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Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s future is still up in the air, but that won’t prevent Everton from signing a new striker this summer.

After an impressive start to life at the helm, David Moyes is looking for ways to take the Toffees to the next level. It’s like he never left.

Backed by The Friedkin Group, Moyes means business. However, his efforts to sign Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap appear to have been thwarted, the English striker opting to sign for Chelsea.

He’s not the only talented forward on the market, though, and Everton may yet secure a thrilling addition.

Everton could sign Delap alternative

As reported earlier this week by German outlet BILD, Everton are among the clubs to have registered their interest in Stuttgart striker Nick Woltemade this month, though the DFB-Pokal champions are hoping to tie the 23-year-old down to a new deal.

Arsenal and Atletico Madrid are among the other contenders, so it won’t be easy for The Toffees, but Moyes will hope to convince the German that he would be making a prudent move by joining the ranks at Bramley Moore.

Stuttgart have placed a loose valuation on their towering talisman, but they could be seeking as much as €50m (£42m), should the competition remain thick over the coming weeks.

Why Everton should sign Nick Woltemade

With Delap a no-go, Everton would strike gold in signing Woltemade, with his distinctive, rounded style of play leading data-driven site FBref to record Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak as one of his most comparable players, among those in his postition across Europe’s top five leagues.

Woltemade scored 17 goals across 33 matches in all competitions this season, including every round of Stuttgart’s triumphant DFB-Pokal campaign, and has been hailed for his “sensational” finishing ability by reporter Bruno Alemany.

That 17-goal return surpasses Delap’s, the Ipswich man bagging 12 from 37 matches in the Premier League, but it’s his complete skill set which suggests Moyes should do everything he can to complete a deal.

Harking back to FBref, Woltemade is recorded to have ranked among the top 3% of centre-forwards across Europe’s top-five leagues over the past year for shot-creating actions, the top 11% for passes attempted, the top 13% for progressive passes and the top 4% for successful take-ons per 90.

He’s the full package, all 6 foot 6 of him. It’s definitely a peculiar profile, with Woltemade a clinical finisher, progressive passer and creative outlet, with neat footwork and clever movements.

This does bear a similarity to Isak, who has been hailed as “the complete striker” by Newcastle legend Alan Shearer.

Matches (starts)

34 (34)

28 (17)

Goals

23

12

Assists

6

2

Shots (on target)*

2.9 (1.4)

1.8 (0.9)

Big chances missed

18

11

Accurate passes*

14.9 (77%)

12.3 (72%)

Big chances created

11

8

Key passes*

1.1

1.3

Dribbles*

1.2

1.1

Duels won*

2.8

4.4

The Sweden striker scored 27 goals from 42 appearances this season, but he also dazzled with his silky running and nimble shimmies from left to right, left to right.

He’s of course operating at a higher level than Woltemade, but the template is there and Everton could offer the grounded pathway to achieve his goals.

The problem, as ever, is that Woltemade is a talented striker with a good track record, and thus bagging him will be no easy feat. But if Everton can sign such a unique profile, physical and imposing and technical and dynamic, it could revolutionise the club’s frontline.

With similarities to Newcastle’s Isak, throwing the kitchen sink at a deal is surely a no-brainer.

Moyes' own Richarlison: Everton to make huge offer for "sensational" CF

Everton could be about to land a star who could follow in Richarlison’s footsteps on Merseyside.

ByEthan Lamb May 29, 2025

Birmingham City are now keen on signing a £15k-per-week Premier League player to fuel next season’s promotion charge, according to a report.

Blues eyeing back-to-back promotions

Birmingham were always expected to return to the Championship this season, but they managed to do so in emphatic fashion, sealing the League One title by amassing 111 points, which is a new EFL record.

However, the third-tier title triumph is just the first step of the journey under the helm of chairman Tom Wagner, who has made it clear the Blues will not be resting on their laurels in the summer transfer window, saying: “We won’t rest until we’re at the very, very top – that’s the objective,”

“I can assure you that this summer we will be working harder than we did last summer.”

Wagner means business: Sky journalist drops exciting Birmingham transfer plan

The Blues are not messing around…

ByTom Cunningham May 1, 2025

Jay Stansfield finished the season with 19 League One goals, but there are signs that a striker with more experience at Championship level could be brought in this summer, with Torino’s Che Adams believed to be of interest.

Not only that, but Birmingham are also looking to bolster their options at the opposite end of the pitch, with a report from EFL Analysis revealing they are now plotting a move for AFC Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Travers.

The Blues are looking to assemble a squad capable of winning another promotion next season, and Travers is on their wishlist, with the goalkeeper unlikely to remain at the Vitality Stadium beyond the end of the season.

The 25-year-old joined Middlesbrough on loan in the January transfer window, where he seemingly caught the eye, with a number of other unnamed clubs said to be queuing up for his signature.

"Brilliant" Travers could be coup for Birmingham

The 6 foot 3 colossus has impressed Michael Carrick during his time at the Riverside Stadium, with reporter Craig Johms describing him as the “big positive” from Boro’s January transfer window.

Having impressed for a play-off-chasing Championship side in the second half of the campaign, there are clear signs the £15k-a-week goalkeeper could fit the bill for Birmingham, given that they have aspirations of a Premier League return.

Scott Parker was left impressed by the Irishman’s performances for Bournemouth in their promotion-winning 2021-22 campaign, saying: “It’s a sign of a top ‘keeper that in big moments makes big saves.

“Saves you think ‘wow he should not have saved that, he’s kept us in the game there’. Over the past three or four months, Travs is coming into the realms of making big saves at big moments and Saturday was a massive save. That’s not just Saturday. That’s happened over the course of it.

“I’m very pleased with Travs, he’s done brilliant, he’s developed brilliantly.”

Having also impressed at Premier League level prior to joining Middlesbrough on loan, Travers is exactly the calibre of player Birmingham need to sign to fuel their promotion push, and there is every indication he could be Chris Davies’ first-choice keeper on a long-term basis.

It is right back to business for Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou after their heroics in the Europa League on Thursday, with Champions League qualification chasers Nottingham Forest awaiting them on Easter Monday as Nuno Espírito Santo looks to upset his former club.

Tottenham enter first Europa League semi-final since 1984

Spurs edged past Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals, courtesy of Dominic Solanke’s vital spot-kick, and Postecoglou’s side were forced to display some last-gasp pieces of defending to keep hold of their precious advantage on hostile away turf.

Tottenham: £50m star wanted by Man City is now thinking about joining Spurs

He’s privately considering a north London switch.

1 ByEmilio Galantini Apr 19, 2025

Bodies were on the line over a dogged, mature display which we’ve scarcely witnessed at Spurs all season long, and Postecoglou was thrilled by the effort from his players, as Tottenham set up their first Europa semi-final since 1984.

“They’ve been so united in believing in what we’re trying to achieve here and that is what gave me heart all along that if we got our own slice of luck in terms of getting some players back that I really believed this team could achieve,” said Postecoglou on Spurs’ win over Eintracht.

Nottingham Forest (home)

April 21st

Liverpool (away)

April 27th

West Ham (away)

May 3rd

Crystal Palace (home)

May 10th

Aston Villa (away)

May 18th

“That is what keeps driving me. It isn’t so much my belief in them, it’s their belief in what we’re doing and both players and staff have been outstanding. I am the front man for it but they take responsibility for it as well and all my decisions and everything I do, but not at any stage have I felt they lost any belief in me or what we’re doing.”

Postecoglou has been repeatedly tipped for the Tottenham axe following a dismal Premier League season, having already lost 17 top-flight matches, but their Europa League campaign represents a golden opportunity for the Lilywhites to make history and fulfill the Australian’s goal of winning silverware during his second term in charge.

All eyes are on the next round, where they will face off against fairy-tale semi-finalists Bodo/Glimt, but they must first take on both Forest and travel to Anfield for a clash against Liverpool.

Tottenham could be without James Maddison against Nottingham Forest

As Spurs prepare to host the former at home, Postecoglou has shared a pre-match update on star £170,000-per-week midfielder James Maddison.

Maddison was forced off against Eintracht after his nasty collision with goalkeeper Kaua Santos, which resulted in the away side being awarded Solanke’s decisive penalty.

The Englishman ultimately playing a crucial role in helping Tottenham to the semis, but as a result, Postecoglou has now confirmed that Maddison is a Tottenham injury doubt for Forest.

“It’s fair to say he’ll probably be a bit sore, so he’s probably a doubt for Monday,” said Postecoglou on Maddison’s condition.

“The rest of the group, again, they all worked hard, so they’ll be sore, but they should all be okay for Monday night. Sonny will still be out. He’s been dealing with a foot problem for a while, so now is as good a time as any to give him the right time to to get over it. He’ll definitely miss Monday. Everyone else should be okay.”

The 28-year-old has bagged 10 goals and 11 assists throughout all competitions, and he’ll likely be a sore miss against Forest, but with nothing to play for domestically, it is far more imperative that he’s fresh and ready for their European tie.

The pick of the stats from an enthralling second Test between England and West Indies at Trent Bridge

Sampath Bandarupalli21-Jul-20241 England registered their first-ever instance of 400-plus totals in both innings of a Test match with 416 and 425 at Trent Bridge. There had been 11 previous instances of a team posting 400-plus totals in both innings of a Test match, with India’s effort against England in Rajkot in February this year being the recent most.2 Number of Test totals by West Indies, higher than their 457 on the losing side. West Indies made 526 for 7 against England in 1968 at Port of Spain, which they lost by seven wickets following an aggressive second-innings declaration. They were bowled out for 463 against India in Kolkata in 2011 while following on with a first-innings deficit of 478 runs.1441 Runs aggregated by England and West Indies at Trent Bridge are the third-most for a Test match since 1980, where all 40 wickets fell. The 2015 Lord’s Test between England and New Zealand saw 1610 runs, while there were 1553 made between England and Pakistan in the 2006 Leeds Test.10 Number of Test matches with three 400-plus totals, including the Trent Bridge Test. The last of the previous nine was the 2009 Ahmedabad Test between India and Sri Lanka.20y 279d Shoaib Bashir’s age coming into the second Test. He is now the youngest England man to bag a five-wicket haul in a home Test. James Anderson, who retired last week, was the previous youngest, at 20 years and 296 days old, going into his Test debut in 2003 against Zimbabwe, where he took a five-fer in the first innings.3 Number of five-plus wicket hauls for Bashir in the five Test matches he played, all at the age of 20. There have been only three Test five-fers in total by other England players under the age of 21 – one each by Bill Voce, Anderson and Rehan Ahmed.2013 The last instance of West Indies getting bowled in a session before Sunday was against New Zealand in December 2013. West Indies were bowled out for 103 in 31.5 overs in the post-tea session on the third day in Hamilton.In contrast, the 457 all-out in the first innings by the West Indies was their first 450-plus total in Tests since September 2014.241 West Indies’ losing margin at Trent Bridge is the second-highest in terms of runs despite a 400-plus total in the match. India lost to England by 247 runs in 1990 at Lord’s despite a 454-run first-innings total.There have also been 16 instances of a team losing by an innings margin despite a 400-plus total in the match.

The team’s top run-getter in T20Is talks about making her debut as a 13-year-old, and juggling a radiography course with cricket

Firdose Moonda14-Jul-2022If Irish cricket had a royal family, Gaby Lewis’ would be it. Her father and grandfather played first-class cricket for Ireland between the 1960s and 1990s, her older sister, Robyn, played alongside her at the 2016 T20 World Cup, and last month, at 21, Lewis became Ireland’s youngest captain. Born and raised in the game, it’s almost all she knows.”My first memory is being down at my club in YMCA in Sandymount,” Lewis says. “I don’t have any memories of my grandfather playing, but I definitely have memories of my dad. I even played a few games with him and batted with him. And my mom coached us for a bit. I was always down at the club, me and my sister. We were just born into it.”Ireland are currently hosting Australia and Pakistan for a tri-series, and last month they had South Africa over for three ODIs and three T20Is. Ireland won one match in that series – a ten-run victory in the opening T20I in Dublin, in which Lewis top-scored with 52 off 38 balls. In the process, she went past Clare Shillington to become Ireland’s leading run-getter in women’s T20Is. She’s also their only century-maker in the format.Even though she’s so young, Lewis has already played international cricket for nearly eight years now, making her Ireland debut as a 13-year-old, in a T20I against South Africa in 2014.Related

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“It’s always been like that,” she says. “You’re used to playing against people older than you. Back then, cricket was quite small, and everyone who played cricket knew everyone else. It didn’t seem strange because other younger players like Lucy O’Reilly [who also made her debut at 13], who I was quite close to, had gone through it as well. I just absolutely loved it.”Lewis started off in the middle order but two years later was promoted to open the batting with Shillington, her club team-mate. And before she made her ODI debut, in 2016, Lewis had already featured in a T20 World Cup, getting a taste of playing against teams with fully professional set-ups and greater match experience than Ireland had. “I remember that I wasn’t scared because I’d batted with Claire before and she made it quite easy,” she says.”World Cups are the best tournaments to play in,” Lewis said. “You’re playing against high-quality opposition. Being from Ireland, we play against teams with a mixture of abilities. We have Qualifiers where we play against the likes of the European teams and then you can go to World Cups and play against the likes of Australia – there’s a huge gap.”By the time Lewis played her second World Cup, the 2018 T20 event in West Indies, she realised that cricket was growing and a professional expansion was on the horizon for her.”We were playing against teams where you know their players have had a career, and that’s what I knew I wanted. I thought it was only a matter of time before it would filter through the countries.”Lewis became Ireland’s youngest captain, at 21, when she led them in place of regular captain Laura Delany last month against South Africa•George Tewkesbury/Getty ImagesIt took another four years before professionalisation came to Ireland. In March this year, seven women’s cricketers were given full-time contracts and nine more, including Lewis, who is a student, got part-time deals.”I am studying radiography full-time,” she says. “I think it’s very important to study as a cricketer. There’s only so many hours you can train, especially when you are on tour. It’s important to plan for that time after cricket, and if I can work one day a week while I am playing cricket, I think it’s very important. I got into the course through my school exams and it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. It’s hugely important, especially on tour, to have something to take my mind off cricket.”Being a student-sportsperson comes with its own challenges, as Lewis discovered when the Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe last November was called off after the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in southern Africa. While packing to return home, Lewis put her study notes in her suitcase, which was mislaid in transit.It took the team almost five days to get home, via Oman, and their belongings were only returned to them two weeks later. “Oh, the stress, the stress! I didn’t think that putting my notes in my suitcase would end up like that,” Lewis says. “It’s a lesson learnt. Always carry your notes in your hand luggage. But it turned out okay – I passed the exam.”Although Lewis started off in the game as an allrounder, in the last four years, she has put away her legspin to focus more on her batting, and has also worked on the mental side of her game.”Over the last few years, I struggled with my bowling and that started to creep into my batting, so I just decided to park it [bowling] for the time being. I went through quite a hard patch a year and a half ago and worked with a psychologist about sticking to my routines and processes and trusting the game.”Lewis: “I love playing for Ireland, and I love the girls that I play with. Once we execute our skills and stick to our plans, I have no doubt we can win games. It won’t happen quickly and that’s fine”•Sam Barnes/Getty ImagesIn September 2019, Lewis scored only 21 runs in four matches in a T20 World Cup Qualifier, which was the worst of her bad patch. Since then, she has averaged nearly 40 in T20Is, with three 50-plus scores, including the century, and 51.14 in ODIs with four fifties.”I don’t have specific bowlers that I fear or that I enjoy,” she says. “With us as a nation, you play a variety of standards, so it’s important to focus on what we do and not so much the opposition we play. I just focus on the ball that’s coming down and how to react as opposed to who’s bowling it.”She’s been rewarded for her form with contracts in two franchise leagues – the Hundred and the Fairbreak Invitational, which has broadened her cricketing experience and allowed her to rub shoulders with different players. Lewis was her country’s only representative in the Women’s Hundred last year and one of three Irish players at the Fairbreak event this May.”The Hundred was brilliant,” she said. “It’s a great format of the game for people who don’t really know that much about cricket, especially people who don’t really have such high concentration levels. It simplifies the game. And the crowds they got – they are very lucky with the timing of it being just after Covid – so people went after work and it’s got that kind of vibe.”The Fairbreak competition was really nice to have everyone come together from different parts of the world and play together. It was a great opportunity for players to bowl to world-class players and know what it takes to take their cricket to the next level.”Despite cricket’s increasing franchising, she doesn’t see either tournament as having the same pride of place as the international game, especially for someone who has Irish cricket in her blood.”I love playing for Ireland and I love the girls that I play with. I can see a place for both,” she said. “There’s a lot of belief in our group. Once we execute our skills and stick to our plans, I have no doubt we can win games. We know it takes time. It won’t happen quickly, it’s a slow process and that’s fine.”