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Everton have made an impression in the Premier League this term and now look poised to try and tempt an exciting offensive talent to the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Everton pushing to land January arrivals

Despite a frustrating defeat to Brentford last weekend, Everton are still on course for a successful campaign and remain in the mix for European qualification at the halfway point of 2025/26.

Nevertheless, there is a feeling signings will be necessary for the Toffees to kick on under David Moyes, especially through the middle as Thierno Barry and Beto struggle to find their feet consistently in front of goal.

With that in mind, reports suggest that Everton have been offered the chance to sign Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Jorgen Strand Larsen. However, they may need to compete with the likes of Newcastle United, Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur for his services.

Concerning their defence, Blackburn Rovers star Ryan Alebiosu could be on his way to Merseyside as Moyes looks to find a long-term successor to club captain Seamus Coleman.

Watford captain Imram Louza is also wanted at Everton, though again, it remains to be seen whether the Premier League outfit stump up enough cash to tempt the Hornets into a mid-season sale.

Truthfully, January is a difficult window and clubs are notoriously hard to deal with as they don’t want to lose their best players. Regardless, the Friedkin Group have work to do, and they will be keen to show that Everton are capable of reaching significant heights under their stewardship.

Now, they could be set to make their move for a star who is thriving on the continent, potentially providing competition in the wide areas for Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye.

Everton enter race to sign Zuriko Davitashvili

According to Foot Mercato, Everton have entered the race to sign Saint-Etienne winger Zuriko Davitashvili, who is also on the radar of Besiktas and Fenerbahce after his excellent start to the campaign.

Further reports from Georgian outlet, Geo team suggest that Everton “will try to sign” him throughout the next few weeks. Besiktas have already seen a bid of around £10m knocked back.

Scoring nine times and laying on an assist in his first 17 appearances this campaign, he has earned comparisons to the likes of Marcus Rashford and Pedro Neto, via FBRef.

So good have his performances been that it has caused concern among key officials at the Ligue 2 outfit as they fear he may leave during their promotion bid to reach the French top-flight.

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Posts ByKelan Sarson

Benfica are also keen to land the Georgia international, though his current employers have made it clear that he won’t be sold during the January window, providing a theoretical deterrent to keen suitors.

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Nevertheless, elite clubs circling may prove too lucrative to ignore for Saint-Etienne, who will know more than anyone that every player has their price in the modern market.

Everton aren’t short of attacking talent, though you can never have too many technicians when looking to carve sides open, hence why Moyes may be making a move for another wide reinforcement.

Everton have now reportedly launched their first move to sign a Premier League striker, whose price-tag has just plummeted.

Moyes has "no complaints" about Brentford thrashing

It was about as bad as it could get for Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium when Brentford raced into a 3-0 lead, before eventually sealing a 4-2 victory.

The Toffees felt the full impact of their absentees, with Iliman Ndiaye a particular miss once again, and David Moyes admitted that he could have “no complaints” about the result against the Bees.

The veteran manager told reporters: “I’m disappointed we didn’t play better. We were just a bit short in some areas. We were disappointing defensively today and not as strong as we have been.

“We are short on a lot of cour creative players which showed at times. [But] we didn’t do our defensive duties as well as we could have done.

“When your centre forwards score goals that’s what we want. Today they didn’t have the support and back-up. If we’d kept a clean sheet we could have won. But no complaints, Brentford deserved the victory.”

Looking at any potential silver lining, the defeat at least exposed the problems that the Friedkin Group still have to solve in Merseyside. This is still a squad lacking in depth, especially going forward, and one which also need a reinforcement at right-back.

With that said, Friedkin have plenty of time to act in the January transfer window and a number of potential targets have recently emerged as a result.

Related Everton now keen on signing £4m AFCON star who Victor Osimhen called "exceptional"

The Toffees could land a January addition.

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This includes the likes of Ivan Toney, who is reportedly a dream signing for Everton, and now Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Jorgen Strand Larsen.

According to TeamTalk, Everton have made contact to sign Strand Larsen, who is now available for just £40m just months since Newcastle were told to pay around £60m to secure his signature.

Everton make contact to sign Strand Larsen

The Wolves striker has struggled ever since failing to get his move in the summer and has far from helped his side’s attempt to avoid the drop. As things stand, after picking up their first victory of the season over West Ham United last time out, the Midlands club are 12 points adrift of safety.

It’s times like these that sides near the bottom so often turn towards their best players, but Strand Larsen has scored just one Premier League goal all season and looks a shadow of the player who netted 14 times in his debut campaign.

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Whilst Wolves desperately need him to get back to his best form, the Norwegian desperately needs a move away that Everton could offer him this month.

Despite his current form, the context of Wolves’ season should be considered before Strand Larsen is judged too harshly and this wouldn’t be the first time that Moyes has got players back to their best form.

For just £40m, Everton could land an instant upgrade on Beto and Thierno Barry, especially if they find a way past his £95,000-a-week wage demands.

Chelsea shocked the football world on New Year’s Day by parting company with manager Enzo Maresca following a spectacular breakdown in relations between the Italian and senior figures at Stamford Bridge.

The 45-year-old’s eighteen-month tenure ended following his decision to step down after feeling his position had become untenable, though disputes currently rage over whether he resigned or was dismissed by the club.

Sky Sports report that Maresca endured several disagreements with Chelsea’s medical department regarding player workload and availability throughout his spell in charge, with particular tensions surrounding captain Reece James’ minutes despite his history of hamstring injuries.

The situation exploded publicly when Maresca stunned reporters following December’s victory over Everton by claiming he had experienced “the worst 48 hours” at the club and stating “many people didn’t support us,” comments which shocked his own close circle and prompted agent Jorge Mendes to contact the hierarchy seeking explanation.

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Maresca missed his post-match press conference following Tuesday’s chaotic 2-2 draw with Bournemouth, which was officially attributed to illness.

Supporters booed the team off while chanting “you don’t know what you’re doing” when he substituted Cole Palmer, highlighting the lack of fan backing despite winning the Club World Cup and Conference League titles alongside securing Champions League qualification last term.

Strasbourg boss Liam Rosenior has now emerged as the overwhelming favourite to replace Maresca following impressive work at the French club owned by Chelsea’s parent company BlueCo.

The 41-year-old nearly guided Hull City to the Championship play-offs before joining Strasbourg, where his possession-based philosophy mirrors Chelsea’s preferred style.

He’d also be a relatively straightforward appointment considering Rosenior is already under the BlueCo umbrella, yet reports suggest that Chelsea are also considering alternatives.

Now, according to one Spanish media source, the Blues have been offered a big name in the form of legendary former boss Jose Mourinho.

José Mourinho prepared to join Chelsea after Maresca exit

Indeed, it is believed that Mourinho is willing to return to Chelsea after Maresca’s departure, and has offered himself to the club as an alternative to Rosenior.

The 62-year-old, who has won almost every major honour as a manager including multiple Premier League titles in west London, guided Chelsea through one of their most successful periods near the start of this century.

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Mourinho only took charge of current club Benfica last September, but the Portuguese is now prepared to strike what would be his third Chelsea reunion and come back to England.

Given Mourinho is already in work and will likely cost a compensation package to buy him out of his current Benfica contract, it would still be a surprise to see the ex-Man United and Tottenham boss back at Cobham — especially with Rosenior already in talks.

However, as we’ve already seen at Chelsea this year with Maresca’s shocking and sudden departure, you can never say never.

Related French paper shares bizarre Rosenior to Chelsea claim from sources close to Eghbali

Rosenior has been the frontrunner for the vacant role at Stamford Bridge.

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ScorecardDoug Bollinger was the matchwinner for New South Wales with his second five-wicket haul destroying Western Australia and keeping the home side well placed heading into the final exchanges. Phillip Hughes’ unbeaten fifty helped the Blues knock off the 75 required for the nine-wicket victory, ending Tasmania’s hopes of defending their title.Aaron Heal fell early – he was Bollinger’s first wicket of the day when caught by Beau Casson – but Marcus North (37) and Luke Pomersbach (81) held them up with a 70-run stand. Dominic Thornely finally broke through, holding a return catch to send North back, but Pomersbach lingered on. Finally Nathan Bracken bowled him and Bracken’s only wicket for the innings was an important one.Pomersbach’s efforts at least forced the Blues into bat again after it had seemed likely they wouldn’t have to when the Warriors resumed in the morning at 4 for 45. Before and after Pomersbach’s dismissal, Bollinger found Steve Magoffin’s edge and then Ben Edmondson’s pad to close them out and set up a straightforward chase. Hughes duly made 54 from 67 balls with six fours and a six while Greg Mail was unseated by Magoffin.Bollinger’s purple patch is so violet (or, as the batsmen may see it, violent) that his 10 for 126 is not even his best match analysis of the season – it came with 12 for 131 against Tasmania on the same ground. His 44 first-class victims bring him level with Ashley Noffke for the leading Australian wicket-taker, although Bollinger’s have come from six games rather than eight. Notwithstanding Mark Cameron’s one-match five-wicket showing, Bollinger has the best first-class average of any Australian at 14.02 and the national selectors must be keeping a close eye on him.

Zimbabwe’s Independent newspaper has revealed that the state broadcaster ZBC failed to secure right to cover the World Cup as it was unable to pay for the services of a local satellite engineer who had asked for Zim$1 million (US$50).ZBC, which is known to have no funds, had been bailed out by Zimbabwe Cricket who, so the report claims, had done a deal with the South African Broadcasting Corporation. All that ZBC had to do was to locate the signal, which it failed to do. As a result, only those with access to overseas satellite channels have been able to follow the action.”We had put together a package for ZBC-TV to screen the World Cup matches, but we understand they had local technical difficulties accessing the signal from SABC,” Zimbabwe Cricket spokesman Lovemore Banda told the Independent. No representative from ZBC was available for comment.What is uncertain is whether Zimbabwe Cricket, who may have paid out up to US$1 million for the rights, will be able to reclaim the money.

Guyana 211 and 22 for 0 trail Barbados 246 (Bradshaw 81, Hinds 52) by 13 runs
Scorecard

Ian Bradshaw hits out on his way to 81 © The Nation

Ian Bradshaw, the Mr Level-Headed of Barbados’ cricket, saved his country from a near embarrassment yesterday. Showing the value of a sound, calm approach, and more significantly, choosing the right ball to despatch, the reliable allrounder put up his hand to bail Barbados out of troubled waters on the second day of their Carib Beer Challenge semi-final against Guyana.When he strode onto the Carlton Club immediately after lunch, Barbados, responding to Guyana’s 211, were in tatters on 101 for 6 and seemingly intent on duplicating the horrors of the embarrassing collapses they went through at the same venue two months ago.When he returned to the dressing room just after 4 pm to a deserving ovation from a fair-sized Saturday evening crowd in which the support for either team was about the same, his skilful innings of 81 had carried Barbados to an insignificant, but handy first-innings advantage of 35.The fact that Barbados were able to make 246 was largely a measure of Bradshaw’s ability to counter the spin of Mahenadra Nagamotoo and Neil McGarrell that posed such a big threat in the pre-lunch session. It was also due to a wonderful support effort from Ryan Austin. He might have made only 14, but it was very important that he was able to solidly defend for an hour-and-three-quarters in a face-saving eighth-wicket partnership of 66 with Bradshaw that was finally broken when Barbados were one run shy of Guyana’s total.While most of those before Bradshaw were unable to cope with the experienced spin twins, the slimly-built left-hander made Nagamootoo and McGarell pay dearly for the leg-stump line on which they opted to concentrate. Bradshaw carted them for four sixes, two against each, with three landing on the roof of the club pavilion and the other just to the left of the Guyana dressing-room.It was only the lack of partners that induced Bradshaw into attempting anything rash. Left with No. 11 Pedro Collins, he chased at a wide ball from pacer Reon King and was well caught low by the diving wicketkeeper Derwin Christian. By then, Tino Best’s breezy 21 had assisted Barbados’ cause, and a few of those who went before him should take a leaf out of his book when it comes to batting responsibly.While wickets were falling, captain Ryan Hinds batted impressively for 52 off 98 balls, stroking eight attractive boundaries before King trapped him lbw.For the first two hours, Barbados were thoroughly outplayed, mainly against fast-medium Esaun Crandon and leggie Nagamootoo, but some of it was caused by their own undoing. While the runs flowed, the rate of wickets and the mode of some dismissals were alarming.Spectators were still filing into the ground when an uncertain Wayne Blackman padded up to his fourth ball and was lbw to Crandon. The noise that reverberated 15 minutes later seemed to suggest there were ten times more people than were present at the time. The uproar was over a horrific, cross-batted non-descript stroke Dwayne Smith attempted to a ball that didn’t have the length for such a stroke. As he missed and the ball uprooted his stumps, Smith walked off the ground to a host of uncomplimentary remarks from those in the pavilion.Things returned to a sense of normalcy as captain Ryan Hinds and Dale Richards batted with all the assurance in the world. Richards stroked five fours in his 29 before he paid the price for moving back to Neil McGarrell’s left-arm spin, and was lbw. Floyd Reifer arrived to replace Richards, hit a confident boundary before gifting his hand with a casual return catch to Nagamootoo. It was the first of three wickets for regional first-class cricket’s highest wicket-taker who dealt Barbados a cruel blow with a double-strike on the stroke of lunch.Alcindo Holder, short of runs since the first three matches, made 16 before falling to a bat/pad catch at forward short-leg, and next ball, Patrick Browne edged a tentative defensive prod. It made way for Bradshaw, and the rest was history.His heroics has set the stage for a second innings contest in which the winner will earn a place in the next weekend’s final, to which it appears that Cup champions Trinidad and Tobago are certain to advance.

Squeaky clean: Ricky Ponting says the public perception of the team is changing © Getty Images

Ricky Ponting believes Australia’s on-field behaviour is improving despite the sledging allegations against Shane Warne, but he wants the tone to rise against England. Ponting said yesterday he expected to talk to Warne, who is currently playing for Hampshire, about the events leading to Chris Adams, the Sussex captain, complaining that he had lost respect for Warne.Ponting said Warne’s antics had not been a problem during his captaincy and all the players had made a point of cleaning up their acts. “If you look back at what the team has been able to do over the last couple of years, we have really been able to change the perception,” Ponting told the Herald Sun. “Certainly in the public’s eyes but, more importantly, everyone we speak to involved in the game has been really impressed with what we have been able to do with our on-field attitudes.”James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, was also considering calling Warne, who was exposed for sledging Ronnie Irani last season, after Adams said he was trying to “humiliate young players”. Warne said he was responding to Matt Prior’s “chesting” of Simon Katich during last weekend’s County Championship match at Hove. “I thought cricket was a non-contact sport,” he wrote in his Times column. “I was sticking up for my mate and letting Prior know what I thought about his behaviour.”Ponting said he wanted to find out what had happened from Warne and Katich. “Then we can make better judgements,” he said.

For the third time this season KwaZulu-Natal had to be content in sharing the points with the opposition as rain washed out any chance of a result, while the Border Free State match could not be started, as the second round of the Standard Bank Cup got underway. The rain also ensured that the three teams now have virtually no chance of making the semi-finals.PointsTable
ScorecardIn Durban, the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins and Northern Titans match had to be abandoned after rain interrupted the Northerns innings. Only seven overs were bowled before the rain sent the players running for cover.After winning the toss and batting first, KwaZulu-Natal had their innings interrupted three times but managed to recover from 49 for 3 in the 11th over to score a formidable 251 for 5 in the 45 overs allocated.Dale Benkenstein (62) was first invloved in an 82-run partnership with Hashim Amla (52), and then put on 75 runs with Jon Kent (57*), which allowed Lance Klusener the freedom of smashing a quick undefeated 25 off 11 balls. The Dolphins scored 72 runs in the last six overs to set a competitive target. Reon King had the best bowling figures for Northerns, taking 2 for 42 in his nine overs.Boland 208 for 5 (Davids 75*, Coetsee 3-41) beat North West207 for 6 (Henderson 108*, Jacobs 46, Carter 3-38, Albertyn 2-42) by 5wickets.
ScorecardIn Paarl, Boland recorded a close 5-wicket win after restricting North West to 207 for 6.James Henderson, with wickets falling around him, batted through the North West innings to score an excellent undefeated 108. Davey Jacobs scored 46 and put on 97 runs with Henderson, adding substance to the innings. For Boland, Neil Carter took 3 for 38, while Wallace Albertyn bagged two wickets.Boland, thanks to an undefeated 75 from Henry Davids and a swing of the bat from Wesley Euley, scoring 15 runs off the penultimate over, reached the target in the last over, but after plenty of hard work. Werner Coetsee, a 20-year-old right-arm offbreak bowler, returned career best figures of 3 for 41 for North West.

In a move to rest him ahead of India’s tour to the West Indies, the national selection committee have decided to rest Sachin Tendulkar for the first three games of the upcoming five-match one-day international series against Zimbabwe.Tendulkar’s knees have been giving him trouble of late, and he has been prescribed rest and exercises. Another senior player rested for the one-day series is Javagal Srinath, who personally asked for the hiatus.Rahul Dravid makes a return to the one-day squad after missing the England series, and Tinu Yohannan has been brought in to replace Srinath in the pace bowling department.A surprise inclusion is VVS Laxman, who was dropped from the one-day team during the England series following a woeful run of form. His recent axing from the Test team for the Delhi match against Zimbabwe was another indication that the selectors were doubtful about his present form. This is perhaps an opportunity for Laxman to play himself back into form ahead of the West Indies tour, where he will be a crucial player.The one-day squad:Sourav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Mongia, Mohammad Kaif, Ajay Ratra (wicket-keeper), Sarandeep Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Sanjay Bangar, Tinu Yohannan, Anil KumbleDinesh Mongia to lead India AThe Indian selectors also announced the India ‘A’ squad which will leave shortly on a 32-day tour of South Africa.The squad will be led by Dinesh Mongia who has also been selected of the one-day series against Zimbabwe. Abhijit Kale, who impressed in Zimbabwe’s tour opener, and the talented Mohammad Kaif also get a look-in.Baroda medium-pacer Rakesh Patel, Orissa medium-pacer Debasis Mohanty, and all-rounder Rohan Gavaskar, the son of the great Sunny Gavaskar, who did well in the current Ranji season, are the other notable inclusions in the touring party.The India ‘A’ squad:Dinesh Mongia(captain), Abhijit Kale, Y Venugopal Rao, Mohammad Kaif, Parthiv Patel (wicket-keeper), Jacob Martin, Gautam Gambhir, Amit Pagnis, Rohan Gavaskar, L Balaji, Rakesh Patel, Amit Bhandari, Amit Mishra, Murali Kartik, Debasis Mohanty.

Match fixing, One naming the other, Impotent administrators, Delhipolice and transcripts, Cronje disgraced, King Commission, CBI report,Five Indians suspended, Good guys chasing bad guys… Sounds like pulpfiction, the prime time soap opera or the script of a Bollywood boxoffice hit, ‘Blame it on greed’! Actually it is the cricket fan whohas been hit on the box!Wise man says, “I either want less corruption, or more chance toparticipate in it” It holds true to this mortal life on earth. TheDemocrats feel that the elections in Florida were fixed by the use ofthe butterfly ballots, and the holes being punched were draining theGore votes. This is the world we live in; A shameless world, wherecorruption has been entrenched into our psyche. Wise old Confuciussays, “I have not seen one who loves virtue as he loves beauty”This is a world bereft of values, like it or not the truth is, this isa ‘dog eat dog’ world. The winner takes it all. We have become a meanpeople. This is the land of the Buddha, Mahatma and the Pokhran. Thisis the land where hundreds get killed in communal/election violenceand bomb blasts… A land where young girls are burned to death in thename of dowry, this the land of monuments and scams. We have forgottenBofors, The Bombay bomb blasts, The Harshad Mehta and the securityscam, The lost fodder worth 900 crores in Bihar that would have fedthe helpless cattle… the list is too long. We had a government thatfixed the results of a ‘no confidence’ motion in Parliament and howdare we vilify the five cricketers who are accused of fixing theresults of cricket matches which doesn’t have a thing to do with thelives of the ordinary people of India? We have an IPS officer who wasaccused of molesting another civil servant becoming the chief of theIndian Hockey Federation. Virtue! Mark Antony talks of Brutus, “Heonly, in a general honest thought; And common good to all, made one ofthem; His life was gentle, and the elements; So mix’d in him thatNature might stand up; And say to all the world ‘This was a man!”.Gone are those days. There is a subtle effort to put all the blame onthe in(famous) five cricketers for all the sins in the Indian life.The media has pounced upon this as the vultures gorge on carcass. Whatis good for the gander is good for the goose too. If these cricketerswho were lauded by the nation till the other day (the whole nationloved Jadeja when he hit Waqar and Pakistan out of the World Cup in1996) are to be sent to the gallows, let us get the act together andsend each one of those corrupt administrators and politicians to thedungeons. These five men do not represent the ills of our society,there are bigger and dangerous demons amongst us who make our livesmiserable. If the politician has the proverbial ‘nine lives of a cat’,the cricketers seem to have one. Wise old Confucius says,”when youpoint a finger at another, there are three more fingers in the samehand that points towards the self”. The whole case has been made outon the basis of the testimonies of the bookies. How many bookies havebeen arrested? Will they be produced in a court of justice (not aswitnesses)? Or like the JMM MP’s will they be made honourableapprovers?!Cricket will be better off without the rotten apples in the basket.This story will go on for a while till we find an even worse episodespread all over the media. We could all shove the previous eventsunder the carpet and live in a ‘make believe’ world as if nothinghappened (as the cat drinks the milk with its eyes closed). Willlessons be taught and learned? I heard someone say, “If you see thelight at the end of the tunnel, certainly you missed the train”.