Liverpool fans have been given encouragement that a proposed deal to sign Lyon midfielder Nabil Fekir is not dead in the water.

The Frenchman’s agent Jean-Pierre Bernes is responsible for giving the Reds’ fanbase hope after suggesting that the transfer could still go through.

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Earlier this month, Fekir seemed destined for Liverpool, and it was only a matter of time before the deal was officially announced.

However, the proposed move collapsed at the eleventh hour, sending shockwaves through the Liverpool fans.

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It has been widely suggested that an underlying knee problem was the cause of the Reds opting not to risk a £53m deal.

However, while speaking to French television channel LCI – as reported by the Liverpool Echo – Bernes said:

“He didn’t sign because um… it is not over! This is not the end of the story.”

At the moment, Fekir is with the France national team at the World Cup in Russia, so if any deal is to happen, then it is unlikely to be completed prior to the end of the tournament.

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Liverpool fans, the majority of whom have been desperate for the midfielder to sign, have been reacting to the latest update on Reddit.

Comment from discussion Nabil Fekir’s agent: “Nabil Fekir passed the medical checkup for Liverpool – He did not sign because uh it’s not over! The story isn’t over.”.Comment from discussion Nabil Fekir’s agent: “Nabil Fekir passed the medical checkup for Liverpool – He did not sign because uh it’s not over! The story isn’t over.”.Comment from discussion Nabil Fekir’s agent: “Nabil Fekir passed the medical checkup for Liverpool – He did not sign because uh it’s not over! The story isn’t over.”.Comment from discussion Nabil Fekir’s agent: “Nabil Fekir passed the medical checkup for Liverpool – He did not sign because uh it’s not over! The story isn’t over.”.Comment from discussion Nabil Fekir’s agent: “Nabil Fekir passed the medical checkup for Liverpool – He did not sign because uh it’s not over! The story isn’t over.”.

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Comment from discussion Nabil Fekir’s agent: “Nabil Fekir passed the medical checkup for Liverpool – He did not sign because uh it’s not over! The story isn’t over.”.Comment from discussion Nabil Fekir’s agent: “Nabil Fekir passed the medical checkup for Liverpool – He did not sign because uh it’s not over! The story isn’t over.”.

Judging by the transfer gossip pages, Liverpool are keen to recruit a new goalkeeper before the window closes in August.

Loris Karius hampered his case to be number-one choice for the upcoming season after making two huge mistakes in the team’s Champions League defeat to Real Madrid.

The Reds have been linked with numerous names, including Alisson, Jan Oblak, Jack Butland and Jasper Cillessen.

A new name has emerged from the rumour mill – Bild specifically – and he goes by Jiri Pavlenka, who currently plies his trade at Werder Bremen.

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The 26-year-old, who has earned six caps for the Czech Republic, joined Bremen from Slavia Prague in July last year.

He is relatively unknown, and last season in the Bundesliga the shot-stopper conceded 46 goals and kept 10 clean sheets in 38 appearances in all competitions.

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Pavlenka does not exactly share the same profile of the world-class names being linked with a switch to Anfield.

At this point, the fans are just frustrated by the constant speculation.

Bringing a new goalkeeper to Elland Road is surely a priority for new Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa ahead of the 2018-19 campaign.

Felix Wiedwald has left the club to return to Germany, and a number of stoppers – including Manchester City’s Angus Gunn and Birmingham City’s David Stockdale – have been linked with a move to Leeds in this summer’s transfer window.

A deal for Stockdale looks difficult, however, and an alternative has been discussed by a selection of Leeds fans on social media.

Indeed, Boaz Myhill was released from West Bromwich Albion last week, and the former Wales international will therefore be available on a free transfer this summer.

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Myhill has accumulated plenty of Premier League experience during his professional career, but only made two appearances for West Brom last term.

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The Leeds supporters have been discussing a potential deal for the 35-year-old on social media, and it would be fair to say that they are struggling to come to an agreement.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

The Tottenham fans in and around the Transfer Tavern are soon hoping that new faces start to arrive at the new ground because otherwise Spurs will again be title challengers rather than true contenders. 

Having finished in the Champions League places once again, Tottenham have to ensure that the calibre of player they bring into the club is ready to be challenging for the title and Champions League success. Spurs have a great starting 11 but little in terms of depth, that’s why our punters think it’s very important that Tottenham recruit a player such as Valon Berisha, who is valued at £9 million on Transfermarkt.

Currently playing his football with Europa League semi-finalists RB Leipzig, Berisha, like the rest of his team-mates, enjoyed a successful season. The 25-year-old scored 13 goals and bagged 11 assists in all competitions during his 45 appearances, which happens to be a brilliant record for a winger.

Not only can Berisha be utilised in his favoured right-midfield position, he can also be selected to play in a role behind the striker, offering vital support to his team going forward. Tottenham don’t possess someone with that ability and buy signing Valon Berisha, although it’s not a high-profile name, could be an inspired move come the end of next season.

Especially useful for rotational and challenging the likes of Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Son for a space in the team, Berisha will be full of confidence after the amazing season he has just had and would be ready to show the Premier League what he is capable of.

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Should Tottenham take a risk with the 25-year-old… Let us know!

MS Dhoni has said one of the reasons for the 29-run run defeat to Sri Lanka in Nagpur was because India tend to take Twenty20 internationals as a warm-up for the one-dayers to follow

Cricinfo staff09-Dec-2009MS Dhoni has said one of the reasons for the 29-run run defeat to Sri Lanka in Nagpur was because India tended to take Twenty20 internationals as a “warm-up for the one-dayers to follow”. India have now lost seven of their last ten Twenty20s and two of their three wins were against Bangladesh and Ireland.”I don’t think we were in the groove for a Twenty20 game and too often we treat it as a warm-up for the one-dayers to follow,” Dhoni said. “It’s probably the reason for our defeats in these games.”Another, and more significant, reason for Wednesday’s defeat was India’s terrible fielding. They dropped five chances – two off the Sri Lankan openers before they made a start – and frequently fumbled balls in the outfield. Yuvraj dropped Sanath Jayasuriya on 4, Ishant grassed Tillakaratne Dilshan on 13 and Kumar Sangakkara as well, Rohit Sharma let off Chamara Kapugedera on 14, and Pragyan Ojha failed to reach a tough chance given by Angelo Mathews in the final over after which the batsman hit two sixes.”The catching is a bit of concern,” Dhoni said. “We are not a brilliant fielding side, but we don’t drop too many catches. That also hurt us also to some extent.”Had India taken their chances, Sri Lanka would have struggled to reach 215. In the over after he was dropped, Jayasuriya hit Ashish Nehra for five consecutive boundaries and provided the acceleration after a slow start. The opening stand of 43 set the platform for Kumar Sangakkara to score 78 off just 37 deliveries. Kapugedera provided propulsion by scoring 47 off 20 while Mathews made 15 off four balls.”What really set us up was the two openers batting for six overs, even if they didn’t get a flying start,” Sangakkara said. “They really applied themselves and got those 40-odd runs and we could launch our innings from there. I’ve been in good form, but I’ve been getting out cheaply because I’ve never really applied myself. I thought it was about time I really did something to inspire the side.”Sangakkara also described Jayasuriya’s four-over spell during India’s chase as “magic”. Jayasuriya came on after India had raced to 88 in seven overs and brought down the scoring-rate dramatically. He conceded only 19 off his four overs and also took the wickets of MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan. Sri Lanka’s bowlers were also supported by far superior fielding effort and Sangakkara acknowledged as much.”I thought the fielding was outstanding, we were excellent in the first 16 overs and I thought we could have been a little more ruthless in the final four overs and finished the game off,” he said. “Overall, everyone played really hard and they showed a lot of hunger to win.”The second Twenty20 game is in Mohali on December 12.

Andrew Hilditch raised more than a few eyebrows when he boldly declared Australia’s spin bowling stocks were “in a pretty good spot at the moment”

Alex Brown15-Dec-2009Andrew Hilditch raised more than a few eyebrows on the eve of the Brisbane Test when he boldly declared Australia’s spin bowling stocks were “in a pretty good spot at the moment”. That assessment seemed misguidedly optimistic at the time, and even more so now that a 20-year-old wrist-spinner with just 11 first-class wickets to his name has been called into the Australian squad as cover for Nathan Hauritz in the Perth Test.Steven Smith is regarded by many as an Australian player of the future, but opinion is divided over precisely what role he should fill. To date, Smith’s wrist spin has produced six wickets at 55.00 for New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield this season – his career average expands further to 75.18 – and his action was recently described as “loose” by former Test legspinner Kerry O’Keeffe. “The Blues prodigy is a batsman first and a slow bowler second,” O’Keeffe added.Smith has enjoyed somewhat more success with the bat, raising his maiden first-class century against Queensland over the past week. But it is his bowling for which Hilditch’s panel have called him into the Test squad, and on that account there must be considerable concern. He returned figures of 0 for 156 from 25 overs against the Bulls in a match the Blues conceded by nine wickets.”The bowling’s going pretty well,” Smith said at Sydney airport. “It was quite hard gripping the ball up there [in Brisbane]. It was really sticky conditions, a little bit different to what I’ve been used to. I had a good bowl this morning and the ball seems to be coming out pretty well. So if I get an opportunity, I’m sure I’ll take it with both hands.”He has never met Ricky Ponting and was watching a movie when he learned of his selection. “I couldn’t believe it,” Smith said. “I’m still shocked. I was shaking for about an hour and a half after I heard.”Smith will be in contention to make his Test debut should Hauritz fail to recover from a finger injury sustained at training on Tuesday. He would join a list of spinners that includes Stuart MacGill, Brad Hogg, Beau Casson, Cameron White, Jason Krejza, Bryce McGain and, most recently, Hauritz to have turned out for the Test side since Shane Warne’s retirement in 2007, opening Hilditch’s panel to further accusations of inconsistency.”While he has excited all in recent times for New South Wales with the bat,” Hilditch said, “we consider his skills as a leg spinner will give good balance to the attack. We are confident he will seize the opportunity if it presents itself in Perth.”Warne recently described Smith as “one to watch” and “a real bolter”, but urged selectors not to rush him into the Test side. Still, with the uncapped pace duo of Clint McKay and Brett Geeves Australia’s only other options – and memories still fresh in Ricky Ponting’s mind of India’s 72-run victory the last time he fielded an all-pace attack at the WACA – Warne’s advice may go unheeded.”In a perfect world … he would learn how to bowl in different conditions,” Warne said. “[He would bowl in] different situations, trying to bowl a side out to win a game, bowl when they are miles behind, bowl defensively so they don’t lose, on first-day wickets when it’s not turning, on fourth-day wickets when the expectation of you is that you come out and take five-for. [Selectors should] be patient with him and just let him bowl.”In an ideal world I’d love him to play 10 Shield games, learn how to bowl in all the different situations, and not get carried away by all the one-dayers and Twenty20s. But you can’t say to a young player, ‘We’re going to rest you from Twenty20 or one-dayers, we want you to learn your craft at Shield cricket.’ It’s nearly impossible to do that these days.”News of Smith’s elevation to the Test squad will come as a major blow to Jason Krejza, who was widely considered to be Australia’s next-in-line spinner after Hauritz. Krejza has not played a Test since Perth last year, and despite managing just a solitary wicket in that six-wicket loss to South Africa, he has been among the better-performed first class spinners this season with 13 wickets at 47.23 for Tasmania.

England’s coach, Andy Flower, has jumped to the defence of the underperforming batsman, Ian Bell

Andrew McGlashan in Durban22-Dec-2009England’s coach, Andy Flower, finds some aspects of the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) “illogical” and isn’t a supporter of the ICC initiative that was a focal point of the opening Test against South Africa at Centurion Park.England did not enjoy much success in their use of the system, with all four of their bowling referrals turned down. That disappointment was compounded, however, when Kevin Pietersen was bowled by Morne Morkel off in the first innings, off what appeared to be a no-ball. With that in mind, Flower argued that if technology was going to be used, it should check the foot position of the bowler every time.”I’m not a policy-maker and my ideas don’t count that much, but I don’t really like the questioning of the umpires by the players,” he told reporters in Durban. “I think there are also some illogical things about it. We have the technology to review no-balls every ball and we don’t use it.”The two most controversial moments came when England asked for a review of a caught-behind appeal against AB de Villiers in the first innings, but technology couldn’t detect what the players had believed to be an audible nick, then when Stuart Broad questioned the length of time South Africa had taken to refer JP Duminy’s lbw appeal to the third umpire.Upon being given out, Broad marched over to the on-field umpires, Steve Davis and Aleem Dar, and later went to visit the match referee, Roshan Mahanama, although no charges were brought against him. England have also raised the issue over the time taken between South Africa’s appeal and the TV umpire’s intervention.”We spoke to Roshan Mahanama about it and there is no clear indication over how much time it should take,” Flower said. “It’s not 20 or 30 seconds, but they do just want a brief exchange of views and then a decision made.”I personally don’t like it much to be honest, but it looks as though it’s here to stay and certainly is for this series, so there’s no point us grumbling about it. We just have to get on with it and make sure we deal with it.”While the review system doesn’t have Flower’s backing, the under-pressure pair of Alastair Cook and Ian Bell certainly do. He believes both men can bounce back from their twin failures at Centurion Park. Cook made scores of 15 and 12 having spent a lot of time in the latter part of the 2009 season working on his technique, while Bell managed seven runs in two innings, and was embarrassingly bowled when not offering a shot to Paul Harris.”Belly got some runs in the pre-tour games and I think he is feeling quite confident about the way he is playing,” Flower said. “He had a tough Test, of course. He made a misjudgement in the first innings and got nicked off in the second but he’s a high quality player and we are backing him. I think he will be fine.”Cooky scored runs for the Performance Squad up in Johannesburg then scored some runs in East London,” he added. “He’s had a tough Test and it was a tough Test for anyone against the new ball. He’s remodelled a few things but he is a strong young man, a very fine player and a leader in his own right. I think he is going to do good things for us this series.”Despite the batting problems, including the late collapse of 5 for 13, the series is still all-square and Flower was breathing a sigh of relief after the outcome. “Of course we are relieved that, after losing those wickets against the last new ball, we got out of it,” he said.”We always knew the second new ball was going to be a testing period, although we obviously didn’t think we would lose that many wickets. But we did well to fight back and hang on.”

Shane Warne has accused Andrew Strauss of showing a lack of respect to Test cricket by resting for England’s tour of Bangladesh, and has questioned whether Alastair Cook is up to the task of leading the team in his absence

Cricinfo staff08-Feb-2010Shane Warne has accused Andrew Strauss of showing a lack of respect to Test cricket by resting for England’s tour of Bangladesh, and has questioned whether Alastair Cook is up to the task of leading the team in his absence.”When I heard that Andrew Strauss is being rested it just doesn’t sit right with me,” Warne told journalists at the launch of the Royals 2020 franchise at Lord’s. “When I am captain I want to get the best out of my players. Maybe that means putting an arm around them or maybe it means giving them a kick up the backside.”Alastair Cook might be completely different. He might want to treat everyone the same way. If I am captain of a side I want to stop my authority on a side.Warne also questioned the timing of Cook’s appointment, suggesting that following his encouraging return to form during the recent tour of South Africa, he would be better served concentrating on his batting and spared the burden of captaincy. Instead, he is likely to be opening alongside the debutant, Michael Carberry, who could prove to be a rival in the long-term if he enjoys a productive series.”I think he has been under pressure for his place in the side,” said Warne. “He’s suddenly found himself, he’s made a hundred and now he is captain. What happens if Michael Carberry gets three hundreds and Alastair Cook gets a couple of runs? What happens then? Do you drop an England captain?I hope they [England] are not taking Bangladesh too easy because they can be quite strong,” he added. “What if they win the first Test? Does Strauss fly out for the second? I hope it’s not the start of a trend. It’s a lack of respect for Test cricket.”It’s disappointing that the captain of England decides to have a rest from a Test series, I can’t comprehend that. Any time you represent your country it’s special and I cannot understand how you can rest your captain.”

England’s list of wicketkeeping candidates will increase mid-way through February when Craig Kieswetter completes his four-year qualification period

Cricinfo staff07-Feb-2010England’s list of wicketkeeping candidates will increase mid-way through February when Craig Kieswetter, the South Africa-born gloveman who plays for Somerset, completes his four-year qualification period. Kieswetter is expected to earn international honours in the near future, as much on the strength of his batting as his keeping, despite concerns over the number of South Africans in the team.Kieswetter has flown out to UAE this weekend as part of the England Lions squad and becomes eligible for full honours on February 17 – the day he is likely to play against England in Dubai – and it isn’t out of the question that he will be considered for the ICC World Twenty20 in West Indies at the end of April.He has made his name on the county scene with a string of destructive one-day batting performances alongside Marcus Trescothick at the top of Somerset’s order and some observers believe he could make it as a specialist batsman. Early on England’s tour of South Africa Graeme Smith said he’d like Kieswetter to return home, but the keeper quickly reiterated his desire to play for England and now hopes talk about his roots will disappear”My four years are now up so this is a massive thing for me and I feel as English as anybody else does and I am just happy that is now out of the way, and hopefully people can now concentrate on talking about my cricket rather than my background,” Kieswetter told the Somerset website. “It has been pretty much a roller coaster for me to have reached this level because I am only 22 years old now.”I am really excited about where I am with my game at the moment and comfortable with a lot of the technical side of things as well as trying to balance technique with flair. Pulling on an England shirt and testing myself against international players will be another challenge for me and it will enable to see where I am at the moment.”Kieswetter was part of the England Performance Programme which spent time in Pretoria before Christmas and worked with Bruce French, England’s wicketkeeping coach, who has played a key role in Matt Prior’s improvement.However, towards the end of the South Africa tour Geoff Miller, the national selectors, made it clear that there would need to be a rethink over the use of players born overseas. Kieswetter played for South Africa at the 2005-06 Under-19 World Cup before committing his future to England through county cricket.”We have got to get to the stage where we are very careful on that [the number of South Africans in the England team], and we will be,” Miller said. “I wouldn’t say he’s the last but we will monitor it. But Craig has passed all the criteria required to be an English cricketer. He has proved his worth, that’s why he’s there.”He has developed his game, he’s a strong character so he fits all the bills from an England point of view. South Africa talked to him and he said ‘I’m English, I want to play for England’.”

Michael Atherton, the former England captain, has won the UK’s top honour for a sports writer, being named Sports Writer of the Year for 2009 by the Sports Journalists’ Association

Cricinfo staff09-Mar-2010Michael Atherton, the former England captain, has won the UK’s top honour for a sports writer, being named Sports Writer of the Year for 2009 by the Sports Journalists’ Association.Atherton, cricket correspondent of , was acclaimed for his coverage of the 2009 Ashes, with one of the judges, a sports editor, describing him as “peerless in his own sport, entertaining, thought-provoking and challenging on any other subject,” and another saying “his elegant style, thoughtful but incisive opinions were, in an Ashes-winning year, indispensable.”In a good evening for Atherton, he was also named Sports Columnist of the Year, highly commended in the Specialist Correspondent category, and took some credit for his commentary work as Sky Sports’ Test cricket coverage won the TV Sports Programme award.Atherton was in Chittagong covering England’s tour of Bangladesh when the awards were announced at a gala dinner in London.Cricket also featured in three other awards, with Gareth Copley winning Sports Picture of the Year for his photo of Jonathan Trott being run out at The Oval, while Lawrence Booth, writing for the , won the online award for a Regular Blog or Column and the BBC’s Tom Fordyce took the best Live Blog award.