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Tottenham Hostpur have been handed a huge boost in their pursuit of a deal to bring Ruben Neves to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a recent David Ornstein article for The Athletic, in which the transfer insider claimed that, after five years of service for the club, Wolverhampton Wanderers could be open to parting with the central midfielder at the end of the current campaign – should an acceptable offer be lodged.

Ornstein went on to state that, despite Barcelona currently looking to be the most likely destination for the 25-year-old, a number of Premier League teams are also in discussions with the Portugal international’s intermediaries regarding a potential summer swoop – one of whom could well be Tottenham.

Indeed, just last August, Fabio Paratici was reported to be negotiating a long-term contract with Neves prior to a £40m (£34m) move to north London, however, in the end, no agreement between the player and Spurs was reached.

In his article, Ornstein wrote: “There is an acceptance that after five years of fine service, Neves may be sold if a suitable offer arrives and gives him a chance to play Champions League football.

“Discussions are taking place between intermediaries and, at present, the most likely destination is said to be Barcelona, though Premier League teams are known to be keen and Wolves would gladly sign him to a new contract.”

Neves can replace Lo Celso

Considering just how impressive Neves has been since his £15.8m move to Wolves back in 2017, in addition to the fact that both Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele – currently on loan at Villarreal and Lyon respectively – appear as if they could be on their way out of north London this summer, it would be surprising if Paratici does not reignite his interest in the 25-year-old in the coming months.

Indeed, over his 28 Premier League appearances this season, the £36m-rated midfielder has been in electric form for Bruno Lage’s side, scoring four goals, registering two assists and creating three big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.4 shots and making 0.7 key passes per game.

The £58k-per-week maestro has also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, making an average of 1.3 interceptions, 2.3 tackles, 50 passes and winning four duels per fixture.

These returns have seen the player who David Edwards claimed was Wolves’ “biggest signing of the window” after keeping him at Molineux last summer average a quite breathtaking SofaScore match rating of 7.20, not only ranking him as Lage’s best performing outfielder but also as the joint 25th-best player in the division as a whole.

In comparison, over Lo Celso’s nine Premier League outings in the current campaign, the £25m-rated midfielder was in rather less spectacular form, scoring no goals, providing no assists and creating two big chances, in addition to making an average of 0.1 interceptions, 0.9 tackles, 13.9 passes and winning 2.6 duels per game.

These returns saw the £100k-per-week Argentina international who John Wenham dubbed “unacceptable” earlier this season average an extremely disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.72, ranking him as Antonio Conte’s sixth-worst performer in the top flight of English football.

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As such, it is clear for all to see that Neves would be a significant upgrade on Lo Celso, leading us to believe that Paratici simply must do all to move the 25-year-old on this summer, before reinvesting the fee received for the Argentine – as well as his hefty weekly wage – into a move for the Wolves destroyer.

Consequently, a swoop could just turn out to be the deal of the window, something Edwards alluded to last summer.

AND in other news: Paratici plotting £59m bid for 24 y/o “appreciated by Conte”, he’s “perfect” for Spurs

ScorecardBacked by a mammoth total, thanks to a maiden triple hundred from Yasir Hameed and 181 from Asad Shafiq, NWFP completed an innings-and-11-run win over Baluchistan in Peshawar.Yasir Shah and Waqar Ahmed shared nine wickets to bowl Baluchistan out for 345, out of which Saeed Bin Nasir scored 133, his second century of the match. Faisal Imran scored 40 and helped add 34 for last wicket , but he became Yasir’s fifth wicket for 40 in the second session.Baluchistan went into the final day still 113 runs behind NWFP, who scored 664 for 6, and lost regular wickets. Yasir took three quickly and Waqar snapped up two, including Bin Nasir, before Yasir sealed a big win. Apart from Bin Nasir’s twin hundreds, and two half-centuries from Sohaib Maqsood, there was little Baluchistan could take from this match.

Division One

Michael Di Venuto again showed what he brings to Durham with a double century against Kent at Chester-le-Street as he carried his bat for the second time in the season. His unbeaten 204 pushed Durham to full batting points in less than 87 overs. After Yasir Arafat removed Will Smith and Paul Collingwood in the same over Durham’s innings was built around a third-wicket stand of 181 between Di Venuto and Kyle Coetzer (74). Kent fought back through James Tredwell and Ryan McLaren and at 296 for 7 had a chance to wrap up the innings. However, Liam Plunkett (35) gave another demonstration of his batting credentials, adding 63 with Di Venuto, as Durham regained the momentum. Steve Harmison offered supported in a final-wicket stand of 40, pushing Durham above 400, as Tredwell and McLaren took four wickets apiece.Darren Maddy continued to excel in the Warwickshire captaincy role with his second century in four days as they formed a solid platform against Surrey at The Oval. His unbeaten 133, a first Championship ton since 2004, was more than half Surrey’s total for the day but he was provided with useful support by Ian Westwood, Jonathan Trott, who was bowled off a no-ball first delivery, and Jim Troughton. However, Ian Bell missed out when he played round a straight one from Neil Saker for 9. Maddy, though, couldn’t be shifted as he reached his hundred off 113 balls and when rain brought an early end to the day before tea 106 of his runs had come in boundaries including 24 off one Rikki Clarke over. Surrey’s attack again struggled to make an impact despite Matthew Nicholson’s first Championship appearance of the season. Saker, who impressed against Lancashire last week, was the main wicket-taker although his three wickets did come at a cost.Craig White fell three runs short of a century but Yorkshire were in a strong position against Worcestershire when the rain arrived at Headingley. White and Joe Sayers, dropped early by Ben Smith at slip, batted through most of the first two sessions as Worcestershire’s patched-up attack, including Scotland seamer Dewald Nel, were made to toil. Roger Sillence eventually made the breakthrough when White was caught behind for 97, but Sayers was again showing his appetite for the long innings. In his last match on the ground he made an unbeaten 149 and has now batted for more than 14 hours on home turf without being dismissed.Rain prevented any play on the opening day between Hampshire and Lancashire at The Rose Bowl. The umpires had numerous inspections and made their decision during the afternoon. It meant England trio Andrew Flintoff, James Anderson and Sajid Mahmood were left kicking their heels, but Kevin Pietersen was already ruled out of the match after picking up a calf strain.

Division Two

In the one match which started on Tuesday, Marcus Trescothick converted his opening day century into a career-best 284, leading Somerset to an imposing 641 for 6 against Northamptonshire at Northampton. Unbeaten on 185 overnight, Trescothick soon reached his double seven overs into the day off 306 balls and passed his previous best of 219 – made against South Africa at The Oval in 2003 – as the home side struggled to make an impression. He was within sight of a triple hundred until falling to a catch in the covers off Lance Klusener shortly before lunch, but there was no let-up from Somerset. James Hildreth, who added 227 with Trescothick, moved his own century off 131 balls before Ian Blackwell tore into a tiring attack. Blackwell launched 11 fours and four sixes in a 47-ball assault, then the rain arrived to help Northamptonshire escape further punishment.Derbyshire’s seam attack rifled through the Leicestershire top order at Derby but Paul Nixon and Mansoor Amjad managed to stop the slide until rain arrived mid-way through the afternoon. Left-arm seamer Graham Wagg removed the top three under overcast skies including Darren Robinson who batted 25 overs for 19. Alongside Tom Lungley’s removal of HD Ackerman for 1 – edging one which climbed on him – the innings stumbled to 46 for 4. Jim Allenby played his shots but when he and John Sadler fell in quick succession a capitulation was on the cards. However, Nixon has twice bailed Leicestershire out in tight one-day situations over the weekend and brought his form into the four-day game. Alongside Amjad, who recently returned from Pakistan’s training camp, they added an unbeaten 69. Ireland seamer Boyd Rankin made the Derbyshire starting XI and extracted lift form the service although went wicketless.Middlesex shaded the opening proceedings against Nottinghamshire on a truncated day at Trent Bridge with Bilal Shafayat holding firm against some impressive bowling from Tim Murtagh. Richard Johnson bagged the first breakthrough, Jason Gallian edging behind shortly after being dropped by Murali Kartik, but Murtagh made the main inroads. He had Mark Wagh caught behind trying to leave the ball and then broke a threatening stand of 79 between Shafayat and David Hussey before removing the in-form Samit Patel second ball. Shafayat, normally a dashing strokemaker, was forced to play a much more watchful role and faced 176 balls, but it was a vital contribution for his team, as he and Chris Read negotiated the period before play was curtailed.

Points tables

Northern conference

Story of the day came from Northampton, where Northants nearly pulled off a heist against Yorkshire. The visitors racked up a mountainous 341 which David Sales and Chris Rogers threatened to overhaul – but their side fell two runs short. Sales made a blistering assault of 161 from 114 balls – with five fours and a six – but when he fell in the penultimate over the game was up. While he was batting with Rogers, Northants had every chance – they put on a fourth-wicket stand of 215. The visitors were initially delighted with their pair of centurions, Craig White (112) and Darren Lehmann (118*). And their delight turned to relief as they realised just how vital those runs were in the face of Northants’ game reply.Roses rivals Lancashire also proved their batting firepower at Old Trafford. Mal Loye and Brad Hodge each struck a century to take them to an unassailable 307 and sink Durham by 125 runs. Not even the efforts of Steve Harmison, who took two wickets, could dent Lancashire’s charge. Daunted by the colossal total, the visitors collapsed to 81 for 5 and were eventually mopped up for 182. The experienced Glen Chapple led the rout with 3 for 26 and there were three wickets, too, for Simon Marshall.Worcestershire blew Leicestershire away at Grace Road. Leicestershire’s top five could only muster single figures, and it was left to Paul Nixon to lead the climb towards their target of 192. He made 67, with the next highest score 12, from David Masters. Gareth Batty impressed for Worcester, with 3 for 27. The result may not have gone Alamgir Sheriyar’s way, but he at least marked his return to Leicestershire against another of his former counties with a controlled display of 3 for 35.Warwickshire came agonisingly close to victory at Edgbaston, but fell two runs short against Derbyshire, with Steffan Jones’ five-for proving the difference. Neil Carter and Jim Troughton took four wickets apiece to restrict Derbyshire to 206, while Moeen Ali chipped in a handy 1 for 9 from four overs on his limited-overs debut for the county. But Warwickshire found themselves in moderate trouble at 62 for 3 and, despite Ian Bell’s 78, they wound up short as Derbyshire’s bowlers held their nerve.

Southern conference

An unbeaten century by Dominic Thorneley wasn’t enough to save Hampshire as they fell to a four-wicket defeat against Kent off the last ball. Hampshire had stumbled early at 26 for 2 thanks to the efforts of Andrew Hall and Simon Cook who went on to take five wickets between them, but Thorneley lifted them to 257 for 8. Rob Key’s 76 set up Kent’s charge and Matthew Walker helped them over the line.Rana Naved-ul-Hasan was in the wickets again for Sussex, taking 5 for 30 to help his side to the honours against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens. After grabbing seven wickets in the Championship victory this week, Naved-ul-Hasan’s medium-fast deliveries again came in handy in Wales as the visitors galloped to a 97-run win. Sussex recovered from an early stumble at 43 for 3 to post 257 and. Murray Goodwin started the recovery with 44, before Mike Yardy and Carl Hopkinson both posted fifties to cement a decent total – and one which proved more than enough as Glamorgan subsided 97 runs short.James Middlebrook took 4 for 27 and Ravi Bopara weighed in with a rapid unbeaten ton to spear Essex to a thumping eight-wicket success at Taunton. Somerset wilted in the face of some sustained, hostile bowling – with Tony Palladino grabbing 2 for 49 from eight overs – and eventually subsided for 188 inside 40 overs. It didn’t take Essex long to notch up their second win of the term – 32.3 overs in fact – with Bopara leading the charge. He made 101 not out from 97 balls, including 12 fours and three sixes.A stop-start affair between Ireland and Surrey eventually ended in a washout at Stormont. Surrey had reached 100 for 2 from 15 overs, with James Benning in full flow on 61 not out, when rain wrecked play for the day.

More women are playing cricket in organised competitions in Australia, research by Cricket Australia has revealed.But the figures also highlight that cricket needs to do more to attract more girls and women into the game, according to Cricket Australia chief executive officer James Sutherland.Census figures illustrate that more than 7,000 women have taken up cricket over the past year, as female participation in cricket has grown from 40,445 participants nationally (8.7%) in 2002-03, to 47,780 (10.1%).”We are delighted with the results from the census,” said Mr Sutherland. “In particular, it is fantastic to see that female participation in the game is growing at a healthy rate. This is an especially pleasing result as Cricket Australia became fully integrated with women’s cricket in July 2003.””The female cricket market in Australia has a lot of potential to grow, and this year’s results help indicate to us that we’re heading in the right direction with the women’s game. It is a result we’re very pleased to see and a trend that we, the state cricket associations and clubs need to keep working on.”For the purpose of the census, the definition of a cricket `participant’ is one who plays in an organised cricket competition or program of more than four games per season.

South Africa 302 for 1 (Smith 139, Gibbs 139*) v West Indies
Scorecard

Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs celebrate – they put on 301 for the first wicket with Smith out for 139 two balls before the close © AFP

Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs powered their way to a record opening stand for South Africa at Centurion Park on a shortened opening day of the fourth Test. After Brian Lara won the toss and put South Africa in, Smith and Gibbs both scored centuries and made West Indies pay for some more wayward bowling and shoddy fielding. South Africa closed at a dominating 302 for 1 when bad light stopped play.What has gone before in a one-sided series was nothing to compare with the level of the slaughter today. The bowling was toothless, the fielding tired, but the batting was almost faultless. After a morning seeing off the new ball on a damp track, Smith and Gibbs cut loose, smashing the hapless attack to all parts of the sparsely populated ground, and keeping the run rate up to five an over.Smith was the more aggressive of the two, racing to his sixth Test century from 125 balls, including 17 fours and a six. He played a host of sublime shots, most of which pierced the leg-side field. He had only one blemish, when, on 23, he should have been run out by Ramnaresh Sarwan, but was reprieved by bad fielding. Gibbs, meanwhile, opened up after a subdued start, and he reached his 13th Test hundred on the way to an unbeaten 139.Play was delayed by half an hour after heavy overnight rain, and the tone of the day was set with the first ball of the match – a wide long-hop from Merv Dillon, which Smith slashed over the slips for four. Gibbs was temporarily in a spot of bother when Dillon managed to apply some pressure for all of an over, but Gibbs soon helped himself to some erratic bowling from Fidel Edwards at the other end.Smith signalled the fifty partnership with a handsome cover-drive off Dillon, and 10 fours had come in the first 11 overs – not exactly what Lara would have hoped for after he won the toss. The Smith run-out chance, which happened shortly before the lunch break, was in fact the only time West Indies came close to making a breakthrough, but that was wasted – and in comical fashion.Smith pushed Vasbert Drakes to Sarwan at point and set off for a suicidal run, but Gibbs sent him back. Smith was halfway down the track and Sarwan had all the time in the world to take aim and fire. Instead, he chose to pick the ball up and get closer to the stumps. After a few strides, though, he belly-flopped forward and looped the ball way over the target. Smith couldn’t believe his luck – and he made the most of it.Just as West Indies were beginning to assert some control, Smith bulldozed Drakes for three fours in same over, all on the leg side, to put South Africa back on track to domination. And it didn’t stop there. Corey Collymore was next in Smith’s firing line. He was peppered to different parts of the leg-side boundary, and Lara was forced to turn to Chris Gayle for a wind of change. Gayle promptly served up a floating full-toss, which Smith smacked away with disdain on the way to his hundred.

Rare blemish: Graeme Smith scrambles home as Ramnaresh Sarwan fluffs a run-out chance © Getty Images

Gibbs, meanwhile, was more watchful. He took 116 balls to reach his half-century, but he did it in style with a back-foot thump through the covers off another Edwards short ball. He then smeared Gayle over midwicket, later pulled Dillon for a huge six over deep mid-on, and eased to his hundred off a gentle Sarwan full-toss.Smith and Gibbs carried on the charge, continuing to punish anything short in particular, and they soon had their sights on beating their own record stand of 368 against Pakistan at Cape Town last year. However, Collymore spared West Indies that embarrassment when Smith edged him behind to Ridley Jacobs for an outstanding 139, including 21 fours and two sixes (301 for 1).Not long after Smith’s wicket, at 5.05pm local time, the umpires offered Gibbs and Jacques Rudolph the light with 22.5 overs to go – and, rather surprisingly, they accepted with South Africa in total control of a completely one-sided contest.

Big Central Districts all-rounder Jacob Oram is on the verge of making his comeback from injury.One of the finds of last summer when he made his debut for the CLEAR Black Caps, Oram has suffered a broken bone in his foot, and then when close to recovery suffered a setback with the foot.He has been named by Central Districts as the manager on their trip to Alexandra for their State Championship match against Otago. That has been done to allow him to train with the side each day before attempting to make his comeback in the next match against Canterbury, starting on Monday next week.Meanwhile, the Northern Districts team was missing Mark Bailey’s name when it was released for their match against Wellington starting tomorrow. The languid right-hander played 89 first-class games and has been a stalwart of ND cricket for the past decade.While he never played a Test match for New Zealand he was called to the West Indies in 1996 as a replacement player and he was a member of the New Zealand one-day team which played in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.A portable pitch on the main oval at Eden Park will be used for the Auckland-Canterbury game. It is another test for the portable pitch after the disappointment caused by drainage problems in the tray the pitch sits in for last summer’s match against Pakistan.Canterbury leads the championship at the moment. Points are: Canterbury 16, Auckland 13, Northern Districts 12, Wellington 9, Central Districts 6, Otago 4.Teams for the next round of State Championship play are:Auckland: Brooke Walker (captain), Matt Horne, Aaron Barnes, Tama Canning, Chris Drum, Nick Horsley, Llorne Howell, Tim McIntosh, Rob Nicol, Mark Richardson, Gareth Shaw, Reece Young.Canterbury: Gary Stead (captain), Jarrod Englefield, Robbie Frew, Shanan Stewart, Aaron Redmond, Gareth Hopkins, Paul Wiseman, Warren Wisneski, Stephen Cunis, Ryan Burson, Peter Fulton, Chris Martin.Northern Districts: Robbie Hart (captain), Scott Styris (vice-captain), Graeme Aldridge, Grant Bradburn, Simon Doull, Matthew Hart, James Marshall, Hamish Marshall, Bruce Martin, Joseph Yovich, Michael Parlane.Wellington: Matthew Bell (captain), Richard Jones, Selwyn Blackmore, David Sales, Grant Donaldson, James Franklin, Matthew Walker, Andrew Penn, Mark Gillespie, Jeetan Patel, Mark Jefferson, Glynn Howell.Otago: Craig Cumming (captain), Andrew Hore, Robert Lawson, Simon Beare, Chris Gaffaney, Martyn Croy, Craig Pryor, Nathan Morland, David Sewell, Kerry Walmsley, James McMillan, Rob Smith.Central Districts: Glen Sulzberger (captain), David Kelly, Peter Ingram, Mathew Sinclair, Ben Smith, Peter McGlashan, Campbell Furlong, Bevan Griggs, Andrew Schwass, Brent Hefford, Michael Mason, Lance Hamilton.

Opting to bat, Saurashtra ran into trouble in the Ranji One-Day WestZone League facing the formidable Mumbai at the Motibaug Ground,Baroda. Saurashtra crept their way to 205 in 46.2 overs. SkipperShitanshu Kotak (53) and Prakash Bhatt (38) put on a partnership of 57for the third wicket. Paras Mhambrey (35/4) and Sairaj Bahutule (31/3)nailed the Saurashtra line up.In reply, Mumbai openers Robin Morris (41) and Wasim Jaffer (61) tookthem to a flying start. The batsmen entertained the crowds with somelusty blows, Robin hit seven boundaries while Wasim sent the ball tothe fence on eight occasions. Amol Mazumdar (55) returned unbeaten toguide Mumbai to a comfortable six wicket victory in the 42nd over.Mumbai registered their second consecutive win of the tournament andare unbeaten so far.

Celtic have finalised a move for promising striker Jack Thomson, The Daily Record report.

The Lowdown: Doak departure

The Hoops look set to lose talented winger Ben Doak to Liverpool over the coming months.

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Doak is yet to pen professional terms at Parkhead, meaning Celtic could receive just £150,000 for the 16-year-old’s services in compensation.

It now appears to be a case of one in and one out at the club’s academy, with an update emerging on Thomson.

The Latest: Thomson’s arrival

The Daily Record shared a story on Thursday morning, revealing some smart business by Michael Nicholson – Thomson has now signed a professional youth deal at Parkhead from Mossend FC.

The youngster was labelled as one of their most promising starlets and now joins a growing list of Lanarkshire players currently at Parkhead, including David Turnbull and Stephen Welsh.

The Verdict: Welcome news

Celtic needed some positive news during the international break following injuries to Tom Rogic, Johnny Kenny and concerns over Daizen Maeda’s fitness.

Thomson could well turn out to be a star of the future, with Mossend admitting the youngster will be a ‘huge loss’ to the club.

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He now looks set to take his place in Celtic’s academy system, and hopefully, we will see Thomson in a senior Celtic squad in years to come.

In other news: ‘Worrying…’ – Sky Sports man claims ‘brilliant’ Celtic ace may now have suffered ‘bone damage’. 

	Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds are among the must-have players of at least three IPL franchises © Getty Images

Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, and Andrew Symonds, the allrounder, are on the list of top five must-have players of at least three franchises in the Indian Premier League, Cricinfo has learned, belying fears in the fallout of the Sydney Test that public sentiment would jeopardise their involvement in the big-money tournament.The IPL commissioner, Lalit Modi, had voiced those fears, saying there would “definitely be some casualties” of the controversy.However, one week before the players’ auction, representatives of the IPL’s Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi franchises – who say “public memory is short” and “everybody has moved on” from Sydney – are working their budgets around Ponting and Symonds and the other top draw, Adam Gilchrist. Each of the eight IPL teams can recruit up to eight overseas international players and field four of them in the playing XI.”Any Australian player would figure high on our list, just for the sheer professionalism and commitment they bring to the field,” says the former India international VB Chandrasekhar, now a key operations man in the Chennai franchise, owned by India Cements. “I don’t thinkthere will be any negative impact here on the Sydney incident.””There is a different kind of passion involved here. We are looking atinter-city rivalries here, not between countries. In fact, I think having Ponting and Symonds play here will only alleviate whatever tensionthere might have been following the Sydney incident.”The former India fast bowler, T A Sekar, who is the vice-president of sports administration for the Delhi team, says he would be “very keen” on Symonds as he is looking out for multi-skilled players. “More than Ponting, I would go for Gilchrist and Symonds because they fit the bill. In this format, our eyes will be on multi-skilled players.”Charu Sharma, CEO-designate of the Bangalore franchise, believes public memory is short. “Once Symonds and Ponting are part of your team, and they walk out in thefield, you will hear their names chanted from the stands. The backlash in India and Australia was to a particular incident, in a particular match. Everybody has moved on.”Sharma, a television commentator, explained why Symonds and Ponting were so sought after. “Cricket-wise, Symonds brings an enormous batting ability in a Twenty20 situation, gives you a bowling option and a fantastic fielding option. In Twenty20 you need a player who can change the game in two or three overs. Symonds clearly has that ability.”Ponting, he said, might take an over or two to get going. “But he can then hit the ball as hard as anybody else. He’s got great eye, great feet, brings a lot of experience, and a sound cricketingbackground with him.”There is still some doubt over the participation of current Australian players in the inaugural IPL, given that the team is scheduled to tour Pakistan around the time the IPL begins. However, Sharma said the IPL had informed franchise owners that the status of these Australian players would be confirmed before the auction, on February 20.