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West Brom may have been handed a boost in their rumoured pursuit of Manchester City youngster Liam Delap, with the youngster admitting he’s keen to get regular game time under his belt.

What’s the story?

Delap has caught the eye with some strong performances for Manchester City’s Under-23s team in recent seasons, which has seen him feature in Pep Guardiola’s senior side in recent months.

The 18-year-old signed for Manchester City back in 2019 and will be looking to go from strength to strength with the Premier League champions moving forwards.

Speaking in a recent interview with Sky Sports (via Football Daily), Delap has revealed that he trusts the club to make the right decision on his future, when quizzed on West Brom’s rumoured interest in landing his signature.

“Every minute that I get, it’s just an added bonus. As a footballer, you just want to play as much as you can, and that’ll be my target this season. 

“Obviously it’s up to the club. What’s happened at the club so far has been amazing for me, and I trust them to make the right decision, as I’ve been extremely happy with everything that’s happened at City, and I’m really happy here. I’ll see what the club want me to do from here.”

The Express and Star have previously revealed that West Brom are interested in a deal to sign Delap on a season-long loan deal, and the forward’s recent comments on his short-term future could heighten the Baggies’ interest in landing his signature this summer.

‘Phenomenal’

Delap has scored 40 goals in 54 appearances across all age groups so far in his career in professional football, but now could be the ideal time to send him out on loan.

He’s unlikely to be a regular starter in the City first-team, so a temporary move away from the Etihad Stadium could be the best possible move for all parties involved, as he looks to further his experience in senior football.

A move to West Brom could be the ideal destination for Delap as well, with Valerien Ismael looking to strengthen his attacking options this summer as he targets promotion back into the Premier League at the first time of asking.

The former Barnsley boss already has some strong and proven options in a similar position in his squad, with the likes of Callum Robinson, Kenneth Zohore and Karlan Grant being on the club’s books.

But Delap could provide West Brom with something different, as he’ll be eager to make a name for himself in first-team football.

You don’t feature for City’s first-team by chance, and that’s a credit to the quality that Delap has managed to get gam time so early into his professional career.

The youngster was labelled as ‘phenomenal’ by Football Talent Scout Jacek Kulig, and it’ll be interesting to see where the City talent ends up this season.

But his recent admission on wanting regular game time could be a real boost in West Brom’s hopes of signing him, as the Baggies are much more likely to be able to offer Delap minutes this term, especially compared to City.

West Brom supporters would love to see a young, quality player like Delap arrive this summer to give their club a boost as they look to get promoted at the first time of asking.

AND in other news, West Brom have seemingly made a decision about the future of this player…

Cricinfo previews the ICL match between Chandigarh Lions and Delhi Giants on November 5

Cricinfo staff04-Nov-2008Match factsNov 5, 2008
Start time 7.30pm (1400 GMT)
Can S Abbas Ali turn around Delhi’s fortunes? © ICL
The Big PictureChandigarh Lions would have virtually sealed a semi-final spot had they not lost their last two games against Lahore Badshahs and Dhaka Warriors. They will need to come good in their remaining two fixtures – against Delhi Giants and Ahmedabad Rockets – in order to add the ICL 20-20 Indian Championship to the 20-20 Domestic Championship they won earlier this season.Delhi’s chances of making the semi-finals are remote, given their poor net run-rate, but they would want to finish their league games on a high. Marvan Atapattu and his men, though, will be buoyed after their narrow one-run win over Hyderabad Heroes.Where they rankChandigarh are currently sixth with six points and will look to benefit from home advantage. A big win may propel them to No. 3 in the standings ahead of Dhaka and Hyderabad. Delhi are in seventh position, with six points as well. An emphatic win, coupled with other results going their way, may still see them make it to the top four; however, it’s an unlikely prospect.Form guide (last five matches, most recent first)Chandigarh: LLWLW
Delhi: WLWLLStats TP Singh’s unbeaten 74 against Royal Bengal Tigers is the only 50-plus score by a Chandigarh batsman in the tournament so far. Delhi’s Ali Murtaza has the best bowling figures in the tournament: 4-0-7-4 against Lahore.Players to watchAll eyes will be on Graeme Hick, the newest member of the Chandigarh team. He scored 14 in his first match of the season against Lahore but more will be expected of the Worcestershire legend.S Abbas Ali has been the star performer for Delhi, consistently dishing out match-winning performances. If his 53 was the highest score in their previous match against Hyderabad, he scored 31 off 19 balls against Mumbai Champs which followed a match-winning 52 against Lahore.Quotes”Some of our players have not been performing as well as we would like them to. Even when we have been running the opposition close, we have failed to get that extra momentum needed to win.”

Beau Casson will have his first chance to impress since being overlooked for the Test tour of India when he lines up in New South Wales’ Sheffield Shield side on Friday. The Blues begin their title defence against Western Australia in Perth

Cricinfo staff07-Oct-2008
Beau Casson is part of New South Wales’ 12-man squad © Getty Images
Beau Casson will have his first chance to impress since being overlooked for the Test tour of India when he lines up in New South Wales’ Sheffield Shield side on Friday. The Blues begin their title defence against Western Australia in Perth.Casson has recovered from a groin injury he picked up on Australia A’s recent tour of India and he will take up his usual first-class position as he aims to press his claims for further Test action. However, Casson was not chosen in the one-day squad for the season-opening FR Cup match.”I am excited to be playing after my groin injury,” Casson told the earlier this week. “I just want to be playing all three forms of the game. If you’re doing that then obviously you’re giving yourself the best chance of getting back.”Casson made his Test debut in the West Indies in June but Bryce McGain, Jason Krejza and Cameron White were all chosen ahead of him for the India tour. He will be the leading first-class spinner for New South Wales, who also named the legspinner Steve Smith in their 12-man Sheffield Shield squad.There was no place for Nathan Hauritz, Steve O’Keefe, David Warner or Aaron Bird, all of whom were picked in the FR Cup squad. Moises Henriques, the promising allrounder, is likely to be handed greater responsibility this season and has been selected. Burt Cockley, the fast bowler, and Greg Mail, the opening batsman, were also added to the group.Western Australia squad Shaun Marsh, Liam Davis, Marcus North (capt), Adam Voges, Luke Pomersbach, Luke Ronchi (wk), Theo Doropoulos, Aaron Heal, Steve Magoffin, Brett Dorey, Ben Edmondson, Arron Crawford.New South Wales squad Phillip Hughes, Greg Mail, Peter Forrest, Dominic Thornely (capt), Steven Smith, Grant Lambert, Daniel Smith (wk), Moises Henriques, Beau Casson, Nathan Bracken, Mark Cameron, Burt Cockley.

Leeds United winger Jack Harrison is expected to join the Whites on a permanent deal next week, according to journalist Graham Smyth.

The Lowdown: Harrison shines on loan

The 24-year-old has been an excellent player for Leeds, shining under Marcelo Bielsa and scoring 18 goals in 128 appearances.

Harrison has just completed his third season on loan at Elland Road from Manchester City, but it now looks as though the move will be made permanent, as expected.

[freshpress-quiz id=“359346″]

The Latest: Smyth provides key update

Taking to Twitter on Wednesday evening, the Yorkshire Evening Post‘s Smyth confirmed that the deal to bring in Harrison permanently is ‘expected to be completed next week’.

The winger won’t return for pre-season testing on Thursday, however, because he is still quarantining.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-7/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=“none”]

The Verdict: Significant boost for Leeds

This is a massive boost for Leeds, with Harrison such a prominent figure during a wonderful period in the club’s history.

The Englishman is such a force on and off the ball, ending up the Whites’ joint second-top scorer in the Premier League last season, scoring their first goal back in the top-flight, away to Liverpool.

He also averaged 1.8 tackles per game, however, highlighting his tenacity to win the ball back and thrive in Bielsa’s relentless style of play.

In other news, Leeds are set to miss out on one rumoured transfer target. Find out who it is here.

Darren Maddy’s unbeaten hundred for Warwickshire forced the game against Bangladesh A into stalemate on the third and final day at Edgbaston

Cricinfo staff13-Jul-2008
ScorecardLee Daggett did his best to bowl out Bangladesh A, with four wickets for Warwickshire, but they clung on eight wickets down to stave off defeat. Darren Maddy’s unbeaten hundred had earlier given his side a handy advantage at Edgbaston allowing them to declare on 361 for 9.Tim Groenewald added 78, while sharing a useful stand of 108 with Maddy, as Nazmul Hossain ended with five wickets. The home side declared with a lead of 109, but there appeared little chance of a positive result. However, they nearly claimed the win.Bangladesh had just about erased the deficit, Nazimuddin reaching 39, when wickets began to tumble but Rajin Saleh’s 100-ball 21 helped them salvage the draw.Bangladesh A now head to Leicestershire for another three-dayer which starts this Wednesday.

The European Championship Division 1 began at three venues around Dublin. Here is a round-up of the action from the opening day

Cricinfo staff25-Jul-2008
Gary Wilson on his way to a 65-ball 47 for Ireland © Cricket Europe/ICC
Italy registered a notable scalp as they beat Netherlands by eight runs at North County. Joe Scuderi, the former Lancashire allrounder, hit an unbeaten 84 to steer Italy to 181, which proved too much for their higher-ranked opponents. Tim de Groot hit 51, but he lacked support and the lower order couldn’t quite see the chase home as Netherlands were bowled out with more than six overs remaining.Qasim Sheikh hit an unbeaten 80 to guide Scotland to a comfortable six-wicket victory over Denmark at Malahide. Scotland’s target was adjusted under the D/L method as rain interrupted the chase after 28 overs, but they were well on course at 151 for 3. Ryan Watson (34) provided good support in a second-wicket stand of 70 and Neil McCallum helped complete the victory with a run-a-ball 22. Denmark wasted a solid position after Carsten Pedersen (72) and Soren Vestergaard (50) added 99 for the third wicket. Three run-outs didn’t help their cause, while Scotland’s death bowling also held firm.Ireland had few problems completing an eight-wicket win against Norway as Gary Kidd impressed with four wickets at The Vineyard. Norway made a promising start, as the first wicket put on 35, but it was a false dawn. Kevin O’Brien made the breakthrough and wickets then fell steadily. Kidd nipped out two in the middle order before removing two tailenders. Ireland raced to their target in 22.5 overs with Gary Wilson, on the books at Surrey, striking 47 off 65 balls and Andre Botha making a quickfire 25 off 18 deliveries.

The season has barely begun for India and the coach, Gary Kirsten, has already sounded out the need for a rotation system for the injury-prone fast bowlers

Sidharth Monga in Karachi24-Jun-2008
India would want to preserve Ishant Sharma for the grueling season ahead © AFP
The season has barely begun for India and the coach, Gary Kirsten, has already sounded out the need for a rotation system for the injury-prone fast bowlers. With Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan ruled out at start of the tournament and Irfan Pathan rested for the next two games with a side strain, all of a sudden the threatening pace-bowling attack doesn’t look so impressive.There is no doubt the team is overworked and a big season follows – the Sri Lanka tour just after the Asia Cup, the Champions Trophy, home series against Australia and England, followed by tours of New Zealand and Pakistan. Looking at the schedule, it sounds silly to have somebody like Ishant Sharma playing almost every single insignificant ODI in the harshest of conditions. Kirsten, after a taxing three-hour training session at the National Bank of Punjab (NBP) Stadium, clarified to some extent the tired players’ perspective.”The system needs to create that [rotation policy], and it is unfair to expect the player himself to ask to be rested as he is also worried if his replacement does well, then he will lose his place,” Kirsten said. “So we need a rotation system in which if we rest a bowler, and if his replacement does well he still remains the No. 1 bowler and gets his place back.”Test cricket is tough with bowlers bowling around 25 overs a day in three to four Tests, and it is tough.”This could see Ishant sitting out an odd game, just like he did against Bangladesh in Mirpur. “We have got to be careful with the bowlers, some of these guys have played a lot of cricket and we need to make sure that they are physically fresh, fit and ready.” Kirsten said. “We certainly cannot expect every bowler to play throughout the year.”It could lead to a similar scenario like that of resting Irfan even before an actual big injury happens. “He has got a little bit of stiffness, it’s more of a precautionary break. We are not going to push him.” Kirsten said. “We will most probably give him a break for the next couple of games so that the side strain heals well.”Meanwhile, the Indian team practised pretty merrily for three hours under the harsh sun – that too about 13 hours after their previous training session finished. The batsmen hit big, and threatened to hit the journalists watching from the sidelines, with the white ball being difficult to spot during the day. Suresh Raina even broke a glass down the ground.Yusuf Pathan, in yesterday’s practice session, worked on the reverse-sweep and switch-hit for about 20 minutes. “We are always looking at new ways of playing the game,” Kirsten said. “Pick up new ideas, new shot-making, just trying to improve the game by five to 10%, and that can make all the difference. It is not something that he might do in the next game. It is some of the new things that we are trying to do, not just with him but with all the players.”We were doing this even before this thing came up [with Kevin Pietersen employing the shot against New Zealand]. We are trying things all the time and that’s the way cricket is going. We are trying to innovate and that’s the way it is.”

Resolving sponsorship issues and players’ concerns are a priority for International Cricket Council administrators

Santhosh S29-Sep-2002Resolving sponsorship issues and players’ concerns are a priority for International Cricket Council administrators.International Cricket Council (ICC) president Malcolm Gray and ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed spent almost an hour with the media at the Taj Samudra hotel in Colombo on Saturday. They made it very clear that ICC intends toresolve the outstanding issues with regards to the sponsorship andplayer terms at the earliest.”A paper that goes to the ICC board that says, these are the issues,and we don’t want it to drag out to right before the World Cup. Thereis a time frame to address the issue, and we intend to deal with it inOctober and the first half of November. We can sign off then and putthe issue behind us,” Speed said.Gray was quite categoric about the player terms issue, which hasthreatened to take the game apart.”It is quite important that the facts are clear. The player terms, as they are for this tournament, were first notified to the countries in December 2001.”He said that the player terms were formulated with the World Cup 2003in mind, and since the venue for the ICC Champions Trophy was notfinalised then, “The player terms for this tournament were given tothe countries in March/April of this year.”In fact a similar player terms contract was given to member countriesfor the Under-19s World Cup, which was played in New Zealand inJanuary. And they were exactly the same player terms given to thecountries in December,” Gray added.When asked about why the players were not notified about the playerterms, Gray was quick to make it clear, “It is the boards that havethe relationship with their players. It is up to the individualnational boards to consult with their players, and to handle themanagement of the players.”Addresing the same issue, Speed said that the sponsorship agreementsigned by the ICC with Global Cricket Corporation is a great deal forcricket. “There weren’t too many players up there who were saying now wedont want this cheque for significantly increased prize money.Tomorrow the players will be going out flat to win $US300,000 prizemoney. Again when they come for the World Cup, the prize money isincreasing,” Speed told the media.Speed said that as a result of this ICC Champions Trophy each fullmember board will take home $US800,000, and for the World Cup, theywill be taking a million dollars.If revenue-sharing were an issue for the players, Speed made it clearthat it is for the member boards to address that issue.”ICC doesn’t pay the players, ICC generates the money from these events and pays it back to the boards. The boards enter into the agreements with theplayers. We need to be clear about that,” said Speed.When quizzed about the general criticism that ICC often fails to showsome spine in addressing major issues and lets them drag on, Speedrefuted such criticisms and put forward a case to defend its image. Hesaid that ICC had an issue with the Indian board on the Saharasponsorship issue.And, he made it clear that the Indian board and GCC were given anopportunity to present their case to the ICC Board. After hearing thearguments, the ICC board voted 12-1 to reject the Sahara sponsorship.Amongst other such financial issues, Gray sympathised withthe Pakistan board for the loss of substantial revenue from having toplay their home games at neutral venues. He said that to address allsorts of financial issues, “A paper is going to the board, whereby aloan fund will be set up, and countries that are in need of fundingwill be able to borrow.”

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Dec 21 AFP – Waqar Younis will retain his captaincy of the Pakistan team for the 2003 World Cup, the country’s cricket chief announced on Saturday

22-Dec-2002RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Dec 21 AFP – Waqar Younis will retain his captaincy of the Pakistan team for the 2003 World Cup, the country’s cricket chief announced on Saturday.”I have no doubts in my mind that Waqar will lead Pakistan in next year’s World Cup,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Lieutenant General Tauqir Zia said.The announcement put to rest speculation over who would lead Pakistan in the World Cup in Africa starting in February.Media reports in Pakistan suggested Waqar would be demoted after the team’s dismal 4-1 loss in the one-day series to South Africa which ended this week.Veteran paceman Wasim Akram was tipped to take over, challenging a match-fixing inquiry’s recommendation that he should be barred from leading the team.”Since Waqar has retained his form and fitness he would continue to lead. If, God forbid, he sustains an injury then as options we have Rashid Latif, Inzamam-ul Haq and Wasim,” Zia said.The squad has been plagued by injury recently, with express pacer Shoaib Akhtar already ruled out of the upcoming Test series with South Africa.Zia was speaking after a ceremony outside Rawalpindi to unveil the World Cup trophy, which was brought to Pakistan on a sponsored tour.The eighth World Cup takes place in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya next February and March.

Sunderland have little hope of truly competing with local rivals Newcastle United for the signing of Dion Sanderson, Black Cats great Kevin Phillips has admitted.

The lowdown

According to The Athletic, Newcastle have already seen a £1million bid turned down for the Wolves centre-back, who spent last season on loan at the Stadium of Light.

The Magpies’ bid was described as ‘speculative’ and is thought to be well below Wolves’ valuation.

The Midlands outfit are hopeful of extending his contract, but Sanderson has turned down their most recent offer.

Sanderson was Sunderland’s young player of the season in 2020/21 despite only starting 19 League One games.

He averaged 2.3 successful aerial duels, 2.7 clearances, one tackle and 0.9 interceptions per 90 minutes (via WhoScored).

Football Insider claim Sunderland, losing play-off semifinalists, also failed with a £1million attempt to sign Sanderson permanently last month.

The latest

With the two clubs battling for his signature, Phillips fears that the allure of the Premier League will inevitably sway Sanderson towards the Magpies.

That, he says, would be particularly tough for supporters to take.

But he did note that Sunderland could offer the 21-year-old a guaranteed starting place and added incentives such as tshe captaincy.

“It would be a big, big blow to lose him to Newcastle,” Phillips told Football Insider.

“If Newcastle make a concrete move there is not much competition, as much as I hate to say it.

“They are in the Premier League and it is as simple as that. Any young kid wants to play in the Premier League.

“It would take a huge effort to persuade Sanderson to join if Newcastle matched their offer.

“The only guarantee Lee Johnson can give him is that he is going to play week in, week out.

“Perhaps they could offer him the captain’s armband next season, who knows. Something like that could stop him joining Newcastle.”

The verdict

The Athletic’s report reveals that Newcastle view Sanderson as very much a long-term option, and that he could be sent straight out on loan if he does sign.

You’d think that any loan move would be to the Championship, the natural step-up after his dominant performances in League One.

Sunderland’s only hope, then, would appear to be sentimentality – Sanderson rejecting Newcastle out of gratitude to Sunderland.

But surely supporters could forgive him for instead doing what’s best for his own career.

In other news, Liam Kennedy has dropped fresh insight from those involved in the potential takeover.