All posts by h79snht.top

أعلن نادي روما المنافس في بطولة الدوري الإيطالي عن تمديد عقد مدربه الشاب، دانييلي دي روسي، كمكافأة بعد تحسن نتائج الفريق.

وبدأ دي روسي مشواره التدريبي في روما من يناير الماضي بعد إقالة، جوزيه مورينيو، لسوء الأداء قبل رحيله.

ونجح دي روسي بطل كأس العالم 2006 مع منتخب إيطاليا أن يقود روما في 16 مباراة، حقق الفوز 11 مرة والتعادل 3 مرات والخسارة مرتين فقط.

اقرأ أيضًا.. روما يتلقى خبرًا مطمئنًا بشأن نديكا بعد سقوطه المروع أمام أودينيزي

واجتمعت إدارة نادي روما مع المدرب الشاب واتفقت على أن يتم تمديد عقده لما بعد نهاية الموسم الحالي، وبالتالي، سيشرف على تدريب الفريق بالموسم المقبل.

وأشاد الموقع الرسمي لنادي روما بما يقدمه الفريق تحت قيادة دي روسي ووصف المشوار بالاستثنائي رغم قصر المدة.

وأكد نادي روما في بيانه أنه يتمنى التوفيق لمدربه في مشواره مع الفريق من أجل بناء مشروع طويل الأمد خلال السنوات المقبلة.

An update has emerged on Leeds United’s transfer plans as they eye up another fresh addition to the squad ahead of the 2023/24 campaign…

What’s the latest Leeds United transfer news?

According to Football Insider, the Whites are in ‘advanced’ talks to secure the signing of central midfielder Glen Kamara from Scottish giants Rangers.

The report claims that Daniel Farke is now closing in on the Finland international’s signature to bolster his midfield options for this season.

It states that the Yorkshire-based team have beaten off interest from up to ten unnamed second-tier clubs to secure a £5m deal for the 27-year-old metronome.

So far, the Championship outfit have brought in Ethan Ampadu on a permanent deal from Premier League side Chelsea, whilst Newcastle United shot-stopper Karl Darlow is also reportedly poised to arrive at Elland Road.

How good is Glen Kamara?

The Light Blues maestro is coming off the back of a disappointing season in Scotland, as he only managed 12 league starts, but his previous form for the club suggests that the potential is there for him to be an excellent signing.

Kamara, at his best, is a terrific passer of the ball who can make an impact at the top end of the pitch as he is capable of creating chances for his teammates from a midfield position.

His sublime ability in possession could make him a dream for current Leeds winger Jack Harrison to play with, as the Finnish technician could provide the former Manchester City graduate with more opportunities to make things happen in the final third.

No Whites midfielder – with at least ten Premier League starts – completed more than 82.4% of their attempted passes last season, and only one (Tyler Adams) recorded a success rate of at least 80%.

Kamara, however, completed 91% of his passes for Rangers during the 2021/22 Premiership campaign, which was his last term with at least 20 starts, which is considerably more impressive.

The Gers gem did not achieve that by being safe with his pass selection, though, as he averaged 1.3 key passes per match for the Scottish side, which is 0.3 more per match than any Leeds midfielder managed – as Marc Roca led the way last season with one per outing.

This could make the £5m-rated magician, who former boss Neil McCann claimed is "made of iron", an ideal signing to help Harrison to thrive as the 26-year-old dynamo's goal output dropped from his usual standards.

The Whites winger scored five Premier League goals during the 2022/23 campaign, which came after he produced eight in each of his first two seasons for the club at that level.

These statistics suggest that Leeds did not get the best out of the exciting wizard and the lack of quality on the ball in midfield could be a reason for that, as they ceded possession far too regularly and rarely created chances for the forwards.

Kamara could, therefore, solve that problem due to his fantastic ability to retain possession by consistently finding his teammates whilst also being able to split open the opposition defence to fashion an opportunity for one of the attackers.

Harrison could then thrive, particularly whilst playing at a lower level in the Championship, as a goalscoring winger if he is playing alongside a central midfielder of Kamara's calibre.

Ellyse Perry was satisfied after Australia’s win over New Zealand in a warm-up match in Southampton, but outlined some clear areas that needed improvement before the Women’s World Cup begins later this month

Daniel Brettig15-Jun-2017Allrounder Ellyse Perry has declared Australia’s women need to find the right tempo with the bat in the closing overs of their innings, in order to finish off in the sort of manner that will enable them to lift the World Cup next month.Batting at No. 3 in the absence of the rested captain Meg Lanning, Perry struck a century in a warm-up win over New Zealand at Southampton on Wednesday, but was concerned by how the lower order fell away when a total of more than 300 looked there for the taking.”It was really great to put on those partnerships with Bolts [Nicole Bolton] at the start and then Elyse Villani as well,” Perry said. “It was just disappointing for me personally but also the lower order, we just fell off again. We were set up to score over 300 and we didn’t get there. That’s something to work on but it was nice to get that time in the middle.”In the next couple days it’ll be a real focus for us in training, just making the right decisions on balls to hit and where to score our runs. We don’t have the right tempo at the moment, we’re either going for big shots or defending, I think there needs to be a little more in between where we pick gaps and not letting bowlers settle and putting pressure on ourselves.”After Megan Schutt pinned Suzie Bates lbw with her very first ball of New Zealand’s reply, three wickets for wristspinner Amanda-Jade Wellington and breakthroughs for Perry helped Australia close out the match. They won by a comfortable 46 runs in a game where both sides could use all 15 members of their squads. Overall, Perry felt that it was a step in the right direction toward the level of polish required in the tournament proper.”Everyone got a good chance out in the middle, which is probably what we’ve needed after a really good prep back home and not as much official games,” Perry said. “A bit of rust, but that’s ok, we’ve got a bit of time before the first proper match.”There were lots of positives with both bat and ball but probably just lacking that polish, probably bowled too many four-balls, and a few loose shots and not really finishing our innings off, which was quite disappointing, but they’re solid opposition and it was good to play some good cricket in patches.”The Australians have a morning gym session on Thursday followed by an afternoon off, ahead of another internal practice match on Friday. They have further practice matches against South Africa and Pakistan before a tournament opener against the West Indies at Taunton on June 26.

Darwin Nunez is always an interesting player to watch, for better or worse, as his unorthodox technique can result in both moments of madness and incredible goals.

During his first season at Liverpool, the forward got off to a nightmare start after receiving a red card on his Anfield debut against Crystal Palace. He, and the rest of Jurgen Klopp’s side, struggled to gain consistency from there dropping out of the Champions League places, leaving many hopeful that things will return to their best for the Reds in the coming campaign.

When it comes to pre-season, too, Nunez is certainly showing more signs of life than last season, netting three goals in two games, including one in the 4-2 win over Karlsruher before grabbing a brace against their most-recent opponents Greuther Furth.

Both of the striker’s goals proved the potential that he has to burst into life in the coming months. Now, it could just be about consistency.

Darwin Nunez scores pre-season brace

Up against the 2. Bundesliga side, Nunez initially put Liverpool back in front after the break following Luis Diaz’s opener, making an excellent run, which was picked out by Mohamed Salah, before rounding the keeper and finding the back of the net with all the composure in the world – as you can see in the footage above.

His second to make it 3-1 was even more impressive. Left one-on-one with the final man, Nunez dropped the shoulder, before expertly firing home. The two goals showed a player with the coolness that last season’s version lacked in front of goal at times.

Greuther Furth turned the game around to lead 4-3 with quickfire goals, before Salah struck late on to end things level at 4-4.

Liverpool’s attention now turns to their friendly with Leicester City, where Nunez will look to find the back of the net once more, and the Reds will look to get back to winning ways, even if it is just a pre-season friendly.

Full of praise for the forward, The Athletic’s James Pearce took to Twitter to praise him following his second strike, saying: “Nunez scores his second of the game. Looking really sharp”

What is the market value of Darwin Nunez?

Initially arriving at Liverpool for a reported £85m last summer, Nunez’s inconsistent season has seen his valuation decrease. According to Transfermarkt, the former Benfica man is now worth €65m (£56.16m), which is more than £30m less than what the Reds initially splashed out to secure his signature a year ago.

Klopp will be hoping to see his side’s investment prove worthwhile next season, however, as he attempts to guide Liverpool back into the Premier League’s top four, and much more in the coming campaign.

Last season was the first time that the Merseyside club have failed to qualify for the Champions League in a full season under the German. And they won’t want to experience that feeling again.

With Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai adding to Klopp’s midfield options, Liverpool should be primed and ready to get back to their best form come August.

Starting with their opening game of the season against Chelsea, the manager may well have a big decision to make regarding his forward line. As Nunez continues to find the back of the net in pre-season, Klopp could be left with no choice but to hand him the starting role.

It’ll certainly be an interesting season for both Nunez and Liverpool.

علق بابا فاسيليو المدير الفني الأسبق للبنك الأهلي على مباراة القمة الأخيرة بين الأهلي والزمالك والتي فاز بها الفريق الأبيض بنتيجة 2-1 ضمن منافسات الدوري المصري.

وقال بابا فاسيليو في تصريحات تلفزيونية عبر قناة المحور: “حصلت على العديد من العروض قبل مغادرتي للبنك الأهلي، منها 5 عروض من مصر وكان هناك 3 عروض من السعودية وعرض من قطر وعروض من أوروبا، وفي هذه الفترة رفضت هذه العروض لأننا اتفقنا في البنك الأهلي نمضي في المشروع سويًا وهذا لم يحدث”.

وأكمل: “شاهدت مباراة القمة، وأنا أتابع الدوري المصري لأنني على مدار 5 سنوات كنت أعمل مديرا فنيا في مصر، وأريد الاطلاع على التحديثات والمباريات الكبرى مثل مواجهة الأهلي والزمالك”.

طالع | بيريرا يحسم عبر “بطولات” الجدل حول مدى أحقية طرد نيدفيد ويرفض التعليق على هدف الزمالك الثاني

وتابع: “أرى مباراة القمة من الناحية التكتيكة الفريقين مختلفين، الأهلي مما رأيته بدأ المباراة بطريقة عادية، ولم يستطيعوا أن يتعاملوا مع المباراة بالطريقة الصحيحة وغير من طريقة اللعب في الشوط الثاني”.

واستطرد: “الزمالك كما رأيت حاول أن يتأقلم بطرق مختلفة مع المدير الفني الجديد، والفريق في هذا العام ارتقى في الأداء بشكل كبير وحصل على لاعبين جيدين مثل ناصر ماهر وعبد الله السعيد ولم يكن لديهم حظ في إصابة أحمد سيد زيزو، الزمالك سجل أهداف عكس سير المباراة”.

وواصل: “من السهل عندما لا تكون في المسؤولية أن تنتقد، إذا أخذنا في الاعتبار أن مباراة مازيمبي يوم السبت المقبل، والزمالك يوم الإثنين الماضي فيوجد فترة مناسبة من الأيام لأي لاعب لكي يتعافى”.

وزاد: “نرى الدوري الإنجليزي اللاعبون يلعبون كل 3 أو 4 أيام في أصعب المنافسات العالمية، ولا يوجد أي مشكلة في ذلك”.

وأتم: “ليس هناك أي عذر لتقديم راحة لبعض اللاعبين، لا أعلم ما هو الوضع للاعبين، والمدير الفني لديه طريقته في التفكير والإدارة”.

Middlesex sneaked a one-wicket win at Edgbaston and that leaves Warwickshire with a yawning gap of 48 points to safety in Division One of the Specsavers Championship

Jon Culley at Edgbaston06-Jul-2017
ScorecardA match that might have finished in an historic tie just went the way of Middlesex after a tense and absorbing conclusion, providing the defending champions with only a second win of the season and the hope that they might yet claw back more of the space that opened up between them and leaders Essex with last week’s thumping defeat at Chelmsford.None of the ties in first-class cricket has featured identical totals in both innings, yet that prospect was on the cards here as Middlesex, who had looked as though they would reach their target comfortably while Nick Compton and John Simpson were together, began to lose wickets with disconcerting regularity in the post-lunch session.Warwickshire fought as you would expect from a side desperate for a win and stand-in captain Jonathan Trott was never without an idea that might make something happen, but they are now 48 points adrift from safety,They gave themselves a substantial shot of hope and adrenalin before lunch when Jeetan Patel managed, seemingly against all probability, to draw Compton out of his crease and had him stumped.Until that moment, Middlesex looked in command, needing 112 with six wickets in hand. Yet Warwickshire, who have not enjoyed too many good moments in a largely dismal season, used that wicket as a motivational factor and had a fresh determination as they emerged for the afternoon session.Ryan Higgins at first maintained Middlesex’s momentum but Warwickshire somehow kept themselves in it. A fine catch by William Porterfield, diving forward from gully, removed Simpson off Rikki Clarke. And from 170-6, needing 64, Middlesex stumbled three more times.James Harris was unable to get out of the way of a super ball from Boyd Rankin – among a mixed bag of a performance, it has to be said – and gave a catch behind at 193-7, Higgins popped up a bat-pad short-leg catch off Patel at 210-8 and, tantalising Warwickshire fans even more, Ollie Rayner stepped across one from Rankin to be leg before, leaving his side nine down with seven still required.Tim Murtagh and Tom Helm kept their nerve admirably, however, taking four singles off Clarke before Murtagh found a gap on the offside against Rankin and took three runs to the longer boundary.Dawid Malan, Middlesex’s acting captain, believed the key phase of the match had been the last session on day three, when Tom Helm dismissed Trott for 99 and rapidly cleaned up the tail, leaving Warwickshire at least 20 or 30 runs short of where they had hoped to be.”I think the way Tom plus Tim Murtagh and Ryan Higgins bowled at the end of day three – their spell set it up for us because at tea they had been in the driving seat and we probably bowled them out for a lot less than they should have got,” Malan said.”We desperately needed that win. We haven’t been playing our best cricket so far and have not been able to string four good days together.”We have won two and lost two of our last four which is disappointing on the loss side because we pride ourselves on being hard to beat, but positive on the winning side.”To get a win moving forward with guys due to come back from injury and England duty when the Championship starts again we are in a good position to get a few wins in a row and be pushing for the top.”The concern for Warwickshire, of course, is about finding a way somehow to get away from the bottom, although with only six matches left time is running out.Yet coach Jim Troughton still believes his team’s character remains intact, even though results suggest that time is catching up with some of the senior members of their dressing room.”Yes, we probably need to win at least half our remaining games but in 2010 we needed to win four out of five and if there is one thing you can always say this team has been good at, over the years of winning trophies and getting to finals and bringing this club a lot of success, it is being up for it in the big games that matter.”We always knew that we were hitting a period of transition and that this season was going to be tough and we’ve had some performances this season we have not been proud of, where we have crumbled under pressure or drifted through sessions.”But this is a league in which anyone can beat anyone. Somerset have shown that up at Scarborough. And in this game we have gone toe to toe with a good side so we have to take positives from that.”We need to keep asking questions of the older players. We need to compete over all four days of games and to walk off at the end of the game knowing we have given everything and (on this occasion) I don’t need to question that.”He could not question the passion of some of those players, either, as was evident in the scenes on the third evening, before and after Stevie Eskinazi was dismissed for a duck – the score at which Warwickshire had been convinced he was out in the first innings before going on to score the match-winning individual score.The umpires had to intervene, asking Rikki Clarke and Keith Barker in particular to calm down, giving Trott another challenge as captain he might not have bargained for. Troughton admitted the incident had been a cause for concern.”We had a chat with the umpires and recognised that the passion probably bubbled over a little bit,” he said.”Our members maybe sometimes ask where’s the fight, where’s the passion in our team. They definitely saw it there but to people watching without knowing the context it does not look great. So we talked about being competitive and hitting them hard but not stepping over the line.”

Fakhar Zaman, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, and Shadab Khan have been rewarded for their impressive performances, in Pakistan’s run to the Champions Trophy title, with their first central contracts

Umar Farooq12-Jul-20171:46

Archive – The ups and downs of Umar Akmal

Umar Akmal’s international career appears to be at crossroads after the PCB omitted him from the list of 35 centrally contracted players for the year starting July 1, 2017. He was the most notable omission from the list, with his fitness having been a major concern for much of his career.Akmal was originally named in the Champions Trophy squad but was axed after failing two fitness tests leading up to the start of the tournament in England. Akmal had previously been dropped from a tour of the West Indies in April for similar reasons. He was excluded from that squad after he was the only player, out of 31, to fail the fitness test during a camp held at the National Cricket Academy in March.The Central Contracts list

Category A: Azhar Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Amir
Category B: Babar Azam, Imad Wasim, Asad Shafiq, Hasan Ali

Category C: Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali, Haris Sohail, Sami Aslam, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Junaid Khan, Ahmed Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Shahdab Khan

Category D: Mohammad Nawaz, Asif Zakir, Usman Salahuddin, Amir Yamin, Usman Shinwari, Faheem Ashraf, Ruman Raees, Imam-ul-Haq, Bilal Asif, Mir Hamza, Umer Amin, Mohammad Hasan, Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Rizwan

He was named in the national high performance camp organised by the NCA but pulled out, citing a knee injury. He informed the relevant officials – including head coach Mushtaq Ahmed – and excused himself for five weeks, during which he intends to undergo rehabilitation with his private trainer in England.The selectors have handed out 15 new central contracts, with 10 players including now retired Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan dropped from the previous list of 30. Junaid Khan, who had been axed last year has been offered a Category C contract, while fellow left-arm fast bowlers Wahab Riaz and Rahat Ali have been demoted from Category B to C. Pakistan’s lead seamer Mohammad Amir, meanwhile, was given an A grade contract.Babar Azam and Imad Wasim were promoted from Category C to B while openers Sami Aslam and Shan Masood were retained in Category C along with Mohammad Nawaz – who has served out his two-month ban for failing to report an approach in the PSL 2017. The monetary value of the monthly retainer has also been increased by 10% for all categories.”The central contracts were awarded after keeping in mind the performances, fitness, and discipline of the players,” the PCB said in a statement. “A number of young players have been awarded central contracts this year keeping in mind that the national teams in all formats will be going through a transitional period after a number of retirements from last year’s central contract list.”The selectors have also picked an additional wicketkeeper, Mohammad Hasan, in the list along with Sarfraz Ahmed – captain in all three formats – and Mohammad Rizwan, who was demoted from Category C to D.Usman Salahuddin, who was given a contract in 2012 before fading away, has once more returned to national contention. As a possible contender for one of the vacancies in the Test team’s middle order, he was given a Category D contract. Umar Amin, who has also been absent from the central contracts list for the past few years, returns in Category D. Bilal Asif, who was included in Category D, is the only off-spinner among the 35 players to be offered central contracts.The PCB has named chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq’s nephew Imam-ul-Haq in the emerging players category. He recently had a productive stint with Pakistan Under-23, scoring two back-to-back hundreds in Bangladesh. Asif Zakir, a batsman from Karachi, has also been rewarded with a Category D contract for successive prolific domestic seasons after he scored 791 runs in 10 first-class matches in 2015-16 at an average of 56.50, and 853 first runs at 85.30 in 2016-17.

تقرر حصول مصر على حق تنظيم بطولة كأس العالم للأندية لكرة اليد “سوبر جلوب” لمدة 3 نسخ متتالية لأعوام 2024 و2025 و2026.

ومن المقرر أن يشارك الأهلي في بطولة كأس العالم للأندية لكرة اليد بعد فوزه ببطولة ‏كأس السوبر الإفريقي للمرة الثالثة على التوالي في النسخة القادمة التي تقام خلال أكتوبر أو نوفمبر من العام الجاري، ومن المقرر إقامتها في صالة العاصمة الإدارية الجديدة.

كما سيشارك فريق كرة اليد بالزمالك خلال النسخة المقبلة بالعام الجاري، بصفته ممثلًا عن الدولة المستضيفة.

كما منح الاتحاد الدولي مصر حق بطولة أخري من العيار الثقيل وهي بطولة العظماء السبع ويشارك فيها المنتخبات السبعة الأولي على مستوي العالم.

طالع | لاعب الأهلي يُغادر بطولة إفريقيا لكرة اليد بسبب الإصابة

واتفقت الشركة المتحدة للرياضة مع الاتحادين الدولي والمصري لكرة اليد على الحصول على حق تنظيم فعاليات بطولة كأس العالم للأندية.

يذكر، أن مصر سبق وأن نظمت بطولة كأس العالم لكرة اليد عام 2021 بمشاركة أكبر المنتخبات من كافة القارات وفاز بها منتخب الدنمارك وقتها.

Tottenham Hotspur could already have the perfect replacement in line to replace Harry Kane if he leaves the Lilywhites this summer in the form of Richarlison, according to transfer insider Dean Jones.

Is Harry Kane going to leave Tottenham Hotspur?

According to Sky Sports News, Bayern Munich are 'increasingly confident' that they can seal a deal to land Kane this summer if they can come to an agreement on a fee with Tottenham.

Nevertheless, they haven't accomplished this mission yet and Bayern Munich chief executive Jan Christian Dreesen and technical director Marco Neppe want to meet Spurs chairman Daniel Levy this week to solve matters, with their preference reportedly a face-to-face discussion.

In addition to Bayern Munich, The Guardian claim that Manchester United could re-enter the race to sign Kane amid news that Tottenham owner Joe Lewis has instructed Levy to sell Kane this window if he doesn't sign a new contract in N17 to avoid a scenario where the 29-year-old runs down his deal and leaves on a free transfer in 2024.

Football Insider have indicated that Spurs may now be willing to cash in on Kane and will likely hold out for a fee of £100 million for their talisman.

Last term, Kane was in exceptional form for Tottenham, registering 32 goals and five assists in 49 appearances across all competitions, as per Transfermarkt.

Despite speculation over his future, Kane netted a penalty for Tottenham in their 5-1 pre-season friendly over Lion City Sailors in Singapore, as cited by The Daily Mail.

Speaking to Football FanCast, transfer insider Jones thinks Spurs forward Richarlison, who incidentally netted a hat-trick against Lion City Sailers, could be someone utilised as a replacement if Kane was to leave the club this window.

Jones told FFC: "I really have not heard much about replacements which makes me feel there really is no desire to sell. They do have Richarlison there though, a £50million signing who plays No9 for Brazil, so that could always become an option if Kane goes. I actually feel like he could do better under Postecoglou than many other options they could consider buying."

Could Richarlison potentially replace Harry Kane at Tottenham Hotspur?

Richarlison arrived at Tottenham last summer for £60 million from Everton and it is fair to say he endured a rocky first campaign in north London, notching three goals and four assists in 35 outings encompassing all competitions, as per Transfermarkt.

Nevertheless, the 26-year-old did get into promising positions frequently and fared well in comparison to his positional peers in that regard across Europe's top five divisions, averaging 5.69 touches in the opposition penalty area per 90 minutes across the last 365 days, putting him in the top 12% for this metric, according to FBRef.

Of course, the Nova Venicia-born forward also featured in a central striking role for his native Brazil and has racked up an impressive tally of 20 goals in 44 appearances, which may be worth taking into account for Spurs boss Postecoglou if his teammate Kane is to depart between now and the close of play in the market.

Realistically, if Kane did leave, Tottenham fans would want to see any funds gained from the sale reinvested into an elite number nine and Eintracht Frankfurt striker Randal Kolo Muani alongside Flamengo striker Pedro have both been linked as potential alternatives.

All things considered, Richarlison is a capable threat in the final third. However, Tottenham may need to spend big to win over what would be a distraught fanbase if Kane cuts ties with his boyhood club.

Nottingham Forest have seen a “formal proposal” rejected for Zenit Saint Petersburg star Wilmar Barrios, according to reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano.

Who is Wilmar Barrios?

Barrios is primarily a defensive midfielder who has plied his trade at the Gazprom Arena since 2019 having moved there from Boca Juniors, and during his four years at the club, he’s so far made a total of 154 appearances to date.

The Colombia international still has another three years to run on his contract with Sergei Semak’s side, but his level of performances over the course of last season appear to have caught the eye of Steve Cooper and Evangelos Marinakis at The City Ground.

The Midlands outfit have recently lost the services of Jack Colback and Cafu, both of whom departed on free transfers upon the expiration of their deals, the former completing a switch to Championship side Queens Park Rangers and the latter also dropping down to the second tier by putting pen to paper at Rotherham.

Therefore, the boss will need to enter the market before the end of the ongoing window to find a suitable replacement in the centre of the park, and if the following update is to be believed, the 29-year-old seems to have been highlighted as an ideal candidate by the hierarchy to make the move to the Premier League in England.

Are Nottingham Forest signing Wilmar Barrios?

Taking to Twitter, Romano revealed that Nottingham Forest have tabled an official offer for Barrios, but this has already been swiftly turned down as a result of it being under Zenit Saint Petersburg’s valuation. He wrote:

“EXCL: Nottingham Forest submitted formal proposal to sign Colombian midfielder Wilmar Barrios. Understand bid is around €4m [£3m] fee but Zenit St Petersburg rejected as they want way more to let Barrios leave, around €15m [£12m].”

The Reds are also on the verge of signing goalkeeper Matt Turner from Arsenal, with the USA internationa expected to join after an agreement was reached over the weekend.

How good is Wilmar Barrios?

Nottingham Forest will know that Barrios is stronger in the natural defensive aspect of his game having racked up just three goal contributions last season, but having been dubbed a midfield “general” in front of the backline by journalist Josh Bunting, he could be a promising summer acquisition for Cooper.

The Cartagena native averaged 2.2 tackles and 1.6 interceptions per league game during the previous term so he isn’t afraid to get stuck in and win back possession for his team, not to mention that he also recorded an 85.4% pass success rate which was higher than any of the regular features in the manager’s squad in the top-flight, highlighting his excellent calmness and composure on the ball.

Sponsored by Adidas, the Zenit talisman will additionally already know what it takes to compete and be successful at the highest level having secured 12 pieces of silverware since the start of his career, so should he put pen to paper, he would be able to instil a much-needed winning mentality into the squad to ensure that the club don’t find themselves in the same danger of relegation as they were last season.