Author: Anjishnu Roy

With Ousmane Dembele not interested in renewing his contract with Barcelona on the club’s terms, the Catalan side are looking to sign a winger in the upcoming summer window. They have identified Leeds United’s Brazilian stalwart Raphinha who has attracted a lot of eyeballs with his performances in the Premier League. Despite Barcelona’s renewed interest in Dembele following a series of confidence-boosting performances on the field, there was a sense of optimism that the two parties will eventually find an agreement. However, that seems far from reality at the moment as Barcelona have maintained that they will not open negotiations…

Cricket’s custodians the Marylebone Cricket Club made few rule changes on March 9. Included among them was the decision to legitimize running out non-strikers for backing up too far and shift it to the category of run-outs. The decisions will take effect from October this year. Running out batters at the non-strikers’ end for backing up too far has been called ‘Mankading.’ While it has never been a violation of any rule, the act has always been looked down upon and considered to be against the spirit of cricket. Ravichandran Ashwin famously ran out Jos Buttler this way in IPL 2019 and the incident…

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has publicly asked centre-back Andreas Christensen to commit his future to the London club. However, as it stands, the Denmark international is closing in on a free transfer to FC Barcelona. Tuchel has recently challenged the 25-year-old to “step up and be a huge player for Chelsea”. The Denmark international is into the final four months of his contract, at the end of which he will be allowed to leave the club of his adolescence and adulthood for free. Speaking to reporters in his pre-Norwich City press conference, the tactician also said he won’t take it…

India have no shortage of options in the opening department. Newly appointer captain Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have been the first-choice openers, but an injury to Rahul meant that the Men in Blue had to open with Mayank Agarwal in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali. Despite calls for Shubman Gill to start, ex-Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar has sided with Mayank Agarwal for the opening role. Although Agarwal is hardly new to the role and has essayed his job well in the past as well, the opening spot fuels plenty of debate and questions. Gavaskar has also…

India and Pakistan haven’t played bilateral cricket since 2012 when Pakistan had toured India for the last time. Their only meetings have been in ICC tournaments over the last decade, which have frequently proven to be blockbuster affairs. Cricket Australia chief Nick Hockley has now said that the country is open to hosting these two national teams in a tri-series stating that matches between the two teams is something that “everyone wants to see in world cricket”. “Personally, I really like the tri-series concept. It’s worked well in the past. We’d be very open to hosting … matches,””There are really big communities…

Multiple sources have reported that Arsenal are interested in signing Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix this summer. Atletico Madrid had signed Felix in 2019 for a sum of 126 million euros but he hasn’t delivered on those expectations and could be on the way out. Reliable football journalist Miguel Delaney had previously reported that the Atleti forward had been offered to Arsenal. Delaney also suggested that at the time, it was unclear whether the Gunners were actually keen on signing him but Football.London believe that Arsenal are exploring the idea of acquiring his services. However, there could be several roadblocks involved before a deal starts…

Former Manchester City midfielder has lavished praise on Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and even compared him to City’s wildly successful coach Pep Guardiola. Arsenal’s work when they lose the ball is quite similar to Manchester City and Toure believes that Arteta has learnt a lot from Pep. Guardiola is widely regarded as one of the best managers in the world and Toure believes that Arteta is having a similar impact at Arsenal just over two years into his first permanent job. ‘If you see the action before the goals, that’s why you have to give credit to Arteta since he…

A hip flexor injury had ruled Cristiano Ronaldo out of contention for the Manchester derby with Manchester City. However, despite travelling with the team to Etihad Stadium to provide morale support, Cristiano Ronaldo left for Portugal which shocked his teammates. The striker has now arrived at Manchester United after flying off to Portugal ahead of The Red Devils’ 4-1 humbling at the hands of Manchester City. The superstar arrived at the Carrington training ground in a luxury Cadillac and was escorted by two bodyguards in a Range Rover closely following him. Ronaldo failed to make it to the squad for…

Barcelona shocked the world of football this summer following their announcement that they’d be unable to keep Lionel Messi because of their reduced wage bill. As a result, Messi had to leave the club of his life and joined Paris Saint-Germain this summer. President Joan Laporta has clarified that he has no regrets over that decision as the club comes first. Despite the forced departure of Messi because of the financial restrictions facing the club, Barcelona are a changed team these days. Sure, the slump immediately following the Argentine’s departure saw them dropping to seventh in La Liga and losing…

Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane’s worst fears seem to have come true after the humbling defeat to Manchester City. He had tipped members of the squad to apologise on social media in a rant and Jadon Sancho and David de Gea have lived up to that prediction. The Irishman was in no mood to joke around following United’s tepid performance away from home against rivals City. Ralf Rangnick’s side suffered a 4-1 defeat and United have been plagued with a plethora of on-field as well as off-field issues lately. Keane was left furious, especially after a horrific second-half performance…