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Journalist Fabrizio Romano has handed Liverpool a transfer blow amid their recent links to midfielder Ryan Gravenberch.

What is the latest Liverpool transfer news?

It's well understood that the Reds are in the hunt for a new midfielder but may have to scout around for a cheaper alternative to the much-coveted Jude Bellingham, who has been linked with a departure from Borussia Dortmund.

With that being the case, the Premier League club have recently been linked with a move for Bayern Munich midfielder Gravenberch.

Indeed, as per German news outlet BILD, a "delegation from Liverpool had sought talks with Gravenberch's management in the past few days" and so it seems as though Jurgen Klopp's men have a very real interest in the 20-year-old.

However, while talking on the latest episode of the Here We Go podcast, Romano explained that Bayern have already decided to keep the player, so any move will be difficult to complete.

He said: "We know that Liverpool want Ryan Gravenberch. So Liverpool are waiting for the player to speak to Bayern.

"But from Bayern's side, the decision is already made, they want to keep the player. So the only way is for the player to go there and tell Bayern: 'I want to leave.'

"But at the moment, this has not happened and Bayern are still pushing to keep the player for one more season."

Will Ryan Gravenberch join Liverpool?

Seeing as the midfielder – who reportedly earns around £155k per week – has hardly played this season, he may want to leave Germany.

Indeed, after arriving from Ajax last summer, Gravenberch has managed just 348 minutes of action in the Bundesliga.

With that in mind, the youngster may want to force an exit away from Bayern Munich. And by the sounds of it, that's the only way this deal could be completed with the German giants not keen to see the talent leave.

For now, though, it remains unclear how the player feels about the whole situation. Indeed, when quizzed about the Liverpool interest, journalist Christian Falk revealed that Gravenberch "didn‘t want to comment".

And while it's easy to argue that he could get more playing time in England and so might want to leave, you could also claim that he won't want to give up his Bundesliga dream just yet either.

After all, it was only last summer that he opted to join Munich despite being wanted by a number of top clubs across Europe.

BBC journalist Tom English has slammed Rangers defender James Tavernier amid his "atrocious" display in the club's recent defeat.

What's the latest on James Tavernier and Rangers?

It was another frustrating Old Firm clash for the Ibrox outfit as they lost to their bitter rivals in the Scottish Cup semi-final.

Truth be told, it was a pretty tight affair but Celtic just about edged out Michael Beale and co on the day to pick up a 1-0 win at Hampden Park.

With that in mind, it will be all the more frustrating for the only goal of the game to have come in the manner in which it did. Indeed, the Rangers defence went to sleep, allowing Daizen Maeda to quickly cross to Jota who headed in at the far post.

Tavernier was among those most culpable in the Ibrox backline and this was made clear by journalist English.

Indeed, as quoted by BBC Sport, he remarked: "There were four or five Rangers players culpable for the goal. A defensive lapse, switching off and James Tavernier's positioning there was atrocious.

"He's the captain and, when the ball is in the air, he doesn't have a clue where Jota is."

How bad was James Tavernier against Celtic?

The BBC reporter wasn't the only one to note just how poor this piece of defending at the back post was by the £30k-p/w right-back.

For instance, in the Daily Record player ratings, writer Andrew Newport handed him a 6/10 and said of the incident: "Sleeping at the back post as Jota pounced."

​​​​​​Unfortunately, this isn't the only time of late where question marks have been raised over the captain's defensive abilities during an Old Firm meeting.

For example, when Rangers lost 3-2 to Celtic at the start of April, former Celtic captain Tom Boyd described Tavernier as a “very, very poor defender”.

After the right-back scored a freekick in the defeat, Boyd said (via the Irish Mirror): “Joe Hart had absolutely no chance with the accuracy of it coming down off the crossbar. He might have been able to save it if he was standing there.

"But that’s all Tavernier’s got as a player. He’s good at set pieces, he’s good at penalties… as a defender he’s very, very poor.”

Unfortunately, after this latest defensive mishap on the weekend, it's not as though the Rangers captain has done much to prove these claims wrong.

The tale of an utterly one-sided contest was summed up neatly by the reactions of the two dressing rooms when Middlesex finally finished Hampshire off

Will Macpherson at Merchant Taylors' School01-Jun-2016
ScorecardJames Fuller impressed on his Championship debut for Middlesex (file photo)•PA Photos

The tale of an utterly one-sided contest was summed up neatly by the reactions of the two dressing rooms when Middlesex finally finished Hampshire off.Middlesex, who took maximum points having waited six painstaking, flat-decked, rain-wrecked draws for a win, sang their long-awaited team song raucously and enjoyed a couple of cleansing, hard-earned beers. Hampshire, seven days after a brilliant win over Nottinghamshire, sat down for a 20-minute, sombre-sounding debrief. They had been trounced – out-batted, out-bowled and out-fought, and only the rain had prevented an innings defeat from arriving sooner. They claimed just one bonus point but subsequently lost it, and another point too, for a shoddy over-rate. They left with one point fewer than they arrived and joined Surrey at the foot of Division One.It was the pace and carry of James Fuller, who took a five-wicket haul on his Championship debut for Middlesex, that finally did for Hampshire. Fuller was signed from Gloucestershire primarily to help Middlesex remedy their white-ball woes but, having impressed all and sundry with a simple, friendly attitude and the ability to bowl 90mph, he was handed a debut here with Steven Finn – who popped by for that post-match beer – on England duty and James Harris rested.Having had a bye in week one, this was Middlesex’s seventh consecutive game. Tim Murtagh and Toby Roland-Jones bowled brilliantly, picking up six and five wickets respectively, but Fuller’s fresher legs, and the extra bounce they helped generate, were invaluable.It was Roland-Jones, as so often, who picked up the first of the six wickets his team required, as Joe Weatherley – who looked a cricketer at ease on Championship debut – lost his off-bail. More like his director of cricket, Angus Fraser, by the day – in gait and bowling style – Roland-Jones is simply the kind of cricketer who makes his team-mates look better.In the field, it is hard to recall an error. With the bat, coming in at No. 10 when many sage judges believe he could be as high as seven, he so often adds useful runs. With the ball, he bowls long spells off an even longer run-up and can play the pacy enforcer – as he did for much of the match here – or nag on line and length.Roland-Jones was left frustrated for the rest of the day, just missing the outside edge or, when he found it, the nick not quite finding a hand. After Weatherley fell, Jimmy Adams dug in, as he had late on Monday and during the 17 overs on Tuesday, to make 78, pulling when Roland-Jones dropped short and clipping neatly off his legs, too.Adam Wheater drove nicely and the pair shared 53 before falling in consecutive overs. James Franklin made the vital breakthrough, having Adams lbw, then Wheater failed to move his feet and was caught at the wicket to become the first of Fuller’s three on the day. A brief shower brought an early lunch shortly after.Fuller’s first four balls upon resumption were as short and sharp as any in the match. With the trap set, Tino Best tried – and failed – to hook all three. The fourth was fuller and Best simply found mid-on, just as he had in the first innings. It is hard to recall notably animated celebrators Middlesex, irked at the beamer Best bowled Adam Voges on day two and angry at the way he had been speaking to their close fielders in the short period before lunch, toasting a dismissal more raucously. After his second pair in consecutive matches, Best was told exactly where to go, and it would have been noted that he did not return for a handshake at day’s end.Before then, Mason Crane had some fun, edging for the rafters, but soon slapped Fuller to point and, after Ryan McLaren – who lacked luck throughout the game – played some fine strokes to delay the inevitable, James Tomlinson edged Ollie Rayner to slip.There was much to discuss at Hampshire’s debrief. Best, in many ways, appears to be becoming an apt embodiment of the team as a whole; brilliant on the good days – such as the spectacular win over Nottinghamshire last week when he was so electric – but miserable on the worst ones (these were very much four of the worst ones), and with an injury never far away. For all those injuries, as their captain Will Smith pointed out afterwards, of this XI only Weatherley and Crane have played fewer than 100 first-class matches, yet performances remain brittle and bipolar.”It seems to be a pattern for us in this format,” Smith said. “When we have our backs to the wall, we do something, like we did last week, but it’s about having that mentality from ball one and not getting yourselves into these situations.”A couple more weeks like this, you sense, and last year’s great escape will be required all over again.

Mashrafe Mortaza has rallied around the batsmen who took Bangladesh close, but lost their wickets as a win against India was within their grasp

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Bangalore 23-Mar-20161:23

‘Everything was all right till last three balls’ – Mashrafe

Mashrafe Mortaza has rallied around the batsmen who took Bangladesh close, but lost their wickets as a win against India was within their grasp. Mushfiqur Rahim hit successive fours in the final over to leave his team needing two runs to win, off three balls. But both he and Mahmudullah holed out to midwicket in consecutive deliveries, transforming Bangladesh’s strong position into a weak one.”I am not going to blame anyone,” Mashrafe said. “The whole dressing-room felt disappointed after the loss. We needed two off the last three balls, and we had two set batsmen at the crease and one still in the shed. It becomes very hard for everyone when we end up losing three wickets in that situation.”Mashrafe conceded that Mushfiqur could have batted more sensibly, but refused to cast aspersions on his behaviour. Having brought the equation to two from three balls with a four, Mushfiqur celebrated the shot animatedly as he approached bowler Hardik Pandya – who himself had been animated when he took the catch of Mohammad Mithun earlier in the innings.”If we were calculative at that stage, it wouldn’t have given us much risk. There were no fielders in the circle. If we had taken a single [off the delivery that Mushfiqur got out], it would have set us up in a better position. It would have helped if we thought like that. We just couldn’t do it that way.”Mushfiqur could have been more careful, but at the same time, since he got us close – maybe he celebrated because of that. There’s nothing to be negative about, because any batsman would get boosted up after those two fours.”Mashrafe did describe the loss as something that would be hard to swallow though. Bangladesh have lost all three games in the Super 10s stage of the tournament so far, and have one more match against New Zealand, after which they will head home.”The loss was a shocking thing for all of us. Nobody wants to lose like this. It is hard to explain but it is quite disappointing. And it’s always difficult to take something from it. Being a professional player, we have to play hard cricket in the last match. If we can do something there we can take something back home. We have to fight hard.”Bangladesh had done well until that stage however. India were strong favourites to win the match in front of a baying home crowd, but were outplayed in large sectors of the match.”Leave out the last three balls, we played brilliantly. We did everything to win otherwise. We came back after they had two good overs towards the end. We played well at nearly every moment.”

Tottenham Hotspur have compiled a list of potential replacements for Antonio Conte and it is believed Luis Enrique is at the top of the pile.

The future of the Italian in north London now seems to be hanging in the balance following their pitiful Champions League exit at the hands of AC Milan.

Reports have suggested Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy would be open to the possibility of bringing Mauricio Pochettino back to N17.

However, a recent report from The Athletic has suggested that director of football Fabio Paratici has compiled a list which has former Barcelona and Spain boss Enrique at the top.

Enrique has only been out of work for a few months after leaving his role with the Spanish national side following their World Cup exit in December.

Spurs are set to face Nottingham Forest at the weekend as their sole focus now rests on securing a spot in the top four, with all hopes of lifting a trophy vanishing after Wednesday’s European exit.

However, Enrique would arrive in north London with an impressive record having won both the league and the Champions League during his time with Barcelona.

News of Enrique being a potential option for the north London club was relayed on Twitter and the best of the reaction can be seen below…

Brentford striker Neal Maupay clashed with West Ham coach Kevin Nolan during Monday's Premier League encounter.

Maupay in another angry clashHad to be pulled away from NolanBrentford beaten at West HamWHAT HAPPENED?

Maupay has been in the headlines this season for clashes with James Maddison and Kyle Walker and was involved in more angry scenes at the London Stadium. The Brentford striker was spotted remonstrating with West Ham coach Kevin Nolan at half-time, with the pair having to be pulled apart by their team-mates.

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Sky Sports commentator Gary Neville offered a bit more insight into the incident. He explained: "There was quite a bit going on at half time as the players came back out from the tunnel. The Brentford striker Neal Maupay we believe was outside the referee's room and Kevin Nolan has taken offence to it. It doesn't look like he's calmed down either."

GettyDID YOU KNOW?

Maupay was on target for Brentford against West Ham. The goal was his sixth goal in his last nine games for the Bees.

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WHAT NEXT FOR MAUPAY

Brentford and Maupay are back in action at the weekend when they host Chelsea in the Premier League at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner was thrilled with his side's 3-0 win over Burnley and how their attack "forced" their opponents to go a man down.

Article continues below

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Palace beat Burnley 3-0Brownhill sent off for ClaretsGlasner thrilled with victoryGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

The Eagles got Glasner's tenure at Selhurst Park off to a winning start thanks to second-half goals from Chris Richards, Jordan Ayew, and Jean-Philippe Mateta. Their pressure eventually told after Josh Brownhill was sent off in the 35th minute, with former Eintracht Frankfurt boss Glasner praising the performance and the way their attack led to the midfielder's dismissal.

AdvertisementWHAT OLIVER GLASNER SAID

He told : "Sometimes the players forget about keeping the balance in the game but how we forced the red card was brilliant and we attacked very high. It was really nice to see. We had a great spirit from the beginning and the players tried to do everything that the analysts prepared for them. Also thank you to my staff because we were only here for three days. My feeling was the fans were happy to see the players attacking and fighting, they were very loud, this is what we want. They had a great afternoon and now they can go somewhere in a pub and enjoy one or two beers."

Getty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Ex-Wolfsburg manager Glasner replaced Roy Hodgson as Palace boss earlier this month after the latter agreed to step down from his role following a health scare and a poor run of results. While this win over relegation-threatened Burnley will not solve the club's issues, it does put them eight points clear of the bottom three. Conversely, Clarets boss Vincent Kompany will be under intense pressure to keep his job as they are 19th and eight points from safety.

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WHAT NEXT?

Glasner's Palace side, who are up to 13th in the table, travel to London neighbours Tottenham in their next Premier League outing on March 2 whereas Kompany's Burnley host Bournemouth in the English top-flight a day later.

Several England players have moved teams ahead of the 2018 Kia Super League

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-2018Several England players have moved teams ahead of the 2018 Kia Super League (KSL). Sarah Taylor has left Lancashire Lightning for Surrey Stars, with Alex Hartley going the other way, while Tammy Beaumont moves to Southern Vipers from Surrey.There has also been a straight swap between Loughborough Lightning and Yorkshire Diamonds of Jenny Gunn for Beth Langston.The changes are overseen by the ECB and aimed at keeping a balance between the six sides, ahead of the third edition of the T20 competition. Each of the teams will still be able to recruit their own overseas players.”The latest player movements are to ensure the best balance between the six sides and to maintain a fair and competitive competition with the over-arching principle of trying to ensure a best versus best competition,” KSL general manager Jo Kirk said.”We want the KSL to continue to go from strength to strength in its third year. Attendances rose by 44% last year and we’re looking forward to even more fans attending games this summer, hopefully culminating in a sold-out Finals Day down in Hove.”This year’s KSL begins on July 22 and features an expanded group stage, with the teams now playing each other twice. The top three will then go on to Finals Day at Hove on Bank Holiday Monday, August 27.

Manchester United have issued a fresh statement on forward Marcus Rashford in the wake of crunch talks with manager Erik ten Hag.

• Rashford missed Newport win
• Has been spotted nightclubbing
• Met with Ten Hag for talks

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Rashford was back at Manchester United on Monday for talks with Ten Hag after missing Sunday's FA Cup win over Newport County. The Red Devils said Rashford was absent from the game due to illness, but he has become embroiled in controversy after being spotted in a nightclub in Belfast and missing training. United have now issued a further update on the situation.

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• Getty
  

  WHAT MAN UTD SAID

  The club said in a statement: “Marcus has taken responsibility for his actions. This has been dealt with as an internal disciplinary matter, which is now closed."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Manager Erik ten Hag has history of exiling players who do not fit in with his methods, or who misbehave outside of the club, with Jadon Sancho one such example. He claimed the United boss had made him a "scapegoat" and thereafter, refused to apologise. He was subsequently loaned to Borussia Dortmund.

  By comparison, Rashford is back in training and is available for selection against Wolves on Thursday.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  United take on Wolves looking to bounce back from a loss to Nottingham Forest and a draw with Tottenham in the Premier League. They were last in action against Newport County, winning 4-2 in the FA Cup.

England managed to take four wickets – including that of Steven Smith for 40 – but Australia had nevertheless built a solid platform after Joe Root’s decision to put them in

The Report by Brydon Coverdale02-Dec-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIt is a bold captain who sends the opposition in to bat in any Test match, let alone in the Ashes, let alone away from home, let alone on an obviously good batting pitch. But that was the decision Joe Root made on the first day in Adelaide; by stumps it still looked a bold call, and not necessarily a good one. Australia were not exactly unscathed by the close of play, but at 4 for 209, neither were they as scathed as Root had intended.Two recent field-first decisions by England captains in Australia stick out in the memory. When Nasser Hussain sent Steve Waugh’s men in at the Gabba in 2002, he knew his mistake by the fifth over of the match. Australia closed the first day at 2 for 364. But at the MCG in 2010, Andrew Strauss was rewarded for his brave move when Australia were skittled for 98, and by stumps England were 0 for 157 in reply. Root’s call falls somewhere in between.There was some swing and seam movement early in the day, but Australia’s openers left well and were untroubled during a rain-affected opening session. Under lights in the evening, the ball again moved around, and here Australia lost two key wickets: Usman Khawaja edged behind to a James Anderson ball that moved away, and Steven Smith played on to the debutant fast bowler Craig Overton.Such was Smith’s impact at the Gabba that Root might almost consider getting Smith for 40 to be worth the bowl-first decision in itself. As Root noted in the lead-up to this Test, take out Smith’s score at the Gabba and Australia lost the rest of their wickets for less than 200. Still, England failed to run through the Australians after snaring Khawaja and Smith, and by stumps Peter Handscomb was well set on 36 and Shaun Marsh had 20.Australia were hoping that one of those two men would cash in, for David Warner (47), Smith (40) and Khawaja (53) had all made strong starts that did not evolve into great innings. No partnership lasted 20 overs, and England continued to chip away through the rain-shortened day.In fact, there was much chippy behaviour from both sides, not surprisingly after the Jonny Bairstow headbutt saga of the Gabba Test. Smith was welcomed to the crease by an aggressive spell from Stuart Broad that included many exchanges of words, and later Smith found himself involved in a petty turf-war with Anderson, who was fielding at catching mid-on to Handscomb, very close to where Smith was stationed as non-striker.In the end, it was Overton who did the important job of actually removing Smith, and not just annoying him. Overton found the perfect length to trouble Australia’s captain, who was caught in no-man’s-land between playing forward and back, and inside-edged onto his stumps. Picked in place of Jake Ball, Overton justified his inclusion with that one delivery.Earlier in the final session, Anderson had stopped Khawaja turning his start into something more when he moved one away just enough to be edged to gully, where James Vince took a sharp catch moving to his left. Khawaja had failed to add to his dinner score, and his departure must have relieved Mark Stoneman, who had dropped a gettable chance in the deep when Khawaja had 44 and top-edged a hook off Chris Woakes.Khawaja was not the first Australian to flirt outside the off stump when he felt set: Warner fell for 47 when he dabbled at Woakes and was caught behind by Bairstow. Warner was frustrated at himself after working patiently for 102 deliveries, and he wasn’t the only Australian left frustrated by David Warner.After the opening session was reduced to 13.5 overs due to persistent rain, it took only four balls for England to strike upon the resumption. Warner pushed Broad towards cover and a misfield from Moeen Ali resulted in Warner calling Cameron Bancroft through for a single. But Warner changed his mind and Bancroft was caught short at the non-striker’s end by a direct hit from Woakes. Perhaps Bancroft’s heavy head slowed down his turning speed.It was just the boost England needed after few balls threatened the stumps in the opening session. Still, Root had to find a way through the rest of the top order and it was therefore a little surprising, given Khawaja’s struggles against spin, that he waited until Khawaja had faced 26 balls before introducing Moeen. By then, Khawaja was set, and he had no qualms about advancing and lofting Moeen over mid-off.By the time Khawaja had the second half-century of his Ashes career, and stood alongside Smith at the crease on 2 for 139, Root’s gamble at the toss was looking poor. At least when stumps arrived, Root was well out of Hussain territory.