As Tottenham Hotspur look to turn their season around, those in North London are now reportedly making regular checks on a rising star who could go onto replace Heung-min Son.

Tottenham transfer news

In true Tottenham fashion, the Lilywhites entered the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final off the back of four games without victory before ending the night as 1-0 winners courtesy of a controversial Lucas Bergvall winner.

Whilst some have been quick to argue that the teenager should have been handed a second yellow card for a late challenge on Andrew Robertson just moments before his goal, there’s no denying that the Swede deserved his moment to remember in North London.

That shock result will at least paper over the cracks for now, but that should not rule out any further January reinforcements at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, given their defensive injuries and lack of quality at times.

Levy hopes to finalise Tottenham signing by the end of the week after talks

The Lilywhites chairman and Spurs’ recruitment team are pushing for the club’s second winter signing.

ByEmilio Galantini Jan 10, 2025

Already, Ange Postecoglou has benefitted from the arrival of Antonin Kinsky, who impressed on his debut in place of Fraser Forster in victory over Liverpool and now the former Celtic boss could welcome yet another talent.

According to Pete O’Rourke of Football Insider, Tottenham are now making regular checks on Anis Hadj Moussa alongside Liverpool in the race to sign the Feyenoord winger who earned the Man of the Match award in a 3-3 draw against Manchester City earlier this season.

Stealing the show with an excellent display and the first of his side’s three goals to commence a dramatic comeback at The Etihad, Hadj Moussa is certainly one to watch in the coming weeks. Still just 22 years old, if Spurs are looking for a long-term Son replacement then the Algerian may well be their man.

"Fantasic" Hadj Moussa is a rising star

As Son arguably begins to move past his peak at 32 years old, those in North London would be wise to find a replacement sooner rather than later. Without the usual form of the South Korean, Spurs have been handed a glimpse at the frustrating reality that they could find themselves in on a permanent basis this season, rooted to mid-table and on course to miss out on European football.

The arrival of an emerging star in Hadj Moussa could quickly help turn things around, however. The young winger was praised for his “fantastic run of form” by Football Talent Scout Jacek Kulig last month in what may just be a sign of things to come.

With six goals and two assists to his name in all competitions this season, Hadj Moussa is beginning to show all the signs that point towards a player ready to burst into life.

With New Zealand touring South Africa, Kruger van Wyk, who made the journey in reverse and called New Zealand his home for nearly a decade, talks about his cricket experiences in the land he briefly adopted

Luke Alfred11-Aug-2016According to Kruger van Wyk there are many things to like about his former coach John Wright, but top of the list is his humour.”I remember him waiting a while before telling me that the South Africans were going to give me shit during my debut Test [for New Zealand],” says van Wyk. “Thinking back on it, that was probably his way of telling me I was in the team, because he was always very dry. John was very much a man’s man: he had that old-school toughness and was really comfortable in those sorts of environments. The best thing about him was his sense of humour, because he’d listen to things for a long time and then come in with perfect timing. In that respect he was always very good to me.”Van Wyk spent the three days prior to his Test debut, in Dunedin against the South Africans in March 2012, flat on his back with a bad case of gastroenteritis. “I lost 5kgs and really wasn’t in the best of shape,” he says. By the time it came to the Test itself he was, however, back in the saddle – slightly lighter but ready to pounce should the South Africans forget he was there and lapse into some ill-advised (swearing) or off-the-cuff analysis in Afrikaans.Far from the South Africans “giving him shit”, the Test passed off reasonably amicably. Van Wyk had grown up with players like Jacques Rudolph and AB de Villiers and the verbals were restricted to a good-natured trickle. “Chris Martin nipped [Jacques] Kallis and [AB] de Villiers out on the first day and we led on the first innings by 40-odd,” van Wyk remembers. “They batted well in the second innings [with hundreds to Kallis, Smith and Rudolph], and then at close on the fourth day we were about 140 for 2, with Brendon [McCullum] and Ross [Taylor] at the crease; we needed 300 runs to win with eight wickets standing on a flat track on the final day. Kane [Williamson] was due to come in at five. I think we could have been in for a very exciting final day of cricket, except that it rained on the fourth night and that was it.”

“The Kiwis’ ingenuity is something they’re really proud of. If they need to pick three spinners in a World T20 to beat India in India, they’re going to do that”

By his own admission, van Wyk wasn’t ready for international cricket when he arrived in New Zealand. He was there because Dave Nosworthy, his former coach at Titans (in South Africa), had been recruited by Canterbury and the South Island outfit needed a wicketkeeper. Mark Boucher wasn’t going to relinquish the gloves for South Africa anytime soon and the opportunity seemed like a godsend. This was a chance to reinvent himself, have an adventure and subsume himself in the New Zealand cricketing way.”I think we play a boring brand here in South Africa – we’re one-dimensional,” he says. “The Kiwis’ ingenuity is something they’re really proud of. If they need to pick three spinners in a World T20 to beat India in India, they’re going to do that. They’re really proud of their ingenuity. [Brendon] McCullum and [Mike] Hesson were always prepared to be brave, and that’s absolutely great.”While the stereotype of the canny Kiwi can be overplayed, there’s no doubt that their mentalité, as the French would call it, is to put everything they have to the best possible use – in terms of being prepared to lose as they gamble for a win. Van Wyk says he loved this approach, the idea that they were exhausting every available opportunity to improve themselves, and found himself growing exponentially as a cricketer.He played nine Tests, being knocked off his perch by BJ Watling, but there is no sign of regret. Indeed, you rather feel that his sojourn turned out far better than he ever had reason to expect. Here, after all, was the boy from Wolmaransstad, a veritable Wagga Wagga of the veld. He was too small for rugby and didn’t like disappearing into the wastes of the outfield, so became a wicketkeeper. His entire career was a story of scaling heights he didn’t naturally reach.”You have to allow players to grow outside of a structure or a game plan, to keep challenging them in different ways”•AFPVan Wyk and his young family (one boy, one girl) returned to South Africa in December 2015, after nine years in New Zealand, and he became director of cricket at the Assupol Tuks Cricket Academy at the University of Pretoria. He’s hoping to back up words with deeds by inculcating a far more adventurous brand of cricket, saying that he’s frequently gobsmacked at the conveyor belt of talent that the African sunshine and good facilities seem to almost carelessly produce. “You have to allow players to grow outside of a structure or a game plan, to keep challenging them in different ways. I’d say it’s a state-of-mind thing rather than a technique or set of techniques.”Van Wyk has an opportunity to see what Tuks can do when they defend their Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals title in Sri Lanka early next month. In preparation for the event, van Wyk has been hard at work simulating the kinds of conditions he expects to find in Sri Lanka, roughing up wickets, underpreparing them and leaving them bereft of grass. “Twenty-over cricket provides players with the opportunity to be reckless – and you’ve got to allow them that freedom and license.”Prior to the New Zealanders hopping up to Zimbabwe, they spent a week at Tuks’ Pretoria facility where van Wyk’s boys were able to rub shoulders with the tourists. It was great, he says, for his left-arm quicks to swap notes with Trent Boult or his fast bowlers to bask in the presence of, say, Tim Southee.Unlike the South Africans, who haven’t played much recent Test cricket, the visitors look well-grooved. Kingsmead, the venue for the first Test, has been known to be unkind to home sides in recent years, and the New Zealanders will probably be closer to where they want to be than the hosts. It’s increasingly tempting, in fact, to see the two teams as different sides of the same ball: South African cricket is in the midst of blithely frittering away its riches (some of those riches heading for New Zealand), its Test outfit less successful than it should be. By contrast, New Zealand make best use of what they have, proud to innovate and bold enough to try. It’s the very shift Van Wyk is trying to initiate with his young charges.

Bayern Munich star Harry Kane has been backed to return to the Premier League and "have a go" at Alan Shearer's goalscoring record.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Kane starring at Bayern Munich
• Linked with Premier League return
• Backed to "have a go" at Shearer's record

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood believes Kane, 31, will head back to the Premier League one day in a bid to topple record scorer Shearer. Sherwood has also suggested that Kane may retire from football at the age of 36.

Advertisement

• Getty Images
  

  WHAT TIM SHERWOOD SAID

  He told OLBG: "Harry Kane will have a go at Alan Shearer’s record. I think he’ll be back in the Premier League and he’ll have one eye on that record and why wouldn’t you. He might decide to come home at one stage and there'll be a lot of takers for him. Harry Kane will play until he's 35, 36 years of age, I'm convinced of that. So he's got a lot of time yet. I can only think of one person who doesn't want him coming back, and that's Alan Shearer."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Kane sits second in the all-time Premier League scoring books, with 213 goals compared to Newcastle United legend Shearer's 260. The England international could beat that feat but he would have to head back to English football soon, and for now he is happy at Bayern. However, Kane has not ruled out a Premier League return at some point.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  WHAT NEXT?

  Transfer speculation aside, Kane could feature for Bayern on Friday away at Augsburg in the Bundesliga. Vincent Kompany's side are on course to wrestle the title back from Bayer Leverkusen, and also have a Champions League quarter-final to look forward to against Inter.

“Knowing how much confidence I got out of that game, I think it will be even more so for Cam,” David says of the win over Delhi Capitals

Matt Roller15-Apr-20232:17

Can David and Green be the new Pollard and Hardik?

Tim David and Cameron Green posed for a photo under the floodlights at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla on Monday night after dragging Mumbai Indians over the line to secure their first win of IPL 2023. David posted it on Instagram with a self-effacing caption: “If you need 5 off 6, we are your men.”It was not a pretty finish, but their unbeaten fifth-wicket partnership worth 30 in 3.1 overs proved just enough to deny Anrich Nortje, who bowled a series of searing yorkers, to clinch Mumbai Indians’ first points of the season. More pertinently, ahead of Sunday afternoon’s fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders, it served as a significant confidence boost for a team that fell to heavy defeats in their first two games.

He was banned for two breaches of the PCB’s Anti-Corruption Code

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Feb-2023Asif Afridi has been banned for two years for two separate breaches of the PCB’s Anti-Corruption Code. The ban will come into effect on the date the left-arm spinner was provisionally suspended – September 12, 2022, meaning his period of ineligibility ends two years after that date. The offences are understood to have occurred in the 2022 Pakistan Cup, where Afridi, 36, played for eventual runners-up Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.The more serious breach of the code comes in the violation of Article 2.4.10, which involves “directly or indirectly soliciting, inducing, enticing, persuading, encouraging or intentionally facilitating any Participant to breach any of the foregoing provisions of this Article 2.4.”While the precise nature of this offence has not been made public, it has seen him banned for two years. His other offence concerns the breach of Article 2.4.4, which concerns the non-reporting of corrupt approaches. For that, he has received a six-month suspension, to run concurrently alongside the two-year suspension.The offences can carry up to a lifetime ban, but the PCB said they had taken into account his admission of guilt, level of remorse and past track record.”It gives the PCB no joy to suspend an international cricketer for two years, but we have a zero-tolerance approach towards such offences,” PCB chairman Najam Sethi said. “As the game’s governing body, we need to make examples, handle such matters robustly and send out strong messages to all cricketers.”It is bitter fact that corruption poses a threat to our sport as selfish corrupters lure cricketers in different ways and methods. That’s precisely why the PCB has been investing heavily on player education so that they remain vigilant and can help the PCB eradicate this menace by reporting approaches. If, despite all our best efforts to create awareness, a player falls victim to his greed, then the PCB has no sympathy.”While Afridi hasn’t played international cricket for Pakistan, he was named in Pakistan’s T20I and ODI squads for Australia’s visit to Pakistan last year. He has also played for Multan Sultans in the PSL. He last played any form of cricket in the National T20 Cup in August 2022.

Leeds United moved to the top of the Championship table on Tuesday night with a fantastic 3-1 win over Middlesbrough at a noisy Elland Road.

The Whites are now two points clear of Sheffield United in the division, before the Blades play on Wednesday night, and will certainly end the gameweek in the automatic promotion places.

Wilfried Gnonto, Dan James, and Brenden Aaronson scored the goals for the hosts to secure a fantastic result against Boro, who had beaten Leeds 3-0 at Elland Road in the League Cup back in August.

One of the star performers for the West Yorkshire outfit was the scorer of the second, and arguably best, goal of the night – Wales international James.

Dan James' electric performance against Middlesbrough

The rapid former Manchester United winger was selected to play on the right flank for the Whites and was involved in all three goals for Daniel Farke’s side.

James burst down the right wing and produced a teasing cross into the box that Seny Dieng in the Boro goal made a complete mess of, allowing Gnonto to tap the ball into a virtually empty net.

The 27-year-old star then scored his fourth goal of the Championship season in superb style, firing into the far top corner from the edge of the box to put Leeds 2-1 up after Max Wober’s unfortunate own goal had made it 1-1.

James played a big role in the third and final goal with his driving run on the counter-attack leading to a pass to Ao Tanaka in the box, which allowed the midfielder to square the ball to Aaronson to score.

There was another Leeds player who was just as good as the Wales international, though, and that was Joe Rothwell, who has proven himself to be Farke’s most underrated player.

Performance in Numbers

Want data and stats? Football FanCast's Performance in Numbers series provides you with the latest match analysis from across Europe.

Leeds' most underrated player

Rothwell has been unfortunate, in a sense, to be playing alongside an incredibly talented and popular midfielder in Tanaka, who won the club’s Player of the Month award for October and November.

Whilst the Bournemouth loanee will, surely, love to play alongside such a quality player, it does mean that the majority of the acclaim goes the way of the summer signing from Fortuna Dusseldorf.

Rothwell’s performance against Middlesbrough was a reminder, however, that he is just as important to the team with his terrific displays in the middle of the park, with LeedsLive handing him and James a player rating of 8/10 each.

As you can see in the table above, the Englishman was a midfield metronome in the middle of the park with his impressive pass success rate, whilst he was also superb out of possession.

Meanwhile, Tanaka also completed 92% of his attempted passes but lost nine of his 15 ground duels and was dribbled past three times, which shows that Rothwell offered more solidity defensively.

The Englishman tops the team for key passes (1.6) per game and ranks fifth for passes completed (39.9) per game, which speaks to his progressive use of the ball for Leeds.

Leeds could sign a "ridiculous" £5m star to be their next Archie Gray

Leeds United have been linked with an interest in the talented teenage sensation.

1

By
Dan Emery

Dec 9, 2024

He is key to the way the teams turns their possession into dangerous attacks with his progressive passes, as shown by his impressive number of key passes, and that – along with his showing against Boro – is why he is, arguably, the most underrated star in the team alongside his more heralded midfield partner.

The former U-19 bowler is hopeful of regular game time to secure a deal in South Africa for next season

Firdose Moonda12-May-2023Mondli Khumalo will travel to the UK on Friday to rejoin North Petherton Cricket Club in Somerset less than a year after an assault in which he suffered bleeding in the brain.The attack left Khumalo, a former South Africa Under-19 bowler, with his cricket career hanging by a thread. But he has now been cleared to play by a neurosurgeon and is hopeful of regular game time to secure a deal in South Africa for next season.He is no longer on the books of Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland, the provincial team based in Pietermaritzburg who were promoted to Division One for the 2023-24 season. “Getting game time under his belt in the UK is an important part of his preparation for the next SA summer,” Rob Humphries, Khumalo’s agent, told ESPNcricinfo. “He is buzzing to get back on the field.”Related

• Mondli Khumalo 'fit and strong' after successful final round of surgery

Khumalo has been out of action since last May, when he was attacked while celebrating a team win outside a pub in Bristol. He was unconscious at the scene and received emergency medical treatment which required him to be put into an induced coma for four days. Khumalo’s brain injuries were serious enough to require four operations, three to relieve pressure on the brain and a final one to replace the piece of skull that had been removed to help with other procedures, and remained in the UK until November last year. A crowdfunding campaign was launched to assist with costs, including getting flights for his mother and uncle to travel from South Africa to be at his side.Throughout his time in recovery, Khumalo remained committed to making a comeback to the game. Ten days after being hospitalised, Khumalo was able to stand unaided and his club team-mate Lloyd Irish shared a video of Khumalo catching a sponge ball. On his return to South Africa, Khumalo was a regular attendee at Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland games. In February then, he suffered a seizure that threatened to set back his return, but he recovered quickly.Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland released their squad for the upcoming summer earlier this week and it includes the acquisition of left-arm seamer Mbulelo Buadaza from the Knights, who were relegated, and Thando Ntini from the Dolphins, which has left no room for Khumalo at this stage. ESPNcricinfo understands that if no opportunities arise in South Africa for the season ahead, Khumalo could look at playing club cricket in Australia, where several clubs have expressed interest in him after hearing his story.A 27-year-old man was arrested in connection with Khumalo’s assault and will go on trial in October.

Chelsea wanted to sign Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk before the Dutch defender extended his stay at Anfied.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

Chelsea wanted Van Dijk for free in the summerDutch defender signed a new two-year dealLiverpool face Leicester on SundayFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Van Dijk put all rumours to rest by signing a new two-year Liverpool contract on Thursday. The Dutch defender was out of contract this summer, but now he has come to an agreement with the Reds by extending his stay at Anfield until 2027. The news came as a huge boost for Premier League giants, who had earlier convinced Mohamed Salah to sign a new deal.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE BIGGER PICTURE

reports that before Van Dijk put pen to paper on a new deal, Chelsea had reportedly shown interest in signing the player as a free agent in the summer, however, the Blues later felt that the 33-year-old would commit his future to the Merseyside club. The Netherlands international was also linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain after he was spotted chatting with sporting director Luis Campos after their Champions League round of 16 clash at Anfield.

DID YOU KNOW?

Per , Van Dijk's salary under the terms of the new deal will be in the region of £400,000 per week, allowing him to maintain his status as Europe's best-paid defender.

Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR LIVERPOOL?

Arne Slot's side will be back in action in the Premier League this Sunday as they take on Leicester City away from home. If they beat the Foxes and Arsenal lose against Ipswich earlier that day, the Reds will be crowned champions of England for the record-equalling 20th time.

The second David Moyes era is now officially up and running.

Moyes’ return to Everton proved to be a bit of a damp squib, beaten 1-0 by Aston Villa on Wednesday, but it was certainly second time lucky on Sunday, smashing Spurs.

The Toffees raced into a 3-0 half time lead; Dominic Calvert-Lewin broke the deadlock, his first goal since September, Iliman Ndiaye then added a second with a sublime solo strike, before an own goal in injury time had the Gwladys Street End rocking.

Tottenham did hit back twice in the second half, the second of which came far too little for them to mount a full-scale comeback, as the Blues held on for a victory that moves them four points clear of danger.

So now, before travelling to Brighton on Saturday, could Everton strengthen this squad by signing someone from the Seagulls?

Everton aiming to bolster their midfield options

According to a report by Mark Brus of Caught Offside, both Everton, as well as Leicester City, have “held talks” with Brighton & Hove Albion about the possibility of signing Jakub Moder.

It had been widely reported last week, including by David Ornstein of the Athletic, that Moder was on his way to Eredivisie giants Feyenoord, but both Everton and Leicester have made a late attempt to sign the Polish international.

Moder is out of contract in the summer, hence why Brighton had agreed to sell him to the Duch heavyweights for a miserly €1.5m (£1.27m), underlining why two of the Premier League’s most cash-strapped clubs are eager to snap up a bargain.

The 25-year-old joined Brighton from Lech Poznań for a reported £9m in 2020, becoming a key figure upon his arrival, featuring prominently between January 2021 until April 2022, racking up 2,350 Premier League minutes, before rupturing his ACL against Norwich, heartbreakingly sitting out the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

He didn’t feature at all during the 2022/23 season, before making his return against Nottingham Forest in November 2023, after a huge 602 days on the sidelines.

How Jakub Moder would improve Everton

This season, Moder has seen more minutes for his country than his club (167 compared to 160), hence why Fabian Hürzeler is willing to let him go during this window.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

At the peak of his powers, however, Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout described the Polish midfielder as “strong, athletic, versatile, tactically intelligent and a good passer”, so he’s certainly worth taking a chance on, especially with Brighton willing to do a cut-price deal.

Given that both Tim Iroegbunam and James Garner are currently sidelined, the former has not featured since 5th October due to a foot injury, David Moyes has limited midfield options, starting Idrissa Gana Gueye, Orel Mangala and Abdoulaye Doucouré during both his matches so far, with teenager Harrison Armstrong the only midfielder in reserve.

Gana Gueye in particular shone during Sunday’s victory over Spurs, with Sofascore naming the Senegalese midfielder their statistical man of the match, while Statman James on Twitter described his performance as “absolutely class”, so let’s see how he and Moder compare.

Appearances

79

96

Minutes

4,011

6,964

Passes per 90

28

37

Pass completion %

74.3%

84.5%

Progressive passes per 90

2.96

3.41

Shot-creating actions per 90

1.37

1.74

Shots per 90

1.43

0.84

Goal or assist per 90

0.13

0.10

Touches per 90

36

47

Tackles per 90

1.43

3

Blocks per 90

0.80

1.29

Interceptions per 90

0.47

1.50

Yellow cards per 90

0.13

0.25

Even when affording Moder an extra season, Gana Gueye has racked up almost 3,000 more minutes than the Poland international during the given timeframe, as a result of his aforementioned long spell on the sidelines.

As outlined in the table, Gana Gueye is much more of a combative midfielder, hence why he’s accumulated more tackles, blocks, interceptions and yellow cards.

Meanwhile, despite what this stupendous strike against Brentford may suggest, the Senegalese midfielder isn’t much of a goal threat, racking up only four goals and four assists in almost 100 appearances since August 2022.

Moder, hardly prolific himself, would offer Everton a bit more going forward so, considering the Toffees have failed to net during nine of their last 12 Premier League games, this would be a welcome edition.

Couple that with the fact he’s ten years younger than Gueye and in due course, he could well usurp the Senegal star in Moyes’ midfield.

Better than Ndiaye: 8/10 Everton star has made himself undroppable to Moyes

Everton’s 8/10 star was everywhere against Spurs in emphatic first win for Moyes

ByConnor Holden Jan 19, 2025