Inter Miami have been handed a possible boost by the news that Sergio Busquets may not be out of action for a long period despite suffering an injury.
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Chelsea's Mykhailo Mudryk has challenged a fan to take him on in a one-v-one game after being trolled on social media, with £10,000 on the line.
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Mudryk struggling for formReceives provocative DM on InstagramChallenges fan to game for £10kWHAT HAPPENED?
Mudryk, who has been out of sorts of late, was goaded into a response on Instagram in the wake of the 4-1 defeat at Liverpool on Wednesday after receiving a message asking 'what the f*ck is going on' with his poor form, and whether he had 'forgotten how to play football'. He was then advised to do more one-on-one sessions because "something needs to change".
AdvertisementWHAT MUDRYK SAID
The winger did not take kindly to the criticism, calling the supporter out and challenging him to a lucrative one-v-one game of football. He wrote: "Come play 1-1 (one-v-one). For £10,000."
However, the troll quipped back: "Bro at this point I will personally give you money every time you score."
@FedorSneaks InstagramTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Along with his team as a whole, Mudryk's form has dipped alarmingly in recent games. Chelsea are winless in their last three matches and have suffered damaging, back-to-back defeats to Liverpool and Wolves in the league – conceding eight goals in the process.
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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR CHELSEA?
The Blues, Mudryk and struggling head coach Mauricio Pochettino are in dire need of a change in their fortunes. The Ukrainian did get an assist in the defeat to Wolves, and he will hope to feature again in the FA Cup fourth-round replay against Aston Villa on Wednesday, with the manager's job potentially on the line.
The attacker is one of the most productive forwards in the Premier League this season but did not have the patience to make it with City
Manchester City must have thought they were quids in when they sold Cole Palmer to Chelsea for £42.5 million ($53m) given they had barely used him in the first team. Palmer was the star export among a flurry of academy players to leave City last summer, banking the club £156m ($196m) within the last two years.
But as they have watched Palmer flourish in an otherwise malfunctioning Chelsea team, City might now be thinking they were short-changed when they let him leave. Palmer has racked up 12 goals and nine assists for his new club and came back to haunt his boyhood club when he starred in Chelsea's thrilling 4-4 draw with City in November.
The winger will be Chelsea's main threat again when City host the Blues on Saturday, knowing that Arsenal and Liverpool will be waiting to pounce on any mistake from Guardiola's side.
Getty Always on the fringes
Palmer left City with 41 senior appearances but the truth is he was always on the fringes of the side. He made just two Premier League starts last season, both after the title had been sewn up, and only one the year before, while he never played a minute of Champions League football.
His starts were mostly confined to the domestic cups and he routinely delivered, scoring his first senior goal in a Carabao Cup thrashing of Wycombe Wanders before making a stunning appearance in the 4-1 win at Swindon Town in the the FA Cup in January 2022.
It was then that Palmer exhibited his Mancunian swagger, saying of the getting his first goal in the oldest Cup competition in football: "Yeah delighted, Prem soon come." His confidence, bordering on arrogance and sounding a bit like Liam Gallagher, brought a smile to many City fans' faces.
But his cocky demeanour probably did not chime well with Guardiola, who wants to foster a culture of humility in his squad and insists that academy graduates have to truly earn their place in the first team. Palmer played no more games that season for the senior side even though he was frequently named as a substitute.
AdvertisementGetty Super Cup glory then exit talks
He made further inroads into the team last season but again it was mostly in the lesser competitions and even then he started just one game in the FA Cup, only coming off the bench in the semi-final against Sheffield United when Guardiola had made wholesale changes to his line-up.
That must have been deeply frustrating for Palmer after first getting called into Guardiola's squad in July 2020. Almost three years on, he was enjoying just a smattering of appearances, watching his fellow squad members storm to the treble.
"Prem" did not soon come and when the new Premier League season started at Burnley, Palmer was again on the bench, despite starring and scoring in the Community Shield against Arsenal.
Palmer was again decisive in the UEFA Super Cup, grabbing the equaliser to send the match with Sevilla to penalties, where his side prevailed. But after the game it was becoming clear that Palmer would not be staying at City for long.
"The opinion I had is he wanted to leave, but now I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Guardiola said in Athens, just moments after hoisting another trophy. "He’s going to stay or leave, but I think a loan is not going to happen. I understand he wants to be more active than the previous season. But Riyad [Mahrez] has gone, so we have one more place there."
Even on the night in which Palmer had stepped up and proved his worth, Guardiola seemed to be questioning his true commitment to the club.
GettyAt odds with Guardiola
Palmer, though, had reasons to also doubt whether or not he would get a consistent run in the team. Riyad Mahrez had left, but two days before the Super Cup reports emerged that City were in talks to sign Jeremy Doku, putting another obstacle between Palmer and regular first team football.
Palmer had also just helped lead England's under-21 side to the European Championship. He backed himself to succeed in the Premier League but could not guarantee he would do so at City. Who can blame him for not entertaining the prospect of yet another season on the bench?
Guardiola again seemed to question Palmer's commitment to City ahead of their last match in November. He said: "Cole arrived and accepted some processes and then after one or two years said: ‘No, I don’t want to play here, I am not going to play.’ But I said: ‘Riyad [Mahrez] is leaving, you are going to get a chance here,’ and he said: ‘No, I am not going to play here, I want to leave,’ so I said: ‘OK, leave.' He got what he wanted. It is good for him."
Palmer saw it differently and has since claimed he was in favour of a loan move instead. He preferred to return to City with a year of regular football under his belt and be better equipped to fight for his place in Guardiola's star-studded team.
"My thing was to never leave City. That was not my intention. I wanted to go on loan for a year, come back and be ready for the first team. But they said I couldn't go on loan, either stay or you get sold," Palmer told in January. "So then, Chelsea rang me. I said I wanted to go to Chelsea and I'm really happy to be here. I'm very glad I made the decision to come here."
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Getty Images'Cold Palmer'
Palmer has been a revelation at Chelsea and within his second month at the club had made more league starts than he had in three years with City. He also got that goal he craved in the Premier League, breaking his duck with a penalty at Burnley. He has since scored nine more, earning the nickname 'Cold Palmer' from his team-mate Noni Madueke. His goals have put him among the top 10 scorers in the league this season. If you add his six assists, he is among the top six players for goal contributions.
His goal tally dwarfs every City player aside from Erling Haaland while only Phil Foden has set up more goals. The Chelsea winger has admitted he has exceeded his own expectations, even if they were pretty high in the first place. "I cant deny that. I wanted to get into the team, play and show what I can do. But to get in the team straight away and hit the ground running has surprised me to be fair," he added in his interview.
Guardiola has not been surprised either, insisting he knew that Palmer would thrive once given regular football. "I didn't have any doubts about his quality," the City coach told a press conference before Palmer's return to the Etihad Stadium. "The way he's playing is a star player. He wanted the minutes, it was a question of time to show his immense quality. Cole Palmer is an exceptional player and a lovely lad and of course I wish him well at Chelsea."
Shane Warne believes Australia’s cricketers have been guilty of whingeing too much in recent times, but doubts that following the friendly example set by New Zealand is the way forward for a national team currently subject to a cultural review after the Newlands ball-tampering scandal.Having become the latest big name to sign with paywalled coverage of cricket in Australia, as part of a A$1 billion television deal signed last month, Warne’s many and varied opinions are set to be ever-present on the network. His first observation was that he had sensed an attitude problem in the Australian team before Cape Town.”I’m not sure there were team culture problems…but I have noticed there is a lot of whingeing coming out of the Australian camp in recent times, about the opposition and things like that,” Warne told . “I think that’s un-Australian, I have never really heard any Australian sides do that.”But I think it’s a great opportunity for everyone in world cricket to draw a line in the sand and say ‘how do we want to play the game? What do we stand for? What’s the style of play we want?’ I don’t think we want to play like the Kiwis, which I heard someone say. I mean, c’mon. The Kiwis, no thank you.”But we probably want something in between the Kiwis and Australia at the moment. I want us to play hard but fair, tough, uncompromising cricket, but shake hands and play in the spirit of the game and show good sportsmanship.”Justin Langer, Warne’s former team-mate, was named the national team coach across formats, with Tim Paine named captain. In another interview with Fox Sports, Warne said that he remained sceptical about Paine as a long-term leader on the basis that he does not believe a wicketkeeper should also be saddled with the burden of captaincy.”I’d say it to Gilly face to face, I don’t think keepers make good captains,” Warne said of his fellow Fox Sports commentator, Adam Gilchrist. “I think they make good deputies and are fantastic vice-captains to bounce off to set the standard of fielding.”I don’t think Paine is a long-term option – even though he’s done a great job in the short time he’s been there – but right now we just need to take stock. We have Justin Langer doing all forms, which is great. Eventually, I think that will branch out to a red ball and white ball coach, and we may have different captains in different forms of cricket.”At the moment, it’s about trusting the Australian cricket team again.”Another new signing for Fox Sports is the former England bowler Isa Guha, who alongside Alison Mitchell, Mel Jones and Lisa Sthalekar has helped bring a strong female voice to coverage of the game. Guha told that she was looking forward to carrying on what she started with Triple M on television screens this summer.”We all kind of champion each other because we are getting the opportunities now,” she said. “We love what we do and we hope that people are able to understand that women do know and can talk about cricket. Hopefully there will be more (women) in future who get involved in broadcasting.”
Harry Maguire has demanded Manchester United "find a solution" to Rasmus Hojlund's injury after a 2-1 loss at home to Fulham.
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Tottenham Hotspur's start to the season has been nothing short of exceptional, with the doom and gloom that previously surrounded the club having been well and truly expunged by the upbeat and all-action philosophy that Ange Postecoglou has brought.
Although fans are likely aware that such form will not last forever, there are actually things on the horizon that are set to strengthen the Lilywhites rather than dent their feel-good factor. One of those is the return of Rodrigo Bentancur.
When will Rodrigo Bentancur be fit?
As one of the few stars of last campaign, Bentancur's injury came at a terrible time for Antonio Conte, who was seemingly losing his patience with each passing game week.
So, to see one of his key acquisitions struck down for the foreseeable future must have been supremely frustrating for the 54-year-old, who would be sacked just one month later.
Fast-forward from the innocuous challenge that led to the rupture of his ACL, and the Uruguay international still remains out of action today, but with his return date set at around November.
Should Postecoglou manage to maintain their form until then, welcoming back the former Juventus maestro could provide that extra firepower and energy from the engine room to truly take their season to the next level.
After all, the Australian had noted: "He’s definitely keen. And it’ll be great to get him back because his contribution when he first came to the club was outstanding. In many respects he’ll be like another new signing for us, which is great, but we won’t rush it."
Joining alongside Dejan Kulusevski for just £20m, the 26-year-old only really seemed to hit his stride during the 2022/23 term, with his five goals and two assists proving vital across his 18 Premier League appearances.
Despite missing a huge chunk of the campaign, his tally was only bettered by Harry Kane and Heung-min Son from within the Spurs squad, with Statman Dave highlighting one "monster" of a performance back in September 2022.
As such, his 7.21 average rating made him their second-highest-rated player, further buoyed by his 85% pass accuracy, 0.6 key passes and 2.5 tackles per game, via Sofascore. The hope will be that his return to the side could prove pivotal in maintaining their impressive form, with his relationship with James Maddison sure to be key.
How good is James Maddison?
The former Leicester City star has taken to life in north London with ease after his £40m move, swiftly becoming one of Postecoglou's most important figures.
With two goals and two assists in just four games, he is deservedly their highest-rated player in the league, and as such has earned praise from pundit Joe Cole: "The more I think about it he could be the best signing of the summer. I am so excited for him, especially the way Ange plays."
Given the former Celtic tactician has often operated with two number eights within his system, who help to both spearhead the press and uphold their attack, perhaps Bentancur's return could see him take this spot alongside Maddison as the perfect combination both physically and technically.
Rodri (Manchester City)
8.20
Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
8.10
James Maddison (Tottenham Hotspur)
8.07
Heung-min Son (Tottenham Hotspur)
7.95
Joachim Andersen (Crystal Palace)
7.85
All stats via Sofascore
After all, clearly his defensive credentials are at the necessary level, and his 6 foot 2 frame helps to make him a unique profile compared to the silky 26-year-old magician.
The only downside would be to push Pape Sarr out of the starting side, who too has enjoyed a fine start to the term.
However, at 20 years old, he still has plenty of growing to do despite having posted a 7.40 average rating in the league, upheld by one goal, one assist, one key pass and 4.3 ball recoveries per game, via Sofascore.
At the very least it will be an enthralling watch to see who comes out on top in the battle for this midfield spot, if the Senegalese star is to maintain his form until Bentancur's return.
Aston Villa are leading the race to sign a new attacking superstar from overseas, and a fresh report has shared details of where the two parties currently stand in negotiations.
What's the latest transfer news at Aston Villa?
Unai Emery had a busy summer transfer window, bringing in a total of five fresh faces, with Moussa Diaby joining permanently from Bayer Leverkusen, Pau Torres from Villarreal, Nicolo Zaniolo and Clement Lenglet both signing on loan and Youri Tielemans on a free transfer from Leicester City.
In terms of outgoings, Cameron Archer, Jaden Philogene-Bidace, Marvelous Nakamba, Keinan Davis, Ashley Young, Wesley, Philippe Coutinho, Morgan Sanson and Viljami Sinisalo all sealed exits on either a temporary or permanent basis, leaving room for the boss to bolster his ranks in January.
One of the players to have been linked with a move a number of times in the past is Sporting CP’s Pedro Goncalves, with the left-winger having previously been the subject of enquiries from the side in the Midlands.
Whilst reports suggested that the top-flight side walked away from a deal for the 25-year-old due to the €80m (£68m) release clause included in his contract, Correio Da Manha have since claimed that the club remain interested in a future swoop for the Portuguese sensation, with further details on the board’s pursuit having now emerged.
Are Aston Villa signing Pedro Goncalves?
According to Portuguese newspaper O Jogo (via Sport Witness), Aston Villa are “particularly” the club in pole position to sign Goncalves, despite him receiving other “approaches” from the Premier League.
NSWE, Monchi and Emery are in “ongoing” contact regarding a deal for the attacker.
Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United are also “attentive” to his situation, though having seen a bid turned down over the summer, the Villa Park outfit appear to be taking a second bite of the cherry.
How many goals has Pedro Goncalves scored?
During his time at Sporting CP, Goncalves has racked up a remarkable 93 contributions (59 goals and 34 assists) in 133 appearances for Ruben Amorim’s side, so should he put pen to paper at Aston Villa in the near future, it would be a massive coup for Emery.
The Jorge Pires client has continued his impressive form this season having so far whipped a total of 24 crosses into the opposition’s box which is more than any of his fellow teammates, alongside having 12 shots himself which is the second-highest tally at the Jose Alvalade Stadium, via FBRef.
The Vidago native, who has been nicknamed the “New Bruno Fernandes” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, is also flexible in where he plays having been deployed in six different positions since the start of his career, including three roles in the final third and three in the midfield, so his versatility would be another fantastic attribute for the boss to have at his disposal.
Finally, Goncalves knows what it takes to compete and be successful at the highest level having won four trophies with his current club, not to mention the individual recognition he’s received on the international stage having been named Portugal’s Player of the Season in 2021.
The former Australia vice-captain also said “something has to happen for the worst for people to come out and show a lot of support”
ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-2018Speaking for the first time since his emotional press conference in Sydney more than a month ago, Australia’s former vice-captain David Warner said he has “learned a valuable lesson” after the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in March. Warner was banned from playing international and domestic cricket for a year along with Steven Smith, for their respective roles in tampering with the ball during the Cape Town Test.”Sometimes with our society, something has to happen for the worst for people to come out and show a lot of support and I think I’ve learned a valuable lesson in this myself for the support I have been given to be on the front foot to help others,” Warner told on the sidelines of a cricket clinic he attended with children in Darwin.”I think the biggest thing for us has been when you are in a routine you can get caught in a bubble – cricket, hotels, packing your bags, coming home. I’ve missed that part until now where the kids run up to the gate saying, ‘Mummy and daddy are here’, and I am really enjoying and embracing that.”Warner and Smith were later axed from the IPL and had accepted the sanctions handed to them by Cricket Australia. Cameron Bancroft, who was banned for nine months, also chose to not challenge the ban imposed on him.Smith also thanked people publicly for their support on Friday, saying “I now have a lot to do to earn back your trust.”
Tottenham Hotspur and new manager Ange Postecoglou have gone into the international break in excellent form, even despite losing talisman Harry Kane, having won three of their first four games in the Premier League.
They currently sit in second place on 10 points.
Their sensational early-season form has been largely thanks to new signing James Maddison, who joined in the summer from Leicester for £40m.
The English international has already scored two goals and provided two assists this season, and has been nominated for Premier League Player of the Month.
In total, Spurs signed seven new players in the transfer window including Brennan Johnson and Micky van de Ven, as well as making Pedro Porro and Dejan Kulusevski’s loan moves permanent, meaning in total the Lilywhites spent £213m.
Although chairman Daniel Levy has spent heavily this summer it may already be difficult to argue that it wasn’t money well invested.
However, the same can’t be said for last summer's window after they signed Brazilian striker Richarlison from Everton on a five-year contract.
How much did Tottenham pay for Richarlison?
After having a reasonably successful 2021/22 campaign that saw Tottenham finish fourth in the league, under then-manager Antonio Conte, it was confirmed that there had been £100m invested into the club to be spent on transfers.
And after young winger Bryan Gil was sent out on loan Conte and Levy needed attacking reinforcements.
This led to the £60m signing of Richarlison from Everton, who had just come off the back of a successful year with Everton where he almost single-handedly kept the Toffees up.
Why was Richarlison worth this much?
Before signing for Spurs in 2022 the 26-year-old had played for two different Premier League clubs, where he enjoyed successful spells for both.
The Brazilian first came to the Premier League in August 2017, when he signed for Watford from Fluminense, at just 20 years old.
During his time with Watford, the striker played 41 times, scoring five goals and providing five assists.
After only one season with the Hornets, Richarlison joined Everton for £40m, where he would spend the next four years, making 152 appearances, scoring 53 goals and recording 14 assists.
5
5
14
2
15
4
13
3
11
5
3
4
Stats via Transfermarkt
In his final season with Everton Richarlison was his side’s highest-ranking player on Sofascore, with an average rating of 7.02.
He also completed 1.3 dribbles per 90 minutes the second most in the squad, and he created seven big chances across the season, the highest in the squad, proving how pivotal he was to Everton’s survival, as they only escaped relegation by four points.
What is Richarlison worth now?
Since moving to White Hart Lane, a year ago Richarlison has failed to impress anyone, last season he was only able to muster one Premier League goal and four assists, and in all competitions, he managed three goals. Despite playing 35 times.
His most memorable moment from last season came in his side's 4-3 loss away to Liverpool in April.
Coming into the game Richarlison hadn’t registered a Premier League goal, although he had put the ball in the back of the net three times, taking his shirt off to celebrate each time, only for all of them to be hilariously disallowed.
However, after coming on in the 84th minute with his side 3-2 down the striker bagged a 93rd-minute equalizer, inevitably he tore his shirt off in celebration thinking he had rescued a point for his side. Only for Lucas Moura to miss place a pass one minute later, playing Diogo Jota through one one-on-one and allowing him to finish calmly into the goal.
Speaking a couple of weeks after the game, talkSPORT pundit Tony Cascarino highlighted just how disappointed he was with Richarlison since his transfer.
He said:
"If you said to me, the worst player this season, the worst player for what he's got, Richarlison.
“He's been a joke this year. I don't care if he's been injured or gone away to the World Cup, yesterday he hardly tried a leg, he really looked disinterested.
"I know that obviously Antonio Conte pulled him out about his performances or a bit about he's not played well.
"I can't believe… Richarlison was the player last year that I felt was responsible as anybody for keeping Everton up, his performances at the end of last season.
“He hasn't shown any of that at Spurs.
“He's been hugely disappointing Richarlison."
This judgment on Richarlision’s season is backed up by his Sofascore rating, as the Brazilian only managed an average rating of 6.73 – the 16th highest in the squad – and to make things worse, already this season he is Tottenham’s lowest-ranked player, with an average rating of only 6.45.
This has led to his value dropping by a staggering £27m, with him now being valued at just €38.5m (£33m), this means he has had a 45% decrease in his transfer value since his £60m move.
Also speaking on talkSPORT, pundit and Aston Villa legend Gabby Agbonlahor labelled him as one of the worst signings of the season.
He said:
"You look at Richarlison, how many chances is he going to have? For me he's the flop of the season.
"He's going to cost Spurs £60million, three goals in 33 games in all competitions. A goal every ten games, one goal in 25 Premier League games, one goal since September.
"Substituted again today 59 minutes, you were a better team when he came off, flop of the season."
He also followed up by mocking his infamous celebration, he said: "No pigeon dancing is there this week? All this nonsense."
How much does Richarlison earn?
When Richarlison first moved to Watford he earned £32k-per-week but after his move to Tottenham, he is no on an astonishing £90k-per-week, meaning that last season for every goal the Brazilian scored he was paid £1.6m.
What is next for Richarlison?
So far this season Richarlison has played in all five of Spurs’ fixtures and started in four of them, he even scored his first goal of the season in his side's League Cup defeat against Fulham. This means he is already off to a better start than last season.
The striker must try and push past his terrible performances last season and hopefully, for him, under a new manager and style of play, he can re-find the form he had at Everton.
But so far, the Conte signing has been nothing short of a shocking signing for the club.
England have revealed their new Nike home and away kits to be worn by their national teams from 2024 onwards.
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