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Liverpool are more likely to sign Borussia Dortmund star Jude Bellingham than Manchester City this summer, according to Bundesliga journalist Sebastien Kolsberger.

The Lowdown: Bellingham a special talent

The 18-year-old has emerged as one of the most prodigious players in the world, excelling for Dortmund and also winning 12 caps for England already, with Jordan Henderson drooling over his ability during the most recent international break.

Bellingham has caught the eye with his brilliance in the middle of the park, performing with a maturity beyond his years and being hailed as ‘fantastic’ by the Reds skipper.

The teenager has been linked with an exciting move to Liverpool in the past, and a fresh claim from the German press sounds positive in that respect.

The Latest: Journalist makes big claim

Speaking to Bernabeu Digital [via Sport Witness], Kolsberger claimed that the Reds are favourites to sign Bellingham over City, due to his personality fitting in better with Jurgen Klopp’s team:

“Jude is one of the future stars of the midfield, and all clubs want him. I think after a few years in Germany, he will return to England. Liverpool and Manchester City also want to sign him.

“But Jude is a very emotional player, which is why I think Liverpool have a better chance of signing him.”

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The Verdict: Perfect summer signing

In many ways, Bellingham should be the absolute number one transfer target for Liverpool this summer, should Dortmund make him available. He ticks every box when it comes to potentially excelling in this Reds side.

At 18, he has the world at his feet and would come in as a long-term acquisition and he is already good enough to play week in, week out, scoring three times and registering seven assists in the Bundesliga this season.

Midfield is also the key area that Liverpool could do with adding to in the summer and Bellingham’s ability to play as either a deep-lying player or more of a No.8 would enhance Klopp’s options, especially as some of his current crop are now in their 30s.

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If Liverpool get a deal done, they could be signing a genuine game-changer – someone who could be a mainstay for club and country for the next ten to 15 years.

In other news, Fabrizio Romano has dropped a key Liverpool transfer claim. Read more here.

	Dedunu Silva pulls during her unbeaten 66 © Tigercricket.com

Scorecard
Sri Lanka completed a facile nine-wicket win over Bangladesh, following up a tidy display in the field with a professional chase of a paltry 121 with with 145 balls remaining.Sri Lanka chose to field first, and had Bangladesh in early trouble. Janakanthy Mala removed Shukhtara for a nine-ball duck and added Shathira Jakir in her next over, and left-arm spinner Suwini de Alwis struck to make it 29 for 3. Ayesha Akhter stuck around long enough to top-score with 30 from 75 deliveries but nobody else crossed 20 and Bangladesh were all out for 120 in 49.3 overs. Janakanthy Mala finished with the most excellent figures of 10-6-9-3 and was backed up by Shashikala Siriwardene’s 3 for 28.Rumana Ahmed struck early to dismiss Chamari Polgampola for 14 in the 15th over of Sri Lanka’s chase but that would be Bangladesh’s only moment of success. Dedunu Silva remained unbeaten on 66 from 82 balls, with the help of 12 boundaries, and added 81 in 11.4 overs, at 6.94 runs an over, with Siriwardene (23 not out) to wrap up victory.
Scorecard
India trounced Pakistan by 207 runs in the final league match after rattling up the highest total of the tournament so far. Three Indian batsmen got half-centuries after which Neetu David and Snehal Pradhan took three wickets each to bowl out Pakistan for a miserable 76.India, who have got four of the five 200+ totals in the tournament, were given an impressive start by the openers, Karuna Jain and Jaya Sharma, who added 114 in 20.4 overs. Anagha Deshpande and Mithali Raj put on 53 more before Raj and Rumeli Dhar added an unbeaten 90 to take India to 283.An out-of-depth Pakistan lost their first four wickets for 44 runs. Snehal Pradhan, a medium-pace bowler making her debut, removed Bismah Maroof off the second ball she bowled. Pakistan had crawled to 62 when left-arm spinner David took two wickets in one over to reduce them to 66 got 8. The misery lasted six more overs before India ended it ruthlessly. India will now play Sri Lanka in the final.

ScorecardNetherlands completed a hard-fought 45-run win in their Intercontinental Cup clash against Canada in Toronto. Legspinner Mangesh Panchal took four wickets – including top-scorer Qaiser Ali for 53 – as Netherlands completed an impressive turnaround having been in deep trouble on the third day.After being two down overnight, Canada battled during the morning session and reached 105 for 2 before Mark Jonkman removed Trevin Bastiampillai for 46. Panchal then nailed Ali six runs later and the innings became more of a struggle for the Canadians.Ashish Bagai, the captain, tried to hold the chase together with 38, but lost partners at regular intervals. Ashif Mulla became Panchal’s second wicket and, with 97 wanted and five wickets standing, Sunil Dhaniram was caught behind of Jonkman for an enterprising 30.Any lingering hopes Canada had of reaching their target disappeared when Bagai edged to Jeron Smits and the end came three overs later when Umar Bhatti was bowled by Panchal. Netherlands take 14 points for their victory and Canada leave with six.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Kevin Pietersen on the attack during his outstanding century, which including some amazing shots © Getty Images

Kevin Pietersen’s breathtaking 142 and a productive final session in the field put England within sight of a swift victory at Edgbaston. Pietersen produced an imperious onslaught, his second consecutive century, but Muttiah Muralitharan’s six-wicket haul, and a lower-order collapse of 5 for 5, restricted the lead to 154. However, that took on menacing proportions as Matthew Hoggard and Monty Panesar claimed two each leaving Sri Lanka still well behind.But despite Muralitharan’s sterling haul, and the fine efforts of the England attack, the day was still about one man. Pietersen was even more dominant than at Lord’s as he flayed the attack to all corners of the ground. His audacious strokes through midwicket, against balls outside offstump, had to be seen to be believed and some of his thumping drives down the ground were as far removed from the coaching manual as is possible. But Pietersen is a rare talent and Edgbaston just soaked up the strokeplay.After working hard against a probing opening spell from Chaminda Vaas, he formed two consecutive half-century stands, with Paul Collingwood and Andrew Flintoff, where the other batsmen were hardly noticed. Collingwood is happy to play second fiddle, but it isn’t often that Flintoff is so overshadowed at the crease. Then again, Pietersen has been so far ahead of other batsmen in this match that the next highest score is 30.The medium-pace of Nuwan Kulasekara and Farveez Maharoof was no contest, dispatched merrily through the covers and even when the edge was taken it flew through the much reduced slip cordon. Pietersen’s fourth century arrived in a flash, with another stunning flick wide of mid-on, and he exploded in a first-clenched celebration, throwing his bat down, while the patriotic crowd rose to cheer him.What followed the landmark was quite astonishing. With the field spread, Pietersen could have just worked the singles but that isn’t how he plays. Instead he continued to pepper the ropes, launching Kulaksekara into the stands then taking three consecutive fours off Muralitharan including a stunning inside-out drive over extra cover. However, the most jaw-dropping moment was still to come. With a quick switch of the hands he got down on one knee and reverse slog-swept Muralitharan over cover for six. Just as thoughts were turning towards more carnage, though, he played one sweep too many and Muralitharan struck back and an absorbing battle had ended.

Monty Panesar’s two wickets helped cement England’s strong position © Getty Images

Lasith Malinga, expensive but still under-bowled through the day, then crashed one through Andrew Flintoff and in a blink of an eye England’s blasters had been blasted. This was Malinga’s most impressive spell of the match as he targeted the batsmen’s toes and almost squeezed one through Geriant Jones too. Jones didn’t last much longer, top-edging a rather tame sweep, as Muralitharan rushed through the lower-order, who failed the take the chance of some useful time in the middle.Sri Lanka, led by the tireless Muralitharan, had again shown their never-say-die attitude and would have drawn confidence from their Lord’s heroics. But any thoughts of a similar fightback here were immediately stunted by Hoggard, who again found his line straight away. In the first innings he removed Upul Tharanga with the fifth ball of his first over, here he did it with the fourth as the batsman nibbled at one that went across him.After 14 overs of seam it was time for spin and Panesar joined Hoggard with an opening-over strike, holding one back slightly as Sangakkara came down the pitch and spooned the ball to Paul Collingwood at midwicket. The hands went everywhere and England celebrated a vital breakthrough, but better was to come when a perfect piece of left-arm spin bowling did in Thilan Samaraweera. Panesar had twice induced edges, one clipped Jones’ pad and fell short of slip while the other went wide. He then tossed up another, Samaraweera hopped down the pitch and was completely stranded as the ball turned and bounced. It was a wicket Panesar will want to frame.In between the Monty show, Hoggard was never far from the action and claimed Mahela Jayawardene – the hero of Lord’s – with one that kept low. There was more sign of uneven bounce and increasing turn during the closing overs as Michael Vandort and Tillakaratne Dilshan fought through until the end. Muralitharan will believe he can trouble England with any sort of a lead, but if Sri Lanka turn this match around it will put Lord’s firmly in the shade.

How they were outSri LankaUpul Tharanga c Jones b Hoggard 0 (2 for 1)
Kumar Sangakkara c Collingwood b Panesar 18 (38 for 2)
Mahela Jayawardene lbw b Hoggard 5 (43 for 3)
Thilan Samaraweera st Jones b Panesar 8 (56 for 4)
EnglandMatthew Hoggard b Vaas 3 (169 for 4)
Paul Collingwood c Tharanga b Muralitharan 19 (238 for 5)
Kevin Pietersen lbw b Muralitharan 142 (290 for 6)
Andrew Flintoff b Malinga 9 (290 for 7)
Liam Plunkett c Vandort b Muralitharan 0 (293 for 8)
Geraint Jones c Samaraweera b Muralitharan 4 (294 for 9)
Monty Panesar lbw b Malinga 0 (295 all out)

Somerset 345 for 6 (Smith 108, Jayasuriya 101) beat Australians 342 for 5 (Ponting 80, Hayden 76)
Scorecard

Ricky Ponting: an emphatic statement spectacularly backfired © Getty Images

On Monday it was Australia’s batsmen who imploded in spectacular fashion. Today, as if to prove a point, it was the turn of the bowlers. Somerset, powered by two brilliant centuries from their international imports, Sanath Jayasuriya and Graeme Smith, chased down a monumental target of 343 to win by four wickets with a massive 19 deliveries to spare.Two days ago, Ricky Ponting tried to laugh off the relevance of Australia’s 100-run defeat in the Twenty20 international, but he will have to come up with a better excuse this time around. This was a bona fide humiliation for Australia. Michael Kasprowicz looked every one of his 33 years as he was belted for 89 runs in eight innocuous overs, and the management’s worries were compounded when Brett Lee left the field with a shoulder problem. But he will have ended the day cherishing his relatively economical figures of four overs for 26.All of a sudden, Australia are being forced to face up to a crisis situation. In years gone by, they have had merely to step off the plane and their opponents would prostrate themselves at their feet. Not any more. Where once Somerset might have been tempted to rest several key players to save them for the Championship, today they fronted up in the manner that any self-respecting state side would do if England came to call.Those local favourites “Gray-bags” Smith and “Farmer” Jayasuriya caught the mood magnificently, and had elderly members recalling the days of Gimblett and Alley as they clobbered 26 fours and four sixes between them while adding 197 in just 23 overs. They each brought up their half-centuries in a mere 42 balls, and then accelerated on from that point, flogging Kasprowicz for 61 runs in his first six overs. Smith was eventually stumped for a superb 108 from 74 balls, and Jayasuriya was scarcely any slower, rattling along to 101 from 79 until he was caught at fine leg off Glenn McGrath.McGrath, as usual, was the pick of the attack, but he was still dispatched at nearly five runs an over, and such was Australia’s disarray that he had to bowl all ten of his overs long before the end of the innings. He added the wicket of John Francis as well to peg Somerset back to 254 for 3, and when Ian Blackwell’s potent innings of 25 was ended by Shane Watson, Australia began to believe they could haul the match out of the fire.But they had reckoned without the nerveless 20-year-old, James Hildreth, who climbed into Kasprowicz’s second spell and turned a taxing run-chase into a cakewalk. The wicketkeeper, Carl Gazzard, chipped in with 21 from 12 balls and Australia were a beaten outfit well before the end.The day had started so well for Australia. After Ponting had won the toss on a belter of a pitch, Matthew Hayden laid into a Somerset attack lacking the services of the injured Andrew Caddick, and did his utmost to erase the memory of that 79 all out at The Rose Bowl. Of the top six, only Simon Katich – opening in place of the rested Adam Gilchrist – failed to make an impact as he fell for 12, and while Hayden was crashing along to 76 from 53 balls, the sky seemed the limit of Australia’s ambitions.But, in a gesture that seemed contemptuous at the time and later proved utterly hubristic, both Hayden and Ponting (80) chose to retire when well set. It enabled Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey to gain valuable time at the crease, but after an embarrassment of the magnitude they suffered on Monday, Australia’s primary aim should have been to ramp up the highest total imaginable.In the event, 342 seemed formidable, but it proved to be some 25 runs too few. Australia’s opening encounter of the NatWest Series takes place at Cardiff on Saturday, and on this evidence, even Bangladesh might fancy their chances of landing a punch or two. In the week that one aging pugilist was put on the canvas for the very last time, Australia are also showing signs of going weak at the knees.

Scorecard

Ricardo Powell: made a valuable 50 before the rain came down © Getty Images

Heavy rain had the final word at Kingsmead, as the third one-day international between South Africa and West Indies was abandoned early after the change of innings. West Indies will be especially disappointed, as they would have fancied their chances of victory after Duckworth/Lewis calculations meant South Africa faced a potentially tricky run-chase. The five-match series is now beyond Brian Lara’s grasp.West Indies made an encouraging start to defending their total of 147 for 8 from a reduced 40 overs, restricting the South Africans to 15 for 1 from five overs. On a soggy, seaming pitch, Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs started uncomfortably before the heavens opened, and they still required 154 runs from 35 overs. Smith was the man out, caught at mid-off by Lara, off the impressive Merv Dillon (10 for 1). The bowlers’ tails were up, but another downpour washed out their hopes.West Indies’ innings began slowly, but ended in dramatic fashion, with a flurry of wickets and an entertaining array of poor shots, as they failed to make good use of a nine-over dash, once rain had shortened the game.Resuming after two breaks, with the score on 98 for 3, Lara immediately upped the tempo, swivelling outside off to hit the shot of the innings down to the fine-leg boundary, much to Lance Klusener’s bemusement. Ramnaresh Sarwan countered Shaun Pollock’s menacing bounce on the damp wicket, with a majestic blow to the cover boundary, but the very next ball he was comfortably caught on the ropes by Boeta Dippenaar (118 for 4).Two balls later and Lara was gone as well, just when his team desperately needed him to stay for the duration. He top-edged Jacques Kallis’s first delivery, and Mark Boucher took a high catch (119 for 5). Dwayne Smith enjoyed a scintillating, if brief, dual with Klusener, first smashing him through mid-off for four, and next ball hoisting him over midwicket for six. But Klusener had the last word, as Pollock raced round to mid-on to catch Smith after he mistimed a wild swing (134 for 6).The batsmen continued to come and go, with Kallis accounting for Ryan Hurley and Dillon in successive balls, and Ridley Jacobs was left marooned at the non-striker’s end. It represented a tame end, and the beginning wasn’t much better either.From a slow start, Ricardo Powell wrestled West Indies back to some sort of parity amid the gloom, with a responsible 50 runs from 71 balls, after Pollock and Andre Nel kept things tight. Chris Gayle fell to Nel, spooning a leading edge to the safe hands of Gibbs (3 for 1).Powell and Shivnarine Chanderpaul then shared a 49-run partnership, but Chanderpaul was completely out-of-sorts, struggling to 17 off 55 balls. Eventually he realised he had to get on or get out, and he duly obliged, edging Klusener to deep square-leg, where Jacques Rudolph held a steepling catch (52 for 2).Powell, who played with a confident fluency and hammered a series of boundaries on the on-side, claimed his seventh one-day half-century, but two balls later he was out, lofting Klusener to Dippenaar at square-leg (79 for 3). In the grand scheme of things, his innings meant little, but at least it brightened up a dull Durban day.

Rosebowl cricket between the two best teams in the world of women’s cricket resumes tomorrow when Australia and New Zealand meet at the Adelaide Oval.The sides meet in a six-match series, having three games in Australia and three in New Zealand.The two teams contested the final of the 2000 CricInfo Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and this is their first clash since then.When the Rosebowl was last played, Australia beat New Zealand 3-0 to retain the trophy.Inevitably, comment on the re-matching of the World Cup finalists will centre on Australia looking for vengeance after New Zealand beat them to claim the world title for the first time.But in reality it will be revenge in spirit only because the two sides have had so many changes since the World Cup.Almost as soon as the event ended the sides were committed to rebuilding their sides with the next World Cup in mind. That was forced on New Zealand after the retirement of legendary batsman Debbie Hockley and long-serving players Catherine Campbell, Katrina Keenan and Clare Nicholson.New Zealand’s bid to quickly achieve replacements for them was hindered when their tour to India was cancelled as a result of no assurance being available from the organisers of their tour that security would be available should problems with the war against terrorism in Afghanistan affect the tour.New Zealand has had two warm-up games in Australia, the first a low-scoring affair in Melbourne and the second a much more impressive game against South Australia in Adelaide.New Zealand captain Emily Drumm said: “Our two practice games have been very good blow-outs. It was an opportunity to get the cobwebs out of the system and to prepare for the upcoming series.”The first game had been a low-scoring match because of problems in the outfield which did not allow full value for shots. “In Adelaide we stepped up a gear. The players took a lot more responsibility and that was very pleasing,” she said.Drumm will have nothing to do with comment about the matching of the two sides being a repeat of the World Cup.”There’s been so much time between these two events and we are a completely new team. We’re looking forward and bringing a young team through.”I haven’t even thought about the World Cup. I’m just getting engrossed in a new series,” he said.Coach Mike Shrimpton said New Zealand had a slow start in their Melbourne game due to a very heavy outfield.”We came a little unstuck but on a decent wicket our score would probably have been worth around 180. But we managed to bowl out the Australian Youth team for 21 less than what we scored.”Then yesterday we scored 243 against South Australia and everyone had a good hit on a really good wicket. It was a full strength South Australia side that was only without Karen Rolton,” Shrimpton said.He did feel that one more warm-up game would have been beneficial for the side because it faced a very difficult week.The team will also have to do without Nicola Payne for the first two games as she has injured a calf muscle, an injury she has had before and which is expected to take longer to heal because of that.Shrimpton was hopeful she would be available in the third game of the series to be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday.Shrimpton was pleased with the form of captain Drumm while the younger players in the side Aimee Mason, Nicola Browne and Frances King had done well.”We will face a fairly formidable side, it is the same sort of batting side at the World Cup. Vengeance is very much on their minds for the World Cup.”It is a hard ask but what I want to see is the team not bend in the wind and to fight hard. If they all get stuck in and try then that is all you can ask for,” he said.Australia started their preparation for the future by touring England last summer and 10 of Australia’s players were on that tour.Medium-pacer Emma Twining of the New South Wales Institute of Sport will be making her debut in the series while Victorian batsman Melanie Jones has forced her way back into the side.The teams are: New Zealand (from): Emily Drumm (captain), Kathryn Ramel (vice-captain), Nicola Browne, Anna Corbin, Paula Flannery, Frances King, Aimee Mason, Anna O’Leary, Rachel Pullar, Rebecca Rolls, Haidee Tiffen, Helen Watson.Australia: Belinda Clark (captain), Karen Rolton, Sally Cooper, Cathryn Fitzpatrick, Michelle Goszko, Julie Hayes, Melanie Jones, Lisa Keightley, Therese McGregor, Julia Price, Lisa Sthalekar, Emma Twining.

Uttar Pradesh were propelled into the semifinals of the Vijay MerchantTrophy (under-16) tournament by a brutal batting display by Tahir Abbas andRahat Ilahi in the knock-out match against Bengal at Narendrapur, nearKolkata on Monday. Resuming at the overnight score of 197/3, UP batted onfor the whole of the last day. Needing just 11 more runs to grab the allimportant first innings lead when they resumed, UP ended up at 597/4 atclose of the match in 155 overs.The day belonged to Abbas and Ilahi who were associated in a fourth wicketpartnership that produced 396 runs. Abbas got himself run out, the only waya dismissal looked possible on a day when Bengal bowlers could never make abreakthrough as the two batsmen went on a run riot. Abbas made anentertaining 246 runs off 381 balls. He was at the crease for eight hoursand 46 minutes smashing 24 boundaries. Ilahi batted on through the day toremain unbeaten on 212. Ilahi was the more aggressive of the two as heenjoyed the run feast, hitting a six and 23 fours in his 281-ball innings.Ilahi was at the crease for five hours and 45 minutes making the Bengalbowling look listless. Alok Singh who came in at the fall of Abbas remainedunbeaten on 1 as the match came to an end. UP will meet Punjab in the threeday semifinal to be played at Kolkata from January 9.

Celtic look set to secure the signing of Daniel Kelly on a professional contract in the coming days.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by the Daily Record, who claim that, despite interest from both Liverpool and Arsenal, the 16-year-old starlet has rejected the chance to move south of the border, and has instead agreed a deal which will see him remain at Parkhead for the next three years – something which should be completed by the end of the week.

The report goes on to state that the midfielder, who was also linked with a move to Portuguese giants Benfica last year, decided to remain in Glasgow after being convinced that there is a clear pathway to the first-team under the management of Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou will be buzzing

With one of Celtic’s most exciting up and coming academy prospects, Ben Doak, reported to be on the verge of sealing a move to Liverpool, the news that the Bhoys have fought off the Reds’ interest in another of their more promising starlets in the shape of Kelly is sure to have left Postecoglou buzzing.

Indeed, Celtic have formed something of an unwanted habit of losing their more talented youngsters to bigger clubs in recent seasons, with the likes of Josh Adam, Connor McBride and Liam Morrison all moving on to pastures new for little or no transfer fee whatsoever.

And, considering just how highly-rated Kelly is by those at Parkhead, the potential of the Hoops yet again waving goodbye to a teenager who appears to have an extremely bright future in the professional game would have undoubtedly come as a gutting blow to the Greek-Australian manager and his side.

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However, with it now looking as if the 16-year-old has rejected the opportunity to join both Liverpool and Arsenal in favour of continuing his development at Celtic, supporters of the club and Postecoglou alike will certainly be extremely relieved.

AND in other news: £3.5m down the drain: Celtic’s “rank rotten” £43k-p/w “passenger” rinsed Peter Lawwell

	Fidel Edwards captured 3 for 50 on his return to the Test team in Trinidad © AFP

Corey Collymore, a bowler currently out of the West Indies squad, was Fidel Edwards’ secret weapon as he returned to the Test scene with three important wickets on the opening day of the deciding match with Sri Lanka. Edwards made the initial blows after the home side picked an all-pace attack, but the visitors recovered from 117 for 5 through an unbeaten 100-run partnership between Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chamara Silva.”I got a bit more focussed,” Edwards said. “Corey has been telling me that I need to be a bit more patient on this wicket and let the ball do the talking.”Injuries and inconsistent form have limited Edwards to 31 Tests and he came back into the squad after missing the opening loss in Guyana. He said being out of the team gave him time to reflect on advice from Collymore, who has not played an international match since last year’s tour of England.”We don’t live too far apart and we’re always talking,” Edwards said. “If we don’t talk in person, we talk on the phone and he has been talking to me a lot. He helped me a lot throughout the years.”Edwards used the tips on the way to picking up 3 for 50 in 12.3 overs, including the valuable wicket of Kumar Sangakkara for 10. “I thought the first spell was okay, I got the ball in the right areas most of the time,” he said. “It was swinging for me, it was overcast conditions.”He collected both openers before Jerome Taylor chipped in with a couple of wickets, but the bowlers’ task was made harder when the ball became wet after a series of rain breaks. “The ball has been going through to the keeper pretty nice and it has been seaming a bit,” he said. “The pitch has a lot of grass on it, hopefully it can get hard. It is not as fast as I thought it would be, but as the sun comes on it hopefully it can get hard.”