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Aston Villa are on course to sign Unai Emery’s top target, Morgan Rogers, before the deadline, but it looks as if talks are now open for another attacking addition.

Aston Villa's January signings

It emerged on Tuesday that Villa have finally reached an agreement with Middlesbrough to sign Rogers following three offers. A medical looks set to take place today, and all being well, the winger will be a Villa player before tomorrow evening’s deadline.

Rogers is on course to become Villa’s second winter window signing after right-back Kosta Nedeljkovic, who joined from Red Star Belgrade before heading back to the club on loan for the remainder of the season.

There have also been rumours about a new goalkeeper arriving to serve as back up to Emiliano Martinez, that man being Adelaide United’s Joe Gauci, with an agreement reached.

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Meanwhile, another attacking addition appears to be of interest, and this one could be the club’s biggest signing of the month, should Villa match the asking club's valuation.

Aston Villa in Broja talks

According to TEAMtalk, Aston Villa are in talks to sign Armando Broja from Chelsea. Fulham and Wolves are also in discussions, with the Blues valuing the striker at £35m.

The report adds that Villa ‘could use Chelsea’s interest in striker Jhon Duran to their advantage in negotiations’, with Mauricio Pochettino a fan of the Colombian, believing he could become a world-class forward. Chelsea could also sanction a loan deal for Broja, although they would want an obligation to buy included in the deal.

The 22-year-old, labelled an “animal” by reporter Jacob Tanswell, hasn’t exactly nailed down a starting spot at Stamford Bridge during the current campaign, featuring on just six occasions in Pochettino’s starting XI in the Premier League.

He’s also been missing with ligament and knee issues in the early stages of the campaign, and as the stats show, as per FBref, Broja has a similar record to Duran.

Jhon Duran

Armando Broja

Matches played

98

88

Minutes

4,287

4,594

Goals

19

18

Expected goals

9.8

16.1

Assists

7

2

Expected assists

1.9

3.4

Therefore, with Duran not exactly making a mark in the Midlands, leaving Ollie Watkins as the main man in attack, perhaps Villa wouldn’t be getting a huge upgrade on Druan in Broja, but it looks as if it is one to watch in the final hours of the window.

Wriddhiman Saha will get a chance to stake his claim for a return to India’s Test team when he tours the Caribbean with the India A team after the World Cup. The tour, which includes five one-day matches (from July 11 to 21) and three four-day matches (from July 24 to August 9) will directly precede the senior India team’s tour of the West Indies, which is set to begin in early August.A spate of injuries has led to Saha not featuring for India since the first Test of their South Africa tour in January 2018. He has been named in the India A squad for all three four-day matches in the West Indies, with KS Bharat as the other wicketkeeping option. Rishabh Pant, the incumbent Test keeper, isn’t in the four-day squad but finds a place in the one-day squad.Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey have been named captains of the three-day and one-day sides respectively.Given that India will tour the West Indies soon after, the India A squad includes a number of players who are likely to be part of the senior team, such as Test batsmen Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari. Shaw and Agarwal, along with KL Rahul, have established themselves as the three first-choice Test openers in recent months, with the more established pair of M Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan falling out of favour.Neither Vijay nor Dhawan is part of the India A squads in the West Indies, suggesting that the selectors might now be looking beyond them. One of the batsmen who might be in the reckoning for a top-order slot is Shubman Gill, who recently made his ODI debut in New Zealand, and has been picked in both squads for the West Indies games.Along with the squads for the West Indies tour, the senior national selection committee, chaired by MSK Prasad, has also announced the India A squads for a home series against Sri Lanka A, which begins on May 25. This series will include two four-day matches and five one-dayers, all of which will be played in the towns of Belgaum and Hubli in Karnataka.Ishan Kishan will captain the team in the one-day matches, and Priyank Panchal in the four-dayers.

India A squads

1st & 2nd four-day matches against West Indies A: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Priyank Panchal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari, Shivam Dube, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), KS Bharat (wk), K Gowtham, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mayank Markande, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan3rd four-day match against West Indies A: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Shivam Dube, Mayank Markande, K Gowtham, Shahbaz Nadeem, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Avesh KhanOne-day matches against West Indies A: Manish Pandey (capt), Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Rahul Chahar, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh KhanFour-day matches against Sri Lanka A: Ishan Kishan (capt & wk), Anmolpreet Singh, Rituraj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda, Ricky Bhui, Shubman Gill, Shivam Dube, Shreyas Gopal, Washington Sundar, Mayank Markande, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Warrier, Ishan Porel, Prashant ChopraOne-day matches against Sri Lanka A: Priyank Panchal (capt), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Anmolpreet Singh, Ricky Bhui, Siddhesh Lad, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, KS Bharat (wk), Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Aditya Sarwate, Sandeep Warrier, Ankit Rajpoot, Ishan Porel

Led by novice coaches, both teams have made encouraging progress in recent months, and will be keen to bring back the glory days

Madushka Balasuriya12-Oct-2024West Indies and Sri Lanka have long had an affinity of sorts for each other – particularly the latter during its cricketing infancy, when the mighty West Indian juggernaut was for most fans their second team. It also helped that they were fellow island nations – or in the case of the West Indies, a nation of islands. And in the lead up to West Indies’ first white-ball tour of Sri Lanka since 2020, these parallels have only grown stronger.Underwhelming World Cups? Check. Novice head coaches? Check. A strong desire to rediscover the glories of old? You bet. They even both missed out on qualifying for the 2025 Champions Trophy and toured England over the summer.They both also enter this series on the back of some promising white-ball results. West Indies have clean swept both South Africa and India at home in T20Is in 2024, while Sri Lanka have a home ODI series win against India as well as white-ball series wins against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.But what makes this upcoming tour so enticing is that, these are two sides which are pretty evenly matched. The last time West Indies toured Sri Lanka for a white-ball series, they swept the T20Is and were swept in the ODIs, and in 15 T20Is between the two, West Indies have won seven and Sri Lanka eight. Here we look at some of the key talking points surrounding the upcoming series.Related

Bhanuka Rajapaksa back in Sri Lanka's T20I squad to face West Indies

Russell, Pooran opt out of SL T20Is; Andrew bolts into ODI squad

Daren Sammy: 'I have a dream that I'll be part of another World Cup title in the near future'

A tale of two coachesSticking to theme of parallels, there’s no better point to begin with than Daren Sammy and Sanath Jayasuriya. Jayasuriya’s had a fairly impressive start to his career as head coach, but if ever there were questions over how his man-management- centric approach to coaching could translate over a longer period, perhaps Sammy holds the answers.While Sammy’s franchise coaching background brought with it more experience when taking over the reins as West Indies head coach in March 2023, the similarities in his approach to Jayasuriya’s is hard to miss.Sammy has spoken about honesty and clarity being key pillars in his coaching style; for Jayasuriya, it’s instilling confidence and gaining the trust of the players. These could be seen as two sides of the same motivational coin, as both rely on solid foundations of rapport with players and administrators alike to push forward their plans.And a quick look at West Indies T20I record since Sammy took over speaks volumes towards his impact – six combined bilateral series against South Africa, India, England and Australia has yielded five series wins. The only blips were a 2-1 series defeat in Australia and an unsuccessful World Cup campaign, which still saw them come out with five wins and two defeats.This run of results has seen the West Indies surge up the ICC T20I rankings, up from seventh to third. With Sri Lanka languishing currently in eighth place in those same rankings, Jayasuriya will no doubt be eyeing similar upward momentum.Sri Lanka players tune up for the T20I series against West Indies•AFP/Getty ImagesWest Indies vs spin One area in which the West Indies have improved drastically during Sammy’s tenure has been in their approach to spin bowling. From once being a primarily six-hitting side that could be efficiently countered by simply cutting off boundaries, there is now a growing focus on running between the wickets while data analytics increasingly informs their strategies – such as maintaining right-left combinations to better deal with legspin, and drafting in strong batters against spin such as Shai Hope.”The improvement in our run rate against spin from five-point something to six and a half to eight runs an over between the seventh to 15th overs…we were the best team in the last five overs in the last year,” Sammy said in an interview with this past week.But in Sri Lanka, they will likely come across their stiffest spin challenge yet, with the likes of Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jeffrey Vandersay and Dunith Wellalage offering a varied array of threats. Though in the limited sample size of T20Is in Dambulla, it has generally been the seamers that have proved more of a threat.Sammy has spoken about honesty and clarity being key pillars in his coaching style•ICC via Getty ImagesBattle of the quicksWhile T20 cricket is known for its relentless onslaught of power-hitting, where T20 games – and series – are generally won is in the bowling. Even on the most placid of surfaces, a potent and varied attack – particularly when it comes to pace – can make all the difference.The hosts boast two slingers – with differing trajectories, pace and skillsets – in Matheesha Pathirana and Nuwan Thushara, while Binura Fernando and his 6’4″ frame offers less pace but makes up for it in guile and cunning, which makes him a threat both in the powerplay and at the death.West Indies meanwhile boast talents such as Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph – both clocking above 140kph regularly and capable of unsettling bounce – while Jayden Seales excelled for the Jaffna Kings in the 2021 Lanka Premier League.Visiting pacers have also had a fair bit of success when touring Sri Lanka – in venues other than the Khettarama in Colombo, where spin dominates. In Afghanistan’s three T20Is earlier this year in Dambulla, 13 of the 20 wickets they took in the series were by seamers, while even Zimbabwe’s modest seam contingent accounted for eight scalps across three T20Is to go with the 13 they picked up in three ODIs.How both sets of seamers profit from the conditions could go a fair way in deciding this series.Eye on DambullaThe Rangiri Dambulla Stadium has hosted just three men’s T20Is – all in the past year – when Sri Lanka took on Afghanistan. There a 200-plus total was chased down once, while scores of 187 and 160 were defended successfully. If you include data from women’s T20Is played there, Sri Lanka most recently chased down a target of 166 in the 2024 Asia Cup final, while the top four high scores from that tournament – all played in Dambulla – read: 201, 191, 184 and 178. Safe to say, the batters have found it quite enjoyable.This is also down to Sri Lanka Cricket making a concerted effort to curate more batter friendly tracks so as to nurture more aggressive cricket from their batters. The only outlier in this new initiative was the recent ODI series against India at the Khettarama in Colombo, where surfaces were geared towards spin – this though has the caveat of Khettarama traditionally being on the slower side, while the series also immediately followed the LPL which meant the pitches were already fairly worn down.Dambulla should not have any such issues, so the expectation is a surface tailor-made for some big-hitting T20 cricket.

And who played the most Tests without ever bowling?

Steven Lynch16-Aug-2022I was sorry to read that Trent Boult was winding down his international career. Has any other left-arm bowler taken more international wickets, apart, perhaps, from Wasim Akram? asked Bruce McKenzie from New Zealand
You’re right in thinking that Wasim Akram leads the way: he took no fewer than 916 wickets in international cricket – 414 in Tests and 502 in ODIs. Trent Boult currently sits in seventh place among left-armers with 549, but might yet move up, as he is still expected to appear in some formats. Boult currently has 317 wickets in Tests, 169 in ODIs and 63 in T20s. The other seamers ahead of him are Chaminda Vaas (761), Zaheer Khan (610) and Mitchell Johnson (590), while spinners Daniel Vettori (705) and Shakib Al Hasan (631) are also in front. Mitchell Starc is currently only four behind Boult, with 545.Who had the most innings in Tests, having been bowled in all his visits to the crease? How about the other modes of dismissal? asked Andrew Browning from England
Only one man has been out bowled in each of the five times he was out in Tests – the Nottinghamshire offspinner Sam Staples, who played three Tests in South Africa in 1927-28. Nine people have been out twice in Tests and lbw both times; no one managed three. But Reginald Hands played one Test for South Africa, against England in Port Elizabeth (now Gqerbha) in 1913-14, and was stumped in both innings. The unfortunate Hands was killed in the First World War; a tribute to him, instigated by his father, led indirectly to the tradition of two minutes’ silence to honour someone’s passing.The record-holder in this particular regard is the Sri Lankan spinner Milinda Siriwardana, who had nine innings in his five Tests, and was out caught in all of them.England Lions racked up 672 against South Africans last week. What’s the highest total against a touring team in England outside a Test match? asked Gerry Latimer from England
England Lions did indeed score 672 in their innings defeat of South Africans in Canterbury last week, but it won’t make it on to any records list as it was not a first-class match (both sides chose from more than 11 players). But for this irritation, it would have come in a close second: Harlequins (whose cap would soon be made famous by Douglas Jardine) amassed 676 for 8 declared against West Indians in Eastbourne in 1928. This was something of a recovery from 162 for 5: Kent amateur John Knott hit an unbeaten 261, while Nos. 7 and 8, Reginald Bettington and John Evans, both passed 120. The record by a county is Surrey’s 645 for 9 declared against the New Zealanders at The Oval in 1949, when Jack Parker made a career-best 255.In Tests, England piled up 903 for 7 declared against Australia at The Oval in 1938 (Len Hutton 364), and 710 for 7 declared against India in Birmingham in 2011 (Andrew Strauss called a halt when Alastair Cook was out for 294).Wasim Akram has 916 international wickets, over 150 more than the next left-arm bowler on the list, Chaminda Vaas•Getty ImagesI believe that Eoin Morgan’s 17 sixes against Afghanistan is the record for a one-day international. But is it also the most in any one-day game? asked James Rowley from England
Eoin Morgan thrashed 17 sixes in his 148 from 71 balls for England against Afghanistan at Old Trafford during the 2019 World Cup. That broke the existing record of 16 sixes in an ODI innings, shared by Rohit Sharma, AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle.One other man has hit 17 sixes in an innings in List A (senior one-day) cricket: Gerrie Snyman, during his 196 for Namibia against the United Arab Emirates in Windhoek in 2007-08 (this was not an official one-day international). But one man is well clear of both of them: playing for Western Australia against Queensland in the Australian JLT One-Day Cup in Sydney in September 2018, Darcy Short launched no fewer than 23 sixes during his 257, the third-highest innings in any List A game, and the highest in Australia.Who played the most Tests without ever bowling? asked Abhishek Kunjal from India
It’s probably not a great surprise to find a wicketkeeper on top of this list: Ian Healy played 119 Tests for Australia and never got on to bowl. But the men in second and third spots were outfielders: New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming played 111 Tests without ever bowling, and Andrew Strauss 100 for England. Healy’s successor, Adam Gilchrist, comes next with 96 Tests, ahead of the England wicketkeepers Alan Knott (95) and Godfrey Evans (91). Then comes Jonny Bairstow, who has played 87 Tests so far (49 as the designated keeper) without being given a bowling spell.The record-holder in ODIs is Kumar Sangakkara (404 matches). The top non-keeper is a tie between Herschelle Gibbs and Eoin Morgan, who both played 248 matches without bowling. Morgan is also top in men’s T20Is with 115, although for the women Alyssa Healy has so far played 132 for Australia, and Tammy Beaumont 99 for England.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

It was a day on which India’s luck kept them interested, teased them all along, and then disappeared

Sidharth Monga15-Jan-20212:16

Aakash Chopra: T Natarajan has lifted his game to another level

T Natarajan first picked up the cricket ball less than ten years ago. His unbelievable rise in the IPL lifted his family out of poverty. Towards the end of the latest IPL, his daughter was born, but he picked a net bowler’s duty in Australia over going back home to see her. Then an injury to Varun Chakravarthy meant a late call-up into the squad. ODI and T20I debuts followed. Though a limited-overs specialist, he still chose to hang around as a net bowler for the Test matches. Now he is one of only 301 men to have played Test cricket for India.Natarajan has two wickets on his first day of Test cricket. This is no less than a fairy tale, scenarios of dreams for young boys and girls who don’t know the actual route to representing India. It is a great story, but Test cricket doesn’t care for great stories. Stories are incidental.T Natarajan sent back Matthew Wade and Marnus Labuschagne in quick succession•AFP via Getty ImagesThrough an unprecedented combination of the pandemic and a spate of injuries, some of which might be related, India were reduced to playing Natarajan and Washington Sundar in a Test match. They perhaps even had information through their sophisticated tracking devices that an in-game injury couldn’t be ruled out. Which is why they picked four quicks to cover both for the conditioning and the inexperience, and went ultra-defensive with their spinner ahead of Kuldeep Yadav to cover a batting base. With Navdeep Saini getting injured during the day’s play, the selection stood vindicated.Related

Rohit Sharma on Gabba dismissal: 'No regrets playing that shot'

Marnus Labuschagne endures in battle of fraying minds and failing bodies

Stats – Australia with 1033 wickets in the XI, India 13

Navdeep Saini taken for scans after suffering groin strain

This is what you do with severely limited units, and yet India are not what you might call “blown away” by an Australia side at home, a team that decided to bat first after winning the toss. In years from now, teams will have reasonably and justifiably bad days in the field even at full strength, but this Indian team seems have to have ruined it for them. You will be giving logical reasons for a 3 for 300 day, but at the same time thinking of the time when an attack with a joint experience of four Tests had Australia at 17 for 2, and were a simple catch away from making it 94 for 4. That on a tour in which they were, by this Test, missing seven first-choice players, one certain replacement, one possible replacement, and were still somehow alive coming into the decider.With this attack, which was soon reduced to a total experience of three caps, to come out with the scoreboard showing 274 for 5 after losing the toss is a reasonable return. With some luck with the new ball on the second morning, India could still be in the match, but this was a day on which India’s luck kept them interested, teased them all along, and then disappeared.Washington Sundar bowls with the leg trap lying in wait•Getty ImagesIndia tried to get the better of their limitations with their field sets. The leg trap was in, and it worked for Sundar, who had a wicket – that of a set Steven Smith – even before he had conceded a run. Shardul Thakur had one with a leg-stump half-volley the first time he bowled in a Test since his first ended with injury after ten balls. Matthew Wade and Marnus Labuschagne got out in ways that suggest no planning or build-up.The lack of control began to show in the Labuschagne-Wade partnership with regular leg-side half-volleys for Wade without a leg trap in place. Thakur kept trying to bowl full outside off, which is noble, but he did so without protection, suggesting non-adherence to a plan. Siraj, India’s first-choice replacement for the three quicks they brought to Australia, continued to show the control that has brought him this far. Saini showed improvement from his first outing before his groin strain took him off. Sundar stuck to his middle-and-leg line, but it was soon apparent it is no good if you can’t do the batsmen in the air.The scoreline was better than expected for such an inexperienced attack, but India could have probably done without the teasing thought of what if Ajinkya Rahane had not dropped Labuschagne with Australia still under 100. That’s how Test cricket is, though. You have to be good enough to be at it for hours.Even when Wade and Labuschagne gave India another look-in, it needed accurate and skilful spells to go through Australia’s lower order. That was too much to ask of a bowling unit in which three are not used to long days in the field because of their limited-overs specialisation. It will likely be down to batsmen hanging in for dear life, but it won’t be their fault either if they can’t: the Australia attack has much better experience, conditioning and skill.

MatériaMais Notícias

Exatamente daqui uma semana, o Palmeiras enfim retornará ao Allianz Parque após mandar cinco jogos na Arena Barueri, por conta da reforma no gramado sintético da belíssima arena alviverde localizada na Pompéia, bairro da zona oeste da cidade.

continua após a publicidadeRelacionadasPalmeirasPromessa do Palmeiras celebra renovação com o Verdão: ‘Transformou a vida da minha família!’Palmeiras21/03/2024PalmeirasAgora zagueiro no Palmeiras, Marcos Rocha fala sobre mudança: ‘Foi difícil aceitar’Palmeiras20/03/2024Campeonato PaulistaPalmeiras, Santos… Saiba datas, horários e onde assistir às semifinais do PaulistãoCampeonato Paulista20/03/2024

➡️ Tudo sobre o Verdão agora no WhatsApp. Siga o nosso novo canal Lance! Palmeiras

Por conta da ausência do Verdão no bairro que cresceu em torno dele ao longo dos seus mais de 109 anos de história, muitos lojistas e comerciantes que dependem dos jogos pra sobreviver estão passando apuros neste início de temporada.

Segundo apuração do Lance!, em relação as lojas que vendem artigos oficiais do clube, a queda no faturamento em fevereiro e março chegou a quase 50%, e bares da região também sofrem com a queda de receita, inclusive um estabelecimento teve a água cortada pela Sabesp por falta de pagamento.

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– Os jogos movimentam muito a região, principalmente nessa época do ano, com lançamento de produtos, camisas de jogo e a linha de treino e viagem que foi lançada agora. O entorno vive em função do Palmeiras, e os jogos são essenciais para a sobrevivência das lojas, bares e restaurantes. Jogos por aqui despertam até a curiosidade em turistas que visitam São Paulo – disse um funcionário de uma loja que não quis se identificar.

Entre os cinco jogos que o Palmeiras teve que mandar em Barueri neste período, entre eles teve um clássico contra o Corinthians, um dos jogos em que o entorno do Allianz Parque mais fatura durante toda a temporada.

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– Tive uma queda de mais de 60% do meu faturamento. Os jogos do começo do ano são o nosso carro chefe, ficar sem esses jogos não foi fácil. A expectativa agora é a gente conseguir retomar, esperamos que o torcedor volte com muita sede e que o Palmeiras classifique pra final do Paulista – disse o dono de um bar na rua Caraíbas.

O retorno do Palmeiras para o Allianz Parque está marcado para a próxima quinta-feira (28), quando o Verdão encara o Novorizontino, pela semifinal do Paulistão 2024.

Manchester United are now on red alert in the race to sign a Real Madrid star ahead of Manchester City in a shock £69m deal next year.

Amorim "angry" at "frustrating" West Ham draw

Like the rest of Old Trafford, Ruben Amorim was left angered by Man United’s 1-1 draw against West Ham. The Red Devils were in control for the large part and deservedly got their opener through unlikely goalscorer Diogo Dalot in the second-half, but that’s when things started going wrong.

With seven minutes remaining, the visitors sent a timely reminder of United’s struggles courtesy of Soungoutou Magassa, who scored his first Premier League goal to snatch a point for West Ham.

Amorim, left frustrated at full-time, told reporters: “Yeah, it’s frustrating, it’s angry. That’s it.”

The former Sporting CP manager also pinpointed where things went wrong, saying: “Yeah, but there are second halves that we lose control of the game.

“Today, I think it was not that case. Maybe after the first goal, we lost some second balls and Matheus [Cunha] won one or two second balls there and made it a transition.

“We try to defend all the time far from the goal because we knew it. They tried to make a cross, win a corner. Like it happened, long ball, they win a second ball against three guys of us in the defence. So, we need to be better in the second half.”

Any assumption that United have turned a corner under Amorim is quickly evaporating and the Old Trafford boss desperately needs further reinforcements in 2026.

Midfield stars such as Conor Gallagher and Elliot Anderson have already been mooted, but United could still set their focus on welcoming Rodrygo from Real Madrid. The Brazilian is attracting plenty of interest and could yet swap the Bernabeu for the Premier League.

Man Utd on red alert in Rodrygo race

According to reports in Spain, Man United are now on red alert in the race to sign Rodrygo next year and could land the talented winger ahead of rivals Man City, as well as a number of other Premier League sides.

The Brazilian has struggled for game time under Xabi Alonso – starting just three La Liga games all season – and looks destined to leave Real Madrid next year.

Sparking a flurry of interest, Madrid reportedly value their winger at around €80m (£69m). Whether INEOS and others deem that fee reachable for a player who’s yet to impress Alonso remains to be seen, however.

Man Utd now rivalling Liverpool to sign £87m forward who Klopp loves

The Red Devils have joined the race for a new attacker, who has made an impressive start to the campaign.

ByDominic Lund Dec 5, 2025

At his best, Rodrygo played a key part in Madrid’s success in the Champions League and in La Liga. Now, he’s been cast aside to hand United the opportunity to land arguably their best signing yet under Amorim.

Dubbed “spectacular” by former Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti in 2023, Rodrygo is still just 24 years old and is full of potential – even if he’s forced to realise it with a move to Old Trafford in 2026.

Amorim's £150k-p/w star just had his worst game for Man Utd vs West Ham

Jhostynxon Garcia was promoted to the Boston Red Sox's Triple A Worcester club a little over a week ago. On Monday night he was a clue on .

Garcia was name-dropped in the "Culture, In the Popular Sense" category, with contestant Miles Tepper, a graduate student from California, telling Ken Jennings a nickname in the form of a question worth $400.

Tepper either knew that Garcia's nickname was "Password" or just recognized that people use passwords to unlock things online. Based on the fact that Tepper's response was what is password, he may have just used context clues and known nothing about the No. 5 prospect in the Sox's organization.

You can watch the clue and correct response on Reddit.

And here's video of Garcia hitting a home run in his Triple A debut with the announcer saying, "The password has arrived!"

Garcia's nickname showed up on Jeopardy! the day after his first hitless game in Triple A, but he still has 10 hits in 24 at bats start since joining Worcester.

With everything on the line, here's how Gotham FC can top the Spirit for the 2025 NWSL Championship.

For the second time in three years, Gotham have charged into the NWSL Championship after delivering upsets to higher-ranked teams. Jaedyn Shaw disagrees that they’re underdogs, per se (see: “underdog, my ass” comment after they downed Kansas City), but they’ve been the surprise story of the postseason. Saturday night, they could take their Cinderella run all the way to the title. Here’s a few reasons why they might:

Getty ImagesReason 1: Defensive strength

Simply put, Gotham is hard to score on. In part, that’s because they have one of the best goalkeepers in the league (more on that shortly). But notably, they also don’t allow their opposition many chances to score. With a team that defends from the front, a midfield that’s hard to cut through, and a solid defensive line waiting behind, Gotham finished the 2025 season having allowed just 76 shots on target. That’s an average of 3 per game and is tied with the first-place Shield winners, Kansas City, for fewest shots on goal allowed in NWSL. 

There’s a number of reasons they’re dynamic defensively, and it involves players across all of their lines. Emily Sonnett is in top form as a leader in their backline. Rookie of the Year Lilly Reale awaits her opportunity at left back to thwart Rose Kouassi creating from the right. Jaelin Howell, who just earned her first USWNT callup since 2022, could have a massive match as she jockeys for control of the midfield. 

As a team that likes to have possession, they’re also effective at limiting the opposition by reducing their opportunities to get on the ball. The Spirit are also hard to score on, but they allowed 107 shots on target throughout the season, averaging four per game. They also conceded 33 total throughout the year, compared to Gotham’s 25. In a game of margins, that could matter.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesReason 2: Ann-Katrin Berger

Gotham may have the Rookie of the Year (Lilly Reale), but they’re also stocked with veteran talent. One of Gotham’s most essential veterans is 35-year-old German goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger. 

Berger was named Goalkeeper of the Year in 2024 and was nominated in 2025 after another strong season cleaning up the few shots that Gotham does allow. Berger’s steady presence has been pivotal for club and country the past few years. The German keeper helped see her team to an Olympic bronze medal in 2024 and a semi-final finish at Euro ‘25 with clutch penalty heroics and massive saves. 

This postseason, Berger has come through for Gotham multiple times. She made seven essential saves in their upset of Kansas City, and was called on to make a few key ones against Orlando to see them to the final. Saturday in San Jose, she could be a difference maker.

Getty ImagesReason 3: Peaking at the right time

The Washington Spirit finished the season in a comfortable second-place position and have been the more consistently strong team throughout the year. But Gotham is glistening at the moment, with multiple players hitting their top form at just the right time. 

That includes USWNT midfielder Rose Lavelle, who was out with injury in the first half of the year but has five goals and two assists in 16 games since returning. That also includes 20-year-old Jaedyn Shaw, who joined Gotham in early September and has looked like a unique talent finally in the right spot with the move. 

Shaw has been electric for Gotham in the postseason, scoring in both of their playoff tests, including the stoppage-time match-winner against Orlando. The team’s top scorer, Spanish striker Esther Gonzalez, is just returning from injury and hasn’t scored in five games, isn’t in her top form of the season. But Esther has scored game-deciding goals for Gotham in two previous trophy matches. If she catches fire Saturday night, it’ll be hard to discount this ‘underdog’ team that’s hitting its collective stride at precisely the right moment.

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Gotham FC will face the Spirit on Saturday, November 22 at 5pm ET on CBS and Paramount+.

Jason Holder was bang in the middle of all good things St Kitts and Nevis Patriots did as they ended a three-match losing streak in CPL 2025 to beat Barbados Royals by 12 runs in Basseterre on Thursday night.Holder first hit a 21-ball 38 to lift an up-and-down Patriots innings that needed a bit of impetus, and then picked up four wickets, including three key strikes at the death when the match got a bit tense.Batting first after Royals opted to field, Patriots were three down quickly, losing Evin Lewis, Rilee Rossouw and Mohammad Rizwan inside the powerplay with just 45 runs on the board. Ramon Simmonds, the left-arm quick did most of the damage, removing Lewis and Rossouw, while Rizwan, in his first match for the franchise, fell to Jomel Warrican.Andre Fletcher had been holding one end up, but he didn’t last too long after the powerplay, falling to Daniel Sams for a 16-ball 25 in the ninth over.Kyle Mayers top-scored for Patriots•CPL T20 via Getty Images

It was then that Kyle Mayers and Holder got together and put up a 49-run stand to bring Patriots back in the game. The two contributed more or less equally to the 30-ball partnership, with Mayers contributing 26 in 16 and Holder 22 in 14. Mayers and Holder fell in the 14th and 16th overs respectively, but quick runs from the Pakistan duo of Abbas Afridi (16 in ten) and Naseem Shah (19 not out in 11) took Patriots to a strong total.It might not have proved enough on another night, though. But Royals, who have now lost both their games this season so far, just couldn’t get a chase going, even though they ended up getting close enough to the target.Unlike Patriots, they got runs from their top order, but the speed of progress wasn’t good enough. Brandon King scored 22 in 17. Quinton de Kock 15 in ten. Kadeem Alleyne, the highest scorer of the innings, hit 42 in 28. Sherfane Rutherford and Kofi James had poor outings, but Rovman Powell, batting at No. 6, chipped in with a 15-ball 21.But there just wasn’t the one big effort that would have made the match close. Wickets fell at regular intervals, Naseem and Navin Bidaisee, the legspinner, picking up two wickets apiece to complement Holder, whose four wickets in 3.2 overs cost him just 14 runs. All of that combined to finish the Royals innings off with ten balls left – enough time to score 12 runs, you’d think, except that they had lost too many wickets too quickly to get to that position.The win, their second in five games, took Patriots to second place on the table behind Antigua and Barbuda Falcons, while Royals are right at the bottom.