All posts by h716a5.icu

Newcastle United have been dealt a fresh transfer setback over Premier League centre-forward Romelu Lukaku…

What’s the talk?

According to Calcio Mercato, the Magpies are one of the clubs capable of affording a deal to sign the Belgian striker this summer, with Italian giants Milan also said to be keen on the attacker.

However, the report states that the ex-Inter man is not keen on a move to the other occupants of the San Siro and is not interested in a switch to St. James’ Park either, as his future at Chelsea remains unclear.

Supporters will be gutted

The Toon supporters will surely be left feeling gutted by this news as it is a major blow to any plans from the club to sign Lukaku this summer.

Whilst the hitman has struggled for form at Stamford Bridge throughout the campaign, he has proven over the course of his career that he is a lethal striker at the top level.

In the Premier League this term, he has scored five goals in 23 appearances for Thomas Tuchel’s side – scoring twice in four Champions League starts.

This is a far cry from the form he was producing for Inter during his time in Italy. The Belgian forward managed a whopping 47 goals and 13 assists in 65 Serie A starts in his two years at the San Siro, with these statistics proving that Lukaku’s goal record this season is not a fair reflection of his talents as he has showcased his ability elsewhere – including at other teams in England.

His overall Premier League record, having played for West Brom, Everton and Manchester United, is sublime. He has scored 118 goals in 275 outings in the English top-flight and this shows that he has the quality to be a quality player at this level and, therefore, could have had a significant impact at Newcastle.

This is why his lack of interest in a switch to St. James’ Park is a major blow that will leave supporters gutted as he has the potential to be a regular goalscorer in the league. His magnificent form for Inter and his previous spells in England suggests that he is a clinical finisher and that his current time at Chelsea is a blip, which is why missing out on him is a setback for PIF and Howe.

AND in other news, “NUFC want..”: Mark Douglas drops big Darsley Park transfer claim that’ll delight Howe…

Former Premier League striker Gabby Agbonlahor has been reacting to an update in Celtic’s pursuit of making Jota’s loan move permanent, as per Football Insider.  

The Lowdown: Source shares update

Celtic have been busy this month already, bringing four players to Parkhead. Two of those have been attacking additions in Daizen Maeda and Johnny Kenny, with the club’s attention now on making Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers’ temporary stays full-time.

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According to a recruitment source from Football Insider, a permanent transfer fee for the 22-year-old will exceed £5m on top of a loan fee which has already been paid. with a full-time deal believed to be close. Should that go through, Jota would become the most expensive signing of the Ange Postecoglou era.

The Latest: Agbonlahor’s comments

Agbonlahor, who regularly features as a pundit on talkSPORT, was talking to Football Insider regarding the update. He believes that a permanent transfer will ‘definitely’ happen, labelling the Hoops as an ‘attractive club’ as he outlined:

“Celtic are an attractive club, it’s a club where players will feel settled, they’re going to love their time there and are fighting for the league title.

“Those loans will be converted easily. I’d rather play for Celtic and Rangers than a Championship club.

“Definitely, they will be converted easily.”

The Verdict: Good news

Jota has been a star in green and white this season, contributing to 14 goals in 18 games. He missed the last seven fixtures prior to the international break due to injury, although you’d expect that he will remain the first choice on the left flank when he returns despite Maeda’s arrival.

The Portuguese winger is currently valued at £4.95m by Transfermarkt, and although Celtic will need to pay more than that this month to make his move permanent, you’d expect that it could turn out to be a shrewd deal in the long run.

He’s still just 22 years of age, and if he continues to shine, it won’t be long until his market value hits eight figures.

In other news: ‘Ideal’ – BBC pundit thinks Celtic may accept bid almost double previous offer for ‘excellent’ ace

As per journalist Chris Wheeler of The Daily Mail (Twitter), there has been a significant update on the future of Man United playmaker Jesse Lingard as Tottenham Hotspur eye a move.

The Lowdown: Spurs make early January contact…

Reliable reporter Alasdair Gold of football.london backs that Lingard has been a target for Tottenham this month, lifting the lid on how they sounded out his representatives over a potential move.

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However, BBC reporter Simon Stone then claimed that the Lilywhites had a loan offer rebuffed – citing the fact that Man United don’t want to sell to a top four rival.

Reports of Tottenham’s interest have dwindled since then, but on deadline day, it appears they’ve re-emerged.

The Latest: Tottenham in the picture…

Wheeler, taking to Twitter, claims that Red Devils boss Ralf Rangnick has now approved a loan exit for Lingard by 11pm – green-lighting a potential transfer.

He adds that Tottenham are in the picture as one of a few clubs to show interest, alongside the likes of West Ham, Newcastle, Leicester, Everton and Burnley.

However, he adds that it remains to be seen whether United drop their demands or deal with a top four rival.

The Verdict: Get it done…

Depending on United’s deadline day stance over dealing with Spurs, we believe Lingard would be a fantastic capture before 11pm.

The England international, called ‘sensational’ by former Arsenal man Nigel Winterburn, bagged nine goals and four assists over 16 top flight appearances for West Ham last year (WhoScored).

It isn’t impossible to believe he could rack up similar numbers on a temporary spell under Antonio Conte.

In other news: ‘One to watch’ – talkSPORT reporter says Spurs could sign £29m ‘star’ today, find out more here.

JP Duminy smashed Zimbabwe’s insipid lengths to all corners in an entertaining, unbeaten 95 to launch his side to 194, a total that his bowling colleagues defended after a few hiccups, to give their side a 2-0 series win.

The Bulletin by Nitin Sundar10-Oct-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGraeme Smith gave the South African innings a powerful start•AFPJP Duminy smashed Zimbabwe’s insipid lengths to all corners in an entertaining, unbeaten 96 to launch his side to 194, a total that his bowling colleagues defended after a few hiccups, to give their side a 2-0 series win. Duminy’s dazzling innings, the highest individual score by a South Africa batsman, was matched by fifties from Brendon Taylor and Chamu Chibhabha, but South Africa emerged in front thanks to Juan Theron’s unhittable lengths, on a day when bowlers from both sides struggled to find their range.Zimbabwe’s openers began the chase in meek fashion, as the Powerplay overs, including three without boundaries, yielded only 45 for the loss of Hamilton Masakadza. Taylor and Chibhabha, however, were only just loading their guns.Taylor imposed himself on Johan Botha’s niggardly lines by stepping out and teeing off down the ground in the seventh over. Robin Petersen, introduced in the eighth, ran into Chibhabha who announced his intentions with a swipe over cow corner. Taylor pulled another six in the same over and the chase was on its way.Botha had enjoyed an exceptionally economical Champions League, but Taylor’s quicksilver feet converted his flat and full lengths into full tosses and half-volleys. Eleven runs came off Botha’s second over, forcing an unscheduled bowling change as South Africa began to sweat. Duminy, who came on in the 11th, delivered three friendly half-trackers, all of which Chibhabha redirected towards and beyond the leg-side boundary. 106 for 1, with nine overs to go – game on.With 73 required off 43, Chibhabha mistimed a sweep off Botha, who had resorted to a round the wicket angle. South Africa used the opening to claw back into the game, as Taylor was deprived of the strike, resulting in a mounting asking-rate. Charles Coventry’s exit in the 15th over gave the hosts the upper hand, and they should have assumed total control once Taylor perished trying to inside-out Petersen over the covers. However, Wayne Parnell’s inability to find the right lengths helped Elton Chigumbura and Tatenda Taibu keep the game alive until the last over. Theron’s nerveless finish stalled them on the home stretch though Zimbabwe managed to record their highest Twenty20 total.As in the first game, Zimbabwe had their bowlers to blame for the defeat. Graeme Smith began brightly, with the free spirit of someone unfettered by responsibility. His aggression offset the tight start from Prosper Utseya, who forced Loots Bosman and Colin Ingram into early indiscretions with his lack of pace.Smith, on the other hand, relished the pace and waywardness served up at the other end. Shingirai Masakadza and Chris Mpofu kept dropping short and into his body, and Smith responded with an array of pulls. Over-compensation duly followed, and Smith got into position early to cream boundaries through the off side. The highlight of his innings was when he stepped out to deposit Graeme Cremer over long-on, before Taylor induced Smith to top-edge in the ninth over.Zimbabwe’s hopes of pulling things back were neutralised by Duminy’s innovativeness against their army of offspinners. He kept setting himself up for the reverse-sweep, dispatching Cremer with the spin towards third man, before launching him over deep midwicket in the 12th over, forcing Chigumbura to bring back the fast bowlers.The move played into Duminy’s hands, as he prepared for the final assault by lifting the listless Mpofu through midwicket. After David Miller’s exit, he mowed a poorly-disguised slower ball from Shingirai Masakadza over deep midwicket as Zimbabwe ran out of viable options. Unfortunately for them, Duminy still had a lot of ammunition in the tank.Mpofu suffered the brunt of his blitz, but he did his cause little good by serving up hit-me lengths in the death overs. A half-volley in the 18th was knifed over covers; a full toss later in the same over went in the same direction. Duminy went into the last over with 75 against his name, but Mpofu had more largesse in store, raising hopes of the maiden Twenty20 century by a South African. There was to be another full toss, and a smattering of half-volleys in that over, all of which Duminy gladly tucked into. Fours through the covers, and sixes straight and over midwicket, left Mpofu nursing figures of 1 for 59 off four, Duminy four short of a ton, and Zimbabwe chasing a mountain.Around 90 minutes of poor bowling later, Theron showed Mpofu how it should have been done. The difference between their last-over lengths was the difference between their sides today.

Round-up of the first day of the third round of the Ranji Trophy Super League

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-2010Group AMunaf Patel sliced through the Uttar Pradesh batting line-up•ESPNcricinfo LtdDelhi’s trio of fast bowlers blew away table-toppers Gujarat for 71 on a rain-hit first day at the Feroz Shah Kotla. The young Delhi pace attack – Sumit Narwal, Pawan Suyal and Pradeep Sangwan – needed only 21 overs to knock over Gujarat, who chose to bat on winning the toss. It was a bad start for Gujarat, losing both their openers in the first three overs. Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel didn’t last long either, giving wicketkeeper Puneet Bisht the second of his five catches, after making 8. No. 3 Niraj Patel top-scored with 21 quick runs, but was bowled by Sangwan with the score on 35. Gujarat staggered to 60 for 5, and worse followed as they lost their remaining wickets in 34 deliveries. Suyal finished with four wickets, while Sangwan and Narwal picked up three each. Delhi reached 39 for 0 in the nine overs before rain forced play to be abandoned.Tamil Nadu, currently in second spot, showcased their batting strength by posting 243 for 2 against bottom-placed Saurashtra in Rajkot. A Saurashtra attack missing fast bowler Jaidev Unadkat, who has been called up to the Indian squad for the third Test against New Zealand. Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund and No. 3 Arun Karthik both made their first centuries of the tournament to put their side in a strong position. After Tamil Nadu chose to bat, Saurashtra fast bowler Sandip Maniar removed S Anirudha in the third over, but there were no more breakthroughs for 56 overs as Mukund and Karthik added 194 runs. They were finally separated by a run-out, after which Mukund and S Badrinath guided Tamil Nadu till bad light called off play with 17 overs still remaining.Another team which are hot on Gujarat’s heels, defending champions Mumbai, also had a good start to their third-round match, bowling Railways out for 201 at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai. Left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla was the most successful bowler, bagging four tail-end wickets, but fast bowler Rohan Raje made more of an impact, taking the first three wickets by the eighth over. The start of the match had been delayed for half an hour by a wet pitch and Raje exploited the conditions once Mumbai won the toss. His burst left Railways reeling at 16 for 3, but thanks chiefly to Prashant Awasthi’s 61, they recovered to 162 for 5. Awasthi was then bowled by Abdulla, and Railways’ final five wickets fell for 41. Mumbai then lost the wicket of Onkar Gurav while reaching 42 at stumps.It was a much more even contest at the Eden Gardens, where Bengal finished the day on 257 for 5 against Assam. After choosing to field, Assam had the better of the first half of the day, reducing Bengal to 126 for 5 despite Manoj Tiwary’s 50. It was Bengal who dominated the rest of the day, though, as two players with international experience, Wriddhiman Saha and Laxmi Ratan Shukla, made unbeaten half-centuries to deny Assam any more inroads. The pair added 131 for the sixth wicket to level the game by stumps.Form Guide

Tracking ESPNcricinfo’s players to watch this season
Abhinav Mukund: scored his first century of the season and batted through day one against Saurashtra

Group BLeaders Baroda began their match in style, knocking over Uttar Pradesh for 190 in Vadodara. Two players who impressed in Baroda’s previous match, Munaf Patel and Yusuf Pathan, shared nine wickets to bundle out UP. Yusuf, fresh from a hurricane 195, polished off the UP lower-order to collect his eighth five-wicket haul, while Munaf ripped through the top-order, reducing them to 46 for 4. UP recovered through a 94-run partnership between Parvinder Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, which was snapped when Munaf had Bhuvneshwar bowled for 47. Parvinder went on to make 85, but he received little support from the tail. Baroda reached 59 for 1 in the 18 overs before stumps.In the battle between two teams at the bottom of Group B, Himachal Pradesh made slow and steady progress to finish the first day against Punjab on 256 for 4 in Dharmasala. Their openers, Bhavin Thakkar and Sangram Singh, typified HP’s approach, crawling to 77 at just more than two runs an over. Both were dismissed in the space of three overs and HP slipped to 82 for 2, but half-centuries from Vinit Indulkar and Paras Dogra kept Punjab at bay for 31 overs. Again, HP lost both settled batsmen within a short span before Manvinder Bisla, who came into prominence as an opener for Kings XI Punjab, made an unbeaten 34 to guide the home side to stumps.In a match where less than a session of play was possible on the first day, Karnataka were in a bit of bother against Haryana in Rohtak. Bad light cost 21 minutes of play before lunch, by when Joginder Sharma, who played a pivotal role in India’s World Twenty20 victory in 2007, took three wickets to leave Karnataka at 84 for 3. The visitors will be comforted by the fact that they have their two most important batsmen, Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey, still at the crease. No play was possible after lunch due to persistent rain.

Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland’s chief executive, has denied that the Irish cricket team was placed under any undue pressure to travel to Zimbabwe for an Intercontinental Cup match and one-day series in September

Cricinfo staff04-Sep-2010Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland’s chief executive, has denied that the Irish cricket team were placed under any undue pressure to travel to Zimbabwe for an Intercontinental Cup match and one-day series in September. Speculation over whether Ireland and Scotland would travel to Zimbabwe was ended when Ireland confirmed their intentions, while Scotland opted out of the tour following advice from the Scottish government against visiting the country.”Cricket Ireland had made entirely its own decision on this,” Deutrom told . “Of course we had to take the ICC’s own views, or what the international cricketing fraternity is doing, with India and Sri Lanka’s recent tours there. Clearly, that movement towards normalisation, certainly of cricketing structures in Zimbabwe, and of course the movement towards normalisation of political structures, meant it was something that we were duty bound to investigate ourselves.”Zimbabwe were originally admitted to the Intercontinental Cup on the understanding that their ‘home’ games would be played at neutral venues. There had been a possibility that South Africa would host the team’s matches, but in May the ICC related to Cricket Ireland (CI) Zimbabwe Cricket’s belief that the relative improvement in the political and cricketing structures in the country meant that it was no longer acceptable to play home matches anywhere other than Zimbabwe.CI contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Dublin and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London to seek advice on the implications of making the trip. They were given the all-clear, but although the DFA continue to have no objections to Ireland’s tour a subsequent change in the FCO’s stance led to Scotland’s decision to abandon their trip.”Back in 2008, the advice was that we shouldn’t travel from a safety and security perspective,” said Deutrom. “From a political perspective, playing cricket in Zimbabwe wasn’t something that Cricket Ireland would have even contemplated at that stage.”However, when we received the message from the ICC, and there was certainly no diktat from them, it was simply a reasonable question about what is the situation with your governments and would you be able to go back and check. We received information from the FCO and the DFA in June that they had no objection to us going.”Ireland players, team management and officials also met Zimbabwe sports minister David Coltart ahead of their decision. Coltart, a former human rights lawyer, was one of the founding members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) that is now part of a unity government with Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF.”There were a number of questions at the meeting relating to safety and security on the ground, relating to the situation with hotels and hospitals. I raised all of these with the minister and asked him to explain his views on that.”He also talked about the situation in the country and his own views about how he feels Zimbabwe is very similar to that in South Africa in the early 90s, when South Africa’s sporting teams were readmitted to international competition while the apartheid regime was still in power.”Ireland’s tour could run into further controversy as it will mark Phil Simmons’ first trip to the country since he was axed as Zimbabwe’s coach before taking up the role for Ireland. Simmons has taken legal action against ZC in an attempt to recover the $400,000 he claims he is still owed after being sacked without compensation with two years still remaining on his contract in 2005.”He obviously had some concerns. Phil’s previous position was that he certainly had no intention of going back to Zimbabwe,” said Deutrom. “I’m guessing this has come a little bit earlier than he would have wanted, but we’ve made sure he has as much comfort in terms of his decision to go.”I’ve spoken to him about this and he does genuinely believe that the situation has moved on significantly from when he was there, even from the situation two years ago.”

India are not going to wait for the Board President’s XI game before selecting the squad for the first Test of the two-match series against Australia, beginning on October 1 in Mohali

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Sep-2010India are not going to wait for the Board President’s XI game before selecting the squad for the first Test of the two-match series against Australia, beginning on October 1 in Mohali. The selectors will meet on Monday, 11 days before the first Test, and five days before the BP XI game.The tour game against the Australians features Sreesanth and Cheteshwar Pujara, who would like to press claims for their selection, and Gautam Gambhir, who will be playing his first first-class game since a knee injury ended his Sri Lanka tour after the first Test, in July. The squad also includes Abhimanyu Mithun, who impressed the team management in Sri Lanka in the absence of Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth. Legspinner Piyush Chawla, too, would believe he is not too far from being in the frame, after Amit Mishra’s dismal show in Sri Lanka. However, anything these players do in this game is going to influence selection only for the second Test.The Test squad itself shouldn’t pose too many problems. Yuvraj Singh, who lost his No. 6 slot to Suresh Raina during the Sri Lanka tour, should keep his place in the squad. Before his illness made way for Raina in the second Test, Yuvraj had done decently with a hundred in the tour game and a fifty in the first Test. M Vjay should be the other back-up batsman apart from the main six.Zaheer Khan, fit now, should replace Munaf Patel from the squad that travelled to Sri Lanka. Harbhajan Singh should come back too after missing the third Test in Sri Lanka with fitness issues. If the selectors feel the need for a back-up wicketkeeper, Wriddhiman Saha, who was part of the touring party to Sri Lanka, should retain his place.Likely India squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, M Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Abhimanyu Mithun and Amit Mishra

 An update has emerged on Leeds United forward Raphinha, regarding interest in him ahead of the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

Italian reporter Fabrizio Romano has revealed that no clubs have agreed on a deal with the Yorkshire giants for the Brazilian winger’s services.

This comes after TNT Sports reported that he is set to join Bayern Munich in January for a fee in the region of €50m.

He told his YouTube channel:

“We had rumours during the Christmas period about an imminent move to Bayern. Someone in Brazil reported that it was a done deal with Bayern, but from what I am told, nothing has been agreed yet between Leeds and Bayern.

“It’s true that Bayern, as well as many other clubs, including Liverpool last year, are looking at Raphinha. We’re speaking about one of the best wingers in Europe, but as of now, nothing has been agreed yet.”

Delighted

Leeds fans will surely be delighted with this update from Romano as it quashes the report stating that the forward will join the Bundesliga giants next month. This suggests that he is now set to remain at Elland Road, based on the evidence we have to work with as it stands, which is a major boost to Marcelo Bielsa’s side.

Raphinha is the club’s match-winner and his quality could be crucial to avoiding relegation back down to the Championship at the end of the season. He has the ability to score and create goals at this level, which is a talent that not many in the current squad possess.

The Brazilian is the only player in the team with more than two Premier League goals to his name this season, highlighting his importance to the side. In 16 starts, he has produced eight goals and one assist whilst averaging a WhoScored rating of 7.21 – with Liam Cooper’s 6.81 the second-highest score in the squad.

This suggests that he is Bielsa’s standout performer week-in-week-out, which is why losing him would be a gigantic blow. Therefore, fans will be delighted that the report claiming he is set to leave is seemingly wide of the mark, with Romano revealing that no one has agreed on anything for him.

His key contributions in the final third could win crucial points for Leeds in the coming months and it is imperative that Victor Orta is able to resist any interest if it does come about next month.

AND in other news, Bielsa can finally axe Leeds’ “unsung hero” by signing 23 y/o with “unlimited energy”…

It was fitting that Simon Katich was named Australia’s Player of the Match in their 150-run win over Pakistan at Lord’s.

Brydon Coverdale17-Jul-2010It was fitting that Simon Katich was named Australia’s Player of the Match in their 150-run win over Pakistan at Lord’s. He is the team’s reigning Test Player of the Year, he has scored more runs than any other player in Test cricket over the past two years, and there hasn’t been a Test since Headingley last August in which he has failed to post at least a half-century.But despite his remarkable consistency, match honours have tended to elude Katich. Only twice in his career has he been named Player of the Match; once in Bridgetown in June 2008, in the third match of his comeback to the Test side, and at Lord’s this week for his innings of 80 and 83. This time he even had to share the award with Salman Butt.Not that such trinkets mean much to Katich. He’s spent long enough out of the Test team over the past decade to appreciate his position. When he was recalled at the age of 32 on the tour of the Caribbean two years ago and turned into a makeshift opener due to an injury to Matthew Hayden, Katich knew that he had to grab every opportunity and treat each game as if it would be his last.”That’s been a big part of my philosophy since I got back in,” Katich said after the Lord’s win. “I knew it was going to be tough to get back in at my age. I’ve just tried to really enjoy it because it probably wasn’t expected. From that point of view I haven’t put too much pressure on myself and I’ve just tried to enjoy each Test match and enjoy winning Test matches.”That’s part of our tradition of playing in the baggy green is to win Test matches. I’ve been through both eras of Australian cricket, where we were so dominant for so long and now the goal is to get us back up to No. 1. Hopefully we’re on our way to doing that.”The cricket writer Ray Robinson once wrote of Bill Lawry that if he wasn’t married to his wicket, they were at least going steady. Katich has been in a stable relationship with his for the past two years. His shuffle from leg to off is not the sort of move young players are taught, but in doing so he protects his stumps – he has been bowled only four times from 51 innings since his comeback.He eschews the rule of playing in the ‘V’ and his wagon wheel at Lord’s reveals as much. In his second-innings 83, he scored not a single run straight back past the bowler. Instead, he thrived on flicks through midwicket, cover drives, edgy cuts and singles squirted behind square leg. He’d be a hopeless baseball player; every shot would end up in foul territory.But his technique punishes bowlers who aim too straight and in swinging conditions, like the teams were confronted with at Lord’s, that can be a common error. There was no century for Katich, but against a Pakistan attack that found it easy to curl the ball in the air, his match tally was the difference for Australia.”Day one was probably as trying a conditions as any of us have faced in Test cricket for a while,” the captain Ricky Ponting said. “The fact the game is stop-start is never easy for batsman, the ball swung all of our innings and probably most of their innings as well. So the return we got out of Simon in both innings was fantastic.”And finally, Katich was rewarded for his efforts.

As per 90min, a promising Tottenham Hotspur transfer update has now come to light involving Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Adama Traore.

The Lowdown: Spurs eye move…

Reliable reports indicate that the Spain international is a firm target for Spurs and manager Antonio Conte with journalist John Percy of The Telegraph claiming last week that they were weighing a move.

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Updates have started to ramp up since then with another solid source, The Athletic, backing that Tottenham are indeed considering his signing as they map out a specific first team role.

Conte is apparently plotting to convert the Molineux forward into a right-wing back for his system, akin to how he transformed winger Victor Moses during his time at Chelsea.

Now, in a promising update, 90min have shared the latest.

The Latest: Spurs ‘lead the queue’…

As per 90min’s sources, Tottenham now ‘lead the queue’ of interested clubs to sign Traore as they enter pole position.

As well as this, Fabio Paratici and co are ‘set to launch’ a £22 million bid after ‘making contact’ – with the player’s stance also reason to become optimistic.

The outlet say that Traore is now ‘willing’ to join Tottenham and play at right-wing back in Conte’s system.

The Verdict: Exciting times…

It will be interesting to see how Traore fares at RWB, but if he is anything likes the Moses success story at Chelsea in that role, there is reason for Lilywhites supporters to be excited.

You surely cannot rule out the possibility of Conte using the 25-year-old in a more advanced role from time to time either, especially considering his plaudits and statistics.

According to WhoScored, Traore has averaged a highly impressive 4.5 completes dribbles per 90 in the Premier League this season – almost double that of Lucas Moura with Tottenham’s best take-on rate (2.5).

Pundit Noel Whelan certainly believes he would be the right fit, branding Wolves’ star a ‘game-changer’ and the ‘perfect fit’ for Conte’s side (Football Insider).

Indeed, he would come as a brilliant first capture of the January transfer window.

In other news: Tottenham ‘working strongly’ for ‘phenomenal signing’ as reporter drops Twitter claim, find out more here.