Patrick Boyland has taken the time to write up about Everton star Dominic Calvert-Lewin and how the club would be lost without him.

The 23-year-old recently signed a new five-year contract with Everton and Boyland has reflected on how far Calvert-Lewin has come in his career.

In his latest feature for The Athletic, Boyland highlights the impressive career arc the young striker has experienced since his youth days with non-league side Stalybridge Celtic, including interest from Manchester City. Calvert-Lewin flourished at the non-league side, who took him on a one-month loan deal from parent club Sheffield United.

The Blades were unsure on the teenager and as a result, they eventually lost him to Everton in 2016 after David Unsworth pushed for the £1.5million move.

Calvert-Lewin has blossomed from a teenage to an untouchable starter in the highest division. Indeed, he currently boasts 13 goals in the Premier League this season, the same amount as Raul Jimenez (via BBC Sport) so the fact Everton were able to get him ahead of City looks hugely important.

The Blues were hit hard when Romelu Lukaku left the club in a £75million move to Manchester United (via BBC Sport). Many have tried to fill the Belgian’s boots, with none so much as coming close until Calvert-Lewin. The Yorkshireman is not just good in front of goal either – towering at 6 foot 1, Calvert-Lewin wins an impressive 4.9 aerial duels per match on average, which is way more than the likes of Roberto Firmino who averages 0.8 (via WhoScored).

Furthermore, he’s unleashed a total of 65 shots in the Premier League this season which not only puts him in the top 20 but ranks him higher than Son Heung-min and Sadio Mané (via Premier League).

Everton’s books are currently bare when it comes to back-up strikers with only Moise Kean a realistic option given Oumar Niasse’s lack of action to both the man in question and Richarlison. Kean has scored just one goal this season across 26 appearances (via Transfermarkt) meaning an injury to Calvert-Lewin would spell disaster. His fitness is integral in order for the Toffees to succeed, and any new signings this summer should be bought to aid the No.9.

Considering his 13-goal haul this campaign only for Everton to sit in 12th, it’s difficult to imagine where they would be without the striker. With that in mind, Carlo Ancelotti should be looking to build a squad around Calvert-Lewin as they look to push further up the league table next season.

What’s your take, Everton fans? How important do you think Dominic Calvert-Lewin is to this side?

A lot of Aston Villa fans are loving the latest image posted by the club on twitter. Indeed, the tweet was around the Fifa 20 tournament set up by Leyton Orient, which featured various clubs across the globe including Villa. 

The #UltimateQuaranTeam was set up to pass the time whilst football has been postponed due to recent events, via RadioTimes. The Premier League team saw themselves be drawn against Dutch side VVV-Venlo who play in the Eredivisie.

A picture was tweeted out showing January signing Mbwana Samatta and was celebrating a goal which the player scored to bring the side back into the tie. Sadly, the goal was not enough as Venlo won the tie 2-1.

Samatta became the first player from Tanzania to play in the Premier League, via Premier League after signing from Belgian side Genk, and in his four league appearances, he has scored one goal, whilst averaging two shots per game and one key pass per game, via WhoScored.

Hopefully, the attacking intent and confidence that these statistics show will carry on when the league resumes and help keep the side in England’s top flight.

Here is what fans said following the tweet:

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Tottenham Hotspur attacker Lucas Moura has posted a video on Twitter of him re-watching the Champions League semi-final at home.

Of course, footballers are having to find things to occupy themselves at their houses during the current break from the game, and the Brazilian managed to find a channel showing the brilliant moment against Ajax last year.

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Moura was the hero for Spurs on that night in Amsterdam as his hat-trick – including a last-gasp winner – took Mauricio Pochettino’s men through to the final in Madrid against Liverpool, with the north London outfit trailing 3-0 with 35 minutes left to play in the second leg.

It is clearly a moment the 27-year-old holds in high regard, with the translation of his Twitter post labelling it as “the most magical moment of my career”.

It is something that Tottenham supporters won’t forget for a very, very long time either, despite the disappointing result against Jurgen Klopp’s men in the Spanish final.

Moura has had a bit of a less eventful 2019/20 campaign to date with seven goals and three assists in 39 appearances in all competitions, as Spurs have generally struggled.

In other Tottenham news, Alasdair Gold has offered an update after recent reports once again linked Paulo Dybala with a move to Spurs…

Jurgen Klopp has done what can only be described as an outstanding job at Liverpool since joining in 2015.

When he took over from Brendan Rodgers in October 2015, the Reds had won just four of their first 11 matches in all competitions that campaign. Now, they lead the way by a huge 25 points from Manchester City – the biggest such margin in the club’s history – and they lifted the Champions League last season as well.

Having already spent five years at the club, he has a contract lasting four more years, meaning that his current deal will come to an end in 2024. It remains to be seen whether he signs a new contract with the club, but if he doesn’t, someone else will need to take over.

Liverpool reporter James Pearce has been talking about who should replace him, and he believes that one of Steven Gerrard, Pep Lijnders or Mauricio Pochettino should be given the job once the 52-year-old departs.

The Reds fans have been reacting to the quotes, and they have absolutely slammed the journalist – one supporter even said he has a “lack of basic football knowledge.”

They have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

Do you agree with Pearce? Let us know in the comments!

Australian cricket will have its first female board member in 107 years – and a much wider business knowledge base – following the announcement of a trio of corporate heavy-hitters to join Cricket Australia as the governing body’s first fully independent directors.Jacquie Hey, the former managing director of Ericsson Australia and New Zealand, the Rio Tinto managing director David Peever and the former Colorado Group chief executive Kevin Roberts were approved as candidates at a CA board meeting in Melbourne on Friday, with their appointments expected to be made official at the annual general meeting on October 25.Wally Edwards, the CA chairman, had made it clear that he wanted three board directors who came from beyond the regular spheres of cricket, a description that each candidate fits although Roberts did play first-class cricket for New South Wales. They were chosen ahead of a field that initially numbered about 100, and included the former Test captain Mark Taylor.”They all bring a close interest in and knowledge of cricket,” Edwards said, “combined with significant experience and success at very senior corporate levels dealing with a wide range of diverse contemporary business challenges relevant to cricket, plus understanding and experience working with different cultures which is important to us as we strive to ensure cricket is a sport for all Australians of all backgrounds.”Most importantly, they offer us independent, expert insight from outside the day-to-day cricket world – we were focussed on finding three high-calibre candidates completely independent of cricket.”Hey’s appointment is most noteworthy. In addition to her time with Ericsson Australia, she has also held MD roles with Ericsson in the UK, Ireland and Saudi Arabia. She is currently a non-Executive Director with Bendigo & Adelaide Bank, and SBS.Peever has been the managing director Australia for the mining giant Rio Tinto since 2009, while he is also a Business Council of Australia councillor and Economic Policy and Competitiveness Committee Chairman, Vice Chairman of the Minerals Council of Australia.Roberts played 23 first-class matches for the Blues and also made 18 domestic limited overs appearances, scoring one century in each format. He has since gone on to become a non-Executive Director of Netball Australia and was formerly the Colorado Group/Fusion Retail CEO and the adidas Pacific Managing Director.

According to Foot Mercato, Newcastle are interested in making a move for Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly this summer.

What’s the word?

The Magpies could be set for a massive summer of financial investment if their proposed takeover goes through. And naturally, the Tyneside club are already being linked with some big-money moves for a whole host of players – including Koulibaly.

French publication Foot Mercato claim that Newcastle have “officially entered into contact” with the Senegal international, and that Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is “now open to a departure” for the centre-back.

The report further adds that Koulibaly is likely to cost at least €80m (£70m), but that with him having an “attraction for England”, it is an opportunity the “Magpies would like to seize”.

Defensive rock

Make no mistake about it, Koulibaly’s arrival would take Newcastle’s defence up a couple of levels.

The 6 foot 2 powerhouse can shore up a back-line that has conceded 41 goals in just 29 Premier League games this season – only seven teams have let in more.

In Serie A this year, the 28-year-old has averaged a mightily impressive 2.6 tackles and 1.1 interceptions per game – no Newcastle player has a better tackling average than him. And he has earned some rave reviews for his performances too.

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Current Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti, who managed the defender in his time at Napoli, paid him the highest possible compliment when he said: “Koulibaly belongs in the category of Maldini, Thuram, Thiago Silva, and Sergio Ramos.”

For a manager like Ancelotti, who has seen it and done it all at club level, to say Koulibaly belongs in that bracket of high-calibre players, just goes to show what an incredible signing Newcastle would be making if they could pull it off.

The South Africans are playing their only warm-up ahead of the Test series against Australia, during which their No. 1 ranking is at stake, on a pitch that is unlikely to resemble anything that their title defence will start on. Yet, Hashim Amla managed to find positives in the ongoing run-fest against Australia A.The SCG surface is slow with no assistance for the bowlers, while the Gabba pitch is expected to have pace, bounce and carry. South Africa tried to move the warm-up match to Brisbane, because they feared they would not have much to gain in Sydney, but their request was denied. So, Amla chose to look on the bright side.”It’s good preparation anyway. Time in the middle no matter what the wicket is invaluable,” Amla said after the South Africans ended the second day on 128 for 1. “I’m sure if you had to ask Graeme [Smith], Alviro [Petersen] or myself whether we would prefer a net session or a hit in the middle in a practice match, we’d take the match.”Amla also elaborated on the benefits for the bowlers. “All our seamers got a bowl and Imran [Tahir] managed to have a really long spell, which is what we wanted,” he said. Tahir bowled 40 of the 135 overs that the South Africans spent in the field and took two wickets with an economy of less than four runs an over, despite being expensive to start with.Tahir was used as early as the tenth over on the first day, with Smith looking to give the Test bowlers sufficient match practice. Once it was decided that Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Rory Kleinveldt had bowled enough, the part-timers were also given a chance, something Amla, in particular, enjoyed.”It also gave the part-timers like JP [Duminy], Faf [du Plessis] and myself a few overs,” he joked. While Duminy and du Plessis are genuine options for South Africa, Amla has not bowled since, “I can’t remember,” but he did get four overs as Smith looked to wind down the clock. “I really enjoyed those four overs,” he said. “I have been in the captain’s ear a few times about giving me a go and I finally got a chance to show my skills.”Amla has bowled a little in the past and even has a first-class wicket. “It was Parthiv Patel. I got him during a South Africa A game when I was still bowling seamers,” he said. If anything, Smith may have been hoping that bringing Amla on again would be a signal to Australia A to declare so the South Africa batsmen could have as much time as the bowlers did.Time was the one advantage Amla said South Africa would really take from the practice game. “It’s not really about the stats or the results in a game like this. In these warm-up games, we wanted to bat for a period of time. We also needed time on our legs, because some of us have been off for three weeks.”Amla is among the nine members of the squad who have not played any first-class cricket since August but have been involved in a glut of 20-over fixtures. Spending four-and-a-half sessions in the field was also important, according to Amla, to ready themselves for the rigours of Test cricket. “During Tests, you may field for a whole day and you need to get used to that fatigue you may get in the legs,” he said.He conceded the intensity of the South Africans was not quite what it will be in a Test match. “In a Test match, where you are playing for your country, you still get those butterflies. In these matches, there are patches where you try to up the pace …”It was for that reason that Smith retired on 60 after he had found the boundary 11 times, most of those coming towards the end of his innings. “He gave me a good hour to bat,” Amla said. More of the same can be expected on the final day, when the rest of South Africa’s line-up will want a hit before the first Test starts next Friday.

Stan Collymore has urged Liverpool to make a move for Adama Traore.

The Spaniard has been linked with a move to Anfield in recent months after a stellar season with Wolves. Whilst his six goals and 10 assists in all competitions may not be amongst the very best in the Premier League, they are still eye-catching figures. However, it is his ability to beat players – he has completed 5.2 dribbles per match in the top flight, more than any other player – and his frightening pace that has made him one of the most exciting talents in England.

Collymore told The Daily Mirror (print edition, May 26, page 47):

“I like the Traore to Liverpool rumour.

“Traore was poor at Aston Villa but was still a kid then. It was Tony Pulis who breathed new life into him at Middlesbrough.

“The Spaniard has been a revelation at Wolves and has gone from a 20-minute impact substitute to a player who offers good delivery and frightening pace. He could bring an extra dimension to the Champions elect.”

Liverpool have seen first hand just how good Traore can be. He averaged a WhoScored rating of more than seven in each of the two matches against them this season, for example, whilst his three goals and one assist against Manchester City this term show just how good he can be in the biggest matches.

Valued at £70m (as per Le10 Sport via talkSPORT), this is not a player who will come particularly cheap for Jurgen Klopp. However, as Collymore explains, he has certain qualities that could be worth their weight in gold.

Liverpool fans, do you agree with Collymore’s recommendation to sign Traore? Let us know what you think by commenting below!

The IPL franchises are set to release several high-profile players ahead of the 2013 season, to meet the October 31 deadline for finalising the players they would like to retain ahead of the trading window and player auction. Mumbai Indians captain Harbhajan Singh and Kings XI Punjab’s Stuart Broad could be on that list. Johan Botha, the South African offspinner who was bought by Rajasthan Royals for $950,000 in 2011, was one of the big names released.The trading window, when the names of the released players will have to be made public opens on November 19, but they can only be bought during the auction in 2013.Harbhajan had led Mumbai Indians during the 2012 IPL and two Champions League Twenty20 editions – including their victorious campaign in 2011 – and though the franchise officially denied the news, a source told ESPNcricinfo that Harbhajan could be “released first and then bid for during the player auction”.Apart from Botha, Royals also let go of former England captain Paul Collingwood ($250,000), Sri Lanka batsman Dinesh Chandimal ($50,000) and the young Australian fast bowler Alister McDermott, who had joined the franchise as a replacement player last season. In all, the Royals released 15 names and the strength of their present squad is 16.According to the franchise, a big reason for Botha’s release was that he did not feature consistently in the fifth IPL. “We had to rationalise the costs,” a Royals official said. “A lot is going to change after the 2013 season so we are gearing up for that and are having a re-look at the structure and the composition of the team.”Royals decided to retain two other replacement players they had recruited last season: West Indies leg spinner Sameul Badree and England batsman Owais Shah.England’s Twenty20 captain, Broad, has not yet played an IPL game and that wait could be extended. Broad was bought by Kings XI ahead of IPL 2011 but missed both subsequent seasons. A franchise official said the decision to offload Broad was primarily because he would be on England duty for most of IPL 2013.Besides Broad, Kings XI released six more cricketers, including Abhishek Nayar and Ramesh Powar. Nayar, who was bought for $800,000 at the 2011 auction, was considered “overpriced”. Australia’s Nathan Rimmington and James Faulkner and the Himachal Pradesh duo of Paras Dogra and Vikramjeet Malik were also let go by Kings XI.Kings XI will now have nine slots vacant ahead of the trading window and player auction, since Abhinav Bali and Shalabh Srivastava were suspended till May 15 due to their alleged misdeeds during a TV sting operation.Pune Warriors, whose captain in 2011, Sourav Ganguly, announced his decision to withdraw from the next IPL, is set to release five more cricketers, with New Zealand’s Jesse Ryder being the most prominent. Though all the names could not be confirmed, it was learnt that Warriors will release three overseas players, including Ryder, and two domestic players, including Sachin Rana.Kolkata Knight Riders, who had one of the smallest squads with 26 players in 2012, released four players. Jayadev Unadkat, the left-arm seamer from Saurashtra, was left out because the team management thought they were under utilising him. “We have three Indian medium-pacers in L Balaji, Pradeep Sangwan and Shami Ahmed. Last year Jaydev did not get a game and we felt he might get a chance somewhere else,” a Knight Riders official said.Chiraj Jaani (Saurashtra), Iresh Saxena (Bengal) and Sanju Samson (Kerala) were the three other domestic players released by Knight Riders.Some of the franchises questioned the timing of the October 31 deadline. “If you are asking to me take a decision, this should have happened after the trading window because then the franchises could have had the chance of trading them instead of releasing them,” a franchise official said.Another official from a different franchise agreed with the view, saying he had told his bosses that it was better to wait for the window to open. “I feel I can retain the players now and trade when the window opens. This deadline only offers some franchises whose squad strength is a little too big and an opportunity to have a re-look. I think all the franchises would look at reducing a certain amount (of players) and then look forward to the trading window.”However, all the franchises were not on the same page. “It’s a double-edged sword and we would prefer such a deadline before the trading window since it allows to get rid of a player if we just do not want him,” an official said. “No franchise can be sure whether they would be able to trade a player whom they wish to, and if they cannot they will have to retain him. This deadline helps us in avoiding it.”

Marko Arnautovic is expected to stay at West Ham United after it was reported on Sunday that the interested clubs from the Chinese Super League failed to match his asking price for a move away from English football.

According to Sky Sports the striker will remain at the Hammers for time being unless Guangzhou Evergrande or Shanghai SIPG manage to meet the £50m fee for the 29-year-old.

The ‘return’ of Arnautovic to the West Ham starting lineup should, however, be a no brainer for manager Manuel Pellegrini and Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Bournemouth should emphasise the need to get him back into the team as soon as possible.

Although Arnautovic never actually left the East London club, he wasn’t named in the squad that travelled to the Vitality Stadium with the expectation of the manager that a deal to China would be agreed soon.

Now, the former Stoke City player could still be of high value for Pellegrini, at least for next two games.

With only ten days of the transfer window remaining, it does seem unlikely that Arnautovic would leave and this could be a massive boost for West Ham as they face AFC Wimbledon and Wolverhampton Wanderers before the end of the month.

The expected fear of fitting Arnautovic back into the team should only be a temporary issue as he is still a very big part of the team and the club’s best goal-scoring threat.

West Ham lacked direction up-front against the Cherries and never really looked threatening. They failed to apply real pressure on the defenders and with Andy Carroll up-front, Pellegrini didn’t have the ruthlessness of Arnautovic.

The encounter, however, did see the manager opt for a lone striker for the first time this season as he normally plays with two wide centre-forwards.

It is a tactic that has worked brilliantly in the matches before the Bournemouth trip, most notably the 1-0 win over Arsenal last weekend.

Pellegrini should therefore replace his trust and faith in Arnautovic, no matter what formation he uses, and let the striker lead the line of attack again. It is the best chance West Ham have of making a real push for the Europa League.