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Cricket Kenya has denied that agreement has been reached with the Zimbabwe board to play four ODIs in Nairobi in October

Cricinfo staff12-Jul-2008Cricket Kenya has denied that agreement has been reached with the Zimbabwe board to play four ODIs in Nairobi in October.Agencies yesterday reported that the series had been announced by the Kenyan board, but a spokesman told Cricinfo that while it was hoped to host Zimbabwe later this year, there had been no response from Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) to proposals.Two options were put forward. One, which is believed to be backed by the ICC which wants to see Zimbabwe play more cricket against the leading Associates, would be for them to visit Kenya in October while Ireland are also there and for the three sides to play in a triangular series. The other proposal would be for Zimbabwe to play a bilateral series in December.The last series between the two countries was almost two-and-a-half years ago when they drew 2-2 in Zimbabwe. Kenya has been trying to get a return series arranged ever since but the Zimbabwe board has failed to agree to tour.A Cricket Kenya source admitted even if ZC agreed to visit, there was no guarantee that the Kenyan government, which has been vociferously critical of the excesses of the Mugabe regime following March’s presidential elections, would allow the team to enter the country. The the recent summit of African leaders, Kenya’s prime minister Raila Odinga called for Mugabe to be suspended from the African Union until he allows free and fair elections.During a recent World Cup-African Nations Cup football qualifier in Nairobi, Kenyan fans taunted Zimbabwean players by shouting “Mugabe must go, Mugabe must go” as they entered the Nairobi’s Nyayo National stadium.

Flocking to Twitter, many West Ham United fans have shown their excitement following an update on their transfer plans – and it involves Adama Traore.

Manager David Moyes is on the hunt for new attackers this summer as he seeks to bolster West Ham’s forward options.

The east Londoners are set to compete in the Europa League group stage next season and will be fighting on more fronts, meaning GSB will need to invest and give West Ham a chance to compete.

There have been no shortage of rumours already this window, with another one now emerging courtesy of Football Insider.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/west-ham-updates/” title=”West Ham updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The outlet says West Ham have now made an enquiry to sign Traore from Wolves and Moyes even has a specific role mapped out.

While Traore isn’t high on Moyes’ transfer wish list, the Scotsman plans to use him in a similar way to Michail Antonio.

An out and out winger, the West Ham manager would deploy him in a more centre-forward role akin to the Irons’ current star striker.

Hammers fans certainly seem to approve of this move for Traore, dropping their excited Twitter verdicts on social media in reply to West Ham Central.

Find a flavour of their best ones down below.

West Ham fans buzz over Traore claim

“SIUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU”

Credit: @cjgwhu

“Tears in my eyes years of propaganda has lead to this moment”

Credit: @harrythills

“I’d do anything”

Credit: @riobeare

“This excites me”

Credit: @steve_merry7

“Scenes if we bag this”

Credit: @HarveyTolley11

“Now, THAT would be a signing!”

Credit: @LindsayWesker

“This will be a game changer”

Credit: @JonScottClark6

“this would be amazing”

Credit: @cedesparisse

“Bargain! Would have him in a flash”

Credit: @BradHellyer1

“Brilliant signing”

Credit: @WHUChristian

In other news: ‘It involves West Ham’…Sky Sports drop live TV transfer claim, find out more here!

Many Wolves fans have been left buzzing as a claim emerged on Conor Coady from Steve Holland.

Speaking in his pre-game press conference before England beat Denmark 2-1 after extra time at Wembley in the Euro 2020 semi-final on Wednesday night, the Three Lions assistant manger claimed (via Talking Wolves): “My player of the tournament so far is Conor Coady. He’s not got on the pitch yet but on the training pitch he gives everything, in the dressing room before the game he speaks like he’s captain.”

Coady has not played a single minute at the tournament so far for Gareth Southgate’s team, despite them making it all the way to the final, where they will face Italy on Sunday night.

Nonetheless, the defender is clearly a great player to have in and around the dressing room judging by Holland’s praise, and he is a big character and a leader, as illustrated by his status as captain at Molineux.

The verdict that he ‘gives everything’ in training means that he is setting the standard for other members of the England squad, which can only benefit them come matchday.

Wolves fans on Coady claim

These Wolves supporters on Twitter were buzzing as Holland’s claim emerged, with one describing Coady as ‘immense’:

“Yes Coady”

Credit: @Jessy_Wolves

“Conor Coady is immense off the field. He represents his country the same way as he represents @Wolves. A highly popular member of the @England squad.”

Credit: @gjp12775

“Big future ahead no matter what, I think, I just hope he stays around football, seems an infectious character”

Credit: @goldenballwolf

“So proud that he’s our captain”

Credit: @bishop_darran

“Heard him say that. That’s some acclaim”

Credit: @MrAndyLowe

“He’s a class act”

Credit: @Cundy79

In other news, find out which ‘exciting’ ace Wolves could be in line to sign

تحدث خوان لابورتا رئيس نادي برشلونة الإسباني عن نهائي دوري أبطال أوروبا بين ليفربول وريال مدريد.

ويلتقي ليفربول وريال مدريد يوم 28 مايو الجاري في العاصمة الفرنسية باريس، لخوض المباراة النهائية لموسم 2021-2022.

وأجرى لابورتا مقابلة صحفية مع “راديو كتالونيا”، وسُئل رئيس برشلونة عن مباراة النهائي ومرشحه للفوز باللقب.

ورد لابورتا: “لن أرتدي قميص ليفربول، سأرتدي قميص برشلونة، لأننا نعرف بالفعل ما يريده جمهور البارسا”.

اقرأ أيضًا | لابورتا يعلق على مصير ديمبلي ودي يونج ومفاوضات برشلونة مع ليفاندوفسكي

وانتقل رئيس برشلونة للحديث عن موسم الفريق والألقاب، وأفاد: “اعتقدت أننا يمكن أن نتطلع للفوز بالليجا، اعتقدت أن ريال مدريد سيفقد نقاطًا وسيواجه كارثة في النهاية، لكنهم مروا بموسم منتظم للغاية”.

وأتم لابورتا تصريحاته: “الخسارة في مرحلة المجموعات بدوري أبطال أوروبا كانت مخيبة للآمال للغاية”.

MatériaMais Notícias

O São Paulo realizou na noite desta terça-feira o reconhecimento do gramado do Frasqueirão, onde encara o ABC-RN nesta quarta-feira, pela Copa do Brasil. A parte principal da atividade, em que o técnico Rogério Ceni definiu o time, foi fechada para a imprensa. Há dúvidas no time. No entanto, um jogador que tem vaga praticamente garantida é o atacante Gilberto, artilheiro da equipe no ano com seis gols. Sem Lucas Pratto, se recuperando de uma fratura no nariz, ele assumirá a missão de fazer gols e se diz preparado para substituir o argentino.

– É um jogo importante, o Lucas (Pratto) infelizmente saiu com o nariz fraturado e não pôde estar com a gente, tínhamos esperança dele vir, mas agora é assumir a responsabilidade com o time e o grupo, e tentar fazer o melhor possível para sair com a vitória – afirmou Gilberto, em entrevista coletiva após a atividade em Natal.

– Tenho responsabilidade em qualquer jogo. Sabemos que é uma decisão, o ABC não fez uma má partida contra nós no Morumbi, soubemos nos impor em casa. Agora é ter tranquilidade e pressionar, somos o São Paulo e temos que jogar sempre como São Paulo – completou o camisa 17.

Uma das dúvidas de Ceni é quanto à participação do meia Cueva. Ele ficou fora do clássico contra o Palmeiras no último sábado com um edema na coxa esquerda. Nesta terça, treinou sem restrições com o grupo e deve jogar. Gilberto destacou a importância do peruano.

– O Cueva está sendo um dos principais jogadores do time. Todos estão jogando bem, mas ele tem gols e assistências. Ele chama a responsabilidade, retém a bola e sabe o que fazer com ela, ele virou uma referência para nós – afirmou.

Sobre o jogo, Gilberto afirmou que o São Paulo não pode abrir mão de atacar o adversário, como tem feito neste início de temporada. Com a vitória por 3 a 1 no jogo de ida, o Tricolor pode perder por até um gol de diferença para se classificar.

– Vamos entrar num jogo com o placar de 0x0, então é pensar no 0x0 e tentar fazer o gol no decorrer na partida para tentarmos sair vitoriosos – analisou.

Além de Pratto, não viajaram com o São Paulo o goleiro Sidão e o zagueiro Maicon, machucados, além do volante Jucilei e do zagueiro Breno, poupados. Assim, uma possível escalação do time para o duelo é: Denis, Bruno, Lugano, Rodrigo Caio e Buffarini; João Schmidt, Thiago Mendes e Cícero; Luiz Araújo, Cueva e Gilberto.

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Tottenham Hotspur appear to be edging closer to finally ending their managerial search but it’s not too late for them to appoint one particular candidate…

What’s the word?

According to The Telegraph’s Mike McGrath, former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo has held talks with the north London outfit over the vacant manager’s role. However, it is also claimed that the club admire three other managers, in which current Italy coach Roberto Mancini features.

The 56-year-old, who has won 13 major trophies throughout his coaching career, has been out of the domestic game since 2018 when he took the national team job. His Italy side currently remain unbeaten at Euro 2020, so it remains to be seen how soon he could come into contention.

Forget Nuno

It does seem like Spurs are closing in on Nuno, who left their Premier League rivals by mutual consent at the end of last season following a dismal 13th-place finish.

To be fair, the 47-year-old did have to deal with several blows, such as losing Diogo Jota to Liverpool and the cruel injury suffered by Raul Jimenez. Truth be told, it’s no wonder they struggled to score as few as 36 goals.

However, if Mancini is being considered by the Spurs hierarchy, then he should absolutely be considered instead. New sporting director Fabio Paratici should know all about him and his managerial ability.

He has won three Serie A titles and numerous league cups, whilst his previous time in England is also hugely encouraging, having secured Manchester City their first Premier League title in 2011/12.

What makes the Italian such an interesting candidate is his recent transformation of the national team. Italy are the only team at Euro 2020 to have won all their group games without conceding a goal. They boast the best goal difference and have recorded the most shots and through-balls at the tournament, as per Sky Sports.

It’s now 30 wins in all competitions for a team which failed to even qualify for the World Cup in 2018, while Mancini has guided them to the knockout stages of a major tournament for just the third time in 13 years, too.

This change in fortunes is something Spurs can only dream of after recording their lowest top-flight finish in over a decade. If there’s anyone that can reinvigorate a sleeping giant, then it is Mancini who seems well-equipped.

In the past, the Italian has been lauded as an “excellent coach”, whilst he once dubbed himself “the best manager in England” back in 2013.

Paratici and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy must look to Mancini before it’s too late.

AND in other news, Journalist drops major update in Spurs’ manager search which will surely leave fans furious…

تحدث معتز البطاوي مدير الكرة بنادي سراميكا كليوباترا، عن نتيجة فريقه اليوم أمام بيراميدز، ومواجهة الأهلي المقبلة.

طالع | موعد مباراة الأهلي القادمة أمام سيراميكا كليوباترا في الدوري المصري

وكان سيراميكا قد نجح في تحقيق فوز صعب على بيراميدز بهدف دون رد، سجله محمد إبراهيم في الدقيقة 28 من عمر اللقاء.

وقال البطاوي في تصريحات اذاعية عبر أثير “الشباب والرياضة”: “كنا نحتاج الفوز بالثلاث نقاط في هذا التوقيت، مركزنا في الدوري لا يليق بنا”.

وأضاف: “اللاعبون والجهاز الفني بذلوا مجهودًا كبيرًا جدًا من أجل حصد المكسب”.

وأردف: “أما عن مواجهة الأهلي المقبلة، فجدول الدوري صعب جدًا بالنسبة لنا، لعبنا اليوم أمام بيراميدز واللقاء المقبل سيكون أمام الأهلي”.

واختتم: “نتمنى تقديم مباراة جيدة أمام الأهلي، سنخوض المواجهة بمعنويات أفضل بعد تحقيقنا المكسب على بيراميدز”.

ويحتل فريق سيراميكا المركز الثاني عشر في سلم ترتيب الدوري، بـ17 نقطة بعد تحقيقه الفوز الثالث في الدوري هذا الموسم.

FULL NAME: Clement Mahachi
BORN: 27 September 1979, at Bulawayo
MAJOR TEAMS: CFX Academy (1999/2000), Matabeleland (2000/01). Present clubside: MacDonald Club (Bulawayo)
KNOWN AS: Clement Mahachi. Nickname: `Donkey’ – a translation ofMahachi
BATTING STYLE: Left Hand Bat
BOWLING STYLE: Left Arm Medium Pace
OCCUPATION: CFX Academy studentFIRST-CLASS DEBUT: 3-5 March 2000, CFX Academy v Mashonaland, atCountry Club
TEST DEBUT: Still awaited
ODI DEBUT: Still awaitedBIOGRAPHY (updated April 2002)Unaccountably, all Zimbabwe’s black players to come through have been right-handers. Until Clement Mahachi, that is. The former Bulawayo Academy student, now a fulltime professional in Matabeleland, is a useful all-rounder who bats and bowls left-handed.Clement comes from a keen sporting family, but the predominant family interest is soccer and, like virtually every other black cricketer coming through at present, he has no family background in the game. His interest in cricket started at the age of ten or eleven at Lozikeyi primary school in the Bulawayo high-density townships, where the Zimbabwe Cricket Union introduced the game under their development scheme. He was very involved in soccer himself then, but had a friend with whom he used to play cricket for fun at times. He showed enough talent at both batting and bowling for his friend to use that as a reason to join him in attending the cricket sessions in the afternoon, run by Nicholas Sisingo.Clement remembers his first match, against the prominent Reps (Rhodes Estate Primary School) team, which was attended by Heath Streak and Henry Olonga. Opening the batting, he made his team’s top score of 30, and then took four wickets for 21 runs. He did not have the opportunity to attend the selection trials for the Matabeleland side that takes part in the national primary schools cricket week, though.Unfortunately there was no scholarship scheme in Bulawayo to ensure that Clement was able to attend a cricket-playing high school, and he had no school cricket after that. He did join Bulawayo Athletic Club, though, and was able to continue in the game there. In Form One, he says, he played for the BAC second team and scored 133 against a team from Sunrise, still his highest score in any class of cricket. He feels that his confidence in himself was his main attribute in such a remarkable innings at the age of about 14.It was not until the 1998/99 season that Clement was actually included in the BAC first team. He was playing successfully for the local development team that plays on Saturdays in the Bulawayo reserve league, later captaining the side to two league titles, and in 1997/98 he averaged 51 with the bat and also took plenty of wickets. Because of his lack of school cricket he was unable to attend representative trials for years, but finally, thanks to the provincial coach, former New Zealand Test player Bob Blair, he won selection for the Matabeleland Under-19 team and met experienced school players like Mluleki Nkala and others.Clement pays tribute to Mr Blair as a coach who has done a great deal to help him develop his game, especially with his bowling action. More recently Carl Rackemann has also helped him with his bowling. He has also had opportunities to bowl at the national side, and such touring teams as the Sri Lankans and Australians, in the nets, and has picked up useful tips from top players there.Clement was now in the squad for the full Matabeleland team, and played for a Matabeleland Invitation XI against the touring Australian Cricket Academy side, but without getting the chance to prove himself with bat or ball. He was invited to attend trials for the national Under-19 team for the World Cup, but it was discovered that he was too old to qualify.In 1999 Clement played well for Bulawayo Athletic Club, opening the batting, with 70 against Bulawayo Sports Club as his highest score amid several fifties, and taking wickets regularly, including four in an innings for 17 runs against Queens Sports Club. He was recommended as an Academy student for 2000 by the Matabeleland Board and by players like John Rennie who were impressed by his ability.At the Academy, with a number of all-rounders in the team, he was played mainly as a bowler who could bat, going in at number nine, while in the Logan Cup he became known mainly for playing an adhesive role, sometimes as night-watchman. He admits that he lacked confidence with the bat at first, which perhaps helped to account for a lowly position in the order to start off with. He regularly opened in Bulawayo club cricket, but felt he should aim for about number six in the Academy side. He is at present more fluent on the off side than the leg, and can cut well. He is also predominantly a front-foot player but is working on his back-foot technique.He spent the English season of 2000 playing for Brook Cricket Club in Surrey. "I struggled to bat there in the first couple of games because the pitches were a bit slow," he said. "But in the end I did well with the bat. The pitches were very good for my bowling, bowling my dibbly-dobbers!" He scored a couple of unbeaten eighties and his best bowling figures were four for 32. Unfortunately in mid-season he picked up a calf injury, which handicapped his batting and forced him to turn to spin bowling.He finished his year at the Academy, while playing with success for Old Hararians in the Vigne Cup. His best bowling performance was his four wickets against Old Georgians, but was unable to bowl for a month after dislocating a finger. He was posted back to Bulawayo after his year at the Academy and played for MacDonald Club, with more success in batting than bowling. His finger recovered in time for the Logan Cup programme, where he bowled some useful spells.He continued in Bulawayo in the final year of his contract with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, but moved to Bulawayo Sports Club on their promotion to the national first league. He scored 101 not out against Old Hararians in the very first match, but later suffered a back injury while practising his bowling that put him out for almost two months and caused him to miss the early part of Matabeleland’s Logan Cup programme. He felt his confidence as a batsman had improved while at the club.As a bowler the away-swinger is his stock ball, with an occasional inswinger as a surprise weapon. He usually fields in the middle distances, mid-on or mid-off.Although Clement does not come from a rich family, he is very grateful to them for their support. Although they are not a cricketing family, they used to watch him regularly in Bulawayo and give him every encouragement. He hopes to receive a new contract as player and coach at the end of 2002 but feels that he will need to work hard and produce the goods to merit it.Cricket heroes: "I’ve always looked on Brian Lara as my model as a batsman, and Wasim Akram as a bowler. Hopefully I will play better than them!"Toughest opponents: "In England I faced Saqlain Mushtaq in Graham Thorpe’s benefit match, and it was quite difficult to face the guy. On the local scene, Bryan Strang because he is quite deceptive; most of the time I have struggled facing him. The most difficult batsman to bowl to is Andy Flower, but while I was playing in that benefit match I had to bowl to Alec Stewart and he gave me a very difficult time."Immediate ambitions: "It’s quite a tough year for me because there’s a lot for me to do to improve myself as a professional cricketer. Hopefully I’ll make it as a professional cricketer. I would like to play for my country Zimbabwe and that means quite a lot of work."Proudest achievement: "Coming to the Academy has always been a dream for me because I felt that it would expose me to quite a lot of cricket. I think I will go one step further here by working hard and something has to come up."Best friends in cricket: "I’ve got a lot of friends, and in the Academy here I’ve discovered that we are all working as a team. It’s quite a bond and everyone here is my friend."Other sports: "I’ve played for the Zimbabwe junior side and at secondary school I used to play for the first team that twice reached the Coca Cola national finals. I love tennis, which is a morale-booster for me because of the ball-eye co-ordination."Views on cricket: "I give all credit to the establishment of the Cricket Academy here. Believe me, it’s worked wonders for me. Young guys get the exposure and spend lots of time thinking about cricket, playing cricket, and doing a lot in terms of physique. The professional supervision is very good and guys get to go to England to play. You get to understand cricket more than if you were practising on your own or playing for a club. I think it is going to make a difference in the near future."Going to the Academy was inspirational for me because I brushed shoulders with guys with different views and I got a lot of help from Dave Houghton, who has taught me different techniques and approaches to the game which has made a difference."

What a hiding Pakistan took and but for the weather, the match might have ended inside four days. No excuses please, not even the horrible decision against Inzaman-ul-Haq. Sri Lanka played total cricket and the commitment was so tangible, one could almost touch it. Not so Pakistan who looked out of sorts and in the words of P.G. Wodehouse “if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.”Waqar Younis has denied reports of disharmony in the team and I am glad that he has done so and although one should not read too much into body-language, the Sri Lankans seemed to be enjoying themselves, there was a stoop to the shoulders of the Pakistanis. One obvious reason for this could be that the Sri Lankans were winning and the Pakistanis were on the back-foot, throughout the match.Great pains were taken to prepare the wicket and because some grass had been left on it, it was described as a green-top and the expectation was that the ball would fly about. I don’t think one can change the fundamental character of a wicket by leaving some grass on it.In the end, it was a typical Gaddafi Stadium wicket which got slower, with the occasional ball keeping low and to no one’s surprise Muttiah Muralitharan was the bowler of the match while our own Saqlain Mushtaq was turning his arm over, along with Wasim Akram, for PIA in the one-day competition.Wasim had not been picked by the selection committee because it was not satisfied about his fitness but Saqlain was in the squad and was, therefore, dropped by Waqar and his think-tank. This meant that Pakistan had decided to go into a Test match without a specialist spinner and in this particular case, one of the best spinners in the world.Both Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi were played more for their batting and were not seriously bowled. I found Saqlain’s omission particularly surprising as the Sri Lankans have so many left-handers including Kumar Sangakkara who scored a double century.The Australians have stripped the captain of any say in the selection of the playing eleven. I am not in full agreement with this because a captain is the one who is held responsible if things go wrong and should have a say in the playing eleven but in a home series, it should be the selection committee who should decide the playing eleven, giving due weight to any in-put from the captain and the coach.The Pakistan attack lacked variety. Saqlain would have provided it and I don’t think the Sri Lankans would have made 528, if he was in the team.The Pakistan cricket public is disappointed but there was some good news as well, the best being the return to form of Inzamam. As the cliche goes, form is temporary but class is permanent and it was only a matter of one good innings before the confidence would return to this burly Multan batsman, among the best in the world.He was out for 99 to a decision that seemed almost fiendish, a no-ball plus too high plus missing leg. I don’t know whether it would have altered the result of the match, it seemed too far gone but those of us who were in Auckland for the 1992 World Cup semifinal saw Inzamam pull out Pakistan from a deeper hole and who knows, he could have steered Pakistan to the safety of a draw?Inzamam has had a lot on his mind lately, the health of his father which is of urgent concern to him. But his return to form could not have come at a better time with New Zealand’s tour of Pakistan confirmed.Mohammad Sami bowled with a lot of heart, a hat trick being the reward of his honest labour. He seems to be a quick learner and I noticed that he had shortened his run. Shoaib Akhtar too bowled well and seemed fully fit which is good news.Afridi was run out in the first innings, a mix-up between him and Younis Khan but he batted with determination in the second, a calm innings by his standards but a very good one.He was deceived in flight by Muralitharan but better batsman than Afridi have been bamboozled by the Sri Lankan magician. But batting remains the main worry and though there is no Muralitharan in the New Zealand attack, there is plenty of high class bowling, as well as batting.Pakistan must forget this Test match, its overall performance being eminently forgettable and become a settled team as Sri Lanka was. Sri Lanka came with a plan and stuck to it, Pakistan, on the other hand, chose to play it by ear. Having lost the toss and been put in, the batting just folded and no one was able to stay long enough to take charge.There was some poor shot selection which at this level of cricket shows a lack of application and an inability to differentiate between Test and one-day cricket. Compared to the Sri Lankans who seem to enjoy their fielding, the Pakistan effort in the field made it appear as manual labour. But where we were decidedly better was in the bowling of no-balls. The Sri Lankans bowled some 60 no-balls in both the innings, the Pakistani bowlers were more disciplined. They bowled far fewer. This is not comfort enough.It’s not quite back to the drawing board but the Pakistan team must have a session among themselves and do some honest soul-searching. Why should there be this perception that a wholehearted effort was missing, that the team appeared to be stuck in second gear?I still rate Pakistan among the best Test teams in the world. And as far as the PCB is concerned, it has gone an extra mile to support the players. The players have never had it so good. There should be some reciprocity from them.

Leeds United’s Andrea Radrizzani is risking Marcelo Bielsa’s wrath amid a major transfer update on their pursuit of Stade Brest’s Romain Perraud.

What’s the story?

According to reports from The Athletic’s Phil Hay, the Whites were eyeing a summer transfer move for the left-back, and there were even recent claims that they were confident of landing him after encouraging talks.

Now however, Football Insider claim that a move is on the brink of collapse, with a Leeds source telling them that “there has been frustration over the asking price set by the Ligue 1 club for the French full-back”.

The report adds: “Stade Brest have told the Premier League club they want between £15-18m for the former France Under-20 international.

“That is more than Leeds are willing to pay for a player without senior international or Champions League experience, and who has only been playing in the French top tier for two seasons.”

Bielsa will be fuming

Whilst Leeds’ stance on not wanting to be bullied into paying over the odds for a player is admirable, the fact that he was being considered as their “top” left-back target for this summer earlier in May should surely have seen the Whites just stump up the money here.

£15m-£18m is hardly a blockbuster deal that would have left Leeds completely reeling financially, and there’s a real debate to be had about whether the extra few millions they spend on Perraud is worth more than going after their second or third-choice targets who might be slightly cheaper, but not quite as good.

Perraud himself enjoyed a superb campaign in Ligue 1, with his tally of seven assists in the division only seeing three other Leeds players manage more (Raphinha with nine, Patrick Bamford and Jack Harrison with eight each).

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/leeds-united-marcelo-bielsa-transfer-gossip-rumours-news-elland-road-rodrigo-de-paul” title=”Read the latest Leeds transfer rumours and news!”]

And, in a piece for The Athletic, Hay revealed just why the full-back appears to be an absolutely perfect fit for what Bielsa wants at Elland Road.

He wrote: “Perraud…shows characteristics which would meet Bielsa requirements: a creative edge and a high number of dribbles and shots for a player at his position, combined with a very active role in pressing defensively.”

It’s exactly why Leeds’ decision to pull out of negotiations with Brest over signing Perraud will have Bielsa absolutely fuming.

Meanwhile, Marcelo Bielsa must sell this Leeds United flop this summer…