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Barcelona are set to secure Wojciech Szczesny’s registration as Inaki Pena signs a new deal until 2029 before heading out on loan to Elche.

Pena signs renewal contract until 2029Goalkeeper joins Elche on season loanSzczesny registered as backup optionFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

According to Barca have settled their goalkeeping puzzle with a double move with backup goalkeeper Pena has agreed a new contract with Barca until 2029 but will immediately go out on loan to Elche in La Liga, where he will have the chance to play regular football. His departure also helps the Catalan giants financially, as his wages are partly shifted off the books, a key step to registering Szczesny. The Polish veteran remains part of the squad and is expected to serve as second-choice keeper behind Joan Garcia, while Marc-Andre ter Stegen continues his recovery from back surgery.

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The move shows Barca’s attempt to balance sporting development with financial pragmatism as Pena, who had limited minutes last season, gets the chance to establish himself as a La Liga starter under Eder Sarabia at Elche. For Camp Nou, the loan frees crucial salary space at a time when La Liga’s financial fair play rules remain strict. Szczesny’s registration gives Hansi Flick an experienced option while Garcia continues as the new first-choice keeper. 

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Pena has renewed with Barca until 2029 and is set for a season-long loan to Elche. It’s his second loan after Galatasaray in 2021-22, and this move brings him closer to home in Alicante. Financially, reports indicated Elche couldn’t cover Pena’s full salary, so Barca and Elche worked on a split-wage arrangement to make the move viable. Registering Szczesny is part of the plan as he was already in the squad last season and will serve as backup to Joan Garcia while Ter Stegen recovers from back surgery which gives Flick a defined trio without leaning on youth in the interim.

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With this reshuffle, Flick now has a clear goalkeeping roadmap with Garcia as the trusted No.1 and Szczesny offering reliability. The situation could grow complicated when Ter Stegen returns in a few months, however. 

Wrexham have been left red-faced by an administrative error, with a player released by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney still under contract.

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• Eight players released at season end
• Defender formed part of that pack
• Independent talks held to resolve issue

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Red Dragons announced that they would be parting company with eight players when the 2023-24 campaign came to a close. Jordan Tunnicliffe was one of the names on that list, with the 30-year-old defender moved on after an injury-hit spell in North Wales.

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  Tunnicliffe bid farewell to his team-mates when supposedly becoming a free agent but the has revealed the expiry date on his deal was actually set at June 2025, rather than 2024. Discussions are now being held in a bid to find a resolution that suits all parties.

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  WHAT PARKINSON SAID

  Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson has told of the unfortunate incident: “Obviously there is an issue and it is being dealt with independently. That is all I can say on that at the moment. Of course it will be resolved but it has got to be dealt with independently and we will see what happens.”

• WHAT NEXT?

  Tunnicliffe took in just 41 appearances for Wrexham after joining them from Crawley in 2022. His last outing came on February 24, against Gillingham, with others charged with the task of delivering back-to-back promotions for Hollywood co-owners Reynolds and McElhenney – with the Red Dragons now readying themselves for life in League One.

Earlier in the game, Colin Munro hit a half-century to help his team into what turned out to be an unassailable position

Peter Della Penna09-Jan-2021Sam Billings’ heroics in a thrilling chase ended in vain as AJ Tye’s death-bowling brilliance denied Sydney Thunder’s late rally from a perilous position to deliver a 17-run win for the Perth Scorchers on Saturday. Brendan Doggett took four wickets on season debut for the Thunder to help restrict the Scorchers after Colin Munro’s half-century followed a blistering Powerplay to begin the match but a rocky start to the chase ultimately doomed the Thunder’s efforts.Billings and Ben Cutting teamed up for an 83-run partnership to revive the Thunder innings from 46 for 4 after six overs. But Tye claimed both men in the final six overs, including a spectacular 19th that included the wicket of Billings to snuff out the last remaining batting threat as the Scorchers managed to hold on to defeat the Big Bash table leaders. BBL leading wicket-taker Jhye Richardson then iced off the tail to end with four wickets and claim Man of the Match honors.Andrew Tye was instrumental in the Scorchers winning a very tight game•Getty Images

Top Doggett with the ballHaving ridden the bench for the first eight matches, Doggett finally got a chance in the XI in place of Arjun Nair. In four overs, he managed to surpass his entire contribution from the 2019-20 season when he scratched out just three wickets in eight matches.Coming on at first change in the third over, Doggett was effective at banging the ball in back of a length to claim a pair of English openers. Liam Livingstone was the first to fall, skying an attempted heave over midwicket that swirled behind the stumps to Billings. Doggett teamed up with Billings again five balls later when Jason Roy was defeated trying to swat him over cover.Doggett came close to dismissing Josh Inglis in his next over but a difficult one-handed chance at third man was shelled by Tanveer Sangha. However, Doggett claimed him two balls before the mid-innings break, spearing in a yorker to clatter middle stump. Doggett showed off his complete bag of tricks deceiving Mitchell Marsh in the 13th with a slower ball to round off his haul at 86 for 4.But the rest of the Thunder bowling unit failed to support Doggett’s efforts. Munro and captain Ashton Turner combined for a 55-run stand before Richardson and Aaron Hardie teamed for a stirring 14-ball stand of 31 as the Scorchers carved out 99 runs off the last 7.3 overs to go into the break with all the momentum.Top Billings with the batAfter Richardson claimed Usman Khawaja with a skier in the third over, Jason Behrendorff claimed Alex Hales and Callum Ferguson in back-to-back overs to stunt the Thunder reply. Behrendoff then helped enact a wild third wicket off his own bowling to end the sixth over when Alex Ross was run-out without facing a ball as the bowler hustled to square leg to deny a second run for Billings with a relay to Inglis, who was pulled away from the stumps before palming the ball on off a bounce to break the bails.Billings managed to settle down with Cutting afterward as the two fought back during a sensational stand. On a pitch that did little to assist spinners on the night, the English batsman targeted Fawad Ahmed in the 13th with back-to-back sixes heaved over long-on, followed by a two to bring up his 50 off 29 balls. He survived a close shave early in the 14th over, slashing Hardie just short of Richardson charging in from deep third man.Cutting mostly focused on turning over the strike during the stand but drove Hardie over cover and then flicked a full toss off his knees over square leg in the 14th to put pressure on the Scorchers attack. With 67 off the last six overs, the Power Surge was taken to start the 15th over and Billings began the sequence with a pair of boundaries against Tye before the Scorchers struck back.Tyed down at the finishHaving cut the equation down to a very manageable 57 off 34 balls, Cutting threw his wicket away by upper cutting a short ball to Livingstone at sweeper cover. Richardson continued to mitigate damage in the second over of the Power Surge when he had Nathan McAndrew flicking a full ball off his pads to deep midwicket, making it twice that the Thunder managed to pick out one of the only two boundary riders during the fielding restriction sequence.Billings punched back against Hardie in the 17th, whipping a length ball for six over the leg side followed by a full toss flicked behind square for another boundary in a 13-run over. A bouncer hooked for four over fine leg against Marsh in the 18th ended an 11-run over, sandwiched around the wicket of Chris Green, that left the match evenly balanced with 25 needed off 12 balls with just three wickets in hand.Tye then showed his value at the death by winning a duel with Billings. After thumping him in the chest with a short ball that Billings failed to scoop over fine leg, Tye speared in a wide yorker that Billings mistimed shuffling well outside off stump and the result was a drag on back onto the stumps to end his innings. Doggett could only manage one run off the rest of the 19th over, leaving 23 to get off Richardson. The BBL’s leading wicket-taker kept his cool, claiming Adam Milne with a bouncer before a yorker on the last ball wiped out Doggett.

Manchester City are reportedly ready to let Joao Cancelo join Barcelona this summer and they have set their asking price for the full-back.

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Barcelona want Cancelo back this summerSpanish side can sign him for £25 millionCould loan with mandatory buy clause in 2026Barcelona Twitter WHAT HAPPENED?

Cancelo had a very good start to life with City, but over the years his deteriorating relationship with Pep Guardiola meant he didn't feature and eventually went out on a couple of loans. His last spell came with Barcelona, and he impressed the Catalans enough to convince them to sign the Portuguese full-back on a permanent basis. City have placed their demands in front of president Joan Laporta if Barca want to sign him this summer for Hansi Flick's debut season.

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As per , Barcelona have been given two options but they both come with a transfer fee of £25 million ($32m). The first option that Barcelona have is to complete a permanent transfer of the Portuguese at the aforementioned price tag. The second choice will be to bring Cancelo to sunny Catalonia for a second successive loan spell but this time they will have to bear 100% of his wages and the deal will also have a mandatory buy clause in the summer of 2026 for the same price tag.

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Last week Guardiola opened the door for Cancelo's return from exile at City when he said that the Portuguese footballer will be involved in the club's pre-season training if Barcelona and the Premier League side do not find an agreement in time.

He said: "It has to be the best for everyone. The two clubs will sit down. He is our player and, if an agreement is not reached, he will have to return in the pre-season. If he wants to stay here [at Barcelona], and the clubs agree, it will be done again."

WHAT NEXT FOR CANCELO?

The full-back will focus on his duties at hand before he thinks about his return to club football, as he is currently in Germany with the Portugal squad preparing for their Euro 2024 opener against Czech Republic.

Meg Lanning and her Australia deputy Rachael Haynes go head-to-head with the WBBL trophy in their sights

Andrew McGlashan27-Nov-2020

Big Picture

The WBBL final will pitch Australia’s captain, Meg Lanning, against her vice-captain Rachael Haynes. The Melbourne Stars, having reached the knockouts for the first time, are up against the Sydney Thunder who are in their first final since the opening edition of the tournament.The Stars have been the standout team of the tournament, storming their way through the group stage until a couple of defeats at the back-end but they regathered themselves to comprehensively dispatch the Perth Scorchers.The Thunder were less consistent in the round-robin but have won when it matters, most spectacularly in their semi-final against the Brisbane Heat when they turned around a game that seemed lost – although the players themselves said the belief never wavered.While both teams have strength throughout their XIs, it might come down to the Stars’ impactful batting verses the Thunder’s varied bowling attack – not that the Stars lack at all in that area, either. Lanning, Elyse Villani and Mignon du Preez have led the way for the Stars, backed up by Nat Sciver and latterly the rapidly developing Annabel Sutherland with crucial cameos from Alana King (who has also been a star with ball in hand).The Thunder’s attack includes the pace of Shabnim Ismail, the powerplay skills of left-arm spinner Sam Bates, the experience of Sammy-Jo Johnson and, as shown to such great effect in the semi-final, the yorkers of Hannah Darlington.Above all, though, this tournament has been a huge success to have been played in its entirety given the challenges that it had to overcome. Many players have not found hub life easy – Haynes admitted she “hadn’t enjoyed it” – but they have embraced the new normal and, by and large, the on-field action has been of high quality with established stars standing tall and young names standing out. Hopefully, the final will be a fitting conclusion.

Form guide

Stars WLLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Thunder WWWLW

In the group stage

No result – Only four overs were possible on the wet opening weekend
Melbourne Stars won by eight wickets – du Preez’s half-century led a comfortable chase.Meg Kanning plays to the off side•Getty Images

In the spotlight

Games like these are made for Meg Lanning. Her return to the Stars has had the rejuvenating effect on the team that was hoped for. She has led from the front with the bat, scoring runs with her usual effortless style but also showing a level of power not always associated with her game – a sign of the impact of coach Trent Woodhill. She can lean on her experienced players, but also trusts her youngsters as shown by the way she has used Tess Flintoff and Sophie Day in the death overs.Hannah Darlington was Young Player of the Year last season but has certainly not suffered from any second-year blues. Her 18 wickets, including the Player of the Match performance in the semi-final, have come at 13.61 and an economy rate of 6.44. Despite still being so early in her career, she is an expert at the death with her yorkers. “It’s a nice strength to have, I do go to that ball a lot and it’s one that’s a wicket-taking delivery,” she said. “That’s the key, trying to get batters out and not being too defensive.”

Likely XIs

Melbourne Stars: 1 Elyse Villani, 2 Meg Lanning (capt), 3 Mignon du Preez, 4 Nat Sciver, 5 Annabel Sutherland, 6 Katherine Brunt, 7 Alana King, 8 Erin Osborne, 9 Tess Flintoff, 10 Nicole Faltum (wk), Sophie DaySydney Thunder: 1 Tammy Beaumont, 2 Rachel Trenaman, 3 Heather Knight, 4 Rachael Haynes (capt), 5 Phoebe Litchfield, 6 Sammy-Jo Johnson, 7 Tahlia Wilson (wk), 8 Hannah Darlington, 9 Lauren Smith, 10 Shabnim Ismail, 11 Sam Bates

Pitch and conditions

The two semi-finals have not been especially high-scoring, but the ball came on better during the second match on Thursday. North Sydney Oval is renowned as a good batting surface although there has been some turn on offer. It is meant to be a hot day in Sydney leading into a warm evening.

Quotes

“We’ve shown our skills can match up with anyone in this competition. We are looking forward to tomorrow night and it’s anyone’s game. In a final, in a big match, you saw that pressure can make people do funny things.”
“It’s great that we’ve been able to have some success. The last couple of years for them hasn’t been as they would have liked, for now we’ve done a great job to get to where we are coming from bottom to first after the round games. We’ve done a good job so far, it’s been a lot of fun, but we certainly came here to win the tournament.”

ESPNcricinfo’s Live Report for Australia’s game against Pakistan in Taunton

Danyal Rasool12-Jun-2019

In Hamilton, the batsman showed that he had learnt to bat time and curb his natural stroke-making instincts

Mohammad Isam in Hamilton03-Mar-2019

That Soumya Sarkar’s first instinct when he walked out to the bat in the second innings of the Hamilton Test against New Zealand was survival suggests that Bangladesh’s dire situation must have affected him quite seriously.In his short international career so far, Soumya has built a reputation of being someone who doesn’t put a big enough price on his wicket. There have also been times when his premature dismissals, particularly after making a flashy start, has put his team in trouble. But with his side 371 short of avoiding an innings defeat – they still went down by an innings and 52 runs – when he walked in on the third evening, Soumya said he felt that it far was more important to be at the crease.The 149 he scored was his maiden Test hundred, coming in his 13th Test, spread over four years. Only during their last home series against West Indies did Soumya, through runs in the ODIs, return to the Test side. But 31 runs in the four innings meant that he was ignored for the New Zealand Tests too, and it was only Shakib Al Hasan’s injury that caused the selectors to ask him to stay back after the ODIs, which ended on February 20.Perhaps with this performance, which came at a time when his side desperately needed him to bat for a long period, Soumya can set himself an example: that he can bat in a different way.There were long phases during the 149 when he had to shed his natural instincts and invent ways to at least touch the ball, which was mostly fired at him at chest, throat or head level. The moment he whip-pulled Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson posted the fine-leg fielder very fine. Then came the very fine third-man, and thus followed more attempts to stop him from scoring those boundaries.Williamson moving around his fielders was exactly what Soumya and Mahmudullah had wanted throughout the fourth morning as they ducked and weaved around Wagner’s bouncer barrage. Once they had weathered the storm, both batsmen strode into their drives and flicks more confidently, and it was evident when Soumya launched Todd Astle for a straight six to move into the nineties.Trent Boult gives vent to his emotions after dismissing Soumya Sarkar•Getty Images

“Today my aim was to survive in the wicket in that particular situation,” Soumya said. “If I had hurried against this type of bowling, I think it would have negatively impacted me and the team. I tried to adjust to the pitch and their type of bowling. Once I was set, I tried to play on merit (of the ball). We were behind by a lot of runs with two days left, so all of these things were in my mind. It was good to have Riyad alongside, as we slowly progressed.”I realised that if I only [tried to] survive in the middle, a good ball may take my wicket, and I wouldn’t have scored runs. I decided that I should at least be a little aggressive, even if it is not every ball, so that they, at least, think of changing their plans.”Soumya said that it was the first time that a bowling attack had attacked him in this manner, targeting his head and torso for hours, and setting catchers mostly on the leg-side to take anything that might pop up.”I don’t think I have batted against this type of a bowling plan, when the ball is bouncing so much from back of a length. I have never batted against these field set-ups too,” he said with a laugh. I never expected someone can set such a field. I decided to play the short ball behind, by using the bounce and the pace, rather than playing in front.”Soumya rued not batting for longer than the four hours and 15 minutes he lasted in the middle, his innings ending when Trent Boult burst one through his attempt to work the ball through midwicket.”I think if I could have batted longer, they may have had to bat again. I am sure Riyad would have continued to bat similarly if I was around for longer. But still, the first Test hundred is also special,” he said. “When I got the chance in this Test series, I thought about my first ODI fifty, which was also in Hamilton.”Soumya is regarded as one of the most talented batsmen in Bangladesh but since his first season, when he impressed during the 2015 World Cup and the three ODI series thereafter against Pakistan, India and South Africa, he has had a lean period, marked by inconsistency, resulting in him being dropped from the Test and ODI sides.There have been many false dawns from Soumya, but if he bats consistently over the coming weeks in Wellington and Christchurch in the next two Tests, the Bangladesh fans can finally believe there is a lot that Soumya can offer. And there is good news on that front: “When I work hard and have the mentality to stay in the wicket, I think it is possible to get results,” he said.

Mohammad Amir picked up a five-wicket haul for SSGC, while Iftikhar Ahmed scored more in one innings for SNGPL than Lahore Blues managed in either of theirs

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Nov-2018

Lahore Blues outgunned by SNGPLIt doesn’t say much about a team that loses by an innings to a side that only managed 258, but such was Lahore Blues’ performance in this crunch Super Eight match. It was a nine-wicket match haul by Imran Khalid that beset Lahore most, playing a large part in ensuring they were bowled out for 122 and 108 either side of SNGPL’s innings. Iftikhar Ahmed was primarily responsible for getting SNGPL to 258, scoring 125, a number the entire Lahore side failed to manage in either of their innings. It leaves Lahore at the bottom of the table after two losses from two, while a perfect record for SNGPL sees them take top spot.Zahid Mansoor spins WAPDA to innings winKhan Research Laboratories met a similarly ignominious fate, unable to total up to the 296 WAPDA scored in their one innings. KRL stumbled to 12 for 5 in the first innings, setting the tone for the match. Their 110 was answered by 296 from WAPDA thanks to a number of middle-order contributions, notably half-centuries from Abubakar Khan and Kamran Akmal. The 186-run lead they established was too much to overhaul for KRL, with Zahid Mansoortaking another four wickets to go with his four in the first innings, while Waqas Maqsood, recently called up to the Pakistan T20I side, took another three as KRL were wrapped up for 162.Heavyweights SSGC, HBL play out stalemateTwo of the heavyweights on the domestic circuit, SSGC and HBL, couldn’t be separated over four days, a grinding battle ending with the points shared. After Aamer Yamin’s 80 had taken SSGC to 211, after Khurram Shehzad had wiped out five of the top six, HBL responded with 274, with eight of the top nine getting into double figures. Zohaib Khan scored 65 as captain Imran Farhat chipped in with 44, while the national selectors will have been pleased to see Mohammad Amir take a five-wicket haul.In the second innings, SSGC were far more impressive, declaring at 380 for five, with Fawad Alam the top-scorer, unbeaten on 85. The target of 318 was never on for HBL, but they were able to avoid being bowled out, batting nearly 90 overs, with Farhat scoring 77, before the two sides shook hands with four HBL players till undismissed.

India offspinner Harbhajan Singh has slammed the MSK Prasad-led selection committee’s decision to drop Karun Nair.On Saturday, Nair was dropped from India’s Test squad for the home series against West Indies. He was left out after spending all five Tests on the England tour on the bench.”This is a mystery that needs to be solved,” Harbhajan, who worked as television commentator on the England tour, told PTI. “How can a person sitting on the bench for three months become so bad that he is not good enough to remain in the squad? Trust me, I am at pains to understand the thinking of this selection committee and the parameters that they are using for selecting national squads.”Nair made his Test debut in 2016 series against England, in which made an unbeaten 303 in the third Test in Chennai. Since then, he has played only three home Tests, against Australia, and none since March 2017. Nair has had a high score of 26 in four innings in Test cricket since his triple-century.Getty Images

After the Australia series, Nair was dropped for the home and away series against Sri Lanka and for the Tests in South Africa. He was named for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, but did not make the playing XI. In July, he travelled with India A to England, where he made two fifties in six first-class innings against England Lions and West Indies A, with a top score of 93.To compound the confusion over Nair’s role in the squad, he was overlooked for the final Test against England this summer even when reinforcements were required; India handed a debut to Andhra batsman Hanuma Vihari, who was not a part of the original squad, at The Oval.”I find different set of rules for different players. There are some who are given a long rope to succeed while for select others they don’t even get one chance to fail. That is not fair,” Harbhajan said. “What if Hanuma Vihari fails in two Test matches against West Indies? Though I would never wish something like that for any player. I wish him [Vihari] all the very best.”But [if Vihari is not able to deliver] you will go back to Nair but will he be battle-ready with confidence for Australia tour [at the end of 2018]?”Harbhajan also questioned whether the team management and the selection committee were on the same page. “If team management did not play Karun for five Tests, then it means that he couldn’t inspire confidence in them.”Well, my question is whether the selectors were able to convince the captain while naming Karun for England series? If not, did they seriously consider the name that team management had in mind. Hope all concerned with team selection undergo course correction before they decide on the [squad for the] Australia tour.”

The Dodgers can’t stop making deals.

Just days after signing two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell to a five-year, $182 million deal, the World Series champions handed out another big contract—this one to utility man Tommy Edman.

According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Edman’s deal with the Dodgers is another five-year agreement that will pay him $74 million, and includes a sixth-year team option.

They say the rich get richer, but this is getting ridiculous.

While Edman is far from the biggest superstar or biggest contract on the Los Angeles roster, his new deal is another clear statement from the team that they are making a run at dynasty status.

Acquired at the trade deadline from the St. Louis Cardinals, Edman quickly proved a pivotal part of the Dodgers lineup through the homestretch of the regular season and their run to the World Series.

After batting .407 with 11 RBIs in the team’s playoff series against the New York Mets, Edman was named NLCS MVP. He added another home run and a .294 average against the Yankees as the Dodgers took home a championship ring.