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Celtic’s pre-season plans are starting to take shape, but will they get any new signings over the line before then?

On Monday, the club announced a green and white hoops Clásico, facing Portuguese champions Sporting at Estádio Algarve on 16 July, before confirming they’ll also take on Queen’s Park at Lesser Hampden 12 days earlier.

With trips to Cork, Como and now the Algarve already in the calendar for July, from a destination perspective, this is poised to be an exciting pre-season schedule for the Celtic support, but will they have a new midfielder to assess by then?

Celtic's continued interest in Lennon Miller

As has been widely reported, Celtic remain interested in midfielder Lennon Miller, with French outlet L’Équipe reporting that the 18 year old is valued at around £7.5m by Motherwell, amid interest from Ligue 1 side Strasbourg.

On Monday evening, Miller made his full-senior debut for Scotland, assisting Ché Adams’ second goal during the 4-0 demolition of Liechtenstein at Rheinpark Stadion, with his performance earning rave reviews.

Thomas Duncan of BBC Sport noted how the teenager exuded calmness while, speaking during the BBC’s coverage, Celtic legend Scott Brown said that “Lennon is really special…nothing fazes him”, adding that he undoubtedly has the quality to break into the Celts’ first team.

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However, with countless other clubs courting Miller this summer, should Celtic turn their attention to another midfield target instead?

Celtic's dream Miller alternative

As previously reported last week, Celtic have ‘already initiated’ talks to sign midfielder Demir Ege Tıknaz.

Demir Ege Tıknaz (Tiknaz)

As Mustafa Akgün of Karabük Postası outlines, Tıknaz spent last season on loan at Rio Ave from Beşiktaş, but the Portuguese club have an obligation to buy for around £4.2m, planning to do just that before selling him for roughly double that amount.

The 20-year-old, who is currently with the Türkiye national team squad in America for friendlies against the United States and Mexico, is reportedly being courted by many big European clubs, including Celtic and Sporting CP, so the Scottish champions will need to act fast.

In an interview with the Athletic, Tıknaz compared himself stylistically to Sergio Busquets, stating “I always want to have possession… I’m kind of a playmaker”.

Meantime, Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout compares him to another Spaniard, namely Rodri, labelling him a midfield “anchor”, praising his “passing, vision and football IQ”.

Analyst Ben Mattinson agrees, stating that Tıknaz ‘reads the game well’, praising his ‘timing of tackles​​​​​​​’ and ability to ‘steal the ball’.

As a result, according to Aryan Suraj Chadha of Goal, he has become one of the most ‘sought-after talents across Europe’, making 33 appearances for Rio Ave of the Primeira Liga this season, scoring four goals and registering two assists.

Nevertheless, the key question remains. How does he compare to Miller? Well, let’s find out.

Appearances

33

39

Minutes

2,340

3,398

Goals

4

4

Assists

2

8

Big chances created

2

12

Tackles won (per 90)

2.1

1.8

Interceptions (per 90)

1.7

1.3

% of ground duels won

51.1%

57.9%

% of aerial diels won

53.1%

41.2%

Possession lost (per 90)

7.3

17.4

As the table outlines, while Miller is more of an all-rounder and an attacking threat, Tıknaz does come out on top for the vast majority of defensive metrics, namely tackles, interceptions and aerial duels, giving away possession significantly less frequently too.

So, while Miller is unquestionably a big talent, possibly to such an extent that Celtic will ultimately miss out on him, the Hoops should therefore make signing Tıknaz a priority.

Celtic set to sign 14-goal star who'd be Moussa Dembele 2.0 for Rodgers

Celtic are set to complete a deal for a young star who could be a repeat of Moussa Dembele.

ByDan Emery Jun 9, 2025

Sam Elliott took the last four wickets to help Victoria ease to victory but Mitchell Starc’s performance caused a buzz among both teams

Alex Malcolm23-Oct-2024

Sam Elliott helped wrap up victory on the final day•Getty Images

Victoria’s seamers steamrolled a strong New South Wales line-up to claim a 141-run victory at the MCG but both sides were left in no doubt that Mitchell Starc is primed for a big Test summer after he claimed seven wickets in the match.Victoria cruised to victory before lunch on the fourth day with Sam Elliott claiming the final four wickets they required including Josh Philippe for an excellent 88. Elliott finished with 4 for 44 while Fergus O’Neill was named player of the match for his figures of 4 for 29, 1 for 28 and two vital lower order contributions of 28 and 33.Related

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Konstas 43, Smith 0, NSW struggle despite Starc six-for

Elliott broke a stubborn 63-run stand between Philippe and Starc when the wicketkeeper got a thin edge trying to thrash a cut behind point to fall 12 short of a deserved century. Philippe finished with scores of 45 not and 88 for the match. Starc fell for 18 top edging an attempted pull shot. Nathan Lyon also fell to the pull shot, miscuing to a catching man who was placed not far behind the square leg umpire. Elliott cleaned bowled Jackson Bird shortly after to finish the game.While all eyes had been on the performances of two Test hopefuls in Marcus Harris and Sam Konstas, the buzz from both rooms post-match was how well Starc had bowled after taking 1 for 35 and 6 for 81 in 36.5 overs across the match, including Harris in both innings. NSW coach Greg Shipperd believes India will face a stiff challenge from Starc if conditions are similar to the pitch that was offered at the MCG.”His pace, his rhythm, all of those things that go to engineering the sort of pace he was dealing with,” Shipperd said. “He did change the game once he decided to go short and really change the dynamic of the match. And second innings again, we thought perhaps he’d done enough, but he kept coming. And so that’s a good sign for Australia and troubles ahead, perhaps, on the right wicket for India.”Victoria coach Chris Rogers was thrilled with the contributions of his batting group in tough conditions, singling out the first innings partnership between Campbell Kellaway and Peter Handscomb and the second innings stand between Sam Harper and Tom Rogers as match-winning in the face of Starc’s barrage.”Against a very good bowling attack for a 21-year-old kid [Kellaway] to get 50, along with Pete, I said to Pete, that’s right up there with some of the best batting I’ve seen him do,” Rogers said. “To put on that 100, if you look back now, you probably say that that was pretty critical in us winning the game and having a first innings lead.”And in the second innings, when they had us four for not many and Mitch Starc’s got his tail up, we needed a couple of people to stand up, and two guys who were making names for themselves in Sammy Harper and Tommy Rogers played absolutely out of their skins, and that 130-run partnership, that was as good as I’ve seen from a partnership for a long time. Just absolutely fantastic.”

اتخذ مجلس إدارة نادي الزمالك، برئاسة حسين لبيب، قرارات صارمة ضد ثنائي فريق الأول لكرة السلة، بالقلعة البيضاء، بسبب ما بدر منهما في لقاء ألعاب دمنهور.

شهدت مباراة الزمالك وألعاب دمنهور في إطار منافسات دوري المرتبط لكرة السلة، واقعة مثيرة للجدل بعد نشوب مشادة كلامية حادة بين ثنائي الفريق أحمد إسماعيل وآدم موسي، قبل التوجه إلى غرفة خلع الملابس بين شوطي اللقاء.

وقرر الزمالك، توقيع عقوبة مالية على أحمد إسماعيل وآدم موسى، لاعبي الفريق الأول لكرة السلة بالقلعة البيضاء.

طالع.. رسميًا | استقالة مدرب الزمالك بعد سداسية ديكاداها

وأكد محمد طارق، عضو مجلس إدارة النادي، والمشرف العام على كرة السلة، أن قرار فرض العقوبة على اللاعبين، جاء كقرار تربوي، حيث إنه من ثوابت الزمالك مبدأ الثواب والعقاب، ومنع التجاوز، خاصة أن فريق السلة يحتاج إلى تكاتف الجميع، ولا يتحمل في الوقت الحالى أي تجاوز من أحد.

وأضاف طارق أنه تم تبليغ الثنائي، وباقي لاعبي الفريق بالعقوبات، مشيرًا إلى فرض عقوبات أخرى على أي لاعب في حالة تكرار أي تجاوز.

واختتم محمد طارق بأن فريق السلة تجاوز ما حدث سريعًا بين الثنائي، مشددًا على أنه سيتم تقديم أفضل مستوى للفريق في الفترة المقبلة.

This summer’s mini-transfer window, open from June 1 to June 10, presents an opportunity for Premier League sides to get deals done very early ahead of pre-season, and Arsenal could take full advantage.

Arsenal urged to invest in new signings up front

Mikel Arteta ended yet another season with no trophies to show for his side’s efforts at N5, and discounting the Community Shield, Arsenal haven’t won any piece of major silverware since their FA Cup triumph in 2020.

Fabrizio Romano: £63m star will talk to agents this week about joining Arsenal

He’s set to assess his options.

1 ByEmilio Galantini May 27, 2025

Considering the Gunners have registered a net spend of around £487 million on transfers since Arteta took over from Unai Emery in 2019, some questions are starting to be asked about the Arsenal manager when it comes to their lack of silverware return.

19/20 – winter

£0

20/21 – summer

£81.5m

20/21 – winter

£900k

21/22 – summer

£156.8m

21/22 – winter

£1.8m

22/23 – summer

£121.5m

22/23 – winter

£59m

23/24 – summer

£208m

23/24 – winter

£0

24/25 – summer

£101.5m

24/25 – winter

£0

Sky Sports commentator Gary Neville, speaking after Arsenal were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Newcastle United earlier this year, drew particular attention to their “toothlessness” in the forward areas – going on to state that they simply must spend big again this summer.

“This has shown a massive spotlight on the toothlessness of Arsenal’s forward players compared to what we’re seeing at the other end of the pitch,” said Neville.

“That’s a given. They have to [spend this summer].

“I was supportive of them not panicking in the window, finding the player they want, I get that. But when the bid went in for Ollie Watkins, they are sending a message to the rest of the squad, the ones up front aren’t good enough, this game confirms it.”

The arrival of new sporting director Andrea Berta is set to play a pivotal role in their pursuit of attacking upgrades for the squad, and reliable media sources are already claiming that the Italian has got to work.

The north Londoners recently opened talks over a deal for Real Madrid forward Rodrygo, which has since stalled due to wage demands (Florian Plettenberg), with Arsenal also holding “concrete” negotiations to sign striker Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig.

Arsenal offer Viktor Gyokeres a five-year contract worth nearly £30m

Sesko isn’t their only option to reinforce the centre-forward area, though, with Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyokeres also heavily linked in the last month.

Portuguese news outlets in particular have reported in the last fortnight that Arsenal are making serious progress on a move for Gyokeres, with newspaper O Jogo even claiming that they’ve agreed a fee.

While that rumour is yet to gain traction, another Portuguese media source, Correio de Manha, has come forward with a significant update of their own.

The newspaper states Arsenal have offered Gyokeres a five-year contract worth nearly £30 million, with the Swede handed an annual salary worth £5.9 million-per-year.

They’ve also apparently offered Sporting around £59 million for his signature, which is still slightly below his reported asking price of around £63 million, so it will be intriguing to see if this proposal gets off the ground.

Gyokeres’ 54 goals in all competitions this season indicates that he’s a fine candidate to resolve Arsenal’s lack of cutting edge in the attacking areas, and Sporting boss Rui Borges certainly has little doubt about the 26-year-old, even if there’s a case to be made that the Primeria Liga is inferior to English top flight football.

“I have said this before, and I will continue to say it: he brings a lot to the team, and his teammates are aware of what he contributes, which is why they look for him during games,” said Borges about Gyokeres.

“The collective effort also plays a role, as no one can succeed alone. Viktor is a game-changer, and he will continue to be, whether with us or elsewhere. His quality is undeniable; it is phenomenal.”

da betsson： Tottenham Hotspur are “dreaming” of signing a £67 million former PSG star after their triumph in the Europa League final on Wednesday night.

Tottenham summer transfer plans after Europa League win

da supremo： Now that their 17-year wait for a piece of major silverware is officially over, chairman Daniel Levy has a real to-do list to sift through ahead of Spurs’ final Premier League game of 2024/2025 and the summer transfer window’s opening.

Related Tottenham hold talks with forward compared to Messi amid Europa League glory

Ange Postecoglou’s side now have a big summer to plan for.

Posts 1 ByEmilio Galantini May 22, 2025

An historic night in Bilbao, where Brennan Johnson etched his name into Lilywhites folklore by scoring the winning goal in their 1-0 win against Man United, has also gifted the club a major boost when it comes to their recruitment drive.

Tottenham vs Man Utd – best performers on the night

Match Rating

Guglielmo Vicario

7.7

Yves Bissouma

7.6

Cristian Romero

7.4

Bruno Fernandes

7.4

Destiny Udogie

7.2

via WhoScored

Not only will Tottenham have a far greater pull when it comes to enticing the continent’s best players, but they’ll also have more funds to play with given the seismic financial windfall they’ll receive from both winning the Europa League and competing in the Champions League next season.

According to BBC journalist Sami Mokbel, Tottenham chiefs believe they need to sign more experienced players to complement their very young squad of rising stars, and this is made all the more possible by their victory in midweek.

Spurs are also targeting a defender, midfielder and forward, with Levy looking to strengthen across the board.

As per GiveMeSport, the north Londoners have held discussions with the representatives of Lyon star Rayan Cherki, who’s bagged 20 goals in all competitions this season, with Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi still a Tottenham target for the summer as well after their failed £70 million bid in January.

Spurs have a £21m first option in place for Real Betis midfielder Johnny Cardoso from last year, as part of the deal which saw Giovani Lo Celso head to La Liga, so the USA international is another option.

Tottenham "dreaming" of signing ex-PSG star Xavi Simons

According to reports in Spain, following their Europa League winners’ medal, the north Londoners are launching “ambitious” plans.

It is now believed that ex-PSG star and RB Leipzig attacking midfielder, Xavi Simons, is firmly on their agenda.

The Netherlands international has scored 11 goals and bagged an additional eight assists in all competitions, but his asking price is around £67 million, so Levy and co will need to significantly invest in his capture from the Bundesliga.

Nevertheless, it’s reported Tottenham are “dreaming” of signing Simons after their historic night in Spain earlier this week, and they stand a much greater chance now that they can be deemed champions of Europe.

Those within Spurs apparently hold a real belief that they can convince both the 22-year-old and his club to green-light a move to N17, especially following their Europa League celebrations.

“He’s developed really well,” said Bayern Munich sporting director Christoph Freund about Simons last year.

“I think he’s going to have a really good career at the highest level. He has everything, mentality, character and is just an exceptional player.”

Simon Cook, the Hong Kong coach, chats with ESPNcricinfo about the challenges of motivating a team that has lost its ODI status, and of retaining talent in a system without too much money

Shashank Kishore in Dubai17-Sep-2018How tough is it to motivate a group without ODI status? How do you deal with it?It’s tough. We try and isolate the players from political talk. There are always questions on issues like ODI status. ‘Is it fair’ or ‘is it not fair?’ We can sit here and debate that for hours together. We’re of the opinion that two-and-a-half years of the World Cricket League should be rewarded in a better way than having a bad week [at the World Cup qualifiers] in Zimbabwe. It happened to the Netherlands four years ago, so the same situation can be used as a catalyst, but the fact is we’ve lost four years. There’s a lot of talk at the moment about ways of assigning ODI status to top Associates: whether you assign it on a tournament-to-tournament basis or go through the ranking system, I’m not sure. I will be attending an ICC meeting in Madrid about the WCL. Whether we talk ODI status, I’m not sure, but the fact is we’re at the receiving end of a poor week in Zimbabwe.What did it take to lift the team from that slump?It didn’t take a lot. We know we had a bad week. You don’t become a bad player overnight. It’s about making sure the players still believe in themselves. Unfortunately it happened at the wrong time. We had honest chats about how we can improve and they responded brilliantly at the Asia Cup Qualifiers. After losing to Malaysia in the first game, it could’ve slid down, but they showed character to win the next six games in a row.What are the challenges for a Hong Kong cricketer currently? It’s largely an amateur sport. Even now, you play one week and then have three weeks off. In Premier Division cricket, you play 10 games in nine months. You can’t build momentum like that. We’ve got three grounds and so many teams, so you have to rotate fixtures. There are five premier clubs and the league is structured in different parts of the year, depending on the availability of the national team. They play in a T20 League, 50-over league and only two two-day matches. You can’t get a constant run of form by playing so little. As a player, you get a hundred, and then wonder what next for three weeks? Coming from an English system, where you play every Saturday-Sunday, train two days, then play two more games, this is different, but you have to live with it and be realistic.What have you done to drive more cricketers to the game?We’ve now brought in full-time contracts for 13 cricketers, strength and conditioning coaches and physios. Players are trained to work on other aspects of their games like lifestyle and wellness. The guys get cooking lessons, so that they can eat properly and manage their weights. The good thing is the average age of the current national team is in the mid-20s. Gradually we’re getting to a stage where we’re starting to move forward. These systems are also trickling down to the Under-16s and Under-19s. But it’s a gradual process.

“We can’t retain players who want to go to university for banking or law; they’re full-time careers. We can’t stop them, we shouldn’t stop them.”

There must be hindrances too?Of course. We lose players at 23-24. In a normal county system, that’s the peak age for a young cricketer, and you look at possibly having him in the mix for 10-12 years. That’s not the case here. Chris Carter for example is going to flight school probably after the Asia Cup, Jamie Atkinson, our previous captain, wanted to become a full-time teacher. He’s still available, but can’t commit all the time. Mark Chapman went to New Zealand at 20, and needs to have a three-year cooling-off period if he wants to return, but he played a lot of early cricket here. So we lose all our players at 23-24, so we have to make sure we invest a lot in the Under-16s and Under-19s. We’re slowly having a core group who will probably play international cricket at a young age, so we need to ensure we maximise their time with us before they go off to university.What can you do to prevent losing players?It all comes down to money. We’re governed by things we can’t control. Hong Kong is among the most expensive places to live and work in the world. Our player contracts are not enough for them to realistically live and work, have a family and make a career by just playing cricket. We know we can’t pay as much, but if we can provide a professional set-up to potentially play in CPL, Canada T20, PSL or BPL to earn franchise contracts, that’s great. It could also give us some spin-off benefits when it comes to their development. So we support them to find avenues to play elsewhere. It is a constant challenge.So if a player wants to study and yet play cricket, which may not allow him to commit 100% all the time, what do you do?We can’t retain players who want to go to university for banking or law; they’re full-time careers. We can’t stop them, we shouldn’t stop them. It’s just a case of giving them an opportunity at another career. Some delay going off, some don’t. I’m very big on players getting an education degree that allows them to buy opportunities to have a crack at cricket, without worrying about being picked or having an annual retainer. Once you have something to fall back on, you can play with freedom. We try and stress upon this for a lot of them from the 16-19 age-group.How does selection work in Hong Kong, with so many players also having alternate careers?We contract 13 players, but that doesn’t guarantee national selection. Selection-wise, it’s tough because we can’t go always by the numbers because of huge gaps between matches. We’re also constrained by dimensions of the ground. Suddenly you will see guys getting a lot of runs, and then when they transition into grounds that have 75m boundaries, they struggle, because they’d use the same options that got them runs in smaller grounds. We have a group of three selectors. Apart from them, we talk to coaches and umpires to get feedback. You try and look at how players play, are they playing in a way that will give them success. We also look at players sometimes who don’t get runs. That might be because they’re not willing to take risks, like to work the ball around, pick gaps and not look to hit a 45-metre six. Sometimes such players may be better suited to make the transition to international cricket. So we have to be careful to find a mix.How do you scout for talent?The one thing we have an advantage over any other country in the world is, we know every single player intimately in our system. We don’t have that many, but our five main clubs produce 90% of our players. We know all the players and coaches, so from that aspect it is pretty easy. No ground is farther than 20 minutes, you can watch every single game across the three main grounds on one day. You can’t do that in most countries. That is an advantage when it comes to talent identification, but it’s the other aspects like retaining them that is a challenge.

Daniel Levy has learned that Tottenham could be sold for "three quarters of Manchester United" if ENIC chooses to leave north London.

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Article continues below

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• Spurs could have new owners
• Levy remains open to selling the club
• High debts remain a stumbling block

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Levy, who has overseen Spurs as chairman for over two decades under the ownership of ENIC, could soon draw the curtain on his 24-year tenure if the right offer comes in, as revealed by The north London club has just secured Champions League football for next season, and a potential change in ownership cannot be ruled out.

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• AFP
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Spurs are expected to generate approximately £600 million ($807m) in revenue for the 2025–26 season, a figure buoyed by their Champions League qualification. Industry standards suggest a football club’s valuation typically falls between five to six times its annual revenue. Using this model, Spurs’ enterprise value is projected between £3 billion ($4bn) and £3.6bn ($4.85bn). However, when factoring in the club’s £900m ($1.2bn) debt, largely stemming from the construction of their new stadium, the net valuation ranges between £2.1bn ($2.82bn) and £2.7bn ($3.63bn).

• DID YOU KNOW?

  To place that figure into perspective, Manchester United was recently valued at £4.5bn ($6bn) during Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s acquisition of a 27.7 per cent stake for £1.25bn ($1.68bn). Based on this, Tottenham’s current market value would be around three-quarters of United’s valuation. When Chelsea were sold in 2022 for £2.5bn ($3.36bn), their valuation was dampened by the urgency of Roman Abramovich’s forced exit and the stadium limitations at Stamford Bridge.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR TOTTENHAM?

  Given all the factors, stadium infrastructure, revenue growth, Champions League football, and London appeal, it’s widely believed that any ownership bid would need to exceed £2.5 billion just to be seriously considered. This figure excludes Spurs' debt obligations, which would need to be settled separately. If Tottenham were to receive such an offer, it would mark one of the most significant deals in Premier League history.

Chandika Hathurusingha had a lot of belief in Soumya Sarkar’s ability, even when he went through prolonged lean patches. Dropped from the Bangladesh squad soon after the coach’s exit, the batsman will have to prove himself all over again to stage a comeba

Mohammad Isam07-Jan-2018It is not entirely a coincidence that Soumya Sarkar’s first axing from a Bangladesh squad has closely followed Chandika Hathurusingha’s exit. Soumya was for long labelled as the coach’s blue-eyed boy because of the way he remained a fixture in the squad despite his form suffering a dip.The issue of certain players being perceived as the coach’s favourite was a major talking point when Jamie Siddons was coach between 2007 and 2011. During that time, Siddons worked very hard on the batting of Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Raqibul Hasan and Junaid Siddique, and they were soon given the label of being the coach’s favourites.Shakib and Tamim performed admirably during Siddons’ reign but Junaid and Raqibul didn’t do justice to their talent and their coach’s efforts. The international careers of Junaid and Raqibul ended, perhaps prematurely, after Siddons’ departure in May 2011.Players and officials have often compared Siddons’ love for those four with Hathurusingha’s affinity for Soumya.Soumya’s route back into the national side isn’t straightforward. An immediate big innings in the domestic first-class competition could bring him back even during this month’s tri-series but, at the same time, the batsmen who have earned recalls – Anamul Haque and Mohammad Mithun – will be hungry to make an impact. And they will get an extended run, which means Soumya might have to endure a frustrating wait.It is a world away from the last three years in which Soumya was treated with a lot of care. Hathurusingha first saw Soumya taking a catch at slip in Mirpur and, to quote the cliche, it was love at first sight. He was amazed by the young player’s soft hands which translated into his superb hand-eye coordination. Soumya was handed an ODI debut on December 1, 2014, and though he didn’t score too many that day, he did enough to win a World Cup place.Soumya’s honeymoon period extended from February 2015 to August 2015 when he impressed during the World Cup and a run of home series against Pakistan, India and South Africa, against whom he made an unbeaten 88 and a 90 in successive ODI innings. Runs dried up from that point, and 12 months later, Soumya’s selection began raising questions. His struggles against Afghanistan in a three-match ODI series led to his being dropped from the XI in the ODIs against England in October 2016, though he remained in the squad. It was a contentious call, and much of it came down to what Hathurusingha felt at the time.Often in the past, the team management’s view was that Soumya needed to be in the national set-up in order to regain his rhythm which had gone missing since those two match-winning knocks against South Africa. But even after he made a string of Test fifties in early 2017 – four in seven innings in New Zealand and Sri Lanka – Soumya’s form wasn’t reliable. He had a poor Champions Trophy in June 2017, scoring 34 at an average of 8.50, and struggled in the Tests at home against Australia and away in South Africa, scoring a combined 77 runs across those two series at an average of 12.83.Things didn’t get any better in the home front after the South Africa tour. Soumya averaged 15.36 in 11 innings in the BPL for Chittagong Vikings. Chief selector Minhajul Abedin, who acted as a mentor for the BPL franchise this season, said Soumya looked like he needed a break in international cricket.Now, with Hathurusingha’s exacting influence gone from the Bangladesh team, the national selectors have given Soumya that break.”Soumya has been playing all the formats for quite some time,” Minhajul said. “There’s no question about his talent, but since he hasn’t been consistent, we have decided to give him a break. He is still in our plans. We are hoping he will return to form, and also restore his mental make-up. Performance is the first criteria for a player in any format. I am hopeful that he will do very well, better than the others, in domestic cricket.”Minhajul hasn’t said or implied that his exclusion had anything to do with Hathurusingha’s exit. But it looks like it had been a long time coming for the young batsman, who has had trouble dealing with his technical flaws amid all his talent. Now he has to harness all his talent and find a way to come back into the national side.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has been immensely successful throughout his time with the Scottish giants, in his second spell now with the club.

The Northern Irish boss won seven trophies in just over two-and-a-half years at Parkhead between 2016 and 2019 in his first go at it with the Hoops, before joining Premier League side Leicester City.

Rodgers won two trophies in his first year back at Celtic last term, securing the Scottish Premiership title and the SFA Cup, and is currently on course to land the domestic treble.

The Hoops beat Rangers on penalties to win the League Cup in the first half of the season, they are one game away from winning the league title, and they are in the SFA Cup final against Aberdeen.

This means that the former Leicester and Liverpool head coach could have won 12 trophies in his career with Celtic to date by the end of this season.

The Northern Irish tactician has clearly been hugely successful for the Scottish giants, but that does not mean he has been perfect throughout that time. In fact, there have been some question marks over his centre-back selections of late, with Liam Scales getting the nod at the weekend.

Celtic's centre-back debate

The Hoops started the 2024/25 campaign with Cameron Carter-Vickers and Stephen Welsh as the two first-choice options in the right centre-back role and Auston Trusty and Liam Scales as the two first-choice options on the left side of the pairing.

Rodgers recently revealed that he prefers to play a left-footed player on the left side of the defence because it “allows you to get through the pitch quicker”, but he has had problems in that position this season.

Scales and Trusty have both dropped out of the team at times, with neither able to definitively say that they are the number one option, and thay may be because of the mistakes that they have made in the Premiership.

Appearances

22

20

Starts

17

20

Error led to shot

1

4

Error led to goal

0

1

Penalties committed

1

0

Dribbled past

4x

10x

As you can see in the table above, they have both started a similar number of matches and have combined for five errors that led to shots, one error that led to a goal, and one penalty conceded. Trusty has also been dribbled past twice as much as the Irishman, as opposition forwards have found it too easy to get the better of him.

These statistics show that the two naturally left-footed defenders in the squad have not been particularly reliable at the back, because of the errors that they have made in the Premiership.

Scales started the 5-0 win over St. Johnstone in the SFA Cup and the 5-1 win over Kilmarnock in the Premiership, suggesting that he is currently ahead of Trusty in the pecking order.

That is despite Scales (£3m) being worth significantly less than Trusty (£6.4m), as per Transfermarkt, who joined the club from Sheffield United last summer.

The Irish defender’s value may have been higher, however, if he had more game time on the pitch because he has only started 17 times in the Premiership, which means that the centre-back has not had as many starts to showcase his quality as Trusty has had.

But Scales is not the only central defender who falls into that category. Rodgers has also messed up with Polish stopper Maik Nawrocki, whose value has plummeted during his time at Celtic.

Why Maik Nawrocki's value has plummeted at Celtic

The Hoops were in the market for a replacement for Carl Starfelt in the summer of 2023 and decided to splash a reported fee of £4.3m on the Legia Warsaw squad to bolster their options in that position.

That was a significant outlay, given it was the most expensive signing of the summer as per Transfermarkt, for Celtic and that suggests that they expected him to play a key role on the pitch.

That was not what happened, though, as Nawrocki went on to play just ten times, starting seven of those outings, in the Premiership during the 2023/24 campaign.

He won 57% of his duels and did not make a single error that led to a shot, goal, or penalty in those ten matches, but that was not enough to earn him a regular place in the team.

Carter-Vickers has nailed down the right-sided centre-back role and that has left Nawrocki fighting for a place on the left, which leaves him at an immediate disadvantage as a right-footer.

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He did not make a single appearance in the league until March of this season, when injuries to Trusty and Scales presented him with a chance to shine against Rangers and Hearts.

Nawrocki took his chance to impress in both of those matches, as you can see in the table below, by dominating opposition attackers in duels and being reliable in possession.

Minutes

90

90

Clearances

7

9

Blocks

0

3

Tackles + interceptions

5

1

Duels won

7/10

8/9

Dribbled past

0x

0x

Pass accuracy

93%

98%

Error led to shot/goal

0

0

These performances from the £12k-per-week star were not enough to keep his place in the side, however, as he has been an unused substitute for the last two Premiership matches and did not make the matchday squad against St. Johnstone in the SFA Cup.

As a result of his lack of minutes on the pitch in the last two seasons, Nawrocki’s Transfermarkt value has plummeted millions down to just £1.7m, making him worth even less than Scales and Trusty.

This shows that Rodgers has messed up with the defender because Nawrocki was brought in for a whopping £4.3m and has rarely been used by the manager, despite his impressive performances, and the club now have a depreciating asset because of it.

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It will now be interesting to see what Celtic do with Nawrocki in the summer because he is not worth anywhere near as much as the fee they paid for him due to Rodgers’ reluctance to use him, and he does not seem likely to be a key player moving forward due to his lack of minutes.

The Wellington batted admitted he was still coming to terms with his first international call-up

Andrew McGlashan03-Apr-2024

Tim Robinson’s 139 was the second-highest individual score in Super Smash•Getty Images

Tim Robinson, the newest member of New Zealand’s T20I squad, has a pretty simple outlook when it comes to the format. “I love hitting sixes,” he said, something that started in the backyard as a kid and has now carried him to the brink of an international debut against Pakistan.Robinson only has 20 domestic T20 matches under his belt but, until injury struck, was putting together an impressive Super Smash earlier this year. In the opening match of the season against Otago he plundered 139 off 64 balls with 10 sixes, the second-highest score in the tournament’s history, and later on struck 86 off 56 against Canterbury before his tournament was cut short.Still, it was enough to leave him on the radar of the selectors and, with nine players unavailable for the Pakistan trip due to the IPL, along with Will Young (county) and Tim Latham (paternity) not considered, Robinson was one of those to benefit. But the call from selector Sam Wells was still a lot to take in.”I was actually stuttering away trying to hold a conversation, but I was struggling a little bit,” he told reporters. “I couldn’t believe it and to be honest it hasn’t quite sunk in yet. It’s hard to put those kinds of things into words. Something I’ve dreamed off since I was a kid, trying to hit sixes in the back yard but for it to all come to fruition is pretty amazing and just really excited.”I love hitting sixes and trying to entertain people and to be honest it’s addictive when you get one out of the middle and it goes a mile. I took a lot of confidence out of that [century] but this is a completely different challenge and I’m excited to get over there and have a real crack.”Robinson added he would be going into the tour “with an open mind” and was thrilled that the trip would be led by his Wellington team-mate Michael Bracewell.”He’s been a fantastic role model for me,” he said. “We help each other on and see who can hit the ball furthest. He’s a fantastic guy and fills me with comfort that I’m going over with him.”Bracewell himself reflected on a lengthy journey back from injury after suffering a ruptured achilles playing in the T20 Blast for Worcestershire last year. He returned to action in January during the Super Smash and last month claimed a career-best 8 for 41 in the Plunket Shield, two days before being told he would captain New Zealand.”It’s been a slow grind, a lot of days here at the Basin working hard on all the little things,” he said. “It probably feels fast for people who haven’t lived that journey but for me it’s been a bit of a slow grind.”It’s huge to firstly be picked again the another huge honour to be selected as captain. I had a golden sort of three days: got that eight-for at the Basin, a hole-in-one the next day and third thing was the call from Steady about the captaincy. Three days I’ll never forget.”It’s a little bit sweeter when you’ve had a bit of time on the sidelines to reflect and grow that hunger even more to be back out there.”The five matches in Pakistan will play a key part in firming up the small number of uncertain spots in New Zealand’s T20 World Cup squad and Bracewell, who offers middle-order power with the bat and his offspin, will be a strong contender but he wasn’t looking too far ahead.”There’s obviously some exciting things coming up throughout the rest of the year but the job at hand is taking on Pakistan in their own conditions,” he said. “That’s certainly what we’ll be focusing on. Obviously you have those thoughts of where you’d like to be but the only way you get to where you want to go is focusing on what’s in front of you.”