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Derby County will be looking to pick up another win in their pursuit of winning promotion out of League One this weekend, playing against Northampton Town in just one of three fixtures scheduled for this weekend in the third tier owing to International call-ups.

The Rams will just view it as an opportunity to extend the points gap between themselves and Bolton Wanderers, hoping that a victory can be secured at Sixfields even with Dwight Gayle now sidelined.

Gayle had been a stroke of genius from the Derby hierarchy to bring into the building on a free transfer, with the ex-Newcastle United centre-forward bagging three goals from six appearances before injury disaster struck.

Looking towards the future then, when Gayle's short-term deal expires at Pride Park in the summer, Warne will be very tempted to launch this promising attacker into his lineups based on his goalscoring exploits down in the National League.

Dajaune Brown's time at Gateshead on loan

Already being labelled as "The Beast" by fans of Gateshead according to football journalist Jeff Bowron, young Rams prospect Dajaune Brown is loving life at the non-league side currently.

Brown has netted three goals from 11 appearances in the bread and butter of the National League, which included a last-minute equaliser away at Boreham Wood from just nine minutes on the pitch, but his main heroics have come in the FA Trophy for his new loan club.

A hat-trick against Peterborough Sports FC at the start of this month helped Gateshead reach the FA Trophy final at Wembley, the confident Heed number 14 ripping apart defences on a consistent basis in his new surroundings.

This could well see Brown given first-team opportunities aplenty very soon at his parent club, especially when you consider the ageing forward positions at Pride Park and the fact Gayle could well exit Derbyshire when his short-term deal expires.

Warne will just pray Brown can come good in the senior ranks, after showing off his devastating prowess in front of goal in the youth set-up for the Rams alongside maturing in non-league.

Dajaune Brown's record at youth level

Gifting raw young talents more and more minutes in the first-team mix has worked in the past in Derbyshire, with the likes of Max Bird and Jason Knight starring after developing through the Academy structure alongside faces such as Eiran Cashin and Louie Sibley.

Moreover, Brown finding the back of the net 20 times from 33 appearances playing for the U18s and U21s dictates that he must be thrown into the senior deep-end more regularly.

The 18-year-old striker has amassed five appearances in the first-team fold at Derby already, with his 13-minute cameo against Northampton earlier in the campaign seeing Rams assistant manager Richie Barker wax lyrical about the potential he possesses for the future.

Barker described Brown as "brilliant" after his brief appearance against the Cobblers, with the 18-year-old winning two aerial duels at Pride Park in the 4-0 victory to throw himself about.

It remains to be seen whether or not Brown can translate his electric form at youth level for the Rams – and his prolific nature at Gateshead – to the Derby first-team ranks consistently.

If he can take to the jump up effortlessly, Brown could well be the perfect natural successor to Gayle.

After a successful first season, Casemiro has struggled to maintain his form since, with the 32-year-old showing plenty of signs that he's now past his best – handing Manchester United a problem they must solve.

Man United transfer news

It looked like good business when Manchester United welcomed a player of Casemiro's calibre – a serial winner who was still a consistent starter at the heart of Real Madrid's midfield. Now in his second season, however, and the £70m price tag that the Red Devils splashed out looks more and more like another regrettable decision.

Man Utd were bled dry by “unreliable” dud who earned more than Garnacho

The Man United ace cost the club £48.5m over his 12 year stay.

ByTom Lever Mar 29, 2024

It's a decision that Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been left to rectify in his first summer at Old Trafford, which could see a number of incomings and departures take place. Reports suggest, for example, that Christian Eriksen is likely to be among those shown the exit door now that Kobbie Mainoo has taken the Dane's place in Erik ten Hag's Premier League side.

Meanwhile, the future of Raphael Varane is still in doubt, with the Frenchman's contract set to expire in the summer of 2025 and United running out of time to cash in. Their first priority seems to be replacing Casemiro, however.

According to Sport in Spain, Manchester United have made signing Joshua Kimmich a priority this summer from Bayern Munich, who reportedly value their star at €50m (£43m).

Whilst United will have to fend off plenty of interest in the defensive midfielder, who can also play at right-back, they will hope to at least overpower Barcelona financially, leaving them to compete against the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool. Given that Kimmich's contract runs out in the summer of 2025, Bayern are running out of time to gain a transfer fee for their star man.

At 29 years old, Kimmich still has a few years left in the tank and represents one of the best options to replace Casemiro for a potential bargain price this summer.

"Monster" Kimmich is better than Casemiro

Before each of their current levels is even considered, Kimmich's versatility alone instantly makes him a more dependable option than Casemiro. The German would become the leader at the heart of United's midfield that Casemiro was meant to be for more than just his debut season, and quickly become one of the bargains of the summer transfer window if a cut-price deal is feasible. Kimmich's stats this season even prove as much:

Progressive Passes

169

71

Progressive Carries

35

8

Ball Recoveries

101

74

Blocks

22

47

Interceptions

13

11

What's more, Kimmich is a player who's certainly rated in Germany, with former Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick once saying via Bavarian Football Works: "Joshua Kimmich is an absolute professional, a mentality monster.

"He’s always in the game, he never gives up. He’s one who always pushes but of course, has enormous quality on the ball. His passes and his set pieces have enormous quality. That’s why he plays for Bayern Munich and is why we’ve also been so successful with him."

Now, United could find themselves benefiting from that quality as they look to replace Casemiro just two seasons after he arrived from Real Madrid.

Players take the knee, wear BLM armbands, sing Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika to make it a memorable day

Firdose Moonda18-Jul-2020After days of discussion around the Black Lives Matter issue, South Africa’s elite cricketers showed a united face against racism by taking a knee at Centurion’s SuperSport Park ahead of the 3TC match on Saturday. All 24 participating players, support staffers, CSA officials including Graeme Smith, the director of cricket, and members of the commentary team – Makhaya Ntini among them – joined in as South Africa staged its first live cricket match in four months.The gesture, in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, came after a fortnight that showed up the faultlines in South African cricket. On the eve of the match, Smith, Faf du Plessis and Dwaine Pretorius confirmed that they would take the knee, and joined three other white South African cricketers – Anrich Nortje, Rassie van der Dussen and Marizanne Kapp – in supporting Lungi Ngidi’s call for players to join the rest of the world in making a stand against racial discrimination.

pic.twitter.com/k4b0i1Cp20

— Beuran Hendricks (@Beuran_H13) July 18, 2020

With no spectators allowed at the ground, television coverage showed the players standing in a half-circle facing the vacant presidential suite at SuperSport Park to sing South Africa’s national anthem Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. The players then took their positions on the field, with Temba Bavuma’s Kites bowling first, to Reeza Hendricks’ Kingfishers. As the umpires called time, with the words “we are ready”, the Kites players – batsmen Janneman Malan and Hendricks – and the umpires took a knee on the field. The rest of the teams and everyone else involved stood around the outside of the boundary and did the same, their right fists raised in solidarity.Cameras panned to Smith, who was flanked by former Springbok World Cup-winning captain Francois Pienaar and former South Africa quick Ntini, who had made headlines this week as he recalled instances of racial discrimination during his time as an international. In an interview on television on Friday morning, Ntini revealed how he used to run from the ground to the team hotel to escape the “loneliness” of sitting on the team bus, where he said the rest of the squad would move to the back if he was in front and vice-versa.Janneman Malan takes a knee on the pitch prior to the start of the 3TC game•AFP via Getty ImagesOn the day, on the live broadcast, Ntini and Smith discussed the gestures at the start of the game. Smith told Ntini he could “feel the emotion coming from you”. Ntini replied: “that’s why we stand together.””A very important message is being put out today,” Smith said on air, and Ntini agreed, calling it “one of our greatest moments”, while also echoing the call for unity. “Everyone can see that, as South Africans, we all stand up and plough the same furrow together. We stand together,” Ntini said. “The more we do this the more change will happen. Here’s Lungi. He was the first one to voice it, and everyone [who has since supported BLM] stood by him.”Ngidi’s stance on BLM prompted reactions from both sides with four former players – Rudi Steyn, Pat Symcox, Brian McMillan and Boeta Dippenaar – criticising the youngster for not showing equal solidarity for the fight against the murder of predominantly white farmers in the country.Andile Phehlukwayo showcased his solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement•AFP via Getty ImagesThe quartet drew the ire of 31 former players including Vernon Philander, Ashwell Prince, Ntini, JP Duminy and Herschelle Gibbs, and five current coaches including Geoffrey Toyana and Wandile Gwazu who were in charge of Eagles and Kites respectively at the 3TC. The group collectively issued a statement in support of Ngidi and called for CSA and cricketers to support the BLM movement.Hashim Amla, who wasn’t in the list of signatories to that letter, made public his own thoughts on the matter the next day, thanking Ngidi and others who had “stood up for just causes in their own way”. On air, Smith said, “There’s no need for Ngidi to be attacked at all. I think he’s handled himself extremely well.”After the letter from the 36 players and coaches – all of colour – CSA issued a second statement supporting the BLM movement but it was not until Friday that more plans around how it would show that support were revealed when Smith, du Plessis and Pretorius said they would take a knee.Before, during, and after the game, the players and commentators, as well as CSA officials, wore armbands with ‘Black Lives Matter’ emblazoned on them. Andile Phehlukwayo, who was playing for the Eagles, also wore a “Black Lives Matter” t-shirt under his team shirt, and showed it off when he dismissed Heinrich Klaasen in the final innings of the match.AB de Villiers, who sparkled for the Eagles as they won, touched upon the subject in a post-match interview, saying that the aim was “solidarity in South Africa”.”There were obviously quite a few more important things out there today [than just the cricket]. Just getting out as cricketers and playing a bit of cricket, doing it for solidarity in South Africa. Showing that we can stick together as a nation. That, to me, was ultimately what it was all about,” de Villiers told the official broadcaster.

Barcelona could struggle to convince Euro 2024 star Nico Williams to join them from Athletic Club this summer.

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Williams not guaranteed to signBarcelona may have to reconsiderDeco trying to persuade wingerWHAT HAPPENED?

Signing Williams may not be as straightforward as first hoped. His €58 million release clause (£49m/$63m) represents value for a player of his ability, age and potential, but reports that the Euro 2024 winner is having doubts about linking up with Barcelona this year and could postpone the move by 12 months.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

After Hansi Flick and his playing squad flew to Orlando to begin a pre-season tour, sporting director Deco is reported to have stayed behind to persuade Williams to move this summer. Previous reports have suggested Barcelona are ready to trigger the release clause, although with the winger now not so sure, instead rate the chance of signing Dani Olmo higher.

DID YOU KNOW?

As a result of injuries, delayed returns and international duty, Flick is without as many as 10 first-team players in his first tour as Barcelona coach. Gavi, Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Ronald Araujo and Ansu Fati have not made the trip while they recover from various issues, while Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres are still on leave following Euro 2024. Pau Cubarsi, Eric Garcia and Fermin Lopez are also part of Spain's squad at the Olympics right now.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA?

If Williams really is doubting whether to join Barcelona this year, the club have a decision to make. Pursuing could end up being a waste of time when Flick's squad needs strengthening if the club are to have any chance of competing with Real Madrid.