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Crystal Palace are now fully confident about signing a “sensational” player this month, with Oliver Glasner personally an admirer.

Palace eyeing new signings amid Glasner uncertainty

Glasner’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season, and Palace could have their work cut out trying to keep hold of their manager, with it recently being revealed he has been identified as Manchester United’s top target, following Ruben Amorim’s departure.

It is not certain the Austrian will move on, and he has now made it clear he expects negotiations over a new contract to ramp up soon, saying: “I think in the next weeks, we will intensify the talks.

“With Macclesfield, Friday again, we go up north, and then everyone gets three days off after Macclesfield and then we have to target four regular weeks and in those weeks we will intensify the talks and I expect to find a final decision.”

Backing the 51-year-old in the current transfer window could help convince him to extend his stay at Selhurst Park, and the Eagles’ business has been promising so far, securing the signing of Brennan Johnson from Tottenham Hotspur.

However, Crystal Palace aren’t done there, according to a report from Spain, which states they dream of signing Atletico Madrid’s Conor Gallagher, who could be available for just £26m this month, with the La Liga club open to a sale.

In fact, Palace are fully confident they will be able to get a deal done, as Gallagher will need to receive regular game time ahead of the World Cup in the summer, if he is to stand any chance of making Thomas Tuchel’s squad.

Man United and Tottenham Hotspur are also in the race for the Englishman, which could pose a problem, but Glasner will be hoping his side can win the race, as he believes the 25-year-old could be the ideal addition to the midfield.

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Posts ByDominic Lund "Sensational" Gallagher could excel at Selhurst Park

The central midfielder has, of course, already proven himself in the Premier League, and indeed at Crystal Palace, chipping in with eight goals and three assists as the Eagles recorded a 12th-place finish in the 2021-22 season.

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Hailed as “sensational” by reporter John Cross, the Epsom-born midfielder has continued to impress since moving to Spain, averaging 1.96 interceptions per 90 over the past year, which ranks him in the 96th percentile, compared to other midfielders.

With Gallagher already proven in the Premier League, and able to make an impact at both ends of the pitch, he could be a fantastic addition to Glasner’s squad, and £26m would be a very reasonable fee.

However, Palace fans will be hoping the former Chelsea man’s potential arrival doesn’t lead to the departure of Adam Wharton, with Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool now among the suitors for the central midfielder…

Everton have now reportedly set their sights on a late hijack to sign a Premier League star, who’s set to make a decision about his future in the next 48 hours.

Moyes issues Nottingham Forest warning after Burnley stalemate

So far, whilst Everton haven’t been spectacular, they have been improved under David Moyes. The Toffees have shown signs of their best and could move into the top eight with victory over Nottingham Forest this evening, albeit only if results go their way across the rest of the gameweek.

To do so, however, they’ll have to be far more clinical than they were in a frustrating 0-0 draw against Burnley last time out and Moyes is certainly well aware of the threat that Forest pose despite their recent struggles.

Everton will at least be hoping to welcome Jack Grealish back from the sidelines after he missed the Burnley game. Without their star loanee and Iliman Nidaye, who is at AFCON with Senegal, the Toffees struggled on the creative front last time out.

It’s been a consistent problem throughout their campaign when a select few stars haven’t taken responsibility for what is a blunt frontline. And it should be at the top of their priorities to solve that problem in the January transfer window.

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To that end, the rumours are already coming thick and fast. The likes of Hayden Hackney have already emerged as a reported target, as is the case for Brennan Johnson.

Everton eyeing late hijack to sign Johnson

According to Ben Jacobs, Everton are eyeing a late hijack to sign Johnson from Tottenham Hotspur, despite reports claiming that Crystal Palace have already agreed a £35m deal to sign the winger.

It’s now down to the Welshman where he plays his football from next month onwards and he’s reportedly set to make his decision in the next 48 hours whilst Everton wait in the wings.

Although £35m is certainly not cheap for a player who’s not been at his best this season, it’s worth remembering who Johnson is when in form.

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The 24-year-old scored 18 goals, whilst also creating a further seven in all competitions last season and would undoubtedly complete Everton’s frontline.

From Tottenham struggles, Johnson could thrive alongside the likes of Ndiaye, Grealish and Thierno Barry, who is beginning to show signs of his best in Merseyside.

Beating Palace to the deal would be some achievement at this stage, but it seems as though it will all come down to Johnson’s decision.

Maharashtra picked up the four remaining wickets early on the fourth day to beat Assam by an innings and 52 runs in Chennai. Their second successive win brought them storming back into contention for a berth in the quarter-finals. Assam, resuming on 115 for 6, needed to wipe out a deficit of 171 more. KB Arun Karthik and Swarupam Purkayastha added 83, before left-arm spinner Satyajeet Bacchav sent back Purkayastha for 69. Two overs later, Mohsin Sayyad dismissed Abu Nechim Ahmed for a duck.Anupam Sanklecha, who took eight wickets in the first innings, fittingly picked up the last wicket – his 12th in the match and 26th in two games – as Assam were all out for 234, with Karthik stranded on 87. Earlier in the match, tons from Kedar Jadhav and Chirag Khurana took Maharashtra to 542 before Sanklecha ran through Assam’s batting. His eight wickets in Assam’s first innings, gave them a 286 run lead.Delhi survived a final day collapse before they reached 153 to beat Rajasthan by two wickets in Wayanad. They started the day on 51 for 3, needing 102 runs more to win. But overnight batsman Vikas Tokas was bowled by Pankaj Singh ten runs later, before Shikhar Dhawan, on a comeback trail after recovering from a broken finger, was out on 49.Delhi were at 76 for 5 at this stage, still needing another 77. But Nitish Rana (31), added 24 runs with Milind Kumar and another 37 with Sumit Narwal, before being run out. Narwal then batted with the tail to take Delhi to victory. He remained unbeaten on 27. Rajasthan’s Amitkumar Gautam, playing his second first-class match, was adjudged Player of the Match. He scored 106 in the first innings to notch up his maiden first-class ton.CM Gautam (95) and Shreyas Gopal (77) helped Karnataka stave off defeat and walk away with one point against Odisha in New Delhi. Karnataka were 81 ahead with four wickets in hand when play began. They drove ahead to 393, with he last four wickets contributing 162. K Gowtham, the offspinner, made 46 of those at No. 9. Set a target of 231 in 32 overs, Odisha’s openers batted cautiously to end on 63 without loss and walk away with the first-innings honours. This was the first time this season that Karnataka conceded a lead. However, they continued to top the group.Vidarbha recorded their first win of the season by beating Saurashtra by eight wickets at the Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi. Akshay Wakhare and Mohammad Shaikh picked up seven wickets between them as Saurashtra, who conceded a 46-run lead, were bowled out for 189, with opener Snell Patel top scoring with 63. Vidarbha lost Faiz Fazal early in chase of 144, but were driven by half-centuries from Sanjay Ramaswamy and Ganesh Satish as they completed the chase in 35 overs. The loss meant Saurashtra were rooted to the bottom of the group.

	Nearly two years after his debut, Stuart Clark tasted his first Test defeat © Getty Images

A hurt Stuart Clark believes the Australians will usethe pain of defeat as a spur for the series-decidingTest in Adelaide on Thursday. Clark experienced hisfirst loss in whites with the national team in Perthon Saturday, which ended the winning run at 16.After the game the players spoke about the streak anda few of them got together over a beer to discuss theonly time they had worn the baggy green and notexperienced success. “This loss hurts as much as anyother loss,” Clark said. “It would have been a nicerecord, but losing is losing. It doesn’t matter how orwhere, whether it’s a one-dayer, a Twenty20 or a Test,it’s not a great feeling, and it drives a lot of us.”Clark had a fine match, picking up six wickets,including 4 for 61 in the second innings, and strikingan entertaining 32 as Australia fought to the finish.While Clark performed strongly, there were seriousconcerns over Shaun Tait’s inability to fire in thepace quartet.Tait, who was playing his third Test, delivered only21 overs for the game and did not capture a wicket.Brad Hogg is likely to return in Adelaide as Australiause a more traditional attack of three fast bowlersand a spinner.”Shaun hasn’t had much bowling,” Clark said. “He’s hada little bit in the one-dayers and Twenty20 and thereis a difference for Tests. He didn’t have the bestgame of his life, but he’s a quality player.”On the first day Tait started operating above 150kph,but his accuracy became an issue in subsequent spellsand his desire for a long bowl in the second inningswas ended by Australia’s slow over-rate. DespiteTait’s problems, Ricky Ponting was not overlyconcerned.”It’s pretty hard for someone coming in who has notplayed a Test for a while, trying to impress and dothe right thing,” he said. “He bowled 20 overs andprobably didn’t get the bowling right. The conditionscaught us off guard and the pace in the pitch wasn’tthere. Shaun’s pace through the game levelled out at145kph and above, that’s pretty good.”Clark and Brett Lee were impressive during the matchand Mitchell Johnson provided capable support, but thehome team was out-bowled by India’s swing men, whoupset Australia’s batting rhythm and exposed theirproblems when the ball moves around. Aiming for seammovement is more of an Australian trait than weavingit through the air, although they have been trying toimprove their methods since 2005.”It’s something we’ve worked on with [the bowlingcoach] Troy Cooley,” Clark said. “It’s important forsome places and one of the things to do to make usbetter cricketers.”Adelaide is a ground where reverse-swing is morelikely – Tait is particularly dangerous there in PuraCup games – and the pitch also helps the spinners,giving India a chance to level the series. “LikeMelbourne and Sydney, I suppose the conditions willsuit them,” Clark, who has complained previously aboutsurfaces not helping the home team, said. “Hopefullywe can play well and put them back on the back foot.”

Andrew Symonds is on target for Australia’s group match against South Africa and could return even earlier © Getty Images

Andrew Symonds could return from his biceps injury even sooner than anticipated, with Australia revealing they might play him against Netherlands on March 18. That is nearly a week before the South Africa group match that was his original priority.Alex Kountouris, Australia’s physiotherapist, said Symonds’ rehabilitation was going so well there was a slight chance he could be ready ahead of schedule. “It’s unlikely but I won’t rule it out,” Kountouris told the .”The 24th [for the South Africa game] was what we were roughly looking at. If he happens to get ahead of time, we won’t discount that. He is making good progress. He is meeting all the rehab goals we have set, so he is on target to what we expected. We haven’t had any setbacks.”Symonds, who had surgery on his ruptured right biceps on February 4, continued his recovery with his first catching practice at St Vincent before Australia’s warm-up win over England. The previous day he faced genuine spin bowling for the first time since the operation.Kountouris said Symonds was keen to keep pushing himself harder but his biggest challenge would be when he started more strenuous activities. “The plan next week is to do the more dangerous things for him, which is throwing, bowling and more aggressive batting,” Kountouris said.Should Symonds make a surprise appearance against Netherlands, it would be exactly six weeks since his surgery. Some sports physicians said at the time six weeks was the minimum recovery he would need, although it was more likely to be a three-month injury.

Faisalabad Wolves stormed into the semi-finals of the Twenty20 Cup thrashing Rawalpindi Rams by 10 wickets. Imran Khalid cleaned up the Rawalpindi lower order picking up 4 for 21, bundling them out for a poor total of 105. The Wolves, led by Mohammad Hafeez, who scored 66 off just 33 balls, needed just nine overs to overhaul the target. Khalid also picked up the Man-of-the-Match award for his spell.Qaiser Abbas and Mohammad Asif propelled the Sialkot Stallions to the semi-finals as they continued their unbeaten run in the tournament, beating Multan Tigers by 66 runs. The Stallions justified their decision to bat first, piling up 189 for the loss of three wickets with Abbas remaining undefeated on 75. Asif continued his rich vein of form from the previous game, picking up four wickets and stifling the batsmen with his accuracy, conceding only 14 from his four overs. Bilal Khilji (46) lacked support from the rest as the Tigers were bundled out for 123. The Stallions will meet the Karachi Dolphins in the semi-final.Ashraf Ali led the Karachi Zebras to a three-wicket win over Lahore Eagles with an unbeaten 52. Choosing to bat first, the Eagles were dismissed for 150 in 19.5 overs. Imran Farhat, fresh from his century on Wednesday, managed 35 with two sixes and four fours. Kamran Sajid top-scored with 40 but the total of 150 was well short of what they would have expected. The Zebras were in trouble at 7 for 98 but Ashraf and Rizwan Saeed (32*) kept their cool and guided their team through.

Shaun Pollock will be the key to South Africa’s success in the Caribbean© Getty Images

Ray Jennings, the South Africa coach, is looking to inflict a 4-0 whitewash on the West Indies when the first Test begins on March 31 in Guyana. South Africa, who arrive this week in the Caribbean, were likely to face a West Indies side minus their leading players, including Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle, after the sponsorship dispute failed to reach a resolution.”With or without their best players I want to come back with wins in the Tests and ODIs,” Jennings, who is looking for a long term position as coach, told Reuters. “It’s the most crucial series of my career. I’m looking for a whitewash.”West Indies selectors omitted the leading players from the side due to their personal endorsement contracts with Cable and Wireless, a rival of the current team sponsor Digicel. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was named the captain after Brian Lara gave a non-committal response to an invitation sent by the West Indies Cricket Board asking him to join the team.However, South Africa was hoping that the matter was resolved before the team arrived later this week. “I’m sure they’ll work something out before the first Test,” said Shaun Pollock to . “The missing guys form the core of their side and it would be silly if they missed out. From a personal point of view, I would be disappointed if we didn’t play against their strongest team.””People need to understand that the West Indies are unique in that, strictly speaking, they’re not playing for their country; they’re playing for a collective entity made up of different independent islands,” said Pollock, who also led the side during the 2001 tour of the West Indies when they won the Test series 2-1 and the ODI series 5-2. “That makes a big difference to their outlook and can lead to complications.”Pollock, who has not yet recovered from his ankle injury, said that he could miss the first two Tests if his injury persisted. “It’s still niggling me. I can run okay, although there’s a little bit of pain, but it’s slamming the left foot down that is the problem. It’s basically a wear and tear injury that’s been equated to patella tendonitis [tennis elbow] that’s difficult to get rid of unless you rest it.”South Africa enjoys an overall impressive record against the West Indies. In the 15 Tests played between these teams, South Africa have won 10 and lost only two.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to pay tribute to their former Test captain Wasim Bari by awarding the first one-day international between Pakistan and South Africa as his benefit match."Wasim Bari is being honoured for his meritorious services to the game of cricket and the country," said the PCB’s chief executive Rameez Raja. "He has been and is still one of the greatest ambassadors of the country. A certain percentage of the income from the proceeds will be awarded to Wasim as his benefit."Wasim had originally been allocated a match on October 26, but this had to be rearranged after South Africa’s security fears ahead of the tour. Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, the PCB chairman, is expected to present him a memento in recognition of his services to Pakistan cricket."I grateful to the PCB Chairman for making the match as my benefit," said Wasim, who also served as chairman of selectors between 2000 and 2003.

Controversial United Cricket Board president Percy Sonn is on his own in believing that banned former captain Hansie Cronje should be allowed back into cricket at this stage.Sonn has been widely quoted as saying that there should still be a place in South African cricket for Cronje, who was banned for life last year for his part in the match-fixing scandal."Who are we to damn people forever?” said Sonn on Australia radio this week. “Our board is not god in terms of determining what rehabilitation is sufficient. Hansie deserves to enjoy all the freedom of South African society. He is a child of the United Cricket Board."Sonn’s comments have taken South African administrators, not to mention the International Cricket Council aback. The president was at the forefront of moves to have Cronje banned in the first place, at one point saying that the disgraced cricket "should not even be allowed to play beach cricket".UCB vice-president Robbie Kurz said on Friday that he believed Sonn was speaking in his personal capacity."It’s not really my place to comment on matters such as these," said Kurz, "but UCB policy has always been that Cronje should be banned until such time as he has shown he has rehabilitated himself. This policy has not changed and I don’t believe the time is right yet for the ban to be lifted."Department of Sport spokesman Graham Abrahams told PA International: ""I don’tthink it would be a good idea at this moment to bring him back into thegame."In fact, it would be a mistake and the UCB should think twice about it."He has made no gestures to the UCB, and it would be more appropriate forhimto approach the UCB in an amicable fashion rather than for the UCB to go tohim."Sonn’s motives for this about turn have been questioned in the aftermath of the controversy provoked when he vetoed the South African team for the third Test and had Jacques Rudolph replaced by Justin Ontong.Sonn’s actions and opinions this week have been privately questioned in some UCB circles and are likely to be the subject of intense deiscussion the UCB executive committee meets later this month.UCB chief executive Gerald Majola will fly to Australia early next week in an attempt to put out some of the fires raging since Sonn vetoed the Test team. At the very least he is expected to reassure Shaun Pollock’s side that they still have the full backing of the UCB, a point that has been questioned over the past few days.

Air India completed a 70-run victory against North Zone in theCricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy for women (50 overs) at the CentralPolytechnic ground in Chennai on Sunday. North suffered a doublesetback with their captain, Richa Dubey, sent to hospital with aligament tear in her knee, which might put her out of the rest of thetournament.Set to score 196, North Zone made a sedate start with openers Gulshanand Jaya Sharma adding only 19 runs before Gulshan, looking tentativewas caught in the slips off the bowling of Smita for 11 of 28balls. Air India’s Smita and Kusumlatha pegged North Zone further onthe back foot with some good bowling especially by the former who keptpegging away at the batswoman’s off stump but failed to find the edge.The 14th over saw the off spinner Seema Pujari replacing Kusumlathaand she immediately struck a good line and length. After Richa hadtwisted her knee in the field, the 15th over witnessed the secondcasuality of the day when Mamta Maben dislocated her shoulder tryingto dive and field the ball at mid wicket. Immediately after theincident, Jaya Sharma (13 runs off 41 balls) was stumped off thebowling of Seema Pujari with only 39 on the board. The start of the22nd over saw Seema grass a second caught and bowled chance, but sheimmediately struck back in three balls, having M Raji caught at midwicket,trying to get on with the scoring.In the same over Seema again picked up a wicket with the last ball.Beating the batswomen through the air she bowled Reema Malhotrawithout troubling the scorers. The match shifted well and truly infavour of Air India as a reault of that single over. Seema went on tocontain the newcomers Gurdeep Kaur and Seema Wadwa and in an eightover spell she gave away only 15 runs.The North Zone innings lay inshambles and even a valiant effort of 40 runs by B Rajini could notcome to their rescue as she quickly ran out of partners. The next fivewickets fell with only 65 more runs being added to the total.Earlier put into bat, Air India openers Anju Jain and Anjum Chopramade an earnest start adding 87 runs in 23.2 overs. Both Anju Jain andAnjum Chopra mixed caution with agression as they picked easy singlesand never failed to despatch the loose balls to the boundary.The session after the first drinks saw the first bowling change withoff spinner Anjuman Bassi replacing Asha Jain in the 20thover. Anjuman struck immediately in her second over when she had AnjumChopra (38 runs of 71 balls) caught behind at the score of 87 in the24th over of the match. Then Mithali Raj joined Anju Jain who wasgrowing in confidence with every over.In the ensuing overs, Anju and Mithali played the North Zone bowlingwith aplomb as they churned Anjuman Bassi and leg spinner RimaMalhotra for some easy pickings. And in the course of the partnership,Anju Jain reached a sedate half century after facing 80 balls.The end of the 35th over saw Air India at 139 for the loss of onlyAnjum. But the drinks break saw the luck changing in North Zone’sfavour as Anju Jain was dismissed immediately, stumped of the bowlingof Anjuman Bassi, adding one more to the total. This brought captainPurnima Rau to the crease but some disciplined bowling from ReemaMalhotra saw her early exit after scoring only eight runs in 19balls. The introduction of Reecha Dubey (5/24 in six overs) proved tobe a big boon as she managed to pick up Mithali Raj (40 runs of 82balls). She then sent back Smitha (1), Kusumlatha (5) and Sunaina fora duck. Air India thus failed to capitalise on the good start andmanaged to put up only 195 for eight wickets on the board.