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France's top flight has long been a source of low-cost, high-quality players for some of Europe's biggest clubs. Here's some who could be on the move.

Gael Kakuta (Amiens)

Once a highly rated prospect in Chelsea’s youth academy, Gael Kakuta has since globetrotted his way around a variety of clubs from Vitesse to Lazio and Sevilla to Hebei China Fortune. He is at little Amiens on loan from the CSL side and has already stated that he wants to move back to the big time, and after scoring five Ligue 1 goals and broadly impressing upon his return to Ligue 1, there is every chance that he could get his wish.

AdvertisementJEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty ImagesKarl Toko-Ekambi (Angers)

In January, eyebrows were raised when the 25-year-old Cameroon international striker elected to turn down the opportunity to move to Brighton in the Premier League, where he was being offered four times his salary with Angers. He felt he had unfinished business at Stade Raymond Kopa, where he has scored 13 goals this season – the highest tally for a player outside Ligue 1’s top four. More interest is sure to come in the summer.

Malcom (Bordeaux)

One of the breakout talents in Ligue 1 this year, Malcom is his side’s leading scorer with eight tallies, several of them spectacular. The young Brazilian has seen plenty of interest from the Premier League over the course of the season, as well as numerous other big clubs elsewhere. Bordeaux resisted offers in January, but they will not be able to in the summer as well.

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Getty ImagesDamien Da Silva (Caen)

With only four years top-flight experience under his belt, it may be a little late for the centre-back to secure a really big more, but there is no doubt that the 29-year-old has been one of Ligue 1’s outstanding defensive players for several years. Not only is he solid at the back, but he carries a goal-scoring threat form set pieces and has tallied four times this season. It would not be entirely surprising to see him follow N’Golo Kante’s footsteps with a move to England.

England's Lionesses face a remarkable conflict of interests against Scotland this week, as the latter know they must lose to qualify for the Olympics.

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Remarkable turn of events means Scotland must loseSarina Wiegman insists there will be no collusionNetherlands can also qualifyWHAT HAPPENED?

England's clash with Scotland on Tuesday has been fraught with controversy since the Lionesses were nominated as the nation to qualify on behalf of Team GB. As a result, Scotland, remarkably, know that this week's encounter must end in a defeat if their players are to have any hope of playing in next summer's Olympics.

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The reason for what could be seen as a conflict of interest comes because only England and the Netherlands can qualify from Group A in the Nations League. England must beat Scotland to qualify, but they must also better the Dutch result by at least a three-goal margin. Therefore, certain Scotland players with aspirations to feature in Team GB could potentially throw the result in favour of England, although this seems an unlikely scenario.

The Netherlands and Belgium have both beaten England in this stage, while Scotland are bottom of the group. As a result, Dutch manager Andries Jonker gave a diplomatic response, per the , where he insisted his side merely had to keep qualification in "their own hands", although Wiegman maintains that there will be no fix.

WHAT WIEGMAN SAID

On the matter, Wiegman pointed towards England's quality and the history between the two sides to refute such a conflict, telling reporters: “I understand the conversations about it, but if you know the history of Scotland-England, then there’s no way that they are going to give away this game. They really want to beat England and we want to beat them of course.

“The Dutch manager knows about the history and he also mentioned that too, that he doesn’t expect that Scotland will just give it away. And they won’t. And you saw too, that the Netherlands got a 4-0 score [against Scotland], so that’s a big score too, so should I question those things too? Of course I do not. This is football, it’s competitive, we have professional players here. It’s going to be a good game where everyone wants to perform at the highest level.”

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It remains to be seen exactly how Wednesday's game will play out, but one has to think that this lack of sporting integrity in such a massive fixture would never be applied in the men's game – and should therefore not exist in the women's either. The Netherlands, meanwhile, play Belgium on the same evening.

Liverpool star Alexis Mac Allister was in utter disbelief after Darwin Nunez failed to answer question on Reds' Champions League record.

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Nunzez failed to correctly answer Liverpool's UCL triumphsMac Allister shocked by Nunez's responseArgentine correctly guessed the number of league titlesWHAT HAPPENED?

The Uruguayan striker stumbled in a quiz about the club's Champions League victories which left Mac Allister shell-shocked. Nunez faltered when asked about the number of times Liverpool have won the Champions League as he responded "Three" which left Mac Allister with his hands on his head. The Argentine repeatedly said "No, no, no" while laughing at his teammate.

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Nonetheless, Mac Allister correctly answered the number of league titles Liverpool have won. However, at first, he said just one, referring to the one that they won in the Premier League era and then went on to explain that he meant "1+18".

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The two teammates will lock horns against each other during the international break when Argentina host Uruguay on Friday in a 2026 World Cup Qualifier. They will return to England and will have their task cut out as Liverpool face a tricky trip to the Etihad on November 25 against Manchester City.

ESPNcricinfo previews the playoff matches between Afghanistan and Hong Kong, and Namibia and Netherlands

Peter Della Penna in Malahide20-Jul-2015Afghanistan vs Hong KongAfghanistan waltzed into first place after the group stages in each of their first three appearances in the World T20 qualifier. They were undefeated in 2010 and 2012 and suffered only one loss in 2013 before moving on. This year, playing outside their operational base in the UAE for the first time, Afghanistan ended up at third.They did beat the teams sitting ahead of them – Scotland and Netherlands – and thumped UAE as well, but a banana peel loss to Oman sandwiched by two washouts against Canada and Kenya have proven costly. It means Afghanistan have to better Asian rivals Hong Kong to secure a berth in India next year.Meek top order displays in the 50-over World Cup led to Mohammad Shahzad’s recall. So far it seems a good move, he has muscled 74 off 37 and 75 off 36 in back-to-back games against UAE and Scotland. Pertinently, in five T20 matches against Hong Kong, he averages 68.33 with two half-centuries.On the bowling front, Afghanistan’s quicks have been upstaged by the offspin of Mohammad Nabi. With eight wickets so far, the former captain has been their most successful bowler. The pitch in Malahide has been conducive to spin and he will remain a threat. But more support is needed from Hamid Hassan and Dawlat Zadran to keep Hong Kong’s batting in check.Hong Kong are trying to recover from upsets themselves – they slipped up against Jersey and USA. That they still managed to finish in second place is a testament to team’s resilience. And they will require lots of it on Wednesday considering they have lost all six T20s played against Afghanistan. Besides one eight-run defeat, the others were by big margins: 120 runs in 2009, eight wickets, nine wickets, and seven wickets twice. The most recent of those was at last year’s World T20 in Bangladesh, where Afghanistan chased down 154 with ease.As far as key players are concerned, Irfan Ahmed has turned in two Man of the Match performances against Namibia and Ireland. But his record against Afghanistan is bleak. He averages 13.50 and only once has he made it to double-figures. His 98 against Namibia on Sunday was a good sign though, and it helped that he had a former captain in Jamie Atkinson as his opening partner. Anshuman Rath, the 17-year old, was demoted after struggling to take advantage of the Powerplay. Hong Kong’s best chance of a first win over Afghanistan in T20 cricket will rely on a solid foundation from the new opening pair.Namibia v NetherlandsBen Cooper has been one of the most consistent batsmen of the tournament•ICC/Donald MacLeodHad Netherlands completed their ferocious chase against Kenya on Saturday three balls quicker, they would have sealed passage to the World T20 and rested up for an entire week before the semi-finals here. That they still scored 98 in 8.3 overs is a reminder of how explosive they can be when pushed into a corner. It is hard to forget what they did to Ireland in the World T20 last year.Four of their batsmen – Ben Cooper, Wesley Barresi, Peter Borren and Stephan Myburgh – have tallied more than 100 runs from the group stages. Only Scotland, with five, are better off.Ahsan Malik has been suspended from bowling for the rest of the tournament due to a suspect action, but Timm van der Gugten has picked up the slack, picking up four wickets in his last two games. Spinners Roelof van der Merwe and Michael Rippon have taken nine and seven wickets respectively and will like the conditions in Malahide.Namibia, meanwhile, are aiming to qualify for their first World T20 after a disappointing exit from the qualifier tournament in 2012. They had been undefeated in the league phase and had two chances to confirm a spot in the World T20 in Sri Lanka. But they lost both times. Playing against Ireland and Afghanistan, they failed to reach a total of 100 in either game, after having been the most prolific batting line-up in the group stages.Namibia have two cracks at the prize this year as well courtesy openers Stephan Baard and Gerrie Snyman, who have led them into the playoffs. Baard is the leading run-scorer in the tournament with 243 runs at an average of 60.75 and Snyman is in fourth place with 192 runs at 32.00. They have two half-centuries each, but no one else has been consistent enough.Namibia possess one of the tournament’s most effective slow bowlers in Bernard Scholtz. He is tied for most wickets – 10 – by a spinner with USA’s Timil Patel and third overall behind John Mooney and Alisdair Evans. Snyman’s offspin has also claimed seven, but their pace-bowlers have not produced performances of substance. Namibia have already conceded 161 to Jersey and 197 to Hong Kong and a similar total against Netherlands is likely to leave them in trouble. But If Namibia lose, they will have one final chance, on Thursday, to secure that elusive berth in a World T20.

Eddie Howe's team have gone from first to third in Champions League Group F because of a poor performance in front of their own fans

Newcastle United's hopes of reaching the last 16 of the Champions League were dealt a heavy blow by Borussia Dortmund, who claimed a fully deserved 1-0 victory at a rain-soaked St James' Park on Wednesday evening.

The Magpies had gone into the game flying high at the top of Group F but they have fallen to third in the standings after succumbing to a solitary strike from Felix Nmecha, with BVB's No.8 doing an excellent Jude Bellingham impression by sweeping home a cut-back from Nico Schlotterbeck after a brilliant break that the latter had sparked with a terrific tackle on Anthony Gordon on halfway.

Newcastle fought gamely to try to turn the game around in the second half and struck the bar twice in the dying minutes, through the shoulder of Callum Wilson and a deflected effort from Gordon. However, the reality is that the hosts, who were second-best for the majority of the 90 minutes, deserved nothing out of a game that Dortmund would have won comprehensively had it not been for the first-half heroics of Nick Pope.

Below, GOAL rates all the Newcastle players on show on a disappointing night at St James' Park as Eddie Howe's strangely out-of-sorts team saw a nine-game unbeaten run come to an end…

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Nick Pope (8/10):

Called into action three times in the opening 10 minutes alone, with his double-save one of the game's highlights. If it hadn't been for Pope, Newcastle would have lost heavily.

Kieran Trippier (6/10):

As usual, a good outlet down the right flank, but this was a tough evening for the England international, as nearly all of Dortmund's best attacks came down his side.

Jamaal Lascelles (5/10):

No major errors but never quite looked comfortable at the heart of the defence.

Fabian Schar (7/10):

The home side's best defender, winning possession back several times, while he also passed the ball well – unlike many of those in front of him.

Dan Burn (5/10):

Offered next-to-nothing going forward, so was hauled off with just under 20 minutes of normal time remaining as Newcastle chased the game.

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Sean Longstaff (4/10): Looked utterly lost as Dortmund dominated in midfield and unsurprisingly hooked midway through the second half.

Bruno Guimaraes (5/10):

Played a lovely lofted ball over the Dortmund defence for Almiron during the first half and kept working right until the end but, truth be told, he was nowhere near his best.

Joelinton (4/10): Put himself about, as always, but there was also the usual lack of quality. Rightly taken off at the same time as the equally ineffective Longstaff.

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Miguel Almiron (4/10):

Very lively early on, with his direct dribbling provoking panic in the Dortmund defence, but there was no end product.

Alexander Isak (N/A): Sadly saw his night come to a very premature end, with the Swede forced off with an injury inside the opening 15 minutes. A major blow for Newcastle, in hindsight.

Anthony Gordon (5/10):

Made himself a real nuisance at times and struck the bar in the dying minutes but squandered a great chance to break the deadlock with a finish that was straight at Gregor Kobel, while it was his loss of possession that led to Dortmund opening the scoring.

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Callum Wilson (4/10):

Came on for Isak early on but missed a gilt-edged opportunity to level the game from point-blank range just before the hour mark and then struck the bar with an effort off his shoulder that could have gone in had he connected with his head.

Sandro Tonali (5/10):

In what may well be his last appearance for Newcastle for some time, the Italian showed plenty of endeavour but was unable to turn the game around.

Jacob Murphy (N/A)

Introduced in the 64th minute as part of a double substitution with Tonali but was almost immediately replaced after hurting his shoulder.

Joe Willock (5/10):

Sent on in place of the unfortunate Murphy but failed to make his presence felt.

Joe Targett (6/10):

Only saw around 20 minutes of action after being subbed on for Burn.

Eddie Howe (3/10):

Completely outfoxed by Edin Terzic, the Magpies boss had absolutely no answer to Dortmund's daring approach to the game and now has plenty to ponder ahead of their return fixture at Signal Iduna Park.

Alisha Lehmann has sent her Swiss and new Aston Villa team-mate, Noelle Maritz, a welcome message following the latter's switch from Arsenal.

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Maritz joins Villa from ArsenalLehmann sends message to Swiss team-mateArsenal expected to sign Emily Fox as replacementWHAT HAPPENED?

Arsenal confirmed that Maritz had left the club to join Aston Villa in a permanent move. The Gunners, with a squad pushing the registration limit, needed to free space in their ranks to make room for the expected arrival of United States defender, Emily Fox. The Gunners' loss has become Villa's gain as the Swiss international joins to try to help propel the side away from the threat of relegation.

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Posting on her Instagram story, Lehmann said: "Welcome my friend!"

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Maritz's move to Aston Villa is one which suits all parties. The defender had been struggling for minutes in the Women's Super League this season and wanted to secure more game-time. Villa are able to add depth at full-back and Maritz will compete with Sarah Mayling for the starting right-back spot. Meanwhile, Arsenal can free up some much-needed space to complete the signing of Fox – who can hope to offer the Gunners greater defensive solidity in the second half of the season.

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WHAT NEXT FOR LEHMANN AND MARITZ?

Aston Villa return for action after the winter break in the women's FA Cup against Everton on January 13, where Swiss team-mates, Lehmann and Maritz, will hope to play together once again.

Mahela Jayawardene has brushed off criticism from SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala, contending that his ten-day consulting role with England is largely geared toward player development and not toward providing specific tactical information

Andrew Fidel Fernando27-Feb-2016Mahela Jayawardene has brushed off criticism from SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala, contending that his ten-day consulting role with England is largely geared toward player development and not toward providing specific tactical information. He has also said Sumathipala’s questioning of his ethics was “laughable”.”My role with England is to help develop their cricketers, and to help with how they should approach different challenges – like playing spin,” Jayawardene said. “The pools hadn’t been decided when I agreed to do it. England didn’t hire me to give information on the Sri Lankan team. They have analysts and coaches to do that. I’m quite disappointed to see those comments from the board, to be fair.”This is in response to Sumathipala himself having expressed “sadness and disappointment” at Jayawardene’s resumption of the England job, in which he could conceivably reveal inside information on the Sri Lanka team. Jayawardene played his last ODI for Sri Lanka in March 2015, and had quit T20Is in April 2014. Sumathipala said a “cooling off period” of at least 24 months was appropriate, before Sri Lanka players joined opposition sides in a coaching or advisory role.Jayawardene didn’t rule out being asked to provide specific information on Sri Lanka’s players and tactics, but said his ability to provide such insights was tempered by his having retired almost a year ago.”By the World T20, I would have been out of the one-day team for 12 months, and out of the T20 team almost two years,” Jayawardene said. “If the tactics of that dressing room haven’t moved on in that time – if they are still playing the same way – then there’s a problem, isn’t it?”There are also a lot of new players in this Sri Lanka team that I haven’t played with. But even for the guys like Angelo Mathews, or Lasith Malinga, or Dinesh Chandimal, isn’t the challenge to keep evolving?”Sumathipala had suggested Jayawardene, as a former Sri Lanka captain, was being unprincipled in his acceptance of the England role. Jayawardene responded by asking whether Sri Lanka’s recent hiring of Graham Ford was similarly unprincipled, according to the board.”Ford has worked at Surrey with Jason Roy – the England opener – for the last three years. I guess that would be unethical as well. In my heart I’ve had Sri Lankan cricket right at the top, but I’m also a professional.”Jayawardene said he had worked almost a year on the domestic cricket revamp that has now been scrapped by the Sumathipala administration. That work was unpaid.”All that 12 months of work was put aside when they took over,” Jayawardene said. “I am not upset, but I’m disappointed. If they don’t recognise my work, then how am I supposed to work in that environment? Was their decision to scrap that made ethically?”That said, they are an elected body, and they are entitled to do what they think is best. There are actually no hard feelings. I wish them all the best, and hope that they can take Sri Lankan cricket further.”

Liverpool overcame injury issues to beat Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final, with Gary Neville hailing “Klopp’s kids against billion pound bottle jobs!”

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Blues have spent heavily in transfer marketMissed some big chances at WembleyReds have three more trophies to aim atWHAT HAPPENED?

The Reds headed to Wembley without the likes of Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Darwin Nunez and Alisson. Klopp had to name a number of youngsters on the bench, and gave game time to James McConnell, Jayden Danns and Jarell Quansah.

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Eight academy graduates got a medal on the day, with Virgil van Dijk settling the tie late in extra-time as he powered home a dramatic header – having previously seen one effort ruled out due to a controversial offside call from VAR.

WHAT NEVILLE SAID

Chelsea are now in danger of ending the 2023-24 campaign empty-handed, despite spending over £1 billion ($1.3bn) on transfers since the Todd Boehly-led ownership team arrived at Stamford Bridge. Manchester United legend Neville has taken aim at the Blues for buckling under pressure, saying during his punditry on : “It’s Klopp’s kids against the billion pound bottle jobs.”

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Mauricio Pochettino’s side had plenty of chances to pick up another major trophy, but fluffed them all – while seeing a Raheem Sterling effort ruled out for an offside in the build-up – while Liverpool remain in the hunt for Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League glory in what will be Klopp’s final season at the helm.

Najam Sethi, the PCB chairman, has said the Pakistan board is inviting Sri Lanka over for a series, asserting that Pakistan is “ready” to host international cricket in the country once again

Umar Farooq22-May-2014Najam Sethi, the PCB chairman, has said the Pakistan board is inviting Sri Lanka over for a series, asserting that Pakistan is “ready” to host international cricket in the country once again.The PCB’s invite follows Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s statement on Tuesday, when, on the sidelines of a summit in China, he said that his cricket team “must go to Pakistan and play there”. The PCB decided to write Sri Lanka Cricket, offering its team a series in Pakistan.Pakistan has been a no-go zone for major international cricket since March 2009, when terrorists attacked the Sri Lanka team bus on its way to Gaddafi Stadium on the third morning of a Test. Several cricketers were injured in the attack, including Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paravitarana. Six security men and two civilians were killed.”We must go and play there also,” President Rajapaksa said during a meeting with Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain. “We can’t allow the terrorists to have control.”Responding swiftly to the statement, Sethi said: “We are very much concerned about being isolated, without major international cricket in Pakistan. We have heard the positive statement by the president of Sri Lanka and we are writing them and offering them a home series in Pakistan.”We are writing them that there is no security problem and you are welcome and we will provide you the maximum security with the help of the Punjab Government.”We are ready to host them and will chalk out a suitable window for them. Our top priority is to host an international team and we are making efforts to do that.”This is not the first time the Sri Lanka government has hinted at having intentions to help Pakistan in breaking their isolation, but the discussions never bred anything concrete previously. The PCB also tried hard to negotiate home series’ with the Bangladesh Cricket Board, but the series never happened, with Bangladesh twice withdrawing after seemingly having committed.The PCB had tried to win back the confidence of players by organising a lucrative Twenty20 league, offering top players from around the world a chance to earn over $100,000, tax-free, in 10 days. But the plan was hit by logistical problems, and the board had to postpone it indefinitely.Pakistan is set to tour Sri Lanka in August to play two Tests and three one-day internationals. They will then host Australia and New Zealand in the UAE, from October 3 to December 19.

Yasir Arafat claimed five wickets against one of his many former clubs as Sussex boosted their hopes of a Royal London One-Day Cup quarter-final place with a seven-wicket win over Somerset

Press Association10-Aug-2014
ScorecardYasir Arafat took 5 for 36 to set up Sussex’s chase•Getty ImagesYasir Arafat claimed five wickets against one of his many former clubs as Sussex boosted their hopes of a Royal London One-Day Cup quarter-final place with a seven-wicket win over Somerset in a match reduced to 33 overs per side at Taunton.Arafat’s 5 for 36 from seven overs kept the hosts to a modest 193 for 8 after losing the toss, Colin Ingram top-scoring with 71, while Nick Compton hit 42 and James Hildreth 42 not out.Sussex were set a revised target of 189 under the Duckworth-Lewis system and eased home with 24 balls to spare thanks to an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 94 between Matt Machan, who made an unbeaten 47, and 46 not out from skipper Ed Joyce.After a delayed 11am start was prevented by further rain, play began at 11.40am with the game initially reduced to 44 overs per side. Somerset quickly plunged into trouble as Marcus Trescothick played on, trying to leave the first ball of the second over, bowled by Arafat. The next delivery saw Peter Trego, who had scored centuries in Somerset’s previous two games, caught behind down the leg side and by the time the rain returned after 5.1 overs the hosts were 10 for 2.The action resumed at 1.45pm and, with the sun breaking through, batting looked a good deal easier. Ingram and Compton exercised caution, the latter enjoying a slice of luck on 28 when playing a ball from Chris Liddle onto his off stump without the bail being removed. Ingram swept a six off Will Beer as the total approached the 100-mark, but one run short Compton was lbw to Liddle falling across his stumps, having looked in little trouble.It was 157 for 4 in the 27th over when Ingram ran himself out, calling for a second run to fine leg and beaten by Liddle’s throw to the wicketkeeper. The South African had faced 74 balls and hit seven fours and a six.Hildreth looked in good touch, but was unable to conjure up sufficient boundaries in his 43-ball knock and Somerset’s hopes of a big finish were dashed when Arafat removed Lewis Gregory for 18, Tim Groenewald and Craig Meschede in the final over.Sussex approached their revised target with gusto, Chris Nash pulling a six off Alfonso Thomas in only the fourth over, which ended with 33 already on the board. Luke Wright brought up the 50 in the sixth over by lifting Groenewald over midwicket for a maximum.The opening stand was worth 86 when Nash was run out for 30 off the final ball of the 10th over, setting off for a single dabbed to short third-man and being beaten by wicketkeeper Alex Barrow’s direct hit when sent back. The next over saw Wright, on 42, drive a return catch to left-arm spinner Leach, having faced 32 balls and hit six fours and a six. And Somerset were back in it when Craig Cachopa was caught by Gregory for 5, having skied Leach to mid-on.Leach’s figures would have been even better had Barrow not missed a simple stumping chance offered by Machan on 19, with the total 129 for 3. It was an error the home side could not afford and was symptomatic of a poor fielding display. Several catches went down as Machan and Joyce saw their side to a comfortable success, both pacing their innings to perfection.Afterwards Arafat, who was twice on a hat-trick, said: “After losing our first two games confidence is growing all the time and we now have a great chance of reaching the quarter-finals.”Somerset’s Leach added: `”No one should read too much into this result. The toss was important and it was always going to be difficult batting first, so we are determined not to let it affect the momentum we were building in the competition.”