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Before pushing up to the Premier League, Leeds United’s transfer business has now been thankfully exposed to be full of many hits, rather than misses.

While Daniel Farke has reminded the Elland Road faithful that there is a “long road” ahead for survival, it cannot be understated how much of an influence the likes of Anton Stach have had on proceedings, with the summer signing from Hoffenheim’s delightful free-kick sealing a big 4-1 win over Crystal Palace last time out.

Additionally, Jaka Bijol has also finally arrived at the party in recent contests, after an initially wobbly start, winning a commanding 25 duels across December to date.

Still, it goes without saying at this point that Dominic Calvert-Lewin is the pick of the bunch when it comes to the influential recruits, with the free transfer of the ex-Everton marksman going down as an unbelievable steal.

The stats behind Calvert-Lewin's start at Leeds

Staggeringly, Calvert-Lewin is now the only player in Leeds’ history to score in each of his team’s five final league matches before Christmas, as the festive period has proven to be a fruitful time for the revitalised goalscorer.

Indeed, the often injury-prone 28-year-old has looked a man reborn in West Yorkshire, with seven Premier League goals now next to his name from just 15 appearances.

DCL’s PL form – 24/25 vs 25/26

Stat

24/25

25/26

Games played

26

15

Goals scored

3

7

Assists

1

0

Scoring frequency

543 mins

147 mins

Goal conversion %

6%

21%

Stats by Sofascore

It has been a very sharp turnaround in fortunes for Farke’s leading man, with the overjoyed German hailing him as an “unbelievable” player to work with, after his late equalising header against Brentford.

On the contrary, towards the end of his long-standing Everton spell, he was simply written off as a wasteful attacker well accustomed to the treatment room, with only three league strikes coming his way last season.

Now, however, he’s a number nine in a rich vein of form, with a goal coming his way in league action every 147 minutes. Moreover, he has been unbelievably effective in front of goal, with Calvert-Lewin only needing three shots in total to pick up a whirlwind double against the Eagles.

Therefore, it’s an argument that is hard to pick holes in when you state that Calvert-Lewin is Leeds’ best signing of the season. Yet, there is one figure who could be considered an even better signing than the Sheffield-born talisman.

Leeds star is a better signing than Calvert-Lewin

Leeds fans might well err on the side of caution when it comes to waxing too lyrical about their new favourite target-man, with Calvert-Lewin prone to barren patches of form, but also many recurring injury troubles.

The proof will soon be in the pudding if he can keep this up for a full Premier League season, with Ethan Ampadu, on the contrary, now three seasons down when it comes to delivering some top-drawer performances at Elland Road.

Farke’s top five most-used Leeds players

Player

Games

Goals + Assists

1. Joe Rodon

115

3 + 0

2. Joel Piroe

107

33 + 10

3. Ethan Ampadu

101

3 + 2

4. Wilfried Gnonto

100

18 + 12

5. Daniel James

94

25 + 17

Sourced by Transfermarkt

The table above reinforces how crucial Ampadu has been as one of Farke’s main heartbeats in West Yorkshire, with the Welshman now up to 101 games and counting under the German’s long-standing Whites tenure.

While he doesn’t boast anywhere near the same levels of output as Calvert-Lewin, Ampadu has still more than played his part in Leeds’ recent successes, with the £7m once splashed out on his services immediately justified last season, as his 16 clean sheets as a rock-solid midfield anchor helped Leeds return to the Premier League as emphatic champions.

He has also worn the captain’s armband with heaps of passion and bravery since pushing Leeds up to the top-flight, with the goal instinctively fired home by the ex-Chelsea youngster against Palace, capping off a tremendous all-round display, with a mighty 11 tackles and duels also won. Without this steel week in week out, Calvert-Lewin’s goals might ultimately count for nothing.

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Farke has rightly recognised how crucial of a glue Ampadu has been for his side over recent seasons, by noting in the build-up to the Sunderland contest to come that he is “one of the best midfielders in the league”, for how well-rounded and lively he is, with the ex-Norwich City boss also lauding him as a “cornerstone” centrally.

Of course, Calvert-Lewin’s contributions in recent matches have been more obvious, as goals are what catch the eye.

But, Ampadu has also been sensational to watch across Leeds’ December upturn in results, with the 25-year-old keen to secure survival for his beloved side, to not only strengthen his label as a favourite amongst supporters, but also in his manager’s good books.

Related 18 months after leaving Leeds, £22m star is a bigger talent than Archie Gray

This former Leeds United prodigy has turned into an even more exciting talent than Archie Gray since exiting Elland Road.

Posts 1 ByKelan Sarson

A fragile West Indian batting line-up could do with a fit Chris Gayle © Getty Images

Four days before the first of their three Tests against South Africa, the West Indies should have been engaged in their last chance for meaningful match practice against South Africa A in East London.Instead, chastened by their ten-wicket defeat in three days on Friday, they took an early coach ride to Port Elizabeth, arriving in time for a couple of hours of practice on a warm, cloudless afternoon at St George’s Park, the venue for the Test that starts on Boxing Day – and, as any scrap of encouragement is welcome, also their victory over South Africa in the 13-overs-an-innings Twenty20 international a week ago.The sight of captain Chris Gayle participating in every discipline raised hope that his right hamstring, torn in the second ODI in Zimbabwe, would be deemed sufficiently healed by physiotherapists Jacqui Mowat-King and CJ Smith for him to lead the team in a Test for the first time and, just as critically, to take his place at the top of the order.His movements are, without overstating the case, measured at the best of times so it is impossible to make out the extent of his progress. But he is so vital to the fragile batting that he will almost certainly turn out if at all possible.The attention of new coach John Dyson and his associates, Hendy Springer and David Williams, needs to be directed rather on the mental than on the technical and physical.The failure of the batting in both innings against South Africa’s reserve fast bowlers presented an immediate challenge for Dyson, the Australian who has been with the team only since its arrival from Zimbabwe two weeks ago.Monde Zondeki, tall, slim and sharp, has regained the form and fitness that gained him Test selection in 2003, aged 21, and a tour to the West Indies in 2005 when he numbered among his victims Brian Lara for 4 in the Antigua Test that featured four hundreds for either side.Even though he was the first to 50 first-class wickets for the current [South African domestic] season in the West Indies match [earlier than any previous South African] and as well as the experienced Charl Langeveldt might have bowled, they are not in the class of the Test quartet of Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel, Shaun Pollock and, the fastest and most threatening, Dale Steyn.Steyn, with a little help from the others, so destroyed New Zealand with 20 wickets in the two Tests in Johannesburg and Centurion last month that they were routed for totals of 118, 172, 188 and 136 and were beaten in four days by 358 runs in the first and in three days by an innings in the second.Events in East London have reinforced general opinion here that the coming Tests will follow the same pattern.South Africa have moved up to No. 2 behind Australia on the ICC Test rankings but are keen to pull clear of India and Sri Lanka with whom they are level.They can be expected to be as ruthless as they were in their two previous home series against West Indies that yielded eight wins in nine Tests with the other drawn. Yet their former captain, Kepler Wessels, has held out some hope for the West Indies to at least make a fight of it.”The best opportunity for the West Indies will be in the first Test,” he wrote in his newspaper column on Saturday.With Graeme Smith rested on medical advice after the ODIs against New Zealand and Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs, Mark Boucher, Hashim Amla, Nel and Ntini all excused from duty for their provincial sides since the New Zealand series ended three weeks ago, Wessels warned South Africa “might be a bit rusty”.”They may also regard beating West Indies as a formality so it is important from the touring team’s point of view that they start well and make an impression,” he said. “Once South Africa hits its straps, it will need a special effort for the West Indies to compete.”The problem is that the “special effort” demands attributes palpably lacking in West Indies teams for more than a decade. “The key for the West Indian players will be mental strength and physical toughness, as well as good discipline and a high work ethic,” Wessels wrote. Such a sudden transformation would be nothing short of a miracle needed to make the match, and the series, a real contest.

Tahir Khan’s offbreak bowling helped Karachi Urban wrap up the Faisalabad tail and win by 143 runs to make it to the top of the Gold League table on the final day of their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Cricket Championship at the United Bank Limited (UBL) Sports Complex in Karachi.Tahir, having got 4 for 64 runs in the first innings, claimed 3 for 34 in the second as Faisalabad, needing 313 for victory, were bowled out for 169 in 68 overs.Tahir, who toured Sri Lanka with the Pakistan team last year, ended with 7 for 98 runs for the match. Tanvir Ahmed and Imran Javed, Karachi Urban’s right-arm fast-medium bowlers, got two wickets each.Imran Ali top-scored for Faisalabad with a painstaking 53 off 184 balls. Misbah-ul-Haq followed his 83 in the first innings with 33 in the second.Karachi Urban will now take on defending champions Sialkot in the final starting February 19 at the Multan Cricket Stadium. Faisalabad were the trophy winners in 2003-04 and runners-up in the last two seasons. They finished at fifth spot this time, with 18 points from six matches, of which they won two and lost three.Khalid Latif, the Karachi Harbour opener, scored an unbeaten hundred as defending champions Sialkot, into the final, held them to a draw at the National Stadium in Karachi.Despite conceding a first-innings lead and a draw without any points, Sialkot have set up a title clash with Karachi Urban starting February 19.The match was called off seven overs before the scheduled end of play with no chance of a result. Sialkot were 174 for 4 in their second innings after being set a target of 370 to in 47 overs.Khalid Latif’s 123 was the highest score of his career and his third first-class hundred overall. Opener Atiq-ur-Rehman hammered 62 off 82 balls while Tahir Mughal finished with 37 off 48 balls.Fawad Alam missed his century by three runs as ran himself out trying to take a single as Sarfraz Ahmed landed a direct throw from mid-on. Khalid and Fawad added 180 for the fourth wicket.With a draw in this match, Sialkot slipped to second place in the Gold League table whileKarachi Harbour remained at sixth place with 15 points but they avoided demotion to next season’s Silver League circuit to which Lahore Shalimar have been relegated.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) took a realistic step towards winning their first ever Patrons Trophy Cricket Championship as they defeated Habib Bank by an emphatic 104-run margin on the final day of their third and final round Quadrangular Stage match at the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) Stadium at Rawalpindi.Bazid Khan, the stand-in captain, made the expected decision of declaring PIA’s second innings at their overnight score 315 for 7, leaving Habib Bank 297 to get on the final day. In response, Habib Bank’s batsmen proceeded at a reckless pace and were all-out for 192 in 44.5 overs. Najaf Shah, the left-arm fast bowler, captured 5 for 40 to finish with a match haul of 9 for 100. It was the 21-year-old Najaf’s first five-wicket haul of the season, taking his tally of wickets in 11 first-class matches to 39 at 24.02 runs apiece. He was ably supported by Imran Tahir, the legspinner, who got 3 for 57.Habib Bank lost half their side with only 88 on the board. Due to some useful batting in the middle-order by Kamran Hussain (46) and Farhan Adil, who followed his first innings 76 with 35 runs off 38 balls with six fours, Habib Bank lifted their eventual total. It still fell far behind the win target, however.As PIA surrendered a slender 19-run first-innings lead to Habib Bank, they gained only six points instead of the full nine for the victory. However, this took their tally to 15 points after the completion of their three matches from the previous total of nine. This puts National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) in a must-win situation, in the other match being played at the Sheikhupura Stadium, against Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL). NBP have nine points and they must collect another nine if they intend to win the Patron’s Trophy title.Although PIA have been Pakistan’s national cricket champions on six occasions — having won the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy title, the Patron’s Trophy has somehow eluded them for the last 33 years. Habib Bank, on the other hand, have claimed this championship on a record seven occasions. Last season, they shared the trophy with PIA after the final was rained-off. NBP have been winners of this tournament on five occasions.Needing to win their crucial third and final round match at the Sheikhupura Stadium outright, National Bank of Pakistan NBP) replied strongly to Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL)’s first-innings 317.By the close of play, NBP had reached 223 for 4 and are now only 95 short of obtaining a lead over PTCL. But just a first-innings advantage won’t be enough for them to clinch the season’s Patrons Trophy title. After PIA’s victory over Habib Bank in Rawalpindi yesterday, NBP need to add another nine points to their previous total of nine to get ahead of PIA. PIA, who have never won the Patron’s Trophy in the competition’s 33-year history since it was launched back in 1972-73, now have 15 points to their credit. Even a draw with three points here would not help NBP’s cause.PTCL resumed at their overnight 214 for 6 and flourished further to take their eventual tally to 317. Asim Kamal, not currently required for the Test series against India, took his seventh-wicket stand with Tahir Mughal to 127before falling five runs short of what would have been his ninth first-class hundred. He batted for four hours 20 minutes, faced 169 balls and hit 12 fours and a six. Tahir continued on to 58 off 128 balls in eight minutes short of three hours and sent seven hits to the ropes and one over them. For NBP, the fast bowling pair of Yasir Arafat and Wasim Khan captured four wickets each.After the fall of an early wicket, NBP prospered through a 90-run second-wicket partnership. Imran Nazir, the Pakistan discard, hit 76 off a mere 55 deliveries with nine fours and a six, while i n contrast Mansoor Amjad faced 132 balls for his 62 with seven fours. Shahid Yousuf then joined Mansoor to add 80 for the third wicket, contributing 49 from 68 balls with seven fours and a six.The match in Sheikhupura was earlier to have been held in Multan, to begin on Friday, but it was shifted for a Sunday start because floodlights are being installed at the Multan Cricket Stadium prior to the one-day International between Pakistan and India there next month.

England A 424 (Bell 144, Prior 76*, Bandara 5-96 ) and 240 for 5 (Powell 54, Shah 81) v Sri Lanka A 228 (Bandara 45, Gidman 3-8, Mahmood 3-53)
Scorecard

Owais Shah put England in total control© CricInfo

Bad light and a gathering thunderstorm forced England’s players to flee the Colombo Cricket Club with 14.5 overs of the day’s play remaining, but by that stage they were able to reflect on a third consecutive day of control. After Ian Bell’s first-day leadership and Sajid Mahmood’s spark on day two, it was the turn of Alex Gidman and Owais Shah to shine today. England A finished with a whooping 436-run lead and five wickets still in the bag.Sri Lanka’s A’s tail-wag proved shortlived on the third morning, cut short by the steady medium pace of Gidman. Malinga Bandara extended his overnight 30 to 45 and Thushara Mirando flogged a quick 27, but Gidman ended the innings in a hurry, claiming 3 for 8 in just 3.2 overs. Sri Lanka A were bowled out for a disappointing 228 – far too little on a fine batting strip and in familiar conditions.England’s reply got off to a shaky start as Nandika Ranjith trapped Alistair Cook lbw for 18, before Bell, the first-innings bedrock, nibbled at a delivery from Gayan Wijekoon and was caught behind for 4. England were 32 for 2, but sweating only because of the humidity. Shah (81) and Mike Powell (54) soon settled and added 86 for the third wicket, carrying England A towards a position of impregnability.Mohamed Suraj, Sri Lanka A’s offspinner, broke through when an lbw appeal against Powell was upheld and Ranjith, no doubt mindful of the selectors’ close scrutiny after Nuwan Zoysa’s withdrawal from the New Zealand tour, proved successful when he returned for a mid-afternoon spell, finishing Shah’s 134-ball innings, an entertaining stay that included three sixes and five fours.But Matthew Prior followed on where he left off in the first innings, speeding to 40 not out from only 33 balls as England A stepped on the gas to give themselves time for a few overs’ bowling in the evening. Rikki Clarke joined the fun with his own blitz, racing to 30 from 23 balls. But Sri Lanka A were saved when bad light ended the day. Survival tomorrow, though, may not be so easy."I was disappointed I didn’t get to three figures,” said Shah after the day’s play. “Considering the nature of the game we were only going to bat for another three overs or so. The captain said to get as many runs as I can. I took a few shots on which I normally wouldn’t. Sometimes you get away with it, sometimes you don’t."I’ve been involved with the England side for the last two or three years and all of a sudden to be picked on an `A’ tour was great news," said Shah. "I am very keen to prove myself once again and try and get myself in the fold of a potential replacement and put my name in the hat. This tour is extremely important to me. It could be my last chance to play for England."

On Saturday September 27th I went to investigate claims that a travelling Christian missionary had returned from his work in India a devoted cricket fan and endeavoured to start up his own club at `La Misión’, near the town of San Bernardo.I met the man in question, Miguel Angel Hernandez, at the recent AGM and was amazed by his passion for the game. To sit through a two hour meeting discussing the legalities of a cricketing association and financial implications of purchasing a `Flicx’ pitch in ones second language takes some serious character; and so afterwards I quickly arranged for a training session with him and his side to assess the situation at hand.Before journeying even deeper into the sticks than I currently resided, I fully expected to be confronted by some extraordinary hybrid of the glorious game, pieced together by memory and improvisation. However, as I soon found out, this was not to be the case.In true Chilean style the session started some two or so hours late, although to be entirely truthful the delay might have been perceived as my fault. I tried desperately to follow Miguel’s more than adequate directions but after some dubious `help’ from the local bus drivers I eventually had to be driven from the centre of the (wrong) town to La Misión by what turned out to be San Bernardo’s answer to Andrew Flintoff. Although this was before I had spent a good twenty minutes standing out sufficiently enough to warrant the attention of a young lady who obviously found the shorts-sandals-pouring rain combo endearing, inviting me as she did to a party that night and giving me her phone number. However, I digress…I met with Miguel Angel and we waited for the rain to stop before heading out to the ground (La Parcelina Arena), which Miguel had told me was not "100% grass". In tow was a troop of eight eager looking men and their kit, specially imported from India, of course.When I had found a patch, mostly of mud, to act as our wicket for the day, play got underway. I was pleasantly surprised by the standard of play that I was witnessing and was reluctant to switch from the role of umpire to that of coach. As should be expected there was the occasional chuck and some baseball-esque wild swings for the ball, but on the whole these guys knew what they were doing.When I did offer any advice on batting the players were keen to learn and soon put in to practice what they had been shown, driving, pulling and even leaving the ball. After half an hour’s training, the players split in to two teams of four (Miguel Angel appointing himself as scorer and spectator) and things started to get serious. The teams’ respective captains were talking tactics and I found myself explaining that, for me, it was sensible to bat first and take advantage of the relatively good condition of the wicket before it deteriorated.Owing to time restrictions we agreed to play eight over innings, with everybody bowling twice. This gave me a great opportunity to look at each player’s individual and, in my head, I had already chosen the opening bowlers, a batting all-rounder and a more than capable wicket keeper for their opening game against Viña del Mar.After the innings were up the team then showed me that they had not neglected perhaps the most important side of their game: the cricketing tea. And so we retired to the dinning room for a feast of mash potato where we discussed the finer points of faith, religion and leg spin.During my time in La Misión, Miguel showed me books on cricket that he had read, articles on the world cup that he had cut out and saved from Indian newspapers and playing cards of his favourite players. It was then that I realised he truly understood what it was to be a cricket fan.For Chilean cricket the creation of a side in San Bernardo is somewhat of a fairytale. Without any external help they have proven that miracles can and do happen and we can only hope that others can follow the pioneering example of this side from La Misión.

A staunch hundred from Abhijit Kale could not prevent Maharashtra from crashing to a six-wicket loss against Baroda in their Ranji Trophy league match at Pune on Tuesday.Overnight on 224/3, Maharashtra had given themselves a good chance of achieving at least a draw, if not an outright win. The last seven wickets, however, fell for 64 runs, giving Baroda the upper hand in the match.KD Aphale was the first of the overnight pair to go, making 71 off 106 balls. Kale, his partner, stayed until he was the ninth wicket to fall, but he did not receive any support from the lower order. He made 115 off 204 balls, hitting six fours and one six in his knock. The main destroyer for Baroda was Zaheer Khan, who picked up five wickets.Set a target of 230 for victory, Baroda made short work of it. A 99 from opener Connor Williams, to go with his first innings century, saw Baroda off to a good start. With SS Parab scoring 53, the first-wicket stand of 125 off 30.4 overs almost sealed the game for Baroda.Jacob Martin made an unbeaten 32 and Atul Bedade hit a whirlwind 24 off six balls to take Baroda to their six-wicket win, achieveing their target for the loss of four wickets in 57 overs.

Northamptonshire edged closer to promotion from the second division after completing a 162 run win over Sussex at Eastbourne today.Sussex’s hopes of reaching a victory target of 228 had effectively ended on the second day when they slumped to 45-7.Today they were bowled out for 65 – their lowest Championship score for nearly two years – as left-armer Paul Taylor cut a swathe through their tail.Taylor had Nick Wilton (19) and Jason Lewry (0) caught at slip off successive deliveries before last man Mark Robinson fell leg before for a duck – thefirst time Robinson had been dismissed in nine innings this season.Taylor finished with 6-27, his best return of the season, which gave him match figures of 10-69. Sussex skipper Chris Adams finished unbeaten on 24, but was the first to acknowledge afterwards that his side had been outplayed for the second week running.”I think it is important to emphasise that we have been beaten by the better side.”They are more balanced, have a very strong leader in Matthew Hayden and a lot of batsmen who are pulling for their team at important times.”While Northants look odds-on for promotion after winning five of their last six games, Adams admitted his team needed to win two of their last three gamesto have any chance of being promoted.

Steven Finn wants England to continue their feel-good summer by wrapping up a 4-1 Ashes win in the fifth Investec Test at The Oval and believes that such a resounding margin of victory would help atone for their whitewashing in Australia 18 months ago.The legacy of that tour cast a shadow over much of 2014 and when this year began with England departing the World Cup at the group stage, the public feedback Finn received was of the “people hanging off scaffolding abusing me” variety. England have since won over the fans with some swashbuckling displays in ODI and Test cricket and next week will go after four victories in an Ashes series for the first time since 1978.The enjoyment has been even sweeter for Finn, who returned to the Test side at Edgbaston after two years out and picked up eight wickets. The problems with his action and run up came to a head during the 2013-14 Ashes tour, from which he returned home early, but Finn felt the pain of a 5-0 defeat even as he toiled in the nets.”Obviously we wanted to avenge that coming into the series, it was deeply embarrassing being over there for that,” he said. “I didn’t even play a part in the series but I was there watching every day and it hurt to be beaten like that. So to be sat here now having regained the Ashes is a very nice feeling.”We want to win 4-1, we don’t want to finish on a downer, that would be such a disappointing way to end what has been such an exciting series. We are glad that people are celebrating.”It’s great when you get stopped in the street to say they are proud of you and it’s nice considering where we were when we came back from that World Cup, when people were embarrassed to be associated with England or to be supporters of English cricket. To make people proud is a great feeling and I think if we were to win 4-1, which is very much what we are focused on, hopefully we can make them even more proud.”While many England supporters viewed the summer with trepidation – their unease added to by a 1-1 draw in the Caribbean – a thrilling one-day series win over New Zealand helped reignite enthusiasm. Australia arrived as favourites for the Ashes but a giddy fortnight, during which they were twice crushed inside three days, saw England reclaim the urn as well as a great deal of public affection.”Just walking up and down the street doing the shopping over the last couple of days, people stop you and say ‘we’re proud of you’ and it’s lovely – that’s what going out there and doing it is all about,” Finn said. “We go out there for ourselves and the team, obviously, but we do it for the wider perspective and other people as well. That is something I really enjoy and if we can put smiles on people’s faces then that is fantastic. Six months ago no one stopped me, no one said hello – other than people hanging off scaffolding abusing me!”Victory at The Oval in the final Test, which starts on Thursday, would see England rise from No. 6 to No. 2 in the ICC rankings – they will go third, behind Australia, with a draw or defeat – but Finn has cautioned against looking too far ahead.England’s next Test series is against Pakistan in the UAE, where they travelled as the No. 1-ranked side in 2012 only to be whitewashed 3-0. They will then take on South Africa, currently the world’s top Test team, but Finn said it was important the team remained focused on their current opponents.”We started to think about legacies and things like that and I am not comfortable with that sort of thing,” Finn said of England’s rise to No. 1 in 2011. “Why we have done so well, and won people back to cricket this summer, is we have taken every day as it comes – we have played with smiles on our faces and it’s brought the best out of us.”If we start talking about anything beyond that it could prove detrimental to what we are doing at the moment. That is for other people to talk about. We are not thinking about anything other than trying to win these five days at The Oval and then enjoying the challenge when we get over to the UAE as well.”Finn’s international career has in some ways reflected England’s ups and downs but his return to form has been a heartening one. He looked on from the sidelines as England won the Ashes in 2013 and 2010-11 but said being involved at Trent Bridge was “a moment to savour for the rest of my career”.He now requires one more wicket for 100 in Tests – having become the youngest Englishman to 50 more than four years ago – and looks a more complete bowler after rebuilding his action, adding consistent outswing to his armoury.”I have worked hard on swinging the ball over the last year but sometimes it has almost felt like I have sacrificed pace when I have been trying to move the ball sideways,” he said, “but something clicked in a four-day game at Merchant Taylor’s against Somerset recently. It was something I had been trying in practice and it started coming out better – then I thought, sod it, I am going to try it in a game. Richard Johnson, Middlesex’s bowling coach, has been encouraging me for a long time to just give it a go – I never had the confidence to do it.”

Since Sir Alex Ferguson left Manchester United back in 2013, the club have massively underachieved, both on and off the pitch.

One of those off-pitch areas has been in the transfer market, with the board sanctioning huge transfer fees for players who did not work out.

There have certainly been more poor signings than successful ones, with United splashing the cash on players who were simply not good enough to play for the club. A lot of those have now moved on, with a huge reshape of the squad happening since INEOS took charge. Even then, their regime has hardly got many additions spot on.

One of the worst pre-INEOS purchases was surely Antony.

Why Antony was such a poor signing for United

Erik ten Hag tended to rely a lot on signing players he knew, either from personal experience coaching them at Ajax or from managing against them. Brazilian winger Antony was a big-money addition from Ten Hag’s former club but failed to ever live up to the hype.

After splashing a whopping £81.3m on the Sao Paulo-born attacker, he never managed to prove his worth. Antony played 96 times for United, but only managed to find the back of the net 12 times, and assisted a further five goals.

One of the real issues with Antony was the fact that he was so one-dimensional. The 25-year-old was described as a “one-trick pony” by Paul Scholes. That one trick was to cut inside on his left foot from the right wing and look to get a shot at goal.

As his record shows, it proved largely ineffective for the Red Devils. They loaned him out to La Liga side Real Betis last season, and he joined permanently this summer, where he already has more goal involvements.

For the price and the quality of player, it was always going to be tough for Antony at Old Trafford. Now, they might be seeing a repeat in Ruben Amorim’s current squad.

Man United facing an Antony repeat

INEOS have definitely had a better success rate with their signings than the previous owners, with the likes of Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha already evidence of that. However, they haven’t got everything right in the market.

One of the players in that category would certainly be Manuel Ugarte. He cost the Red Devils £50m from Paris Saint-Germain, and has never really managed to establish himself as a first-team regular under either Ten Hag or Ruben Amorim.

His performances have certainly been below par for the price the 13-time Premier League champions paid for him. Journalist Samuel Luckhurst, who covers United, even went as far as calling him “scandalous” for his dire performance against Aston Villa last Sunday.

He’s played 57 games for the club, and whilst he has chipped in with six goals and assists, he has been underwhelming. United have lost seven out of the last seven Premier League games he’s started, which is certainly an unwanted record.

Whilst Ugarte is known as a ball winner, one of the biggest limitations to his game is his ability in possession. The stats from last season in the Premier League show there is no upside to his game on the ball, averaging just 3.08 progressive passes per game, placing him in the bottom 18% of midfielders.

Ugarte stats on the ball 24/25 PL

Stat (per 90)

Number

Percentile

Passes completed

40.34

52nd

Key passes

0.5

13th

Passes into final third

2.97

36th

Progressive passes

3.08

18th

Progressive carries

0.81

23rd

Stats from FBref

With the emergence of Lisandro Martinez in defensive midfield against Villa, Amorim might well decide it is time to drop Ugarte from the starting lineup. The Uruguayan is simply not good enough on the ball, and is a habitual fouler, too, committing as many as four last weekend.

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He has certainly been a signing, like Antony, that could be considered a disaster deal. For the same price, the Red Devils could have brought in a better midfielder last summer, with more quality on the ball and better intelligence off it.

It will be fascinating to see what the rest of his United career looks like, but one thing is for sure, Ugarte has been a disaster of a signing so far.

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Posts 1 ByEthan Lamb