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The January transfer window will officially be open for business by the time that Tottenham Hotspur play their next match in the Premier League.

Thomas Frank’s side claimed a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday in their last game of 2025, thanks to a header from Archie Gray.

It will be interesting to see what the Lilywhites do when the transfer window opens because attacking reinforcements should be a priority, with Antoine Semenyo one name that has already been linked with a move to North London.

Premier League side in talks to sign Antoine Semenyo

Journalist Ben Jacobs has revealed that a Premier League side are in talks with Bournemouth to complete a deal for the Ghana international next month, but it is Manchester City.

The reporter added that Liverpool and Arsenal would only consider moves for the former Bristol City man at the end of the season, which has left City in the driving seat.

This update comes a matter of days after David Ornstein reported that Spurs proposed an attractive wage offer to the Bournemouth superstar, only for the 25-year-old attacker to ‘politely’ turn down their advances.

This suggests that the Cherries left winger, who has produced nine goals and three assists in the Premier League this season (Sofascore), is not interested in signing for the Lilywhites at this moment in time.

Unfortunately, shortly after that frustrating transfer update, a current Spurs player has shown exactly why the club needed to sign a player like Semenyo to bolster their attack.

Why Spurs need to sign a player like Antoine Semenyo

Despite beating Palace 1-0, Frank’s side failed to impress at Selhurst Park on Sunday, as they only created one ‘big chance’ and 0.84 xG in 90 minutes, per Sofascore.

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Randal Kolo Muani was selected to start on the left flank ahead of Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert, but failed to reward the manager’s faith in him with a positive performance.

The £150k-per-week loanee from Paris Saint-Germain, to his credit, did win the first of two flick-ons before Gray’s close-range winner, but his general play was largely poor.

Per Sofascore, the France international did not register a single cross or shot on goal and failed in all four of his attempted dribbles, whilst he did not create a single ‘big chance’ for the side.

Kolo Muani, who lost five of his six ground duels (Sofascore) in the game, was incredibly ineffective on the left wing, as he failed to create anything for the team or for himself from open play.

25/26 Premier League

Kolo Muani

Semenyo

Appearances

11

17

xG

1.19

6.11

Goals

0

9

Big chances missed

4

5

Key passes per game

0.7

1.4

Big chances created

0

4

Assists

0

3

Dribble success rate

29%

44%

Stats via Sofascore

Unfortunately, as you can see in the table above, Kolo Muani’s lack of threat at the top end of the pitch has been a theme throughout his performances in the Premier League this season.

The French flop has been thoroughly outperformed by Spurs target Antoine Semenyo, as the PSG loanee has not delivered a single goal contribution in 11 appearances and nine starts in the top-flight this season.

That is why Tottenham needed to sign the Ghana international, who has now rejected them, and why they need to go out and find an alternative to him in the January transfer window.

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Kolo Muani, whose only two goals for Spurs in 17 games came against his parent club, has not offered enough in the final third to justify a continued inclusion in the starting line-up.

The fact that the French flop has started nine of his 11 Premier League appearances, despite failing to provide any goal contributions, illustrates how dire the club’s attacking options are at this moment in time.

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Therefore, Frank must push the club to bring in a new option on the left wing to replace Kolo Muani before the January transfer window closes.

More than 50 youth coaches and coordinators will descend on the home of the US Olympic Committee national training center on February 13 and 14 for a two-day conference aimed at finding better strategies for the development of youth cricket in America. The ICC Americas office is conducting the seminar as part of their efforts to help unite cricket stakeholders from around the country.”We hope the concepts and collaboration generated at this seminar will help the passionate youth cricket volunteers in the US to achieve the vision of cricket becoming the fastest growing participation sport in America for females and males,” Ben Kavanagh, ICC Americas’ regional development manager, saidIn addition to American youth coaches who are traveling to Colorado from states including New York, New Jersey, California, Texas and New Mexico, several guest speakers will be giving presentations, including Netherlands Women’s captain Esther de Lange and Cricket Australia national field manager Pat Hassett.Perhaps the most innovative presentation of the weekend will be given by a representative from USA Ultimate, the national governing body of the competitive Ultimate Frisbee. ICC Americas’ high performance consultant Tom Evans said the purpose of the conference was to get people thinking outside the box about ways to engage and grow. Having USA Ultimate involved, whose headquarters is also in Colorado Springs, enhances that cross-sport knowledge sharing.”It’s a different offering and a non-traditional sport, which cricket is in many ways to mainstream America,” Evans said. “So there’s lessons to be learned around how they get people involved in what is a non-traditional sport and how they keep them involved around that same messaging. So that was the appeal but I think there’s a bit to be learned through that. There’s plenty we can learn from sports in the US that aren’t necessarily cricket people.”USA’s youth participation numbers have been hovering between 600 and 1000 players for the last decade according to figures released in the ICC’s annual Associate player data census. It is one area the ICC has zeroed in on as a priority in their strategic plan for helping to grow the game in the USA in the wake of USACA’s June suspension.”People are passionate about youth cricket but want to learn more about how to go about it,” Evans said. “Hopefully some of the skills that they’ll walk away with after this weekend is how to approach it or what I am doing at the moment could be improved or modified to make it bigger and better. There’s going to be a few people who bring different perspectives but that’s all good as long as people come with a mindset that they’re there to learn, share and make cricket better as a result.”

Rawalpindi ran up a mammoth first-innings 601 on the final day of their second-round Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match against hosts Abbottabad, as the game tapered out into a draw.In response to Abbottabad’s 376 Rawalpindi replied with 352 for 4 by the close of play on the third day. Getting the lead was just a matter of time. The partnership that boosted Rawalpindi’s total was a 256-run stand for the fifth wicket after the team had slipped to 106 for 4. 21-year-old Usman Saeed top-scored with a magnificent 243, that came off 471 balls in two minutes above ten hours, with the help of 30 fours and two sixes.Usman played for the champion Pakistan team in the 2004 Under-19s World Cup held in Bangladesh. The double-hundred was, however, only his third three-figure score in a 34-match first-class career. He was given able support from Yasir Ali, who scored 129 from 285 balls in five minutes short of six hours with 14 fours and three sixes. Yasir, still only 22, played in a Test match for Pakistan four years ago even before he had made his first-class debut. A right-arm fast-medium bowler, this was his first century, his previous highest of 63 being his only fifty-plus score.Usman’s sixth-wicket stand with skipper Naved Ashraf (23) was worth 54 while wicket-keeper Zahid Mansoor (47) joined him to add another 132 for the seventh wicket. The match in Abbottabad started a day late on Saturday as the original venue – the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium – was not available due to repairs.Rawalpindi gained three first-innings-lead points that took their tally to 12. They are placed at No. 2 behind Islamabad, who have 18 points from two appearances in Group B. Rawalpindi now meet top-of-the-table Islamabad in a third-round Group B match, starting at the Diamond Cricket Club Ground in Islamabad from Thursday. Abbottabad have a rest until the fourth round.

Glenn McGrath: a “hot spot” niggle on his left heel © Getty Images

Glenn McGrath has emerged as an injury worry for Australia ahead of Friday’s second Test after he was excused from bowling during the team practice session at the Adelaide Oval.McGrath, 36, took seven wickets in Australia’s victory in the first Test at Brisbane, including 6 for 50 in the first innings. But he was absent for long periods in the latter stages of the game with a “hot spot” on his left heel – the foot that takes most of his weight in the course of his bowling action.McGrath did bat for a lengthy stint in Australia’s afternoon session, and took part in fielding drills as well. It is understood that the injury is in the form of a callous on the back of the heel rather than any damage on the underside.Matthew Hayden added that McGrath just needed a few days to recover from his efforts at Brisbane. “Glenn is in good spirits”, he said. “I’m confident he has a huge part to play in this Test.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Yuvraj Singh blended caution with aggression on his way to a fine 77 © Getty Images

Just as they had done on the second day, with the light fading rapidly and Sri Lanka fighting gallantly, India’s bowlers, led by Anil Kumble, winkled out crucial wickets and comprehensively tilted the scales, requiring only five more wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the series.Marvan Atapattu, batting with grace under fire to produce his second successive half-century on a pitch that appeared to have lost its bite, played a knock which increased the possibility of a draw but Kumble’s twin breakthroughs in between crucial strikes from Ajit Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh all but sealed Sri Lanka’s fate. The groundwork had been laid earlier in the day as a cheerful cameo from Mahendra Singh Dhoni and a confident half-century from Yuvraj Singh propelled India to an imposing lead and batted Sri Lanka out of the contest.To successfully chase 436 would have needed record-breaking heroics and Sri Lanka were jolted early when Avishka Gunawardene fell cheaply for the third time running. Atapattu and Kumar Sangakkara, though, combined to lead a fine counterattack as drive after gorgeous drive pushed Sri Lanka along. Both didn’t hold back when the ball was there to be hit and raced along as if harbouring thoughts of an improbable win. Neither was troubled by the spinners and appeared to have the measure of the pitch. Atapattu, who was lucky to survive a confident lbw appeal against Kumble when on 49, was quick to rock back when the ball was pitched short and creamed a few splendid pulls against both the spinners.With about an hour left, both appeared to be pulling down the shutters but Sangakkara’s dismissal – nicking an away swinger from Agarkar – opened a tap. Atapattu once again fell when a century was in his sights, patting a well-flighted delivery back to Kumble, and Malinga Bandara, the nightwatchman, was undone by a fierce straighter one, though replays showed the ball to have brushed bat before hitting pad. Thilan Samaraweera’s attempted drive to a Harbhajan doosra landed straight in Rahul Dravid’s hands at first slip and Sri Lanka had lost four wickets for 14 and seen their hopes of saving the game rapidly fade away.Gloomy skies in the morning session meant that both Yuvraj and Sourav Ganguly, the overnight batsmen, needed to watch their guard. Just 15 runs came in the first 10 overs, with both batsmen having to contend with low bounce on a sluggish pitch. Muttiah Muralitharan’s doosra, always a dangerous weapon, hassled both the batsmen on a few occasions but the slowness of the pitch allowed both to adjust their strokes at the last moment. Murali managed to get through Ganguly’s defences but Yuvraj ensured he didn’t give it away, gradually getting on top of the bowling. A crisply swept four off Murali set the tone before a flashing drive off Dilhara Fernando, hit on the up and with brutal force, raced to the cover fence. Assured with his footwork, he handled Murali impressively and kept out a few deliveries that died after pitching.It was Dhoni, though, who injected some urgency into the innings with characteristic dash. He danced down the track to the second ball he faced from Murali, lofting it over mid-on, and shredded Bandara for a flurry of boundaries just before lunch. He shifted gears immediately after the break and rocketed to his half-century with a series of superb swipes off the spinners, and cashed in after Fernando let off a simple chance when he was on 28. Yuvraj, who had reached his fifty before lunch, provided valuable support as Sri Lanka were probably reminded of the flogging that they had endured in the one-day series.How they were outIndiaSourav Ganguly b Muralitharan 39 (271 for 6)
Sri LankaAvishka Gunawardene lbw b Pathan 9 (30 for 1)
Kumar Sangakkara c Dhoni b Agarkar 33 (109 for 2)
Marvan Atapattu c and b Kumble 67 (119 for 3)
Malinga Bandara lbw b Kumble 0 (119 for 4)
Thilan Samaraweera c Dravid b Harbhajan 0 (123 for 5)

Ben Trott will stay at Kent after all, but not as a player. Trott, an opening bowler, was released at the end of summer, but he will take on the position of study support centre manager from January. His role will involve raising the literacy and numeracy levels of children in the Canterbury area.”I am really excited about my new job,” Trott said. “I am obviously disappointed not to be continuing my playing career, but I am thrilled to be able to maintain my links with Kent. I look forward to combining my teaching qualifications with my sporting background for the benefit of local children.”Trott, 26, has a degree in PE and IT technology and he is also a qualified primary school teacher: skills which will be put to good use in his new role.

New Zealand’s women cricketers will start their annual State League competition on December 27 with the final scheduled for January 31, at the home ground of the top qualifying team. The start to the series has been delayed in order to allow players to return from the tour of India.Catherine Campbell, New Zealand Cricket’s manager of women’s cricket, said: “It’s important that we have our best players competing in the State League as it lifts the standard of play considerably.” She expects the prospect of positions in the White Ferns and the New Zealand A team to provide an extra edge to the competition this year.”The White Ferns team to contest next year’s six-match home and away Rosebowl Series with Australia will be chosen at the conclusion of the State League. Players who miss out on the upcoming tour of India will therefore have an opportunity to press for a place in that side. There is also the opportunity to gain selection for the New Zealand A team which will play matches against Australia and the White Ferns before the start of the Rosebowl,” Campbell said.As well as those incentives, there is also the chance for the five other teams to try to topple the State Auckland Hearts who have dominated the finals in recent seasons with four successive victories.

Most recent attempts at staging cricket matches in Tasmania have been aborted because of rain, but the sun finallyreturned to bless one of its venues today. So did Darren Lehmann, Brad Young and Mark Harrity, though, as the triocombined to lead South Australia’s saunter to an impressive 42-run ING Cup win over the Tigers here in Launceston.As Tasmania chased a Lehmann-inspired target of 227 to win on a testing NTCA Ground pitch, left arm pacemanHarrity and left arm spinner turned fieldsman extraordinaire Young proved its destroyers.When the home team reached 2/54 on the back of a brisk 37-run partnership between Graeme Cunningham (27) andMichael Di Venuto (24), the game was in the balance. But, when Harrity (3/31) fooled each of three batsmen intospooning catches to Young at cover, it was all but over.Harrity and Young had linked forces at the head of a depleted three-man attack that led South Australia to a last-dayPura Cup win earlier in the season at Hobart, and they were now wreaking havoc again.Young had earlier taken a brilliant low catch, sliding with an outstretched right hand at second slip to pluck an edgefrom Jamie Cox (4) at second slip. And a fifth catch in the innings – creating an all-time record for a non-wicketkeeper inAustralian domestic one-day cricket – later arrived as Damien Wright (17) lashed a delivery from Mike Smith (2/26) tomid wicket.Just for good measure, Young (3/29) also struck three times at the bowling crease on a virtuoso afternoon. He wasspringing up like popcorn wherever one looked.”He certainly had a day out,” said South Australian captain Lehmann of Young’s performance.”I’ve never seen anything like that before. And he’s pretty happy about it too.”It was a good win for us. We obviously needed to win to stay in touch with the top two or three (on the table). And itputs us right back up there now after the Vics beat New South Wales today.”Emerging left handers Scott Kremerskothen (42*) and Sean Clingeleffer (23) battled staunchly against the odds forTasmania, even helping their team scramble beyond the indignity of ceding a bonus point. But they were deprived ofsupport as their teammates acquiesced with, rather than stemmed, the Redbacks’ momentum.Earlier, Lehmann (85*) had been in his element – not an atypical development in Tasmania either – in piloting theRedbacks to their eventual total.Upon winning the toss, the visitors were off to a flying start, raising an opening stand of 39 runs inside the first sevenovers with a flurry of drives, pulls and cuts from the bats of Greg Blewett (22) and David Fitzgerald (14).The underrated but ever-consistent Wright (3/32) pegged them back, linking with fellow new ball bowler David Saker(2/46) to trigger a slide that saw four wickets crash with only 12 more added to the total.Lehmann was scratchy early as he mounted the recovery, playing and missing more than once on the two-paced pitchand failing to move his score any further than 3 after the first 26 balls of his innings. But, once his eye was in, he wasimpossible to remove. Albeit that he was increasingly hampered by what he later described as Achilles tendonitis and abruised heel, he was the one batsman to truly master the pitch.While his innings yielded 161 runs less than a clattering hand at Bellerive earlier in the season, these were almost aspriceless.With Nathan Adcock (45), he added an invaluable 90 runs for the fifth wicket, and then a further 51 were raised withYoung (23) for the sixth.The temperature was rising by this stage on a blissful afternoon in Tasmania’s second biggest city and, as it happened,Young was only warming up too. A healthy crowd at the small, tree-lined ground tried its best to offer equivalentinspiration to the home team but watched the Tigers’ batting turn cold.Cox was disappointed in the lack of application shown by his batsmen, and further dejected by the fact that Tasmaniahas now inherited from Victoria the chalice of last place on both domestic competition ladders. Though he added that,on present form, his team doesn’t deserve to be anywhere else.

ScorecardRobin Bist was one of the 11 batsmen to fall to a left-arm spinner in Malappuram•PTI

Malappuram gave tough competition to Dindigul by seeing the fall of 20 wickets, which ended with Himachal Pradesh taking a 60-run lead against Kerala, thanks to six wickets from left-arm spinner Rahul Singh. That dented the hosts’ chances of topping the Group C table, as they are placed second right now, behind Saurashtra, and HP are fourth.Opting to bat, Kerala started losing wickets from the fifth over as Rishi Dhawan dismissed their top three batsmen for 32 runs. Sanju Samson (25) resisted by surviving for nearly two hours but wickets fell around him as Rahul ran through the middle and lower order, that included two wickets in the 20th over and two off consecutive deliveries in the 34th over. Kerala lost seven wickets for 29 runs before K Monish’s unbeaten 16 off 40 balls helped them cross 100 and they were bowled out for 103. Rahul finished with 6 for 19, his second five-for in first-class cricket, and Dhawan ended with 3 for 24.HP took a lead with rather ease, being 123 for 3 at one point as opener Prashant Chopra led the way with 40 runs. But Monish’s left-arm spin dismissed the openers and HP started losing wickets in a heap after they crossed 150. Monish and Akshay Chandran, also a left-arm spinner, hurt the visitors’ middle order before offspinner Fabid Ahmed took the last two wickets to end with 3 for 12 from 4.5 overs, and Monish ended with 3 for 60 to end the innings on 163. HP lost their last six wickets for 12 runs.
ScorecardJharkhand looked set to take first-innings lead by bowling out Hyderabad for 145 on the first day at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Three wickets each from Jaskaran Singh, Kaushal Singh and Shahbaz Nadeem helped Jharkhand in taking the last six wickets for 30 runs, and they finished the day on 31 for 1, trailing by 114 runs.Put in to bat, Hyderabad saw their top three batsmen getting starts before Jharkhand’s pacers struck. Bavanaka Sandeep (39) and Himalay Agarwal (20) forged a stand of 31 runs to take the score past 100 for the loss of four wickets only to see a lower-order collapse. Once Himalay was dismissed by Kaushal, Hyderabad saw their last five batsmen score only 13 runs together to squander the start they had.Jharkhand lost Sumit Kumar for 13 in the 11 overs they faced, and Shiv Gautam and Anand Singh were unbeaten on 14 and 4 respectively. Earlier, Jharkhand medium-pacer Rahul Shukla injured himself while bowling the 44th over and his over was completed by Jaskaran. Shukla came back later on to bowl.
ScorecardTable-toppers of Group C, Saurashtra, got into the lead with eight wickets in hand after bowling out Jammu & Kashmir for 138 in Jammu. Medium-pacer Saurya Sanandiya’s five wickets were responsible for rocking J&K’s top order as they survived less than 50 overs before Saurashtra ended the day on a comfortable 150 for 2.Once J&K were put in to bat, they lost their top three wickets to Sanandiya in the first 12 overs. The next three batsmen – Ian Dev Singh (29), Parvez Rassool (21) and Aamir Aziz (32) – helped the team but they lost three quick wickets to be reduced to 66 for 6. Aziz led them past 100 but they were soon bowled out because of regular fall of wickets. Sanandiya finished with 5 for 53, his first five-for in first-class cricket, and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Kamlesh Makvana took two each.Saurashtra got a strong start with an opening stand of 84 between Abi Barot (36) and Sagar Jogiyani (41). Both fell within the space of six runs before Arpit Vasavada (31*) and Sheldon Jackson (35*) steered them with an unbroken stand of 60 runs.
ScorecardRajat Paliwal’s fourth century of the season – 147* – steered Services to a respectable 282 for 5 against Tripura in Agartala. Medium-pacer Rana Dutta put Services in a spot of bother at 33 for 3 before Paliwal’s hundred helped the visitors build partnerships to lead them to a comfortable position.Dutta first broke the opening stand, after Services were asked to bat, and then struck twice in the 14th over with the wickets of Anshul Gupta and Amit Pachhara. That brought together Vikas Hathwala (38) and Paliwal who put on 72 runs to stall the fall of wickets. Hathwala was also removed by Dutta, on the score of 105, and Paliwal then stitched a useful stand of 53 runs with YashPal Singh (18). Paliwal brought up his 12th first-class hundred as Yashpal fell too, and Paliwal and Devender Lochab took them towards 300 with an unborken partnership of 124 runs before bad light cut the day short by 14 overs. Paliwal struck 19 fours and three sixes during the day, and Dutta took 4 for 53.

A big Newcastle United transfer claim has been made regarding 22-year-old striker Jonathan David…

What’s the talk?

Transfer insider Dean Jones has stated that the Lille forward is more likely to be on the club’s list than players such as Harry Kane and Thomas Muller, of Tottenham and Bayern Munich respectively.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “Jonathan David’s probably a bit more realistic, but they’re going to be linked with again, 15, 20 strikers between now and the end of the season.

“Obviously, they need to stay up first, and then we’ll be able to gauge exactly where they’ll be shopping.”

A report over the winter claimed he’d cost around €55m (£46m).

Exciting

Eddie Howe will surely be excited by this claim as David would be an excellent signing for his team in the summer window.

The Canada international has been impressive in France and would bolster the ex-Bournemouth boss’ options in the final third.

He was previously dubbed a “phenomenon” by former Gent manager Hein Vanhaezebrouck and his statistics back up that tag. The attacker has scored 13 goals in 23 Ligue 1 outings this season, whilst also scoring three times in seven Champions League matches.

This comes after he found the back of the net 13 times in 37 games for Lille in the league throughout the 2020/21 campaign on their way to the title ahead of PSG. He has burst onto the scene over the past 18 months or so and these statistics show that he can score goals on a regular basis at the top level.

At the age of 22, he also has the scope to improve further as a player. He has the potential to grow and develop parts of his game and this means that he is someone who could be an excellent signing in the short and long-term for the Magpies.

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Howe can, therefore, work with him on the training pitch to help him fulfil his potential. He would surely love watching David flourish over the course of a number of seasons, whilst enjoying his performances on the pitch in the immediate future.

This is another reason why the head coach will be excited by the prospect of the Canadian arriving at St. James’ Park in the summer. The £45m-rated gem is a player who has proven his quality already and has room to progress, which is why PIF must now work to get a deal over the line for him to bolster Howe’s squad heading into the 2022/23 campaign.

AND in other news, Major boost: Newcastle now handed big injury lift that’ll leave Howe buzzing…