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In-form captain has team-mates running out of superlatives and home crowd loving every moment

Andrew Miller14-Aug-20216:00

Root or KP – England’s greatest batsman?

We cannot keep asking more of our star players. That has been the message from the ECB high command in recent months – including on the eve of this Test, when Tom Harrison, the chief executive, insisted the board were committed to a “people first” policy, for the remainder of England’s summer campaign and, most significantly, on into this winter’s Ashes.”It’s no longer acceptable to go ‘once more unto the breach dear friends’,” Harrison said, with Covid restrictions foremost in his thoughts, but with England’s insane itinerary right up there at the top of everyone else’s. For despite such stirring rhetoric, there really is no other way. The reality for England’s cricketers, in the sport’s post-pandemic panic, is that every day is Groundhog Day, every next-biggest occasion ever is just another day on the treadmill.But just as Bill Murray discovered while hanging out in Punxsutawney, some days can still be better than others if you can find it within you to seize the moment. And when you’ve ploughed on for as long as Joe Root has, willing yourself to perform in empty echoing stadiums for months of bubbled-up existence, then to emerge into a sunlight Saturday of a Lord’s Test, in front of a packed and enraptured crowd, with your own family looking on from their box in the Grandstand … well, there couldn’t really be a more perfect stage for a masterpiece.Related

Stats: Joe Root reaches 9000 Test runs as superb 2021 form continues

Joe Root's flawless 180* helps England edge 27 ahead

India refuse to go on the back foot thanks to Mohammed Siraj, Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah

Root has had plenty reason to wave his bat in triumph in the course of his extraordinary 2021. But few milestone moments have dripped with more glee than his jab into the covers off Jasprit Bumrah, armed with the second new ball on Saturday afternoon. He scampered the single then veered abruptly towards his family in the stands, punching the air with a delirium that only the most devout can know.For Root isn’t just going to the well for England, time and time again. He’s living in the well. He’s so immersed in the day-to-day pressures of carrying the fortunes of his team that he’s become at one with his surroundings, at peace with the pressure of treading water for hours at an end, knowing that if he dares to stop swimming, everyone is liable to sink. Today he soared, and it was glorious.”Joe and I, when we were walking out, we were just smiling at each other,” Jonny Bairstow said at the close, after an innings of 57 that ended up being less than a third of his captain’s tally, but is still, remarkably, the only other half-century to have come from one of his team-mates this series.”How good is it to walk out on a Saturday at Lord’s, with one of your best mates?” Bairstow added. “That’s exactly what it was. Our partnership was about having fun while we were out there, and to have a full crowd back at Lord’s, with the new stand, with family and friends, was really special. That Lord’s buzz, or hum, or however you want to phrase it, was most definitely back.”Mohammed Siraj congratulates Joe Root on his unbeaten 180•Getty ImagesMuch like James Anderson’s first-innings five-for, hindsight confers an inevitability on Root’s magnificence that circumstance really shouldn’t allow. It was a point put to him in the lead-up to this match – as he opted once again to do his captain’s media duties two days out from the Test, in a bid to cocoon his game-brain and filter out the noise for an extra 24 hours.”How are you Joe?” was the gist of the final question, almost as an afterthought at the end of a 20-minute interrogation, featuring topics including the return of Moeen Ali and the wider failings of a team that had been outplayed in each of their first three Tests of the summer, the longest they’d been made to wait for a home victory since their struggles against Sri Lanka and India back in 2014.He insisted he was fine – but then so too, you suspect, did Ben Stokes last month, when he fielded that SOS after the white-ball Covid outbreak, and broke off his recuperation to lead out a squad of reserves. Today, however, Root offered up the most ringing affirmative he could muster, an innings so serene it was as though the solitude of his supremacy had bought even his classically tailored game an extra yard of response time.Soft hands, calm choices, unhurried strokeplay – at least until his white-ball savvy surged to the fore as Anderson got peppered in the day’s frantic closing moments. He barely presented a straight bat through the V at any stage of his innings, relying instead on nudges off his legs for the balls that veered too straight, and needle-threading judgement on his favoured off-side, which made a mockery at times of Virat Kohli’s attempts to bung up his options with a trio of short covers and two slips to check his dab to third man.And in keeping with the need to think happy thoughts to haul England through this summer’s predicament, Root’s running between the wickets was able to step up an extra notch once he had linked up with sidekicks in whom he could fully trust – Bairstow in the first instance, but Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali too, a trio whose white-ball world-beating counts for more than perhaps it ought to in the cramped confines of this itinerary. In the end Bairstow was bested by the short ball – a method he cannot really plan for when ruling the roost in one-day cricket – while Buttler and Moeen made just 50 runs between them. But they between scratched out half-century stands, and gave Root the ballast he needed to drag the match towards parity.None of this is sustainable. It’s barely even credible – much as in 2018, when India’s 4-1 losing margin was a travesty, it beggars belief that they are not already 1-0 up from Trent Bridge, and pushing for a second. But like a high-wire act over Niagara Falls, Root’s progress is both utterly compelling, and so inexorable, you start to believe he might just get to the other side without looking down.

“I run out of superlatives, to be honest”Jonny Bairstow marvels at the feats of his captain

For his achievements in 2021 are already sensational. In the course of this innings, Root first skittered past Graham Gooch’s former England record of 8900 Test runs, then pushed on past 9000 too, and at a younger age than anyone bar the one Englishman ahead of him in the run-charts, Alastair Cook.By the time he’d run out of partners on 180 not out, Root’s tally for the year was close to double that of any other batter in world cricket – 1244 to Rohit Sharma’s mid-match tally of 669 – and while England’s overloaded itinerary is a contributory factor, the comparison with his peers is even more revealing.By the end of England’s innings, Root had scored almost four times as many runs in 2021 as his next most prolific team-mate, Rory Burns (353), and more runs than the rest of England’s top six in this match combined.He’s made five of their six centuries this year, including each of their four 150-plus scores, and is only one shy of England’s all-time record of six in a calendar year. And, as if further proof was needed of the burden he has carried for his side, in this match he even had to see off two hat-trick balls in the same innings. His first ball came in the wake of Haseeb Hameed’s golden duck on Friday; and his 277th came 152 runs later, as Ishant Sharma started a new over, fresh from delivering Sam Curran his own first-baller.”I run out of superlatives, to be honest,” Bairstow said at the close. “He means a heck of a lot [to the team], like he does to English cricket.”To go into second place in the leading run-scorers in the history of the English game is very special, to pass 9000 Test runs in this game is extremely special, to score another 180 not out at Lord’s is great, isn’t it, and to see him in the form that he is, playing the way he is, it’s awesome to be out there with him, putting on partnerships with him, and enjoying every single moment of it.”And as a consequence, he’s on the brink of his masterpiece now. A year to stand comparison with any of the greats that have gone before. Richards in 1976, Ponting in 2005… even the most prolific of them all, Mohammad Yousuf, whose 1788 runs in his annus mirablis in 2006 included nine centuries in 19 innings. That’s as many as Root himself has now played, but he’s still got 12 more scheduled before the New Year. As might have been mentioned once or twice, England’s itinerary really is something else.But more immediately, Root’s got the chance to prove a point about his contemporary credentials. The mutterings in recent seasons were that he had slipped out of the fabled “Fab Four” of modern batting – his century at Trent Bridge last week had been his first on home soil since India’s last tour in 2018, notwithstanding the fact that his role in England’s World Cup triumph had caused a wavering in his Test focus.But now it’s Kohli who’s feeling the heat for his own relative dip in standards. In consecutive series against England in 2016-17 and 2018, he amassed the small matter of 655 runs at 109.16, and 593 at 59.30. Likewise, Steve Smith racked up 687 runs at 137.40 in Australia’s 4-0 rout in their last home Ashes in 2017-18; then followed that up with 774 more at 110.57.Root, right at this moment, has 353 runs at 176.50, with potentially seven more innings to come. The same, in fact, as his next most prolific colleague for the entire year. It may not be fair to expect Root to keep giving more to the cause. But when you’re in a zone quite like this, who would ever wish it to end?

Jen Pawol is set to make Major League Baseball history this weekend.

The 48-year-old will become the first woman to work as an umpire during a regular-season MLB game. She will umpire three games during the series between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves. That will include both games of a doubleheader on Saturday and the series finale on Sunday. She will be behind the plate calling balls and strikes on Sunday.

Due to the doubleheader, the umpiring crew needed to add a fifth umpire, which led to Pawol getting the assignment.

Pawol began umpiring professionally in 2016 at rookie ball, then steadily began climbing up the ranks. In '23, she became the first woman to umpire at the Triple A level in 34 years. She was behind the plate during the Triple A championship that fall.

In 2024, Pawol was the first woman to umpire a spring training game since '07, and she was a Triple A crew chief that season. She has a long track record during a steady climb to the big leagues.

Pawol played softball at Hofstra and was a member of the U.S. women's national baseball team that won the inaugural Baseball Women's World Series in 2001.

She has already broken barriers in her career as an umpire. She's set to make more history this weekend.

The success of GT’s top three this season has left others precious little time to impress, so this was a vital opportunity ahead of the playoffs

Karthik Krishnaswamy23-May-20251:07

Moody: Getting a fifty leading into the playoffs perfect for Shahrukh

They suffered their joint-second-worst defeat by runs in their history as an IPL team, but Thursday night was still an encouraging one for Gujarat Titans (GT).There’s no such thing as a good defeat, of course, and this 33-run loss to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) put a dent in GT’s hopes of a top-two finish in the IPL 2025 league phase. On the way to that result, however, they ticked off at least one significant box ahead of the playoffs.Coming into Thursday’s match, GT had been the most top-heavy line-up of the tournament, with their top three scoring nearly 77% of all their runs. Their openers were the top two run-getters in the tournament, and their No. 3 wasn’t far behind, sitting at No. 7 on the run charts.Related

• Rashid and fourth seamer remain concerns but GT 'not massively off' ahead of playoffs

• Gill and Sai Sudharsan 'have learnt how to move through the gears'

• Marsh ton, O'Rourke three-for headline LSG's big win against table-toppers

All that top-order success had limited GT’s middle-order batters to bit-part roles. Their No. 4 had batted only twice inside the first ten overs in 12 matches, and their No. 5 not even once.Coming into this game against LSG, GT had the worst average of any middle order (Nos. 4 to 7) this season. On the flip side, they had the best strike rate for those positions. You could say they were doing rather well given the constraints they were operating under, but those constraints had left too small a sample size to draw meaningful conclusions from.With the playoffs looming, GT’s middle order was in serious need of time at the crease. As well as Shubman Gill, B Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler were doing, GT may almost have been hoping for all three of them to get dismissed early in one of their last two league games – particularly with Buttler to play no part in the playoffs.M Shahrukh Khan had a rare opportunity for more substantial time in the middle•AFP/Getty ImagesAs it happened, that unspoken but probably not uncontemplated hope took material form on Thursday. Chasing 236, GT were three down in 9.3 overs, which meant that their No. 5 made his earliest entry of the season by far, beating the previous record by 22 balls.Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Buttler had done their bit before that, scoring quickly enough but getting out of the way early enough to leave their successors an equation that was steep but not outside the realms of possibility. When M Shahrukh Khan joined Sherfane Rutherford at the crease, GT needed 140 in 63 balls.Shahrukh has enjoyed a curious career in the IPL. The promise of his domestic T20 record, and the flashes of six-hitting power he has shown over time, have earned him INR 34.65 crore over five seasons of auctions and retentions. That’s a lot of money for an uncapped player, but coming into Thursday, he had only crossed 30 five times in 46 innings.That’s partly down to the thankless role he plays; seldom does he get any time at the crease before he has to swing at everything.Jos Buttler won’t be part of the playoffs•Associated PressShahrukh had that time on Thursday, even if a required rate nearing 14 meant there wasn’t much of it. But even this limited window allowed him to give the world a glimpse of the player he had been in his teenage years, when he hadn’t yet grown into this 6’4″ powerhouse, and when his technique rather than his power was the talk of Chennai’s cricketing circles – he’s referred to as “almost Laxmanesque” in this feature from 2014. You could kind of see it now. A back-foot defensive shot against Akash Singh. A flicked single off Will O’Rourke. A front-foot drive through the covers, with one knee on the ground, off Avesh Khan.GT needed more than that, of course, and Shahrukh obliged. When Akash Deep missed his length on a wide yorker, Shahrukh sliced him with astonishing power over the backward-point boundary. When the same bowler went for a yorker at the stumps and missed his length only marginally, Shahrukh created elevation with minimal room with a bottom-handed shovel that whistled back over the bowler’s head. In between, he stepped out to Shahbaz Ahmed and mowed him between long-on and deep midwicket, clearing the boundary despite connecting only with the inside half of his bat. This is the raw six-hitting power that makes him so sought-after.Rutherford brought the big hits too – an effortless flick off Avesh, a reverse-sweep off Shahbaz – and suddenly, GT were in with a chance. At the 16-over mark, when they needed 54 off 24, ESPNcricinfo gave them a 42% win probability. When Buttler had been dismissed in the 10th over, it had fallen to below 4%.2:18

Aaron: ‘GT have a problem with their third seamer pick’

“After the first three wickets, our middle order batted really well and brought the game on course,” Sai Sudharsan said at his post-match press conference. “From there, having four overs, 54 runs on the board, I think any other day we would have got those runs for the team.”It didn’t happen on this day, but GT still became the first team to breach 200 seven times in an IPL season. And this time, the middle order played a key role in taking them there.”I feel [the] middle order has done pretty well [through the season],” Sai Sudharsan said. “Even in the first six, seven, eight games, Sherfane stepped up and got so many runs in the middle order and changed games for us. Even in Mumbai he changed the course of the game for us.”Even Shahrukh got an opportunity today to showcase his talent. So I feel the middle order is on course as well. I don’t think there is some gap or something in the middle order. I feel, touch wood, things went well for all the three batters at the top so they didn’t get more opportunity to play in the first half of the tournament.”Thursday brought defeat for GT, and a worrying one if it puts them out of the top two. But it also brought them significant positives going into the business end of IPL 2025.

Big picture: Can New Zealand salvage some pride?

There is very nearly nothing on the line. If England win, they finish No. 2, which does not change their semi-final tie – they will play South Africa regardless. But that little bump up the table will certainly help them progress if the Guwahati knockout is subsequently rained out.New Zealand leave themselves at risk of slipping down to No. 7 or 8 if they lose, but even that is unlikely – Bangladesh having to beat India by a significant margin. The White Ferns will nevertheless be intent on salvaging a victory from an otherwise disappointing campaign. They had had to endure two washouts in Colombo, but have only beaten Bangladesh in their completed matches, going down comfortably to South Africa, India, and Australia.It is also Sophie Devine’s last match in the ODI format, with New Zealand’s captain having announced her retirement at the end of this World Cup. Devine is 36. Team-mate Suzie Bates, who is 38, could also be playing her last World Cup match, though she has not herself announced a retirement.England, meanwhile, may use this as an opportunity to tune up ahead of the final. They have consistently put up the same XI most of the way through the campaign. Perhaps they will give some tired bodies a rest.New Zealand have lost eight of their last nine ODIs against England•ICC/Getty Images

Form guide

England: LWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
New Zealand: LWLLW

In the spotlight: Sophie Devine and England’s spin trio

One-hundred-and-fifty-eight matches, 4,256 runs, 110 wickets – whichever way you slice it, Sophie Devine‘s numbers are immense. She had been the form batter of the tournament weeks ago, when she hit 112 against Australia, 85 against South Africa, and 63 against Bangladesh. The back-to-back washouts might have broken a litttle of her rhythm however. Can she regain it for her final ODI innings?Between Sophie Ecclestone (11), Linsey Smith (9), and Charlie Dean (7), England’s frontline spinners have 27 wickets in the tournament. None of these bowlers have gone at more than five an over (Dean has been by a distance the most expensive, with an economy rate of 4.73). They’d mostly had a quiet game in the loss to Australia. They will attempt to reimpose themselves.

Team news: Will England rest key players?

England may ring in the changes. With Sophia Dunkley not having made a major impact this tournament, could Danni Wyatt-Hodge come in? Could legspinner Sarah Glenn give one of the frontline spinners a rest?England (possible): 1 Amy Jones (wk), 2 Tammy Beaumont, 3 Heather Knight, 4 Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), 5 Sophia Dunkley/Danni Wyatt-Hodge, 6 Emma Lamb, 7 Alice Capsey, 8 Charlie Dean, 9 Sophie Ecclestone/Sarah Glenn, 10 Linsey Smith, 11 Lauren BellFor New Zealand, there’s a little scrutiny on the place of Eden Carson, who has taken two wickets in the tournament.New Zealand (possible): 1 Suzie Bates, 2 Georgia Plimmer, 3 Amelia Kerr, 4 Sophie Devine, 5 Brooke Halliday, 6 Maddy Green, 7 Isabella Gaze (wk), 8 Jess Kerr, 9 Rosemary Mair, 10, Lea Tahuhu, 11 Eden Carson4:19

Healy, Knight, Mandhana, Devine, Dottin – analysing the best six-hitters

Pitch and conditions: Can the rain please stop?

You won’t believe this, but there are rains forecast for Visakhapatnam on Sunday, with a cyclone supposedly brewing in the Bay of Bengal. So far this venue has seen medium-to-high scores during this World Cup, with India and Australia both having made more than 330 here in one match.

Stats and trivia: NZ’s poor record vs England

• Sophie Ecclestone has taken at least one wicket in every match she has played so far this World Cup.
• Although she’s played only four innings, Devine is still among the tournament’s top five run-scorers, with 266 runs at an average of 66.50.
• New Zealand have lost eight of their last nine ODIs against England – a stretch that goes back to September 2021.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Palmeiras enfrenta o Internacional nesta quarta-feira (17), na Arena Barueri, em jogo válido pela 2ª rodada do Brasileirão 2024.

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➡️ Siga o Lance! Palmeiras no WhatsApp e acompanhe todas as notícias do Verdão

Buscando a sua segunda vitória na competição, o time de Abel Ferreira deve reencontrar velhos conhecidos que hoje defendem o Colorado. Ao todo, seis jogadores do atual elenco do Inter já passaram pelo Palmeiras, porém apenas três podem ser titulares hoje.

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O volante Bruno Henrique, capitão do Deca Brasileiro do Verdão, e também as duas crias da Academia, Vitão e Wesley, brigam por uma vaga entre os 11 do time de Eduardo Coudet.

Alan Patrick e Hyoran, outros dois jogadores que passaram pelo Palmeiras, estão no departamento médico e não enfrentam o atual bicampeão brasileiro.

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Enquanto o Inter está recheado de jogadores em seu elenco que já vestiram o manto do Maior Campeão do Brasil, no Palmeiras, apenas o goleiro reserva Marcelo Lomba tem passagem pelo Colorado.

O provável Internacional para pegar o Palmeiras é: Rochet; Bustos, Vitão, Mercado e Renê; Thiago Maia, Bruno Gomes (Bruno Henrique) e Mauricio; Wesley, Wanderson e Borré.

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➡️A boa do Lance! Betting: vamos dobrar seu primeiro depósito, até R$200! Basta abrir sua conta!

Invicto no ano com o time titular, o Inter só tem uma derrota nesta temporada (assim como o Palmeiras) e também estreou com vitória no Brasileirão, quando bateu o Bahia no Beira-Rio por 2 a 1.

At USD 120,000, he is the only player with a base price in six figures

Nagraj Gollapudi23-Sep-2025R Ashwin has listed a base price of USD 120,000, the highest for any player, at the inaugural ILT20 auction. The auction will be held in Dubai on October 1.Ashwin, who retired from international cricket as well as the IPL recently, is the only player in the ILT20 auction longlist with a base price in six figures. If he is picked, the ILT20 will be his first overseas T20 league.Ashwin, 39, is among the 24 Indians on the auction longlist, which has almost 800 players as of now. A final list will be prepared this week once the ILT20 receives the wishlist from each franchise.Related

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ILT20: Powell, Ghazanfar retained; Hales, Livingstone among new signings

The fourth edition of ILT20, comprising six teams, will be played between December 2 and January 4. Ashwin has listed full availability for the tournament, after which he is likely to head to the BBL where four teams are understood to have expressed interest in hiring him for the latter half of the season.The ILT20 franchises had carried out their retentions and direct signings in July. Each team could spend up to USD 1.2 million on retentions and direct signings, with the balance amount to be added to the auction purse of USD 800,000. While a franchise can exhaust its entire USD 2 million purse, it will need to spend a minimum of USD 1.5 million. The ILT20 rules also permit franchises to spend an additional USD 250,000 to buy up to two wildcard players outside the auction.As per the squad composition rules, each franchise needs a minimum of 19 players and a maximum of 21, excluding the wildcards. There must be a minimum of 11 players from the Full Member countries, four from UAE, one from Kuwait, one from Saudi Arabia and two from other Associate countries.The franchises will also have one right-to-match (RTM) card but they can use it only to buy back a UAE player. That player must have been part of the franchise’s development squad or the 2025 squad.

خاض منتخب مصر الأول لكرة القدم بقيادة حسام حسن تدريباته بمدينة العين استعدادًا لمواجهة منتخب الرأس الأخضر، يوم الإثنين المقبل، في لقاء ودي.

ويلعب منتخب مصر والرأس الأخضر في السادسة مساء يوم الإثنين، بتوقيت القاهرة، باستاد “هزاع بن زايد” بمدينة العين الإماراتية، على المركز الثالث بالبطولة الودية.

طالع | منتخب مصر يكشف تفاصيل إصابة ثلاثي الفريق أمام أوزبكستان

وظهر عمر مرموش لاعب مانشستر سيتي في مران منتخب مصر بعدما غاب عن لقاء أوزبكستان للاحتفال بخطوبته.

وتأكد غياب الثنائي أحمد سيد زيزو وحمدي فتحي عن مباراة الرأس الأخضر للإصابة، وخضع صلاح محسن لتدريبات استشفائية، إلى جانب منح محمد صلاح راحة وعدم مشاركته في ودية يوم الإثنين.

وحضر مران منتخب مصر طارق أبو العينين ومحمد أبو حسين أعضاء مجلس إدارة اتحاد الكرة.

Newcastle United are evolving, adapting to a new variant of Eddie Howe’s tactical ideology after a summer of change and upheaval.

Namely, the record-breaking sale of Alexander Isak to Premier League champions Liverpool rocked the boat and then some, but Newcastle have replaced Isak with Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa.

With three goals in six games, Woltemade, 23, looks a real talent, described as the “problem and solution” by reporter Craig Hope, who was discussing United’s teething problems as they adapt to a different brand of striker who, albeit, has towering potential.

Wissa’s fortunes differ, however, having yet to play or even train with the first team after his move from Brentford this summer due to a knee injury.

For all the positive additions, though, the sense can’t be shaken that the Magpies have parted with several top talents in recent years, and they might have had a big impact this season and beyond.

As Howe himself has revealed, one of those players is Elliot Anderson, who the boss would love to welcome back to St. James’ Park.

Howe's latest comments on Elliot Anderson

In 2024, Newcastle sold Anderson to Nottingham Forest. The fee was mooted to be around £35m. Here was a top midfield talent, but PSR demanded levies from Newcastle, and this was a sacrifice PIF had to make.

In hindsight, the Toon chiefs must wish they had found another way to circumvent their financial problems. Hailed as a “phenomenal player” by Three Lions teammate Reece James, the 22-year-old has only gone from strength to strength since leaving his boyhood club, so complete in his midfield role.

Howe said this week that he wants the Geordie back at the club, but that won’t be an easy one to get over the line. Anderson is the centrepiece of the Tricky Trees project, and bringing him back to Tyneside would cost a pretty penny indeed.

Nonetheless, Newcastle can dream of a reunion. Anderson’s dynamic approach to his craft suggests he would be perfect alongside Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali, creative, crunching in the duel and a veritable workhorse.

It’s a great shame that Newcastle didn’t keep him in the ranks, but the decision was an understandable one.

Anderson wasn’t the only prospect who should have stayed put, though. Indeed, another was sold around the same time who has since proved themselves in the Premier League.

The other talent Newcastle should re-sign

If Yankuba Minteh ever wore the Newcastle shirt after completing his transfer from Danish side Odense Boldklub in 2023, it was not in a competitive capacity.

Now he plays in blue and white, having joined Brighton & Hove Albion one year ago in a £30m package. Last season, Minteh impressed for the Seagulls; raw and unpolished, yes, but the Gambian winger showcased his physical and technical qualities, scoring seven goals and assisting five more across all competitions.

Across six Premier League games so far this term, Minteh has scored once and registered two assists.

And the underlying data highlights why Brighton paid the big bucks for a young gem, untested in the English game after spending the 2023/24 season on loan in the Netherlands with Arne Slot’s Feyenoord.

As per data-driven platform FBref, he ranks among the top 12% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe for successful take-ons, the top 5% for carries into the penalty area and the top 1% for tackles won per 90 over the past year.

The 21-year-old has even won 6.8 duels per game in the Premier League so far, and though his distribution could use some work, he’s a real menace in the final third.

It’s something Newcastle know only too well. After all, Minteh has scored two goals in two matches against Newcastle, including a draw in the Premier League last season and as the Seagulls knocked Howe’s outfit out of the FA Cup in the semi-finals.

Following these blows, Spanish reporter Jose Alberto Chozas even called him “public enemy number one for Newcastle fans”, and understandably so at that.

If Minteh continues to make headway in the Premier League with Brighton, there’s every chance he will strike once again, and that’s something Howe cannot abide, given he had him in his grasp.

While Newcastle ended a lengthy search for a pacy right-sided forward this summer when landing Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest for a £55m fee, there’s little to suggest the Sweden international’s ceiling stretches higher than Minteh’s.

And anyway, where is the harm in having a duality of choice on the flank? Jacob Murphy is only 30 years old, but he won’t be around forever, and Minteh boasts the profile Howe looks for.

As with Anderson, it is going to cost Newcastle a hefty sum indeed, should they be interested in bringing Minteh back to the club in the coming years.

However, his trajectory on the south coast suggests that they must act swiftly, for Minteh is only getting better and better, and his price tag will rise concurrently.

TEAMtalk have recently revealed that a host of the Premier League’s top clubs are already sniffing around after witnessing the star’s early-season form, so Newcastle must pounce while they can.

Newcastle have sold "one of the best signings in the PL" & it's not Isak

Alexander Isak struggles at Liverpool as shrewd signing shines elsewhere after Newcastle exit

By
Will Miller

Oct 3, 2025

Arsenal have built an outrageously talented squad over the last five years or so, one capable of winning the Premier League and Champions League.

However, for all the incredible stars Mikel Arteta has signed over the seasons, from Declan Rice to David Raya, it would be fair to say his most important player remains Bukayo Saka.

The Hale Ender has transformed from an academy prospect into a world-class forward, and the fact that he produced his 100th league goal involvement on his 200th appearance at the weekend is a testament to that.

So, it’s incredibly exciting to see that the club are producing another academy talent who looks destined to become someone of Saka-level importance in the years to come.

Saka's academy career

Saka joined Arsenal in the Arsenal academy set-up at seven years old, after spending some time with Watford.

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The youngster’s first game for the Gunners’ U18 side came in a 4-1 loss to Fulham’s U18s in August 2017, and while he failed to make much of an impact in that game, he did end that season with eight goals and four assists in 22 games.

The following season started with the “future legend,” as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, continuing to play for the U18s while also making appearances for the U23s.

However, while he was used in the FA Youth Cup at the turn of the year, and the final of the U18s Premier League, it was increasingly clear that the young dynamo was too good to stay in that age group, and so the U21s became where he spent most of his time.

In all, the Ealing-born gem made 24 appearances for the U23s across 18/19, in which he scored six goals and provided nine assists, but something else happened that season: he made his first-team debut.

Former manager Unai Emery gave him a chance off the bench in a Europa League clash with Ukrainian side Vorskla Poltava in November, and then started him at home against Qarabağ FK a month later.

Appearances

28

25

Goals

16

6

Assists

6

9

With him now featuring for the senior side, he would make his final appearances in junior football the following season, playing a single game against Everton in late August for the U23s.

In all, Saka produced 37 goal involvements in 53 appearances for the junior sides before establishing himself as Arsenal’s most important player over the following years, and now it looks like Hale End has produced someone else capable of doing the same.

Arsenal's future Saka

While last season saw Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly make it into the first-team, the Hale Ender set to become as crucial as Saka is someone even younger: Max Dowman.

It feels like the 15-year-old is the most talked-about youth prospect Arsenal have had in a generation or more, and it’s not just coming from supporters.

For example, at the start of last season, respected talent scout Jacek Kulig went as far as to claim the teenager was the “most exciting prospect” he had seen “since Lamine Yamal”, and considering the Spaniard’s absurd ability, that is an astounding thing to say.

As if that wasn’t enough, you also had senior professionals waxing lyrical about the youngster, with Rice labelling him “the best 15-year-old in the country.”

Finally, away from players and scouts, Hale End expert Will Balsam probably had the boldest opinion of the lot, arguing that the Chelmsford-born gem is “one of the greatest footballing brains that’s ever come through Hale End.”

Appearances

23

Minutes

1945′

Goals

19

Assists

5

Goal Involvements per Match

1.04

Minutes per Goal Involvement

81.04′

As if that wasn’t enough, he also claimed that he’s “the biggest talent in England,” a statement supported by his statistics for the youth sides last season.

For example, in just 23 appearances, totalling 1945 minutes, he scored 19 times and provided five assists, which comes out to an average of 1.04 goal involvements per match, or one every 81.04 minutes.

Finally, what makes it really feel like he could become as big a star for the first team as Saka has is that in his few senior appearances, he has looked incredible, most notably against Leeds United at home and Newcastle United in pre-season.

Ultimately, there is still a long way to go for Dowman, but as things stand, he looks destined to become a world-beater for Arsenal.

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Everton have now gone three games without a win in the Premier League, but they have eight points after six matches and sit ninth in the standings.

The corresponding point from the 2024/25 campaign? The Toffees had four points on the board, having woefully lost four straight to kick off the term under Sean Dyche’s wing.

The draw against West Ham United on Monday night was probably a fair reflection of the fixture contested. The hosts started on the front foot and were well worth their money when Michael Keane rose and powered home from James Garner’s swept cross.

But Everton let the game get away with them, and United were playing with a new sense of iron about their will, having dismissed Graham Potter days before and replaced him with Nuno Espirito Santo.

Still, not everyone in blue covered themselves in glory. Beto toiled at number nine once again, but Jake O’Brien was also culpable for a poor performance at right-back.

Jake O'Brien raises questions

Everton signed O’Brien from Lyon for just over £16m in July 2024. Formerly of Crystal Palace’s academy system, the Republic of Ireland international had been hailed by journalist Zach Lowy as a “revelation in defence” for the French side, before completing his switch.

Last season, he struggled to break his way into the team before Moyes’ appointment, but thereafter, he played consistently from the outset at right-back, starting 17 times across the second half of the season.

So far this term, he has played every minute of the Hill Dickinson Stadium side’s Premier League campaign, though the recent draw to West Ham ended up shining a light on the need for a natural right-sided defender, one who can defend and attack with equal sharpness.

The Liverpool Echo handed the 6 foot 6 Toffee a 5/10 match rating after a performance that left plenty to be desired, while former Everton writer Adam Jones criticised the deployment, saying, “O’Brien at right-back just does not work in the long term.”

Minutes played

90′

Touches

61

Accurate passes

27/33 (82%)

Key passes

0

Possession lost

11x

Dribbles

0/0

Tackles

2

Clearances

7

Ground duels

3/6

Aerial duels

3/6

Dribbled past

2x

Errors made

1x

The Irishman is industrious and has been a shrewd signing for the Merseysiders, but it does beg the question as to why a high-level right-back was not signed this summer, with Ashley Young gone and Nathan Patterson unable to shake persistent injury problems.

Moreover, Everton have signed Jack Grealish on loan, and while the silky playmaker is flourishing on Merseyside, it has shifted Iliman Ndiaye out onto the right flank.

Everton's Iliman Ndiaye problem

When Everton welcomed Grealish to the pack, Moyes would have known that this would limit Ndiaye’s playing time from his favoured left flank.

Last season, the Senegalese winger was Everton’s most potent threat, finishing the campaign as their top scorer with 11 goals across all competitions.

Hailed by Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp for his “dynamite” qualities on the ball, the 25-year-old also ranks among the top 6% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe for successful take-ons and the top 8% for tackles won per 90, data courtesy of FBref.

Four of his Premier League goals with the Blues have been struck with his left foot, but Ndiaye is clearly more comfortable arcing into space to unleash with his right, having only featured twice as a right winger across the entirety of the 2024/25 season.

Could it be said that he is being wasted in this new role? It perhaps bears testament to Ndiaye’s remarkable skill that he has hardly fallen by the wayside in this new role, but the sense that he would be performing at a higher level in his previous role cannot be shaken at this moment.

The player’s speed and athleticism lend themselves to joy across the frontline; and indeed, Ndiaye has played all around the park, though Moyes has been the principal architect of his new home in unfamiliar territory.

Grealish, too, operates at his best in a left-sided midfield zone, but Moyes will be aware that both of his mavericks can play in a centralised attacking position, and maybe that’s food for thought, especially if Tyler Dibling makes the necessary developments over the next few weeks and months and nails down a prominent role at Everton.

Attacking midfield

51

15 (5)

Centre-forward

49

10 (12)

Left winger

41

10 (1)

Right winger

14

3 (2)

But this does loop back to O’Brien. Is the hulking defender the option on the right side of the defence? Does he provide the requisite creative support?

Ndiaye’s defensive focus has been sharpened since joining Everton from Marseille for £15m just over one year ago. However, he in turn needs help from the full-back behind him.

Given that Beto and Thierno Barry are struggling at number nine right now, and Ndiaye is Everton’s deadliest goal threat, there’s a chance that Moyes opts to field him as a centre-forward at some stage. In any case, appeasing the star is crucial if the club hope to stay competitive.

Ndiaye might have received a bit of criticism in recent weeks, but he’s still been dangerous across the opening weeks of the campaign, scoring two goals and assisting another.

But if Grealish becomes a permanent fixture on Merseyside, and Ndiaye is told that he will play off the right with regularity, a few more tweaks might be needed in the transfer market to achieve the kind of balance that will propel Everton into the ascendancy.

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