Sunderland have stormed back up to the Premier League in style.

The Black Cats had been absent from the top-flight since the 2016/17 season, with Jermain Defoe still leading the line for the Wearside outfit that campaign.

Now, however, they’re back, with a new batch of Defoe-like heroes instantly announcing themselves to the rest of the promised land in an emphatic 3-0 win on the opening day.

It is, of course, unrealistic to anticipate that Sunderland will wipe the floor with all their competition in the higher tier in this vibrant, free-flowing manner.

But it’s an extremely positive sign so early on that indicates they’re here to shine, rather than merely survive, as more new signings are expected to link up with Regis Le Bris and Co. before the transfer window shuts.

Sunderland submit £27m bid for attacker

The Black Cats have been forking out significant wads of cash all across the action-packed window to date.

At the time of writing, Sunderland have splashed in the region of £141.5m on 12 new assets, with Nordi Mukiele their latest addition from Paris St. Germain for a fee around the £12m mark.

Don’t expect this spending to go hush anytime soon, either, with Jhon Lucumi now reportedly back on the Sunderland radar in the centre-back positions, as an official bid has even been placed.

Away from enhancing their defensive options, another bid has also allegedly been lodged by the ambitious Black Cats for the services of Leicester City attacker Abdu Fatawu, according to journalist Eduardo Burgos.

That bid, worth about £27m, has since been rejected according to Burgos, but Sunderland will hope they can still land the Foxes number seven, who will no doubt be desperate for a Premier League return after Leicester’s relegation.

Securing a deal for the entertaining Ghanaian to join the club could see the top-flight newcomers seal a Simon Adingra repeat, as another gung-ho forward potentially joins Le Bris’ ranks, ready to make survival look like a breeze.

How Fatawu can be an Adingra repeat

While he hasn’t been credited with an assist for Daniel Ballard’s bullet header on all major outlets, Adingra still played a vital role in that goal, sending the vast majority of the Stadium of Light into momentary pandemonium as his deflected cross ended up being inch-perfect for the ex-Arsenal defender to connect with.

Sunderland fans will hope there’s plenty more to come from their fresh £21m recruit, too, having shown flashes of his excellence for former employers Brighton and Hove Albion, before being discarded.

A promising 11 goals and assists came the Ivorian’s way during his up-and-down stay on the South Coast, with his final season under Fabian Hurzeler only seeing him collect two goals and two assists from 29 contests, as he started just 12 league matches all campaign long.

Now, he will hope he has the luxury of extended periods in the side, with Fatawu also hopeful he can spark into life even more on Wearside, after an injury-disrupted period last season with Leicester saw relegation heartbreakingly occur.

Fatawu’s career record with Leicester

Stat

Fatawu

Games played

58

Games missed through injury

29

Goals scored

7

Assists

15

Promotions

1

Sourced by Transfermarkt

Even with that nasty injury setback derailing him, Fatawu has still managed to show off his class regularly at the King Power Stadium, with a standout seven goals and 15 assists next to his name from 58 clashes in the East Midlands.

Two of those assists even came about for the silky 21-year-old in the Premier League last season, before a serious cruciate ligament injury stopped him in his tracks and left him with just 11 paltry appearances in the top division.

He will hope he’s handed an opportunity to shine in the elite league once more with Le Bris’ men, having once been dubbed “unplayable” on his day by scout Jacek Kulig when tearing up the EFL with the Foxes.

Adingra has also been spoken about in the same glowing manner before, with football analyst Ben Mattinson once heralding the Black Cats number 24 as “explosive”, as the attacking pair prepare to run rings around Premier League defences together to ensure survival is comfortably reached.

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Noman Ali and Sajid Khan put on a spin-bowling masterclass on a surface they found to their tastes, taking nine of the ten wickets to skittle West Indies out for 137 in less than a session. Either side of that, Pakistan fared better with the bat, putting up 230 in the first innings despite a collapse after Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan’s 141-run stand was broken.But they pulled away from the visitors in the final session with a commanding second-innings show with the bat. That was spearheaded by their captain Shan Masood, whose half-century drove Pakistan’s lead to 202 with seven wickets still in hand. The dominant story of a day when 19 wickets fell, though, came in the middle session, where West Indies had little answer to Noman and Sajid, who bowled all but 14 deliveries of their innings.Sajid started the dismantling in just his second over when he dismissed Mikyle Louis and Keacy Carty off successive balls, even as Carty fell thanks to a superb slip catch from Mohammad Hurraira. By the end of his third over, Sajid had four wickets as West Indies floundered, unable to either defend or attack against an unerringly accurate spin duo.Noman joined the fun, getting drift and turn to clip the edge of Justin Greaves’ off stump. It was the first of five wickets for the left-armer, who was beginning to get huge rip off the barely formed footmarks.As the innings proceeded, West Indies began to adopt a more bellicose outlook, trying to swindle some runs along the way. But there was limited success as multiple batters dragged it on to their stumps, before the final two partnerships flourished. Gudakesh Motie and Jomel Warrican began to play belligerent shots, with Warrican utilising the back of the bat while playing the reverse sweeps a handful of times.Shan Masood was adept against spin bowling•AFP/Getty Images

From 66 for 8 at one stage, West Indies added 71 for the last two wickets. After Motie and Warrican had a partnership of 25, it was only during the last-wicket stand between Warrican and Jayden Seales when West Indies dominated the spinners. Both batters connected cleanly as they hit the spinners over cow corner for multiple sixes.That forced Pakistan into bringing on Abrar Ahmed for the first time. Eventually, Abrar did end the partnership, but only after the pair had plundered 46 runs off 21 balls. Seales failed to pick up a googly and miscued it straight up, as Rizwan took the catch and ended the punchy counterattack.If West Indies thought that their collapse against spin meant they too would be among the wickets in the final session, Masood and Hurraira soon disabused them off that notion. Seales, whose pace and seam movement had made him the surprise pick of the bowlers on the first day, reprised his potent threat but without the wickets that would reflect this in the scorecard.Masood, meanwhile, was proactive in his use of the feet, and adept against spin bowling, eager to attack and expand the lead even further before the day was done. Some untidiness crept into the bowling; there were 12 byes as the spin became as tricky to handle for the bowlers as it was for the batters. But Warrican was dangerous with the one that carried on with the arm, and got both his wickets that way – Hurraira at first, before Babar Azam played for the spin and found himself rapped in front of middle.West Indies were unfortunate not to snare Kamran Ghulam too when a miscued sweep struck him on the arm as he got down low. The umpire raised the finger, although HawkEye, incongruously, projected the ball to be rising well above the stumps.Jomel Warrican took three wickets in the first innings, before hitting 31* with the bat•PCB

As if to compensate, West Indies were gifted the wicket of Masood. He called for a run and didn’t quite realise that Ghulam was well down the pitch in response, and found himself stranded in the middle of the pitch. Thus, Masood was left with little chance of getting to the non-striker’s end, before Warrican whipped the bails off.Earlier, during the morning session, West Indies took four wickets for 13 runs to trigger a Pakistan collapse. That started by breaking the stand between Shakeel and Rizwan, leaving West Indies two wickets away from wrapping the hosts up. Shakeel and Rizwan had begun with the same authority with which they had ended the first day. But once Kevin Sinclair snared Shakeel 16 short of what would have been his fifth Test hundred, Pakistan’s resistance melted away.Only a punchy rearguard partnership between Sajid and Khurram Shahzad prevented West Indies from running through the innings even sooner, but Pakistan were still bowled out for 230 on the stroke of lunch.West Indies had begun the day by sticking to disciplined and tight lines, at one point conceding six runs in seven overs as Seales and Warrican locked in. But neither batter offered up chances during this time, and when Pakistan negotiated the first hour without loss, West Indies were in danger of being shut out of the game.Saud Shakeel fell 16 short of what would have been his fifth Test hundred•AFP/Getty Images

But the first ball after drinks brought joy for West Indies. Sinclair lured Shakeel forward before getting the ball to grip, and then taking his edge. As if it had been forgotten, the pitch suddenly began to remind everyone how hostile it could be to batters against quality spin, as the ball hissed and spat off the surface.Salman Ali Agha was deceived in the flight from Warrican to drag on before Pakistan imploded. A bizarre mix-up between Rizwan and Noman saw the former turn his back on Noman to leave him unsuccessfully scrambling to return to the non-striker’s end. But an attempted reverse sweep off the next delivery ended Rizwan’s own innings, as a sharp review from West Indies finished Rizwan’s innings on 71.It was only an entertaining stand from Sajid and Shahzad that saw a few more runs flow for Pakistan, before the innings petered out. Sajid launched Sinclair over cow corner for six amid a little flurry as Pakistan added 25 quickfire runs. But Warrican returned to fold the innings, making short work of both, as West Indies took the last six wickets for 43 runs in a session of two halves. It was a harbinger for the rest of the day, when the wicket-taking continued unabated.

After opening day humiliation at the hands of newly-promoted Sunderland, West Ham United have reportedly launched their first approach to sign a Barcelona midfielder.

Potter: West Ham have to "improve" after Sunderland defeat

West Ham know all too well that the Premier League is a slippery slope towards shock relegation when teams get off to a disastrous start and must ensure that their defeat at Sunderland is a turning point in Graham Potter’s reign. Picking up where they left off last season, the Hammers were blunt going forward and vulnerable going the other way in what has been the trend of Potter’s tenure.

Having his say on a disappointing afternoon, Potter told reporters: “In the first half, I thought we were good. I thought we did lots well in terms of quieting the crowd down and creating some opportunities. We could have scored, I thought, but nevertheless, we felt OK.

“We started a bit slow in the second half, and from out of nowhere, a goal goes in and it becomes difficult. It was a game where probably the first goal, especially here with the environment, was going to be challenging for us. But we tried to push.

“But in trying to push, we opened ourselves up. The second goal’s a poor one – a mistake leads to a cheap set-piece, and then we didn’t do the basics well enough in the second phase. We haven’t done the basics well enough – it’s as simple as that, and we have to improve that.”

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That defeat may have been the wake-up call that those at the London Stadium needed both on the pitch and in the transfer window, however, with reports now indicating that they’ve made their first move for a Barcelona talent.

West Ham launch first Casado enquiry

As reported by Mundo Deportivo and relayed by Sport Witness, West Ham have now launched their first enquiry to sign Marc Casado from Barcelona. The Spanish giants reportedly value their midfielder at just €30m (£26m), which has sparked a race between the Hammers and Wolverhampton Wanderers to secure a bargain deal this month.

Minutes

1,611

2,380

Key Passes

0.50

1.36

Progressive Passes

5.98

5.87

Ball Recoveries

5.03

5.64

When compared to Lucas Paqueta last season, Casado’s quality becomes clear. Whilst he struggled to match the Brazilian when it came to key passes, the 21-year-old progressed play at an excellent standard, whilst also impressing when recovering possession.

Dubbed a “genius” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, the Barcelona ace still has plenty of room for improvement and plenty of years ahead of him to realise an ever-increasing potential.

For just £26m, West Ham would be landing an undeniable bargain and a player who would slot straight in as one of Potter’s most effective players this season.

Pep Guardiola has hinted he is surprised Manchester City are "apparently" not one of favourites to win this season's Champions League. City get their 2025-26 European campaign under way on Thursday evening when they play host to Serie A champions Napoli at the Etihad Stadium.

Man City behind Liverpool & Arsenal on list of favourites

Ahead of City’s return to the Champions League, many bookmakers believe Premier League rivals Liverpool and Arsenal have a greater chance of lifting Europe’s premier club competition. La Liga giants Real Madrid and Barcelona and reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain are also ahead of City in the bookmakers' odds.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportGuardiola indicates City are going under the radar

While opting not to delve too deeply into the discussion of favourites, Guardiola has indicated City are going under the radar as they prepare to launch their bid for a second Champions League crown. Guardiola led City to their first title just three seasons ago when they defeated Inter 1-0 in the 2022-23 showpiece.

What Guardiola said ahead of clash with Napoli

Speaking in a press conference ahead of Napoli’s visit to the Etihad, Guardiola said: "Apparently we are not [one of the favourites]. Enjoy the moment, the journey, we are happy to be here. In the past we have been [among the favourites]. We have won just once. It is a lot for the difficulty [of the competition] and we just focus on tomorrow, the game we have to play."

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City head into Napoli match on the back of derby delight

City head into the Napoli match in great spirits after downing rivals Manchester United 3-0 in the derby on Sunday. The result saw Guardiola’s men bounce back from successive Premier League defeats against Tottenham and Brighton before the international break.

The deal includes the two Tests in Galle and the pair of ODIs which provide preparation for the Champions Trophy

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jan-2025The Seven Network has stepped in to secure the rights for Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka, just 12 days before the first Test begins.Australian cricket fans were at risk of being plunged into a television black hole for the two Tests and two ODIs after no network had acquired the rights.But Seven, which broadcasts home Tests, women’s internationals, and the Big Bash League, will take on the entire tour through their free-to-air stations and on the 7plus app. The first Test in Galle, which starts on January 29, runs concurrently with the day-night Women’s Ashes Test at the MCG.Related

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“What this summer has shown us is that Australians absolutely love their cricket, and we cannot wait to deliver even more action as Australia takes on Sri Lanka,” Seven’s head of cricket Joel Starcevic said.Every men’s Test tour has been broadcast back to Australia for the past three decades. The last Test not shown in Australia was during the Pakistan tour in 1994.But this will be the first non-Ashes full overseas men’s Test tour shown on free-to-air TV in Australia since Mark Taylor’s team played in South Africa back in 1997, when Seven also had the rights. In 2023 they broadcast the World Test Championship final between Australia and India at The Oval.Foxtel has had a stranglehold on rights for Australia’s overseas matches since broadcasting tours of India and Pakistan back in 1998. They broadcast Australia’s most recent Test series in Sri Lanka in 2022.However, Foxtel has not regularly broadcast Test series from Sri Lanka not involving Australia, and therefore do not have a long-running agreement with them.Foxtel recently agreed to a sale to British-based sports streaming platform DAZN, but that is still to be finalised over the first six months of 2025.Amazon has won the rights to ICC events in the 2024-2027 cycle, including this year’s WTC final, but the streaming giant’s Australian arm is yet to dip its toe into bilateral series.

Fair to say, the start to this season has not gone as West Ham United supporters would’ve hoped.

After two rounds of Premier League games, the Hammers sit rock bottom of the table, having been smashed 3-0 by Sunderland and then 5-1 when Chelsea visited the London Stadium last Friday night. Tuesday’s Carabao Cup defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers has only further soured the mood.

Things don’t get much easier either, with the Irons travelling to Nottingham Forest on Sunday, before hosting fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur after the international break.

Having won just five of 20 league matches in charge, the pressure is intensifying on manager Graham Potter, so he’ll be desperate to bolster his squad before Monday’s deadline, seemingly targeting midfield reinforcements.

All change in West Ham's midfield

Since the sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal for £105m two summers ago, West Ham’s midfield has lacked quality.

Using some of that money, the Hammers signed Edson Álvarez, but the Mexican joined Fenerbahçe on a season-long loan last week, underlining that this transfer was not a success.

Now without him, Tomáš Souček and James Ward-Prowse started against Chelsea, while Guido Rodríguez and Andy Irving remained unused substitutes, which emphasises the real dearth of talent at Potter’s disposal, still searching for Rice’s true replacement.

Well, it appears as though West Ham are going to bolster their midfield options, close to signing Soungoutou Magassa from Monaco for a reported fee of €20m (around £17m).

The 21-year-old has, to date, made 57 appearances for the Ligue 1 side, his performances earning rave reviews.

Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout labels him “elegant” and the “complete midfielder” praising his “passing, tackling, positioning and athleticism”.

That certainly sounds promising doesn’t it, but could West Ham look to provide the Frenchman with a dream midfield partner?

West Ham chasing another midfielder

As reported earlier this week, West Ham are interested in signing Lorenzo Pellegrini from Roma before the deadline, with the player valued at around £9m.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

The 29-year-old has less than one year remaining on his contract with the Giallorossi, and is not in the plans of new manager Gian Piero Gasperini, hence why sporting director Frederic Massara stated “Pellegrini will leave… we won’t extend his contract and we are looking for a solution not to lose him as free agent”.

Despite seemingly being bombed out by boyhood club Roma, Pellegrini, who first joined la Lupi as an 11-year-old, has been a key figure at the Stadio Olimpico for many a year.

Aside from a two-year sojourn at Sassuolo between 2015 and 2017, the midfielder is a one-club man, accumulating 316 appearances for Roma, scoring 55 goals and registering 59 assists, captaining them to Conference League glory in 2022.

As they seek to force him out, Pellegrini was not involved in Saturday night’s Serie A opener against Bologna, but was a key figure last season, accumulating 34 appearances, starting 20 league matches and five times in the Europa League, with only eight outfield players seeing more minutes across all competitions.

Ivan Jurić, who was briefly in charge of Roma for 12 games last season, asserted that Pellegrini “moves like a god”, earning plenty of high praise from other former head coaches too.

José Mourinho claims that he “can do it all”, Daniele De Rossi adds that he “is one of the best players we have in Italy”, while Claudio Ranieri believes he has managed two “phenomenal” midfielders in his career, naming Frank Lampard and Pellegrini.

So, how does the Italian compare to the gold standard of West Ham midfielders – Rice?

Let’s compare the duo to find out.

Appearances

29

37

Minutes

1,866

3,272

Goals

8

4

Assists

3

2

All stats below are on a per-90 basis:

Shots

1.6

0.8

Chances created

1.8

1

Big chances created

0.24

0.08

Passes completed

30.8

50.5

Passing completion %

83%

88%

Tackles

1.7

2.2

Duels contested

10.3

7.9

Duels success %

48%

59%

Interceptions

1

1.8

Ball recoveries

4.7

9.2

Touches

56.6

71.3

Average Sofascore rating

7.17

7.19

The table compares Pellegrini’s statistics from the 2023/24 campaign, last season set aside due to lack of minutes, with Rice’s final year at West Ham, 2022/23.

That aside, the numbers unsurprisingly show Rice is the more impressive all-round midfielder, hence why he’s the one who moved for £105m.

However, the Italian is more of a goal that, registering more goals and assists, as well as more shots and chances created on a per-90 basis.

Thus, while Rice’s passing and out-of-possession statistics are superior, Pellegrini’s are mostly not too far behind, especially when it comes to duels, underlining that he could compete at Premier League level.

Given his statistics, and rave reviews from numerous former coaches, the Italian international would surely improve West Ham’s sluggish midfield options and, at just £9m, he could prove to be an absolute bargain.

When compared to Magassa, who has scored just one goal in his senior career, Pellegrini would appear to be the perfect partner, with the Frenchman staying back and doing the defensive dirty work, allowing the Italian to get forward and be creative.

Fernandes upgrade: West Ham submit offer to sign "world-class" star

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The pair debate some key BBL talking points following the end of a successful season for the competition

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2025Former Australia captain Aaron Finch would like a full player auction to be brought into the BBL while Glenn Maxwell believes the power surge should be removed as it doesn’t replicate international playing conditions.Currently, overseas players are selected through the draft – with clubs now able to pre-sign one name before that event – while a trade window, that is currently open, has been introduced for the first time this season, but Finch has said the majority of domestic players should also be included in a process more aligned with how the IPL operates.Related

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“I’d like to see an auction come in,” Finch told the Powerplay on ESPN’s . “Each team potentially has the ability to retain maybe four of their players and then you say everybody else in the country, you’re into an auction. I think that that would create a great spectacle.”We see it in the IPL, it’s brilliant, creates evenness across the board I think. What it does give you as well is it gives you what the players are worth. So at times, depending on what your team needs, you might have to overpay for someone. But if it’s an auction, that’s generally what the price of a player is.”Maxwell, though, was uncertain about the idea, raising concern about clubs losing an identity with established names. “You’ve still got to have a way to keep your homegrown players in your home state, [to] still have that relevance,” he said.The BBL continues to be challenged on retaining overseas players with a number leaving in early January for either the SA20 or ILT20.Meanwhile, when asked what he would change about the tournament, Maxwell argued that while he could see the appeal of the power surge – the two overs of fielding restrictions that can be taken by the batting side after the 10th over – he felt it skewed the skills that were required away from how the rest of T20 is played. It echoed the views of Stars team-mate Marcus Stoinis who made similar comments ahead of the BBL season.”I’d get rid of the power surge,” Maxwell said. “I think unless the power surge was introduced in international cricket, I think it’s sort of probably lost its relevance. As a player, I think it probably misrepresents middle-order batting.”When you get picked for your country, you don’t have that luxury of having those two overs in the back ten to boost your strike rate, boost your score. It’s lost on the art of middle order batting to be able to find your way through those last ten overs. I know it’s great for broadcasters. I know it’s great for fans. But until it’s made an international rule, I don’t think we should have it.”Finch acknowledged he had held a similar view when he was a player, but having now retired from the game saw the value the power surge brings.”I think that it provides entertainment right through an innings,” he said. “It keeps games alive. Like if a team needs 15 and over, with a power surge up your sleeve, there’s still half a chance.”

It’s been an interesting transfer window for West Ham United so far this summer.

The club have not gone out and splashed loads of cash for Graham Potter, but they’ve made a few clever additions to the team that could really help them climb the Premier League table next year.

For example, Jean-Clair Todibo and Kyle Walker-Peters should seriously improve the defensive unit, and El Hadji Malick Diouf enjoyed a stellar campaign with Slavia Prague last season.

Moreover, while Callum Wilson isn’t the most exciting of transfers, it is another smart one, and the club could get plenty out of him if they sign another Englishman they’ve already been linked with this summer.

Why Callum Wilson is a smart signing

Now, as we’ve already said, there is no denying the fact that at the moment, Wilson is most certainly not an exciting signing, and is unlikely one that’s going to shift too many shirts.

Transfer Focus

However, it does feel like a smart move, especially as he’s joined for free, is set to be earning a heavily incentivised salary – which is wise given his injury record – and has only agreed to a year, so if things do go wrong, he won’t be a long-term drain on resources.

With that said, while the financial side of things appears to be well-thought-out, there is plenty of upside in the 33-year-old’s actual ability as well, as we’ve seen over the years that a fit Wilson can be a menace for defenders and a reasonably reliable scorer of goals.

For example, in the 7647 minutes he played for Newcastle United, the former Bournemouth ace managed to score 49 goals and provide 11 assists, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 127.45 minutes, which is not a bad record at all.

Moreover, in 244 minutes for England, he’s scored two goals and provided one assist, which works out to an average of a goal involvement every 81.33 minutes, which, again, is probably better than most would’ve expected.

In all, Wilson isn’t going to be leading the line for West Ham next season, but he could be a useful option off the bench, and if the club want to get the most out of him, they should go ahead and sign another player they’ve been linked with this summer: Harvey Elliott.

Why West Ham should sign Harvey Elliott

It looks more and more likely that Elliott will be leaving Liverpool this summer, and while there are several clubs out for his signaure, some better placed than West Ham, the Irons have already been linked with him earlier this summer, and while it could cost as much as £50m, they should be looking to bring him in.

There are two key reasons why Potter and Co should be all over the Englishman, and that is the fact that he looks like someone who could develop into a star player, but he’s also someone who’s already good enough to make a difference.

Moreover, he could help the manager get more out of Wilson from the word go next season.

For example, despite being just 21 years old for most of last season, and being relegated to a bench role for most of the campaign, the “outrageous” ace, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, was still able to rack up a brilliant tally of five goals and three assists in 822 minutes of action that saw him constantly moving between attacking midfield and right-wing.

That means the former Fulham gem averaged a goal involvement every 102.75 minutes for Arne Slot’s side, despite having a real run of starts at any point in the campaign.

Appearances

28

Starts

21

Minutes

1828′

Goals

14

Assists

6

Goal Involvements per Match

0.71

Minutes per Goal Involvement

91.4′

Moreover, his record for the England U21s is nothing short of exemplary, as in 28 appearances, totalling 1828 minutes, the dynamic talent has scored 14 goals and provided six assists, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.4 games, or every 91.4 minutes.

Now, just imagine what he’d be capable of producing at the London Stadium if Potter gave him a regular chance to start games, either in midfield or off the right, he’d surely kick on and either help boost his teammates’ assist tallies, or in the case of Wilson, help provide him with plenty of goalscoring chances.

Ultimately, it might be a difficult transfer to pull off, but Elliott looks like someone who could be a future star, and therefore, West Ham should be looking to sign him, especially as he’d be a brilliant teammate for the former Newcastle star.

حقق منتخب تونس فوزًا كبيرًا على منتخب ساوتومي، بسداسية نظيفة، ضمن تصفيات إفريقيا المؤهلة إلى بطولة كأس العالم 2026. 

وواجه منتخب تونس نظيره منتخب ساو تومي، في الجولة التاسعة من تصفيات إفريقيا المؤهلة إلى كأس العالم 2026، على ملعب “حماد العقربي” برادس. 

وتمكن منتخب تونس من الفوز على سو تومي بسداسية نظيفة، وأحرز الأهداف كل من فراس شواط وإلياس سعد “هدفين”، وإسماعيل غربي ومحمد علي بن رمضان لاعب الأهلي “هدفين” في الدقيقتين 68 و90 من عمر اللقاء. 

طالع.. قائمة منتخب تونس لمباراتي ساو تومي وناميبيا في تصفيات كأس العالم.. موقف بن رمضان

ويتصدر منتخب تونس المجموعة برصيد 25 نقطة، بينما يحتل منتخب ناميبيا المركز الثاني في ترتيب المجموعة برصيد 15 نقطة.

وكان منتخب تونس حسم صعوده إلى نهائيات كأس العالم 2026، في الجولة الماضية من التصفيات. 

ويقع منتخب تونس في المجموعة الثامنة من التصفيات مع ناميبيا وليبيريا ومالاوي وساو تومي وغينيا الاستوائية. 

ومن المقرر أن يختتم منتخب تونس، مبارياته في تصفيات إفريقيا لكأس العالم بمواجهة ناميبيا يوم الإثنين المقبل، في الجولة العاشرة والأخيرة من تصفيات إفريقيا المؤهلة لكأس العالم 2026.  أهداف مباراة منتخب تونس وساو تومي اليوم في تصفيات كأس العالم

England seamer acknowledges whitewash in Australia was big setback in attempt to inspire new generation

Valkerie Baynes07-Mar-2025

Kate Cross attempted to prove her fitness in Australia but did not play a match•Getty Images

Kate Cross believes cultural change must form part of England’s rise from their Women’s Ashes nadir as the team sets out to win back fans as well as cricket matches.Cross admitted there was little positive to say off the back of a 16-nil points defeat at the hands of Australia, as players and staff await the outcome of an ECB review into the tour.”There’s areas that we probably know we need to address from cricket points of view, but also from probably cultural points of view as well,” Cross said. “This review, I don’t know what’s going to come of it, but I’m hoping that these are the things that will get addressed, and pave the way for the next generation to want to play for England.”The result in Australia was particularly disappointing for England in light of the excitement and optimism that the team generated in the course of their home Ashes campaign in 2023, in which they battled back from defeat in the one-off Test to square the series 8-8 with victories in both white-ball legs.”Ultimately I feel like we might’ve lost a few fans in the last couple of months, which is really sad from our point of view,” Cross added. “I think the 2023 Ashes was how good it can be and the 2025 Ashes how bad it can be.”The review, announced by Clare Connor, managing director of England Women’s Cricket, in the immediate aftermath of the Ashes whitewash, has conducted player interviews and is expected to make public its recommendations later this month.Cross brought a unique perspective to her evaluation of the tour, having travelled with a bulging disc in her back, which ultimately kept her sidelined throughout despite repeated attempts to prove her fitness to play.She acknowledged that, as professional athletes, players must accept increased scrutiny of their performances and she hoped people would “fall back in love with English cricket” after a torrid winter for both the women’s and men’s teams, the latter dumped out of contention in the Champions Trophy after two matches.England failed to win a match in the multi-format Women’s Ashes and were comprehensively out-played by hosts Australia, with the tourists’ physical fitness and mental toughness coming under the microscope, particularly in the wake of a row involving Alex Hartley, the former World Cup-winner turned commentator.Related

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“It was unprecedented how poorly we performed over there, I don’t think anyone probably anticipated the Ashes turning out the way it did, and obviously there was a huge disappointment that came with that,” Cross said.”As a group of players now, we don’t know what’s going to come of this review that’s happening at the moment, but I think it motivates you to be a better group of players and a better, I guess, version of yourself.”For Cross, it was a particularly frustrating trip, coming more than a decade on from her breakthrough performance at Perth on the 2013-14 tour of Australia, where her starring role on Test debut helped set England up for their most recent Ashes series win.”My reflections on my trip were quite unusual. I didn’t get to play a game of cricket, but as a 33-year-old getting ruled out of an Ashes series was devastating. So I feel like it’s made me really think about how I want to manage my career now moving forwards and, with the new structure of the tiers in the counties, I’m hoping that I’ll be so well supported with that, that that wasn’t my last Ashes hopefully.England’s players look on as Australia celebrate their Women’s Ashes whitewash•Getty Images

“Ultimately as players, we still want to try and get young girls interested in the game and us losing quite drastically isn’t going to do that. So we’re going to have to have a real look at how we want to portray ourselves as a team moving forward and try and get a bit of love back from our fans because we, or certainly I, felt that we kind of lost a lot of that from our Ashes series, so hopefully we can move in the right direction now.”Her comments suggest an acceptance that the ‘inspire and entertain’ mantra the team has espoused since Jon Lewis took over as head coach in 2022 has become irrelevant amid a rash of poor performances, going back to the group-stage exit at the T20 World Cup in October.Cross was speaking at the launch of the Professional Cricketers’ Association Women’s Impact Report, highlighting advances made in the game since 2020. That progress includes equal domestic minimum salaries of £28,000 for men and women from this season, where women’s teams have been aligned with the men’s in a three-tiered county-based structure.But more work remains to be done, including addressing the salary gap between genders in the Hundred, which widened rather than closed this year. While the leading earners in the men’s competition will earn £200,000, an increase of 60%, the top earners in the women’s game will earn £65,000, up 30%. The base salary for men went up by £1,000 on last year to £31,000 compared to the women, who went from £8,000 to £10,000.”I would hope to see that it happens quite quickly, especially with how vocal the players were about the pay gap getting bigger,” Cross said. “It was obviously a disappointment, but I’m always of the bigger picture, that the Hundred has done a lot for the women’s game. It continues to do that. It puts us in a spotlight that we’ve never had before in the domestic game.”So as disappointing as those headlines are, there’s still a lot of great stuff and there’s a lot more money coming into the game now and hopefully that’ll get pushed in the right direction and the gender play gap will continue to get smaller rather than get bigger.”A PCA working group will lobby the ECB on various aspects of the Hundred, which will receive a huge injection of funds through private investment from next season.Daryl Mitchell, PCA chief executive, said: “From our side, I think particularly the announcement of the salaries took us a little bit by surprise this time around, I think the communication needs to improve, particularly in that sort of announcement. What we were shown in October actually, at the players’ summit, was very different in terms of salary bands to what was actually produced and put out publicly.”There’s been some pretty robust discussions about that process, it’s fair to say, over the last couple of months. The ECB have stated it was an interim year with the sale of the Hundred franchises with a view to increase the salaries across the board next year. There’s a lot of things to work through.”