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MatériaMais Notícias

O Palmeiras abre na manhã desta quarta-feira a venda de ingressos para a partida contra o Bahia, válido como confronto de volta entre os clubes pelas quartas de final da Copa do Brasil. O jogo está marcado para as 19h15 do dia 16, no Pacaembu – a ida ficou 0 a 0, em Salvador, na última quinta-feira.

A venda começa às 10h desta quarta-feira, por meio do site www.avantipalmeiras.com.br, somente para sócios-torcedores com mais pontos no plano Avanti. Os sócios-torcedores palmeirenses terão exclusividade até às 10h de sábado, quando começará a comercialização para o público em geral pelo site www.futebolcard.com.

O jogo de volta contra o Bahia será a primeira decisão do técnico Luiz Felipe Scolari nesta seu retorno ao Palmeiras. A partida não poderá acontecer no Allianz Parque porque a arena receberá um show dos Tribalistas dois dias depois, tempo insuficiente para a montagem do palco, segundo os organizadores. Por isso, o clube optou pelo Pacaembu.

Palmeiras e Bahia fizeram o jogo de ida pelas quartas de final da Copa do Brasil na quinta-feira, com o Verdão comandado por Paulo Turra, auxiliar de Felipão – Scolari ainda estava em Portugal e se apresentou ao clube na sexta-feira. Em Salvador, Bruno Henrique perdeu pênalti e ficou 0 a 0. Com isso, no Pacaembu, avança quem vencer. Novo empate leva a decisão para os pênaltis.

Confira abaixo como será a venda de ingressos para Palmeiras x Bahia:

1ª Pré-venda
Início da pré-venda: 08/08/2018 – 10h
– Sócios Avanti 5 estrelas (de 81 a 100% de Rating)
– Sócios Avanti do Plano Diamante
– Sócios do clube social que também são sócios Avanti (independentemente do plano)

2ª Pré-venda
Início da pré-venda: 08/08/2018 – 15h
– Sócios 4 estrelas (de 61 a 80% de Rating)
– Sócios Avanti do Plano Platina

3ª Pré-venda
Início da pré-venda: 09/08/2018 – 10h
– Sócios Avanti 3 estrelas (de 41 a 60% de rating)
– Sócios Avanti do Plano Ouro

4ª Pré-venda
Início da pré-venda: 09/08/2018 – 15h
– Sócios Avanti 2 estrelas (de 21 a 40% de rating)
– Sócios Avanti do Prata Superior

5ª Pré-venda
Início da pré-venda: 10/08/2018 – 10h
– Sócios Avanti 1 estrela (de 1 a 20% de rating)

6ª Pré-venda
Início da pré-venda: 10/08/2018 – 15h
– Todos os sócios Avanti Palmeiras

Venda aberta ao público geral:
Início: 11/08/2018 – 10h

Os valores dos ingressos são:
Tobogã – R$ 40,00 [R$ 20,00 meia-entrada]
Arquibancada Laranja – R$ 80,00 [R$ 40,00 meia-entrada]
Arquibancada Verde – R$ 80,00 [R$ 40,00 meia-entrada]
Arquibancada Amarela – R$ 80,00 [R$ 40,00 meia-entrada]
Cadeira Laranja – R$ 100,00 [R$ 50,00 meia-entrada]
Cadeira Descoberta – R$ 120,00 [R$ 60,00 meia-entrada]
Cadeira Coberta Azul – R$ 180,00 [R$ 90,00 meia-entrada]
Arquibancada Visitante Lilás – R$ 80,00 [R$ 40,00 meia-entrada]

POSTOS DE VENDA

Bilheterias do estádio do Pacaembu (Portão Principal)
Endereço: Praça Charles Miller
Pacaembu – São Paulo/SP
Horário de atendimento: dias 14 e 15 de agosto, das 10h às 17h, e dia 16, das 10h até o intervalo da partida
*Disponível para venda de ingressos e trocas de meia-entrada

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Tudo sobre

BahiaCopa do BrasilIngressosPacaembuPalmeirasTorcida

Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outSri Lanka only half-recovered from Umar Gul’s early burst•AFP

On the 59th anniversary of their first Test win, Pakistan’s fast bowlers moved on sensationally from the demoralising fielding debacle in Abu Dhabi, but the spinners didn’t enjoy such good fortune. Even though Misbah-ul-Haq took three slip catches off the quicks, Taufeeq Umar dropped Kumar Sangakkara on 27 and Younis Khan reprieved Rangana Herath off the first ball he faced. Consequently 73 for 5 became 154 for 6, and 154 for 8 turned into 239 all out. However, the early damage was so severe that the day still belonged to Pakistan, especially because the openers brought the deficit under 200 in the nine testing overs bowled at them.That the successful completion of regulation catches came as a huge relief in the morning tells the story. Three days after they had been ground into the Abu Dhabi dust thanks largely to their own fielders, Umar Gul and Junaid Khan somehow found the heart to create opportunity after opportunity once again. It was a new-ball pitch, and the two hit the seam with regularity to take five wickets in the first session.Both teams misread the track to an extent. Pakistan dropped the big-hearted Aizaz Cheema in favour of left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman. Expecting a flat track, Sri Lanka chose to bat first. As it turned out, with the ball seaming around in the first session, Gul and Junaid had to make up for the absence of the third seamer with 10-over spells before lunch, including a wicket in the last over of the session.The Sri Lanka top order was left with the task of seeing the new ball off. While not quite a demon, the pitch had enough seam and variable bounce in it to keep the Pakistan fast bowlers in business. True to their nature, they exploited every bit of life on offer. Gul got the ball to swing into the left-handed top three, and on the odd occasion got it to seam away after shaping up to swing in. The variable bounce was obvious from how two early edges didn’t carry to the cordon, and how on two occasions Gul missed out on lbws because of extra bounce.The top order bar Sangakkara came up short. Both Lahiru Thirimanne and Tharanga Paranavitana made the instinctive correction of planting the front foot across to cover the movement, leaving them prone to the balls moving in. Thirimanne survived one such shout because of the height, but was trapped dead plumb immediately after. Paranavitana played himself into a shell before finally playing a reckless cut off Gul. At first slip, Misbah held the ball close to his chest. Finally someone other than the wicketkeeper had taken a catch in 178 overs of bowling.More chances would soon come. Mahela Jayawardene got the classical Gul delivery that angled in, pitched short of a length, drew him into the shot, then held its line, and took a healthy edge. Misbah was there to accept the low catch again. Dilshan played a loose punch outside off to give Misbah his third. Junaid’s contribution to the dismissal cannot be overstated, though. In his sixth over, he went round the stumps, angled the ball in, making Dilshan play, and the open face did the rest.At 45 for 4, after six overs each for the new-ball bowlers, Pakistan would have wished they had Cheema to bowl first change. In his absence, Gul and Junaid put in the extra hours. After Gul’s unbroken 10-over spell, Junaid came back to trouble Mathews from round the stumps. Even as Mathews walked down the track to counter the movement, both his edges were beaten repeatedly until he nicked Junaid to Adnan Akmal, the only catching man Pakistan haven’t had to worry about.In between, Sangakkara played a rare loose shot, an uppish square-drive off Ajmal, but Taufeeq was late to attempt a high catch to his left at backward point. Missing his partner in crime from the first Test, the injured Prasanna Jayawardene, Sangakkara had no option but to score as many as possible before he was left stranded. He scored 49 of the 76 runs that came during his time after lunch.Even though Rehman trapped the debutant keeper Kaushal Silva to end a 54-run partnership, the pitch had settled down and the ball had become soft. Pakistan stopped trying to get Sangakkara out, but at the same time they were lousy enough to forget to bring the field up for the last ball of an over. Sangakkara gladly retained the strike, but exposed Dhammika Prasad to Saeed Ajmal for four balls of the next over. Prasad had no clue which way Ajmal was turning the ball, and despite a customary drop from Mohammad Hafeez, a thick edge from him was accepted by Akmal. Sangakkara took a risk against the first ball of the next over, but holed out to long-on. It could have become three wickets in four balls, but Younis Khan let through a low chance from Herath.The highest partnership of the innings, 75 for the ninth wicket, followed. Chanaka Welegedara and Herath fought bravely after tea, taking blows on their bodies, and putting behind them the plays and misses. Welegedara in particular drove well through the covers, hooked Gul for a six during a heated over, and slogged Abdur Rehman for another even as he fought cramps. He added 48 to his career 67 runs. Ajmal, though, kept coming at them, and made sure Sri Lanka were again dismissed inside the first day.

Vinod Kambli has announced his retirement from first-class cricket.

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-2011Former India batsman Vinod Kambli has announced his retirement from first-class cricket. Kambli, 39, had earlier retired from international cricket in 2009.”Till the last year, I was raring to go [in domestic cricket]. I served Mumbai for long, but the selectors ignored me. I’m disappointed,” Kambli said. “I wanted to play alongside Sachin [Tendulkar] for one last time, wanted to play in IPL but unfortunately that did not happen.”Kambli made his first-class debut for Mumbai in 1989 and played 129 games, scoring 9965 runs at an average of 59.67 including 35 centuries. He last played senior domestic cricket in 2004-05.He made his international debut in 1993, and played 17 Tests, scoring 1084 runs at an average of 54.20 which included double-centuries in his third and fourth Tests. He also played 104 ODIs for India scoring 2477 runs, but erratic form and compounded by indiscipline problems meant he made as many as nine comebacks in the ODI team. He last played Test cricket in 1995 and wasn’t picked in the ODI team after October 2000. Since being out of the Indian and Mumbai teams, he has tried his hand at movies and reality shows on the small screen.Kambli indicated he would now most likely turn to coaching youngsters.

Australia’s cricketers have become free agents in Twenty20 and can begin signing up with the new Big Bash League franchises

Brydon Coverdale07-Jun-2011

Australia’s cricketers have become free agents in Twenty20 and can begin signing up with the new Big Bash League franchises. Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) have signed off on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), despite shelving negotiations over the distribution of private investment money that could come in for the newly-formed city-based Twenty20 sides.The one-year extension to the existing MOU means that the players and administrators have a little extra time to come to an agreement over private investment, if and when backers begin to jump on board with the Melbourne and Sydney sides. The ACA chief executive Paul Marsh said that if private money came in before this summer’s inaugural Big Bash League, the players could still win a piece of the pie.”We have no idea what value if anything is going to come from the private investment money that may come in to these franchises,” Marsh said. “Until we get some certainty around that I don’t think it would have been a smart decision for us to lock in for more than one year. Next year, if we can get some certainty around that we may lock in for a longer term.”One thing we’ve negotiated into this deal is a clause that if and when that does happen, then we’ll sit down with CA and seek to negotiate an outcome. It would be fair to say we’re a fair way apart on that particular issue, so there’ll be some pretty robust discussions on that if and when that time comes.”James Sutherland, the CA chief executive, said the decision to side-step private investment had been necessary to keep the Australian game from grinding to an industrial halt.”Both parties have agreed it’s not an issue today,” he said. “It may be an issue in the future and if it is an issue in the future then we will in good faith sit down with each other and talk that through. In some ways perhaps ideally it would be great to be sitting here today and say we’ve locked that down and got some agreement on that.”But it’s a common sense, pragmatic approach to the situation, we want the show to keep moving on and we want to be absolutely focused in giving players the security around their future as much as possible.”The ACA has already had one major victory in the Big Bash League, with Cricket Australia agreeing to free agency as the method of recruitment. With eight teams in the new competition, which begins in December, existing state contracts will bear no relevance to who plays where, so a die-hard Victorian like Brad Hodge could end up playing for Hobart, or Adelaide, or Brisbane.Cricket Australia’s original preference had been for all players to enter a draft, which could have meant a widespread scattering of cricketers to unfamiliar parts of the country. But under the free-agency model, every player will be able to negotiate his own deal with a team of his choice, which Marsh said was a significant win for the players.”One of the great outcomes for us around the Big Bash is we fought very hard to get a player allocation model of free agency,” he said. “That means players can negotiate with the teams of their choice and agree to terms, the value of their choice. We fought hard for that and we’ve got to a point now where we have an unrestricted free-agency model, which is pretty rare in world sport.”It’s a big change from what we’ve traditionally had. We’ve come to some very good solutions here. It’s going to be a change and the players are going to have to get used to having two different contracts, two different employers. It is more complex. But in time we’ll get used to it and it will become the norm.”The ACA and Cricket Australia had struggled to reach common ground on the MOU for several months, with the private investment issue and a distribution of funds from a proposed redevelopment of the WACA the two key sticking points. In the end, those two issues were put aside so planning for the Big Bash League could stay on track, and the players will retain their share of 26% of Australian cricket revenue.”Australian cricket has one of its biggest summers ever coming up in terms of both fan appeal but also in terms of revenue coming into the game,” Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland said. “The launch of the Big Bash League is important to us and to the ACA because of its long-term value in helping cricket recruit young people to become cricket fans; and the international programme we hope to announce later this week will offer current and new fans a big year of international cricket.”Recognising this, CA and the ACA have agreed to defer a number of outstanding issues until next year to ensure we can all get on with planning a big summer that will be important to fans and to players alike.”One thing they did agree on was a reduction in the number of state contracts, with each side having 14 to 18 spots available, down from the existing range of 16 to 20. Base contract levels will also dip slightly, but players shouldn’t be short-changed thanks to the promise of extra money from their new Twenty20 deals.The Big Bash League sides will have to work under a salary cap, but there will be no maximum contract figure for an individual player. Sides will be able to sign up to two overseas players in a squad of 18.

Rahul Sharma threatened to win it but Murali Kartik lost the plot and Rajasthan’s Ross Taylor seized the moment, with valuable support from Ajinkya Rahane, to clinch a thrilling win

The Bulletin by Sriram Veera01-May-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
The contest of the gmae: Robin Uthappa took on Shane Warne, but eventually fell to him•AFP

It was a tale of contrasting performances from two Pune Warriors spinners. Rahul Sharma threatened to win it for them but Murali Kartik lost the plot and Rajasthan Royals’ Ross Taylor seized the moment, with valuable support from Ajinkya Rahane, to clinch a thrilling win. Rajasthan moved to the top of the table while Pune stayed frozen at rock bottom.With 52 runs required from six overs, Rahul bowled a gem of a maiden over that included the wicket of the aggressive Ashok Menaria to end his spell with figures of 4-1-13-3. However, Kartik gifted two short balls and a full toss in the next over and Taylor looted 17 runs with the help of two fours and a six. Suddenly, the equation came down to 29 from 18 and despite two relatively disciplined overs from Alphonso Thomas and Jerome Taylor, Rajasthan just needed the odd boundary here and there to squeeze past the line.Two boundary hits from Rahane and Ross Taylor sealed the contest. When they needed 24 runs from 14 balls, Rahane sliced a slower length ball from Jerome Taylor to the point boundary and when they required 17 from 11, Ross Taylor slugged a length delivery from Thomas deep into the midwicket stands. Game over.Pune will look back and rue the reprieve they offered Ross Taylor. When Rajasthan needed 32 from 20, Taylor, on 31 then, heaved Thomas to left of deep midwicket where Nathan McCullum did all the hard work to get there but couldn’t hold on. He lunged out to take it but it bounced off his palms as he fell to the ground and bounded off his chest and right thigh.It was that kind of night for Pune. Only Rahul sparkled with the ball and almost single-handedly pushed them to the cusp of victory. His evening changed with a long hop in his second over, the seventh of the innings. Rahul Dravid, who again failed to convert a start, pulled it back to him and Rahul started to choke the run-flow with a slew of bouncing top spinners. However, Kartik had a horror day, leaking 41 runs from his four overs.Pune will also look back at their batting effort and wish if they could have done a bit more. The top order flattered to deceive. The contest of the afternoon was between Shane Warne and Robin Uthappa. It had an overload of skill, adrenaline, ego, canniness and a dash of foolhardiness. It lasted eight deliveries but it encapsulated everything that is good about Twenty20. It had an aggressive batsman intent on attack and an ambitious bowler focused on hunting down his prey. Throw in an umpire ready to brave ferocious appeals and rule on the side of conservatism, and you had a thoroughly entertaining package.Uthappa unfurled the reverse-sweep and conventional sweep to collect two fours. Warne ripped a big leg break next, starting from just about leg stump – part of the ball was outside leg – and it beat the bat to strike the pad. It was the start of Warne’s increasingly vocal tussle with the umpire Shavir Tarapore. He yelped out a huge appeal but Tarapore perhaps thought it pitched just outside leg and turned it down. Warne looped the next delivery on a length but Uthappa stretched forward to slog-sweep it over midwicket.Three boundaries in four balls and the heat was well and truly on Warne, who responded with a front-of-hand skidder that landed on the line of leg stump and just about straightened to hit the pad. Warne screamed, Tarapore stayed frozen and Uthappa survived. Warne got the final delivery to skid on towards the leg stump, Uthappa was caught in a tangle and yet again, got stuck on the pad. Replays suggested it would have clipped leg stump but you could understand why the umpire didn’t give it.Warne removed himself from Tarapore’s end and appeared at Simon Taufel’s in the ninth over. Uthappa again reverse-swept the first ball to the boundary but Warne shortened the length off the next and got it to skid and bounce towards middle. Uthappa ended up top-edging the swat to the keeper. Uthappa’s exit was sandwiched between the dismissals of Jesse Ryder, stumped off Johan Botha, and Yuvraj Singh, run out after he backed up too far at the non-striker’s end, and it derailed the innings.

MatériaMais Notícias

O jogo decisivo entre Raposa e Galo, que vale o título de campeão mineiro, está se aproximando. A final será domingo, às 16h, no Mineirão. Durante as atividades realizadas na Toca da Raposa II, nesta quinta-feira, o técnico Mano Menezes observou a movimentação dos jogadores e conversou com alguns em certos momentos. O treinador também chegou a dialogar com o vice-presidente do clube, Itair Machado.

A novidade foi a participação de Bruno Silva. O jogador se recuperou de pancada no joelho esquerdo e esteve em campo junto com os companheiros.
David também treinou normalmente e pode ser relacionado pela primeira vez no time celeste. JáMurilo, que deslocou o ombro esquerdo, ficará de duas a quatro semanas em tratamento.

Sassá e os titulares fizeram atividade interna. O atacante Raniel, que estava com um desconforto na coxa direita, participou de uma atividade em campo com o fisioterapeuta Charles Costa.

أكد زلاتكو داليتش المدير الفني لمنتخب كرواتيا الأول لكرة القدم، على صعوبة مواجهة اليابان في دور الـ16 من بطول كأس العالم قطر 2022.

كرواتيا تواجه اليابان غدًا الإثنين، على استاد الجنوب، في الخامسة مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة، بعد أن تأهل وصيف بطل العالم في المركز الثاني خلف المغرب، بينما اليابان تصدرت مجموعتها على حساب اليابان.

وقال زلاتكو داليتش في تصريحات بالمؤتمر الصحفي: “نحن نحترم خصمنا، لقد فاز على بطلين للعالم، إسبانيا وألمانيا، وأظهروا شخصية وجودة لا تصدق، يجب أن نكون قادرين على الفوز، سنواجه ساموراي حقيقي سيخوض المباراة من أجل الفوز بأي طريقة، لكن في أرض الملعب كل شيء سيختلف”.

طالع أيضًا.. تشكيل بولندا أمام فرنسا في كأس العالم.. ليفاندوفسكي أساسيًا

وأضاف مدرب كرواتيا: “خرجنا في اليورو الماضي من أمام إسبانيا، لكننا نثق في أنفسنا ولا يمكنك أن تصبح منتخبًا قويًا إلا من خلال الدعم، وهو ما حدث من جمهورنا”.

وأكمل: “نعلم جميعًا أنه سيكون هناك المزيد من الأخطاء واللحظات السيئة، يجب أن نمر بذلك من أجل التعلم وتصحيح المسار دائمًا”.

وعن لوكا مودريتش: “أتمنى أن يستمر معنا لفترة أطول، أنا متأكد من أن هذه ليست آخر منافسة له مع كرواتيا، لياقته البدنية وتدريبه وعمله واحترافه يثبت لنا أنه ما زال قادر، هو لاعب مهم جدًا بالنسبة لنا، لا أريد التحدث عن الأفراد، نحن فريق وجميعنا لدينا نفس الهدف”.

واختتم: “لدينا فرصة للتأهل إلى ربع النهائي، علينا أن نؤمن بها، ثم نفكر في إمكانية التأهل إلى نصف النهائي وكذلك النهائي، لما لا نكرر ما حدث في النسخة الماضية، نحن من بين آخر 16 منتخبا قويا في البطولة، نحن بلد صغير ولكن لدينا أحلام كبيرة”.

Sunderland have been issued a huge injury lift over attacking midfielder Alex Pritchard after he was absent on Monday…

What’s the latest?

Black Cats boss Alex Neil has explained why he was not in the squad for the clash with Plymouth and provided hope for the final three matches of the campaign.

He told the Sunderland Echo: “What we couldn’t do is risk him, the last thing I want to do is put him on for 20 minutes, he breaks back down and we then miss him for the next week.”We’re at a stage now where if you are out for any period of time, you miss all the remaining games.”I’m very, very hopeful that if we get a good week, well three days under his belt [before Saturday], then let’s see how he goes for the next week.” Supporters will be delighted

Supporters will be delighted with this news as Pritchard’s return will be a major boost for the club ahead of a crucial set of games.

The Black Cats are one point above Sheffield Wednesday, having played one match more, in the race for a play-off position and are two points off fourth with a game in hand on fifth and fourth. This means that they have a big chance to land in the top six by the end of the campaign and their clashes with Cambridge, Rotherham and Morecambe.

Therefore, Pritchard coming back is vital for Neil as he has the quality to unlock defences. Sunderland struggled badly in the final third without him against Plymouth on Monday as they failed to create any clear-cut chances to score, managing two shots on target in the 0-0 draw.

In League One this season, the Englishman has created 2.1 chances per game and provided eight ‘big chances’ in 33 outings. This shows that he has regularly been delivering in the final third in terms of being able to create openings for his teammates, which would have helped the likes of Nathan Broadhead and Ross Stewart earlier this week.

The 28-year-old has the magic touch on the ball, with four goals and seven assists this term, and can be the difference-maker as Sunderland fight for a play-off position. This is why the fans will be buzzing to read Neil’s ‘hopeful’ comments regarding his current injury situation as he can play a huge role in the team in the coming weeks.

AND in other news, Fewer touches than Patterson: £2.7k-p/w SAFC gem with 87.5% duels lost flopped today…

Speaking to the press, West Ham United manager David Moyes has shared some very interesting transfer news involving Liverpool forward Luis Diaz.

The Lowdown: West Ham fail in summer bids…

According to reliable sources, the Hammers failed in multiple bids to sign attacking talents in last-minute January moves.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/west-ham-latest-developments-3/” title=”West Ham latest developments!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Along with Benfica’s Darwin Nunez, West Ham tried to sign Atalanta striker Duvan Zapata last month, with Moyes also refusing to give up on playmaker Jesse Lingard (Sky Sports).

It appears that the Irons, by admission of their manager, weren’t exactly done there, as Moyes lifts the lid on another last-gasp attempt to sign a forward in January.

The Latest: Moyes makes Diaz admission…

According to West Ham’s manager, the east Londoners were actually ‘very far’ down the line in their bid to sign the Colombian star before Liverpool swooped in.

Moyes said on Friday (via Daily Mail): “We were quite far down the line to sign him from Porto. My understanding is Liverpool were going to come in for him in the summer, and I was going to try to get him in January. 

“I don’t know if us trying to get him in January affected Liverpool’s decision but he’s a really good player.“I really hoped that he was going to choose West Ham. We didn’t get him in but our ambition to sign the best players to improve West Ham is good. I want to make us better and I don’t want it to be mediocre if I can help it.”

The Verdict: Very interesting…

Reports at the time detailed that Liverpool hijacked Tottenham’s deal to sign the player, but as this news emerges, it appears that they also ruined West Ham’s hopes of signing the 25-year-old.

Hailed as ‘exceptional’ by Reds manager Jurgen Klopp, Diaz would have been a brilliant signing for the Hammers, especially for the initial £37m that Liverpool ended up spending.

Before his Premier League move, he had notched 14 goals and five assists over 18 Portuguese top-flight appearances for FC Porto this season.

Indeed, Diaz may well have been a truly brilliant capture for the Irons.

In other news: Top club insider says West Ham could now back Moyes in signing ‘world class’ £50m man, find out more here.

Celtic may well go on to win the Premiership crown this summer, a deserved title for Ange Postecoglou in his first year with the Hoops.

However, he might have some tricky dilemmas to work out as he heads towards a summer transfer window where a lot of work will need to be done behind the scenes at Parkhead.

What’s the word?

Celtic are in danger of losing a few players in the upcoming market with Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers both set to see their loan deal expire.

Talks have begun to keep the latter in Glasgow but the future of Jota, their diminutive and skilful Portuguese sensation, is a lot more unclear.

It’s thought Celtic have a £6.5m option to buy the winger but Postecoglou has been rather coy on whether they’ll look to activate that clause.

Should they opt against it, the Bhoys must revive their chase of Kristijan Lovric.

He’s like Mbappe

Celtic have been interested in the Croat now for a number of years with a bid of £4.5m even believed to have been rejected for his services.

Yet, if they still have the NK Osijek man in their services, they must line up another bid even if he has only just moved in the winter market.

A move to British shores would surely be tempting for the player and if Postecoglou’s recruitment team can stump up the cash, his current side would find it difficult to turn it down given their financial status.

Jota will be an incredibly hard player to replace given his 20 goal contributions this term but in Lovric, they’d have someone who is more than capable.

The 26-year-old found the back of the net on 54 occasions for Gorica and has grown an enviable reputation for being one of the most dangerous players in the Croatian top tier.

Indeed, speaking about Lovric previously, HNTV commentator Damir Petravic said: “He dribbles and scores in the style of Robben, shoots free throws like Pirlo or Pjanic, and knows how to sprint like Mbappe.”

That sounds like an incredibly dangerous attacker, one who judging by his 28 assists, is also capable of creating regular scoring opportunities for his teammates.

Jota has been sublime at points this term but has still had the tendency to run a little hot and cold. In Lovric, however, they may well find a player capable of being more consistent.

It would be a significant deal to complete and a tricky one given his circumstances but it’s evident he’s someone Celtic have admired for some time. This summer could be the perfect chance to head back into the market for him.

AND in other news, Sources: Celtic now in talks over “important” Lennoxtown deal, Ange will be buzzing…