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Already planning ahead for life without loanee Marcus Rashford, Monchi is now battling to sign an alternative option for Aston Villa in a deal that could be worth just £35m this summer.

Aston Villa keep pressure on Champions League places

With just three Premier League games remaining, Aston Villa ensured that they kept hold of a glimmer of hope in the race to secure Champions League qualification by defeating Fulham 1-0. Coming courtesy of Youri Tielemans’ header, those in the Midlands have kept the pressure on Chelsea and Nottingham Forest as they desperately await a crucial slip.

Manager Unai Emery had his say on what was a narrow but all-important victory at Villa Park, telling reporters: “Today we wanted to be closer to qualifying for European football so it is fantastic. If we had not won, forget it (Champions League) completely.

“The best gift we can achieve is the Champions League and we are not the favourites to get it, but we will fight for it. We must now focus on Bournemouth next weekend which is so, so difficult. Villa Park is very important and we feel so strong here. The supporters are fantastic and we can feel that it is our fortress.”

Aston Villa now prioritising move to sign "fantastic" Real Madrid player

The Villans could make their move…

ByTom Cunningham May 3, 2025

There remains plenty of questions to be answered away from the action as well as on the pitch in the Midlands and one of those centres around Rashford. Following an impressive loan spell at the club, Aston Villa could look to land the winger’s signature on a permanent basis. It remains to be seen whether Rashford feels the same way about Villa Park, however, leaving the club to find an alternative option.

Monchi battling to sign Hutchinson for Aston Villa

According to Caught Offside, Monchi and Aston Villa have now joined the battle to sign Omari Hutchinson from Ipswich Town this summer in a move that would see Villa welcome their Rashford alternative. The deal could yet be a routine one to seal too, given that the winger reportedly has a release clause of just £35m after Ipswich suffered Premier League relegation.

In a difficult campaign, the 21-year-old has only been able to show glimpses of his quality – scoring three goals and creating another two – but will be desperate to stay put in the top flight.

Despite a disappointing output, Hutchinson still found himself at the centre of praise from manager Kieran McKenna, who told reporters earlier this season: “I think its enjoyable seeing a hungry, talented, young player getting to grips with the league and trying to make his impact – discovering the things that are different, the things that are an increasing challenge for him. And also finding the things that work for him and where he can have his impact.”

A player who Aston Villa’s recruitment team ‘rate Hutchinson highly and consider him a smart investment for the future’, so he could be one to watch if the Villans fail to sign Rashford this summer.

Graham Potter will be looking forward to the 2025/26 season, where he will be able to put his own spin on this West Ham United squad. However, Julen Lopetegui took charge in the summer, having his say on quite a big spend ahead of the current Premier League season.

The Hammers spent €144.40m (£123.7m) in the 2024/25 summer transfer window, bringing eight new players to the club on a permanent basis, whilst also making two loan signings. This comes after significant spending in the 2023/24 season too, with an outlay of €144.56m (£124m).

Maximilian Kilman

£40.7m

Crysencio Summerville

£25.1m

Niclas Füllkrug

£23.1m

Luis Guilherme

£19.7m

Aaron Wan-Bissaka

£15m

Guido Rodriguez

£0

Wes Foderingham

£0

Mohamadou Kante

?

The reason West Ham were able to spend important funds for two years straight was much down to their record sale, Declan Rice, joining Arsenal in the 2023/24 summer window for a fee of around £105m.

Declan Rice going from strength to strength

Rice made his breakthrough at West Ham, signing his first senior contract with the club in 2015, receiving his first senior call-up in 2017 and making his Premier League debut from the bench in the 2016/17 season against Burnley during a 2-1 win.

The England international made 245 appearances for the Hammers, scoring 15 goals, providing 13 assists and totalling 20,580 minutes played. Rice went on to become the club captain, leading his side to UEFA Conference League glory in the 2022/23 season, securing his legend status at the club.

But the 26-year-old has taken it to another level in recent weeks, being awarded back-to-back man of the match awards against Real Madrid in the Champions League, scoring two unbelievable free-kicks and helping Arsenal to secure their spot in the semi-final of the competition.

West Ham fans will be dreaming of the next wonderkid to come through at the club, having seen the success that Rice enjoyed with them. Whilst he isn’t through their own academy, they could well have their next wonderkid already on the books.

West Ham's next wonderkid

West Ham made a significant investment during the 2024/25 summer window, spending £25.5m on a 18-year-old Brazilian from Palmeiras, with Luis Guilherme becoming Lopetegui’s first signing at the club.

However, the youngster has struggled for involvement in England this year, being given minimal chances to prove himself.

Goals + Assists

0.00

0.44

0.00

xG

0.11

0.20

0.07

xAG

0.19

0.50

0.07

Progressive Carries

5.47

6.00

2.14

Progressive Passes

4.53

4.00

2.14

Shots Total

2.11

2.22

1.43

Key Passes

1.88

5.00

2.14

Passes into Pen Area

2.34

2.00

2.14

Successful Take-Ons

3.44

3.50

2.86

When comparing Guilherme’s underlying metrics from his breakthrough season at Palmeiras, just 16-years-old, with his second season in Brazil and his first season at West Ham so far, you can see his numbers have slightly regressed, which could be attributed to fewer minutes and a tougher league.

Marcos Watts from Transfermarkt stated Guilherme would become a “top player” if he continued to develop along the same path. Whilst this seems to have stunted slightly at West Ham this season, only managing 118 minutes in his 11 appearances so far, the talent is still clearly there.

West Ham have some extremely talented wide players and attacking midfielders currently ahead of the “electric” Brazilian – as described by analyst Ben Mattinson – in the pecking order, but if he continues to work hard, there is no reason Guilherme can’t break through and start earning his minutes, going on to reach his true potential at the club.

It may not be long before he proves himself to be the Hammers’ next young sensation after Rice.

Their best CF since Tevez: Potter asks West Ham to sign "mind-blowing" star

West Ham could sign their best CF since Tevez as a Fullkrug upgrade this summer

1 ByConnor Holden Apr 16, 2025

Allrounder has long been a key for England, now she prepares to captain them at the tournament for the first time

Valkerie Baynes20-Sep-2025Nat Sciver-Brunt, England’s World Cup talis(wo)man, now holds a more official role than before at the tournament and she hopes her influence can be even greater this time around.In her first campaign in 2017, Sciver-Brunt scored two group-stage centuries followed by a crucial fifty in the final as England rounded off their victorious campaign against India at Lord’s. Then, in 2022, she posted twin unbeaten centuries in losing causes against Australia, including a heroic 148 not out in the final at Christchurch.Now as captain, Sciver-Brunt finds herself in another fine patch of form with the bat heading into the latest edition in India and Sri Lanka.England’s squad of 15 flew to Abu Dhabi a week ago to ramp up their preparations ahead of their opening match against South Africa on October 3.That was after a short break following the conclusion of the Hundred, in which Sciver-Brunt was the tournament’s fourth-highest run-scorer with 256 runs at 36.57 and a strike rate of 148.83. Her side, Trent Rockets, finished fourth, just missing out on the knockout phase.Related

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Of players to have scored 300 or more runs since the last 50-over World Cup, only Sciver-Brunt and South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp are averaging more than 60 while striking at better than 90 in ODIs.”With my own experience of 50-over World Cups, they’re really tough,” Sciver-Brunt told ESPNcricinfo. “So being able to be that consistent and level-headed leader and giving energy when I need to, that’s the sort of thing I’ve been thinking about so far because it takes 15 people to win a World Cup, and all the staff.”Squad-wise, there’s lots of people in really good places, watching the Hundred and how much enjoyment everyone’s taking out of that, so hopefully we can take a little bit of that into India.”Sciver-Brunt took over from Heather Knight as England skipper after a winless Ashes tour of Australia and she relinquished the Rockets captaincy ahead of the summer’s home series against India to manage her workload. The franchise role went to Australian allrounder Ash Gardner and Sciver-Brunt – whose wife Katherine gave birth to their son, Theo, in March – admitted she took some getting used to sliding back into a pure playing role again.”The first game was like, ‘oh, my brain feels quite empty,'” Sciver-Brunt said. “It was good fun actually. I was still thinking a little bit about the game when I got to field out on the boundary, which I quite enjoy as well, so yeah, a little bit different and I guess a little bit of head space for me with a young family during a busy summer.”I was really happy with how that went, keeping an eye on the other games as well and how everyone’s going, so not fully switched off but it was really good and I’m excited to get back into that [captaincy] space again.”Sciver-Brunt enjoyed being able to travel with her family during the English summer, although the logistics of flying around and between India and Sri Lanka with such a young baby mean that they won’t all be together during the World Cup.”That’s going to be a different challenge,” she said. “He’s watched a lot of cricket and he doesn’t nap or eat very well when he’s got some big distractions, like loud music, wickets, boundaries and stuff like that. But he’s doing really well and he’s a great perspective to have after games, whether you’ve won or lost.”Knight and Sciver-Brunt will head to India following injury battles. Before scoring 41 and 7 during two unofficial warm-up matches against New Zealand this week, Knight hadn’t played since tearing her hamstring while batting against West Indies in May. Sciver-Brunt, meanwhile, had been unable to bowl since the WPL final in March because of an Achilles problem, but she took a significant step towards reprising her allrounder role by taking 2 for 23 in 5.3 overs during the second of those games on Saturday.England have picked four spinners – left-armers Sophie Ecclestone and Linsey Smith, offspinner Charlie Dean and leggie Sarah Glenn – while Lauren Bell will spearhead the seam attack, which also includes Lauren Filer and Em Arlott. If all goes to plan, a bowling-fit Sciver-Brunt will provide both balance to the attack and a vital level of experience, after veteran Kate Cross was overlooked.Bell enjoyed an outstanding season in the Hundred, where her Southern Brave side were runners-up to Northern Superchargers and she led the bowling charts with 19 wickets at 8.47 and an economy rate of 5.38, including best figures of 4 for 6 against Welsh Fire.Against India in June and July, Sciver-Brunt led the run-scorers with 160 at 53.33 and 87.91 as England lost the series 2-1. Ecclestone, with five wickets, and Dean, with four, trailed India seamer Kranti Goud’s nine.”That series let us know that it’s going to be really tough,” Sciver-Brunt said. “India are going to be playing in their home conditions where they feel very comfortable so we’re going to have to put our best cricket out there.”We probably weren’t as consistent as we wanted to be, in terms of playing our best cricket, but if we can do that as a team, we’ll be able to compete against the best teams. It’s whether we can put that out consistently during the tournament. I’m really excited about where we can go. I think we haven’t shown our best yet, so hopefully we can save some good performances for the tournament.”Nat Sciver-Brunt launches the Sage Small Business XI competition•Getty ImagesThere have been few personnel changes to England’s ODI squad since the Ashes – batter Emma Lamb has replaced Maia Bouchier, with Arlott and extra spinner Smith coming in for Cross. But Sciver-Brunt believes a change in approach under new head coach Charlotte Edwards, will stand them in good stead.Having had just 14 international matches, including only six ODIs, under the new leadership however, expectations on this England side are lower than they will be during the home T20 World Cup next year.”Any side who’s gone to Australia with quite high expectations and left seven-matches-to-none is going to feel pretty down, regardless of who you are,” Sciver-Brunt said. “We’ve learned from our experiences there, but we haven’t dwelled on that too much and I suppose use that as a starting point rather than an end point. We’ve changed a lot in terms of the way we do things and also our methodology a bit, so I think we are a very different team since then.”Women’s cricket legend Nat Sciver-Brunt teamed up with Sage, the Official Accounting Software Partner of The Hundred, to launch the Sage Small Business XI competition this summer. To find out how Sage can help your small business, visit sage.com

The rapid starts characteristic of England since their white-ball revolution has not been a feature yet in this World Cup

Matt Roller18-Oct-2023At their best, England are unstoppable. But they have hardly got started across their first three games of this World Cup: in their defeats to New Zealand and Afghanistan, they started their batting innings in a different gear to their opponents, and never really recovered.On the tournament’s opening day in Ahmedabad, Jonny Bairstow hit the second ball he faced for six, flicking Trent Boult over square leg for six as he took 12 runs off the game’s opening over. But England managed only 51 for 1 after 10 overs, then leaked runs with the new ball as New Zealand raced to 81 for 1 at the equivalent stage.And on Sunday evening in Delhi, the contrast was almost as stark. Rahmanullah Gurbaz got Afghanistan off to a fast start, taking down Chris Woakes and Sam Curran as they reached 79 without losing a wicket off the first 10 overs. With the new ball swinging under lights, England made only 52 for 2 in the initial powerplay, losing Bairstow and Joe Root early.England started well in their other game, a comfortable victory over Bangladesh in Dharamshala, and effectively had the points wrapped by the end of their bowling powerplay. Reece Topley took three wickets in the first 10 overs to leave Bangladesh 57 for 4; Bairstow and Dawid Malan had batted through unscathed, adding 61.Matthew Mott, their head coach, has diagnosed their starts as a major issue. “We win these games in the first 15 overs with bat and ball, and we haven’t done that well,” he said. “We’ve always been on the back foot, trying to pull things back. What we need to do is dominate those 15 overs, whether we bat first or bowl first in the next game.”England’s biggest issue is that with the ball, they have been by far the most expensive team in the initial powerplay, leaking 7.23 runs per over. While Mott backed Woakes during his media briefing on Tuesday, they will surely consider bringing David Willey into the side against South Africa on Saturday.But with the bat, England have tried to strike a balance between positivity and permanence in the first 10 overs. As of Wednesday morning, they ranked fourth out of 10 teams at the World Cup for both scoring rate (5.46 per over) and batting average (54.66) in the initial powerplay.In Bairstow’s view, conditions in India lend themselves to surges at the death. “The teams that have been able to go [harder] for longer at 35 overs through to 50 have built, built, built,” he said, “to get them into a position where your Nos. 5-8 can go ‘boff’ with two men in. That’s how, generally, teams have gone over a period of time in India.”For many years, India’s top order did prioritise stability: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli used to bat deep into a 50-over innings before a late launch. But recently, their method has changed. Rohit has come out firing in the last two years; at this World Cup, India have scored at 6.66 runs per over in the first powerplay – and that despite slipping to 5 for 3 against Australia in Chennai.Across ODI cricket over the last three years, the new balls have swung more than they used to – but England still believe the best way to stop that is by hitting early boundaries, ideally into the LED advertising boards or the stands. “If you get a couple of scuffs on it early doors, that can change it,” Bairstow said.Bairstow himself was unfortunate to be given out lbw in England’s defeat to Afghanistan, with the DRS showing ‘umpire’s call’ for impact and predicting the ball would have barely clipped leg stump. He would not be drawn on it: “The decision the other day was the decision the other day.”But Saturday night’s game against South Africa – at a venue with pace, bounce and a small playing area – should be an opportunity for him to get off to a flier. If he does, Bairstow can set the tone for an England batting line-up that needs to rediscover its aggression.

Bangladesh’s new low and other statistical highlights from the Durban Test

ESPNcricinfo stats team04-Apr-202253 – Bangladesh’s total in their second innings, their second-lowest in Tests, and the lowest by any team in Durban. Bangladesh’s lowest is 43, against West Indies in North Sound in 2018. The earlier record for lowest Test total in Durban was India’s 66, in 1996.10 – Wickets for Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer in the second innings, only the third time South Africa’s spinners have taken all the wickets in an innings. The two previous instances were also in Durban – against Australia in 1950, and against England in 1948.2 – Bowlers who operated unchanged through Bangladesh’s entire second innings, which is a first for South Africa, and a first for any team against Bangladesh. This has only happened 28 times in Test history, with the last such instance taking place at Lord’s in 2019, when Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes ran through Ireland in their second innings.This is also only the second time that two spinners have opened the bowling for South Africa. The only other such instance was when Paul Adams and Pat Symcox shared the new ball against Pakistan in the fourth innings in Faisalabad in 1997. Pakistan, chasing 146 to win, were bowled out for 92, but Shaun Pollock, bowling first change, did the bulk of the damage, taking five wickets.0 – Balls bowled by South Africa’s fast bowlers in the second innings, the first time in over 100 years that a seamer didn’t bowl a single delivery in a completed innings for South Africa.7-32 – Maharaj’s figures in the second innings, the best by a spinner in South Africa in the last 65 years. The last time a spinner did better here was in February 1957, when Hugh Tayfield took 9 for 113. The overall tally of 20 wickets for spinners in this Test is also the best in South Africa since December 1957, while South Africa’s haul of 14 spin wickets is the best by a team in South Africa since England’s spinners took 15 in a Test in December 1964, also in Durban.60 – Balls Maharaj needed to take seven wickets, the second-fastest for anyone since the start of 2002. The only instance of a bowler taking seven in fewer deliveries in this period was when Broad destroyed Australia with his 8 for 15 at Trent Bridge in 2015; he took his first seven wickets in just 42 balls in that innings. Maharaj’s five-for came in 35 balls, which is the second-fastest for South Africa where the information is available; Tayfield took a five-for in 33 balls against Australia in 1950.