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Max Aarons is ‘not close to Everton’, according to reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano.

The lowdown

The Times reported last month that Aarons has been identified by Everton as a long-term option at right-back, with the youngster valued at £18m by Transfermarkt.

The 21-year-old made 45 appearances for Norwich City this season as they secured immediate promotion back to the Premier League.

Aarons averaged 0.7 tackles, 0.9 interceptions and 1.8 clearances per game over the course of the campaign (WhoScored). He also recorded 1.4 key passes, 2.3 accurate long balls and 1.4 dribbles per match.

He was called up for the group stages of the European Under-21 Championship in March and started two of England’s three matches in Slovenia. Aidy Boothroyd, the Young Lions’ manager for that tournament, hailed him as ‘outstanding’ and described him as a ‘really big talent’ who’s ‘nowhere near finished in his development’.

The latest

Romano dashed any hopes that Everton were close to signing Aarons, also noting that ‘other clubs are joining the race’ for the Norwich starlet.

Two European heavyweights in the form of Manchester United and FC Barcelona have both been linked with the London-born defender.

The verdict

Everton fans shouldn’t fret at this stage, as their club possesses a key advantage in the race for Aarons.

At Manchester United, he’d surely be playing second fiddle to Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who has been one of the Red Devils’ most impressive performers this term, while it was only last summer that Barcelona recruited another promising young right-back in the form of Sergino Dest.

On the other hand, Toffees veteran Seamus Coleman will turn 33 this year, and so Aarons could be presented with a path into the first team if Carlo Ancelotti decides to start gradually phasing out the Irishman.

In other news, many Everton fans were buzzing after claims that the Toffees could sign this relegation-threatened ace.

State player retainers: 2000/01: $12,500-$50,000 2001/02: $22,500-$65,000 2004/05: $37,500-$95,000

Australian Cricket Board09-May-2001Maximum earnings
ACB players:
2000/01: $ 625,000
2001/02: $ 832,000
2004/05: $1,162,000State players:
2000/01: $ 89,000
2001/02: $ 107,000
2004/05: $ 140,000Minimum & maximum retainers
ACB player retainers:
2000/01: $ 80,000-$320,000
2001/02: $ 95,000-$424,000
2004/05: $140,000-$740,000State player retainers:
2000/01: $12,500-$50,000
2001/02: $22,500-$65,000
2004/05: $37,500-$95,000

Ed: Maria Naureen is our correspondent from Karachi, a FM 101 radio talk-show host, cricket radio commentator and sports journalist

Maria Naureen17-May-2001
Ed: Maria Naureen is our correspondent from Karachi, a FM 101 radio talk-show host, cricket radio commentator and sports journalist

Former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Carlton Palmer has told Football FanCast in an exclusive interview that his old side needs a clear-out if they are to win promotion next season.

The Owls were relegated and condemned to League One after failing to beat Derby County last Saturday.

It was a spirited display as Darren Moore’s men gave it everything in a hugely entertaining 3-3 draw at Pride Park on the Championship’s final weekend.

However, in the end, it was not enough for Wednesday, who will now be playing in English football’s third tier. And if they are to have any hope of getting out of there, Palmer believes Moore must get rid of most of the current crop of players, questioning their ability following the Yorkshire club’s dreadful season.

Speaking exclusively to FFC about what Moore and Wednesday must do to win promotion at the first time of asking, the ex-England international said:

“The players who are there now can’t do that [win promotion], in my opinion. The players can’t do that because if they could do that, they wouldn’t have got relegated.

“Darren’s got to be shrewd in getting those players out, getting money in and bringing the right type of player into the football club to get promotion.”

Wednesday have a lot of players whose contracts are close to expiring, so change at Hillsborough looks certain.

NatWest are to give away over 200 tickets to the Australia vPakistan One-Day International match on Saturday (16 June) to North Eastyoungsters unlucky to be hit by the foot and mouth outbreak

Media Release14-Jun-2001NatWest are to give away over 200 tickets to the Australia vPakistan One-Day International match on Saturday (16 June) to North Eastyoungsters unlucky to be hit by the foot and mouth outbreak.NatWest worked alongside Durham CCC to compensate the young cricketers inthe Alnwick and District, Darlington and District and Langbaurgh Leagueswhich have all been badly hit by the epidemic.Club names were put into a hat and 12 lucky clubs were picked to attend thesixth game of the NatWest Series. Hutton Rudby, Great Broughton and Kirby,Middleton-in-Teesdale, Ingleby Grennhow, Trimdon Colliery, Maltby, KingJames, Kildale, East Coundon, Eglingham, Rockcliffe and Belford emergedvictorious.Eighteen children and two adults from each club will be able to savour a topcricket day out at their local county ground, starting with a trip to theNatWest Interactive Zone which will open early for them at 9.30am.The clubs not lucky enough to have won the tickets will still benefit,however, as invitations have been extended to them to give demonstrations atfuture games at the Riverside.”We are delighted to offer NatWest Series tickets to these young cricketersthat have been badly hit by the foot and mouth disease and hope it goes alittle way to compensating them for their disrupted season,” commented AbiSearle, Sponsorship Manager, NatWest.Durham Cricket Development Officer Nick Brown says: “It has been a verydifficult summer for many cricket clubs due to the foot and mouth outbreak.”Both Durham County Cricket Club and the Durham Cricket Board thought thiswould be a good way to compensate the youngsters and NatWest kindly donatedthe tickets.”NatWest has been a major sponsor of cricket since 1981 when the bank began20 years of sponsorship of the NatWest Trophy. In 2000, following asuccessful sponsorship of the 1999 Cricket World Cup, NatWest become thefirst title sponsor of the new international, one-day triangularcompetition, the NatWest Series.NatWest, now part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, is one of the biggestbanks in the UK. NatWest provides a whole range of financial services toover seven million personal and business customers. NatWest has over 1,640branches and operates nearly 3,800 cash machines.

Steven Gerrard picked out Cedric Itten, Kemar Roofe and Ryan Kent when discussing Glasgow Rangers’ best bits of business this season.

The Lowdown: Busy summer

Rangers have completed 10 transfers across the campaign (Transfermarkt). Some of them have not worked out too well, such as Bongani Zungu, but the majority have been inspired.

The likes of Ianis Hagi, Jon McLaughlin and Leon Balogun have all contributed to the 55-time Scottish champions’ success this term.

The Latest: Gerrard pinpoints trio

When discussing the club’s best business this season, Gerrard picked out Itten, Roofe and Kent, who have a combined value of £16.65m (Transfermarkt). He told Sky Sports:

“In this game, over the course of a season, you always fall away for a reason.

“It’s either a dip in form, what’s going on on the pitch, or it’s a message to yourself and the staff that you may be a few players short and it’s about going into the market and getting your recruitment right.

“There’s no getting away from it, at times we were too heavily reliant on Alfredo Morelos, Jermain Defoe.

“I think bringing Kemar Roofe in, bringing Cedric Itten in, keeping Ryan Kent when there was real serious interest, that was big from this board.”

The Verdict: Big business

Indeed, the attacking options Gerrard has at his disposal have been vital to the Light Blues’ success. None of the Gers’ forwards have scored a huge number of goals individually, but between the five of them they have 51 strikes – everyone has chipped at different times. The arrivals of Itten and Roofe in particular gave Gerrard more options across the season to keep opponents guessing.

Holding on to Kent in the wake of strong transfer interest was also crucial – he has been unplayable at times this season and has 15 assists to go with his 13 goals. Gerrard and Ross Wilson must bring in some more inspired signings if they want to maintain this season’s success.

In other news, many Rangers fans lauded this man’s performance against Aberdeen on Saturday.

Former Everton striker Marcus Bent has exclusively told Football FanCast that his former side would struggle to reject £80m for Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Calvert-Lewin has enjoyed his most prolific season in a Toffees shirt following his move from Sheffield United.

He’s scored 21 goals in all competitions, 16 of which have come in the Premier League, with only Harry Kane, Mo Salah, Bruno Fernandes, and Heung Min Son scoring more than the Sheffield-born frontman this term.

Such is Calvert-Lewin’s form, Everton have slapped an £80m price-tag on his head, with Manchester United interested in signing him this summer.

United recently signed up Edinson Cavani for another season, but with Anthony Martial reportedly on his way out of Old Trafford, the Red Devils still want to bolster their strike department in a bid to try and close the gap on rivals Manchester City.

Harry Kane has also been touted as a potential addition but Bent told Football FanCast that should United match Everton’s hefty asking-price, rejecting it would be difficult:

“Speaking to the club, his game has come on leaps and bounds – his hold-up play, his touch, his reading of the game, his finishing.

“£80m, I think he’s probably worth that. But Manchester United, they’re world class, competing for the Premier League, playing in Europe. But, with DCL, turning down £80m is hard, especially for Everton.”

New Zealand’s wet summer looks set to have the final say and squeeze any hope of the home team sharing the National Bank Test Series with England in the third Test at Eden Park in Auckland

Lynn McConnell31-Mar-2002New Zealand’s wet summer looks set to have the final say and squeeze any hope of the home team sharing the National Bank Test Series with England in the third Test at Eden Park in Auckland.Play always looked doubtful on today’s second day as heavy overnight rain left pools of water in front of the grandstands on the northern and southern boundaries of the ground.Ground staff attempted to mop the ground up between the showers but there was no drying whatsoever.The covers did come off during the morning for about an hour but that was the only time as frequent passing showers of drizzle kept the covers on.Having made their second inspection of the ground just after the lunch break, the match umpires Doug Cowie and Srinivas Venkataraghavan said they would look again at the tea break, as long as there were no further showers.However, just after 2pm a heavy shower put paid to any hopes of a clearance in the weather and play was abandoned for the day.The forecast for Auckland for the next few days is not encouraging. For tomorrow it is for cloudy and showery, although south-west winds of around 40km/h offer some hope of drying conditions.Tuesday’s forecast is for a few showers clearing while, Wednesday, the scheduled last day is for fine weather.New Zealand’s poor batting start in the 54 overs available on the first day on Saturday has done them no favours. In conditions that will have eased little there is at least satisfaction that New Zealand has runs on the board, with the prospect of more to come, but England is in a position to control the game and can dictate the pace for what remains of what will be at best, 315 overs of play left.But even that must be debateable given the way in which darkness is now falling so quickly after 5.30pm. Extra time will be added to each day’s play but it does seem that the choice of a half hour to the beginning and end of play does not best suit the circumstances and would be better at 45 minutes earlier in the day with 15 minutes at the end.If nothing else, a series loss by New Zealand will highlight some issues for ground authorities in New Zealand especially in relation to drainage and drying in front of new grandstands that have been built, in Auckland and Christchurch.While they are geared primarily to rugby, there appears to have been little consideration of the effects on cricket, which given the way rugby has been given priority over everything else at these grounds will surprise no-one. But how much more money those same authorities might have saved themselves had they done the job properly from the outset is something that must be learnt from this whole exercise.The work has been done on the portable pitch technology which does appear to have been successful, now the job is to attack the issues of pitch coverings and outfield drainage and drying.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Leicester City striker Brian Deane has hailed the East Midlands club’s recruitment.

In the last summer transfer window, Leicester signed defenders Wesley Fofana and Timothy Castagne from Saint-Etienne and Atalanta respectively, with both players going on to help the Foxes win their first FA Cup.

Fofana arrived to strengthen the team’s central defence, while the versatile Castagne joined as a replacement for left-back Ben Chilwell, who departed the King Power for Chelsea in a £50m deal.

The duo have undoubtedly been successes for the club this season, featuring regularly for their side, and Deane has since praised Brendan Rodgers and his recruitment team for signing the two defenders and their overall work in recent transfer windows.

The ex-Leicester player, who feels his old side are setting the right example in the transfer market, told FFC:

“It [Leicester’s success] comes down to good recruitment. If Leicester can do it, then you think to yourself, ‘Why do clubs always look at paying the premium for players? Are they waiting to see how they do at a club and then go in for them?’

“That costs more money. You know, why not be more proactive? But you have to say, Leicester have got their recruitment spot on again.”

As well as Fofana and Castagne, Rodgers has also brought in the likes of James Justin, Ayoze Perez and Youri Tielemans permanently – the latter winning the FA Cup for his side and arguably epitomising Leicester’s recruitment success.

An interesting scenario has emerged on the eve of last round of matches in the National One-day Cricket Championship

20-Mar-2002An interesting scenario has emerged on the eve of last round of matches in the National One-day Cricket Championship. With PIA, National Bank, Habib Bank and ADBP already through to the final round , the remaining four berths will be decided Wednesday.Sui Gas, at least, are almost assured of place in the next phase of the championship from Pool ‘B’. Their rival in the last game are Rest of Balochistan at Muridke.Pakistan Customs and Karachi Whites are entangled in a tense struggle for the rights to join Pool ‘A’ winners PIA in the final round. They meet at National Stadium.WAPDA should overcome Sheikhupura to confirm their berth behind Pool ‘C’ champions Habib Bank. However, the pick of Wednesday’s matches is undoubtedly the clash between KRL and Allied Bank at Pindi Cricket Stadium. In case of no play, KRL will join ADBP in the final round from Pool ‘D’ while a win will put paid to ABL’s fading hopes. Therefore, ABL simply can’t afford a repeat of Monday’s disappointing defeat that ensured ADBP moving ahead.Seventh round schedule (March 20):Pool A: Karachi Whites v Pakistan Customs at National Stadium, Karachi; PIA v Rest of Sindh at Asghar Ali Shah Stadium, Karachi; Hyderabad v Bahawalpur at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad.Pool B: National Bank v Pak PWD at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore; Gujranwala v Sialkot Gas at Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala; Sui Gas v Rest of Balochistan at Lahore Country Club, Muridke.Pool C: Sheikhupura v WAPDA at Sheikhupura Stadium; Faisalabad v Rest of Punjab at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad; Lahore Blues v Habib Bank at LCCA Ground, Lahore.Pool D: Peshawar v Rawalpindi at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar; KRL v Allied Bank at Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi; Islamabad v Rest of NWFP at KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi.