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Manchester United have tabled an early summer offer for a "quality" new goalkeeper, with sources close to him positive that he will leave his current club.

Man Utd transfer news

The Red Devils need new signings everywhere you look this summer, with either ageing figures or a lack of quality holding them back this season, as well as injury-prone stars.

Ramsus Hojlund has been a success story overall, including scoring in his last two appearances, but he is still a raw talent who shouldn't necessarily be starting every week. For that reason, a rival striker will surely come in, and Brentford ace Ivan Toney has been linked with a move to United. Sir Jim Ratcliffe is even believed to have submitted a bid for the England international's services.

Casemiro's form has nosedived this season, with the Brazilian looking a shadow of the player who was once arguably the world's leading defensive midfielder, and Benfica starlet Joao Neves has been lined up as a replaceent for him this season. At just 19, the Portuguese gem would be viewed as both an immediate key man and long-term acquisition, having made an impressive 51 appearances in all competitions this season.

Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella is also being looked at as an option for United, even though he struggled against Antony in one meeting this season, with the winger completing six out of seven dribbles on the day. With Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia suffering injury-plagued campaigns, added depth is required in that position.

Man Utd make offer for "quality" shot-stopper

According to a report from Spain, Manchester United have made an offer for Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, as they look for a possible upgrade on Andre Onana this summer. The update claims that the £46k-a-week Ukrainian's performances have seen his current club "present him with a generous offer but to date they have had no response", and "with a very important offer from Manchester United, his future could change in just a few weeks".

Lunin "knows that he will not be able to advance in his career" being in the shadow of Thibaut Courtois" and "those around the player see his exit getting closer and closer".

The 25-year-old could be a really astute addition by United this summer, although some may feel that it is harsh on Onana, who has largely recovered well after a poor start to life at Old Trafford. Ratcliffe may feel that he needs to be ruthless, however, and if he thinks the Madrid man can help the Red Devils reach greater heights than the current United stopper, he should be trusted.

The 6 foot 3 ace has been hailed for his "quality" by manager Carlo Ancelotti, and he is still a young goalkeeper with so much more improving to do.

9/10 star just had one of his best games in a Man Utd shirt

The Man United ace was even better than Diogo Dalot vs Brighton.

By
Tom Lever

May 19, 2024

Lunin is too good to be warming the substitutes' bench, which will happen now that Courtois is fit again – the latter is set to start the Champions League final clash with Borussia Dortmund on June 1st – so a move to United could appeal greatly.

وجه خالد أبو زينة نائب رئيس الاتحاد المصري للكرة الطائرة، الشكر للجمعية العمومية، التي وضعت ثقتها فيه، من أجل خدمة اللعبة خلال الدورة الانتخابية المقبلة.

وقال خالد أبو زينة في تصريحات صحفية نقلها مراسل “بطولات”، إن مجلس إدارة الاتحاد المصري للكرة الطائرة على مسافة واحدة من جميع الأندية، وهدف المجلس الرئيسي تطوير منظومة الكرة الطائرة بشكل ينعكس على جميع الأندية في كل المنافسات.

وتابع أبو زينة أن السنوات المقبلة، سيكون هدف المجلس إعادة المنتخبات الوطنية المصرية للمنافسة على المستوى العالمي، بالشكل الذي يليق بالكرة الطائرة المصرية.

طالع | ياسر قمر رئيسًا لـ اتحاد الطائرة.. وخسارة هناء حمزة

وشدد أن مصر تمتلك كافة مقومات النجاح للوصول إلى أعلى مستوى فني وإداري في الكرة الطائرة وأنه سيتم الاستعانة بكافة الخبرات المصرية من أجل هذا الهدف.

وأكمل أن مصر تعد واحدة من أبرز الوجهات العالمية لاحتضان البطولات خلال السنوات الأخيرة، نظراً للدعم الكبير المقدم من الدولة المصرية للمنظومة الرياضية بشكل عام، وسيكون من ضمن أولويات اتحاد كرة الطائرة احتضان المزيد من البطولات، حيث أنها توفر احتكاك قوي للمنتخبات المصرية، بجانب الفوائد الكبيرة التي تعود على منظومة اللعبة من إداريين وحكام ومدربين ولاعبين.

وأتم خالد أبو زينة نائب رئيس اتحاد الكرة الطائرة تصريحاته، أن الفترة المقبلة ستشهد تطوير كبير لمنظومة الكرة الطائرة المصرية، وأن الجميع مرحب به لخدمة اللعبة بدون أي استثناء.

MatériaMais Notícias

Um desafio sem o principal jogador. É assim que o Botafogo chega para enfrentar o Operário nesta quinta-feira, às 21h30, no Estádio Germano Krüger, pela 17ª rodada da Série B do Brasileirão. O Glorioso não terá Chay, poupado, para o duelo. O jogo terá transmissão em tempo real no site do LANCE!.

+ ‘Time’ de desfalques, posse de bola e reencontro com Pimpão: o que o Botafogo pode esperar do Operário

Será o terceiro jogo que o Botafogo fará nessa Série B sem o camisa 14: nos dois primeiros, um empate contra o Avaí com gol de Marco Antônio nos minutos finais, e uma vitória por 1 a 0 sobre o Confiança na estreia de Enderson Moreira no clube.

Com sete gols, Chay é o artilheiro do Alvinegro na temporada – e um dos principais do Campeonato Brasileiro. Sem o atleta, Enderson deve optar por reforçar o meio-campo com a entrada de Luís Oyama, colocando três volantes.

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A questão é: como o Botafogo vai se comportar sem Chay? Nas duas partidas citadas que não teve o camisa 14, o Alvinegro teve muita dificuldade para criar oportunidades e vantagens, seja com a bola no pé ou por meio de transições em velocidade.

+ Veja a tabela da Série B

A quantidade de gols que o Botafogo marca também é maior quando Chay está em campo. Enderson Moreira, portanto, terá que reinventar a equipe e o estilo de se comportar em campo para superar o Operário. Com um meio-campo mais povoado, a tendência é pelos ataques de velocidade nos lados.

Kevin Roberts, the Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive, has outlined his case for 25% across the board cuts to the governing body, the state associations and revenue due to the players. Roberts claimed that the game would be facing a cash deficit of A$142 million by the end of the next financial year without major cost reductions in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic.Cricket Australia and Roberts have been mired in arguments with its state association owners, the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) and within its own organisation since declaring in April that there was danger it would be “trading insolvent” by August without major cutbacks. New South Wales, Queensland and the ACA have all openly disputed CA’s course of action, while Western Australia has insisted that its own agreement to a reduction on distributions will not take effect unless all states agree.Coinciding with the delayed deadline for CA’s projections of Australian Cricket Revenue to the ACA – a requirement inked into the MoU with the players that was last renewed in 2017 – Roberts attempted to articulate his and the CA board’s position on cutbacks on Wednesday, after briefing the state associations of NSW and Queensland earlier in the week.ALSO READ: CA redundancies looming even as forecasts improveThe ACA’s response is expected on Thursday, with players looking at a reduction to their payment pool of around A$28 million. This would be smoothed out by drawing cash from the adjustment ledger that collects the extra cash made above CA’s conservative 2017 revenue projections – most of it from a A$1.18 billion broadcast deal signed with Fox Sports and Seven in 2018.According to its modelling, CA could improve its projected cash position by the end of June 2021 to a deficit of around half the A$142 million figure with cuts of around 25% to player pay, state association grants and staff cuts – an amount that would be covered by the provision of a credit facility worth A$100 million through the Commonwealth Bank. The plan has been pulled together by a financial crisis team featuring Roberts, the CA chairman Earl Eddings, fellow board members Paul Green and Michelle Tredenick and the acting chief financial officer Paul Reining, who previously worked with Roberts at the sports apparel company 2XU.”Given the economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, many organisations are working with scenario plans rather than developing precise financial projections that may need to be updated various times in ever-changing circumstances,” Roberts said in a statement. “We face similar challenges in projecting cricket’s revenue, however we wanted to fulfil our obligation to provide the ACA with our outlook for the next two years, along with additional information on various possibilities for that period.”We are continuing to do everything possible to deliver an exciting 2020-21 cricket season, including the men’s Test series between Australia and India that will see the world’s top two ranked teams face off against each other. Our planning for the 2020-21 season also needs to respond to ongoing uncertainty in relation to travel, mass gatherings and economic conditions that mean the season will most likely look quite different to what we are accustomed to.”It’s important to note the revised revenue projection provided to the ACA will have zero impact on the value of player retainers, match fees, national team performance bonuses or domestic competition prize money in 2020-21 or 2021-22. As it stands, the revised revenue projection would impact the amount owing to the players at the end of the five-year MOU agreement in 2022, however we are focused on maximising revenue in the next two years.”Cricket Australia’s board and executive felt compelled to move in a drastic cost-cutting direction in late March, less than two weeks after the women’s Twenty20 World Cup final was watched by nearly 90,000 spectators at the MCG. This change of direction – after Roberts had publicly stated that CA was well placed to ride out the coronavirus pandemic – was not articulated beyond a small circle of executives and board members until about a month later in late April. It cannot have been driven by anything other than fears of massive reductions in the broadcast rights payments that are the bread and butter of the game’s wellbeing.The first action made by CA was to stand down the majority of CA staff on 80% pay cuts until the end of June, returning a saving of just A$3 million. At the same time, it asked the state associations to accept cuts of 40% to their annual grants and also contacted ten senior contracted players individually rather than first approaching the ACA to declare the urgency of the situation.Those actions set off a chain reaction of cutbacks among all the states apart from NSW, while the ACA reacted with understandable scepticism given the relatively recent history of a fractious pay dispute in 2017. Some of the state cutbacks, particularly in Victoria and Queensland, met an angry response from CA as they saw huge swathes of community cricket staff being removed despite the governing body’s previous statement of a strategic priority for funding cricket’s grassroots.Negotiations between CA, the states and the ACA have subsequently been taken on primarily by the chairman Eddings and fellow board director Green, the second time Roberts has been moved to one side in critical talks after a similar turn of events during the 2017 pay dispute. This has left Roberts to deal with considerable disillusionment among his staff, who after being stood down in vast numbers in April are now bracing for the inevitable round of redundancies.

Karachi Kings suffered a stop-start batting performance and eventually went down

The Report by Peter Della Penna23-Feb-2020

How the game played outQuetta Gladiators out-grafted Karachi Kings on Sunday afternoon in a far from glamorous win by five wickets. Imad Wasim became the first captain all year to choose to bat first at the toss, and he may be the last one to do so for some time based on the way his team responded.A stodgy Kings innings was full of fits and starts as four batsmen crossed 20, but none of them were able to reach 30 with Mohammad Hasnain and Tymal Mills doing their best to keep the Kings off balance with regular changes of pace. Yet despite so many nondescript individual efforts, Kings were still able to cobble together 156.Gladiators nearly bungled what should have been a simple chase thanks to a trio of run-outs, not to mention a trio of other run-out chances that the Kings failed to convert in the field. When Azam Khan was the third run-out victim for 46 to start the 18th, it looked like the door might be left ajar for an unlikely Kings rally in the field as Mohammad Nawaz skied a slower ball to deep midwicket for the fifth wicket a short time later. But after entering at No. 7, Anwar Ali drove his first ball from Chris Jordan over mid-off for four, then ended the match three balls later heaving Jordan for six over long-on to clinch victory with an over to spare.Turning pointWith 34 needed off 24 balls on what had been a difficult wicket to get going for most of the day, Sarfaraz Ahmed flipped a switch, clubbing the first two balls of the 17th over from Arshad Iqbal over the midwicket rope for six and four. Azam top-edged a hook over fine leg for another boundary two balls later in what turned out to be a 17-run over, the most expensive of the match for either side. It brought the required run rate under a run a ball and despite a brief wobble losing two wickets in the next seven balls, Gladiators held their nerve behind Anwar’s cool finish.Star of the dayAzam Khan’s straight driving was superb, accounting for both of his sixes and another of his fours as he top-scored on the day with 46 off 30 balls before being run-out by Mohammad Amir on an athletic effort spinning to fire down the stumps at the non-striker’s end off his own bowling. He offered several chances but continued to be a thorn in the side of the Kings bowlers as long as he stayed at the crease. Alongside Sarfaraz, the pair added 85 for the fourth wicket to navigate Gladiators chase. Needing 90 off the last 10 overs, the pair made it look relatively comfortable.The big missSo many to choose from in the field as both sides could not capitalise on numerous chances. But Arshad Iqbal blew a pair of opportunities to run out Azam relatively early in his innings. The first came when Azam was on 18 in the 12th over at 80 for 3. After flicking a full-length ball off his pads from Arshad to Mohammad Amir at short fine leg, Sarfaraz caught Azam off guard calling for a tight run. Amir’s relay to the non-striker’s stumps had Azam beat by five yards but Arshad fumbled the take in the midst of scrambling into position over the stumps.In Arshad’s next over in the 14th, Sarfaraz tapped into short midwicket and called for a second run with Azam struggling badly trying to come back. Though Azam practically dropped his bat in desperation trying to stretch for the second, the throw by Arshad bounced over the stumps again at the non-striker’s end on 28.Where the teams standGladiators now top the table on four points after three matches. Kings are locked with three other teams in second place on two points, but are in fifth based on their inferior net run rate.

Leeds United made minimal changes to their playing squad throughout the recent January transfer window, as they prepared for the second half of the 2023/24 campaign.

Connor Roberts was brought in on loan from Premier League side Burnley on deadline day to bolster Daniel Farke's options in the full-back positions.

That move came after Djed Spence was sent back to Tottenham Hotspur, halfway through his season-long loan, and Luke Ayling was sent out on loan to Middlesbrough.

Leo Hjelde was sold to Sunderland on a permanent deal, and Darko Gyabi and Ian Poveda were both allowed to join Plymouth Argyle and Sheffield Wednesday on loan respectively.

Farke allowed Ayling, Poveda, Gyabi, and Hjelde to depart as they did not feature regularly for the first-team and their respective transfers allowed them to go and play football week-in-week-out at other Championship teams.

Charlie Cresswell, however, was not afforded that same luxury as the central defender, who has not featured regularly this season, was not allowed to leave in January.

European interest in Charlie Cresswell

According to The Sunday People [24 March, page 55], via MOTLeedsNews, teams in Italy have started to pay attention to the Championship as they believe that there is underrated value in the talent on offer in the division.

The report states that Serie A side Lazio were interested in a deal to sign former Leeds starlet Jack Clarke, who is currently playing for Sunderland. They were also eyeing up Plymouth's Morgan Whittaker, Sunderland's Jobe Bellingham, and Norwich City's Jonathan Rowe.

Atalanta also attempted to sign Jordan James from Birmingham City, but failed, and Inter were keen on Bristol City star Alex Scott before his move to Bournemouth last summer.

The Sunday People also claim that Milan made a £6m offer to sign Andrew Omobamidele from Norwich before his transfer to Nottingham Forest on deadline day in the 2023 summer transfer window.

It also states that Milan, who won the Scudetto as recently as 2022, emerged as contenders to sign Cresswell from Leeds during the recent January transfer window.

The Rossoneri made a deadline day bid to snap up the England U21 international from Elland Road, although the report does not reveal how much they offered.

Ultimately, for reasons The Sunday People do not disclose, Leeds turned down the offer from Milan and decided to keep hold of the central defender for the second half of the campaign.

They may look back on that decision as a blunder as the English youngster is far down the pecking order in Yorkshire, and there is little sign of that changing any time soon.

Leeds should have cashed in on the towering defender due to his lack of minutes on the pitch this season, with less game time than Joe Gelhardt in the Championship.

Joe Gelhardt's season in numbers

The former Wigan prospect, who spent the second half of last season on loan with Sunderland, was once a promising young player who made the breakthrough at Premier League level for the Whites.

Gelhardt produced two goals and six assists in 35 top-flight appearances across the 2021/22 and 2022/23 campaigns, which may have led some to hope that he would be able to thrive at a lower level in the Championship.

The 21-year-old whiz, who produced three goals and three assists in 18 matches for the Black Cats last term, returned to Thorp Arch last summer after the club's relegation from the Premier League and might have hoped to finally establish himself as a regular starter for the first-team.

Instead, as you can see in the table above, Gelhardt has only managed eight appearances and two league starts – with zero goals or assists – for the Whites by March.

The left-footed attacker did, however, score one goal in two League Cup outings and played 49 minutes in the FA Cup against Plymouth last month.

Overall, the former England U20 international has played 372 minutes across all competitions for Leeds this season, with a return of one goal and zero assists in 11 games.

As aforementioned, though, he is not the only outcast in the Leeds squad as Cresswell has had fewer minutes on the pitch than Gelhardt at club level.

Charlie Cresswell's season in numbers

Much like the forward, the England U21 international may have felt that he could fight for his place in the starting XI after a successful season out on loan last term.

Cresswell won 60% of his defensive duels across 29 Championship appearances on loan with Millwall throughout the 2022/23 campaign, as he gained valuable first-team experience on a regular basis.

The 21-year-old brute has not forced his way into Farke's plans, unfortunately, as Pascal Struijk, Ethan Ampadu, Liam Cooper, and Joe Rodon have all played more minutes.

He has been on the pitch for just 313 minutes – 59 minutes less than Gelhardt – across seven appearances for the Whites in all competitions this season, with five outings in the second tier and two in the League Cup.

Ampadu, 23, Struijk, 24, and Rodon, 26, are all relatively young, and it does not seem likely that he is going to leapfrog them in the pecking order, given Farke's trust in them over the Leeds academy graduate this term.

Therefore, the German head coach should have allowed the centre-back to sign for Milan, or another club if there were other interested parties, during the Januay transfer window.

As you can see in the table above, Cresswell has not been given many opportunities to showcase his quality in the Championship this season, with just one start to his name.

He has not been provided with a real chance to stake a claim for his position and the respective ages of the players ahead of him in his position suggest that will not change, barring multiple injuries or suspensions.

This is why, as aforementioned, Leeds should have cashed in on him when Milan came knocking. The Whites would have raked in a fee for his services, that they could have reinvested in other positions, and Cresswell would have joined a legendary club with a possible chance to play in a major European league.

Instead, the 6 foot 3 titan appears set to go through the 2023/24 campaign without playing regular first-team football at any point, which is a shame for a young player looking to develop his game.

Well, that was all rather dramatic, wasn't it?

Arsenal played their first Champions League quarter-final in 14 years against Bayern Munich last night, and to say that it felt quite chaotic would probably be an understatement.

Mikel Arteta's side were undoubtedly favourites to get their revenge against the Germans going into the match, but errors at the back and perhaps the magnitude of the occasion saw them falter and fall behind by half-time.

Luckily, the substitutions of Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus midway through the second half changed the game for the hosts, and the Brazilian's excellence saved one of his teammates from more criticism.

Gabriel Jesus' performance in numbers

The former Manchester City star made way for Gabriel Martinelli in the starting lineup on Tuesday evening following his somewhat underwhelming showing against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.

However, with the Bavarians in the lead halfway into the second 45, he was brought on in place of his young compatriot and made quite an impact.

The most significant thing he did was provide the assist for Trossard's 76th-minute equaliser, an assist that came from some genuinely immaculate close control and the sort of technical brilliance that gets fans off their feet.

It might sound like hyperbole, but it's an opinion shared by GOAL's Matt O'Connor-Simpson, who awarded the São Paulo-born ace a 7/10 on the night, writing that 'Arsenal desperately needed a moment of magic and the Brazilian provided it with his fine assist.'

The 27-year-old's statistics from the night back up this perspective as well. In his short 28 minutes of action, he provided one assist, succeeded in 100% of his dribbles, played two key passes, created one big chance, won 100% of his duels, lost the ball just once and even made a tackle.

Minutes

28

Assists

1

Dribbles (Successful)

3 (3)

Touches

13

Key Passes

2

Big Chances Created

1

Duels (Won)

4 (4)

Possession lost

1

Tackles

1

In all, it was pretty much the perfect substitute appearance and really saved one of the starters from getting a lot more stick at full-time.

Arsenal's biggest underperformer vs Bayern

The player in question is centre-back sensation William Saliba.

The Frenchman has been one of Arsenal's best players for almost two seasons straight now, but his performance against the Bundesliga behemoths last night was arguably his worst in red and white.

Alongside Gabriel, the 23-year-old ace looked uncharacteristically unsure at certain points and nervous at others. However, his big mistake came halfway through the first half.

His poorly-timed challenge on Leroy Sané saw Bayern awarded a penalty, which Harry Kane duly slotted home because, of course he did.

O'Connor-Simpson was not impressed with the Bond-born titan and gave him just a 4/10 on the night, writing that he was 'so far off his normal, composed standards', which was reflected in his statistics.

Minutes

95'

Dribbled Past

1

Penalties Conceded

1

Duels (Won)

11 (5)

Lost Possession

13

Fouls

4

Long Balls (Accurate)

5 (1)

Accurate Passes

80/91 (88%)

In his 95 minutes of action, the usually impeccable defender was dribbled past once, gave away one penalty, won just five of his 11 duels, lost the ball 13 times, committed four fouls, was accurate in just one of his five attempted long balls, and maintained a passing accuracy of only 88%.

Overall, it really was a performance to forget for the incredibly talented Frenchman, and while he was bailed out by the sheer brilliance of Jesus and the finishing of Trossard, you can be sure that he'll endeavour to return the favour in Munich.

Every Arsenal Champions League campaign

Arsenal are back as Champions League contenders – here’s how their overall record stands.

ByStephan Georgiou May 15, 2025

The left-arm spinner rarely fails to deliver and is shaping as a vital part of the plans for next year’s T20 World Cup

Deivarayan Muthu11-Nov-2019The ultra-short boundaries at Eden Park, known as the postage stamp, are mean to the bowlers. They can be even meaner when rain cuts a 20-over series decider into 11 overs. After England’s bowlers suffer at the hands of Martin Guptill and Colin Munro, Eoin Morgan launches the visitors’ chase with a hat-trick of boundaries. Sam Curran then goes one better, clubbing Scott Kuggeleijn for four boundaries in a row. Jonny Bairstow, too, joins the carnage as England rack up 52 in just three overs. Bairstow has now nicked off for 47, but England are fairly well-placed at 100 for 4 in seven overs.Captain Tim Southee turns to Mitchell Santner in search of a wicket. The left-arm spinner delivers a double blow, but then the match goes into another Super Over and we all know how that unfolds. However, Santner’s strikes and composure under pressure showed why he’s New Zealand’s MVP heading into the T20 World Cup across the Tasman Sea next year. Once he saw Sam Curran advance down the track, he speared a back-of-a-length slider well past the tramline and had the batsman stumped off an off-side wide for 24 off 11 balls. Wicketkeeper Tim Seifert, who was mic’d up, suggested that Santner probably knew that the batsman was coming at him.Mitchell Santner celebrates a wicket•AFP

Santner then made a rare error, looping a non-turning half-volley, which Lewis Gregory muscled over long-on for six. But he wasn’t flustered and bravely floated the next one up at 85kph, and got it to turn away, daring Gregory to manufacture pace for himself. Gregory swung hard, but Santner’s clever change-up defeated him as he could only scoop it as far as extra-cover. He conceded only singles off the next four balls to finish an excellent 11-run over. Earlier, in his first over, the fourth of the chase, Santner had given away only nine runs. In daunting defence against a power-packed line-up on flat track, Santner came away with the two most economical overs. What might have been had Santner been handed another over?While Santner doesn’t quite demand the attention that Sunil Narine or wristspinners do these days, there’s no denying his class and control. It was on bright display during the 50-over World Cup in the UK earlier this year and also during this T20I series against England. Santner ended the series as the top wicket-taker with 11 wickets at an economy rate of 7.83 and strike rate of 9.8. Ish Sodhi and Adil Rashid, the purveyors of the more glamorous variety of spin – wristspin – managed only three wickets each while proving more expensive. Sodhi went at 11.73 an over while Rashid fared somewhat better, conceding at 9.54.Meanwhile, left-arm seamer Sam Curran, who had the benefit of bowling as many overs as Santner did (18), picked up six wickets at an economy rate of 8.50. It’s no secret these days that Santner bowls one over in the powerplay and then works his way through the middle overs. Yet, batsmen haven’t been able to line him up as he hits the hard length in the early exchanges and then, when the batsman is desperately searching for the big hits, Santner slows up his pace. He also thrives by shifting his lines wide of off, challenging the batsmen to fetch the ball and then slog it. More than 80% of Santner’s success this series is down to hanging the ball up outside off or even wider. According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, he has bowled 62 balls around that line, grabbing nine wickets and conceding 81 runs.Santner’s wiles, in particular, were key to New Zealand pinning England down at the Westpac Stadium in the second T20I. Chris Jordan had shellacked Sodhi for four successive sixes and then cracked Lockie Ferguson over mid-off for four, threatening a late jailbreak. England were needing 49 off 30 balls when Southee tossed the ball over to his main man Santner. After his first ball was sent over extra-cover for four, Santner responded strongly by having Jordan holing out with a nifty drop in pace. Game over for England.”Chris Jordan was hitting it pretty well there at the end,” Santner said at the post-match press conference. “When you bowl slow as a spinner, I guess you’ve quite a fine margin – you can be swept square or pulled square. You try to hit a couple in the [block]hole and mix it up. You try not to be too predictable and it was nice to get that wicket and go from there.”Speaking to Radio Sport, Santner said that the wickets of big-hitters like Morgan and Jordan gave him extra pleasure. “They’re one of the best T20 sides at the moment and the way they like to play T20 cricket is to come pretty hard and that’s what they do whether you’re taking wickets or not. It’s one of things that even if you get a wicket, you’ve got to be on top of your game because the English can come hard and put you under pressure. And the best way to stall momentum is to take wickets throughout.”All told, Santner has bagged 20 T20I wickets in 2019 – the most among bowlers from Full Member nations in the shortest format. This time last year, Santner was recovering from a knee surgery, wondering if he could prove his fitness in time for the World Cup. He, ultimately, made it to the UK and almost helped New Zealand win the tournament. Then, he almost helped New Zealand win the T20I series against England. If he keeps up his form, Santner could prove more effective on the larger grounds in Australia by this time next year and could (actually) help New Zealand win a World Cup.

There is no escaping that this has been another dismal season for Chelsea Football Club.

Mauricio Pochettino has struggled to create a winning team out of his incredibly talented but young squad, and as a result, he has seriously struggled in the Premier League.

That said, there have been a couple of bright spots in the Blues' campaign, notably their Cup runs and the emergence of Cole Palmer.

The young Englishman has been a revelation in west London this year, although a former Chelsea ace is outscoring him away from England.

Cole Palmer's performance this season

Since completing his £42.5m move from Manchester City in the summer, Palmer has been a man-possessed for the Blues and looks every bit the superstar Todd Boehly and Co were hoping he'd be.

1

Cole Palmer

14

12

2

Nicolas Jackson

12

4

3

Raheem Sterling

8

10

4

Enzo Fernández

7

3

5

Mykhaylo Mudryk

6

3

In just 34 games for the Pensioners, the Wythenshawe-born gem has scored 14 goals and provided 12 assists, meaning that in his first full season of regular first-team football, the former City prospect is averaging a goal involvement every 1.3 games, which is simply remarkable.

He isn't scoring meaningless goals in 3-0 drubbings or consolation goals in defeats, either; he's having a material impact on essential matches.

For example, he scored the opening goal in their 2-2 draw with Arsenal, netted twice in their 3-2 away win over Luton Town, found the equaliser at home against City, and, most recently in the league, scored and assisted against Newcastle United.

His impact at Stamford Bridge has been undeniable, and as talent scout Jacek Kulig argues, he's already become one of the team's key "leaders" at just 21, so it's quite surprising that a former Chelsea striker is currently outscoring him away from London.

Michy Batshuayi's performances after leaving Chelsea

Yes, the former Chelsea ace in question is Belgium international Michy Batshuayi, who, after spending six years bouncing between the Bridge and various loan clubs, secured a permanent move away to Turkish Süper Lig outfit Fenerbahçe in September 2022 for a fee of around €3.5m, or £3m.

In his first season with Sari Kanaryalar, the Brussels-born forward had to contend with three separate injuries that saw him miss 12 games and spend 54 days on the sidelines, which could be long enough to disrupt and ruin many players' entire campaign, but not for the former Chelsea man.

Despite playing just 32 games throughout the year, the 6 foot 1 marksman still managed to score 20 goals, provide two assists, and play a key role in Fenerbahçe's Turkish Cup triumph.

Appearances

32

36

Goals

20

21

Assists

2

3

Goal Involvements per Match

0.68

0.66

So, in his first year with the Turkish giants, he averaged a goal involvement every 1.45 games and lifted a major trophy, making his £3m price tag look like a steal.

Fortunately, the "deadly" marksman, as journalist Josh Bunting dubbed him, has remained injury-free this season and has already scored 21 goals and provided three assists in 36 appearances, alongside getting some kickboxing practice (video below), it would seem.

Ultimately, Chelsea's decision to sell Batshuayi in 2022 might have made sense at the time, but given how well he has performed for one of the biggest clubs in Turkey, it would've been interesting to see what Pochettino could've got out of him.

Deepti Sharma and Poonam Yadav spun a web around a listless South Africa middle order, taking five wickets for just 33 between them to help India to an 11-run win in the first T20I in Surat. That was despite a spirited counter-attack from Mignon du Preez, who kept a packed stadium and all the Indian fielders on the edge with some powerful blows in her 43-ball 59. At one stage, she brought the equation down to 12 off five balls with a six off the first delivery of the last over, before running past one in the search of another maximum, stumped in the final over.The result, though comfortable in the end, looked improbable after India huffed and puffed to 130 and Pooja Vastrakar, who started proceedings on her return to international cricket bowled a wayward first over that went for 18. Lizelle Lee was the beneficiary, picking up three fours in the opening over of the chase.The poor start seemed to have had a cascading effect as the experienced Shikha Pandey, too, strayed her inswinger onto the pads of Lee, paying the price with a four pulled through square leg and a couple of wides down the leg side. But she had the last laugh, getting her final ball on target, and the inswinger burst through the gap between Lee’s seemingly impenetrable forward defence.Lee’s wicket marked the beginning of South Africa’s steep slide. After the first 11 balls had gone for 25, the next 7.1 overs saw four wickets fall for just 23. It was precisely when the match turned as Deepti started with a maiden over, before removing Tazmin Brits and Nadine de Klerk in the space of four balls. In her next, which was quite remarkably the second of her three consecutive maidens.Four overs later, after a quiet period, Poonam struck twice in two balls, removing Laura Woolvaardt and stand-in captain Sune Luus, with a chance of a hat-trick against a batsman who hadn’t faced a ball in international cricket. Though Nondumiso Shangase survived the hat-trick, Harmanpreet Kaur, who was extracting appreciable turn with her seemingly innocuous offbreaks, got one to rip through her defences to leave them tottering at 65 for 6 in the 12th. With the match slipping from their grasp like quicksand, du Preez went on the attack, but though she threatened right till the end, she didn’t have enough support to take her side over the line.Earlier, after being put into bat, India started poorly, losing 15-year-old debutant Shafali Verma for a four-ball duck to Shabnim Ismail, though much of the credit for the wicket should go to Tumi Sekhukhune, who took a stunner diving to her left at mid-on. South Africa’s fielding oscillated between moments of brilliance like that and mediocrity as they missed run-out chances and dropped catches, the steepler of Harmanpreet costing 14, which proved to be quite significant in the end as the Indian captain rode her luck to get 43.But before that, opener Smriti Mandhana and No.3 Jemimah Rodrigues feasted on some inconsistent bowling which included a number of full tosses that they dispatched to the fence. Ironically, it was a high full toss that saw the end of Mandhana for 21, after she had found the boundary twice in the sixth over from Shangase already. This time, she only managed to sky one to backward point, the umpires, after a brief consultation upstairs, deeming it a legal delivery. Rodrigues holed out to long-on, but India’s own collapse was orchestrated by de Klerk, who struck twice in the space of three balls to send back Deepti and a dangerous-looking Harmeenpreet, who swung across the line of a straight one to be trapped in front. Despite those wickets, the lower order managed to eke out some vital runs that took India to 130, which proved sufficient.