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Writing on his Patreon, reliable club insider ExWHUemployee has dropped a behind the scenes West Ham United update involving Borussia Monchengladbach striker Alassane Plea.

The Lowdown: West Ham in forward hunt?

At the beginning of this transfer window, club insider Claret & Hugh tipped the striker position as a real priority for manager David Moyes this summer alongside the acquisition of a centre-half and Jesse Lingard.

Two weeks of the summer now remain as August 31 fast approaches and West Ham have still been unable to land a new forward as back up to Michail Antonio.

Moyes has been scouring the market for a centre-forward since January, with the Scotsman even confirming bids for the likes of Youssef En-Nesyri.

Now, ExWHUemployee has dropped a behind-scenes claim involving Plea – coming after links emerged to the forward.

The Latest: Ex drops Plea claim…

As per the reliable club source, sharing information on his Patreon, West Ham were offered the chance to sign Plea this summer with agents making an approach behind the scenes.

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A target in previous windows, as claimed by Ex, representatives of the Frenchman gifted Moyes and co the chance to sign him for just £15 million from Monchengladbach.

ExWHUemployee goes on to say that, while he was been watched recently, West Ham have decided not to take those agents up on the Plea offer as it stands as he is a ‘previous target’ who the club do not wish to explore.

Indeed, the insider has appeared to refute claims that he is currently a target.

The Verdict: Right call?

Scoring a career total 86 goals so far since making his Lyon debut way back in 2012/2013, we believe the Irons have made a just call in not signing Plea as Antonio’s alternative.

He hasn’t scored on a prolific basis since the 2019/2020 season when he bagged 10 goals and 10 assists in 27 Bundesliga appearances (Transfermarkt).

Indeed, since the end of that campaign, Plea has managed just seven goals in 30 league appearances – potentially highlighting he is not exactly what West Ham need.

That being said, under a fortnight of the window remains so Moyes needs to decide on his ultimate striker target as soon as possible or concede to waiting until January.

In other news: Sky Sports reporter believes West Ham could swoop for ‘phenomenal’ attacker before deadline day, find out more here.

Tottenham Hotspur are the latest team to be linked with a move for Ismaila Sarr this month…

What’s the word?

According to Eurosport, Spurs have registered an interest in the Watford sensation and will now look into his availability ahead of the transfer window’s deadline on August 31st.

Sources have indicated that the 23-year-old is not for sale, with his value expected to be north of £50m.

Over the past few windows, he has attracted the attention from the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United, though the Hornets will fight to keep hold of their impressive winger.

Traore 2.0

Spurs’ mooted interest in Sarr comes as a surprise but he fits the mould of the sort of wide man that manager Nuno Santo absolutely loves. You only have to look at the transformation of Adama Traore at Molineux to see that.

And whilst the Spaniard is built like a brick wall in comparison to the Watford star, there are plenty more similarities that could hint towards him being an ideal fit under the Lilywhites head coach.

Liverpool’s Sadio Mane waxed lyrical about his compatriot, describing him as “rapid” to The Athletic in the summer of 2019. “I think defenders will struggle,” he added.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/spurs-latest-team-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-more” title= “Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours, gossip and much more!”]

“Last time I was speaking to Robbo (Andy Robertson) I said, ‘Watford have a really good player. I will need to help you more otherwise Ismaila Sarr will kill you, because he is a good dribbler and very, very fast.

“He has a very big facility to win penalties. So I will be telling the Liverpool defenders to take care because he is very quick and can change the game by winning penalties because he is a very clever player. This is one of his strengths.”

Explosive speed and acceleration is certainly an attribute that Nuno reaped the rewards from with Traore over the past few seasons.

Sarr enjoyed a breakthrough campaign in North London last season, registering a career-high 13 goals and four assists as Watford won promotion from the Championship.

It’s widely believed that Spurs are seeking some creativity in attack and that’s what the Senegal international could bring in abundance. He averaged 2.2 shots, 1.1 key passes and 3.9 crossing attempts per 90 minutes, via WhoScored, which suggests that he would fit the criteria the club is clearly looking for.

Furthermore, Sarr’s former teammate Abdoulaye Doucoure, who is now at Everton, has previously tipped him to achieve on the biggest stage, claiming to talkSPORT:

“I’ve told him as a joke that he’s a Champions League player, but I really think it’s because I know he has exceptional qualities. He’s not just quick, he’s incredible at finishing, he can find space, keep the ball and I hope he’ll go very far.”

On the above evidence, Nuno could turn to Sarr to be his new game-changer from the right-flank and just like his former star Traore, he has the capability to play a little deeper as an attacking wing-back.

The Portuguese would surely love to seal a move for the £18m-rated speed demon.

AND in other news, Bye-bye Ndombele: Spurs must sign £12m-rated “great talent” who’s “similar” to Eriksen…

Steve Green (Easton & Martyr Worthy CC) Suspended for two League matches, with a further ban of one match suspended for two years

SPCL Committee Release30-Aug-2002The following suspension has been confirmed, with effect from 27 August 2002:Steve Green (Easton & Martyr Worthy CC)Suspended for two League matches, with a further ban of one match suspended for two years.The suspension applies to organisations affiliated to the Hampshire Cricket Board and to neighbouring county boards.

Tim Bresnan, the Yorkshire allrounder, has been called into England’s squad for their ODI against Scotland, at the Grange, on Monday to cover for injury problems to Ryan Sidebottom and Chris Tremlett

Cricinfo staff17-Aug-2008
Tim Bresnan has been called into England’s one-day squad after injuries hit the quick bowlers © Getty Images
Tim Bresnan, the Yorkshire allrounder, has been called into England’s squad for their ODI against Scotland, at the Grange, on Monday to cover for injury problems to Ryan Sidebottom and Chris Tremlett.Sidebottom has a hip problem and hasn’t travelled to Edinburgh with the team and has been ruled out of the Twenty20 against South Africa, at Chester-le-Street, on Wednesday. He will undergo fitness tests at the National Academy in Loughborough with a view to his participation in the one-day series which starts at Headingley next Friday.Sidebottom has been struggling with injuries through the second half of the season. He missed the Headingley Test against South Africa with a back problem and didn’t look fit when he returned at Edgbaston before being left out at The Oval.However, England coach Peter Moores isn’t concerned about Sidebottom’s long-term fitness. “Physically he’s in a better shape than he was 12 months ago, but he has had a lot of workload and he’s bowled a lot of overs in the Test matches,” he told the . “We rested him for the last Test and it’s given him a bit more of a window to get fully recharged. He’s had a bit of groin pain and neck pain, which they are hopeful of getting cleared up so he is available for the next period to come.”Tremlett has a heel injury and although he has remained with the squad he is doubtful to face Scotland, which has earned Bresnan his recall.Bresnan played four ODIs and one Twenty20 international during 2006, but took just two wickets against Sri Lanka. However has impressed with a consistent county season. He has scored 442 runs in the Championship at 36.83 and taken 40 wickets at 26.42, while earlier in the season he took 18 wickets at 18.05 in the Friends Provident Trophy.England will also be without former one-day captain Paul Collingwood for the match against Scotland as he continues to serve the four-match ban he collected for a slow over-rate against New Zealand. Samit Patel, the Nottinghamshire allrounder, could be in line for a debut after hitting 60 for England Lions against the South Africans on Saturday.

Lancashire cantered to an eight-wicket victory at Taunton with Mark Chilton falling three short of his second century of the season

Cricinfo staff27-Sep-2008
ScorecardLancashire cantered to an eight-wicket victory at Taunton with Mark Chilton falling three short of his second century of the season. As soon as Kent lost against Durham all relegation issues were decided, but less than two weeks ago Lancashire appeared to be heading for the drop. Events have often changed quickly this season.Their only delay on the final day was early-morning fog, which meant the openers couldn’t resume for an hour. However, when they did Chilton and Horton progressed with ease to post a stand of 151 before Horton fell to Andrew Caddick.Chilton was set to sign off the summer, which started with him playing second XI cricket, with a hundred but was caught down the leg side off Caddick three short. He can end the season secure of his place for the opening weeks of next year’s campaign.The delayed start meant Lancashire couldn’t quite finish the match before lunch, but Karl Brown and Stuart Law didn’t take long after the interval to complete the job. For Law, the future is uncertain and this may have been his last innings for Lancashire and the closing chapter on a final career. That will be decided in the coming weeks as the club confirms senior contracts for next season.Somerset will reflect on a title push that ran out of steam, but they have never quite looked like champions. Just three wins is evidence of a team lacking a cutting edge in their attack. Pitches at Taunton don’t help, but they have been livelier this year as witness by the first day of this match.Below Caddick and Charl Willoughby there isn’t much strike power from the seamers, while the spin options are limited. There is hope that Mike Munday, the legspinner, will develop but it is going to take time. Justin Langer has done a fine job to instil a strong team spirit and work ethic at the club, but he didn’t have his best of matches either this week. Somerset can reflect on a season where they maintained a title challenge, but were found short in crucial areas.

Nixon McLean who will be joining Somerset for 2003 as their second overseas player is currently playing cricket out in South Africa and by all accounts enjoying a good season for Natal

SOMERSET30-Oct-2002Nixon McLean who will be joining Somerset for 2003 as their second overseas player is currently playing cricket out in South Africa and by all accounts enjoying a good season for Natal.Already the prospect of a bowling attack spearheaded by Andrew Caddick, Nixon McLean and Richard Johnson along with Matt Bulbeck and Steffan Jones is giving Cidermen supporters something to look forward to.There will be fewer stronger attacks on the county circuit in 2003 and all fans will be hoping that this turns out to be a wicket taking combination that will win matches and enable Somerset to make a swift return to the top flight in both the county championship and the National League.To enable supporters to find out a little bit more about Nixon McLean and his thoughts on joining the county, the website will be making contact with the West Indian paceman over the weekend to put some questions to him.However before we do make contact, we would like to give Somerset supporters their chance to put a question to the new signing, so if any website readers have a question for Nixon McLean then please e-mail it to us now, and we will do our best to get an answer for you.Any questions for Nixon McLean should be sent to [email protected] as soon as possible.You can rest assured that the interview with the new signing will appear here on the official Somerset website as soon as we have the answers.

South Africa Academy thumped the Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy by an innings and 63 runs inside three days in Pretoria

Cricinfo staff16-Aug-2008
Scorecard
South Africa Academy bounced back from their narrow loss in the first game to thump the Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy by an innings and 63 runs inside three days in Pretoria. Roelof van der Merwe was the star of the show with a half-century and seven wickets to his name in the hammering.Bangladesh were forced to follow on after van der Merwe, a left-arm spinner, induced a collapse to bowl them out for 163 in reply to South Africa’s 416. Their highest partnership of 39 between Marshall Ayub and Shamsur Rahman was broken by van der Merwe, when he dismissed Ayub to take the first of six wickets in the innings. In his next over, he had Rahman, Bangladesh’s top scorer in both innings, caught for 37.Day two begun with South Africa comfortably placed on 339 for 5, as their first three batsmen had chipped in with half-centuries each. van der Merwe had himself contributed an unbeaten 57 and in the first 19 overs of the day the South Africans added 77 more – van der Merwe contributing 22 – after which they picked up 11 Bangladesh wickets in 65.5 overs – van der Merwe taking six.Trailing by 217 runs, Bangladesh began day three by losing two wickets in the first ten overs. Rahman batted for more than two hours for his 45 in the second innings but with wickets steadily falling at the other end, and more than a day to bat out, it was a futile effort. After he fell to CJ de Villiers, Bangladesh lasted only 40 more balls. de Villiers and Basheeru-Deen Walters picked up five wickets each for the match.Now with honours even, the two Academy sides will meet for three one-day games between August 20 and 24.

Many Sunderland fans are delighted after the club announced the signing of Alex Pritchard on Friday.

The Black Cats narrowly missed out on promotion to the Championship last term, and Lee Johnson and co will once again be targetting a place in the second tier. However, their summer started on a difficult note, losing a number of players such as Max Power, Josh Scowen, Grant Leadbitter (The Northern Echo) and Charlie Wyke (newsandstar.co.uk) while no-one came in to replace them.

However, it seems that Sunderland are finally getting themselves into gear in the transfer market. They have confirmed the signing of Pritchard (safc.com), who recently left Huddersfield Town. He has impressed in the Championship before, with 40 goal contributions in 125 appearances at that level, so it is something of a coup for the Black Cats to sign him.

The news was shared by Sunderland’s official Twitter channel, and it unsurprisingly attracted plenty of attention from the club’s supporters. These fans took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what these fans had to say about Pritchard’s arrival

“Get in!!!”

Credit: @leech_tom

“Absolutely love that”

Credit: @Jamestweddell

“Fantastic. More please”

Credit: @SAFCSarah

“YESSSSS”

Credit: @SAFCLJ25

“Outstanding signing for us..”

Credit: @ShaunGunner1973

“beautiful.”

Credit: @jxdesafc

In other news, Sunderland are interested in this prospect.

Fulham have been dealt a blow in their bid to bring Ike Ugbo to Craven Cottage this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Fabrizio Romano, who revealed in a post on Twitter that the centre-forward is set to leave Chelsea this summer, with Belgian side Genk appearing confident of completing a deal for the 22-year-old.

Romano goes on to state that Besiktas, Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven are also interested in a deal for the centre-forward in the summer transfer window, while earlier reports have also claimed Fulham are keen on the former England U20 international.

Silva surely gutted

Considering just how much potential Ugbo appears to possess, the fact that Fulham look set to miss out on the signing of the striker this summer is sure to have left Marco Silva feeling gutted.

Indeed, over his 32 Jupiler Pro League appearances while on loan at Cercle Brugge last season, the £4.05m-rated man bagged a whopping 16 goals, as well as taking an average of 1.8 shots and making 0.5 key passes per game.

These metrics saw the £38k-per-week forward earn a highly impressive average SofaScore match rating of 6.79, ranking him as the club’s eighth-best performer in the top tier of Belgian football.

The 22-year-old also returned impressive numbers during a loan spell at Roda JC Kerkrade in the season prior, scoring 13 goals and providing three assists over 28 appearances in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie.

As such, the addition of the man the Belgian media dubbed a “decisive” player to Silva’s attacking arsenal at Craven Cottage this summer would have certainly provided the club with a boost to their chances of securing an immediate return to the Premier League next season.

However, with it now appearing as if Genk will be the centre-forward’s next destination, the Portuguese Fulham boss will likely have to turn his focus in the transfer market elsewhere, something that will undoubtedly frustrate the 44-year-old.

In other news: Fulham dealt transfer blow over “outstanding” 21 G/A beast, Silva surely gutted

After Australia had established a first innings lead of 271 on the second day of the third Test in Perth, England had to face a daunting examination of technique and temperament against the extreme pace of Brett Lee and the probing accuracy of Glenn

Ralph Dellor30-Nov-2002After Australia had established a first innings lead of 271 on the second day of the third Test in Perth, England had to face a daunting examination of technique and temperament against the extreme pace of Brett Lee and the probing accuracy of Glenn McGrath. They lost Marcus Trescothick to a Lee rocket, but Michael Vaughan and nightwatchman Richard Dawson held out to close on 33 for one – still 238 runs short of making Australia bat again.The day did not start well for England with the news that Chris Silverwood had damaged ankle ligaments and had been ruled out of bowling for the remainder of the Test. That put an extra workload on the remaining bowlers, but off-spinner Dawson was only required to bowl five overs.There was no lack of effort from the England bowlers, but little inspiration as the Australian batsmen relished the conditions and the situation. There were runs and partnerships all down the order as they moved to a total of 456 based on a succession of individual contributions rather than one or two dominant innings.Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn extended their overnight partnership to 74 – the highest of the innings – by adding 33 runs in the first 11 overs of the morning. Ponting had gone to his fifty and reached 68 when Nasser Hussain replaced the pacy Steve Harmison with Craig White. Ponting will rue the lack of foot movement as he edged the ball from just outside off stump into his wicket.Darren Lehmann has yet to establish himself in the Australian side, but he got his opportunity to bat at number five when Steve Waugh was unwell with a stomach upset. He played with more assurance than previously in the series and was audibly upset with himself when he took on White on the stroke of lunch when he had 42. He hooked uppishly and cried "Oh no" as the ball sailed to Harmison at long leg.Martyn had been a study of concentration, taking 120 balls to reach his fifty, but he was having the effect of wearing down the depleted England bowling resources. He moved forward to become the top scorer in the innings with 71 when he played a somewhat loose shot outside the off stump to edge Alex Tudor to the wicket-keeper.As one Western Australian left the crease, another, Adam Gilchrist, arrived to an expectant welcome from the WACA crowd. It was the captain Steve Waugh who moved serenely to his fifty and Gilchrist, with characteristic gusto, who blazed his way to 38 from 28 balls with seven fours and a six. Gilchrist’s blood was running and England would have been delighted to get him when they did as he hooked White to long leg where Tudor did well to keep just inside the boundary rope as he held the catch.The new ball was taken to account for Waugh who fell to Tudor, just as he did on the bowler’s debut four years ago on this ground. The Australian captain played across a full length delivery and was bowled. However, the departure of the last of the recognised batsmen did not signal the end of England’s torment. The last three wickets added 108 runs in 18 overs.Shane Warne was enjoying himself immensely in partnership with Lee who was getting a bit of a working over from the English pace bowlers. Lee was not unduly perturbed as he unfurled some rasping shots that took the score along at a steady rate.The partnership of 68 was only ended when Warne took on Harmison’s arm at long off when going for a greedy third and he was run out for 35. Lee slashed White to Robert Key at third man for an enterprising 41, before a clubbing innings from Jason Gillespie came to an end when he was yorked to give White his third five-wicket haul in a Test innings.England could do with White adding to his one Test hundred in their second innings. Left with a tricky 11 over session to face before stumps, opening batsmen Trescothick and Vaughan had to be at their most trenchant as Waugh gave the new ball to Lee. With the wind at his back, Lee bowled at a furious pace.Unusually for him, Trescothick was hopping around as he had to in order to avoid Lee’s thunderbolts, while at the other end McGrath was plugging away with scarcely a hint of a loose ball. It was in the seventh over of the innings that Lee delivered a hammer-blow to England’s hopes by going wide of the crease and forcing Trescothick to fend off the ball lifting rapidly into his body. It took the batsman’s glove before lodging in the glove of the leaping Gilchrist and Trescothick – reluctantly – was forced to go.Dawson played with great courage and no little skill to keep his Yorkshire colleague Vaughan company to the close. Waugh introduced Gillespie for the last over of the day and with the last ball very nearly claimed another wicket. Dawson had an agonising wait after the ball had flown off his pad to short leg before umpire Steve Bucknor turned down the various appeals and called time. A broad smile burst upon the batsman’s face as he realised he had survived to face another day. It is sure to be a testing one for him and all his colleagues.