It is no secret that Manchester United are in the market for a centre-back this summer having finished second behind neighbours Man City last season.
What’s the story?
Last month, according to the Manchester Evening News, United opened negotiations with Tottenham over a deal for Toby Alderweireld. The Red Devils’ offer of £55m would be the most the club have ever spent on a defender, but the offer is still said to be £20m short of what Spurs are asking for.
The 29-year-old looks to be on his way out of the North London club this summer as Mauricio Pochettino looks to free up funds for more transfers.
Alderweireld only featured in 21 matches in all competitions for Spurs last season after a long lay-off for a hamstring injury meant he lost his place to Colombian Davinson Sánchez.
Now it seems Jose Mourinho’s sights are set on a different defender. Gazzetta Sport have reported that Inter Milan have rejected a €65m bid for Slovak centre-back Milan Skriniar.
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Milan from Milan
Skriniar signed for Inter from Sampdoria just one year ago and is adept at building attacks from the back with his range of passing and quality on the ball.
Much like Alderweireld, Skriniar isn’t blessed with pace but his reading of the game more than makes up for this. The 23-year-old could be the perfect partner for Eric Bailly after Victor Lindelof struggled to make an impact at Old Trafford.
Skriniar played 38 times in Serie A last season, chipping in with four goals for Inter and would be a much better option for United in the long-run than Alderweireld.
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[brid playlist=”4766″ player=”12034″ title=”World Cup 2018″]
Tottenham Hotspur moved back into the Champions League qualification spots in the Premier League on Sunday as they beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at Selhurst Park, with Chelsea slipping out of the top four after they were beaten 2-1 by Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The result was a big boost for Spurs and manager Mauricio Pochettino ahead of a huge week in which they face three crucial home fixtures against Rochdale in a fifth round FA Cup replay, Huddersfield Town in the top flight and then Juventus in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.
Even though the north London outfit finished third in the 2015/16 campaign and then second last term, finishing in fourth would be seen as a success for the club this time around seeing as they have been playing at Wembley while their new stadium is being built, combined with their exertions in Europe’s elite club competition.
Pochettino continues to deservedly get praise from neutrals and pundits alike for keeping Spurs performing at this level, and by this time next week they could find themselves in the both the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and the Champions League, as well as cementing their spot in the top four in the Premier League and keeping the pressure up on second-place Manchester United, who lie just two points above them.
If that happens then the Argentine boss will once again be the subject of kind words from many different angles, but there is one aspect of his managerial career where he is perhaps coming up short right now, and that is in the transfer market.
Given Pochettino’s influence at Tottenham it seems right to assume that he has a big say in who the club signs, and while there has certainly been some success stories with the likes of Dele Alli and Toby Alderweireld, there have also been many disappointing ones too.
In the summer of 2016, Vincent Janssen was brought to the club to provide competition for Harry Kane, but he often disappointed on the pitch and failed to make a big impression even when he started matches with the England international injured.
Spurs may have won the title if they had the 29-goal Kane instead of Janssen for those eight Premier League matches he sat out, with the north London outfit amassing 86 points and only finishing seven adrift of Chelsea.
Moussa Sissoko also arrived in the same summer as Janssen for £30m from Newcastle United, and it seemed a strange move even though he was a France international having far too often failed to make much of an impact for a Magpies side that was relegated.
The midfielder is still yet to make an impact or start regularly for Tottenham, although he has improved slightly this term following a nightmare debut campaign in which he was often mocked for his performances by his own supporters.
The 28-year-old didn’t score his first Spurs goal until September, and he only has two in 70 appearances in total for Pochettino’s side.
Things didn’t get much better for the north London club and Pochettino during the previous summer transfer window either with the arrivals of Serge Aurier from Paris Saint-Germain and Fernando Llorente from Swansea City – Janssen’s short-term replacement.
While Davinson Sanchez has largely been a success aside from a handful of poor displays, the jury is very much still out on Llorente and Aurier.
The former doesn’t appear to fit into Tottenham’s style of play with the 6ft 5in striker’s main strength being that he is useful in the air in the penalty area – as he showed with Swansea last season – and he only has two goals in 26 appearances in all competitions this term.
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While many of his outings have come from the substitutes’ bench, he has failed to score in four starts in the FA Cup against AFC Wimbledon, Newport County and Rochdale, failing to make too much of an impact in any of those fixtures despite his experience.
Meanwhile, Aurier has shown glimpses that he could be a good addition, but he has also often shown himself to be a liability.
The penalty he gave away when his team were trailing 2-0 against Juventus was clumsy and naïve – luckily Gonzalo Higuain failed to convert it – while he produced three foul throws and missed a glorious chance to score in the 1-0 win against Crystal Palace at the weekend.
If Tottenham are going to make it to the next level they need to get things right in the transfer market, and Spurs and the Argentine manager will hope that the January addition of Lucas Moura gets them back on track in terms of new signings, as it is one of the few negative points on Pochettino’s CV right now.
With Arsenal signing Danny Welbeck on Transfer Deadline Day, fans were treated to at least a glimmer of hope on what is normally a quiet time for the Gunners, but their shrewdest bit of business actually could’ve been done in the early stages of the window.
Along with the multi-million pound upgrades to Arsenal’s London Colney training ground, fitness guru Shad Forsythe has joined the ranks. And this addition to the Arsenal backroom staff should hopefully be even more beneficial than the signings Arsenal have managed to make.
His arrival is all part of an attempt to combat the puzzling injuries the Gunners have been plagued with for season upon season. A long list of stars have seen long term injuries halt their progress at the Emirates – something that has had a serious knock-on effect.
During the 2013/14 season Arsenal led the top flight for 128 days only to falter due to a number of injuries to the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil, Jack Wilshere, etc. With a newly found appreciation for success (trophies!) Arsene Wenger will surely want to eradicate any likelihood of history repeating itself.
With Theo Walcott out and the most injury prone of all Abou Diaby, Shad Forsythe will be brought in to help aid them back to full fitness. This three game old campaign has already seen Kieran Gibbs sidelined due to a hamstring pull, Olivier Giroud lost to a broken tibia and Mikel Arteta endure ankle problems.
Wenger has a tendency to throw players back into games a little too early resulting in an extended stay on the sidelines, so along with the job of managing fitness, Forsythe will also need to manage recovery from injuries.
Having been a part of the German national team’s triumphant World Cup win, Forsythe knows how to get the best out of his players. Working with the team for a decade also means he has vast experience in the game.
En route to winning the World Cup the Germans looked impressive, not just for their style of football but for the constant high pace they played at. Power, pace and consistency… The Gunners lacked all three throughout most of last season.
Historically, Arsenal’s players are always out through injuries for lengthy spells of time. Robin van Persie, Thomas Vermaelen, Tomas Rosicky, to name but a few. Now it looks as though Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs will be added to that list.
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We’ll have to wait and see, but let’s hope that with Shad Forsythe, the Gunners can look forward to a return to full fitness for some of the club’s best players. If it all goes to plan we will not have to worry about new signings in defensive midfield and attack, instead we should be revelling in how consistent Diaby has become and amazed at Walcott’s 30+ goal season. We can dream right?
Stoke City travel to Upton Park looking for their 50th premier league win after their promotion in 2008.
Tony Pulis’ side will be trying to do something they haven’t achieved since the latter stages of last season in their search of the landmark; win away from the Britannia Stadium. Stoke haven’t managed a victory in their last 15 league fixtures away from home, scoring just eight goals in the process.
During this campaign their record stands at lost three, drawn three on the road and they will be hoping to put this right on Monday against this seasons surprise package West Ham who currently sit in sixth.
Both the Hammers and the Potters won their previous games 1-0 against Newcastle and QPR respectively and both will want to continue their winning ways.
West Ham’s fortunes at home are very different to Stoke’s away form, having only lost once this season, going down 3-1 against Arsenal in October. They will be pushing for all three points on Monday as their following four games give them the daunting prospect of Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.
Stoke’s problem hasn’t been the defending, having the joint best defence in the league with champions Manchester City, conceding just 10 goals, four of them coming at Old Trafford. The problem has been going forward only bagging nine, and with West Ham only shipping one more goal than the visitors this season, Monday’s affair could be a low scoring one.
But both strikers will want to prove a point after being left out of Roy Hodgson’s England squad. Many believe England need a Peter Crouch or an Andy Carroll but there is only room for one. In a fixture bringing two of the toughest defences up against each other, is there a better place to put your case forward?
Neither manager will have a full squad at their disposal; Sam Allardyce is still without Ricardo Vaz Te who dislocated his shoulder during the defeat to Arsenal back in October and Jack Collison is out with a knee problem.
There are fresh injury worries for Pulis; Glenn Whelan is waiting the results of a scan after he limped off for the Republic of Ireland against Greece in midweek, while Charlie Adam and Jon Walters should make the trip despite picking up niggles. Marc Wilson (broken leg) and Rory Delap (hernia) are definitely out and Michael Owen (hamstring) remains a doubt. Dean Whitehead is also going to miss the game at Upton Park with his second suspension of the season, after he picked up his fifth yellow card in the game against QPR.
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With both defences in their current good form and the lack of goals at the other end, the game has got a 1-1 draw written all over it.
“Performances, I didn’t really focus on that much,” the East Zone captain said, as he returned to top-flight cricket for the first time since IPL
Ashish Pant31-Aug-2025East Zone captain Riyan Parag’s focus at the season-opening 2025-26 Duleep Trophy was on easing himself back into the grind of competitive cricket and getting some game-time after he had spent most of last season managing a shoulder injury.Parag last turned out for India in a T20I against Bangladesh in October 2024. He had to undergo surgery for his shoulder injury, after which he played in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 for Assam in January. Before the Duleep Trophy, Parag had last played competitive cricket in IPL 2025 for Rajasthan Royals (RR). He was their second-highest run-scorer during the season, but was “managing a lot of stress” due to the shoulder injury.”It was good,” Parag said after the final day of the Duleep Trophy game against North Zone. “I mean, that was the main goal when I came here to play the game. Performances, I didn’t really focus on that much. I just wanted to have some fun.”I haven’t played competitive cricket in a long time. Since the IPL, I haven’t really played. [In the] IPL also, I was managing a lot of stress and stuff like that. But it was nice, was a good outing. Not in a good way with the amount of overs we fielded. But then still, rolled my arm for a few overs, batted for a while. Could have converted it for a bigger score, but then I’m happy. The shoulder feels much better now.”Related
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Leading the side in the absence of Abhimanyu Easwaran, who was ruled out due to fever on the opening day, Parag was dismissed for 39 in the only innings East Zone batted. He didn’t bowl in the first innings, but bowled 22 overs in the second as North Zone made 658 for 4, building on their first-innings lead of 175.While the game ended in a draw, North Zone qualified for the semi-finals on the basis of their first-innings lead.”They played better cricket, I got to give credit to that,” Parag said on North Zone’s performance. “I feel we could have done better in the first innings while bowling but then we should have got at least close to like 350 and then try to restrict it.”But once we did not do that, they had the lead of around 200 runs. Then, just the batters batted really well and just took the game away from us and the last day was just formality, I think, for them to get their milestones.”East Zone were without Mukesh Kumar on day three and four after the fast bowler picked up a thigh strain on the opening day. Mohammed Shami also did not take the field on the final day after he cut his toe, which meant East Zone had to rely on their part-time options.”That was one of the tough things to manage,” Parag said. “Shami didn’t bowl today, Mukesh got injured in the first innings, I’m coming back from an injury so I had to bowl 20 overs. Utkarsh [Singh], our non-bowler, he had to bowl around 30 overs so that did play a part for us in fielding a lot of overs but then nothing we can do about it. We just take it as a loss.”Parag says it’s “back to basics” now as he readies himself for the upcoming season. He has been named as one of the stand-bys for the Asia Cup, and is hopeful to get a chance when India travel to Australia for a white-ball series in October-November.”I was in the T20 set-up, then took a break for the shoulder [injury], and stuff like that happened,” he said. “Ranji [Trophy] is coming in, then the Australia tour is coming in; if I get selected there, I do that. Otherwise, I go back to domestic and do what I’ve been doing for the last two to three years. Be top-scoring every single game. Have a good IPL and play for the country again.”
Ankit Kumar: ‘Everyone did their job’
North Zone captain Ankit Kumar was delighted by his team’s performance as they racked up the runs on the last two days. Ankit fell two short of his maiden first-class double-century in the second innings, but Ayush Badoni recorded an unbeaten 204, while Yash Dhull scored 133 on the third day.Ankit Kumar made 198 in the second innings•PTI
Ankit, who replaced Shubman Gill as North Zone captain after Gill pulled out due to illness, said there was “a little pressure” captaining in a big game but was glad he found a way to score runs and lead the team efficiently.”I am captaining at this level for the first time,” Ankit said. “There weren’t a lot of changes from the Ranji Trophy; we followed the same process: bowl well, bat well. That’s worked for us.”We had a well-rounded batting and bowling attack. No one could play a big innings in the first innings, but everyone contributed and that mattered. It was a proper teamwork, so we didn’t face many challenges. Everyone did their jobs.”The basic plan was to take a first-innings lead. When that happened, we knew we could qualify. We wanted our bowlers to stay fresh. Arshdeep [Singh] and Harshit [Rana] have to go and play for India, so we wanted them to go fresh [for the Asia Cup].”
Fast bowler Muhammad Shahzad took a hat-trick either side of the unusual dismissal
Danyal Rasool05-Mar-2025Pakistan batter Saud Shakeel has become the seventh batter in first-class cricket to be timed out. On day two of the final of the President’s Trophy, a domestic first-class competition in Pakistan, Shakeel, playing for State Bank of Pakistan, emerged late from the dugout after two wickets fell in two balls. Amad Butt, the captain of the opposition side PTV, appealed after Shakeel was not ready to take guard within the required three minutes.ESPNcricinfo understands the swift fall of two wickets left Shakeel unprepared. He arrived at the crease to face the delivery, but Butt appealed, and the umpires agreed he had not been ready within three minutes, following which a timed-out appeal can be lodged. The most recent such dismissal in top-level cricket was also the highest-profile, when Angelo Matthews became the only cricketer to be dismissed in this manner during an international match. It happened during Sri Lanka’s 2023 World Cup match against Bangladesh, with Shakib-al-Hasan successfully appealing for timed out.Umar Amin and Fawad Alam fell to fast bowler Muhammad Shahzad within two deliveries, leaving him on a hat-trick. Following Shakeel’s unusual dismissal, Irfan Khan came out to bat, and had his stumps knocked back first ball, giving Shahzad a hat-trick. It meant that State Bank of Pakistan went from 128 for 1 to 128 for 5 in the space of three balls.The rare dismissal is not the only thing that makes the President’s Trophy final unusual. Owing to Ramadan, a period when devout Muslims do not eat or drink between sunrise and sunset, the PCB decided to play the entire tournament at night, with a day’s play running from 7:30pm to 2.30am, with tea and dinner breaks between sessions.Shahzad’s hat-trick helped PTV dismiss State Bank of Pakistan for 205, with former Pakistan opener Imran Butt scoring 89.
The allrounder picked up a hamstring strain in the final T20I against Pakistan
Andrew McGlashan20-Nov-20241:07
Finch: Shield cricket not a factor for Maxwell’s Test hopes
Glenn Maxwell’s hopes of making a return to first-class cricket before Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka have been scuppered by the hamstring injury he picked up against Pakistan in Hobart. Maxwell faces up to a month on the sidelines, which would rule him out of either of Victoria’s next two Sheffield Shield matches and leave a tight timeframe to be fit for the start of the BBL with Melbourne Stars.Maxwell limped off during Pakistan’s innings on Monday evening and has been diagnosed with a grade two hamstring injury. He had also been in the frame for the Prime Minister’s XI for the two-day pink-ball match against India in Canberra between the first and second Tests alongside potentially a Shield outing in one of Victoria’s two upcoming matches against Queensland.Related
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Although missing those matches is not terminal to Maxwell’s hopes of returning to Test cricket in Sri Lanka they had been viewed as an opportunity to further prove he can withstand the rigours of four-day cricket following his badly broken leg in 2022. Last month he played his first red-ball game in over a year when he featured for Victoria’s Second XI against Queensland and was encouraged by a long stint in the field.Maxwell was left bitterly disappointed when he narrowly missed playing against Sri Lanka on the 2022 tour and adding to his seven caps remains a major ambition before his career finishes after he last featured in 2017.”I think if I gave up on that Test dream now, I don’t think I’d be doing justice to that younger Glenn Maxwell who was dying to put on the baggy green when he was a kid,” Maxwell told ESPNcricinfo last month. “And I think while there’s still a glimmer of hope, I’ll keep going for it.”Glenn Maxwell is unlikely to play again before the BBL•Getty Images
Former Australia captain Aaron Finch does not believe the latest injury will change whether Maxwell is selected for Sri Lanka or not.”Don’t think it makes any difference,” Finch told ESPN’s . “The very little red-ball cricket Maxi’s played over the last probably five years, if they want to pick him, they’ll pick him regardless, and it’s not about if he goes and gets runs in Shield cricket. I don’t think that comes into it at all because it’s the skillset he has got – he’s very good against spin, he’s very versatile, [and] his offspin is better than part-time.”Chair of selectors George Bailey has previously said they will make specialist picks for Sri Lanka, and that performances in Shield cricket would not be the overriding factor given the vast differences in the conditions, while head coach Andrew McDonald confirmed Maxwell was firmly in the mix.”The ability to play on that horizontal plane sweeping and reverse sweeping, I think will be a critical skill if the conditions are extreme,” McDonald said. “Does he [Maxwell] fit that profile? 100 percent he fits that profile.”The big challenge for Maxi is clearly body and whether he can get through Test cricket, and what that may look like on the back of BBL. With Maxi, it’s he plays, see how he pulls up and then make the next decision on the back of that injury that he had.”The first Test in Sri Lanka starts on January 29 with Australia expected to have a 10-day lead up meaning those selected for the tour will miss the BBL finals and potentially the late regular-season games.Melbourne Stars’ first BBL match is the opening game of the tournament against Perth Scorchers on December 15.
Jason Kerr says playing two spinners unlikely but open to helping Bashir continue his development
ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-20241:37
Harmison: England have a hugely-talented proposition in Bashir
Somerset’s head coach has responded to the challenge laid down by Brendon McCullum, calling for game time for England’s young spinners, by suggesting that Shoaib Bashir could be allowed to go out on loan.Bashir and Tom Hartley have thrived out in India despite limited grounding in the county game and McCullum said earlier this week that it would “slightly mad” if they did not get increased opportunities during the coming season.While McCullum suggested he would like to see Bashir and Jack Leach bowling in tandem at Somerset, Jason Kerr said that situation was unlikely for the start of the County Championship in spring conditions that tend to encourage seam bowling.Related
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“It’s certainly not easy but I always try and put myself in the player’s shoes and what they want is to play cricket,” Kerr told the Press Association. “We start the season on April 5 and I’d be surprised if too many teams are playing two specialist spinners. So I understand there will be some questions about it.”Bash will be on cloud nine right now and riding that. He would have seen the world very differently at the start of the winter than he does now that he’s had international opportunities and done very well. So it’s important to have really honest, transparent conversations.”Bashir was only signed by Somerset at the start of last summer, after impressing for the 2nd XI, and played six times in the Championship, taking 10 wickets at 67.00. He has since exceeded that number in two Tests for England but will likely find himself back down the pecking order behind Leach, England’s senior spinner, who returned home from the tour of India with a knee injury.”There’s still a lot of water to go under the bridge, but what I’m not going to do is stand in the way of anyone’s opportunity,” Kerr said.Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir will likely vie for one spinner’s spot back at Somerset•Getty Images
“We will always do what is best for the player and we’ve done it time and time again. We’ve allowed people to go on loan and get some cricket because it can benefit them and us in the future, and we’ve said no to players because they’re next in line and we might need them.”We will look at each case as it arises but, historically, we’ve been open to it.”A similar situation arose at Somerset a few years ago, when Dom Bess emerged to briefly replace Leach as England spinner – Bess went on loan to Yorkshire before making a permanent move in 2021.With Leach currently recovering from knee surgery, there may be a chance for Bashir to stake his claim at the start of the county season. But Kerr indicated that Leach would be at the forefront of his planning once fit.”It’s important we see both of the guys bowling first but we also look at what Leachy has done for club and country over the years,” he said. “We always want competition for places and we want it to be healthy. Nobody has the right to start but Jack has got a lot of experience and, from my side, that counts for a lot.”Bash has so much time to grow and to become a world-class spinner who can bowl on all surfaces and know when to defend and attack. He’ll be coming back from India to very different conditions in the UK.”We’re an incredibly ambitious club and we want to inspire players to represent England. We want to help them fulfil those aspirations and that doesn’t change whether it’s Shoaib or Jack.”
Kavem Hodge fell for 99 as the tourists made good use of the final day of their warm-up match
AAP12-Jan-2024West Indies 251 for 8 (Greaves 65, Hodge 52, Brathwaite 52) and 315 for 5 dec (Da Silva 105, Hodge 99) drew with Cricket Australia XI 174 (Ward 50) and 149 for 5 (Sinclair 3-38)Joshua Da Silva wrapped up West Indies’ on-field preparations for the Frank Worrell Trophy by hitting a century against a Cricket Australia XI in Adelaide.Five days out from the first Test in the South Australian capital, Da Silva offered the tourists hope on Friday with a fine 105 against an inexperienced attack at Karen Rolton Oval.Related
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Test hopeful Kavem Hodge did his chances of a debut no harm with 99, before being bowled by spinner Doug Warren agonisingly close to reaching three figures.Hodge was desperately unlucky when a ball spun out of the rough, hit the right-hander’s back leg and bounced onto the stumps.Justin Greaves hit an unbeaten 41 to go with his first-innings 65, helping the tourists to 315 for 5 declared in their second visit to the middle, and a sizeable lead of 392.There do, however, remain some concerns for the tourists. The men likely to bat No. 3 and No. 4 in Adelaide both failed again, with Kirk McKenzie and Alick Athanaze backing up their first-innings scores of 23 and 0 with 9 and 15 respectively.West Indies need more out of the pair in the two-Test series, given they are likely to field debutants in Hodge and Greaves at No. 5 and No. 6.The CA XI were able to hold on for 39 overs to draw the game. West Indies off-spinning allrounder Kevin Sinclair, famous for his somersault celebrations after wickets, claimed three scalps. That will help his case for a Test call-up as he battles with Greaves for a spot in the side.The tourists will have to play at least three debutants at Adelaide Oval, with seven uncapped players in their 15-man squad.That lack of top-level experience highlights the predicament Test cricket finds itself in, with Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers the latest West Indies players to prioritise T20 leagues over the five-day format.
Their warm-up fixtures have been cancelled but discussions to resolve the issue are ongoing
ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jan-2022Visa glitches have delayed Afghanistan’s arrival into the Caribbean for the upcoming Under-19 World Cup. This has had a knock-on effect to a bit of the pre-tournament scheduling, with their warm-up games cancelled, and those of England and UAE rescheduled.Discussions attempting to resolve the issues are ongoing.”We have been working together with the Afghanistan Cricket Board and relevant stakeholders to try and find a resolution to the problem and allow the team to travel,” ICC Head of Events Chris Tetley was quoted as saying in an official release.”In the meantime, we have rescheduled the warm-up fixtures to ensure the teams in the region are able to continue their preparation ahead of the start of the tournament on 14 January.”Afghanistan were scheduled to play England and UAE over two warm-up games on January 10 and 12 at St Kitts & Nevis and St Paul’s respectively. England will now play UAE in a warm-up at the Conaree Cricket Centre on January 11.The teams at the Under-19 World Cup are split into four groups of four teams, with Scotland the latest to join the competition, replacing New Zealand who withdrew in November over Covid-related quarantine restrictions.Afghanistan are placed in Group C alongside Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea. The top two teams from the pool qualify for the quarter-finals, while the bottom two from each pool will compete in a playoff round.As things stand, Afghanistan are set to open their tournament on January 16 against Zimbabwe in Diego Martin. This will be their seventh appearance in the Under-19 World Cup. Since first qualifying in 2010, they’re made every single subsequent edition. Their best finish came in 2018 in New Zealand where they made the semi-finals.