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Manchester City may have one eye on the Club World Cup this summer, though they are refusing to relent in their pursuit of additions and could now be in a position to land one of PSG’s leading stars.

Man City's changing dynamics this summer

The end of a trophyless campaign for Pep Guardiola at Manchester City appears to have only fueled his desire to ensure his side doesn’t end up empty-handed next time out.

Fortunately, the Club World Cup will offer a quickfire chance to atone for a year without silverware alongside a bounty of nearly £100 million for the eventual winners of the competition.

Of course, Manchester City are hardly struggling for cash. Still, a sizeable extra windfall would allow more room for manoeuvre in their quest to rejuvenate a squad that will see some experienced figures depart over the summer.

Kevin De Bruyne appears to be on his way to Napoli and bows out as possibly the Citizens’ greatest ever player, leaving a void to be filled not only in the engine room but in terms of leadership.

Jack Grealish could be on his way to Tottenham Hotspur after becoming a spare part. Although his influence has waned in recent times, there is no doubt that his experience has helped to set a culture of success inside the Manchester City dressing room.

Related Hugo Viana makes £40m+ Man City offer to sign Brazilian ahead of Man Utd

The Citizens are looking to steal a march on their rivals…

Posts BySean Markus Clifford May 30, 2025

AC Milan star Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Ait-Nouri could arrive to work under Guardiola. Nevertheless, their prospective moves don’t undermine the need for stars capable of producing match-winning moments to arrive, no matter where they may feature on the pitch.

Man City eye surprise Gianluigi Donnarumma move

According to CaughtOffside, Manchester City have made contact over a move for Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma if number one Ederson is sold this summer.

The Brazil international is attracting interest from clubs in the Saudi Pro League and could be allowed to leave for just over £25 million if appropriate offers come in.

Gianluigi Donnarumma in 2024/25 – all competitions

Appearances

40

Clean sheets

12

Goals conceded

39

On the other hand, former AC Milan star Donnarumma is in the middle of a contract wrangle with Paris Saint-Germain and is also being tracked by Arsenal, Manchester United, Inter Milan and Juventus, with City also registering their interest.

Intriguingly, he has been labelled a “top goalkeeper” by Guardiola back in 2017 and won’t have done himself any harm after picking up the Champions League trophy last weekend.

Speaking about his future at the French giants, Donnarumma stated: “New deal or leaving? We will see what happens… I don’t know.

‘It’s time to enjoy this magic season now. I will go on holiday and then we will see.”

From a Manchester City standpoint, that doesn’t sound like a man who has completely ruled out the prospect of playing elsewhere next term. Now, it is over to their recruitment staff to try and tempt the £205,000 per week earner to English shores.

Both teams had equal support as the Champions Trophy arrived at Gaddafi Stadium and England seemed like they had killed off the game, but who could ever really bet against Australia?

Danyal Rasool22-Feb-20252:04

Agar: Inglis controlled the innings, the rest could bat around him

The crowd had left their seats, preparing to head out. It had been a long day, and they had seen by far the best game of the tournament. They pooled up at the front of the stands; perhaps they’d catch one more over. And then Alex Carey clothed one to mid-off. Glenn Maxwell was coming in, so they couldn’t leave before giving him the biggest cheer of the evening and watching a little show.Mark Wood came straight into the attack, the tournament’s fastest bowler who had bowled England’s quickest-ever opening ODI spell at the top of the innings. This, perhaps, was the contest distilled to its most electric – matchwinner pitted against matchwinner, the outcome of this mini-context potentially decisive to the larger result.Wood set three men on the rope on the leg side, including a square leg, for the first ball to Maxwell. For someone who had bowled more balls in excess of 150kph than anyone else in this tournament combined, it didn’t take a great deal of imagination to work out what he was threatening. Instead, he went full. But Maxwell doesn’t need time at the crease to recognise a bluff when he sees one. He latched onto it, pummeling it through the cover region left vacant to lend credibility to that bluff. Four.There was no pretense for the next ball as Wood arrowed it in search of the yorker, but once more, Maxwell wasn’t backing down. He lifted this one over mid-on. Four more. The crowd didn’t move, not even to go back to their seats. Lahore’s post-match traffic may be a nightmare to deal with, but missing any of this would be worse.

****

Every seat at the Gaddafi was sold out for this game, and yet it was never quite clear what the people wanted. There is veneration in Pakistan for Australia’s relentless assault on the biggest trophies, while England’s white-ball revolution over the past decade has brought with it a new generation of young fans, especially as the country is one of the biggest exporters of talent to the Pakistan Super League.Related

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Duckett delivers but England fall flat again to put tournament on the line

By the time the game drew near its enthralling finale, though, the overwhelming sense that gripped this ground was one of inevitability. The stadium may not have held an ICC event for the best part of 30 years; indeed, the last such game at this ground was perhaps the last of an era where an Australian triumph on these occasions wasn’t fait accompli.A lot has happened in the three decades since, and plenty of it has happened to this crowd. As Australia clawed their way back into a game England thought they had finished off, no one would have felt surer of an Australian win than those gathered around this venue.It was Australia that came in with an attack that was part Sheffield Shield part Big Bash League; it would be something of a mathematical violation to maintain the whole added up to an ODI bowling unit. It was their best bowler – Adam Zampa – who Ben Duckett had thoroughly bested, plundering 50 off the 36 balls he faced en route a Champions Trophy record 165, leaving Australia comprehensively deprived of wicket-taking options.Josh Inglis’ innings was laden with boundaries•Associated PressWhen, in defence of 351, Wood and Jofra Archer breathed early fire to send back Australia’s most explosive batter and their best one in quick succession, the remainder of the game threatened to become an English victory procession. They even did what Australia couldn’t in the middle overs, spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone combining to remove Marnus Labuschagne and Matthew Short, who had built up a sneakily menacing 95-run stand which kept Australia in touch with the asking rate. Now, alongside Carey, it was all up to Josh Inglis, ODI average a tick above 23.However, Australia follow a strategy of personal incredulity in these events, as if Real Madrid had suddenly descended on a cricket field and dyed their kit canary yellow. For this side, there isn’t so much regression to the mean as there is eternal servitude to history, where past success guarantees future triumph. Two overs after that double-blow, Carey lifted Livingstone – one of England’s two compromise bowlers, the price they were paying for an extra batter – for two boundaries, and at the halfway mark Australia were just ten runs behind England at the same stage. The game entered a tug of war as England, still notionally with the upper hand, remained content as long as the floodgates didn’t open.But with wickets suddenly drying up, Australia were always destined to be in control of the final sprint. England had done exceptionally well not to let their middle overs with the bat – a recent Achilles heel – derail their innings, prioritising wicket preservation while milking the middle overs. ODI sides have averaged 151 dot balls in full innings since the 2023 World Cup, or just over half their full quota. For England, this was down to just 107, a near 15% drop. However, they had not made the most of the platform they constructed, only 83 coming off the final ten overs even as Australia turned to their fifth and sixth bowlers at the death; Labuschagne bowled two of the last three overs.Glenn Maxwell helped add the finished touches•Associated PressSo, by that time the crowd were stealing a few late peeks at Maxwell against Wood, they stood not to see an outcome decided, but an inevitable heist completed. The following over, Inglis slapped Brydon Carse for one six before scooping him for another, and he whacked an Archer slower ball into the Imtiaz Ahmed Stand at midwicket three balls later to bring up his hundred. Maxwell, now primed against Wood, whacked him for another six and a four; he would finish with 31 off 11 balls from Wood and Archer. The coup de grace came from Inglis, of course, a six off Wood when just two were needed; he had added almost a fifth of his runs tally built up over 28 ODIs across one Lahore evening. The last 70 runs of the chase had taken just 33 balls.It was only after that final Inglis blow that Gaddafi Stadium, in unison, turned around and began to walk away. It remained impossible to say if this was the outcome they wanted; St George’s Cross and the Southern Cross had been seen in equal measure in the stands. But even as the foe that has dealt them more pain than any other inaugurated their gleaming new stadium by laying their dreaded hex on it, they had smiles on their faces. It felt much nicer when it was happening to someone else.

History for Bangladesh but Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott will move on quickly from 3-0 loss

Matt Roller14-Mar-2023As Hasan Mahmud’s full toss scudded into Chris Woakes’ front pad to seal Bangladesh’s whitewash-clinching 16-run victory in Mirpur, it marked the end of a long and winding English winter. Exactly six months prior, the first squad of the offseason boarded their plane to Karachi via Dubai for the first of six tours; on Wednesday, the last men standing will return home from Dhaka.Little wonder, then, that England’s performance in Tuesday night’s dead-rubber T20I lacked focus. They were slipshod in the field, with Rehan Ahmed and Ben Duckett both dropping straightforward catches; the first prompted Jofra Archer to put his hand over his face, while the second drew a resigned laugh. Only a substitute teacher wheeling a VCR player onto the outfield could have added to England’s end-of-term vibe.The gap in intensity between the sides was most apparent in the run chase, when the game turned on Jos Buttler’s run-out. The ball after Dawid Malan fell, slashing Mustafizur Rahman behind, Buttler ran through for a single after Ben Duckett had chopped into the covers. Buttler scampered through, but was ball-watching just long enough that Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s athletic pick-up-and-throw caught him just short of his crease.Related

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“I’m really disappointed in myself for not diving,” Buttler said afterwards. “You should be fully committed to making that run… it potentially cost us the game.” From 100 for 1 after 13 overs, England managed 42 runs off the next 42 balls to fall 16 runs short.It was, Matthew Mott admitted, England’s worst performance out of three bad ones in the T20I leg of this tour. “I thought our first 15 overs in the field were nowhere near the level we’d expect,” Mott said. “We really wanted to finish well here… the lead-in was good, everyone was up and about.”But for whatever reason, we just couldn’t get clean hands on the ball, either in the air or on the ground. We showed a bit of ticker at the back end… [but] they were still at least 15-20 over par on that wicket. That one hurts today. To finish the way we did today will leave a bit of a sour taste in our mouths.”Mott’s defence of their decision not to bring a sixth batter echoed Buttler’s own comments after the second game, and underlined the sense that England saw results in this series as an irrelevance. “If you look at how many players we’ve exposed this year alone, we’ve gone a fair way down the depth charts,” Mott said.ESPNcricinfo Ltd”The realisation [was] that we’re probably better off investing in some batters that were put under pressure in these games. You only learn from your mistakes: the opportunities that they’ve been given here will give them time to reflect and when we get into pressure situations in World Cups. I’m confident it was the right decision.”The overall sense is that this tour will be swiftly forgotten by England – if not their hosts, who will justifiably use the result to underline their progress in T20Is and, perhaps, to question why they have not been deemed worthy of a reciprocal visit for the last 13 years.From afar, this series has felt like cricket for the sake of broadcasting commitments and the fulfilment of contracts. The ODIs offered genuine value for both sides, representing competitive cricket in relevant conditions seven months before the 2023 World Cup; England have treated the T20Is like an afterthought.And perhaps they have been right to. These fixtures were initially meant to represent preparation for the 2021 T20 World Cup in India – which was later changed to the UAE – but were postponed by 18 months as part of the pandemic-induced schedule crunch, elbowed out of the way by the second half of that year’s IPL.For the past three years, England have played so often that it can be tricky to remember which series is preparation for which tournament. These T20Is were framed as opportunities for their 50-over squad, but were also their first since they won the World Cup four months ago, yet their title defence is only 14 months away.England have been stretched by tours to five different countries this winter•BCBWho could blame the ECB’s staff for breathing a collective sigh of relief on Tuesday evening? Three years and one day after England abandoned their tour of Sri Lanka, rushing home in time for the UK’s first lockdown, their Covid backlog of fixtures is finally over. In that time, they have played 127 times across formats – only India have played more – of which 72 have been overseas.England have used 35 different players this winter across five different countries, with countless others travelling around the world as support staff, unused squad members and administrators on diplomatic duty. There is hardly time for them to touch base at home before they are off again, back on the county grind or at the IPL.It has been a gruelling treadmill; as double world champions and the world’s must-watch Test team, England have set the pace for so much of this winter that they could afford to slip off right at the end. While every game of international cricket should matter, some matter more than others. In truth, this was not one of them.

Six months after an incident-free tournament overseas, there was no room for error this time given the ground situation

Nagraj Gollapudi05-May-2021A resurgent pandemic with new strains, multiple positive cases within the eight IPL teams – including a few inside their bubbles – and the variables thrown up by the logistics: venues spread across India and the need for air travel. These were some of the key health-related points of difference between IPL 2020, staged in the UAE, and IPL 2021, which was postponed halfway through on Tuesday.Host cities
There were only three venues, all a drive away from each other, in IPL 2020: Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. The day the tournament began, the UAE had 674 new cases; it crossed 1000 a week into the tournament and stayed at that level right through (1096 new cases on the day of the final).By contrast, all six venues in this IPL – Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad – were hotspots when the IPL started. Mumbai, one of the first venues in the schedule, itself reported more than 10,000 new cases on April 6 and India’s total number of daily new cases in the week leading up to the tournament start was 100,000. The graph just kept going up: by Tuesday, May 4, when the IPL was postponed indefinitely, India was recording more than 350,000 new cases every day and 3500 deaths; the pandemic’s epicentre had shifted to Delhi, which alone was recording 20,000 cases every day and more than 400 deaths on a daily basis.What this meant was that any departure from the team bubbles would incur a hugely magnified risk – as is likely to have happened with the Kolkata Knight Riders’ Varun Chakravarthy, who tested positive on May 3. It is believed that Chakravarthy left the biosecure bubble (but followed protocols through the official “green channel”) to get a scan on an injured shoulder and that is one possible spot where he might have contracted the virus.Ahead of IPL 2020, every member of every franchise attended a workshop on Covid-19 to understand the guidelines put in place•BCCITravel
Probably the biggest point of concern for several franchises. In the UAE, the eight teams were based in Dubai or Abu Dhabi and travelled across the three venues by road using their own hired transport. At no instance would they have come in contact with someone outside the bubble.This year, though, teams travelled across four different cities, and all of it by air. Though the commute was on charter flights, and using private airports where possible including separate entry and exit points, there were still a lot of potential gaps in the bubble. For example, teams needed to undergo security checks at airports before boarding and after landing, which meant coming in contact with security persons outside the bubble – a loophole the franchises were concerned about.The concerns were first underscored when former India wicketkeeper Kiran More, who is part of the Mumbai Indians’ set-up, tested positive just before the tournament’s start (but while in the team bubble); it is believed he got exposed to the virus at an airport. More had checked into the team bubble in Mumbai in March, before the entire squad flew to Chennai, where they began the defence of their title. That a positive case emerged in a well-prepared franchise like Mumbai, which created its own bubble as early as in February, put other franchises on high alert.Covid-19 education and management
About a couple of weeks ahead of IPL 2020, every member of every franchise in the UAE dialled into a virtual call to attend a workshop on Covid-19 and understand the guidelines put in place in a biosecure environment, which was new to almost everyone at the time. This session was conducted by the BCCI’s medical experts, including Dr Abhijit Salvi, the board’s chief medical officer and anti-doping expert, as well as Nitin Patel, the Indian men’s team physiotherapist.The audience didn’t just hear the dos and don’ts, but also heard what the virus is and how it could transmit, and consequently, why it was important to respect rules in the biosecure bubble.There was no such session organised in 2021. This despite fears shared by players and coaches across teams, who were anxious about the surging infection rates across India. Around March 19, all stakeholders were handed the standard operating procedures about the medical protocol.A red carpet at the entrance to a ground is sanitised•Ron Gaunt/BCCIAnother difference from the last IPL was the absence of two key digital applications that helped monitor not just the health of the people in the bubble, but also tracked their movements. As soon as a person checked into the IPL bubble in the UAE, they had to download a Covid-monitoring app on a digital device. A thermometer and an oximeter, in some team hotels, had been provided to gather the individual’s health parameters, primarily meant to monitor any symptoms for Covid-19. This self-declaration was mandatory, and had to be submitted daily. Repeated failure to do so would prompt a hefty monetary fine for the individual. The person would be denied entry at the three venues, including for training, as the accreditation barcode was synced to the GPS tracker and health data app. Such a check-and-balance exercise, franchises have pointed out, was beneficial because if someone had symptoms, it was picked up quickly and the potential spread was curbed.Movement tracker
In the UAE, every member in the IPL bubble had to wear a GPS-tracking fob device around their necks like a pendant. This device tracked the person’s movements within the bubble and triggered a beep if there was any breach where the individual had crossed over into a zone where s/he was not permitted access. This was done by creating a geo fence within the bubble with pre-defined boundaries. Every individual had a distinct fob, with specified in-built boundaries based on the individual’s occupation. This tracker was outsourced to a UK-based agency for the 2020 IPL.Related

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However, in 2021, the BCCI engaged an India-based firm; franchises received the GPS trackers, in the form of a wrist watch, only on April 11, two days after the tournament had started and three matches had been played. The device was meant to track the person’s movements as well as log in the body temperature. A person had to download an app, called IPL BioTrack, on his/her personal phone where the data would be collected. But several franchises said that the device started to log in outdated data. One franchise wanted data from their second leg of IPL matches, but the data provided was from the first leg.Due to its unreliability, by the time the second leg of the IPL had commenced, members from several franchises confirmed they had stopped wearing the device because it had either stopped working abruptly or had hung. It is understood that franchises had to return the devices days before the IPL was postponed after being told the batteries would be changed.Bubble-integrity managers
In 2021, for the first time, the IPL appointed monitors in the form of bubble-integrity managers, up to four per franchise. Their sole job was to report any bubble breaches by squad members. However, franchises narrated incidents of their inefficient functioning – in one case, a manager was caught on camera leaving his room while in hard quarantine at one of the team hotels. Another incident involved some of these managers leaving the bubble boundaries during a live match to smoke. It is understood that more than one franchise questioned the IPL about the qualification of the officers, who are believed to have originally served as security liaison officers in previous editions of the IPL.Quarantine protocols
The IPL laid out quarantine rules both for before entering the bubble, and once inside the biosecure environment. The quarantine rules ranged from serving a hard weeklong period inside the team hotel and clearing mandatory tests before starting to train. In the case of any positive or asymptomatic case, the isolation period varied between a week and ten days outside the team bubble. The protocols applied not just for squads, but also for the franchise management as well as owners and family members.Devdutt Padikkal not serving a hard quarantine before the start of IPL 2021 had raised eyebrows•BCCIHowever, the inconsistency of the protocols was highlighted by the case of the Royal Challengers Bangalore batter Devdutt Padikkal, who tested positive on March 22. It is not known when exactly Padikkal tested positive, but the franchise said he had done home isolation of ten days.Subsequently, Padikkal travelled by road from his home in Bengaluru to Chennai, where his team was based during the first leg of the IPL, and even participated in training. Rival franchises questioned the logic behind allowing Padikkal to join the Royal Challengers’ training session without having undergone the mandatory quarantine and the testing process mentioned in the SOP. Franchises asked why the IPL did not allow senior franchise management officials or owners into the IPL bubble, subject to them clearing the required tests.Stadia
Both the 2020 and 2021 editions of the IPL were played behind closed doors. In the UAE, all venues were cordoned off with only authorised personnel allowed in. This edition, too, the IPL created different layers within the bubble at the stadia, with no one allowed to enter the area demarcated for the players and match officials. This included the groundsmen and the officials of the local state associations. The risk was highlighted in early April, when a swathe of groundstaff at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, which hosted ten matches in the first leg of the tournament, tested positive, forcing the Mumbai Cricket Association to quickly find replacements from other venues within the city.It was shown up again in Delhi, where it is understood that two members of the groundstaff at the Feroz Shah Kotla, who were not at the ground over the May 1-2 weekend, had tested positive and had been placed in quarantine.Another example relating the vulnerability of the bubble was narrated by an official at one of the four franchises based in Delhi. This official said when his team was training at the Roshanara ground, owned by a private members-only club, in Delhi, the boundaries were porous and trespassers could easily access the zone where the team was training. There was barely any security to stop them, which was not the case during the first leg in Chennai and Mumbai. It is understood that a few of the club’s members wandered around the training making the squad members apprehensive. By Wednesday, two of the four franchises based in Delhi – the Chennai Super Kings and the Sunrisers Hyderabad – had reported four positive cases.

The Chicago Cubs have one of the best records in MLB so far this season, and the Cubbies don't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. They are considered strong World Series contenders, arguably for the first time since they broke the 108-year curse in 2016.

In order to reach the World Series in October, there are a few positions the Cubs might like to upgrade ahead of the trade deadline on Thursday, July 31. The Cubs are expected to make at least one major move, if not multiple, by the deadline.

Who could be joining superstars like Pete Crow-Armstrong, who is one of the NL MVP favorites this season, Kyle Tucker and Dansby Swanson? Here's some players the Cubs have been attached to in trade rumors, and those who would be the best fits for Chicago.

Positions Needed

The biggest need for the Cubs right now is pitching, plain and simple. The team's season got off to a rocky start in the pitching regard as ace Justin Steele underwent elbow surgery in April to cost him the entire 2025 season. Chicago was also without All-Star Shota Imanaga in May and June after he suffered a hamstring strain. He returned to the Cubs' rotation this month. Matthew Boyd earned an All-Star bid this season, but outside of him and Imanaga, the pitchers are less reliable.

Without as much star power in the bullpen as in years past, Cubs pitchers have slacked in some statistical categories. The team ranks 27th in MLB in strikeouts (764), for instance. However, in other categories, the pitching staff has thrived. The Cubs have posted 12 shutouts this season, the second most in the league. The team's combined ERA is at 3.86 this season, which is middle of the pack.

Outside of pitching, the least stable position on the field for the Cubs right now is third base. Rookie Matt Shaw has done a pretty good job manning the position, but he doesn't stand out as much as his fellow Cubs stars in the lineup. He is the only rookie out on the field for Chicago, so the team may want add a veteran player to the hot corner for the remainder of the season.

Trade Targets for the CubsTrade Target 1: MacKenzie Gore — Starting Pitcher, Nationals

Everton have now reportedly been contacted with the opportunity to sign an international striker who has been likened to Erling Haaland in recent years.

Barry reveals Everton "ambition" after first goal

When Iliman Ndiaye drove beyond chasing Nottingham Forest defenders before gift-wrapping the perfect chance for Thierno Barry to break his duck against Nottingham Forest, there wouldn’t have been a more relieved person inside The Hill Dickinson Stadium than the £27m signing.

The forward, now off the mark, has already set his sights on a key Everton “ambition” after finding the back of the net for the first time since his move from Villarreal in the summer.

Everton have every right to be thinking about European football after 15 Premier League games. The Toffees currently find themselves as high as seventh and just two points adrift of Crystal Palace inside the top four.

The January transfer window could help turn that ambition into a reality. The Friedkin Group already backed David Moyes in the summer, welcoming some of the club’s most expensive ever arrivals and could yet do the same when the winter window opens next month.

Best signing since Ndiaye: 9/10 star is Everton's "most important" player

This Everton star shone in their 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest

ByJoe Nuttall Dec 7, 2025

On that front, the search for a striker is still on despite Barry’s goal drought coming to an end. The likes of Joshua Zirkzee are beginning to emerge as serious options, with Everton reportedly ready to pounce in the race to secure his signature.

What’s more, the Toffees are also reportedly among the clubs to be offered the chance to sign Evan Ferguson in the January transfer window as he looks to finally revive his career.

Everton offered chance to sign Ferguson

Everton have now been contacted with the chance to sign Ferguson, according to TeamTalk, with AS Roma likely to bring his loan spell to an end next month.

The 21-year-old was supposed to get back to his best in Italy, but has scored just once in 14 games. A much-needed move has turned into a nightmare spell.

Everton, however, know all about getting players back to their best. Jack Grealish was becoming a forgotten star at Manchester City. Now, he’s thriving under Moyes. The same can be said for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who has become one of Everton’s most important players despite struggling at Chelsea last season.

Now, Ferguson could be next in line. The potential is certainly there, too. At 21 years old, the Republic of Ireland international is still a few years away from his peak and Everton should look to land what could prove to be an undeniable bargain next month.

Style-wise, Ferguson would arguably suit the current, physical version of the Premier League, especially given that Gary Lineker once compared him with Haaland – saying: “I don’t want to get carried away but I do see a hint of Haaland about him. His stature and his movement and stuff like that. His youth, as well.”

Dewsbury-Hall repeat: PL talent ready to leave his club with Everton keen

Garrett Crochet took a stand last July, and that decision has now paid off.

Crochet, then with the Chicago White Sox, was one of the hottest names on the trade block last summer, but ultimately did not get traded before the deadline. Though MLB players often have little leverage in trade situations, Crochet used what he had by making it clear he would not pitch for a team that didn't plan on signing him to a long-term contract extension.

In the offseason, the White Sox would trade Crochet to the Red Sox, who signed him to a six-year, $170 million contract extension this week, a historic deal for a pitcher with four-plus years of service.

At his press conference after signing the extension, Crochet reflected on how his stand last July lead him to joining the Red Sox and now earning this massive deal.

“Who knows what really were to happen if we weren’t to, somewhat take a stand for ourselves," Crochet said Friday, via Tom Carroll. "You know as a player, there’s not a lot of opportunity for you to have control of a situation. But it all led to being acquired by a team like the Boston Red Sox who wanted to make that mutual commitment. So I hope it could serve as a reminder for players that you have control of situations more than you think."

The extension is especially important for a player like Crochet, who only completed his first season as a starting pitcher in 2024. Prior, Crochet was a reliever and had missed time in recent seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Crochet became a starter, All-Star, and the AL Comeback Player of the Year in 2024, easily the best season of his career. His performance also meant that Crochet time could maximize his earnings as he exponentially increased his value as a player.

The Red Sox rewarded Crochet, and so far the 25-year-old pitcher has provided a strong return for Boston. In his first game after signing the extension, Crochet pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk while striking out eight. Over his first two starts with the Red Sox, Crochet is 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA and 12 strikeouts.

Litchfield and Mooney’s half-centuries for Australia went in vain

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Sep-2025Alice Capsey and Sarah Glenn headlined England’s four-wicket victory over Australia in their Women’s World Cup warm-up match in Bengaluru. After the legspinner claimed 5 for 32 to dismantle Australia’s middle and lower order, Capsey anchored the chase with an unbeaten 88.After a shaky start, Australia found stability through Phoebe Litchfield’s 71. However, after her dismissal, wickets continued to fall at regular intervals. Beth Mooney was forced to come in unusually low at No. 9, where she counterattacked with an unbeaten 59 off just 42 balls. Despite her efforts, Australia were bowled out for 247 in 34.4 overs.In reply, England suffered an early collapse, slipping to 32 for 3, but Sophia Dunkley and Emma Lamb steadied the innings with their half-centuries. But it was Capsey who was the difference-maker, pacing the chase well to take England home with 5.3 overs to spare.Kim Garth was the pick of the Australia bowlers, taking 2 for 17, but lacked support as the English batting line-up found its rhythm.

Callum McGregor and substitute Callum Osmand scored in extra-time as Celtic emerged victors in an epic Premier Sports Cup semi-final against 10-man Rangers at Hampden Park.

With former Hoops boss Martin O’Neill back in the dugout as interim manager after taking over from Brendan Rodgers last Monday – along with Shaun Maloney – Celtic took the lead through Johnny Kenny after 25 minutes and then Gers midfielder Thelo Aasgaard was shown a straight red card by referee Nick Walsh for a reckless challenge on Anthony Ralston.

The Ibrox side, with new head coach Danny Rohl taking charge of his first Old Firm game, fought back in the second half with captain James Tavernier levelling from the spot in the 81st minute to take the game to extra-time.

However, McGregor thundered in a goal three minutes after the restart, before teenager Osmand scored his first Celtic goal 15 minutes later for a 3-1 win which sets up a meeting with St Mirren in the final on December 14 at the national stadium.

An exhausting afternoon began with Celtic quickly into their stride. Japan striker Daizen Maeda was through and shot straight at Jack Butland but the Gers goalkeeper was as bemused as anyone seconds later when Ibrox defender Nasser Djiga’s attempted clearance cannoned off midfielder Nicolas Raskin and ended up in the Rangers net, only for VAR to confirm Maeda was offside in the build-up.

Moments later, Gers striker Youssef Chermiti missed the target from six yards after Mohamed Diomande had picked him out.

However, when Kenny jumped highest in the box to head in an Arne Engels corner with barely a challenge from four blue jerseys around him, Celtic were deservedly ahead.

Butland saved a powerful Kenny drive before Hoops keeper Kasper Schmeichel blocked a Raskin drive with his leg after a Gers counter, then Chermiti failed to connect properly with Tavernier’s free-kick when only two yards from goal.

When the hitherto anonymous Aasgaard was sent packing for a needless lunge at Ralston, Rangers’ task became even more difficult.

There were loud and angry Gers shouts for a red card when Celtic defender Auston Trusty left his boot on Butland’s face after the keeper had gathered the ball but Walsh produced only a yellow.

What VAR said on Trusty yellow card in Celtic vs Rangers

Talking about the incident at half-time on Premier Sports, it was confirmed that “VAR said” Trusty’s challenge was “reckless” but was still only worthy of a yellow card.

Better than Ange: Celtic reach out to hire "tactically unbeatable" manager

MatériaMais Notícias

Mano Menezes será um pilar importante para a decisão do Corinthians sobre a renovação ou não com o meia Renato Augusto, que tem contrato até o fim da temporada. Após fazer um contato breve com o jogador nas últimas semanas referindo-se ao assunto, a diretoria atual optou por não abrir negociação e deixar a escolha para a próxima gestão, que será eleita no dia 25 de novembro.

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Antecessor de Mano, Vanderlei Luxemburgo era contra firmar um novo contrato com o meio-campista, principalmente por duas temporadas, período que o atleta acenou que desejaria renovar para encerrar a sua carreira com a camisa corintiana em 2025.

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No caso de André Luiz de Oliveira, o André Negão, ser eleito na disputa presidencial marcada para o dia 25 de novembro, Mano Menezes deve seguir no comando do Timão e será consultado para que a diretoria tome a decisão sobre o futuro de Renato Augusto na equipe do Parque São Jorge.

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A resposta de Mano vai depender dos jogos que o camisa 8 fará até o fim do ano. O treinador sabe que a sua responsabilidade a médio e longo prazo é liderar um projeto de renovação do elenco corintiano. Porém, ele gosta do futebol de Renato e tem o desejo de contar com o jogador neste período de transição. Isso, no entanto, só vai acontecer se o meia tiver uma regularidade de jogos e sofra menos com as questões físicas que tanto tem atrapalhado ele nas duas últimas temporadas.

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Por outro lado, com uma vitória eleitoral de Augusto Mello, que é o candidato à presidência do Corinthians pela oposição, a tendência é que Mano não siga à frente do time. É aí que o futuro de Renato se transformará em uma total incógnita, já que a tendência será pela contratação de um treinador estrangeiro. 

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Tite era o preferido de ambos os candidatos, e também da atual diretoria, mas recusou quatro investidas do Timão e acertou com o Flamengo.

Os dados que serão colhidos pela preparação física também serão fundamentais para a decisão sobre Renato. Principalmente porque o departamento está cada vez mais ligado ao núcleo de saúde e performance, que é liderado pelo fisioterapeuta Bruno Mazziotti. Ele, por sua vez, é bastante próximo de Renato e busca fazer de tudo para que o meia tenha mais regularidade.

A influência de Bruno sobre as melhores formas de alguns atletas se portarem para evitar problemas físicos é grande, a ponto de interferir para um clima pesado entre o fisioterapeuta e Luxa.

Se a diretoria em questão decidir pela renovação de Renato, a tendência é que novas bases sejam conversadas, com o jogador tendo que reduzir o seu padrão salarial. É possível também que seja costurado um acordo de rendimento e produtividade atrelado a uma possível extensão por mais uma temporada para que, caso o meia evolua nas suas apresentações e sofra menos com lesões, consiga o tão sonhado contrato até 2025 para encerrar a sua carreira no Timão.