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Arsenal have now been in contact over the signing of an “incredible” Bayern Munich star, and a free transfer could be on the cards next summer.

Gunners set out to strengthen in January due to injury crisis

Mikel Arteta has made it clear he is looking to bring in new reinforcements during the January transfer window, given the injury crisis he’s been forced to deal with this season, saying: “The thing is, we’ve had more injuries than expected, some of them not avoidable, I would say, but we want to be better, and we know how important the part of having the right availability with players is going to play in the season.

“The window is there. We’re Arsenal and we have to be looking at it and saying ‘OK, what do we need?’ We have to be actively looking, and then can we do it or not? That’s a different story, but our job is to always be very prepared because something can happen.”

Indeed, the Gunners have struggled on the injury front, with Declan Rice even being forced to fill in at right-back in the recent 2-1 victory against Brighton & Hove Albion, given that Jurrien Timber was absent.

One position in which Arteta is well-stocked is central midfield, with Rice and Martin Zubimendi forming quite the partnership, but the north Londoners have now been in contact over a move for Bayern Munich star Leon Goretzka.

That is according to a report from Caught Offside, which states Arsenal have been approached by the representatives of the midfielder, who has the same agent as Kai Havertz, although they are more likely to wait until the summer before pursuing a move, at which point he may well be available on a free transfer.

However, there are a whole host of clubs in the race for the German’s signature, with bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur currently in pole position, while the likes of Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Manchester United are also named as potential suitors.

Goretzka could be "incredible" signing for Arsenal

Former Arsenal man Emmanuel Petit has urged Arsenal to make a move for the Bayern maestro in the past, saying: “The main two players I would target if I was Arsenal would be Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka.

Related Arsenal make contact to sign "exceptional" maestro, ready to make £35m offer

The Gunners have made an approach to sign a midfielder

Posts 1 ByDominic Lund

“They are both incredible players with huge experience who have both been at Bayern for a while and would maybe like a new challenge.”

Subscribe to the newsletter for transfer insights Get deeper Arsenal transfer perspective by subscribing to the newsletter. Expect clear, focused coverage of moves like the Goretzka chatter, context on midfield fit, and which clubs are actively in the race for signings.

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Since then, the Gunners have strengthened their midfield, with Zubimendi proving to be a savvy addition, being lauded as “exceptional” by Arteta, but the manager could do with some more strength in depth if he is going to compete on all fronts.

Goretzka, who rakes in £218k-a-week, could therefore be a savvy addition, especially considering his potential availability on a free transfer, with the central midfielder very experienced at the highest level, amassing six goals and nine assists in 68 Champions League games.

A former South African national player has been charged with corruption involving match-fixing, ESPNcricinfo has learned.The player, who has yet to be named, is understood to be the same “intermediary” who was the subject of a CSA press release in December, following attempts to influence results in South Africa’s domestic competition, the Ram Slam T20 Challenge.In their original statement, CSA said the intermediary had been charged under its anti-corruption code with “contriving to fix, or otherwise improperly influence aspects” of the 2014-15 domestic Twenty20 competition.The person involved had also been charged with “failing, or refusing without compelling justification, to cooperate with an investigation carried out by an anti-corruption official.”South Africa’s Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act Law was introduced in 2004 and included a so-called “Hansie clause” to tackle corruption in sporting events, such as those for which Hansie Cronje, South Africa’s former captain, received a life ban from cricket in 2000.ESPNcricinfo also understands that other players involved in the competition will face the lesser charge of failing to report an approach, a breach of the ICC anti-corruption code that carries a ban of up to five years if found guilty.”Our attitude to corruption will always be one of zero tolerance and we are confident that we have the necessary structures in place to effectively deal with any corrupt activity,” said Haroon Lorgat, the CSA chief executive, in December.”We will relentlessly pursue under our code and the law of the land any persons we believe to be involved in corrupting the game and, with assistance from the police, we will also seek criminal prosecution.”

Who says Australia takes the game too seriously? © Getty Images

Adam Gilchrist says the players still don’t know what to expect at the Twenty20 World Championship as they will be competing for a trophy, unlike earlier international matches where entertainment was the key. “I think there is a little bit of unknown as to what’s going to happen,” Gilchrist said before Australia’s departure to South Africa.”We’ve tasted Twenty20 cricket, and it’s been a real entertainment package, but in every game we played there’s never been anything up for grabs. It’s almost been like an exhibition game if you like.”Three players including Ricky Ponting have stayed back but are expected to join the team before Australia’s first match against Zimbabwe on September 12. Ponting cited “private family reasons”, while Shane Watson has a hamstring problem and Stuart Clark is attending to his ill son.Gilchrist, who will lead the team in case Ponting misses out, said it would be interesting to see how teams approached the tournament. “I’ve no doubt that once we get there, and given that there’s a world title up for grabs, it will get serious,” he said. “But I do hope the entertainment factor stays. I would encourage everyone to try and embrace that entertainment part of the game.”He said the World Championship might push administrators to consider slotting in more Twenty20 matches in international schedules, though perhaps at the expense of one-day internationals. “I think world cricket will have a clearer understanding of how serious, how much we need to play Twenty20 cricket and what role it will have in the cricket calendar [by the end of the tournament],” he said.”I don’t know necessarily if it will be the be all and end all of Twenty20, but I do think it’s here to stay for a number of reasons … and it may be a case of, if Twenty20 cricket continued to grow, it might limit the 50-over game to a certain extent, with the need to tailor the program to fit both in.”The Twenty20 World Championship starts on September 11, with the final to be played in Johannesburg on September 24.

Darrell Hair has decided to stand up to any challenge to oust him© Getty Images

Darrell Hair will fight any attempts to sideline him as a result of Sunday’s ball-tampering row. There has been speculation that the four Asian Test nations will try to push him out of the game, but Hair said: “If other people have issues they want to use to force me out it will be an interesting battle.”In a front page interview with Robert Craddock he made it clear he was not going anywhere. “I have always taken a lot of pride in my performance,” he said, “and while I am doing the best job I possibly can I am going to continue.”He also said that he had no regrets about his actions at The Oval that ended the Test a day early. “I stand by what I have done,” he said. “But if anything comes out at the inquiry that proves me incorrect I would accept that too. The process would have been followed. People who know me and the sort of person I am know I would not take action unless I really thought it was necessary.”And Hair denied there were any problems with his relationship with the teams from the subcontinent. “That is not something that is an issue for me,” he said. “There is no problem with me and the subcontinent. I have umpired quite a lot in the subcontinent over the last couple of years and when the ICC have asked me to do a job I try and do it to the best of my ability.”But the former Australian umpire Dick French told it won’t be that simple. “It’s a tricky one,” he said. “If the Asian bloc gangs up on him and says ‘We don’t want him appointed in our games’ there might be trouble. He can’t umpire Australia as a neutral, so he can’t then just umpire South Africa, the West Indies and England for the rest of his career.”Shane Warne has used his column in to defend Hair of claims of racism and bias. “He tries to do the best job that he can, like any other umpire,” Warne wrote. “He goes by the letter of the law and does what he thinks umpires ought to do. It is unfortunate that he has been involved in a couple of controversies in his time, but labelling him racist is unfair.”Ross Emerson, a Western Australian umpire who also called Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing and reported Pakistan for ball tampering, praised Hair for “having the balls to take action”. “There have been a number of occasions when there has been a suggestion or an allegation that a ball has been tampered with but in the end most of the umpires don’t want to do anything about it,” he said in . “If you accuse the subcontinental sides of anything it becomes an international incident. It becomes country versus country and you are called a racist.”Hair will take two days’ rest before the hearing begins on Friday in London where Inzamam-ul-Haq faces charges of bringing the game into disrepute and altering the condition of the ball. “The media criticism has been hot over here … that surprises me,” he said. “But life goes on … nobody died.”

Scorecard andball-by-ball details
How they were out

Yuvraj Singh: returned to form with a fine century © AFP

India entered the final of the IndianOil Cup after scoring a tense seven-run victoryover West Indies in Colombo. A century by Yuvraj Singh and a well-paced knockby Mohammad Kaif helped India reach 262 for 4, the tournament¹s highestscore, following which a fatal mixture of mounting run-rate and inexperiencesaw the West Indians stumble out of the competition.Denesh Ramdin, let off luckily when he was caughtplumb in front by Anil Kumble off his first ball, fought until the end, striking boundaries andinventing strokes to throw the bowlers off. Ashish Nehra went at seven anover, Zaheer Khan narrowly evaded being called off for bowling beamers.Ramdin ended unbeaten on 74, an admirable knock from a man who had keptflawlessly in the sweltering heat all afternoon. He followed Runako Morton,whose controlled 84 kept West Indies in the running until the final stretch,even while wickets fell all around him. In between there was Dwayne Smith, whocrashed 26 off 12 before Kumble did him in.Ramdin¹s wonderful innings was a fluent one, full of fight, and while hestruggled to comprehend Kumble’s variations, he persisted and dealtwith the more straightforward bowlers with ease. Most batsmen before himfailed to do even this, though their troubles against Kumble wereanticipated. Kumble has a way with newcomers unused to this brand oflegspin; they remain motionless in their crease, trapped by indecision, andare easily undone by a man who preys on uncertain minds. He dismissed threeof them in a flash, and would have had three more if Daryl Harper saw what he, the fielders, the television, and Hawk-Eye all saw; straightforward decisions were turned down, and this assisted West Indies’ survival. It is debatable whether the match would have run this close otherwise. Against a team more capable of grabbing chances, India could have suffered dearly. In any case, Rahul Dravid bowled Kumble through his quota in one go, and then watched Nehra and Yuvraj leak runs to the tune of 82 in 12 overs.But Yuvraj was India¹s man of the hour earlier, and Kaif his support, whenthe team had effectively lost four batsmen and were in trouble. At 51 for 3,with Dravid, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman out, and Sourav Ganguly inhospital after a short delivery thudded into an unprotected arm, Yuvraj andKaif had quite a task ahead. Neither the flow of the game nor their formfavoured them. But bit by bit, they pulled it India’s way with pinched runsand angled bats that frustrated and deflated West Indies. The slower bowlerswere nudged and pushed for singles and once the time for acceleration came,the two managed it seemingly without effort. The India of the 1990s had AjayJadeja and Robin Singh to fight fires and twist thrust swords. This team hasthese two. They were followed by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whose daring againstTino Best’s 140kph deliveries – a sweep, for example – added a touch ofbravado to the Indian innings. The last ten overs yielded 89 runs. But thefirst ten had seemed a repeat of India’s most recent experiences in SriLanka: India managed only 24 for 2.But it was the bowlers’ accuracy and persistence that forced Ganguly’s injury andthe general unease early in the innings. They weren’t exactly the fearsome four, theterrible three or even an ominous one, but Daren Powell, Deighton Butler andBest put on a fine show to have India hopping and falling about theircrease.Sylvester Joseph, the West Indies stand-in captain after ShivarineChanderpaul pulled out due to illness, began with an attack of Powell’s paceand Butler’s swing. Sehwag and Ganguly both lost control of their feet asballs swung late and rose awkwardly. Powell, in particular, alternatedbetween aiming for the stumps and Ganguly’s ribcage. Butler rapped Sehwag’spads twice and even bowled him off a no-ball, but was finally lucky with histhird appeal. After a brief stay Laxman nick one, and Dravid played aloose stroke on to his stumps.India became the second international team to walk off a cricketfield relieved today, but West Indies ran them far closer than they would have liked. The final, two days away, is an opportunity to start afresh.

IndiaVVS Laxman c Ramdin b Powell 7 (21 for 1)
Virender Sehwag lbw Butler 6 (21 for 2)
Rahul Dravid b Banks 10 (51 for 3)
Yuvraj Singh c Best b Deonarine 110 (216 for 4)
West IndiesXavier Marshall lbw Pathan 19 (37 for 1)
Sylvester Joseph c Harbhajan b Pathan 4 (44 for 2)
Narsingh Deonarine c Kumble b Nehra 6 (59 for 3)
Omari Banks lbw Kumble 6 (70 for 4)
Dwayne Smith lbw Kumble 26 (98 for 5)
Ricardo Powell c (sub) Rao b Kumble 4 (112 for 6)
Runako Morton c Dravid b Nehra 84 (195 for 7)
Tino Best b Sehwag 3 (208 for 8)
Deighton Butler run out (Kaif) 9 (240 for 9)
Deighton Butler run out (Kaif) 9 (240 for 9)

Graeme Smith heads towards the pavilion to change into his whites© Getty Images

The South African board (UCBSA) has rejected the Indian cricket board’s itinerary for their tour of India in November, on the grounds that they want to play two Test matches and not the seven one-day internationals that are scheduled. According to SABC News, Brian Basson, the general manager of cricket affairs in the UCBSA , has said that it would be pointless to go back to India again at a later date to play the two Tests.The packed schedule of both sides has meant that it is not possible to schedule both a Test and one-day series, as would normally be the practice, and with one-dayers being far more profitable for the home board than Test matches, it was always likely that the Indians would opt to omit the Tests. However, there is a sign that the distressing emphasis on one-day cricket may finally be changing in the subcontinent. India’s series against Australia in October, it is being speculated, may be revamped to accommodate one extra Test, with the one-dayers being scrapped.The ICC’s stand on this matter is that the dispute should be sorted out through bilateral negotiations, and there is no need for them to get involved. “It’s not unusual for these discussions over schedules to occur,” said Brendon McClements, their general manager, “and they can split the Test and one-day series if they want to. Besides, their only obligation is to play each other in a Test and one-day series, home and away, at least once in a five-year cycle.”South Africa last played a Test series in India in early 2000, which does not leave much space in the five year cycle to play another one.

Disgraced and vilified after a disastrous World Cup, South Africa have plenty to prove when they kick off their TVS Cup campaign with a match against India. Graeme Smith makes his debut as captain, and Eric Simons, the coach, said all the right things about Smith on the eve of the match.”Smith is one of those few cricketers who have the real feel for the game,” said Simons. “He is a tactical person and his leadership abilities have been tested for South Africa A and Western Province.”At 22 years and 71 days, Smith will become the second-youngest captain in one-day international history, behind Waqar Younis, who was all of 21 years and 354 days when he led Pakistan against West Indies in Sharjah in 1993-94.With the retirement of Jonty Rhodes, Allan Donald and Gary Kirsten, and the unavailability of Jacques Kallis, Smith has a largely inexperienced line-up to lead. Among the members in the current squad, only Shaun Pollock, Mark Boucher and Herschelle Gibbs have played more than 70 ODIs.The South Africans got their first taste of bowling on the flat tracks of Dhaka, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Playing against an invitation side on Friday, South Africa amassed 294, but then watched their opening bowlers – Mahkaya Ntini and Charl Willoughby – hit all round the park as the home team slammed 71 from nine overs. They were eventually bowled out for 167, but Simons admitted that the South African bowlers were yet to learn the art of bowling on the batsman-friendly pitches.”In South Africa you can sometimes get away with it, but not here. If you bowl wide here you get punished. I was very pleased with the match, especially from a bowling point of view because we learned a lot. It wasn’t nice to see us struggle, but perhaps it was good in the sense that we staged such a convincing comeback.”The South Africans might have to pay a far heavier price if they continue to spray the new ball against India. Despite the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, the Indian line-up of Sourav Ganguly, Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh is a formidable one. Simons echoed that view: “India can never be taken lightly, with or without Tendulkar.”The Indian bowling attack was incisive too, albeit against hapless Bangladeshi batsmen who were all at sea even in home conditions. Avishkar Salvi made an impressive debut, but he will be tested far more against the likes of Smith, Gibbs and Boeta Dippenaar.Sunday’s match should also – finally – result in Jacques Rudolph’s international debut. So impressive in the unofficial Test against India in 2001-02, Rudolph spent a more than year in the sidelines before finally breaking through to the national team. With so many spots in the middle order up for grabs, this is a golden opportunity for him to cement a place in the line-up.Probable teams
India 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 4 Mohammad Kaif, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Dinesh Mongia, 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10, Zaheer Khan, 11 Avishkar Salvi.South Africa 1 Herschelle Gibbs, 2 Graeme Smith (capt), 3 Boeta Dippenaar, 4 Neil McKenzie, 5 Jacques Rudolph, 6 Andrew Hall, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Robin Peterson, 10, Alan Dawson, 11 Makhaya Ntini.

Irked by the pressure tactics of the two continental cricket bodiesregarding participation in the Asian Test Championship, some seniorBoard of Control for Cricket in India members demanded that thecountry pull out of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).Taking exception to the recent statements of the ACC and Asian CricketFoundation (ACF) that if the Indian government failed to clear itsteam, the championship would be held without India, senior BCCImembers said the Board should not hesitate to withdraw from the ACCitself.Putting pressure on the government or blaming it for non-clearancewould be detrimental to the game in the country, senior board memberstold PTI in New Delhi.According to them, the government is in the process of clearing theteam but ACF’s threats that the tournament would be held withoutIndia, could not be tolerated, they said adding “if it comes to that,the BCCI should withdraw from the ACC itself”.Maintaining that the country’s pride and prestige should takeprecedence over matters of playing cricket against any country, theyquestioned ACF’s decision to go ahead with the tournament withoutIndia.”We are at a loss to understand as to how ACF could take a decisionwithout involving BCCI” they said adding “the venues for theChampionship have not yet been finalised at all nor (has) the ACFresponded to BCCI’s letter of objection that Bangladesh should not bethe venue for the final of ATC”.They said BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele had written to ACF as early asJune 20 and so far the ACF has not responded with its decision inwriting. Lele has objected to Dhaka being the venue for the final andstated that it should be played in either of the countries figuring inthe final match.The ACF has given time to the BCCI till Monday afternoon to get thegovernment’s clearance for India’s participation in the Championship.The Board members expressed optimistic that the government was likelyto clear the Indian team’s participation in the ATC but said suchpressure tactics by the ACF would mean that the Asian body has norespect for the BCCI, one of the founder members of the ACC and also along term full member of the International Cricket Council.Based on these credentials of BCCI, the Indian cricket administrationshould not hesitate to withdraw from the Asian Cricket Council, theysaid.

Tamil Nadu, thanks principally to an unbeaten 120 by N Lokesh, were297 for four wickets at stumps on the first day of their three dayKSCA Coca Cola Cup (under-25) tournament in Bangalore on Wednesday.Opting to bat, Tamil Nadu were given a good start with openersRavindra John (69) and SP Lakshmi Kumar (6) putting on 63 runs off20.3 overs. John who dominated the scoring was second out at 102 inthe 32nd over. He faced 110 balls and hit 11 of them to the ropes.Lokesh, who had come in at the fall of the first wicket, added 39 runsfor the second wicket off 11 overs with John. He was then concerned inthree more fruitful partnerships. First with Noorul Riaz (18) he added53 runs for the third wicket off 26 overs. Then with J Harish (36) hewas concerned in a fourth wicket stand of 81 runs off 21 overs. Andfinally, Lokesh and Surendra Doss (38 not out) put on 61 runs for theunbroken fifth wicket off 13.2 overs. By close, Lokesh had batted 270minutes and faced 174 balls, hitting 14 of them to the ropes.

Delhi will remain host for the fourth Test between India and South Africa. Hearing the issue for the third day in a row, a two-judge divisional bench of the Delhi High Court asked the Delhi government’s excise department to grant a no-objection certificate, thus clearing the final hurdle for the Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) to host the match at the Feroz Shah Kotla.The court also asked the DDCA to furnish a payment of Rs 1 crore (US$ 150,000 approx) to the excise department with the money to be paid in two instalments of Rs 50 lakh each – the first in the next two weeks and the remainder in the subsequent four weeks. The court also set November 27 as the next date of hearing to deal with the overall entertainment tax of Rs 24.46 crore (US$ 3.7 million approx) the DDCA owes the excise department from 2008. The court also asked the government to not take any “coercive” action against the DDCA, which has challenged the calculations of the tax and called it unfair. But that hearing will have no bearing on the Test.According to Ravinder Manchanda, the DDCA treasurer, the BCCI will release the much-needed grants to organise the match. “We have spoken to Anurag Thakur and he has already told us we will be getting the BCCI grant,” Manchanda said. Thakur could not be contacted for confirmation and there was no official release issued by the BCCI.The court’s decision brought to an end a week-long drama that had the DDCA getting involved in a tug of war with the Delhi government and a group of former and current cricketers that had alleged corruption, mismanagement and various wrongdoings by the state’s cricket administrators.The BCCI set a deadline of November 17 for the DDCA to seek all the necessary clearance from the government agencies to host the match, which is scheduled from December 3 to 7. In case the DDCA failed to get things sorted out, the BCCI had finalised Pune as the back-up venue.Serious doubts over Delhi hosting the match emerged after a three-member panel appointed by the Delhi government, having conducted a fast-track probe in to the running of the DDCA, recommended the association be suspended by the BCCI and a body of professional cricketers run the game in state in the interim.A combative DDCA then approached the court to seek its intervention to procure the necessary clearances form the various government agencies like the south Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), excise department, fire and safety department, Archaeological Survey of India, Delhi Land and Development Office, and Delhi Urban Arts Commission.Although the two justices – BR Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva – facilitated the clearances, they made it clear to the DDCA that this was the last time the court would bail out the DDCA. They asked the DDCA to sort out the issues by March 31, 2016.The first indication that Delhi was likely to stay as the venue came on late Wednesday afternoon when the court appointed former chief justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Mukul Mudgal as the observer for the Test match. The court said Mudgal could take the help of an “accounts knowing person” if he wanted.Mudgal’s appointment was welcomed by the DDCA, but its administrators would be on the edge considering the court asked him to ensure the state body takes earnest steps to resolve the pending issues relating to clearances from various government agencies.