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Jude Bellingham has been handed a 2026 World Cup boost, with Nigel Winterburn exclusively telling GOAL that he does not expect Thomas Tuchel to overlook any “big names” when it comes to piecing together his England squad. There will inevitably be some disappointed performers when a 26-man group is named, but said selection will be loaded with talent.

Strength in depth: Who will make England's 2026 World Cup squad?

The Three Lions boast strength in depth across just about every department, with quality cover able to step in and counter any untimely form and fitness issues. Tuchel finds himself in the enviable position of dipping into a star-studded talent pool.

The odd question has been asked of England’s defensive options – particularly at left-back, where nobody has nailed down that role – but there is an abundance of options heading forward.

Harry Kane is the undisputed No.9 for his country, and the man in charge of the captain’s armband, with nobody breathing heavily down his neck just yet. When it comes to playmaking berths and wide attacking posts, picks become a little trickier to settle upon.

Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Gordon, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Morgan Rogers, Eberechi Eze, Jarrod Bowen, Noni Madueke, Jude Bellingham and Morgan Gibbs-White all harbour dreams of making the plane heading to the United States, Canada and Mexico next summer.

They cannot all get the nod. Questions have been asked of whether Real Madrid ‘Galactico’ Bellingham could be left behind, with Tuchel making it clear that he will not bring any divisive characters with him that threaten to disturb collective harmony.

AdvertisementBellingham under threat: Will Real Madrid star make the cut?

Quizzed on whether he can see Tuchel leaving a so-called ‘big name’ behind, ex-Three Lions defender Winterburn – speaking in association with – told GOAL: “No, I don’t. It would depend on who considers what player to be a big name. We are already seeing that Thomas Tuchel is about the team. He’s not afraid to make decisions, it doesn’t look like he is going to pamper anybody. You could flip it round a bit and say there are some players that we think might be there but due to form or injury won’t make the squad. Our attacking talent out wide is huge. I would suggest that there may be one or two of those players that may not make the squad. That is simply because of the amount of numbers we have got in those positions.”

Getty Images

Tuchel warning & encouraging words from Henderson

Tuchel said when warning the likes of Bellingham and Palmer – who have missed games due to injury – that nobody is guaranteed a place in his squad: “For this moment we stick with our choice and the radical statement is that we don’t collect the most talented players. We collect the guys who have the glue and cohesion to be the best team. Because we need to arrive as the best team. We will arrive as underdogs at the World Cup because we haven’t won it for decades and we will play against teams who have repeatedly won it during that time. So we have to arrive as a team or we will have no chance.”

Those that work alongside Bellingham remain adamant that he is a positive presence in the England squad. Jordan Henderson has said of a player that he struck up a close bond with at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar: “He is very special, very special. We have a few special players in this squad, to be fair. But, with Jude, I think we all knew he was a very special player when he first came into the squad. The way he trains, the way he lives his life around football, loves the game, wants to improve and there is the ability that he has on the pitch. He is a world-class player and I know there will be a lot of stories and a lot of headlines, but for him, it is just about focusing on football.”

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Getty Images SportWorld Cup draw date: When England will discover group stage opponents

There will be another international break in March, as Bellingham and Co get a final opportunity to prove their worth to Tuchel. For now, though, everyone connected with the England camp is waiting to discover who they will face in the 2026 World Cup group stage – with that draw set to take place at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC on December 5.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Palmeiras aguarda o desfecho da negociação com o Zenit, da Rússia, para vender o atacante Artur. O clube alviverde está disposto a liberar o atleta pelos 15 milhões de euros (R$ 80,5 mi, na cotação) oferecidos pelos russos – além de outros 3 milhões de euros (R$ 16,11 mi, na cotação atual) por metas atingidas. O jogador, no entanto, não se vê convencido a mudar de ares e ainda não bateu o martelo.

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O próprio Zenit também não trata a negociação como prioridade e tirou o pé há alguns dias. A equipe de São Petersburgo foca em outras tratativas que serão desenroladas durante a janela de transferências.

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

O Verdão e o antigo estafe de Artur foram as partes que mais se mostraram empolgadas com o fechamento do negócio. O clube alviverde, no início, até foi relutante, já que firmou o retorno do atacante recentemente, em março de 2023, mas considerou o valor oferecido pelos russos, já que os números, contando as bonificações, representam o dobro do que foi investido em menos de um ano.

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Outro motivo que faz a direção palmeirense considerar negociar o camisa 14 é o desempenho em campo. Importante no seu retorno ao Palmeiras, o jogador terminou a temporada perdendo espaço na equipe titular e fora da espinha dorsal da equipe montada pelo técnico Abel Ferreira.

➡️ Chapéu! Como Abel Ferreira atuou na negociação de Caio Paulista com o Palmeiras

Ainda que não esteja dando muita atenção para a negociação, o Zenit mantém o interesse em ter Artur. Assim, a decisão sobre a evolução das tratativas passa diretamente pelo atleta.

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Como trocou recentemente de agente, o atacante tem vivido menos “pressão” para definir o futuro profissional e reflete sobre a situação enquanto passa férias no Ceará.

Fiery burst wrecks hosts’ hopes of taking lead, before Gubbins’ fifty builds for visitors

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay31-Jul-2025 Hampshire 293 (Middleton 79, Weatherley 62, Taylor 5-55) and 139 for 2 (Gubbins 55*) lead Worcestershire 249 (Libby 100*, Hose 82, Baker 5-72) by 183 runsSonny Baker’s five-wicket haul and a Nick Gubbins half-century helped drive Hampshire into the ascendency on Day Three of the Rothesay County Championship clash against Worcestershire.Baker’s morning burst of three wickets saw him to figures of 5 for 72, as Jake Libby’s 100 not out could not see Worcestershire into the lead despite early promise, as his side were bowled out for 249.With a lead of 44, the visiting side batted through the day with relative comfort on a flattening wicket, as Joe Weatherley and Fletcha Middleton made early progress for their side.Gubbins then scored an unbeaten 55 to see his side to 139 for 2 at the close, with the away side well in the hunt for a third County Championship victory of the season.With a lengthy delay to the start of proceedings on the third morning of the match, Hampshire enjoyed an excellent start to the day as Baker produced an eye-catching three wicket burst to reduce Worcestershire to 189 for 5.The visitors welcomed a stroke of luck in the second over of the day when Adam Hose feathered a strangle down the leg-side, to depart without adding to his overnight score, before Baker picked up the wickets of Brett D’Oliveira (1) and Ethan Brookes (0) as the hosts reeled under the clouds at Visit Worcestershire New Road.Searching for their first Rothesay County Championship win since mid-May, Hampshire began the afternoon session in similar vein to the morning, with Libby watching his side fall behind in the contest.Matthew Waite helped add 34 with the Worcestershire opener, before he nicked off to James Fuller for a cautious 21 as the Division One strugglers watched another promising position fall away beneath them as they limped to 223 for 6.Part-timer Nick Gubbins was thrown the ball in the 80th over of the innings as the visitors looked to move things on before taking the new ball but were overjoyed when Tom Taylor was pinned LBW in an innocuous over as the home side slid further behind the eight-ball.Hampshire tightened their grip on the match, as Kyle Abbott (1 for 27) and Baker removed Ben Allison and Adam Finch, with Libby 98 not out and his side still trailing by 46 runs.Libby added the two runs required to reach a gritty century off 235 balls, registering the first century by a Worcestershire player at Visit Worcestershire New Road this summer.Baker capped a fine individual performance as he returned in the next over to secure his five-wicket haul and ensure his side took a healthy lead of 44 runs into their second innings, with Worcestershire all-out one run short of a batting bonus-point.Hampshire lost Joe Weatherley in the 11th over of their reply, when he was LBW to a full ball from Waite but marched on unfazed to pass fifty with comfort.Middleton got in and showed signs of extending his good form from the first innings but was unable to capitalise on his positive start as he was caught behind off an Adam Finch delivery, with his side 120 runs in front.Gubbins made his way to a comfortable half-century as the evening drew to a close, as he and Tilak Varma batted through to stumps with Hampshire in total control at 139 for 2, with a commanding 183-run lead heading into the final day.

MatériaMais Notícias

Parte da torcida do Palmeiras está furiosa com os dirigentes do clube, especialmente a presidente, Leila Pereira, e o diretor de futebol, Anderson Barros. Mas se depender da mandatária, essa parceria ainda vai durar um bom tempo, algo que não se pode garantir sobre Abel Ferreira, que tem contrato somente até o fim de 2024 e ainda não deu sinais de que vai renovar.

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+ Veja tabela e classificação do Brasileirão-2023 clicando aqui

Em entrevista coletiva nesta quarta-feira (11), na Academia de Futebol, Leila admitiu que quer contar com Abel até o fim de seu hipotético segundo mandato, que seria de 2025 a 2027. Ela afirmou que já conversou com o treinador sobre esse desejo, mas que até agora o português tem ficado em cima do muro.

+ Garanta a sua vaga no curso que formou craques como Pet, Dante e Léo Moura! Cupom: LANCE1000

– Sobre o Abel, ele tem contrato até dezembro de 2024, eu já conversei com ele, que é um desejo que eu tenho que ele fique comigo até o final do segundo mandato. Ele não fala nem que sim, nem que não. Mas eu vejo que o Abel está muito feliz, ele fica chateado que algumas pessoas tem a memória muito curta. Não tenho dúvida que o Abel é o maior da história do Palmeiras, mas ele não tem obrigação de vencer todos os campeonatos.Ele fica chateado com todo esse problema da violência. Ele tem mulher, tem filhas, e se isso chega na presidente, ele tem receio que chegue nele.

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+ Leila Pereira aumenta o tom contra organizada do Palmeiras: ‘Câncer do futebol brasileiro’

Por outro lado, Leila Pereira consegue garantir a permanência de outro personagem do departamento de futebol: o diretor Anderson Barros. No entanto, isso não deve agradar muito o torcedor, que está insatisfeito com o trabalho do profissional. A avaliação da mandatária, porém, é completamente diferente e a ideia é manter Barros até que ela deixe o clube.

– O Anderson chegou em dezembro de 2019 e em toda essa trajetória dele no Palmeiras conquistou nove títulos, sendo duas Libertadores. Ele é o responsável direto da contratação do maior treinador da história do Palmeiras. Eu não tenho dúvida que o Anderson é um profissional que qualquer clube gostaria de ter e nós temos a sorte de tê-lo por aqui. Eu tenho profundo orgulho de tê-lo ao meu lado. O Anderson é um dos grandes responsáveis por esse sucesso. Enquanto eu estiver aqui, o Anderson será o meu grande parceiro.

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+ Leila Pereira revela quantos reforços quer trazer para o Palmeiras em 2024

Leila Pereira, Anderson Barros e Abel Ferreira já estão trabalhando no planejamento para a temporada 2024 do Palmeiras. Na mesma entrevista coletiva, a presidente declarou que pretende trazer de três a quatro reforços para a comissão técnica, e que esses nomes já estão com o departamento de análise para avançar nas contratações.

Aston Villa are poised to wave goodbye to a “wonderful footballer” pretty shortly, as a new report reveals this week.

Aston Villa turn corner under Unai Emery after disastrous start

It took Unai Emery’s side five Premier League games to score their first goal of the season, with Matty Cash’s long-range pile driver against newly-promoted Sunderland finally opening their account.

After a very difficult summer transfer window marred by issues with PSR, their severe lack of attacking impetus had many supporters fearing the worst, but in a huge sigh of relief for the Villans, they’re starting to hit an excellent run of form.

Since Cash burst the net at the Stadium of Light, Villa have sealed two wins from two of their opening Europa League games, whilst securing precious back-to-back Premier League wins against Fulham and Burnley.

The recent departure of Monchi, who left his role as Aston Villa sporting director, also marks the beginning of a new era, with former Real Sociedad chief Roberto Olabe brought in as Villa’s replacement.

In one of his final acts as the club’s ‘president of football operations’, Monchi agreed to let midfielder Enzo Barrenechea join José Mourinho’s Benfica on loan with an obligation to buy.

Enzo Barrenechea on the verge of permanent Aston Villa exit to Benfica

Interestingly, according to A Bola this week, the conditions of his loan-to-buy clause mean that Barrenechea is just one game away from becoming a permanent Benfica player and leaving Villa Park for good.

Apparently, all requirements for the permanent option to be triggered are nearly met, including appearances, and Villa are about to receive a £10 million payment for the Argentine, on top of the £2.5 million loan fee they got in the summer, right after he makes another cameo.

Indeed, once Barrenechea is given his next nod for Benfica, he’ll have met the 15 games required to activate his permanent move to Portugal.

The 24-year-old joined Villa in a swap deal last year with Douglas Luiz heading the other way to Juventus, but he hasn’t made a single appearance for Villa.

He was sent out on loan to Valencia in his debut season, where he seriously impressed for the La Liga side, though it is now Mourinho who’s poised to snap up Villa’s forgotten “wonderful footballer”.

“You called me to talk about my favourite player,” said coach Andrea Bonatti, who worked with the player at Juve’s youth academy.

“He is a wonderful footballer. He has many virtues. He is very technical, he controls the ball very well under pressure, he has that ability that comes from futsal, which allows him to have good ball coverage. He has an excellent short game with both legs. And a great long movement, when you have to give speed to the game.

“He is very brave in aerial play, in heading. He is very helpful in defensive and offensive actions in the air. He covers a lot of ground, he is a 6 that gives a lot of balance, that frees up a lot for the teammate next to him. He is always on alert, with a great tactical sense, giving orders to avoid transitions against the rival team.”

West Bromwich Albion picked up a hard-fought win away at Norwich City on Wednesday night as Ryan Mason’s side momentarily got their stuttering Championship season back on track in Norfolk.

Only four points off the top of the league now after narrowly securing the three points through a 1-0 victory, Mason will hope his promotion-dreaming team can push on and pick up some more early season wins soon, with games against Millwall and Preston North End up next in the second tier.

It was certainly a night to remember for Josh Maja, with a first start of the season for the usually injury-ravaged centre-forward resulting in his first strike of the campaign also quickly following.

It was a typical poacher-like finish from the ex-Sunderland man, with a tricky run by Samuel Iling-Junior thankfully not going to waste, as the experienced attacker enjoyed a great return to form versus the Canaries.

Maja's standout night

Aune Heggebo would fall to the substitutes bench as the experience of the 26-year-old was preferred over the promise of the new Norwegian recruit.

It was a smart call by Mason in the end, with West Brom having to be potent in front of goal to secure a slim away day win.

Minutes played

60

Goals scored

1

Assists

0

Shots

1

Touches

19

Accurate passes

7/8 (88%)

Amazingly, Maja’s only shot of the night was the one that beat Vladan Kovačević in the Norwich goal, with the injury-prone forward also only needing a mere 19 touches of the ball to leave his mark on the contest.

Sky Sports’ Jobi McAnuff would sum it up nicely when labelling Maja as a player known for “making a difference”, as the clinical striker now aims to be free of the Hawthorns treatment room to try and match, or even, surpass his 12-goal tally from last season.

However, if it wasn’t for a stern defensive performance in Norfolk, West Brom might have well crumbled late on, with Josh Griffiths hailed as having a “coming of age” moment by journalist Lewis Cox when completing four vital saves in between the sticks.

He wasn’t the only very impressive figure at the back, however, with one defensive titan arguably putting in an even better display than the returning Maja.

West Brom star was even better than Maja

Come the end of the tense game, it was clear that the entire team picked by Mason all contributed to a gutsy three points being secured.

In particular, former Liverpool colossus Nathaniel Phillips stood out at Carrow Road, with the 6-foot-3 centre-back keen to make amends on the road after a late own-goal robbed his team of a win against Leicester City last time out on home soil.

Minutes played

90

Goals scored

0

Assists

0

Touches

77

Accurate passes

51/59 (88%)

Clearances

10

Tackles

3

Total duels

7/11

While Maja showed off his goalscoring prowess with an instinctive finish, before then waiting on scraps to come his way, Phillips shone throughout, winning seven duels and making ten clearances, keeping the likes of Josh Sargent for the hosts quiet.

Away from living up to his tag as a “monster” in the air that was handed to him by Jurgen Klopp at Anfield, the towering 28-year-old would also display a necessary composure on the ball in heated moments, with 51 accurate passes tallied up from his 77 touches of the ball.

Truthfully, minus that own-goal hiccup against the Foxes, Phillips has been very impressive in the demanding Championship so far this season, winning 5.8 duels per game, further reinforcing his no-nonsense approach.

Yet – as was visible at Carrow Road – he has also been unerring with his passes out from the back, as seen in an 89% pass accuracy being averaged as well.

Express and Star journalist Jonny Drury dished out a high 8/10 rating to the Baggies number 3 off the back of another assured showing, with Drury simply stating that the 28-year-old was “so solid” once more.

Mason will know he needs both Maja and Phillips to continue delivering, with West Brom’s chances of clinching promotion glory largely resting on the experienced pairing being able to grind out more results together like this 1-0 success.

Mason must now drop Price to unleash "special" West Brom star

West Bromwich Albion could get far more out of Aune Heggebo by starting this special Baggies star.

ByKelan Sarson Oct 1, 2025

Ronaldinho is regarded as one of the most skilful footballers of all time, however, the Brazilian icon once admitted he was jealous of one England legend’s ability.

The former Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and AC Milan star almost signed for Manchester United, with those at Old Trafford viewing him as a replacement for David Beckham. However, those at the Nou Camp hijacked any deal with the attacker going on to become a Barcelona star.

Eze, Ronaldo, Beckham: The biggest hijacked transfers of all time

Plenty of high profile deals have been dramatic.

ByCharlie Smith Aug 26, 2025

Ronaldinho never played his club football in England but did break the Three Lions’ hearts in the 2002 World Cup, scoring the winning goal by lobbing David Seaman in the quarter-finals.

The 2005 Ballon d’Or winner also came up against Premier League sides in the Champions League, a competition he won with Barcelona in 2006.

During his playing days, one specific Premier League and England icon caught Ronaldinho’s eye.

Ronaldinho wanted to be like England legend Paul Scholes

Talking previously, Ronaldinho shared his admiration for Manchester United and England legend Paul Scholes.

Regarded as one of the best midfielders the Premier League has ever seen, Scholes starred under Sir Alex Ferguson after coming through the Red Devils’ academy.

Known best for his range of passing, technical ability and midfield intelligence, Scholes won 11 league titles and scored over 150 goals in more than 700 appearances for Man Utd.

Ronaldinho came up against Scholes in the 2002 World Cup and then again in the 2009/10 Champions League round of 16 with AC Milan.

Man Utd and Scholes got the better of Ronaldinho and AC Milan, defeating them 7-2 on aggregate, and the Brazilian admitted he was jealous of the Englishman’s passing ability.

Thierry Henry was “scared” of Man Utd icon Scholes

Arsenal icon Thierry Henry was someone who Scholes faced more regularly during his career, with the French forward losing eight times in 19 games against the Englishman and Man Utd.

Henry once revealed that he and his Gunners teammates were “always scared of what Scholes could do” with the ball at his feet.

Tilak Varma was retired out, and Hardik Pandya farmed the strike. But the last-ditch effort wasn’t enough for Mumbai Indians (MI) to register a come-from-behind win against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their IPL 2025 game on Friday night.LSG have now won six of their seven games against the five-time champions, and this one in Lucknow was on the back of half-centuries from openers Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram, and a game-changing spell of 4-0-21-1 from Digvesh Rathi.For MI, Naman Dhir made an explosive 46, and Suryakumar Yadav continued to show form with a 43-ball 67. But LSG’s death bowlers – special mention to Shardul Thakur – stood tall against the experienced MI batting line-up.

Avesh and Thakur close it out

With 52 runs needed in the last four overs, ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster gave MI a 36.9% chance of winning. With Suryakumar and Tilak at the crease and Hardik to follow, it seemed closer to 50-50.Related

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Avesh Khan changed that by dismissing Suryakumar to start the 17th over. The batter pre-meditated a sweep, and he went through with it despite the ball being well outside the off-side tramline. The catch was taken at deep-backward square-leg.Hardik, the next batter in, and Tilak, got a boundary each in the over, but couldn’t get Rathi away in the next one. Thakur bowled yorkers in the 19th – at the stumps as well as wide ones – and with another 24 runs needed off the remaining seven balls, MI decided to retire Tilak out and bring in Mitchell Santner.Two runs from Santner off the last ball of that over from Thakur, in which just seven runs were scored, left MI an improbable 22 runs to get in the final over. Hardik was on strike, and although he launched Avesh over cover to start with a six, Avesh continued aiming for yorkers, and conceded just three runs off the five deliveries of the over.The forecaster was right, after all.

Suryakumar, Dhir give MI a chance

MI had gotten themselves into a good position despite stumbling early in the chase. Dhir and Suryakumar took charge after MI lost Will Jacks and Ryan Rickelton, their openers, in near-identical fashion: both hit hard-length balls to deep-backward square-leg.Dhir was remarkably still at the crease, and hit boundaries down the ground and through the leg side to get to 30 off his first nine balls. Suryakumar, meanwhile, swatted Avesh over the leg side as MI brought up their 50 in five overs. Akash Deep and Ravi Bishnoi were hit for two boundaries each right after the powerplay.1:17

What makes Digvesh Rathi such a tricky bowler to face?

But Rathi broke the flow with a legspinner’s carrom ball that angled in off a shortish length, beat Dhir’s flick, and hit the stumps. Suryakumar, though, continued to find the boundary without taking too many risks. His ability to manipulate the field was on display in the 11th over when he first played the square drive and then the cover drive to pick up two fours. Tilak, too, picked up an early boundary but couldn’t get going.MI got 88 for 1 in the middle overs despite not hitting a single six. They had set batters at the crease for the big finish, and it looked like they were well placed. But LSG’s death bowlers made all the difference in the end.

Marsh and Markram lay LSG’s foundation

Earlier, LSG made 69 runs in the powerplay after being put in to bat. Marsh made 60 of them off 31 balls, with nine fours and two sixes. He was caught behind off Trent Boult in the first over, but neither the bowler nor his team-mates heard the nick as Marsh tried driving through the covers.Marsh took advantage. He was severe against full balls, and the lofted off-drive off Boult for six in the third over was a highlight. When Santner was introduced in the fifth over, Marsh picked up two boundaries, both off the back foot.Ashwani Kumar bowled a quiet first over but went for 23 runs off his second with two boundaries down the ground – through square leg and cover – as Marsh got to a 27-ball fifty. But he fell against the run of play by handing a return catch to Vignesh Puthur in his first over, the seventh of the innings.1:03

Boucher: Markram ‘perfect’ up front for LSG

Hardik chips away but LSG push along

Nicholas Pooran was LSG’s in-form batter, and he looked in business straightaway, smacking Santner for a four and a six. But Hardik’s slower bouncer first accounted for Pooran, and then for the out-of-form Rishabh Pant, who got a leading edge off an attempted flick to mid-off.Markram hit a couple of sixes while batting with Pant, but got back to playing second fiddle as Ayush Badoni played himself in. Markram got to his fifty off 34 balls, off what was the 99th ball of the innings.Badoni was on 6 off his first nine deliveries before breaking free with three back-to-back boundaries off Santner, who finished with 0 for 46, his third-most expensive spell in a T20. Badoni scooped Ashwani on the fifth ball of the 16th over, but was out caught behind next ball trying to repeat the shot as the bowler went wider.In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik bowled two overs at the death and picked up three wickets, starting with that of Markram with the offcutter. Only four fours were hit between overs 16 and 19, and MI would have hoped to restrict LSG to under 200.David Miller, though, whacked a six and a four off Hardik, and brought up his 3000th IPL run in the process to start the final over. Hardik bounced back with Miller and Akash Deep’s wickets in two balls, but conceded 15 runs in the end and LSG got past 200.

Fair to say, this transfer window has not gone to plan for Newcastle United.

The Magpies have seen countless targets opt to join Premier League rivals; Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Liam Delap, João Pedro, James Trafford and now Benjamin Šeško, to name but a few.

Winger Anthony Elanga and goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale have both arrived, but Eddie Howe will surely be desperate to add more reinforcements this month, so could a new striker be on his way to Tyneside?

Newcastle's ongoing striker search

It’s the transfer saga of the summer, so what is the latest on Alexander Isak?

Transfer Focus

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

Well, the Swede did not feature at all for Newcastle United during pre-season, currently training away from the rest of the first-team squad.

Meantime, over the weekend, Luke Edwards of the Telegraph reported that the club have informed Isak that ‘he is not for sale this summer and will not be allowed’ to leave; it remains to be seen how this will play out.

Nevertheless, the Magpies do remain active in the transfer market, searching for a new possible replacement, hence why Craig Hope of the Daily Mail is reporting that they have made an ‘informal enquiry’ about Porto striker Samu Aghehowa, adding that he is valued at £80m by the Portuguese giants.

It’s previously been documented that Aghehowa is Newcastle’s top striker target, following Šeško’s move to Manchester United, so could the Spaniard soon swap Northern Portugal for England’s North East?

Why Samu Aghehowa would be a success at Newcastle

Since joining Porto from Atlético Madrid for a reported fee of £12.7m last summer, having not played a single game for Atleti, Aghehowa has become one of the most highly-rated centre-forwards in European football.

During his debut campaign with the Dragões, he scored 27 goals in 45 appearances across all competitions, including netting six times in just nine Europa League outings, most notably bagging a brace during a thrilling 3-3 draw with Manchester United at Estádio do Dragão last October.

Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout was certainly impressed, labelling the Spanish international the “complete” striker and a “monster”, praising his “pace, physicality, aerial ability and shot power”.

Tall, quick and imposing, there really is a lot to like about the Porto forward, so, let’s assess how Aghehowa of the present day compares to Isak just prior to his move to Tyneside.

Appearances

45

41

Minutes

3,400

2,761

Goals

27

10

Assists

3

3

All statistics below are on a per-90 basis:

Shots

2.85

2.99

Shots on target %

41.9%

48.4%

Goals – xG

+6.6

-4.2

Shot-creating actions

1.9

2.72

Goal-creating actions

0.3

0.14

Big chances missed

0.69

0.49

Big chances created

0.19

0.25

% of touches in opposition box

20%

18%

As the table outlines, when comparing the Spaniard’s first season at Porto to Isak’s final campaign at Real Sociedad, they’re remarkably very similar.

The hulking attacker did score six Europa League goals to the Swede’s three, on target a whopping 17 times more across all competitions, albeit at a slightly lower level; Global Football Rankings believe the Primeira Liga to be the seventh strongest in the world, four places below La Liga.

The most interesting of Aghehowa’s numbers is the fact he massively overperformed his expected goals, while Isak underperformed his during the 2021/22 campaign in San Sebastián, suggesting the Spaniard could be an even more clinical finisher.

Nevertheless, the data reaffirms their stylistic similarities, most notably the fact that the duo took a nigh-on identical proportion of their touches in the opposition’s penalty area.

Thus, all available evidence suggests that, should he choose to move to Newcastle, Aghehowa could replicate Isak’s impact at St James’ Park for sure.

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O Corinthians não perdeu para o São Paulo na tarde deste domingo (14). Mesmo assim, mantendo o tabu de nunca ter perdido para o rival em Itaquera, a torcida do Timão não ficou satisfeita e protestou ao fim da partida. É o terceiro jogo consecutivo na Neo Química Arena que as manifestações acontecem após o apito final.

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Houve cantos contra o elenco no geral. Foram gritados frases como: ‘Time sem vergonha’, ‘Ou joga por amor, ou joga com terror’ e ‘P***, que saudade, quando o Corinthians jogava com vontade’. E também aconteceram protestos específicos contra Luan e o conselheiro Jaça.

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Lembrados nas manifestações da torcida corintiana após o empate contra o Fortaleza na última segunda-feira (8), o presidente Duílio Monteiro Alves foi poupado após o Majestoso.

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Com o empate diante do São Paulo, o Timão chegou ao quinto jogo sem vitórias. São três derrotas e dois empates no período. Deste jogos, quatro foram comandados pelo técnico Vanderlei Luxemburgo, que ainda não venceu na atual passagem à frente da equipe alvinegra.