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Craig Kieswetter returned to the Somerset team with a half-century as the Group A leaders maintained their successful Clydesdale Bank record with a 71-run win over Worcestershire at Bath

Cricinfo staff23-May-2010
Scorecard
Craig Kieswetter returned to the Somerset team with a half-century as the Group A leaders maintained their successful Clydesdale Bank record with a 71-run win over Worcestershire at Bath. A festival crowd of around 3,000, basking in hot sunshine, saw the England World Twenty20 hero hit 52, with three sixes and three fours, in a Somerset total of 235 for 9. Zander de Bruyn made 55, and Ben Phillips 51 not out, his first one-day half-century.That proved too much for the Royals on an unpredictable pitch, as they subsided from 63 for 1 to 164 all out, Mark Turner taking a career best 4 for 36 from 7.4 overs. Somerset have now won all five of their group matches, and already look hot favourites to reach the semi-finals.Kieswetter received a warm ovation from spectators when opening the Somerset innings after they had lost the toss, and soon helped them make up for the early losses of Marcus Trescothick and Nick Compton. He shared a third-wicket stand of 86 with de Bruyn, and was soon demonstrating the clean hitting that had earned him the Man of the Match award in the World Twenty20 final seven days earlier.Having faced 63 balls, Kieswetter got a leading edge to Imran Arif and was caught at cover. When the in-form James Hildreth followed for a duck and De Bruyn was caughtbehind having hit five fours and two sixes, Somerset were 125 for 5.Worcestershire continued to claim wickets, but the match was taken away from them by 34-year-old Phillips, who hammered seven fours and a six in 34 balls. Daryl Mitchell was the pick of the Royals’ attack, with 2 for 30 from his eight overs.When Vikram Solanki fell to the first ball of the Royals’ reply, a sharp lifter from Turner, their struggles in the competition looked set to continue. Phil Jaques and Moeen Ali briefly raised hopes with a stand of 63, but once Jaques was well caught by Murali Kartik attempting to pull Turner, there was a steady procession of batsmen.Peter Trego produced a delightful slower ball to york Alexei Kervezee for 19, and soon it was 141 for 8. Kieswetter’s glovework was nowhere near as impressive as his batting, and the 22-year-old still has work to do on his keeping if he wants to challenge Matt Prior for his Test place.

Australia want to begin their tour of the British Isles with a big win against Ireland

Brydon Coverdale16-Jun-2010Match FactsRicky Ponting hasn’t been in action since the tour of New Zealand in March•Getty ImagesThursday, June 17
Start time 1045 (0945 GMT)The Big PictureAustralia’s six-week tour of the British Isles begins in the understated surrounds of Clontarf in Dublin, where they kick things off with an ODI against Ireland. While Ricky Ponting’s men will be understandably keen to ensure a big victory, the real aim is to shed any winter rust before the five-match series against England.Several of the Australians were in the Caribbean for the World Twenty20 last month, while others have been involved with the IPL since the Australian season ended. But for some, like Ponting and James Hopes, the past two and a half months has been an extended holiday. They don’t want to head to Southampton for the first ODI still rusty, so expect Australia to play their full strength team in this encounter.For Ireland, there’s little to lose. Nobody truly expects them to beat Australia, but their history shows they are capable of upsets if their more fancied opponents fail to show them due respect. Next month they have two more chances to beat a Test-playing side when they host Bangladesh in Belfast, but knocking off Australia would be something special.Form guide (most recent first)Ireland LLWWW
Australia LWWWL
Watch out for…Tim Paine has done everything right when he has been given opportunities in the one-day team. He scored 111 against England at Trent Bridge last year and has also posted three half-centuries in a 17-game career. Paine will have the gloves for at least the limited-overs portion of the tour but is also auditioning for a potential Test debut if Brad Haddin’s elbow injury keeps him from rejoining the squad.A tall fast man who has been identified by the ECB as a potential player of the future, Boyd Rankin will be a key man if Ireland are to restrict Australia’s batsmen. In home conditions, he could be more of a challenge than the Australians anticipate.Team newsIreland will be without the 17-year-old spinner George Dockrell, who was highly impressive at the ICC World Twenty20. He is unavailable due to exams and on the eve of the match they also lost the experienced Andre Botha with a suspected stress fracture of the back.Ireland (possible) 1 William Porterfield (capt), 2 Paul Stirling, 3 Niall O’Brien (wk), 4 Alex Cusack, 5 Kevin O’Brien, 6 Gary Wilson, 7 Andrew White, 9 John Mooney, 9 Trent Johnston, 10 Peter Connell, 11 Boyd Rankin.Elbow problems have prevented both Mitchell Johnson and Haddin from joining the squad in Ireland. Paine will take the gloves and most likely the opening position, which could mean Shaun Marsh has to wait for his comeback having missed the tour of New Zealand with a back injury. The pace trio of Ryan Harris, Clint McKay and Doug Bollinger will lead the attack in England, so they will all be keen for a decent warm-up. The teenage fast man Josh Hazlewood will probably be running the drinks, with Steven Smith and Nathan Hauritz to battle for the spin position.Australia (possible) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Tim Paine (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Cameron White, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 James Hopes, 8 Steven Smith/Nathan Hauritz, 9 Ryan Harris, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Doug Bollinger.Pitch and conditionsThe Dublin pitch is expected to be slow and low, which will reward stump-to-stump bowling. The forecast is for isolated showers and a top temperature of 21C.Stats and trivia The two teams have met only once before in a one-day international, when Australia romped to a nine-wicket win at the 2007 World Cup Ireland famously beat Pakistan and Bangladesh in the World Cup in the West Indies, but have not beaten a full ICC member in an ODI since then Ireland are yet to be beaten in an ODI at the Castle Avenue ground in Dublin, where they have had five wins, one no-result and one match abandoned Trent Johnston played five first-class games for New South Wales from 1999 to 2000, and will be lining up against one of his former state team-mates, Michael ClarkeQuotes”If you get ahead of yourself and you’re worrying about England and you don’t pay Ireland the respect they deserve then they can sneak up and bite you.”
Merv Hughes, the Australian selector on duty”It’s hard for us to look and say, if Australia are tip-top in every area, that we will beat them but if they’re going to screw up at any time then we’re going to be ready for it.”
Phil Simmons, the coach of Ireland

It was more gloom and doom than ‘Boom Boom’ for star one-day batsman Shahid Afridi after Pakistan’s enigmatic captain suffered a six-ball duck on the opening day of their second tour game against Kent in Canterbury

Mark Pennell at Canterbury28-Jun-2010
ScorecardUmar Akmal was the mainstay of the Pakistan innings with 153•PA PhotosIt was more gloom and doom than ‘Boom Boom’ for star one-day batsman Shahid Afridi after Pakistan’s enigmatic captain suffered a six-ball duck on the opening day of their second tour game against Kent in Canterbury.Instead of watching Afridi dispatch the ball to all parts, Kent and Pakistan supporters had to contend themselves with a workmanlike 153 from Umar Akmal as Pakistan recovered from a sticky start of 53 for 3 to rack up 360 all out in temperatures more akin to Gujranwala than the Garden of England.Having elected to rest the majority of their first choice side for this first-class fixture, Kent gave a county debut to former Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Middlesex leg-spinner Mark Lawson and welcomed back seamers Dewald Nel and Robbie Joseph after long-term injuries. The hosts also included their former Academy all-rounders Matt Coles and Alex Blake in a side led by former Pakistan allrounder Azhar Mahmood.Though understandably batting first in sublime conditions and against a makeshift county attack, Pakistan made a miserable start by losing four wickets for 112 in the opening session of this three-day friendly.Looking ill at ease against a seaming ball, the tourists lost their first three batsmen all to leg-before decisions. Umar Amin (2) played horribly across the line of a Coles off-cutter then Fawad Alam (20) went in the same manner despite the hint of an inside edge against Nel, who was bowling his first over for the county first team since April.Then, in the next over Mahmood snared Salman Butt (26) to one that darted back in to the left-hander hitting him flush in front and leaden footed at the crease. In the last over before lunch Shoaib Malik (27) was enticed into a rash, wide drive against Lawson to meekly give up his wicket to a comfortable catch at backward point.After lunch the sprightly Blake, bowling again after a host of back problems, took two wickets in consecutive overs, including the prized scalp of Afridi. The 21-year-old had Kamran Akmal (28) spectacularly caught at gully, one-handed by Coles diving away to his right off an edged drive then, without addition to the score, Afridi disappointed his local following once more.In his four one-day starts when playing for Kent back in 2004 Afridi averaged a dismal 13 and faced only 24 deliveries, this time around he lasted barely seven minutes before an impulsive drive over cover sliced off an open face to deep backward point, where Nel took a good catch on the run.While Afridi sloped off to spend half-an-hour in the St Lawrence practice nets, so Pakistan’s seventh-wicket partners Umar Akmal and Abdul Rashid set about posting a sensible partnership worth 111 in 30.1 overs.Akmal moved to a 73-ball half-century with a six over mid-wicket against Lawson, but generally played well within himself until he had reached three figures. At the other end, Abdul Rehman was content to play second fiddle, batting a shade over two hours for his 30 runs and two boundaries.His stay came to an end after the right-hander over-balanced when attempting a leg-glance against James Goodman only to be stumped by a good piece of work by Kent’s understudy keeper Paul Dixey, who was deputising for the resting Geraint Jones.Once safely to his 150-ball century with 15 fours and a six, the diminutive Umar Akmal opened up his locker of shots with four more sixes, three of which came from lofted-straight drives against debutant Lawson.Lawson finally got his revenge and brought an end to the right-hander’s 268-minute stay to another Dixey stumping, this time after Akmal had advanced down the pitch only to miss with a wild swish to one he had hoped to deposit somewhere over the ropes at long-on.Lawson, assisted by three stumpings by Dixey, duly ran through the tail to finish with 4 for 93 leaving Kent to survive the final over of the day and post two without loss by the close. Night watchman Coles scored their only runs.

A crucial transfer claim has been made as Rangers plot their second signing of the January transfer window…

What’s the talk?

According to The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell, the Gers are in a ‘strong position’ to sign Vitesse Arnhem defender Danilho Doekhi on a pre-contract agreement this month.

His deal with the Eredivisie outfit expires in the summer and Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side are leading the interest in his services.

Fans will be buzzing

Rangers fans will surely be buzzing with this news, as it suggests that the club have a great chance of landing the centre-back at the end of the season. The Gers could be set to bring him in on a free transfer, which would be a coup for Ross Wilson as it would free up funds to strengthen in other areas instead of needing to splash out on a big transfer fee for a defensive signing.

James Sands has already joined the club on loan from New York City FC and this deal for Doekhi could be Van Bronckhorst’s second signing of the month, although he would need to wait until the summer to line up for the Scottish giants.

Last year, his current boss Thomas Letsch lauded his ability, saying: “Danilho is extremely important. He is one of the best center-backs of the Eredivisie.

“Of course there is more talk about Oussama Tannane, Riechedly Bazoer and the attacking players. But it is very important for the team that you are stable and prevent goals. Everyone is responsible for that, but Doekhi, Jacob Rasmussen and also Tomas Hajek do a super job.

“He already played fantastic last year and this season he has performed at the highest level in every game. Danilho makes almost no mistakes and is an absolute team player, a very calm player. flat developed. He coaches other players very well. He is calmer than other players and perhaps that makes him less noticeable, but he is the reserve captain for a reason.”

This highlights the Dutchman’s qualities as a defender and illustrates why Van Bronckhorst will be buzzing over this telling update from Campbell. The ex-Feyenoord coach will surely love to have a centre-back who makes ‘almost no mistakes’ and, at the age of 23, has potential to improve even further.

It is now over to Wilson to ensure that he can get a deal over the line for the defender in the coming weeks by pinning him down to a pre-contract agreement.

AND in other news, Chris Jack reveals Rangers swoop for “wonderful” 6 ft 1 beast, fans will be buzzing…

Melbourne Renegades, unfashionable and unfancied before the tournament began, won their third straight game, beating Hobart Hurricanes by seven wickets at Docklands Stadium

Alex Malcolm in Melbourne19-Dec-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMelbourne Renegades, unfashionable and unfancied before the tournament began, won their third straight game, beating Hobart Hurricanes by seven wickets at Docklands Stadium.They stuck to the formula of winning the toss and bowling. All 11 matches in this tournament so far have been won by the chasing team. But their attack is proving extremely effective as they strangled the Hurricanes on a surface that looked relatively good for batting.There is a touch of Moneyball about the Renegades. They have the all-time leading wicket-taker in international cricket, Muttiah Muralitharan, and the Man of the Match from the 2012 World Twenty20 final, Marlon Samuels, as marquee men. But there are two journeymen in Nathan Rimmington and Aaron O’Brien, who happen to be in the top five leading wicket-takers in Australian domestic T20 history, as well as the seamer Darren Pattinson (who played one Test for England) to round off a well-balanced bowling unit.The Hurricanes started steadily. Pattinson erred by dropping short to Ricky Ponting twice in the second over and paid for it by giving away two boundaries. But Rimmington’s late swing removed Tim Paine to start a rot that would prove fatal for the visitors. The dangerous Travis Birt nearly hit the roof when he launched Samuels but it landed in the doctor-safe hands of Daniel Harris.Ponting threatened to unleash when he lofted an imperious cover drive into the stands off Pattinson. But Ponting lost his off stump off an uncharacteristic reverse-sweep off Muralitharan and the Hurricanes began to slide. They lost 4 for 16 in 28 torturous deliveries, with Muralitharan striking twice, O’Brien and Rimmington once apiece.Owais Shah was unbeaten in that period but he did not help his team’s cause, scoring a boundary-less 14 from 29 balls before becoming Samuels’ third victim in the 18th over. Xavier Doherty and Doug Bollinger scored 15 from the last 10 balls to ensure the Hurricanes went past three figures and didn’t get bowled out.Aaron Finch continued to prove himself as one of the star players in Australian domestic limited-overs cricket, making light work of the chase with an unbeaten 46 from 40 balls. He went after Bollinger, but because it hit a beam supporting the roof, outside the boundary line, and bounced back onto the field it was ruled a dead ball. That denied him a fifty.Finch lost Harris early in the chase, but had the support of Samuels in maximising the Powerplay overs. Samuels smoked 21 from just nine deliveries before chopping Michael Hogan onto his stumps via his pads. Ben Rohrer made a crafty 18, and Tom Cooper made an easy unbeaten 10 to see the chase home with his captain Finch with 40 balls to spare.The Hurricanes, last year’s semi-finalists, have now lost two in a row and need to recover against Sydney Thunder on Sunday in Hobart. The Renegades will be gunning for four straight wins when they host Brisbane Heat on Saturday.

An update has emerged on Rangers loanee Cedric Itten, regarding a potential change in style for the Ibrox forward under Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

What’s been said?

Responding to a fan’s question about loan players suiting van Bronckhorst’s squad, The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell named the attacker as an ‘interesting case’.

The report claimed that he was told Itten had been training to play in a similar way to Tottenham’s £108m-rated striker Harry Kane, in the way that he drops deep to receive the ball.

He said:

“Cedric Itten is an interesting case. When I watched him at St Gallen, it was obvious he was not a target man primarily. But Gerrard tended to start him from the right as a way to play towards him diagonally.

“I don’t think it played to his strengths and I was told in the summer, in the lead-up to the Malmo first leg he had to start because Alfredo Morelos was suspended, that Itten had been working on dropping deep in a way that replicated the role Harry Kane has carved out at Tottenham.”

Unleash him

The Gers have a number of players currently out on loan and van Bronckhorst may want to run the rule over them heading into January, in case he decides that he wants to recall them to utilise their talents in the second half of the campaign.

Instead of asking Ross Wilson to splash the cash on expensive additions to the squad, the Dutchman could bring Itten – for example – back to Ibrox and look to make him a success. This could save the club millions in the transfer window and make for an intriguing tactical tweak in the coming months.

The £14k-per-week gem, who was once dubbed “superb” by ex-Gers boss Steven Gerrard, could slot perfectly into the way van Bronckhorst’s team has set up since his arrival if he is able to play in a similar way to Kane.

If Itten can drop deep to receive the ball on the half-turn before spinning and firing the ball into the space he vacated then it could be a masterstroke by the Dutchman.

Ryan Kent and Fashion Sakala, who played in the wide roles vs Hearts, have pace to burn and could make runs inside their full-backs into the space Itten leaves – latching onto the Swiss striker’s passes to go through on goal. Scott Arfield and Joe Aribo have also made a similar run from deep that could suit this style of play, with both scoring goals by making runs past the attacker.

Itten scored 36 goals in 63 games for St Gallen, showing that he has the ability to be a regular goalscorer to go along with his potential stylistic suitability to van Bronckhorst’s side, but he is yet to fulfil his potential for Rangers.

By bringing him back to the club in January and utilising him in this new role, the ex-Feyenoord coach could get the best out of him.

AND in other news, Forget Tavernier: “Terrific” Rangers beast with 51 duels won is already Gvb’s key man…

Chennai’s batting coach Stephen Fleming hoped MS Dhoni would return to lead the side in Mumbai but said a decision would be made on match day

Cricinfo staff24-Mar-2010By coincidence Chennai Super Kings, after five matches, are in the same spot this year as they were in South Africa in 2009: three matches lost and an uphill climb to the semi-finals. Injuries to key players have hampered their campaign and, with only nine games remaining, MS Dhoni’s team is up against it to make the final four for the third season running.The most damaging setback was the freak injury to the captain, who got hit on the elbow by a short ball from Shane Bond. In the absence of Andrew Flintoff and Jacob Oram from the entire season, Chennai rely on Dhoni and Matthew Hayden to provide momentum.That reliance is evident from Chennai’s experience so far. Hayden failed against Deccan Chargers and, though Dhoni led the rearguard action, Chennai lost by 31 runs. Dhoni then rescued the innings from a top-order collapse against Kolkata and his 109-run stand with S Badrinath was instrumental in the 55-run victory. Hayden unleashed the Mongoose against Delhi, ensuring his aggression made up for Dhoni’s absence, while chasing a stiff target. But Hayden’s dismissals in the 30s during the next two games, coupled with Dhoni’s injury-forced absence, was too much for Chennai to cope with and they were beaten by both Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore.”Yes, that is the bottom line. The key players are relied upon. Certainly with injuries, they are relied upon more,” coach Stephen Fleming said.Such is Dhoni’s versatility that his absence deprives the line-up of someone expert at building, as well as finishing, the innings. The other man capable of destroying bowling during the final overs is Justin Kemp, but he too missed the last game with a back injury. “We do miss a finisher,” Fleming said, ahead of the match against Mumbai Indians. “We saw that in the game against Punjab and we played the extra batter yesterday [George Bailey against Bangalore]. But if Dhoni comes back, the balance of the side changes again. We have got injury problems at the moment: we have lost Flintoff, Oram and now Kemp. So that is a big dent to the way we play our game.”Fleming hoped Dhoni would return to lead the side in Mumbai but said a decision would be made on match day. “[Dhoni] Looks good,” he said. “He is back with the team and he is training today. But we will make a call after training today, and then again tomorrow, to see how his arm reacts to doing a bit more work. We are happy at this stage, we hope he’ll be playing.”When asked if Dhoni would play as a wicketkeeeper, Fleming said they were “looking at full fitness.” “There is obviously a responsibility to Indian cricket as well, so there are a lot interested (in his fitness). Like I said, we will be cautious but we are optimistic.”The floating middle order is another of Chennai’s problems, one acknowledged by VB Chandrasekar, one of the team’s coaches. Dhoni’s absence has led to a change of plans but to make someone like M Vijay, who is more assured while opening against the new ball, bat at three different positions in five matches suggests there is uncertainty about the role each batsman must perform. The captain cannot return soon enough.

South Africa’s batsmen, led by a typically sublime Jacques Kallis, got in a good day of batting practice ahead of the Test series, on the second and final day of the tour game in Nagpur

Cricinfo staff03-Feb-2010
Scorecard
With the prospects of a result out of the picture, the South African batsmen ensured that they got their eye in, leading up to sterner tests in the Test series•Associated PressThey may have got just two days of warm-up cricket, but the South Africans made the most of it in Nagpur. All their major batsmen got a decent hit, and none of them looked in obvious discomfort in adjusting to the conditions. Jacques Kallis got his tour off to a rollicking start, scoring a fifty in about 40 minutes and drawing the few spectators into generous applause as he walked off, unbeaten, to give the rest of the batsmen a look-in.Kallis acknowledged the cheers with a semi-raise of the bat, but there were no half measures in his batting. Before him, Ashwell Prince, Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla took time to settle in. Prince and Amla started off in extremely cautious fashion. Defence, defence, defence first and attack later seemed to be the order of the day, and all three got good scores by going through the routine. Prince looked the least comfortable of the lot, but was never in trouble.Kallis had none of the inhibitions that the top three had, in opening up against a friendly bowling attack. The best quality of his batting – judging the length earlier than most other batsmen do – was on ample display. It was as if he read the length from the bowlers’ minds. When the spinners, R Ashwin and Piyush Chawla, bowled full, he danced down the track and went either straight down the ground or inside out. He didn’t mind the slog-sweep either. The quicker men – Abhimanyu Mithun, R Vinay Kumar, Manpreet Gony and Umesh Yadav – didn’t escape the square-drive, the cut, and the pull. He came in to bat minutes before lunch, and 34 minutes after the interval he had brought up his fifty with a lovely straight lofted six, his third, off Chawla. The next ball he cut away for four, bringing up 50 runs in boundaries alone.Thereafter Kallis tried to change the length and manufacture strokes by walking down the track to fast bowlers, but was beaten on a couple of occasions, attempting pull shots. Satisfied with his day’s work, he walked off, letting his team-mates have their only hit in the middle before the Test that begins on Saturday.Amla, who indulged in his favourite flicks, cover-drives and square-cuts, after a circumspect start, was the next man to retire not out. By then, though, he had overtaken Kallis’ score, and the South Africans had reached 236 for 2. That brought AB de Villiers and JP Duminy to the middle when the spinners were on. It was ideal practice for them as most of the times during the Test series, they will be expected to walk in with spinners in operation. By the same token, the top order got a hit against the quick men, followed by some spin.Chawla, who had missed most of the first session because of fever, and had then been on the wrong side of Kallis, came back well to dismiss de Villiers and Duminy on either side of tea, after they had both looked solid in scoring 27 and 39 respectively. Chawla went on to dismiss Johan Botha and Wayne Parnell in quick succession before Dale Steyn provided further entertainment to the 50-odd people at the ground, who had originally come to see local boy Yadav bowl.Steyn tucked into Ashwin’s innocuous offspin, hitting four sixes, three of them in one over. Going for the fifth, he was caught at long-on by Vinay, and a satisfied Smith chose to declare the innings closed at eight down. Steyn proceeded to hug Vinay and Manish Pandey, both his Royal Challengers Bangalore team-mates, and the South Africans thanked their opponents for a good practice match. Parthiv Patel hung around with Mark Boucher, gleaning some wicketkeeping tips. It was followed by a loud and raucous football match among the South Africans. Their faces were of men who were content with having made as much use as possible of a short warm-up match leading into a tough Test series.

Celtic goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas is wanted by a number of Turkish sides ahead of the January transfer window, according to Sky Sports reporter Anthony Joseph.

The Lowdown: Barkas’ Scotland struggles

The Hoops forked out £4.5m on the 27-year-old back in July 2020, however, it hasn’t turned out to be an inspired piece of business.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/celtic-updates-17/” title=”Celtic updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Barkas has made just 23 appearances in green and white, with just one of those coming under Ange Postecoglou. He hasn’t been seen since his Parkhead blunder against FC Midtjylland in a Champions League qualifier back in July and has only made one Scottish Premiership matchday squad.

And it now seems as if the 6 foot 4 colossus is set to leave Glasgow in 2022.

The Latest: Joseph’s post on Barkas

Joseph was a busy man on Monday afternoon, providing plenty of Celtic-related transfer updates.

He finished with a piece of outgoing news, claiming Barkas, thought to be on £20,000-a-week at Parkhead, is ‘open’ to a departure in 2022, whether that be a permanent or temporary one.

“Finally, a number of Turkish clubs are interested in Celtic goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas, who is believed to be open to a loan or permanent move next month.”

The Verdict: Get rid…

Postecoglou doesn’t need to keep hold of Barkas after signing Joe Hart over the summer and having Scott Bain and Conor Hazard as back-ups. [Transfermarkt]

So, on that basis, getting his hefty wage off the books at Lennoxtown seems to be the best decision, even if it is on loan for the rest of the season.

If Celtic receive a respectable permanent offer, then he should leave for good, but not needing to worry about his £20,000-a-week salary could be priceless, especially with the Hoops looking into deals for Japanese trio Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi.

In other news: ‘Outstanding’ star may miss four games as Celtic issues worsen ahead of Betis clash

Manchester United have been linked with a shock swoop to sign Ross Barkley from Luton this summer, in a pursuit spearheaded by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

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Barkley signed by Ratcliffe at NiceIn fine form for relegation-threatened LutonUnited need midfield reinforcementsWHAT HAPPENED?

Barkley has been linked with a shock move to United by The Sun, having previously impressed new owner Ratcliffe during his time at Nice. When he was with the French club, reports suggested that Ratcliffe actually pushed manager Lucien Favre to play him more often for the Ligue 1 club.

AdvertisementTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The report suggests that United are looking to reinforce their midfield as they are willing to sell Casemiro and send Sofyan Amrabat back to Fiorentina. Barkley would not be a prohibitively expensive target, as Luton may well need to sell if they are relegated.

Getty ImagesDID YOU KNOW?

Barkley has made 20 appearances in the Premier League this season, scoring three goals and registering three assists. He is spearheading Luton's attempt to avoid relegation, with the club currently 18th, one point behind Everton, although another points deduction would dramatically alter the complexion of the survival race.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR BARKLEY?

Luton play Manchester City in the fifth round of the FA Cup in midweek. They will return to Premier League action next weekend against Aston Villa.