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According to German news outlet Sport Bild, as translated and shared by Sport Witness, there has been a transfer update out of Tottenham Hotspur involving Borussia Monchengladbach star Jonas Hofmann.

The Lowdown: Pochettino in 2019 talks…

Another reliable source from the Bundesliga claimed back in 2019 that ex-Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino wanted to make the forward one of his highest Tottenham earners at the time.

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Indeed, Bild (translated by talkSPORT) shared that the Lilywhites and their fan favourite former manager held talks over signing Hofmann and were hoping to entice him with a £100,000-per-week package.

Those wages would have put him in and among the best paid at Spurs, but alas, this alleged plan didn’t quite come to fruition.

However, it appears Spurs and by extension managing director Fabio Paratici have now re-entered the chase for Pochettino’s ex-target.

The Latest: Tottenham re-emerge…

Sport Bild (via SW) say that both Paratici and Atletico Madrid have renewed their interest in signing Hofmann recently as both clubs now eye a move for Monchengladbach’s ‘figurehead’ and in-form star player.

The 29-year-old has been a pivotal figure under Adi Hütter this season, scoring eight goals and three assists in 22 games across all competitions.

Hofmann is leading the way as Monchengladbach’s top scorer, meaning the club and sporting director Roland Virkus are eager for him to extend his contract which currently expires in 2023.

While the player doesn’t rule this out, he is also aware that lucrative offers could arrive from abroad – with Spurs and Atletico named as interested parties.

The Verdict: Make a move?

The fact Hofmann is entering the final year of his deal could put Tottenham on strong footing in potential negotiations.

Paratici, as things stand, could seemingly secure a proven Bundesliga player for a reasonable fee with the Germany international standing out as a real star for Gladbach.

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Indeed, the attacker has attempted the most top flight shots at goal (2.3) and key passes (2.9) per 90 out of their entire squad whilst also averaging Gladbach’s highest overall match rating (7.09, WhoScored).

By comparison to Antonio Conte’s current Spurs crop, Hofmann reigns supreme over every Lilywhites star for key passes made, including the likes of Son Heung-min and Harry Kane (WhoScored).

This could certainly grab Paratici’s attention as Spurs re-ignite interest in an old flame, with there clearly being worse options out there.

In other news: ‘I have to say…’ – Simon Jordan fires live-on-air dig at Spurs player who get’s too much ‘credit’, find out more here.

Sri Lanka don’t have a mystery spinner. That should be enough to stop the press, but that is not the end of the story. The cricketing shrewdness of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara has not come close to being replaced. Even Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga are not there and Tillakaratne Dilshan will miss the opening game of this three-T20I series. Their coach has only just taken charge. India are thus the favourites going into this World T20-preparation series, but MS Dhoni knows all too well the vagaries of the format. He knows a player can change the game in 10 balls. Win it or even lose it.”What really happens in this format is, the difference between the sides is very narrow,” Dhoni said. “What it boils down to is how good your match winners are playing. You can have only one big hitter in the side but if it’s his day, he can take the game away from you. And it can happen in just 10 or 12 balls.”India have to find a mix between doing what is best for this series and what is best for the World T20. In Virat Kohli’s absence, batting Suresh Raina at his beloved No. 3 is best for this series, but Dhoni is also looking at what is best for World T20.”I think it will be slightly better if Raina bats at the position that he will most likely bat in the World Cup,” Dhoni said. “It will give him that exposure. Also we are not a team that plays a lot of T20Is. Usually we play one game in a bilateral series. So this gives him an opportunity to expose him to No. 4 for a consistent period of time. The opportunity is there to make him bat at three and use some other batter [at four] but I think it will be more appropriate if he bats at No. 4 and gets adjusted.”One of the targets is to watch out against the fatigue and not peak too early, although some might say their 3-0 win in Australia was their peak. “We have quite a few targets in mind,” Dhoni said. “Winning games is important. But at the same time what will be more crucial is, we have to keep everyone fit. It’s almost the same 15 that will play till the World T20. It’s important to keep everyone fit so that the best XI is always available for selection. That will be the key factor.”Dhoni is also aware perhaps that India’s recent record in limited-overs cricket on the slower pitches of Asia hasn’t been great. The batsmen haven’t been as dominant as before and added to that is the slightly unusual sand-based outfield in Pune. It is slower than usual and high balls just sit in the ground. It is just as well that the straight boundaries are short, because during the practice sessions out in the middle, balls hit in the air lost all sting upon hitting the turf.Pandurang Salgaocar, the chief groundsman, said this was a normal outfield and that the well-timed shots will travel. If he is wrong, it may well provide the much-needed balance between bat and ball if only for just one game.Practically in the middle of nowhere, seemingly halfway to Mumbai, in conditions they have not played much IPL cricket in, India will begin their home stretch to the World T20. Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order, Yuvraj Singh at No. 6 and Hardik Pandya as the allrounder will be the unknowns they will want to know more about.For Dhoni, though, the Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium will now be his IPL home and he has already found comfort factors. Even before he went to the nets, he made his way to the much talked-about dog kennel. Twenty-four dogs here are part of the security team. Dhoni even wanted to adopt a golden retriever back in the day. As he waited on, the dog, Prince, settled down and made this ground his home, Dhoni might not get to take the dog away. Pune, though, has certainly taken to Dhoni.

Karnataka 195 and 195 for 1 (Pawan 76*, Dravid 77*) lead Mumbai 337 (Naik 78, Kukreja 66, Kumar 3-50, Joshi 3-67) by 53 runs
Scorecard

Rahul Dravid’s 126-run partnership with KB Pawan helped Karnataka wipe out their first-innings deficit against Mumbai © Cricinfo Ltd

Karnataka batted their way out of trouble and towards a position of strength on a track that got progressively slow, wiping out the 142-run first-innings deficit and ending the third day with a 53-run lead against Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium. The batting was propelled by KB Pawan and Rahul Dravid, who scored 76 and 77 and put on an unbroken 126-run partnership, after Vinay Kumar grabbed three quick wickets to wrap up Mumbai’s innings in the morning.Only four wickets fell on the day as Karnataka made slow progress – barring the first ten overs – at 2.53 runs per over. The intent, it seemed, was to first avoid defeat before thinking about the possibility of a win. They might up the ante tomorrow, declare with 200 ahead and leave around 50 overs for Anil Kumble and Sunil Joshi to come into play on a fourth-day track.However, the openers were refreshingly positive early on. Rowland, out for a duck in the first innings, got a huge stride forward and, though Ajit Agarkar did beat him on a couple of occasions, he put away the bad balls, twice driving Rajesh Verma through the covers. When Agarkar bowled two bouncers in an effort to push him on the back foot, Rowland went for the cut and the pull, top-edging one to the third man boundary. Though the execution wasn’t perfect, the intent to attack was obvious.Pawan, edgy throughout his stay in the first innings, hit his stride slowly. He drove Verma through the covers and got behind the line of Agarkar’s deliveries before Mumbai turned to spin, in the form of Ramesh Powar, in the tenth over.Powar flighted a majority of deliveries and pushed the occasional one through but couldn’t repeat his first-innings magic on a track that had lost its venom. Rowland fell soon after lunch, missing an intended drive off Rajesh Verma, which brought in Dravid. Unlike the first innings, Dravid made a tentative start: he was beaten by the fourth delivery he faced, was struck on the pad by the eighth and was cut into half by the tenth. Two balls later, though, he hit a gorgeous straight drive off Verma and followed up that boundary with a shot driven straight into the stumps at the other end.Amol Muzumdar, Mumbai’s captain, chose to attack him with Iqbal Abdulla. With a silly point and short leg in place, Abdulla pushed through deliveries on the middle-stump line. Dravid let a few to turn past him and jabbed at one which flew to the non-existent backward short leg.Powar came on from the pavilion end and Dravid used the crease well, going back to create the length for his dabs. After a few deliveries that turned in from outside off came one similar to the ball that got him out in the first innings: the ball landed on the middle and off stump and spun in as Dravid leaned forward to defend. However, on this occasion, the turn was slow and allowed Dravid the time to roll his wrists over the ball and play it just short of backward short leg. The next one was a lovely flighted delivery that dipped rapidly causing Dravid to check his drive.Dravid went into a mini-shell after that, stuck on 19 as he played out 14 deliveries, before he asserted himself against Powar: twice in succession he waltzed down the track to swing flighted deliveries over long-on, forcing Powar out of the attack.There was solid support from Pawan who, by then, batting fluently. When Powar shortened the length, Pawan was quick to pull. One such shot fell agonisingly beyond the outstretched hand of Wasim Jaffer, who had run in too far from deep midwicket before heading back. Undeterred by that close shave, Pawan pulled another short delivery over Jaffer’s head for the first six by a Karnataka batsman in the match.The duo continued to consolidate in the last session – 47 runs came in 22 overs – as proceedings slowly grinded to a halt.Earlier, Kumar was rewarded for his fuller length, and his day’s figures read 6-1-13-3. Agarkar fell first, trapped in front as he played across the line, Vinayak Samant went to a fatal flirt outside off stump for Thilak Naidu to hold a fine diving catch to his right and the left-handed Abdulla was caught plumb in front to a delivery that straightened.

Andrew Flintoff: ‘We’ve had to get Adelaide out of our system’ © Getty Images

Despite that traumatic defeat in the second Test at Adelaide last week, England’s captain, Andrew Flintoff, believes his team are capable of making history when the crucial third Test gets underway at the WACA tomorrow.”This Perth Test is huge,” Flintoff told reporters on the eve of the match. “We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved as a team in the last three or four years and we want to carry on creating history as a team. We are very much aware that we would be creating history if we did come back into the series and it’s something we desperately want to do.”No English side has ever come back from 2-0 down in an Ashes series, and it has only been done once in the history of the contest – by Don Bradman’s Australians in 1936-37. Even so, Flintoff called on his side to harness the same resolve they had shown in recent seasons, which – when the dust has settled – are sure to be remembered as some of the finest performances by any England teams in history.There was the Ashes triumph in 2005, of course, which needs no further mention here – least of all because the “A-word” has been banned in the Australian dressing-room. But since Flintoff became the heartbeat of England’s team in the winter of 2003-04, they have won in the Caribbean for the first time in 36 years, in South Africa for the first time in 40, and until their defeat in Pakistan last winter, had won six series in a row, including all seven Tests of the 2004 summer.A turnaround on this tour, however, would top the lot. “I don’t think we need any more motivation,” said Flintoff. “We’re in Australia playing an Ashes series and for all of us now it’s probably the biggest Test of our careers. Everyone is up for it in the dressing-room, because to come back into this series now would be the ultimate.”It’s a very proud team and we want to give a good account of ourselves,” he added. “We came close in Adelaide but in this game we’ve got to go one further. This Perth Test is huge. Ideally we need a win and, if not, a draw and then the last two [Tests] will look after themselves. This game we have to look at almost in isolation and hit them hard.””We’ve had to get Adelaide out of our system,” said Flintoff. “We were probably in shock at Adelaide and then two days later it sunk in. A lot of good things came out of the Test but for two hours we lost our way and lost the Test. It just shows you can’t do that playing against Australia.”

After my surgery I probably naively thought everything would be fine and I’d get no pain ever again in my life. But playing back-to-back Test matches is tough

Flintoff singled out four performers at Adelaide for special praise – Paul Collingwood, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell and Matthew Hoggard – but it is his own performance as captain, batsman and strike bowler that will be the most pivotal to England’s fortunes. To that end, there has been much concern about the state of his injured ankle, but Flintoff insisted that he was fit and ready to bowl flat out.”My ankle is fine,” he said. “I bowled in the nets yesterday, but I haven’t bowled today. After my surgery I probably naively thought everything would be fine and I’d get no pain ever again in my life. But playing back-to-back Test matches is tough. I’ve not done it for a while and I did get some discomfort.”I had it checked out and I’ve bowled since – in the last innings of the last Test and in the nets here – so it’s not something I’m concerned about. We’ve tried to limit the overs I bowl in a day for a period of time now, but that’s dictated by the situation in the game. I’ve always been a willing bowler and I’ll carry on doing that.”After a few days off to recover from the shock of Adelaide, Flintoff was adamant that his team was ready for their big challenge. “After the loss it was a little bit flat, but the team has been great throughout,” he said. “There is still that confidence and the calmness which we’ve had all along on this trip. It’s a side full of character and that’s going to have to come out in this Test.”Apart from the defeats I’ve enjoyed the trip,” he added. “I think all the lads have. When you lose Test matches you will get criticism and that’s something I’m prepared to take. I’ve had it before and I’m sure I’ll have it again. I’m happy in what I’m doing and I’ve given the job everything I’ve got and I can rest easy in that.”

Drama unfolded at Dharamshala as the Plate Group match between Himachal Pradesh and Tripura was called off after officials of two groups, claiming to be actual representatives of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HCA), traded charges minutes before the match.It was a bizarre situation in on the morning of the game after the team announced by the HCA, headed by Anurag Thakur, entered the stadium along with the visiting Tripura team and locked all the entry points, preventing the entry of the other HCA side, headed by Rajender Zar, into the stadium. The Supreme Court-appointed election observer had named Zar the authorised representative from the state to take part in the BCCI elections on November 29.Zar is also a BCCI member and a supporter of the Sharad Pawar group, who triumphed in the recently-concluded elections, while Thakur has the backing of the Jagmohan Dalmiya group. Narendra Menon, the match referee, after consultations with the BCCI secretary, asked the district authorities to allow the entry the Himachal team announced by the Zar group to entry the stadium so that the match could start.However, Menon called off the match after vice-president of the Zar group, Vikas Thakur, alleged that the officials of the old HCA had sprinkled water on the pitch, which had been damaged. Menon also added that it was up to the BCCI to decide whether the match should be awarded to Himachal or Tripura.

Zander de Bruyn: one of South Africa’s many pluses© AFP

The series may have been lost in the end, but South Africa’s tour of India was an important learning experience – both on and off the field – that will reap benefits further down the line.There were fears before the tour that a young and inexperienced outfit would make fools of themselves, but they need not worry that they have let either themselves or their supporters down. As Omar Henry, SA’s convenor of selectors, says: "They confronted the difficulties of the subcontinent and I think they surprised people with how they performed. There is still room for improvement, but there were very good signals, and we can bank on seeing the benefits of the tour later on."Far more experienced touring teams have fared much worse in India, and for the former South African coach Graham Ford the most pleasing aspect of the tour was the number of runs the visitors managed to score."I thought the batsmen did exceptionally well because their concentration had to be superb, and the main thing to come out of the tour is that the team would have grown considerably in terms of the mental aspect," Ford told Cricinfo."Andrew Hall has always had the ability to bat up front, but he now knows how to play when conditions don’t suit him. And Zander de Bruyn also did fantastically well," added Ford. "We have a bit more of a tail these days, but it’s okay because I think the guys re-established themselves as a quality batting side."For Henry, the most impressive feature of the tour was the inauguration of a whole new attitude to touring the subcontinent. Before, South African teams used to closet themselves away in their luxury hotels, but the current squad adopted the excellent attitude of getting out there and experiencing India."First and foremost, the team have found a way to enjoy the subcontinent. Their whole attitude and approach has been far more based on enjoyment," said Henry. "Touring the subcontinent is a major test of character."And Henry added that nothing had given him more pleasure than the team’s "buzz" on the field: "It was a joy to watch the guys playing the way they do in South Africa. There’s been an absolute change in mindset."Henry mentioned the batting of Jacques Kallis, Hall’s innings at Kanpur, the bowling of Makhaya Ntini and the fielding as the major positives to come out of the tour, but there was no progress on the vexed issue of South African spin bowling.Said Ford: "Nothing’s been done in 12 years about a spinner, and we just seem to go round in circles." He was happy, however, with the other bowlers. "There was nothing wrong with the back-up bowling. They were consistent and had the skill and discipline to stick to the game plan."Ford believes South Africa are in reasonable shape heading into the home series against England. "The team has gone forward in a lot of aspects," he concluded, "and provided the selectors make good decisions for the series against England, we should be very competitive."

England v South Africa, second Test, Lord’s, Day 1

Michael Vaughan: not the best start

English batting collapses are supposed to be a thing of the past. According to his recent eulogies in the national press, Nasser Hussain had brought a new steel and determination to their game. English cricket was no longer a world-wide joke. Well, the rest of the world was smirking today, as England produced a nightmarish performance straight out of their Ashes scrapbook.Today was supposed to be the start of a brave new era, but it was more like a trip back to those dark days that Hussain inherited and then banished. Barring the Ashes, he just about turned things round, and Vaughan will now have to try to turn this game around. Like Hussain’s mission of four years ago, it already looks a lost cause.To be fair to Vaughan, the 73 England captains before him can’t have had such short notice to prepare for their first Test in charge, but not many have had a worse start either – not even Chris Cowdrey in his only Test against West Indies at Headingley in 1988. Despite captaining this summer’s one-day internationals, Vaughan has been thrown in the deep end, just as he was on his Test debut in 1999.At least England didn’t plumb the depths of 2 for 4 today, but similarities will nonetheless be made with that infamous day in Johannesburg. It was against South Africa and Vaughan made 33, the second-highest top score. But the difference this time is that Vaughan is not a blameless subaltern, but England’s field marshall.Whatever he says will not excuse a dismal performance. Admittedly there was a bit in it for the bowlers early on, but that’s nothing new. There was simply no plan. Alec Stewart, Andrew Flintoff, Vaughan himself, and to a lesser extent, even the top-scorer Darren Gough, were all to blame for their dismissals. The dressing-room may now be a more relaxed place without Hussain reading the riot act at every interval, but today’s poor display will not be lost on anyone in it.It was a big day for the (latest) ex-captain too, and unfortunately, he had a stinker. Hussain lost his middle stump to a loose drive, and his fortunes were summed up by a dolly of a drop at cover, where Vaughan himself would usually be fielding. Ironically, the lucky recipient was the other captain, Graeme Smith, who has so far proved himself to be a clear-thinking and brave leader.It took a lot of guts to bowl first after such a batsman-dominated first Test, and the gamble paid off beyond his wildest dreams. Smith, it was assumed, would be cowering in Hussain’s mere presence during this series? That has turned out to be a joke too.Click here for today’s bulletin

On the day of his 38th birthday Hampshire captain Robin Smith led his side to the three bowling bonus points needed to secure promotion to next season’s County Championship Division One.Alan Mullally’s dismissal of Greg Smith at around 4.20pm on the second day ensured jubilant celebrations on the field and among the small band of visiting supporters.In something of an anti-climax rain, which has continually interrupted this match, returned shortly afterwards with Notts’ first innings still stuttering along at 212-9.Play re-started after an hour and Notts’ last-wicket pairing of Richard Logan and Nadeem Malik added another 33 before Logan lost his middle stump to Mullally for a career-high 29 out of an all-out total of 245.Just 12 overs were bowled during the first two sessions of the day, with Notts adding 34 runs for the loss of Usman Afzaal. The England tourist will look back on his dismissal with regret. Clean bowled by Alex Morris nine runs short of his century he is now stranded on 999 runs for the season. Just prior to his demise he ambled two runs when a comfortable three was on the cards with more purposeful running.In the first over after tea Chris Read drove Alan Mullally for the two needed to bring up the Notts’ 200, thereby securing the first batting point.The Notts’ `keeper didn’t hang around much longer, playing around the swing of Morris, whose fifth victim of the innings also took him to 50 Championship wickets for the season.Mullally snared his third victim soon afterwards as Stephen Randall’s lack of foot movement was a contributory factor in his thickish edge through to Adrian Aymes.Then came the dismissal of Smith which led to the fulfilment of a season’s dream for the Hampshire side. Umpires David Shepherd and David Constant watched the fielders celebrate before making a couple of riotously funny attempts at doing the `high-five’ themselves.Mullally joined Morris in claiming a five-wicket haul and the celebrations could begin in earnest with poor light preventing Hampshire from beginning their innings

Alternative title: Gregg Evans names AVFC target in Saturday tweet, he adores Gerrard

Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard will keep tabs on former team-mate Luis Suarez this summer, The Athletic’s Gregg Evans says.

The lowdown

Suarez’s contract at Atletico Madrid is due to expire on 30 June, as per Transfermarkt.

He’s started 17 La Liga matches so far this season, but his involvement has tailed off recently.

The Uruguayan has begun four of the last five league games on the bench, and was an unused substitute in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 tie against Manchester United.

He remains second in Atletico’s scoring charts, however, with 11 for the campaign (one behind Angel Correa).

Having spent three and a half years alongside him at Liverpool, Suarez has likened Gerrard to an ‘older brother’ and said that their ‘relationship goes beyond the football field’.

The latest

Evans wrote in a tweet on Saturday morning that Suarez is definitely in his ‘last season’ at Atletico.

He says that ‘Gerrard will monitor his situation’ when the transfer window opens.

The verdict

It seems that Gerrard would have an edge over other suitors if indeed Suarez becomes available this summer, but would it be a sensible move?

Well he may be 35, but, as Evans notes, he hasn’t missed a game this season through injury, and his goal return is decent.

But one issue is Suarez’s £263,000-per-week pay packet, more than double that of Villa’s highest earner at present (Danny Ings on £120,000-p/w).

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And Gerrard looks to be finding joy with existing options Ings and Ollie Watkins in recent matches. Combined, they’ve contributed six goals/assists in the last three.

Perhaps they simply don’t need to make the financial commitment.

In other news, Villa are about to receive a fresh windfall.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has moved within one step of professionalising the national selection panel with its finance committee clearing a proposal to pay the selectors, so far honorary, a match fee beginning from Pakistan’s tour of India in November.Under the proposal, which is expected to be ratified by the BCCI’s working committee, each of the five selectors will receive a match fee of Rs 50,000 (US$ 1262) per Test in addition to a daily allowance of Rs 15,000, taking their total earning from a Test to Rs 125,000 (US$ 3156). For one-day matches, the fee will be Rs 65,000 (US$ 1641). Niranjan Shah, the board secretary, told Cricinfo that the new system was likely to be implemented as early as next month.Currently, the selectors, who attend Tests and one-dayers at home, are paid only a daily allowance. Only one selector accompanies the team on tours.Reforming the selection committee, which is chosen on a zonal basis, has been a long-pending issue before the BCCI. John Wright, India’s first professional coach, had singled out the selection process as one of the weakest aspects of Indian cricket.While the zonal system is expected to stay, making the selectors professional is seen as the first step towards accountability. It remains to be seen, though, if the board will abandon its policy of nominating selectors and invite applications from suitable candidates when the terms of some of the members of the existing committee, headed by Dilip Vengsarkar, expires.