Leao.

“Iling Junior is a very quick player, who loves to take on opposing full-backs and attack the vertical spaces, in a very direct way,” said journalist Michele Neri to TNT Sports.

“He is a left winger who can also play as a right winger if needed. He has a great sense for dribbling and a speed from a standing start that other Juventus players do not have.

“In these qualities you can absolutely see shades of Rafael Leao when the AC Milan superstar was a bit younger. Of course he is certainly less impactful today than Leao is and has a long way to go to reach the Portuguese’s level."

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers may now face a fight on his hands to keep hold of a key first-team man in January as he aims to retain the Scottish Premiership title, according to a report.

Celtic remain unbeaten in the Scottish Premiership…

Celtic ended the weekend with their eight-point advantage over Rangers at the summit of the Scottish Premiership intact despite falling to a late 1-1 draw against Motherwell at Parkhead, with Jonathan Obika's injury time goal cancelling out a David Turnbull penalty that looked to have gave the Hoops all three points.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Rodgers indicated his annoyance that his side weren't able to see another victory over the line, as he stated to BBC Sport: "A draw at home always feels like a defeat. We're disappointed. We had enough opportunities to win the game, over 80% possession. We didn't create as much as we'd like but the chances we had should have been enough."

Nevertheless, Rangers couldn't capitalise on their rivals' failure to win over Motherwell in their trip to Pittodrie on Sunday, as they laboured to a 1-1 draw of their own against Aberdeen to leave it as you were regarding the points gap in the divisional standings.

Recording 11 victories and three draws in their opening 14 league encounters is by all means a decent start by Celtic; however, they will be keen to strike up some momentum in the next few weeks as the festive period offers up a hectic fixture schedule for all involved.

Celtic's next five fixtures – all competitions

Competition

Opponent

Venue

Champions League

Lazio (A)

Stadio Olimpico

Scottish Premiership

St Johnstone (A)

McDiarmid Park

Scottish Premiership

Hibernian (H)

Celtic Park

Scottish Premiership

Kilmarnock (A)

Rugby Park

Champions League

Feyenoord (H)

Celtic Park

Looking ahead to January, one of the Hoops' star men is now attracting interest from elsewhere, which could leave Rodgers in a precarious position unless he manages to tie the man in question down in Glasgow's east end.

Anderlecht want Liam Scales

According to Football Scotland, Belgian giants Anderlecht are keen on Celtic defender Liam Scales and have scouted the Republic of Ireland international extensively over recent weeks.

The outlet claim that Anderlecht are considering making a bid in January for the former Aberdeen loanee, who has 18 months left on his contract at Parkhead. Nevertheless, Celtic are keen to nail him down to an extension after his impressive start to life this campaign.

Initially coming in to combat an injury crisis at Parkhead, Scales has established himself as a mainstay under Rodgers, making 15 appearances in all competitions and notching a single assist in the process (Scales statistics – Transfermarkt).

Billed as "fantastic" by former Celtic goalkeeper Patrick Bonnar, Scales has managed to average around 4.1 successful clearances, 1.4 challenges and 1.1 interceptions per match in the Scottish Premiership across 2023/24 (Scales statistics – WhoScored).

Scheduled to be out of contract in the summer of 2025, Celtic must do whatever they can to keep Scales around at Parkhead as he continues to thrive at the Scottish champions.

Celtic signal January transfer plans; Rodgers convinced he can land targets

Celtic are keen to strengthen in January to give them an edge in the hunt for the Scottish Premiership title…

BySean Markus Clifford Nov 26, 2023

Mark Wood admits he is battling “against the clock” if he is to win a spot in England’s World Cup side.Wood returns to the England side for the final ODI against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Tuesday but, having not played a game in the series to date, fears he may have fallen behind several others in the race for selection.Now, with only one more ODI series to come (the five-match series in the Caribbean in February and March) before England pick their World Cup squad, he feels he is one of five men competing to complete the 15-man party.”In my mind, there’s one spot in the squad for five of us,” Wood said. “Liam Plunkett is going to play: he’s been our best bowler for a while. Chris Woakes has been so consistent. He is a great bowler and he is going to take the new ball. And Ben Stokes balances the team.”So you’ve got one spot between me, Tom Curran, who feels he has got his slower ball back, Olly Stone, who bowls rockets and is ahead of me at the moment, Sam Curran, who can bat, and David Willey, who had a good summer. We’re all probably vying for that one spot.”It’s hard to disagree with Wood’s assessment. With England’s tactic of playing two spinners in most circumstances working well for them, and the management understandably keen to have some left-arm variation – provided by either Sam Curran or Willey – in their attack, it may well prove that Wood is now an outside bet for that final place.With the World Cup having been a focal point of England’s cricket for the last four years – and Wood having been a regular part of the ODI side in that period – it would heart-breaking to miss out at this stage. As a result he is hoping to improve his game in the final months before the tournament, both by lengthening his run-up in order to avoid some of the stress he puts on his body and by developing a new slower ball.”It can be frustrating when you are just on the outside with a World Cup around the corner,” he said. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have one eye on that. I know that, if I don’t do well here, I am one tour away from not making that World Cup squad. And that’s something we’ve been building up to for over four years. Ever since the last one. So I’ve got to do the business.””I’ve managed to swing the new ball out here so that has been a plus. And I have been trying to work on a few new slower balls. I feel I can get better with a few slower balls.”But I’m against the clock a little bit. Everyone is fighting for that one spot so it is not like I can keep working on a slower ball for the next three years.”While such competition for place could disturb the equilibrium in the squad, Wood insists it will not be allowed to do so in this England camp. With Eoin Morgan having confirmed he would drop himself from the team if his form was not up to scratch – he may rest himself on Tuesday to provide opportunity elsewhere – the mood in the camp is, Wood says, selfless and positive.”We’re one team,” he said. “We’re all together. I want my friends to do well. I’m an England fan and I want England to win.”You don’t win nine series on the bounce [a statistic that excludes the one-off defeat against Scotland]. It’s good to have healthy competition without being all bitter or sour. That doesn’t help anyone. And I don’t think Eoin Morgan would have you around if you weren’t behind the team.”Some of the net sessions have been pretty hairy as all the bowlers have been charging in trying to get a spot in the side. I’ve just got to prove myself and get better. And if I can do that, hopefully I should get my spot back.”Meanwhile Chris Jordan, who has recently arrived in Sri Lanka, trained with the squad on Tuesday. Jordan has been added to the squad with a view to playing in the one-off T20I match that follows the ODI series.But while Jordan took part in the warm-up football, there was no sign at training of Jonny Bairstow. Bairstow’s ankle injury remains a concern and it is doubtful that he will be fit to play in the first Test.England may well call up Ben Foakes, the uncapped Surrey keeper, within the next day or two. Olly Stone and Joe Denly, who could make his first ODI appearance this decade on Tuesday, also sat out the football section of training.

USMNT star Josh Sargent has been warned that Premier League interest will “ebb away” unless he is able to maintain impressive standards at Norwich.

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American frontman in fine formGenerating transfer speculationHoping to secure a play-off spotWHAT HAPPENED?

The United States international has recovered from early injury struggles in 2023-24 to become a key player for the Canaries in their bid to earn promotion out of the Championship. He has 12 goals to his name, leaving him one short of matching his personal best from last season.

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Sargent has delivered a flurry of goals in 2024 – nine since the turn of the year – and is said to be attracting admiring glances from the English top-flight. The 24-year-old’s current ability and future potential is clear for all to see, but he has been told that individual standards cannot be allowed to drop.

WHAT SUTTON SAID ABOUT SARGENT

Former Norwich striker Chris Sutton has told the : “I've seen plenty of articles stating that Josh Sargent is the best striker in the Championship. Well, now is the time to come to the fore and prove that. This has been a defining season for Sargent. There is no debate that he is their starting number nine and is a much more complete striker than Teemu Pukki, even if the Finn had the edge on him in terms of movement in behind and ruthless finishing. But he cannot wilt. If he does, those clubs watching him will ebb away. If he does, Norwich will have their work cut out to keep him. The links to Brentford were intriguing, and I suspect they won't be alone – but Sargent and Norwich have to block out that noise.”

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Sutton added on the challenges facing Sargent and Norwich as a whole: “There will be City players in that dressing room who feel they are Premier League-grade. Prove it. Do it in the moments that matter – not when you're thumping a desperately poor Rotherham side. It's easy to show quality in those moments. From a player's perspective, you want to play at the top level.

"If there are Premier League clubs circling, then it will be hard for any of them to turn that down and for Norwich to keep them. They have always been a selling club. People know that. They give players excellent platforms and help them propel their careers to the next level. I was an example of that. So was James Maddison. Emi Buendia. Josh Murphy. But those players cannot be looking at themselves or wondering about what comes next. It can't be the time inside the club to be wasting energy on that stuff. It has to be all hands on deck.”

أعلن عبد الحميد بسيوني المدير الفني لنادي طلائع الجيش، تشكيل فريقه لمواجهة الأهلي، في المباراة التي تقام بينهما، اليوم الإثنين، ضمن منافسات بطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز.

ويلعب الأهلي ضد طلائع الجيش، في إطار مواجهات الأسبوع الـ 30 من عمر مواجهات بطولة الدوري المصري، على ملعب استاد القاهرة.

ويحتل فريق طلائع الجيش، المركز الحادي عشر بترتيب جدول الدوري، برصيد 35 نقطة، من 28 لقاء.

طالع | تشكيل الأهلي أمام طلائع الجيش في الدوري المصري

بينما النادي الأهلي يتواجد في المركز الثاني في جدول ترتيب الدوري المصري الممتاز، برصيد 54 نقطة من 22 مباراة. تشكيل طلائع الجيش أمام الأهلي في الدوري المصري

حراسة المرمى: عمر رضوان.

خط الدفاع: خالد سطوحي، محمد سمير، محمد هاني، محمد دياب.

خط الوسط: علي حمدي، أحمد زولا، أحمد متعب.

خط الهجوم: إسلام محارب، عبد الرحمن شيكا، جودوين شيكا. بدلاء طلائع الجيش أمام الأهلي في الدوري

فريد شوقي، أحمد الشيخ، كريم طارق، السيد أحمد، عمر السعيد، عماد السيد، يسري وحيد، مصطفى الخواجة، مؤمن محمود.

Nottinghamshire 336 for 5 (Nash 139, Libby 88, Patel 76) v Worcestershire
ScorecardChris Nash registered his first century for Nottinghamshire to put them in a strong position on the opening day of their Specsavers County Championship match against Worcestershire at Trent Bridge. Nash, skippering the side with Steven Mullaney away on England Lions duty, made 139 as the home side reached stumps on 336 for 5.Jake Libby and Samit Patel also posted their highest scores of the season as the home side made the most of favourable batting conditions. Libby made 88 and Patel scored 76, one of three wickets to fall to Steve Magoffin and the second new ball. The Australian seamer closed with figures of 3 for 56.Worcestershire could have saved themselves from some of their suffering in the field, having opted to bowl first. That decision, on a hot steamy day, looked to have backfired as early as the end of the first session, with 100 runs already on the board.Lacking Ed Barnard, on Lions duty, and with Joe Leach and Josh Tongue out injured, the visitors handed pace bowler Dillon Pennington a Championship debut and gave spinner Ben Twohig just a third appearance. The inexperienced pair found themselves trying to stem the tide, alongside Magoffin and Charlie Morris before lunch.Gradual progress was made by the two batsmen during the second session and it was something of a surprise when a wicket fell after a stand of 164. Libby, who hit 10 fours and a six from his 170 deliveries, cut Twohig to slip, where Daryl Mitchell took a sharp one-handed catch.Patel, having been padded up for four hours, was greeted with two loopy full tosses, both of which he crashed away for boundaries to get his innings up and running.Nash went into the tea break undefeated on 99 but pushed a single to mid on at the start of the final session to reach three figures from 176 deliveries. It was the 24th first class century of his career and his fourth at Trent Bridge, after three for his previous county, Sussex.Nash and Patel put on 146 for the second wicket and had brought up the third batting point before Worcestershire struck from an unexpected source. New Zealand international Martin Guptill, veteran of 107 first-class matches, picked up only his 11th first-class wicket – and first in England – in getting Nash lbw with some very gentle offspin. Nash old scored his runs from 225 balls, with 21 fours.The second new ball wasn’t taken until the 89th over of the day and Magoffin made an immediate impact, bowling Patel and having Billy Root caught behind, from successive deliveries. When Ross Taylor was caught at slip by Whiteley for his fourth duck of the summer, Magoffin had taken three for none in five deliveries.Riki Wessels and Tom Moores prevented any further damage, meaning Stuart Broad, given ECB clearance to play, could remain with his feet up inside the dressing room for the entire day. He may well have an important role to play on the second day.