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Nottingham Forest have now joined the race to sign an “extraordinary” Real Madrid player, who is tempted by a move to the Premier League.

Forest still keen to strengthen despite West Ham victory

Forest defeated West Ham United 2-1 at the London Stadium on Tuesday night, in what could prove to be a relegation six-pointer, and there is now much more breathing room near the bottom of the Premier League table, having moved seven points clear of Nuno’s side.

Sean Dyche praised his side for the way in which they responded to going a goal down in the first half, saying: “Well, [I’m] pleased obviously. Pleased with the mentality of the players.

“Awkward game for both sides and a lot of noise around the game. To go 1-0 down and stay calm and deliver a second half that can win the game is very pleasing.”

However, the Tricky Trees aren’t out of the woods just yet, as they remain in 17th place, which means it remains important to improve the squad this month, and they have now set their sights on a Real Madrid player.

That is according to a report from TEAMtalk, which reveals Nottingham Forest have joined the race to sign Andriy Lunin, with it possible the Spanish side could be willing to sanction a move in 2026, given that the goalkeeper has only received little game time.

The race for Lunin’s signature is heating up, with Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton & Hove Albion also keen, which could be music to the Ukrainian’s ears, given that he is really tempted to move to the Premier League.

The Madrid ace’s entourage have already started to work on an exit from the Santiago Bernabéu, and there are plenty of signs he could be a success at the City Ground.

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Nottingham Forest have already identified a replacement for the outgoing Arnaud Kalimuendo this January.

Posts ByEthan Lamb "Extraordinary" Lunin is Champions League proven

Although the 26-year-old has been unable to establish himself as Madrid’s first-choice option between the sticks, he has proven himself at the very highest level in the past, making eight appearances in the 2023-24 Champions League, with his side going on to win the competition.

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After impressing against RB Leipzig in the round of 16 that year, the £76k-a-week shot-stopper was singled out for very high praise by CBS Sports’ Nico Cantor.

Forest may not need to bring in a new goalkeeper immediately, given that they already have Matz Sels, who won the Premier League Golden Glove award last season.

However, considering Sels is now 33-years-old, it is about time Dyche started to think about bringing in a long-term replacement, and Lunin, who needs to be playing regular football at this stage of his career, could be an exciting option.

This season, Manchester United’s striking options have certainly struggled a bit in front of goal. The Red Devils only have two senior out-and-out number nines at the club after Rasmus Hojlund’s summer departure, and it certainly feels like they’ve felt the impact of that lack of depth.

Manager Ruben Amorim has, perhaps unfairly, given Joshua Zirkzee limited opportunities this term, with the silky Dutchman only playing 11 Premier League games, bagging twice.

That is the same number of goals as Benjamin Sesko, with their summer signing from RB Leipzig now on a run of eight games without a goal.

It might not be a surprise, then, to learn United are linked with a new striker this winter.

Man United target Premier League striker

It does seem as though Zirkzee’s time at Old Trafford might be coming to an end in the next few weeks.

After another poor season at Old Trafford, he has been strongly linked with a move back to Serie A, with Roma touted as a potential destination for the United number 11.

Well, their replacement might come soon enough, and from within the top flight. According to a report from journalist Pete O’Rourke, the 13-time Premier League champions ‘are considering a move’ to sign Crystal Palace and France international Jean-Philippe Mateta.

The situation surrounding the three-cap French star at the moment is an interesting one. He is out of contract at the end of the 2026/27 season, and he is ‘stalling over a new deal’ according to O’Rourke.

This could give United the chance to move in and sign him for cheap, with Palace valuing him at a reported £26m over the summer.

Sky Sports have backed up those claims, revealing on Thursday that the Eagles forward is indeed a player they have ‘a long-term interest in’.

Why Mateta would improve United

In the last two and a half seasons, the 28-year-old has developed a reputation as “one of the best strikers in the Premier League”, according to Como scout Ben Mattinson. The Frenchman has become a key and consistent source of goals for the Eagles.

In 148 Premier League appearances, the striker, who hails from just outside of Paris, has bagged 45 goals and assisted nine. His best two goalscoring seasons came in 2023/24, when he scored 16 league goals and 2024/25, a campaign in which he grabbed 14 top-flight goals.

After 19 league outings this season, he’s already found the back of the net seven times, so he is roughly on course to score a similar number of goals again, showing excellent consistency.

Amorim would surely love someone with that level of experience in his squad. The strikers at Old Trafford have certainly struggled, with Sesko one of the players who has not really found his best form yet.

It might only be a matter of time, but United fans are not yet seeing the same sort of form the Slovenian showed for RB Leipzig.

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In two Bundesliga seasons, he hit 13 and 14 goals before getting his big move, so two goals in Red might well be seen as underwhelming.

The underlying stats from this season suggest that the Palace striker would be an upgrade on Sesko. For example, Mateta has a 16.28% conversion rate compared to just 8.33% conversion rate for the new Red Devils striker.

Mateta & Sesko 25/26 PL stats compared

Stat (per 90)

Mateta

Sesko

Shot accuracy

53.49%

50%

Coversion rate

16.28%

8.33%

Shots on target

1.5

1.3

Goals

0.5

0.3

Fouls won

0.7

0.3

Stats from Squawka

Having a striker with the quality and experience of Mateta in the squad would certainly benefit United’s number 30. Not only because he can learn from someone more experienced, but also because it would take the pressure off him as United’s main number nine.

This is surely a deal with which Amorim’s side cannot go wrong. It is a cut-price fee for a Premier League-proven striker, a plug-and-play attacker who would slot into the same system as he plays at Palace and improve the squad.

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Lasith Malinga found out that it sometimes doesn’t pay to belt sixes off fellow fast bowlers © Getty Images

Lee whacks Sri Lanka with four by four
Brett Lee was the Man of the Series for his 16 wickets – he was consistent with four in every innings – and Ricky Ponting believes he is benefiting from extra thinking about his work. “The more you play the smarter you become and the more you understand what you have to do to be successful,” Ponting said. “That’s where it is with Brett at the moment.”Supersub strikes again
Rhett Lockyear’s impression of the supersub Gary Pratt continued as he contributed to his third dismissal of the match by running out Dilhara Fernando. Fernando hit to midwicket and was lethargically attempting a third when Lockyear turned and threw in the same action. The ball bounced over the stumps and Brett Lee completed the duties without the need for the TV umpire. On day three Lockyear, a Tasmania 2nd XI player, helped run out Prasanna Jayawardene and on Monday caught Michael Vandort. Pratt, who ran-out Ricky Ponting at Trent Bridge, would have been proud.Where there’s smoke …
It has been an eventful week for Bellerive Oval’s weather, with rain, bad light, cold conditions and beautiful sunshine. Today there was another element: smoke. A bush fire in south-west Tasmania caused the problem, but despite the poor visibility it did not force an interruption.… there’s fast-bowling ire
Lasith Malinga added to the on-field fire by belting consecutive sixes off Stuart Clark before lunch, but he was nursing a bruise after the break. Brett Lee unleashed more short-pitched bowling on the tailenders and Malinga was struck in the jaw. It wasn’t like Malinga, who blazed 42, had been mean to the opposition fast men. Australia’s Nos 8 to 11 didn’t bat in the series.

Mandy Mitchell-Innes; a precocious university talent who played just one Test © The Cricketer International

Norman Mitchell-Innes, England’s oldest surviving Test cricketer, died on December 28 aged 92. He was the last England cricketer who played a Test before the Second World War, and his death leaves the 89-year-old Ken Cranston as the oldest living England cricketer.Mitchell-Innes, who was universally known as Mandy, played his one and only Test against South Africa in 1935, as an Oxford undergraduate.He made his debut for Somerset while still a schoolboy at Sedburgh and was a prolific run gatherer for his university. Between 1934 and 1937 he scored a record 3319 runs at an average of 47.41 and it was during this run of remarkable form that he caught the eye of the England selectors.Against the touring South Africans in 1935, he struck a brilliant 168 for his university in front of Plum Warner and was subsequently chosen for the Trent Bridge Test. He made only 5, but was retained for the second Test at Lord’s. However a bout of hay fever forced him to withdraw. “I might be sneezing just as a catch came in the slips,” he wrote to Warner. He joined up with the Oxford side at The Oval and scored another remarkable hundred against Surrey. He never got another chance to play for England.In 1935-36 he toured Australia and New Zealand with the MCC, struggling with the bat, and the following summer he captained Oxford, enjoying the best of his four Varsity matches scoring 43 and 84 at the top of the order, although it was in a losing cause. He also captained the university golf team.In 1936 he had a good summer with Somerset, but his career effectively ended when he joined the Sudan Political Service on leaving Oxford in 1937. He did play a few games when on annual leave, and when Somerset were desperate for players after the war he made another 24 appearances, captaining them four times. He failed, however, to show more than glimpses of his pre-war form.In all, he played 132 first-class matches, scoring 6944 runs – with 13 centuries – at an average of 31.42. He also took 82 wickets at 34.79 apiece. A precocious talent, he once scored 302 not out in a house match for Sedburgh during a single afternoon, causing The Sedberghian to report: “Such cricketers rarely come this way.”He retired from the political service in 1954, returning to the north of England to become company secretary of a brewery.

Scorecard
Plate Group Points TableGoa made a good start to their final-round Plate Group match against Himachal Pradesh, finishing the first day’s play at Margao on 264 for 4 thanks to fifties from Swapnil Asnodkar and Mandar Phadke. After losing Nikhil Haldipur for just 4 – lbw to the impressive Rahul Panta – Goa made steady progress with a 66-run stand between Asnodkar and Sagun Kamat (37) who looked good for more but was removed by Panta. Following Asnodkar’s dismissal with Goa on 164 for 4, Phadke and Shadab Jakati added exactly 100 to stave off any further threat and leave the home side in a solid position.

Tendulkar targets the Duleep Trophy after another long lay-off© Getty Images

John Wright, who coached India to their historic series victory in Pakistan last year, believes that Sachin Tendulkar will be fit to take on Inzamam-ul-Haq’s side when they arrive in India later this month. Tendulkar has struggled on and off with tennis elbow since August last year, and has played no part in the domestic season after returning home from the tour of Bangladesh in December.Wright said that Tendulkar was targetting a Duleep Trophy game which starts on February 22 to make his long-awaited comeback, with the first Test against Pakistan starting on March 4. A Reuters report quoted Wright as saying: “I spoke to Sachin yesterday. He has started doing exercises and we are hoping he will get better quickly. We’re very keen to have him.”Some reports last month had suggested that Tendulkar’s participation in the marquee match-up was in doubt, but Wright suggested that the situation had improved considerably since.Tendulkar said last month that he was unsure whether he would be ready for Pakistan but Wright said he was optimistic. The other injury cloud for the Indians has been the withdrawal of Irfan Pathan from the Challenger Trophy, but according to Wright, the decision not to play him and rest the side strain was a precautionary one.Tendulkar’s progress is being eagerly monitored across the border. New agencies quoted Saeed Anwar, one of the stalwarts of Pakistan’s last tour to India in 1999, as saying: “I know every Pakistan supporter will be hoping that Sachin doesn’t play while the Indians must be praying for his speedy recovery.”I mean that’s natural. A half-fit Sachin is also a threat to the opponents. He is such a big influence that his presence in the dressing room motivates his team and keeps the opponents under pressure.”

Did you find that match a bit tougher than you expected?
No, we always knew it was going to be tough in these conditions, and against an ever-improving Bangladesh team. We’ve got a pretty inexperienced team ourselves, but full credit to Bangladesh on days three and four – they were excellent and put us under a lot of pressure. But Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard did us proud. In that heat and humidity, and on a placid wicket, to pick up that many wickets [16 in all] was a true testament to the hard work they’ve put in over the last three weeks.Will there be changes to the bowling attack at Chittagong?
In any game of cricket, you have to take 20 wickets, so there are bound to be one or two guys who miss out and others who cash in. It’s the same with the batters. In this game the pace bowlers were outstanding, while Bangladesh played our spinners pretty well. We’ll go along to Chittagong, take a look at the wicket and come up with the best formula for success.Did the prospect of defeat play on your minds?
Not at all. You always have to give the opposition the utmost respect, and full credit to Bangladesh – they were outstanding. They were particularly good yesterday, when they dug in and withstood everything that we could throw at them. But we knew that the hard work that we put in then would pay dividends today, and so it proved. We expected to win today, and set out to do so in a positive manner.How did you feel when they reached 120 for 1 just before lunch yesterday?
Obviously we could have bowled a little better, but their batters stuck to their task, played in an aggressive manner and got on top of us at times. But we got the wicket [of Habibul Bashar] at a crucial time, just before dinner, although they still stuck around afterwards and made life difficult for us. Days like yesterday are a true test of the team’s character, and I thought we came through pretty well.Were you ever worried in that time?
There’s always a slight worry, but we were playing to win and if you take that mentality, you’ll come out on top more often than not.Was the first-innings batting the biggest disappointment?
Me and Tres played the new ball pretty well – it flies off the bat a little better over here – but their spinners and the quick bowler [Mashrafe Mortaza] played exceptionally well and shook a few of our guys up. From six down, we are very inexperienced, and you have to give them a little bit of leeway, as they are learning all the time and gaining valuable experience with every session.Were you happy to be back in the runs?
Of course I am. Whether I’m captain or not, as I’ve said before, I’m an opening bat first and foremost, and my job is to score runs. Thankfully I’ve done that. The first ten runs in my first innings were among the hardest I’ve ever had to get. The bowlers and the wicket made life tough, and it was quite hard to split the ring of fielders. I was just trying to find my rhythm, but thankfully I got a few rewards for all the hard work I put in then.What did you make of the Rikki Clarke incident?
I haven’t seen any replays, so I can’t comment. But these conditions will test an inexperienced team, especially when you are not getting many wickets. As I’ve said before, we always play in an aggressive manner, but if anyone steps over the line, we will have something to say about that.Are you in favour of the ICC’s bid to clean up cricket?
It’s important that we as players portray the right image to everyone involved. A lot of kids watch the game, and it’s not good if the players that they idolise are doing untoward things on the field. We do look after ourselves out in the middle though – it is important to have that little bit of aggression and banter, otherwise the game would be a little bit boring.Are Bangladesh worthy of their Test status?
On their home soil in Dhaka, they are a tough team to beat. The wicket suits their style of play, and we’ve got a few inexperienced players who’ve never been to the subcontinent. After their performances in Pakistan, we knew they’d be a tough nut to crack, and it took a lot of hard work. On days three and four, they were excellent. They have a Test win just around the corner, I’m sure, but hopefully not next week!We didn’t expect to finish them off so quickly this morning, but today was reward day for all our efforts on the previous four. Hoggy got a couple to nip away from the right-handers, Steve put it in the right areas once again, and we knocked off the runs nice and quickly. But there’s no such thing as a perfect performance, and we’ve got lots of things to mull over before the second Test on Wednesday. But I’m delighted with the result – it’s a great Test win.

Amitabh Velaskar and Narayan Kambli combined to give Goa the upper hand during their Ranji Trophy league match against Hyderabad at Panaji on Wednesday.Batting overnight on 37, Velaskar went on to make 87 before falling as the ninth wicket. In the process, he took Goa past the 300-run mark. He was given little support from the tail, but managed to farm the strike enough to face 179 balls and hit 12 fours in his knock.Replying to Goa’s total of 306, Hyderabad received early setbacks when openers Daniel Manohar and A Nand Kishore were out with 32 runs on the board. When Anirudh Singh was dismissed, four wickets had fall for 41, and Kambli had taken three of them.It took resolute fifties from D Vinay Kumar and Arjun Yadav to see Hyderabad through to the close of play. Vinay Kumar was unbeaten on 52 off 130 balls, while Yadav had made 53 off 132 balls at stumps. Hyderabad ended the day on 154/4.

ScorecardFile photo – Abhishek Nayar added 120 runs for the last two wickets in the company of Shardul Thakur and Vishal Dabholkar•BCCI

Mumbai overcame a collapse early on the second morning to amass a big total after Abhishek Nayar made a counterpunching half-century in the company of the lower order.Nayar, coming in at No.8, added 50 runs in 9.3 overs for the ninth wicket with Shardul Thakur, who made a 31-ball 24. After Thakur was run out, Nayar and Vishal Dabholkar, who contributed five runs, put on 70 runs for the last wicket to push the score past 400.Resuming on 317 for 3, Mumbai had lost five wickets for 10 runs inside 11 overs. After Shreyas Iyer was run-out adding six runs to his overnight score of 167 in the eighth ball of the day, seamer Ajitesh Argal picked up three of the four wickets to fall to reduce Mumbai to 327 for 8.In their reply, Baroda, despite losing Monil Patel early on, remained steady with Kedar Devdhar and captain Aditya Waghmode sharing an unbroken 113-run stand for the second wicket.Nayar admitted later that the collapse was “freakish”, and that he couldn’t really explain how it happened. “I think in the morning the ball was pretty new and they were bowling quite well, but there were no demons in the pitch,” Nayar told ESPNcricinfo.”Then Shreyas got run out and after that and I don’t know how to explain what happened. The ball was moving a bit, so initially I took my time. Once we played off that first spell after that we took our chances pretty well.”Nayar said he communicated his plans to the lower order and farmed the strike. “After Shardul got out, I was taking a chance every over. I was trying to face four to five balls every over and Vishal was doing a good job fending away the one or two balls. [Playing strokes] was the only way to get some runs,” he said.
ScorecardAndhra gained ascendancy over Uttar Pradesh in Ongole by securing a first-innings lead of 127 runs and then reducing the visitors to 39 for three in their second innings.Starting the day on 77 for no loss, Andhra lost opener Srikar Bharat, who was caught behind by Eklavya Dwivedi off Praveen Kumar. Andhra, however, didn’t lose momentum and kept stringing together handy partnerships with their middle-order batsmen contributing 20s and 30s. Praveen finished with four for 86.Uttar Pradesh, in their second innings, made slow progress, scoring at less than two runs an over and losing three wickets inside 16 overs.
ScorecardLate strikes helped Gujarat gain a slight edge over Railways in the race for the first-innings point in Delhi, after the visitors’ lower-order rallied around Rush Kalaria’s unbeaten fifty to take the team total close to 400.After Anureet Singh had overnight batsman Manpreet Juneja lbw off the third ball of the day, and then bowled RP Singh five overs later, Gujarat were reduced to 296 for 8. But, Kalaria, who came in at the fall of the sixth wicket, raised stands of 51 and 40 with Mehul Patel and Jasprit Bumrah for the ninth and tenth wickets respectively. Gujarat’s innings came to an end when Anureet trapped Bumrah lbw to claim his fourth wicket.Railways’ reply, led by Saurabh Wakaskar’s half-century, seemed headed in the right direction before RP Singh had Wakaskar lbw in the 50th over. From 168 for 1, the hosts slumped to 168 for four as they lost Faiz Ahmed and nightwatchman Anureet in the space of two overs.
ScorecardHalf-centuries from Jiwanjot Singh and Uday Kaul guided Punjab’s strong reply after Madhya Pradesh posted a sizeable total in Patiala. Madhya Pradesh’s bowlers had the going tough as the hosts build steady partnerships throughout their innings.Manan Vohra and Jiwanjot were separated after 58 runs were added for the opening wicket when Vohra was bowled by offspinner Jalaj Saxena. The visitors managed a breakthrough only after 25 overs when Jiwanjot was trapped lbw by Ankit Sharma. Jiwanjot and Uday Kaul had added 94 runs by then.In the morning, resuming on 251 for 5, Aditya Shrivastava and Rameez Khan kept the runs coming. While Shrivastava was dismissed by legspinner Sarabjit Ladda, Rameez went on to bring up his fifth first-class fifty. Madhya Pradesh’s lower-order, however, didn’t fire, as after Rameez’s dismissal they lost their last three wickets for 25 runs. Ladda finished with a five-for.

Some big Everton transfer news has emerged before Boreham Wood, as the Blues will ‘have to pay heavily’ to sign Aster Vranckx from Wolfsburg, according to Voetbal Primeur (via Sport Witness).

The lowdown

A report from Calciomercato last month revealed that Frank Lampard and Everton had ‘set their sights’ on teenager Vranckx, who can also count AC Milan among his admirers.

The 19-year-old only joined Wolfsburg from Belgian outfit KV Mechelen last summer for a fee of £7.2million.

Predominantly a central midfielder (he’s played that position nine times this season), Vranckx is also capable of occupying a deeper role in front of the defence (five times).

The latest

The report (via SW) states that Vranckx has ‘already attracted a lot of attention’ from potential suitors, with Everton ‘closely following’ his progress.

He could secure ‘a nice transfer’ off the back of his performances this season.

But Wolfsburg know they a valuable asset on their hands and interested clubs, like the Toffees, can expect to be met with some pretty hefty demands.

The verdict

So, how much could Vranckx cost The Toffees?

Well, Transfermarkt rate him as a £9million player, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if Wolfsburg are asking for more than that.

After all, that would only represent a very small profit on the fee they paid 12 months ago, and this is a player with a great deal of potential.

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He managed to establish himself in the first team fairly quickly at The Volkswagen Arena, making his first league start against Freiburg in October and keeping his place for 10 of the 15 matches since.

Football talent scout Jacek Kulig says he’s part of a ‘very exciting’ crop of emerging Belgian midfielders, while European football expert Alex Barker said Wolfsburg were recruiting so many promising talents, like Vranckx, that it was as if they were playing ‘FIFA career mode’.

In other news, Patrick Boyland reveals a serious concern at Goodison Park.