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Norwegian sensation Sverre Nypan has decided to reject Arsenal's January transfer approach to stay at Rosenborg until the summer at least.

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• Nypan attracted January interest from Arsenal
• Norwegian starlet to stay at Rosenborg
• Will make transfer decision in the summer

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Arsenal had been after the signing of highly-rated midfielder Nypan over the current transfer window as they hoped to not lose out on the 18-year-old starlet to other clubs. The Norwegian has made 60 appearances for Rosenborg despite only recently turning 18 and has been described as one of the country's next big talents.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  However, has now reported that Nypan has decided to stay put at Rosenborg until the summer at least, if not the end of the Norwegian domestic season which runs into the autumn. Nypan's father Arne has confirmed this to the media.

• WHAT NYPAN'S FATHER SAID

  Speaking to Norwegian newspaper , Arne Nypan said: "The most important thing for us is to confirm that there is enormous interest from big and prestigious clubs. Given that, Sverre has always thought long-term. We consider it an advantage for him to stay at RBK until the summer. This is also in line with what both Rosenborg and the potential clubs are thinking. They are also taking a long-term approach."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR ARSENAL?

  Mikel Arteta has been keen on bolstering his squad this January as they prepare to challenge Liverpool for the Premier League title. However, they are running out of time to make additions with the window shutting on Monday.

Rediscovering his best form when it was most needed, Chris Dent scored a superb double-hundred and batted all day to frustrate First Division leaders Surrey and usher Gloucestershire towards safety on day three of this LV= Insurance County Championship match in Bristol.Responding to Surrey’s imposing first-innings 603, Gloucestershire reached the close on 443 for 2, thanks in large part to Dent’s defiant knock of 207 not out, an innings spanning eight hours so far. The Bristolian shared a record-breaking opening stand of 296 with Marcus Harris, who raised an impressive 124, and then staged an unbroken third-wicket alliance of 147 with Miles Hammond, his fellow left-hander finishing undefeated on 75.In the process, Dent passed the notable personal milestone of 10,000 first-class runs, and Gloucestershire attained maximum batting bonus points for the first time this season. They still trail by 160 and will need to summon further resistance on the final day, but any outcome other than a draw is now inconceivable.It was a chastening day in the field for Surrey, who failed to bank even a single bonus point. Jordan Clark and Colin de Grandhomme shared the slim pickings on offer, yet in reality, only Reece Topley mustered the line and length required to threaten the hosts.Newcomers to the First Division, Gloucestershire are fast gaining a reputation for dogged resistance in the face of adversity, having conceded significant first-innings deficits in previous matches against Northants, Yorkshire and Lancashire before staging spirited fightbacks on days three and four.Staring down the barrel of a third consecutive defeat when Surrey posted a mammoth 603, the underdogs once again dug deep to defy more illustrious opponents, Dent and Harris batting for five hours to at least avert the threat of following on.Their stand was the highest for any Gloucestershire wicket in matches against Surrey, surpassing the 285 made by Bev Lyon and Wally Hammond at The Oval in May 1928. They had already eclipsed the previous highest score for the first wicket in matches against Surrey, going past the 219 staged by Sadiq Mohammad and Andy Stovold at Bristol in 1975.Following hard on the heels of their opening stand of 119, made in a losing cause against Lancashire at Old Trafford last week, these two served up additional defiance in spade-loads to frustrate Surrey after Gloucestershire resumed on 86 without loss.It said a good deal about the benign state of the pitch that Surrey deployed just two slips for Dan Worrall and Topley at the start of the day, and Gloucestershire’s opening pair made serene progress, taking their alliance into three figures and both registering fifties during a morning session which yielded 129 runs.Dent was first to a hundred, reaching that landmark via 162 balls, cutting Will Jacks to third man for his 18th boundary. His 19th first-class hundred in all, it was his first since he posted 169 against Derbyshire at Derby in August 2019.Harris went to his second century in successive home matches for Gloucestershire in some style, pulling Topley to the midwicket boundary shortly after lunch. Dropped by Ollie Pope at slip off the bowling of Topley when on 111, the Australian eventually succumbed to temptation when flashing hard at a ball outside off stump from de Grandhomme and being held by stand-in wicketkeeper Josh Blake, who had been called up overnight to replace the injured Jamie Smith.Harris had faced 209 balls, scored 18 boundaries and played his part in an adhesive opening stand that did much to subdue south London ambition.When Jordan Clark encouraged a slanting delivery to straighten up and knock back James Bracey’s off stump soon afterwards, Surrey’s players had a notable spring in their step, sensing an opportunity to make further in-roads now that one end had been opened up. After all, Gloucestershire still trailed by 306 runs and the second new ball was just a few overs away.Having negotiated a challenging initiation on a pitch that still offered something for those who bowled a full length, Hammond quickly set about dispelling any lingering Gloucestershire insecurities, joining forces with the indomitable Dent to see off the new ball. Once able to play more freely again in the final hour, Dent cut Clark to the square leg boundary to reach 164 not out and bring up 10,000 first-class runs, the landmark being greeted by a smattering of applause from county aficionados within a sparse Saturday crowd.Prevented from deploying Sam Curran as a bowler by a direct edict from the England management, Surrey were deprived of a potentially key option and, not surprisingly, their overworked seamers began to visibly tire in the final session. Dent and Hammond made the most of the situation, keeping the scoreboard ticking over to tap Surrey resolve and edge their side ever nearer to safety.Dent went to 200 from 375 balls, cutting Jacks for his 27th four to become the first Gloucestershire player to score a double against Surrey since Zaheer Abbas achieved the feat in 1976.Hammond reached 50 off 86 balls with 10 fours, but enjoyed a let-off on 65 when he gave Jacks the charge and Blake made a hash of an attempted stumping. But then it had been that kind of a day for Surrey.

Stand-in captain managed only 58 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 105 against South Africa

Hemant Brar20-Jun-20223:32

Jaffer: ‘Pant will find it hard to keep a spot in a full-strength India XI’

India head coach Rahul Dravid has backed Rishabh Pant, saying he remains “an integral part” of the side, despite the wicketkeeper-batter managing only 58 runs at a strike rate of 105.45 in the five T20Is against South Africa.Coming into this series, Pant had scored 340 runs at an average of 30.90 in IPL 2022. His strike rate at the tournament was 151.78, significantly higher than that in the last two editions – 113.95 in 2020 and 128.52 in 2021. Dravid said the team is expecting him to play a similar attacking role at the international level as well.”When you’re asking people to play a slightly more attacking brand of cricket in the middle overs and to take the game on a little bit more, sometimes it’s hard to judge based on two or three games,” Dravid said after the washed-out fifth T20I in Bengaluru.Related

• India need a left-hand batter in the playing XI, says Tendulkar

• Selection questions for India: Who's the wicketkeeper? Will Arshdeep and Malik finally get their chance?

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• How bowlers have used the wide line to keep Pant quiet

• 'Warm and fuzzy' India help bring out Karthik's A game

“I thought he had a pretty good IPL. He might not have looked good on the averages, but his strike rate was really good. He looked to move that up a little bit – to where he was probably three years ago. We’re going to hope that we can get those kinds of numbers from him at the international level as well. In that process, he might go wrong in a few games.”But he remains an integral part of our batting line-up. We know what he does with the power he has. The fact that he is a left-hander is very important to us as well in the middle overs. And he has played some good knocks. Of course, personally, he would have liked to have scored a few more runs but it’s not that concerning. For us, he is certainly a very big part of our plans going ahead in the next few months.”2:10

Rahul Dravid wants to firm up India’s T20 World Cup squad

Dinesh Karthik, meanwhile, continues to impress in the niche role as a strictly final-five overs batter. In the fourth T20I in Rajkot, Karthik had smashed a 27-ball 55, the sort of knock that, Dravid said, “certainly makes you start”. Karthik and Hardik Pandya, who hit 46 off 31 deliveries, had added 65 off 33 balls to lift India to 169, which proved to be a winning total.”He was picked for a very specific skill,” Dravid said of Karthik. “And it’s nice when that’s kind of indicated in a sense that it came together brilliantly for us in the Rajkot game, where we needed that big performance in the last five overs to be able to make a par score. He and Hardik [Pandya] batted beautifully for us; both of them are our enforcers at the end, guys who can capitalise on those last five-six overs.”They are probably two of the best in the world in those last five-six overs. So, yeah, it was really nice to see Karthik come off and do what he has been picked to do. It certainly opens up a lot more options for us going forward. Innings like that certainly make you start. Like I was telling the guys it’s not about knocking the door – you have to start banging the door down, and an innings like that certainly means he is knocking very hard.”With Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli not part of the series, there was a chance for fringe players to present their cases. Ishan Kishan scored 206 runs – by far the most in the series – at a strike rate of 150.36, but Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shreyas Iyer failed to impress. Gaikwad tallied only 96 runs in five innings at a strike rate 131.50, and Iyer 94 runs at 123.68. But Dravid isn’t disappointed with them.”We’re not going to make knee-jerk reactions,” he said. “As you have seen, I don’t like judging people after one series, or one game. Every one of the guys who got the opportunity here truly deserved the opportunity; they have earned it. And in this format of the game, you’re going to have some good games and some bad games.”I think Shreyas, in the early part [of the series] on a couple of tricky wickets, showed a lot of intent and played really positively for us. Ruturaj showed in one particular innings [in the third T20I] what quality and skill he has got.”In Twenty20, you can have the odd games [where] your form and performance goes up and down a little bit. So we are not very disappointed with anyone. As a group, we were looking to play a slightly more positive and attacking brand of cricket right from the beginning. And we knew you when you’re trying to do that, it’s not always going to come off. But what we are certainly clear about the kind of cricket we want to play.”

Shami’s participation will depend on clearance from the BCCI

ESPNcricinfo staff16-May-2022

Three months after opting out of the Ranji Trophy 2021-22 league stage, Wriddhiman Saha has returned to the Bengal squad ahead of the quarter-final against Jharkhand in Bengaluru from June 6.The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) also named fast bowler Mohammed Shami in the squad. However, his participation will need a clearance from the BCCI and head coach Rahul Dravid taking his workload management into account. The squad will be led by Abhimanyu Easwaran.However, it was 37-year-old Saha whose comeback is a big talking point, given he skipped the league stage citing “personal reasons”. That decision came on the back of Saha being left out of India’s Test squad for the home series against Sri Lanka. After that selection meeting, it came to light that he had been told by head coach Dravid that he may not be in the scheme of things going forward.Related

Wriddhiman Saha: 'Being indirectly told to retire'

Pujara, Rahane, Ishant, Saha dropped for Sri Lanka Tests

Saha opts out of Bengal's Ranji squad for personal reasons

Saha has been in scintillating form in the ongoing IPL, scoring 281 runs from eight matches at a strike rate of 123.24 with three 50-plus scores, including one Player of the match performance.Saha aside, the squad has second wicketkeeper in young Abhishek Porel, who impressed in his absence. There was no place for veteran wicketkeeper Shreevats Goswami, who continued to be left out of the squad. Goswami is currently in England playing club cricket.The squad also includes Shami’s younger brother Mohammed Kaif and left-arm spinner Ankit Mishra, who bowled well at the Under-25 level. He is the third left-arm spinner after Shahbaz Ahmed and Pradipta Pramanik.Experienced medium pacer Nilkantha Das was also included and so was opener Sudip Gharami, despite a season of non-performance. Junior state sports minister Manoj Tiwary was also a part of the squad.Squad: Abhimanyu Easwaran (capt), Manoj Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Mohammed Shami, Anustup Majumdar, Sudip Chatterjee, Shahbaz Ahmed, Abhishek Raman, Writtick Chatterjee, Sayan Sekhar Mondal, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Ishan Porel, Koushik Ghosh, Ritwik Roy Chowdhury, Pradipta Pramanik, Karan Lal, Nilkantha Das, Sudip Gharami, Abhishek Porel, Mohammed Kaif, Ankit Mishra

AC Milan face a huge January transfer dilemma as they must choose between Marcus Rashford and Kyle Walker as potential signings.

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Milan torn between two options Rashford wanted as extra firepowerWalker also being eyed Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Per , Milan are interested in signing both Rashford and Walker in January but they face a significant dilemma. Because of the make-up of their squad, they can only register one British player in addition to their two non-EU players: Emerson Royal and Strahinja Pavlovic. That has presented them with a decision to make.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Milan are very keen to recruit more firepower but cannot afford Rashford's wages, and would require United to help fund their deal, which would likely be a loan. Walker would be a cheaper option and add depth in defence. While he cannot solve the problems in attack, his affordability may make him a more attractive option.

DID YOU KNOW?

Milan are also said to be interested in Sporting CP winger Francisco Trincao, and a deal to sign him may be easier to do than one for Rashford. He would cost around €25 million (£21m/$26m) but Milan are said to be waiting to discover if they will be able to finance a deal for the United ace.

Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT?

Milan play Como in midweek. They are currently eighth in Serie A, eight points behind fourth-placed Lazio and 19 behind leaders Napoli.

Aston Villa have been forced to rely heavily on Ollie Watkins since the start of last season as the Englishman only has Jhon Duran for competition.

It hasn’t exactly hampered his performances, as the Englishman scored 27 times last term, which steered Villa to a top-four finish in the Premier League, thus qualifying for the Champions League.

Duran has stepped up this season despite the continued interest shown in him during the summer transfer window, as the Colombian has netted twice in just three league matches so far.

While the 20-year-old is potentially a player to build around for the future, could Unai Emery have another Watkins brewing in the academy?

Why Rory Wilson could be Ollie Watkins 2.0

The 18-year-old striker has certainly impressed since moving to Villa from Rangers back in the summer of 2022.

In The Pipeline

Football FanCast's In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.

The Scot scored a remarkable tally of 49 goals during the 2021/22 campaign for the Gers youth teams, which naturally led to interest from down south.

James Grady, a Scotland youth coach, even described Wilson as being “obsessed with becoming the best” and it was perhaps no surprise that Steven Gerrard brought Wilson down to the Midlands ahead of his first full season in charge.

Since then, the youngster has exuded similar qualities to that of Watkins, finding the net on a regular basis by showcasing his incredible finishing skills.

During the U18 Premier League campaign, Wilson scored 16 goals in just 13 appearances, before making the move up to the Premier League 2, finding the back of the net three times in 13 games.

He has kickstarted the current campaign off with a goal already. Could he stake a claim for a first team berth in the coming months? Especially with games coming thick and fast for Emery.

Why Wilson could be Villa’s biggest talent since Jack Grealish

Not since Jack Grealish made his breakthrough at Villa nearly ten years ago has there arguably been so much hype over a single youth player, with the teenager currently attracting interest from the likes of Inter Milan and RB Leipzig.

The current Manchester City gem made over 200 appearances for the Midlands side before joining City for £100m in 2021, with the move turning out to be a stunning piece of business conducted by the club.

Season

Games

Goals

Assists

2020/21

27

7

10

2019/20

41

10

8

2018/19

35

6

8

2017/18

34

3

8

2016/17

34

5

5

2015/16

21

1

1

2014/15

24

0

3

It's safe to say Grealish hasn’t quite had the best of times under Pep Guardiola, scoring just 14 times for the club and there was even some talk regarding him moving back to his boyhood club during the summer.

Despite only being 18, Wilson has made a couple of appearances for the Scotland U21 side, clearly demonstrating how ahead of the curve he is. If the young talent continues to score for fun for Villa’s own U21 outfit, Emery surely cannot ignore him for much longer.

Indeed, with Watkins and Duran the only senior centre-forwards in the first-team squad, an injury to either could potentially see the Scot given an unlikely opportunity.

Should this happen, Wilson has the ability to make an impression for the first team, without a shadow of a doubt, with the hope that he can follow in Grealish's footsteps before him.

Worth more than Grealish: Aston Villa hit gold on "dangerous" Smith signing

The club have conducted excellent business in recent years.

ByEthan Lamb Sep 6, 2024

Conditions have been tricky, but unlike Australia the visitors have not been able to find a way

Andrew McGlashan07-Feb-2022

Across all the England cricket teams that have visited Australia this season they are currently 13-0 down with one match, the final ODI of the multi-format women’s Ashes, left to play.It has been a season of batting collapses for the visiting sides, the latest of which on Sunday saw Australia win the Ashes at a canter in Melbourne. Heading into the ODI World Cup in New Zealand it is a concern for Heather Knight’s team.England twice had it within their grasp to keep the series alive but fluffed their lines: they lost 6 for 26 in the second innings of a one-day style chase in the Test match, having played outstandingly to engineer a winning position, and in the first ODI could not hunt down 206 albeit on a tricky surface in Canberra.On Sunday, they produced their worst batting display of the tour as they subsided to 129 all out on what, again, was a pitch with some assistance but as Ellyse Perry later showed was possible to overcome with application.Related

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Earlier in the tour, there were caveats after a very difficult build-up, then two of the T20Is being washed out, but as Knight noted after the ODI loss in Canberra the team has had long enough to shake off the rust now.”One of our top five or six needs to take responsibility a bit more often and make sure you are there at the end of the innings,” Nat Sciver said on Sunday.Alyssa Healy noted how batting conditions throughout the Australian summer have been tricky, but one of England’s better performances – in the first T20I in Adelaide – was not enough as the home side won with three overs to spare and Australia’s batters have been able to find a way in the first two ODIs.”The wickets here have been really conducive to seam bowling all summer,” Healy said. “Hasn’t felt like we’ve had a real flat track. The most pleasing thing for me personally has been getting ourselves out of a corner.”We’ve won games that we haven’t looked like we’ve been able to win…so the fact we are able to fight and scrap and work our way back into fixtures to win games with our backs against the wall has been really impressive. Leading into a World Cup it’s hugely important and will give us great confidence knowing that we can back our skills under pressure.”There were concerns about England’s batting raised at the end of the last home season when they were twice bowled out for under 200 against New Zealand although they rebounded to finish the series with 347 for 5. But there remain holes in the order. In 11 innings since the start of last year, Lauren Winfield-Hill is averaging 25.63 and has not reached fifty in ODIs since 2016. Wicketkeeper Amy Jones, while a useful contributor in the middle order, averages 27.40 since the start of 2021. The fact Sophie Ecclestone has twice shown up some of the top order is not ideal.There were also batting problems for the England A side in their concurrent series against Australia A with them bowled out in all three matches for 219, 132 and 211.So while the Ashes have been lost, the final ODI shapes as an important match for England as they try to find some batting confidence although with the game being played on the same pitch at Junction Oval that may not be easy. It’s also the last chance for an England cricket team to secure a victory this season.