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Pat Cummins previously presented Cricket Australia one of their most important balancing acts in managing a young player and now the Test captain has a front row seat to another as Cameron Green’s elevation into the higher echelons of the world’s stars continues.The flying visit to India for three T20Is last week may yet transpire to have been one of the most significant periods in Green’s career as he stamped his mark as an opening batter which has likely put huge dollar figures next to his name for the IPL.The carefully managed early stages of Green’s career due to his history of back injuries is now entering a critical phase as he emerges as a three-format player at time when Australia have a huge amount of major series and tournaments on the horizon, and now with the likelihood of franchises coming calling.While Green is not, yet at least, part of Australia’s T20 World Cup squad, his upcoming international schedule is packed: five home Tests against West Indies and South Africa, four Tests in India, the Ashes in England (plus a potential World Test Championship final) and then the ODI World Cup this time next year before another home summer. That list does not include other bilateral white-ball commitments, plus domestic cricket for Western Australia and Perth Scorchers, with Green having recently signed for the latter.Related

• Green's big year catches up with him, and there's more to come

• Cummins: Unrealistic to be only captain across all formats

• Is Green too good not to pick and who misses out for David?

• Green retained for West Indies T20Is as Australia take cautious approach ahead of World Cup

There remains caution around Green’s bowling workload – he was eased back into bowling on the Sri Lanka tour after a break and was rested against New Zealand recently after suffering cramp – and while in Tests he is now largely unrestricted, Cummins admitted it is something never far from his mind.”It’s one my first thoughts whenever I bowl him is we don’t want to burn him,” he said at an event to announce NRMA Insurance as new CA sponsor. “Think it’s been a huge win from the medical side of things to have him play as much cricket as he has over the last couple of years, fortunately he can fall back on his batting even if he’s not bowling.”Now he’s in and around three formats it becomes even more important. He someone who loves playing, even when he goes back to WA we have to manage that as well. There’s 15 Tests in the next few months plus a World Cup, lots of cricket.”And then there’s the call on his services from other teams. “You can’t really blame anyone for going in [the IPL],” Cummins said. “He’s going to have huge demand on him wherever he plays. Decisions will be made, there’s a lot of cricket around.”Cameron Green has quickly shown his skills across all three formats•BCCI

More broadly, Cummins cautioned CA to be aware of the rapidly changing landscape in the game despite international cricket, particularly Tests, remaining a strong format in Australia. The recently reported that Cummins had turned down a big-money offered from a city-based T20 league in India. It’s likely to be a topic discussed during the next MoU negotiations.”[They] have to be proactive, the world’s changing, almost every month now there’s new leagues and opportunities popping up around the world,” he said. “We are lucky in Australia that for all of us players and the fans, Test cricket is No. 1. Whenever there’s a Test tour on, that’s where all of us players want to be.”But we can’t take it for granted that will always be the case. Maybe [it’s] the way we structure contracts, manage different players because unfortunately, or fortunately, it’s the reality of the world.”In the short-term, Green offers Australia a ready-made replacement should they have to make an injury-enforced change ahead of the T20 World Cup. For all the clamour about finding him a place in the squad that is the only way he will break in for this tournament, although more substantial scores against West Indies next week will keep the topic front and centre of the build-up, particular if others are short of runs.”Think we are starting to just not get surprised whenever he takes another step up, he just looks at home straightaway,” Cummins said. “[It was] a new role opening the batting and to take on, play with bravery, that’s what you want to see from any young player. It’s a tight squad to get into at the moment.”And Josh Hazlewood revealed that even Green’s own team-mates have felt the full force of his batting “It was a bit scary, actually, the first net session in India, felt like you needed a helmet almost bowling to Cam Green,” he said. “He’s so imposing, such a big guy, full face of the bat back towards you, it’s pretty scary.”Australia’s T20 squad comes back together next week to begin their final lead-in to the World Cup with two games against West Indies on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane before three matches against England in Perth and Canberra. They then have one more warm-up match against India before facing New Zealand at the SCG on October 22.

Peter Moores admits England have to work fast ahead of the World Cup but there is an all-too-familiar sense of chaos about their planning

George Dobell01-Sep-2014It seems to be a characteristic of England cricket that, while other teams utilise the natural four-year cycle in the schedule to prepare their team for the next World Cup, the English react to the impending event like a long-married man who has forgotten his wedding anniversary.Oh, they may rush to the florist and scribble a card. But the end result still tends to look ramshackle and hurried with a sense that they are hoping, rather than expecting, that things will turn out all right on the night.The 2015 World Cup carries all the hallmarks, from an England perspective, of the five that preceded it. Six months out from the event, England are not sure of their tactics or their team. In a format of the game where role definition is so important, England do not know who will fill the allrounder positions – a month ago, you might have thought Ravi Bopara was a certainty. They do not know who will bowl at the death – the experiment with Chris Jordan may well be shelved. They do know who will bowl spin – Moeen Ali is likely to win another opportunity before the end of this series. And questions over the position of the captain will remain until Alastair Cook can start contributing more with the bat.Lagging behind? England have drafted in Alex Hales but Alastair Cook’s position at the top of the order continues to come in for scrutiny•Getty ImagesSuffice to say, after four ODI series defeats in five – and there is something of an irony in the fact that the series they won, in the Caribbean, came in a team sans Cook, when they were trying to provide extra opportunities to their T20 players ahead of the World T20 – they are not among the bookies favourites for the World Cup.Peter Moores knows all this. He knows that he did not inherit a hand bursting with aces, after the retirement of Graeme Swann, the banishment of Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott’s illness. He knows the team are not playing well enough to win a World Cup. He knows he is running out of time.”We’ve got to work fast,” Moores said ahead of the fourth ODI of the series against India at Edgbaston. “We’ve got to accelerate the development of the team quicker than might be normal to get ourselves really competitive by the World Cup.”It was noticeable that, while Moores unambiguously backed Cook to lead England at the World Cup – “Yes, I’m confident he will” – he offered far less security to other players. In short, his message was, there are still places to be won in this side.”What we’re doing is we’re trying to find a balance for our team,” he said. “That’s part of the process we’re going through. We’re creating opportunities and, if you play well enough and you show you can score consistently enough, you get to stay in the team.”Our goal is to basically try to draw this series but also to prepare for a World Cup. To do that we’ve got to identify the right people in the right slots to play a brand of cricket that players feel they can deliver and be successful against the best teams.”There’s still time for people to force their way in. We’ve had a lot of change and that creates opportunity. We need to get enough experience in there but also there’s a chance to try some different things. We’ve looked at different options and that helps you evaluate a side to play in that World Cup and win.”A substantial part of their problem is the form of the captain. While the value of England’s ODI tactics can be argued either way – and the depth of feeling against their somewhat old-fashioned game plan does little to appreciate the danger of two new balls or England’s success up to the end of the Champions Trophy – there is no avoiding the fact that, if they are going to field two technically correct accumulators in the top three, one of them has to go on and contribute a match-defining total.It is not only 37 innings and 26 months since Cook made an ODI hundred, he has not reached 80 in that time either. If a player is going to devour the number of deliveries, particularly Powerplay deliveries, that Cook tends to devour, they really do have to produce something at the end of it.

Peter Moores on…

Using analysis: “The brain of a top-flight player is a fantastic bit of kit. It works fast, it takes bits of information, it sees things that sometimes a computer might not. We have to use that. The best players in the world have the ability to adapt quickly on the field, more than off the field. If analysis is being used to add clarity and help people develop their thinking, great. If it’s there to replace their thinking then it’s flawed.”
Eoin Morgan: “I’m not saying whose place is safe or not safe but Eoin is frustrated he hasn’t got a score. His skill, once he gets up and running, is that he’s hard to bowl dots to and he can attack pretty well any sort of bowling. I see him as a real key component as we go forward.”
Playing Moeen Ali and James Tredwell: “We could play both. Probably two offspinners in the same team wouldn’t normally be your absolute ideal. Moeen’s not had much opportunity yet. We saw him rapidly develop as a Test match bowler and we want to create opportunities for him at some point, to look where he’s at. We’ve seen always in international cricket some people grow very fast and that’s what we have got to find out.”

But despite Cook looking in wretched form at Trent Bridge, Moores insisted the captain was inching his way back to his best. “I think his form is going the right way,” Moores said. “If you come out of a Test match series averaging just under 50, you know you’re starting to get back into some sort of form.”He’ll be the same as everybody else, in that in the last two games – after we’ve got off to two good starts – he’ll be disappointed that he personally couldn’t push on and get a more significant score. But he’s hungry and his form is coming back. He’s starting to hit the ball better.”When he’s in form, he’s got his way of playing that can be effective in one-day cricket. It doesn’t mean he’s exactly where he wants to be, and I don’t think we are as a side.”That is true. But Moores remains confident that it is not England’s tactics that are flawed as much as their current failure to execute them. He remains unapologetic about preferring batsman such as Cook and Ian Bell to the likes of Jason Roy and James Vince.”When you bat in any one-day international, the second part of it is when you increase your scoring rate,” Moores said. “We have to score at the right rate for the pitch. There’s been lots of talk about scoring 300, but that doesn’t happen all the time. In different conditions you have to score what is a winning score on that pitch.”You’ve got to have a balance in your team of people who strike the ball and also people that rotate, that’s part of the job. You need to know you can create situations when some of your strikers, the Jos Buttlers of this world, have the freedom to play that sort of game.”We know we have people who can score at a very high rate. Alex Hales at the top, then Eoin Morgan and Buttler. But to get to that point, you’ve got to get in and build an innings.”The very best in the world are striking at 88, 89 in 50-over cricket. You can’t really go much above that, unless you’re batting in the bottom part and you’re whacking it from ball one. Fifty-over cricket isn’t quite the same as people just walk out and whack it. The best sides don’t do that either.”This pitch should suit England. It has not been used for 14 months and is expected to provide little assistance to spinners and a bit more to seamers. With a 10.30am start in a distinctly autumnal September, though, it may well prove to be a bowl-first surface. The large crowd – more than 20,000 spectators are expected – might want to arrive in good time to see what may prove the key passage of play.England’s safety-first approach might not be popular but, on a seaming pitch in Birmingham, it may prove ideal. You might ask whether that bears any relation to the conditions anticipated in Australia, in particular, at the World Cup. But a drowning man probably doesn’t worry about his pension.

Tottenham Hotspur sporting director Johan Lange has been in touch with the representatives of a £100m player ahead of the January transfer window, according to a report.

Tottenham's inconsistent start

Tottenham have made an inconsistent start to their Premier League campaign, with five wins, one draw and four defeats to their name after their opening 10 games, while they will also be disappointed with their 3-2 loss at Galatasaray in the Europa League on Thursdsay.

However, Ange Postecoglou has made it clear that he aims to bring a trophy to north London in his second season with the club, which means that he may have to strengthen his squad in the upcoming transfer window.

The Lilywhites are currently the top scorers in the Premier League, but they continue to be linked with moves for attacking reinforcements, including Aston Villa forward Morgan Rogers and Nottingham Forest winger Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Tottenham make contact with Jack Grealish's agents

Rogers and Hudson-Odoi clearly aren’t the only Premier League players on Spurs’ radar, however, as Football Transfers report that Lange has been in contact with the representatives of Manchester City winger Jack Grealish over a possible move.

The Tottenham sporting director reportedly came close to signing Grealish during the summer transfer window, and he is now back in contact with his agents to sound out a move this winter.

Given that Lange is Villa’s former sporting director, he was instrumental in the winger’s €117.5m (£100m) move to the Etihad Stadium, and the pair have retained a good relationship ever since, which could give the Lilywhites an advantage in negotiations.

The report also makes it clear that Postecoglou wants to bring in competition for Son Heung-min and James Maddison in the January transfer window, and Grealish is seen as a versatile option, capable of strengthening both positions and saving the club money.

Although the 29-year-old has not been a mainstay in City’s starting XI this season, he could well be a good signing for Tottenham at the right price, particularly considering the praise he has received from Pep Guardiola in the past. The Spaniard lauded the England international as “unbelievable” for the part he played in City’s treble-winning 2022-23 campaign, and he also impressed considerably during his time with Aston Villa.

In his final season with the club, the Birmingham-born winger recorded 16 goal contributions in 26 Premier League games, although he is yet to record similar numbers in a City shirt. As a result, a fresh start could be necessary for Grealish, and it should certainly be exciting news that Tottenham appear to be in the race for his signature ahead of the January transfer window.

Of course, Postecoglou already has some great options at his disposal, including Son and Brennan Johnson, with the latter already notching seven goals in all competitions this season. However, with Tottenham looking to compete on all fronts and win their first trophy since 2008, it is important to have strength in depth, so Grealish could be a shrewd acquisition at the right price.

The future of Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is very much up for discussion, but he remains in charge of the club for the time being. However, United are already putting plans in place should the Dutchman depart as they now hold an interest in a serial winner, according to a new report.

Berrada and Ashworth to advise Ratcliffe as Man Utd eye "fantastic" manager

Ten Hag’s long-term future at Man Utd is in doubt and the club are now considering potential replacements.

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By
Brett Worthington

Oct 2, 2024

Erik ten Hag’s Man Utd future under threat

Sunday’s 3-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur has put Ten Hag under serious pressure at Old Trafford, with many believing he has games against Porto and Aston Villa this week to turn his fortunes around. The Dutchman remains in the hotseat, but it hasn’t stopped the speculation from gathering pace on who could be his potential replacement.

Current assistant manager Ruud van Nistelrooy has been backed by former chief scout Mick Brown to become the next boss. Brown played a big role in bringing van Nistelrooy to Old Trafford back in 2001, and he believes the former Dutch striker should be considered to replace Ten Hag.

Meanwhile, the Red Devils also have Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi on their radar should a change in the dugout occur. Inzaghi won Serie A with Inter last season and has built a side that looks capable of competing in Europe now. Sir Jim Ratcliffe will seek the opinions of the Glazers, sporting director Dan Ashworth, and chief executive Omar Berrada before deciding on his next move, but Inzaghi looks to be another option the club may consider.

Man Utd plotting talks with 3-5-2 specialist manager

According to Football Insider, Manchester United are interested in speaking to ex-Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri if they decide to sack Erik ten Hag. The report states that should a change in the dugout happen, United are likely to go after the cheaper option of an out-of-work manager.

Allegri’s second spell at Juventus came to an end in May, but his time in Italy was very successful as he won the Scudetto six times. As well as Allegri being on United’s radar, Gareth Southgate and Thomas Tuchel are also managers that may be considered, according to this report.

Allegri has never managed outside of Italy, as he’s taken charge of teams such as SPAL, Lecco, Sassuolo, Cagliari Calcio, AC Milan, and Juve. As well as being a winner of Serie A, Allegri has also won five Italian Cups and three Super Cups.

The 57-year-old has taken charge of over 500 games in Serie A, 302 of which he has won, losing just 98, meaning on average he is picking up two points per game with his favoured 3-5-2 formation. Whether Ratcliffe and Co would be willing to take a risk on such a style – one that is usually boom or bust in England – remains to be seen.

Manchester United chiefs are now reportedly racing to sign a German Bundesliga champion who has started the season in fine form.

Man Utd transfer news

Despite several summer upgrades, Manchester United have once again got off to an inconsistent start in the Premier League, with just two wins in their last six games leaving Erik ten Hag’s side in a frustrating run of form. What hardly helps that statistic is the fact that the two wins that have arrived during that time have come against newly promoted Southampton and League One Barnsley in the Carabao Cup.

Man Utd squandered chance to sign unreal Fernandes upgrade now worth £108m

The sensational talent would have been a game-changer for United.

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By
Jack Salveson Holmes

Sep 27, 2024

Even as their Europa League campaign got underway against Ten Hag’s former side, FC Twente, the Red Devils failed to secure all three points, conceding their lead courtesy of Sam Lammers’ equaliser to draw 1-1 at Old Trafford.

It’s the type of run that has seemingly left INEOS with no choice but to turn back towards the transfer market and yet another reported upgrade.

According to Pete O’Rourke of Football Insider, Manchester United chiefs are now battling to sign Jeremie Frimpong ahead of rivals Manchester City in a fierce battle for the Bayer Leverkusen defender’s signature.

A versatile player who can play at right-back, left-back and right-midfield, Frimpong proved invaluable for Xabi Alonso’s side last season as they won the Bundesliga in dominant, invincible fashion in a season which featured just one defeat – a 3-0 loss in the Europa League final against Atalanta.

Now, after picking up where he left off, Manchester United reportedly want to bring Frimpong to Old Trafford in 2025.

"Great" Frimpong could ease Shaw woes

If you were to pick out one area that Manchester United should have strengthened in the summer, it’s their left-back spot. As things stand, Diogo Dalot has been left with no choice but to swap flanks and provide the Red Devils with an option down that side amid the injury struggles of Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia.

It is a problem that Dalot can’t solve forever and one that is unlikely to go away due to Shaw’s extensive injury history. And that’s why Frimpong’s arrival would carry such importance, given that he can play both at right and left-back.

More of an attacking outlet than Dalot, Frimpong has endured an excellent start to the new season to pick up where he left off, with one goal and four assists in seven games in all competitions.

Described as a “great ball-carrier” by analyst Ben Mattinson at the start of September, the £64,000-a-week Frimpong remains one to watch and a player who could provide Manchester United with the ultimate solution down either side of their back four.

AB de Villiers is one of the politest cricketers anyone could wish to meet, but as he set more one-day batting records, this time against West Indies, he made the rudest of interventions

Firdose Moonda at the SCG27-Feb-20152:00

‘De Villiers, a bowler’s nightmare’

AB de Villiers is hardly ever rude. If he sees someone he recognises he will say hello, smile and share a few words. If he sees someone he doesn’t, he will do all that too. But for a moment, when confronted with Andre Russell, de Villiers was downright rude.He stepped so far forward and outside offstump he was halfway to point, took one-hand off the bat and swept Russell to the square leg boundary.Read that again.Close your eyes to visualise it.What you will see is something audacious, ballsy, devilishly good and, in all the right ways, really, really rude.You can’t blame de Villiers for foregoing his impeccable manners and throwing a cricketing tantrum of sorts as South Africa looked to send a message about their suitability as successful candidates at this tournament.He had something to address after what he termed an “embarrassing,” defeat at the MCG. It always felt as if it was his job.De Villiers holds himself more accountable than many other captains. If a defeat is caused by batting lapses, de Villiers picks out his own wicket as the one that should not have fallen first. If the defeat is caused by bowling lapses, de Villiers identifies his own management of the pack as the reason.His understanding of leadership is based on selflessness. If the team underperforms, it is his fault. If they succeed, it the credit is shared. He will cite this innings as another example of that.When de Villiers arrived at the crease, the situation was tailor-made for him. South Africa had a solid base, but one created by circumspection, not speed. Their innings was in a tense period. It needed someone with courage, confidence and a dash of chutzpah. De Villiers has all three and a lot more.He was able to use the first 18 balls to suss out the situation because Rilee Rossouw played what could become a defining innings in his fledgling career. Rossouw was brought in for this match to add batting depth in JP Duminy’s absence on the back of a patchy introduction to ODI cricket which started with from four ducks in six innings and has since blossomed to include two centuries. A World Cup half-century under pressure will go some way to helping him establish himself.After holding himself accountable for South Africa’s “embarrassing” defeat at the MCG, de Villiers had a lot to prove•Associated PressAlready the captain has endorsed Rossouw as a player he “likes the look of,” because of his competitive streak, which de Villiers’ said injected energy into today’s knock. Rossouw was the one pushing the singles and piercing the gaps at the start of de Villiers’ innings. De Villiers allowed himself to be led until he could take the lead.A slow, overpitched delivery from Jerome Taylor was his cue – the ball threaded straight down the ground. It opened de Villiers up. The shot should have told West Indies to starve de Villiers of the fuller length he is so fond of, but they fed it to him. He dismissed three full tosses in the next three overs to allow South Africa to enter the final 10 overs like a car about to embark on a journey down a long straight road.The next time straight road you encounter – and you are not driving – press your nose to the window and keep your eyes open. Don’t blink for as long as you can as the vehicle picks up speed and you will see scenery whooshing past so quickly that everything looks wider and taller and bigger than it really is. The trees take on the shape of each other until they begin to look like a forest. The other cars on the road morph into a never-ending limousine. The people become a marching crowd. That was how de Villiers scored runs in those lost 10 overs.Russell bowled short, bowled full, bowled length, Benn flighted it and flirted with the leg side and Holder found himself on the receiving end of a demolition job. But what stood out about de Villiers’ assault was the number of times he walked outside off, took the ball from there and forced it onto the leg side. His team-mates have referred to that stroke as a Spiderman shot, because only someone with a superpower can do.To do it over and over and over again, each time achieving the same results, takes someone whose superpower is part of their DNA and de Villiers has always been that person.Not only did he once juggle being the key batsman with keeping wicket and captaining but he has broken records while doing all that too.De Villiers was the designated gloveman and skipper the day he scored the fastest fifty and fastest hundred in ODI cricket. Today, he designated himself to get South Africa’s World Cup campaign on track and scored the fastest 150. It was the rudest, and most wonderful, of interventions.

Sunderland are working to re-sign Jordan Henderson and have now made contact over a sensational deal at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland flying high under Le Bris

The Black Cats have made a hugely exciting start to life under Regis Le Bris, with their new manager coming in and hitting the ground running, suggesting that a fantastic season could lie ahead.

With nine games played in the Championship in 2024/25 to date, Sunderland sit top of the table, by virtue of narrowly having a superior goal difference to Sheffield United. It is still early days, and losing Jack Clarke to Ipswich Town was a big blow, but there is every reason to believe that this could be a campaign to treasure.

Sunderland also appear to be making shrewd decisions behind the scenes, with Pedro Ribeiro coming in as Le Bris’ assistant head coach, with the 38-year-old an experienced figure, despite still being a young man in his profession. Kristjaan Speakman has said the Portuguese is “aligned to our values and playing identity”, suggesting he could be ideal for the manager to work alongside.

Meanwhile, former England international Carlton Palmer has urged the Black Cats to seal a sensational reunion with Henderson, with the midfielder starting out at the club before embarking on great things at Liverpool.

Sunderland make contact over Henderson deal

According to an intriguing update from Football Insider, Sunderland now want to seal a “stunning” move for Henderson, bringing him back to the club where he first made a name for himself.

The Black Cats “have made contact over a potential deal” for the 34-year-old, who is now at Ajax, as Le Bris’ side “plan a new-year promotion assault” in the Championship.

This is a massive update for Sunderland, with Henderson such a decorated player since leaving the club in 2011, going on to become a legendary figure at Liverpool.

After a tough start to life at Anfield, the midfielder eventually replaced Steven Gerrard as captain, going on to lift the Champions League and Premier League trophies as skipper, among multiple other pieces of silverware. Back in 2019, Flamengo manager Jorge Jesus even had this to say about him:

“Henderson is the best midfielder in the world in his position. Jurgen Klopp never removes him, but the other two midfielders, Naby Keita and Georginio Wijnaldum, are sometimes replaced.”

While some may feel that that is hyperbole, it still shows the level that Henderson was playing at during his peak, and while his very best days are arguably now behind him, his experience and quality in the middle of the park would be an invaluable addition to Sunderland’s squad.

Sunderland wasted a fortune on Mowbray flop who earned more than Bellingham

Sunderland fans won’t fondly recall this flop’s time at the Stadium of Light.

ByKelan Sarson Oct 11, 2024

It could make all the difference in the spring months, with pressure going up a gear and this young Black Cats squad being tested, with the Englishman playing in the biggest games in the world throughout his illustrious career. The fact that he knows the club so well is an added bonus, meaning he will give his absolute all.

Barcelona's hopes of registering Dani Olmo for the second half of the season have been boosted after they secured a €100 million (£83m/$104m) deal.

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Article continues below

• Barcelona struggling to register players due to financial issues
• Olmo yet to be registered for second half of season
• Hope rekindled as Barca strike €100m deal

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  As 2024 draws to a conclusion, Olmo and Barca team-mate Pau Victor do not have guaranteed first-team registration from January 2025. However, claims the Blaugrana reached an agreement to sell VIP boxes at the newly renovated Camp Nou to Middle Eastern investors for €100m.

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• Getty
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Olmo only joined Barca in August for a fee worth up to €62m (£51m/$64m) from RB Leipzig, but after a judge rejected Barca's attempts to register him, they sought other avenues to get the deal done. The report adds that this cash injection will allow the registration of both players and will return the club to the 1:1 rule to be able to sign players normally. That would be a massive breakthrough for the financially-troubled Catalan outfit.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  The 1:1 rule in La Liga allows teams, such as Barca, to spend all money raised from player sales or wage savings on new players. Up to this point, however, Hansi Flick's side have been operating under the 1:4 rule, which means they could only spend one euro for every four they saved or brought in. While they still have huge debts, their ability to address those will be greatly improved with the aforementioned financial deal.

• Getty Images
  

  WHAT NEXT?

  Barca reportedly launched a lawsuit against La Liga in a bid to register Olmo but, following this financial development, it is said they may withdraw from the case with the Court of First Instance.

Chelsea are… good. It’s happened, confusing plot points have converged under Enzo Maresca’s wing to look like a force in the making.

Chelsea alighted in east London on Saturday and made mincemeat of struggling West Ham United, with Nicolas Jackson scoring twice inside 20 minutes and Cole Palmer sealing the victory with a swept finish after good work from his striker, who now has four goals and two assists across five Premier League matches.

It’s been a fine start to the season that has put to bed any grumbles around the decision to part ways with Mauricio Pochettino at the end of the 2024/25 campaign.

Pochettino steadied the ship somewhat but Stamford Bridge now has its project manager ready to lead Chelsea to glory once again. The transfer strategy under Todd Boehly and Co has seen a remarkable influx of talent but Maresca is wrapping such players up and igniting the talent at their core.

Follow Followed Enzo Maresca Born 10th February 1980Birthplace Pontecagnano Faiano (Italy)Position Head coach of ChelseaChampionships Held x1 English Championship

Pros & ConsPossession-based philosophyWorked under Pep GuardiolaFacing low blocksTactically stubborn