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Fulham have agreed a £15m deal for Southampton defender Mohammed Salisu, while they are also close to signing Ajax's Calvin Bassey, according to a report from talkSPORT.

What's the latest Fulham transfer news?

Fulham have been pursuing a new centre-back during the summer transfer window, with Benfica's Morato emerging as a major target, having recently made a €25m (£22m) offer for the Brazilian, however they are now set to bring their pursuit to an end.

As reported by the Portuguese media, Benfica "remain adamant" they will not sell the 22-year-old, rejecting the most recent offer made, meaning the Cottagers are set to move on to other targets, with Bassey one of the names on their list.

Marco Silva may have to bring in more than one new defender this summer, amid the uncertainty over Tosin Adarabioyo's future, with the Englishman's contract set to expire at the end of next season, meaning it is Fulham's last chance to cash-in.

Talks over a contract extension for Adarabioyo have broken down, and Tottenham Hotspur have recently asked for more information about the 25-year-old, so he could be on his way to north London this summer.

As such, Silva has set his sights on signing Salisu and Bassey, with talkSPORT reporting they have agreed a £15m deal with Southampton for the former, meaning personal terms are the only thing that need to be finalised.

Sky Sports have reported that AS Monaco also expressed an interest in signing the centre-back, but the French side have had two bids rejected, and it now appears as though the Cottagers have won the race for his signature.

Bassey is also thought to be heading to Craven Cottage, in a deal worth around £18m, and the Ajax defender is set to have his medical and finalise personal terms in the coming days.

How good is Mohammed Salisu?

Lauded as "fantastic" by members of the media, the 24-year-old was one of the few shining lights in the Southampton side that was relegated from the Premier League in the 2022-23 campaign, and he could be a solid acquisition for Fulham.

With an average WhoScored match rating of 6.78 in the top flight, the Saints defender was ranked as the second-best performing player in the squad, averaging more tackles per game than any other member of the team.

Not only is the Ghanaian a very good tackler, he also ranks very highly for clearances and blocks per 90 over the course of the past year, placing in the 96th and 99th percentile in those two areas, when compared to his positional peers.

At 24-years-old, the Southampton star should be entering his prime years, and he has out-performed Adarabioyo on almost every key defensive metric in the past year, indicating he could be a real upgrade on the Englishman.

A fee of just £15m could be an absolute bargain for Salisu, given the level of his performances for Southampton in recent times, and it is promising news that a deal is edging closer towards completion.

ScorecardChelmsford is the birthplace of the artist Grayson Perry and was also the town where the 16th century magician, John Dee, was educated. It is therefore well-used to astonishing transformations. However, whether credulous or sceptical, residents will have seen little to compare with the latter stages of this match, when Simon Harmer engraved his name in folk memory of Essex cricket-lovers on one the greatest day’s sport seen on this ground.In November 2015 Harmer was playing for South Africa in a Test match at Nagpur. Since then he has seen his stock fall in his home country and in the winter he committed himself to a career as a county cricketer with Essex.Last week he took 14 wickets against Warwickshire and on this wonderful last day against the champions he collected a career-best 9 for 95 finishing the match with figures of 14-172. By doing so he sent a thousand or so hardy souls at the County Ground into floodlit ecstasy, for they had seen their side complete their third victory in succession and this with a maximum of eight balls remaining in the game.When they descend from their rare euphoria, Essex supporters may realise that their team is now 29 points clear at the top of the Division One table. What they will also understand is that they have witnessed a victory the unlikelihood of which made it all the more worthy of celebration.With six overs left to be bowled Essex still needed four wickets and doubts began to creep in among spectators, even if the hesitancy of the later Middlesex batsmen encouraged hope among Ryan ten Doeschate’s players. That belief was fuelled by the fact that the pink Duke’s ball was retaining its bounce more than the red variety, a fact which the 6ft 2ins Harmer had been able to exploit throughout the match. And the problems of the Middlesex batsmen were increased by Harmer’s ability to use the footholes left by Mohammed Amir and Paul Walter. For all that time was running out, one never felt that Dawid Malan’s batsmen were comfortable. Certainly they never looked like clearing the 296-run deficit established by Essex’s dynamic batting on the third day of this game.In the 108th over of the innings Ryan Higgins played inside what looked like an arm ball and was caught at slip by Alastair Cook, for whom this match was the pleasantest of temporary farewells before the Test series. Three balls later Ollie Rayner collected a pair when he was leg before on the front foot. Harmer had now taken all eight wickets to fall in the innings but his chances of taking all ten disappeared three overs later when Dan Lawrence trapped Toby Roland-Jones lbw for a single although there was a case the ball pitched outside leg. Nobody minded, least of all Harmer who brushed away Lawrence apologies in the joy of shared achievement. Three balls of Harmer’s subsequent over passed and it seemed clear that Lawrence or possibly Amir would be bowling the last over of the game.Simon Harmer wheels away with his Essex team-mates after his match-sealing wicket•Getty Images

That over was never delivered. Perhaps scared of commitment, Steven Finn plunged forward but played no shot to Harmer’s third last ball of the game. An appeal followed that could be heard in either of the Baddows. There was a raised finger from David Millns. Harmer began the first Essex bowler since Mark Ilott in 1995 to take nine wickets in an innings and ten Doeschate’s men are hot favourites for the title now. This will be Harmer’s match but so was last week’s.”It’s not going to get too much better than this,” said Harmer. “You just need to ride the wave – they don’t come around that often. We will enjoy tonight and have a few beers. It’s an incredible win for the club. It puts us in phenomenal position going into the last six games of the season. We’ve done a lot of hard work, a lot of hard graft and been on top of our game. We’ve come out on top in the last 10 minutes of the day today. These are the moments you play cricket for. It makes all the hard graft worth it.”And yet it takes two teams to make a contest as noble as this one and in the joy of Harmer’s achievement, even the Essex supporters spared applause for Nick Compton, whose innings of 120 looked likely to frustrate Essex. And the Middlesex opener’s tale shares a very rough parallel with that of Harmer.Just over a year ago Compton’s name was blazoned in headlines. He was an England batsman. Yet within a few weeks some who had advocated his selection were vehement that he should never have been picked in the first place. No one, of course, has mentioned his name in connection with the England side for next week’s Test at Lord’s. Yet as we watched Compton make his century and bat in vain to save the game it was plain that he still retains the skill to play this game at a high level and the temperament to defy opponents in full cry.Harmer v Compton. Given a couple of different turns on the wheels of fortune and circumstance, it was a battle which might have been seen in next week’s Test match. And on the evidence of this quite wonderful last day at Chelmsford it would not have disgraced the stage at St John’s Wood.Compton arrived at New Writtle Street having scored 81 championship runs in four innings; injury and indifferent form have kept him out of the Middlesex team. Those factors by themselves were enough to make his effort at Chelmsford admirable. Yet the virtues of his batting were magnified by the intensity of the contest and the fact that his principal adversary, Harmer, is in the form of his life.So much was proved in the first half hour of play when Harmer dismissed Nick Gubbins, Stevie Eskinazi and Dawid Malan in five overs from the River End, reducing Middlesex to 51 for 3 and encouraging the hopes of home supporters that they were about to see ten Doeschate’s team achieve a facile innings victory and their fifth Division One triumph of the season.Yet this early clatter was misleading; instead of offering a strong clue to the narrative of the day, it merely set up the terrific duel of Thursday’s cricket: Both our principals had considerable help, of course. The main assistance to Harmer probably came from Dan Lawrence, whose high action gave his off-spinners every chance to bounce uncomfortably.Nick Compton dug in to defy the home attack•Getty Images

Compton was assisted deep into the heart of the day and beyond by Paul Stirling, who batted with commendable coolness and against his attacking instincts to make 55 in 202 minutes. While Compton and Stirling were adding 153 in 55 overs the five points for a draw were plainly secure. Then, five minutes before tea, Stirling, who had been dropped three times, was safely caught by Ravi Bopara at backward short leg. John Simpson resisted for 50 minutes but was beaten by Harmer’s turn and taken by Cook. Then Compton having faced 303 balls, 59 more than in his entire season before this innings, was leg before playing no shot to Harmer. The door was open and the Essex cricketers plunged through it. “Harmer’s a proper bowler,” said Essex’s Keith Fletcher, who faced a few and has seen countless more. No one anywhere in Essex doubts that judgement this glorious June evening.

Match facts

June 5, 2017
Start time 19:30 local (23:30 GMT)

Big picture

West Indies are likely to give uncapped fast bowler Ronsford Beaton a run in the final T20I•AFP

A series like this one can often be an underwhelming exercise for reigning T20I world champions, West Indies. Every time they take the field, nothing less than a crushing victory may seem satisfactory on their part. Furthermore, one can be sure that should they be defeated in even one game during the three-match series, it is the loss that would be remembered by fans and pundits alike. Hence, to their credit, West Indies have done just about as well as they could to ensure Afghanistan have been given no cause for excitement, and that the tourists have been comprehensively defeated in both T20Is. One might even be tempted to go so far as to suggest the hosts have demonstrated a degree of maturity and professionalism in both their outings so far – sentiments that don’t necessarily scream West Indies.For Afghanistan, this was always going to be a historic tour, with the feel-good factor unlikely to have ceased despite the results they have incurred so far in the field of play. Even so, they must be disappointed with how they’ve gone about their business in the last two games, never even coming close to worrying West Indies, let alone pulling off an upset. There is little doubt the Afghanistan bowling attack has struggled for breakthroughs that would put pressure on the opposition batsmen: they have taken only seven West Indies wickets in two T20Is, with both the Zadrans – Dawlat and Shapoor – having been grossly expensive. Add to that the tourists’ batting displays on both instances that bordered more on the Affiliate/Associate brand of cricket than the Associate/Full Member one. However, what has frustrated Afghanistan till now may also give them hope: these two performances aren’t holistically representative of this side, and one would expect they’re due a better one in a contest where the pressure will be off.

Form guide

West Indies WWLWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Afghanistan LLWWW

In the spotlight

Kesrick Williams has so far been the best player this series, and encouragingly for West Indies, this appears to be indicative of a wider trend. Ever since making his debut against Pakistan last September, the fast bowler from St Vincent and the Grenadines (a Caribbean island not as famous for especially fertile cricketing talent as the rest) has been performing with impressive consistency. With 11 wickets from seven innings at an economy rate of 5.23, Williams combines nippy pace with intelligent variations, including an excellent yorker – all of which makes him an attractive T20 talent. Afghanistan would be wary of Williams, who bowled 22 dots in the 39 bowls he sent down in the last two games, scalping five wickets for only 30 runs.The two stalwarts of Afghanistan cricket, Mohammad Nabi and Asghar Stanikzai, will have lived for this series, and must have thought it would come long after they had retired. However, the unprecedented speed at which the Afghanistan cricket team has developed means the duo – currently aged 32 and 29 respectively – are still not too far from their peak. As such, they must be disappointed with themselves for not having taken more responsibility in the last two T20Is as fellow batsmen struggled, with neither managing to reach doubles figures. Their desire to leave a mark on this series – for who knows when they’ll be touring the West Indies next? – will be as intense as ever. If one of them can get going, St Kitts might feel a lot more like Afghanistan than anyone would ever have thought possible.

Team news

West Indies head coach Stuart Law has said the team is likely to give the uncapped Guyana fast bowler Ronsford Beaton a run in the final T20I, and that he would “continue to give Rovman Powell a go”, considering the 23-year old allrounder hasn’t featured in many games despite travelling with the team for most of their fixtures.West Indies (probable) 1 Evin Lewis, 2 Chadwick Walton (wk), 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Lendl Simmons, 5 Jason Mohammed, 6 Carlos Brathwaite (capt), 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Rovman Powell, 9 Samuel Badree/Ronsford Beaton, 10 Jerome Taylor, 11 Kesrick WilliamsAfghanistan made several changes to their playing combination between the two games, but have failed to achieve any notable improvement in performance. More players are likely to be shuffled around, with competition for some spots being particularly fierce.Afghanistan (probable) 1 Gulbadin Naib, 2 Usman Ghani, 3 Asghar Stanikzai (capt), 4 Samiullah Shenwari, 5 Mohammad Nabi, 6 Karim Janat, 7 Afzar Zazai (wk), 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Amir Hamza, 10 Shapoor Zadran, 11 Naveen-ul-Haq

Pitch and conditions

The Warner Park pitch has been slightly more conducive to fast bowlers this series than many would have expected. With Jerome Taylor and Williams doing well for the hosts, another pace-friendly surface should not surprise.Rain, which played its part during the previous match, is not expected to be a factor this time around.

Stats and trivia

• Only five Afghanistan batsmen reached double figures in the the last two T20Is combined, with Gulbadin Naib being the only one to do so on both occasions. In contrast, only one West Indies batsman – Lendl Simmons – has been dismissed for a single-digit score so far this series.
• Sunil Narine has scored 145 runs in 19 T20I innings. In the 16 matches he played for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL this season, he amassed 224, which also included the joint-fastest fifty – off only 15 balls – in the tournament’s history.

Mason Crane produced a stunning spell of legspin to secure a 3-0 whitewash for the South in a rain-affected climax to the new North-South Series in Abu Dhabi

ECB Reporters Network21-Mar-2017
ScorecardDaniel Bell-Drummond’s 81 anchored South’s innings•Getty Images

Mason Crane produced a stunning spell of legspin to secure a 3-0 whitewash for the South in a rain-affected climax to the new North-South Series in Abu Dhabi.The North seemed on course for victory in a game restricted to 40 overs per side by rare desert rain, with Ben Duckett providing a flying start to their pursuit of a modest South total of 228 for 8, and Sam Hain and Liam Livingstone sharing a mature third-wicket stand of 67 to steer the North to 146 for 2.But Crane, the 20-year-old Hampshire legspinner who recently became the first overseas player to represent New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield since Imran Khan, then offered further evidence of his exciting potential by taking four wickets for one run in the space of 10 balls under the floodlights at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.Hain was bowled for 44 from 97 balls, Joe Clarke was also bowled for a golden duck, and Crane went close to a hat-trick as Jack Leaning’s edge fell short of second slip.Leaning was out in the next over, also bowled and bemused, and finally Crane claimed the key wicket of Livingstone, the Lancashire allrounder who excelled on the recent England Lions tour of Sri Lanka, and had just reached his first half century of the series.He was lured down the pitch and smartly stumped by Ben Foakes, and despite another battling innings from Tim Bresnan, Toby Roland-Jones and Tom Curran polished off the North tail.Other performances of note in the tightest contest of the series included 81 from Daniel Bell-Drummond, continuing the good List A form which has brought him a Lions century in Sri Lanka and 92 not out in the first North-South contest in Dubai.Roland-Jones underlined his allround value by thumping an unbeaten 43 from 24 balls to give the South important lower-order runs, while Mark Wood continued his encouraging comeback after ankle surgery by taking 2 for 38, and the North spinners Josh Poysden and Graeme White both impressed – Poysden taking 3 for 55, and White claiming James Vince and Bell-Drummond as classic slow-left-arm victims.The game was delayed by almost four hours by steady morning rain, and North captain Keaton Jennings chose to bowl when he won his third toss of the series.Both teams were forced to make one change, with Sam Northeast ruled out for the South after feeling a twinge in his hamstring when making a century in the second game in Dubai on Sunday, and Durham allrounder Paul Coughlin unavailable after suffering cramp in his hamstring during that game.The South also recalled Lewis Gregory in place of his Somerset team-mate Tim Groenewald, with Crane replacing Northeast, while the North brought back White in addition to Wood, with Nottinghamshire’s Harry Gurney dropping out.Wickets fell steadily on a tricky pitch, but Bell-Drummond again displayed patience and skill to hold things together before Roland-Jones provided those much-needed late runs.Duckett responded by whacking 37 from 17 balls with seven fours and a six, but Roland-Jones prevented him from inflicting any further damage, and Liam Dawson produced another tidy spell of left-arm spin before Crane’s match-winning burst.

A round-up of the final round of matches from the 2016-17 BCL that saw North Zone being crowned champions

Mohammad Isam08-Mar-2017

North Zone secured their maiden Bangladesh Cricket League title after they earned three points from the drawn game against East Zone at the in Fatullah. South Zone and Central Zone had won the BCL trophy twice each in the first four editions of the tournament. This match ended due to poor light after only 47 overs on the final day.List of BCL champions

Central Zone (2012-13)
South Zone (2013-14)
South Zone (2014-15)
Central Zone (2015-16)
North Zone (2016-17)

Earlier, North Zone, having been sent in, posted 374 in 111.3 overs. Farhad Hossain led the way with 108, and added 204 runs for the second wicket with Junaid Siddique who contributed with 84. Seamer Mohammad Saifuddin was the pick of the bowlers for East Zone, claiming 4 for 55.Shafiul Islam’s six-wicket haul then wrecked East Zone’s reply and helped North Zone to a 158-run first-innings lead. North Zone then seized the advantage with Nazmul Hossain Shanto scoring an unbeaten 122, which steered the team to 295 for 8 dec. Nasir Hossain assisted Nazmul with 63 off 84 balls. Chasing an improbable 454, East Zone ended at 128 for 3 in 36 overs. Shafiul finished with a match haul of eight wickets.A run-fest at the BKSP-3 ground in Savar pushed the South Zone-Central Zone contest into a draw.South Zone amassed 749 runs in the first innings after Tushar Imran and Shahriar Nafees both struck double-centuries. Tushar, who hit his second double-hundred in the three first-class matches, finished with 217 off 338 balls, including 21 boundaries. Nafees’ unbeaten 207 came off 298 balls with 18 fours and five sixes. Mohammad Mithun, batting at No. 3, was among the runs too, scoring 131 off 186 balls.Mithun and Tushar put on 230 runs for the third wicket while Nafees and Tushar added 215 runs for the fourth wicket in South Zone’s mammoth first-innings total. Central Zone were forced to use 11 bowlers, including wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan.They replied with 415 all out, with Shadman Islam hitting 113 off 330 balls, including 17 fours. Taibur Rahman missed a hundred by ten runs while Saif Hassan made exactly 50. South Zone raced to 33 in two overs in their second innings and eventually walked away with three points.

Faf du Plessis has credited his promotion to the Test captaincy with his current form, which has seen him rack up two hundreds in three innings

Firdose Moonda07-Feb-20172:20

‘Being captain makes me play better’ – du Plessis

Faf du Plessis has credited his promotion to the Test captaincy with his current form, which has seen him rack up two hundreds in three innings, including today’s record-breaking 185 at Newlands, to complete his most successful summer in ODIs, and it’s not over yet.In 10 matches, du Plessis has scored 640 runs at 71.11, including three hundreds and two fifties, more than other period. South Africa still have one match against Sri Lanka later this week and five in New Zealand later this month, for du Plessis to add to those numbers.”Being a captain makes me play better. That’s possibly been a reason for [my good form] ,” du Plessis said after recording the second-highest score by a South African in ODI history.”The confidence and the momentum of that definitely helps. It just makes you raise your own bar of performance, you want to be a better player. My challenge to myself was to be a good player and now it’s to become a great player. So it’s just about lifting the bar and making a mind shift.”Du Plessis batted from the second over until the last, when he was caught on the long-on fence while seeking to overhaul Gary Kirsten’s 188 not out. He said the record was not on his mind, neither was a first double-century by a South African in ODIs.”I didn’t know about the record. I am very happy that I got to 180,” du Plessis said. “The record is something that would have been nice but not for one second did I think of it and 200 was also not on my mind. I was just trying to get as many runs as possible.”Apart from the two century stands that du Plessis shared with Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers, a hallmark of his innings was strike rotation, particularly with de Villiers. They were together during a six-over period in which Sri Lanka did not give away any boundaries, and they still managed to score 32 runs in the process. South Africa totalled 151 singles and, in a game of small margins, that was one of the differences between them and Sri Lanka – who ran 103. Du Plessis explained it was a deliberate tactic to keep the scoreboard moving.”That’s my game, which is to not give many dot balls. I try and make sure I take pressure off myself by just rotating the strike and running well and, luckily in our team, we’ve got amazingly quick guys between the wickets and we’ve put a lot of pressure on the opposition,” he said. “Our ones and twos stats right through the series have been incredible – we’ve got two or three times the number of the Sri Lankans. That is so difficult to bowl to – when you get guys that continuously run you off your feet.”Faf du Plessis is in the form of his life•Getty Images

Interestingly, the partner with whom du Plessis’ enjoyed the most success in singles and overall terms was de Villiers, whom he succeeded as Test captain and whom he plays under in ODIs. The pair are childhood friends and, although du Plessis appears to have taken to the captaincy quicker than de Villiers did, he does not mind being relegated to working under someone else for a change. “Since AB has come back, we’ve worked really well together. I can feel that on the field we talk from the same mouth almost,” du Plessis said.What they will both be saying for the next few days is that a whitewash over Sri Lanka is their main goal. Not only will it see them overtake Australia at the top of the rankings but it will also prove their ability to win consistently, which South Africa insist will be crucial when it comes to major tournaments.”Five-nil is important now to get to No. 1. For a while we have targeted to get back at the top in all formats, and we are getting there very quickly. Five-nil would be a great achievement, no matter who you play against.”As hard as Sri Lanka fought in the fourth ODI, they have not given South Africa as much of a challenge as they would have liked, except during the T20s against an experimental host outfit. Still, du Plessis was happy with South Africa’s ruthlessness, although he would like to see their attack engage in more contests like the one they had on Tuesday night.”You have to beat who is in front of you and you have to do it well and I think that’s something we have done very well,” he said. “Our skills have been very good right through the series. We haven’t taken our foot off the gas.”From a bowling point of view, yes, Sri Lanka’s team are possibly not the best batting line-up in the world, but we’re still doing what’s required. Today was a pressure situation, we know that they are very top-heavy and score runs up front, and the bowlers possibly didn’t start as well as they would have liked but they came back.”It’s important that we get pushed. Especially with a young bowling unit, we want to get those bowlers in some pressurised moments because that’s what big games are all about. That’s the difference between winning tournaments and not – the pressure.”

Manchester United have done what they set out to do this season by securing qualification for the 2023/24 edition of the Champions League in what has been an impressive debut campaign in charge for Erik Ten Hag.

The Dutchman has also achieved Carabao Cup glory this term. He will have the chance to bag a second piece of silverware this weekend when the Red Devils take on bitter rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.

Once the dust settles following a long season for Manchester United, their attention will turn towards sizing up potential additions in the summer transfer window.

As per 90min, Manchester United were keen on bringing Barcelona midfielder Frenkie De Jong to Old Trafford and even made an offer to try and secure his services.

Mundo Deportivo via The Daily Express have given the Red Devils some fresh hope of reviving their interest in the Netherlands international, detailing that Barcelona may try to renegotiate De Jong's terms at Spotify Camp Nou amid rumours that the Catalan giants may have to recoup £176 million in the off-season before being able to sanction their transfer business.

Why is Frenkie De Jong so highly rated and should Manchester United pursue him?

Speaking to Football FanCast, journalist Dean Jones thinks that De Jong would be a sensible signing from Manchester United that would fit Ten Hag's vision at the club more than someone like Neymar, who the Red Devils have been linked with recently.

Jones told FFC: "De Jong is a better signing than Neymar for Manchester United because he fits with the ethos of what and how he's actually trying to build. If you sign Neymar, it's not fixing any of the problems that you've got and it's also changing the dynamic of the dressing room in a way that might end up being negative."

ESPN reported earlier this year that Manchester United are not completely closed off to 'reigniting their interest' in De Jong and shared quotes from manager Ten Hag praising the player, as the 53-year-old stated: "Frenkie is an incredible player and for every club in the whole world he will strengthen the squad because he has a unique quality. "If you can get him in the squad your team will be stronger. In Spain he became even better. He's a fantastic player, plays out from the back, he always has time and it was a pleasure to work with him."

In 2022/23, the 26-year-old has made 42 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona and managed to register two goals and four assists, as per Transfermarkt.

There is an argument to say that De Jong could be a perfect partner in crime for Casemiro, potentially playing in a double-pivot style system with Bruno Fernandes helping to support attacking phases of play slightly higher up in either a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 variation, which can sometimes be Ten Hag's go to, as per SPORF.

WhoScored shows that by comparing Casemiro and De Jong not to see who is better but rather looking at how they have both become consistent assets for their respective sides, you will find that they have achieved the exact same average match rating of 7.17 this term for their exploits on the pitch.

De Jong, who could cost around £63 million, ranks highly in his pass success rate, standing at 91.3%, which could bring some added composure in midfield and let Casemiro deal with winning duels. On the ground, the Brazil international who earns £350k-a-week at the Red Devils has snapped into 3.2 tackles per match across the campaign.

FBRef illustrates that De Jong is also a competent figure when it comes to providing chances to his teammates, having successfully carried out 109 shot-creating actions in La Liga in total.

Cited by Barca TV via The Manchester Evening News, Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo heaped praise on the former Ajax man in an interview, stating: "Here is the best midfielder in the world, Frenkie de Jong!"

With Manchester United known to be in the market for several additions this summer, bringing in £622k-a-week earner De Jong would be a masterstroke by Ten Hag and would potentially create a dynamite duo by fielding him beside Casemiro at Old Trafford.

Australia vice-captain David Warner said his side’s 142-run loss in the second ODI at Johannesburg could be traced to a poor start in each innings. Warner said Australia found it hard to recover in the field after South Africa finished the first 10 overs at 66 for 0, setting up a platform for an imposing 361 for 6 which was more than enough for the hosts to defend.”We didn’t start well,” Warner said after the game. “We always talk about trying to start well with the bat and the ball in the first 10. We lacked that a bit today and I think our energy and intent was probably lacking. But look when a team puts 360 on the board, it’s always going to be a tough chase. You have to start positive and try not to lose too many wickets in the first 10. It’s unfortunate today but we’ve got another chance to come back and show up again in Durban.”Australia’s debutant new-ball combo of Chris Tremain and Joe Mennie took the brunt of the punishment from Rilee Rossouw and Faf du Plessis, who produced his sixth ODI ton. Tremain and Mennie took a combined 1 for 160 in 20 overs, with Mennie’s 0 for 82 the worst return for an Australian bowler on ODI debut.However, Warner noted that the Johannesburg pitch is never an easy place for bowlers, noting Mennie didn’t have it as bad as Mick Lewis, who conceded figures of 0 for 113 in the famous 438 chase by South Africa on the same ground 10 years earlier. He also said Mitchell Starc’s absence was not an excuse for a lackluster bowling performance and that the young attack will hopefully learn from the experience.”You’ve got to play the cards that you’re dealt and at the moment we’ve got two young guys making their debut. We do have a young attack but they’ve done everything they can to be here and be in this position to play for the country. It’s going to be a learning experience for them especially today.”They have to go back and reflect on what they can do better, especially in the first 10. With Starcy and them out, it is what it is. We have to deal with it and we can only control what we can at the moment and that’s with the guys that we have.”As for Australia’s reply, Warner said the team needed to find a better balance between attacking in the first 10 overs and remaining patient enough to wait for scoring opportunities that open up over the course of the innings. While South Africa ended their Powerplay blemish free, Australia were 54 for 2 after 10 and lost George Bailey one over later, setting them back to a position they could not dig out of.Warner singled himself out for poor shot selection despite making Australia’s second-best score in the match and said Australia needed to produce bigger scores in the manner of du Plessis on Saturday and Quinton de Kock from the first ODI if they want to make a comeback in the series.”We have to get hungry and we have to be hungry,” Warner said. “We are that on our day. Obviously it hasn’t been our day the last couple of games but we have to keep having that positive mindset and go big. We’ve seen the wickets. They’re very very good wickets and if you get in… today I played probably a poor shot. I’ve had a couple of soft dismissals. A few of the guys got caught down the leg side.”

Gloucestershire completed a ten-wicket victory on the third afternoon in Cardiff to condemn Glamorgan to a seventh loss of the season in the Specsavers Championship

ECB Reporters Network08-Sep-2016
ScorecardDavid Payne took 4 for 45 after making a career-best score•Getty Images

Gloucestershire completed a ten-wicket victory on the third afternoon in Cardiff to condemn Glamorgan to a seventh loss of the season in the Specsavers Championship. David Payne claimed four wickets to follow a career-best 67 not out with the bat as Gloucestershire completed the double over their opponents.Glamorgan, who are second from bottom in Division Two, were again let down by their batting as for the fourth successive innings they failed to last more than 65 overs. Defeat was their third in a row and second inside three days.Gloucestershire added a further 16 runs to their overnight score before being dismissed for 363, a first-innings lead of 143, with Payne unbeaten on 67 and Michael Hogan, after taking the last two wickets, returning creditable figures of 25.1-6-36-5.Only once in the last 12 innings have Glamorgan’s openers shared a fifty partnership, and they were again in trouble when Owen Morgan was bowled by Josh Shaw in the sixth over. He was quickly followed four balls later when Nick Selman was caught by wicketkeeper Phil Mustard off Payne.David Lloyd, who has been short of runs recently, again failed when he wafted at a ball outside the off stump, but Aneurin Donald, on reaching 4, had the distinction of becoming the youngest Glamorgan player to score 1000 runs in a season. Donald and Bragg put on 45 for the fourth wicket, but Donald became Jack Taylor’s first victim when he edged an arm ball to slip, before Kieran Carlson collected a pair when he became Mustard’s third catch behind the stumps.Graham Wagg soon made his intentions clear by driving Taylor’s offspin for successive sixes, but the bowler got his revenge when he bowled Wagg for a breezy 21. Apart from Bragg, who scored 52 with six boundaries, there was little resistance from Glamorgan’s batsmen until Mark Wallace and stand-in captain Hogan put on 58 for the final wicket.Needing to score 90 to win, Chris Dent and Gareth Roderick made a cautious start before Dent drove Wagg, who had reverted to left-arm spin, over long-on for six, and Roderick struck Carlson for three overs in his first over. They then hurried along at four runs an over, with Gloucestershire captain Roderick reaching fifty from 56 balls and hitting the winning runs in the 20th over.

Celtic return to action in the Scottish Premiership this afternoon as they travel away from home to face Glasgow Rangers at Ibrox as confirmed champions.

The Hoops are 13 points clear of their rivals in the table and have the chance to extend the gap to a staggering 16 points with three matches left to play.

Ange Postecoglou's side secured the league title last week with a 2-0 win against Hearts and could use these last four games to rotate his side with a view to making decisions on what he wants to do with the squad in the summer transfer window.

How will Celtic line up against Rangers?

The Australian head coach could make three changes to the XI that started against Hearts last time out, with one in midfield and two in attack.

However, the defence could remain the same with Joe Hart between the sticks and a back four of; Anthony Ralston, Carl Starfelt, Yuki Kobayashi, and Greg Taylor.

Cameron Carter-Vickers has been ruled out for the remainder of this season with a knee injury and this has opened the door for January signing Kobayashi to showcase his quality on a regular basis.

In midfield, Aaron Mooy could be brought in to replace Matt O'Riley next to Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate. The 32-year-old has registered four goals and ten assists in 13 Premiership starts this season and the boss could give him an opportunity to add to his tallies against the Light Blues this afternoon.

On the wing, Daizen Maeda could make way for Liel Abada.

The Japan international has one goal in his last seven appearances and the latter has two goals and one assist in the same time, despite only starting once, which could lead to the £15k-per-week "revelation" – as he was dubbed by Alan Hutton – taking the 25-year-old's place this afternoon.

Finally, Kyogo Furuhashi came off with a knock against Hearts and Postecoglou could rest the club's star striker by offering Oh Hyeon-gyu a rare start after his goal off the bench last time out.

Oh has only started once of his 12 Premiership appearances and managed to plunder three goals for the club since arriving on a permanent deal in January and could be given a huge chance to impress whilst leading the line against Rangers today with Abada and Jota either side of him.

Predicted Celtic XI (4-3-3): Hart; Ralston, Starfelt, Kobayashi, Taylor; Hatate, McGregor, Mooy; Abada, Oh, Jota.