Gerrard in Bahrain as Bajrami linked with exit
Steven Gerrard indicates he's in Bahrain, not Scotland, as he continues to be linked with a return to the Rangers manager's job. (Sun), externalReports in Albania suggest Rangers midfielder Nedim Bajrami, 26, could move on but left-back Jefte, 21, is reportedly happy at Ibrox. (Record), externalBajrami's departure is likely and he has two tabled offers. (Glasgow Times), externalRead Friday's Scottish gossip
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
13 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Newcastle in talks to sign Burnley's James Trafford
Newcastle United have begun direct negotiations with Burnley over the signing of goalkeeper James Trafford with the two clubs still at odds over the asking price. Telegraph Sport revealed last week that Trafford was Newcastle's preferred option as they look to sign a goalkeeper who will provide proper competition for Nick Pope, but they have been stuck in deadlock with Burnley over the size of the fee. There are also some fears internally they are being stalled in the hope that another club, possibly Chelsea, also enters the race to sign a player they have coveted for more than a year. Burnley value the 22-year-old at more than £30 million, but Newcastle, conscious of the fact they need to sign at least another centre back and a forward this summer, have been unwilling to match that so far. Talks remain ongoing but Newcastle have warned they will walk away from negotiations if Burnley refuse to lower the asking price. Trafford is one of the most highly rated young goalkeepers in Europe and almost signed for Newcastle last summer, only for the North East club to pull out of the deal because of PSR concerns. Trafford has since hinted he wanted to make the move and there is confidence at Newcastle the England international would still like to make the switch. However, the Newcastle hierarchy are still haunted by the memory of their long and public pursuit of Crystal Palace centre back Marc Guehi last year. Having spent weeks trying to reach a deal with Palace, they were forced to concede defeat when the asking price remained too high. Newcastle remain interested in the 24-year-old but face competition from Tottenham. There is also a feeling that the defender would like to keep his options open until later in the summer and could even decide to stay at Palace and leave on a lucrative free transfer in the summer of 2026. As a result, Newcastle do not want a repeat with Trafford and have also expressed an interest in Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier as an alternative option. The talks for Trafford have been complicated by the fact that Manchester City, who sold the 6ft 6in goalkeeper to Burnley in 2023, are entitled to a sell-on clause, thought to be 20 per cent. They also retain a buy-back option although they are not thought to be interested in rivalling Newcastle at this stage. Chelsea, though, could enter the bidding as they also admire the goalkeeper. Brighton's Joao Pedro is another priority target for Newcastle and there has been some encouragement that the Brazilian would like to make the move. But progress on the deal is also slow and, again, there is a gap between Newcastle's valuation of the player and the fee Brighton would ask for. Newcastle are also aware of the asking price for Nottingham Forest winger Anthony Elanga having spoken to intermediaries, but are yet to make a direct approach to his club. Manager Eddie Howe would like to sign both players, but has so far been frustrated in his attempts to make an early signing this summer.
The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Michael O'Neill: Northern Ireland feeling positive ahead of World Cup qualifiers
Michael O'Neill believes Northern Ireland should look to the World Cup qualifying campaign with optimism after their final friendly warm-up ended in a 1-0 win over Iceland, despite a red card for Brodie Spencer. Isaac Price fired O'Neill's side in front after 36 minutes and later made a key goal-line clearance as Northern Ireland won a match in which they finished with 10 men for the first time since the famous victory over Spain in 1982. It was perhaps not the match O'Neill had envisaged going into the night as Northern Ireland spent the vast majority of the final half-an-hour defending following Spencer's dismissal, but the win felt more significant given it came in the face of adversity. O'Neill will take the positives from that as he turns attention to September's qualifiers away to Luxembourg and Germany. 'We approach it in a good place and we approach it with optimism,' O'Neill said of the qualifying campaign. 'I think there's a belief in there that, yes, we will be able to go and take points at this level. We look forward to it.' O'Neill's squad remains both young and in large parts inexperienced. Twelve of the 25-man squad for Tuesday's game were 21 or under, and more than half remain in single figures for the number of caps they have. Having been drawn alongside Germany, Slovakia and Luxembourg in Group A, Northern Ireland's realistic target is second place and a play-off spot, but O'Neill's optimism extends well beyond the next six games. 'I know the team will continue to progress beyond the World Cup campaign,' he said. 'It's just natural that the team will continue to progress. The more they play international football, the better they'll get at it. 'That's all they need – they need more and more exposure, they need more minutes under their belts. Will the world Cup campaign come too soon for this group? I don't know. The proof will be in the games.' As had been expected ahead of the fixture, Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Denmark in Copenhagen showed where Northern Ireland need to improve out of possession. Spencer's red card turned Tuesday's friendly into a similar exercise for much of the second half. When asked what his main takeaways from the week were, O'Neill said: 'I think we're going to go into games where we're going to come under a lot of pressure, teams that will come and press us. 'We have to be better than what we've shown in both Copenhagen and then here in terms of how we deal with that. But the other side of our team is our ability to play on the counter-attack, our ability to run without the ball, our desire in our shape and structure. 'We've a lot of things, when we look at the two games, where we'll find a lot of positives. But we're always looking for it to get better. This is still very early in the progression of this team.'
BBC News
27 minutes ago
- BBC News
Blades sign young winger Ukaki on three-year deal
Sheffield United have signed Nigerian youngster Ehije Ukaki from Bulgarian club Botev Plovdiv on a three-year contract for an undisclosed commonly deployed as a winger, the 20-year-old follows in the footsteps of former team-mate Christian Nwachukwu in moving to Bramall season, Ukaki scored seven times in 37 appearances across all competitions for the Bulgarian top-flight notably netted the winning goal in the Plovdiv derby against rivals Lokomotiv in December."Ehije is a player who has been identified through our data driven strategy and is someone we're looking forward to developing," Blades boss Chris Wilder told the club website., external"He's an emerging talent, still only 20, who has enjoyed some experience of European football early in his career, so there's a base to work from."
