West Ham could have signed late £31.5m Cresswell replacement

West Ham United are currently top of the Premier League table following their victory at Kenilworth Road, so supporters won't be worried about a lack of new additions on Deadline Day.

However, the Hammers did miss out on a golden opportunity to add quality depth to their defensive presence this evening, with a new update emerging on a target who wanted a move to the London Stadium.

Who were West Ham interested in on Deadline Day?

According to The Evening Standard's Nizaar Kinsella, Chelsea full-back Ian Maatsen wanted to join West Ham, despite being touted for another loan move back to Burnley this afternoon.

As per the report, the west London club agreed an initial loan with an obligation worth £31.5m for Maatsen, but the youth prospect was reluctant to agree to the deal as he preferred a move to remain in London, and it is now looking like he will stay at Stamford Bridge.

How good is Ian Maatsen?

The Hammers are currently unbeaten in the Premier League which will be a huge relief to David Moyes after losing a number of key players this summer, however, a missed opportunity to sign Maatsen will surely haunt the manager as they step into their Europa League campaign.

Read the latest West Ham transfer news HERE…

The left-back – who is a product of the famous Cobham academy – was one of the most promising prospects in the Championship last season during his season-long loan at Turf Moor, where he made huge contributions to Burnley's successful promotion back to the top flight.

Over 39 Championship appearances, the 21-year-old – once hailed as "hugely talented" by Coventry City goalkeeper Simon Moore – scored four goals, registered six assists, created a whopping 11 big chances and tallied up an 83% pass completion rate, as per Sofascore.

Not only that, the Netherlands native ranked in the top 20% of his positional peers across the eight leagues most similar to the Championship for non-penalty goals, assists, progressive carries, progressive passes and interceptions per 90 minutes played, offering a glimpse at his diverse skill set and strengths.

In fact, Maatsen would have been a dream replacement for Aaron Cresswell as he outperformed the Hammers full-back in a number of key attributes last season, albeit at a poorer level.

Indeed, those metrics included goal contributions (10 v 1), pass completion rate (80.6% v 77.8%), goal-creating actions per 90 (0.30 v 0.04), percentage of dribblers tackled (52.5% v 38.7%) and successful take-ons (40.3% v 28.6%), as per FBref.

Cresswell is now 32 years old and his current contract with the east London club will expire at the end of this season, so it will definitely feel like a huge chance has been missed for the Hammers to not only sign a worthy and youthful successor, but a potential upgrade on the left-back.

With that being said, there is no doubt it will be disappointing for West Ham supporters that Maatsen couldn't complete a deal with the club this summer, however, should he stay at Chelsea it could still present an opportunity for the future if the youngster is open to a move in January.

Braz discorda de Andrés Sanchez sobre retorno do público: 'Tendo segurança, tem que ter público'

MatériaMais Notícias

Após Andrés Sanchéz afirmar que o Corinthians não entrará em campo caso apenas as partidas do Rio de Janeiro – ou de outra praça – possam receber público, foi a vez de Marcos Braz, vice-presidente de futebol do Flamengo, comentar o tema. O VP, que tem boa relação com o presidente corintiano, discordou do que foi colocado e destacou a torcida pelo retorno gradual e seguro dos torcedores aos estádios em entrevista neste sábado, no Equador.

– Essa questão é mais para o presidente Rodolfo Landim, mas não vou deixar de dar uma opinião. Acho que a mágica do futebol, de todos os esportes, é o público, é a torcida, é quem vai prestigiar. O grande ator desse processo todo é o público. Vai um pouquinho na contramão da essência do futebol a gente não ter público. Desde que tenha segurança. Tendo segurança, tem que ter público. Então, não me furtando da pergunta, acho que o Andrés está errado. A preocupação dele tem que ser em relação à segurança de quem vai ao estádio. Você vê em outros esportes, em outros lugares, que nas cidades em que estão aptas a receber público, estão recebendo. Nas que não estão, não estão recebendo. Acho que não é por aí. Precisa ter unidade aí um pouco fora para termos futebol melhor – finalizou Braz, que atendeu os jornalistas para esclarecer a posição da diretoria após a derrota por 5 a 0 na Libertadores.

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O prefeito do Rio de Janeiro, Marcelo Crivella, na última sexta-feira, declarou que a partida entre Flamengo e Athletico-PR, prevista para o dia 4 de outubro, poderá receber um terço do público no estádio do Maracanã. A volta dos torcedores para as arquibancadas ainda precisa passar pelo aval da CBF.

Spurs: Lilywhites Make Contact Over "Quality Goalscorer"

Following the departure of Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur's need for a forward is no secret in the closing days of the summer transfer window.

The Lilywhites bid farewell to their star man, who swapped Spurs for Bayern Munich for a reported £86m, leaving the North London club with plenty of funds available to find a replacement. That search has now reportedly led them to out-of-favour Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku.

What's the latest on Romelu Lukaku to Tottenham Hotspur?

As they look to replace Kane, Spurs, and by extension chairman Daniel Levy, have made contact over a potential move for Lukaku, according to Calcio Mercato, without anything concrete taking place as of yet.

The move could certainly make sense for both parties, with Spurs in desperate need of a forward, and Lukaku in need of a career revival after struggling in is second spell at Chelsea – scoring just 15 goals – and enduring a transfer saga to forget, which failed to result in moves to either Juventus or Inter Milan.

With time running out in the transfer window, however, the North London club will need to act fast if they are to push on and pursue the Belgian's signature this summer.

They will have to do so by fending off reported interest from West Ham United, and Saudi Arabia, too.

Should Tottenham Hotspur sign Romelu Lukaku?

romelu-lukaku-1

It's fair to say that Lukaku has had his controversial moments in the last few years, with his interview whilst at Chelsea the pick of the bunch. But, even so, his goalscoring talent still remains true.

At his best, the Chelsea man is a player capable of competing for the Golden Boot – as shown by his 30 goals in all competitions during the 20/21 season – making him an ideal replacement for Kane.

When showing that form, Lukaku has earned plenty of praise, too, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer previously saying, via All Football:

"He is a quality goalscorer. We need to have him more in front of the goal but he has done fantastic in his work rate, attitude, he loves scoring goals, he smiles every day, he does extra shooting in training.

"He has got the goalscorer's quality. He has the quality right foot, left foot."

Statistically speaking, too, Lukaku could be an upgrade on Richarlison, who is Ange Postecoglou's current option. Last season, as per FBref, whilst on loan at Inter Milan, Lukaku scored and assisted more goals than Richarlison, whilst enjoying progressive passes, and more progressive carries than the Brazilian throughout the season.

With that said, the positives seem to be outweighing the negatives, and if you add in the fact that Lukaku has defeated Spurs seven times in his career, the Lilywhites would be solving plenty of problems by securing his signature this summer.

Read the latest Tottenham transfer news HERE…

It's been a case of so far so good for Potecoglou in North London, of course, with his side most recently defeating Manchester United 2-0 following their 2-2 draw on the opening day against Brentford.

If they can now add Lukaku to their side, then Spurs may well be well-placed to compete for a top-four place in the current campaign, and it could be a deal to watch.

Top Premier League Deadline Day Transfer Deals Of All Time

Transfer deadline day is now one of the most notable days in the football calendar – well, two if you count the winter one. It didn't actually exist in its current guise before 2002 but since then, things have gotten crazier and crazier.

Indeed, some of the Premier League's most notable transfers ever took place on the very last day of the window. Why do teams keep waiting until the last minute to do major business? No one is entirely sure – but it's made for some incredible headlines down the years.

So with that in mind, Football FanCast has gathered these picks for the most notable transfer deadline day deals in Premier League history.

10 Enzo Fernández joins Chelsea – 2023

We're going to the most recent deadline day for our first pick. Chelsea broke the British transfer record to sign Enzo Fernández from Benfica – something that seemed unthinkable a year ago.

For one, Enzo had only signed for Benfica six months prior and cost them a grand total of £10m. He started the season well and interest grew in him around a potential summer '23 move. Then the World Cup happened.

Enzo wasn't initially in Argentina's starting XI but forced his way in as the tournament went on. Eventually, he was a key part of their midfield as they won the trophy. The youngster was named the best young player at the tournament and transfer interest skyrocketed.

But no one actually thought a team would pay the £100+ asking price to sign him in January; surely only a summer move made sense? Enter Chelsea, who paid well over £100m (the Athletic) to sign Enzo. Benfica made a 10x profit in six months – quite the investment.

9 Liverpool sign Luis Suárez – 2011

There's not a lot of craziness around the actual deal here – Liverpool paid £22m (BBC) to sign Luis Suárez from Ajax in what was a fair price. He'd scored 49 goals in 48 games the previous season but a few Eredivisie players had done similar and then struggled after a transfer.

Suárez was also quite a controversial player after his brilliant 'save' in a World Cup quarter-final against Ghana (Luis Suárez is not a goalkeeper), while he had also been banned for biting an opponent earlier in the season. Still, Liverpool needed a new forward, and in came the Uruguayan.

What followed was one of the most notable careers in Premier League history. Suárez scored on his debut but was banned for alleged racial abuse before the end of the year. His second full season saw new manager Brendan Rodgers make him their main-man, though, and his goalscoring exploded, jumping from 11 in a season to 23.

Only, he was then suspended once again for biting an opponent just before the campaign ended. He returned to put in arguably the best individual season in PL history, equalling the record haul in 38-game season (31) while also adding double-digit assists. It was enough for Barcelona to sign him in the summer of 2014 – while, we should add, he was under a third suspension for biting.

8 Liverpool break record to sign Andy Carroll – 2011

Liverpool lost Fernando Torres at the deadline in January 2011 but moved to sign one of the most exciting young players in English football – Andy Carroll. Carroll had started the season in fantastic form for Newcastle United, looking like a one-man attack who just battered defences into submission.

He was energetic, massive, could score, could win headers, held up the ball well – just everything you wanted in a target man. Who better to replace Torres and partner new-signing Luis Suárez? £35m was a massive fee for someone with six months of PL football under their belt, but Liverpool felt Carroll was worth breaking their transfer record for.

He wasn't. Carroll looked out of place quite quickly and struggled badly in his first full season. Perhaps the fact Suárez was looking like magic next to him made things look worse than they were, but the Englishman just never got going. In fact, he'd never really recover the form he showed at Newcastle for the rest of his career.

Brendan Rodgers replaced Kenny Dalglish in 2012 and quickly decided he didn't need Carroll. Liverpool's record signing – and the most expensive English player ever – was out on loan 18 months after his arrival and never played for the Reds again.

7 Man United beat Man City to sign Dimitar Berbatov – 2008

Manchester United went into the summer of 2008 wanting a new striker. Dimitar Berbatov of Tottenham Hotspur was the man they really wanted – but it took a lot of work to get there.

And things nearly collapsed in the most ridiculous fashion right at the deadline. That summer was particularly notable because it ended with Manchester City being bought out by Abu Dhabi United Group. Suddenly, they were unfathomably wealthy but had about a day to throw the money around.

One of the things they did, though, was to bid for Berbatov right under the noses of United. They bid over £30m – a huge fee at the time – in attempt to steal the Bulgarian. Spurs accepted the offer, but Berbatov wasn't going to head to little old Man City.

He claims he 'never thought' about moving there and instead held out for United. They'd match City's bid and signed Berbatov in the final hour of the transfer window. Again, all of this happened in one day.

The signing was a massive statement for United, then, and a real power move over City and their money.

6 Chelsea spend big on Fernando Torres – 2011

Yes, here's a third one from the 2011 January transfer window – it's basically the 'Agueroooo' of transfer deadline days. We'll never see the likes of it again.

Fernando Torres's peak at Liverpool saw him as pretty indisputably one of the best strikers in the world. He could do absolutely everything and scored goals for fun – he was third for the Ballon d'Or in 2008, behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, having scored the winning goal as Spain won Euro 2008.

But one thing held him back – injuries. Torres struggled in 09/10 and didn't look quite right post-2010 World Cup. Still, he showed flashes of incredible quality, most notably scoring twice away at Chelsea as Liverpool won 2-0. Again, though, he seemed to have lost his pace and just moved a little slower than in previous years.

That's probably why Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti was reportedly not keen on the signing. Still, Roman Abramovich paid a British record £50m to sign him from Liverpool anyway – but it went as badly as it could.

Torres made his debut at home against Liverpool and lost 1-0. He followed that by struggling badly in front of goal – seriously, some of his misses were ridiculous, let alone for a player who was the best in the world two years prior. Torres didn't score for over 900 minutes and was just never the same player as he had been.

5 Man City make a statement with Robinho – 2008

Abu Dhabi United Group bought Manchester City at the transfer deadline in 2008 and wanted to make a statement. They eventually found one in Robinho, and it was one of the strangest signings ever made.

Even how they negotiated was strange. Real Madrid president Ramos Calderon explained years later that he essentially just kept asking for ridiculous things and was met with 'okay' at every turn. There was also the fact that Chelsea really thought they'd sign Robinho to the point where they sold shirts with his name on them before actually striking a deal.

But it was City who jumped in at the last moment to sign the Brazilian. The craziness was perhaps summed up by Robinho initially saying how wonderful it was to accept an offer from Chelsea, only for a journalist to ask if he meant Manchester City.

And to cap it all off, it turned out Robinho wasn't actually worth all the fuss. He was decent enough in his first campaign but City got rid of him within 18 months.

4 Real Madrid smash world record for Gareth Bale – 2013

Gareth Bale was a sensation in his last few years with Tottenham Hotspur. He could seemingly make anything happen with the ball, scoring ridiculous goals on an almost weekly basis.

And so there was a sense that we were all watching the next great player. Here was the possible next-Cristiano Ronaldo and a player who was about to start dominating. Real Madrid certainly saw it that way.

They had to wait a while but eventually struck a deal with Spurs on deadline day 2013. They paid what turned out to be a world record fee to get him, too (despite initially denying he'd cost more than Ronaldo). £85.1m was the final fee (Telegraph) and with that, Real had another Galactico.

Exactly how you judge Bale post-transfer is up for debate. He had some unbelievable moments, notably the 2018 Champions League final, while winning three La Liga title and five Champions Leagues. At the same time, he never found the consistency to be in that top, top bracket of player. Still, not a deal Real regret – Spurs will, though.

3 Tevez and Mascherano to…. West Ham? – 2006

Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano were two of the biggest talents in South America back in 2006. Maybe the two biggest. They were linked with massive clubs all over the world after shining for Corinthians in Brazil.

Only, Corinthians didn't actually own the players. A third party, Media Sports Investments, had the rights to both and looked to move them on that summer. It was a shock, to say the least, that West Ham United ended up with both. Two of the biggest talents in the game went to a mid-table Premier League side with little talk about it beforehand. How?

Well, this one got murky. It turned out that West Ham owned the registration rights to Tevez and Mascherano but not the economic rights. MSI still owned those. The Hammers were actually cheating here and would be fined by the Premier League for a breach of the rules. There were calls for them to be relegated, even.

To make matters worse, they also didn't think Mascherano was all that good – West Ham actually stopped playing him. He'd move to Liverpool the following January and go on to be an all-time great defensive midfielder. Tevez would move, too, but only after keeping the club up and becoming something of a legend there.

FIFA would outlaw third-party ownership in 2015, so we'll almost never see a story like this one again.

2 Ashley Cole ditches Arsenal for Chelsea – 2006

Ashley Cole was a huge success story of Arsenal's academy. He was England's left-back, a part of the Gunners' Invincibles side and well on his way to becoming the best in the world.

But then Chelsea showed interest. This was at the height of their power under Roman Abramovich, with him having bought the club in 2003. The Blues were throwing money around to sign the best they could.

Cole illegally met with Chelsea in 2005, without Arsenal's permission. This wasn't just a small meeting, either – Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon was there, as was Blues boss José Mourinho. All were fined large amount once the Premier League got wind of it and no transfer was really possible that summer as a result.

But Cole still pushed. He made disparaging remarks about Arsenal in an autobiography written in early 2006 – he claims he nearly swerved his car off the road when hearing they'd 'only' offered him £55k per week.

By that summer, Chelsea and Arsenal engaged in talks and would eventually agree a deal of around £5m plus defender William Gallas. It went to the wire on deadline day, too, and wasn't announced until hours after time elapsed.

Gunners' fans were still outraged, though, labeling him 'Cashley' and condemning him to be a villain for life. It was one of the longest and fiercest transfer battles in Premier League history – and probably still tops that list to this day.

1 Wayne Rooney to Manchester United – 2004

Manchester United paid nearly £30m (Guardian) to sign Wayne Rooney back in 2004. If it hadn't worked out, he'd still be on this list for that was a crazy amount of money for a teenager back then – it was the record, in fact, breaking the £12m they'd paid for Cristiano Ronaldo the year before.

For context, Liverpool – who would win the Champions League that year – broke their outright transfer record that summer to sign Djibril Cissé for £14m. The Rooney deal was a risk, in other words.

But it was one worth taking. Yes, Rooney only had nine Premier League goals the previous season, but he was pretty unanimously seen as England's best player at Euro 2004 that summer. He was a very, very special talent and one that Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to take a chance on.

Everton, though, didn't really want to sell. It took a transfer request on August 27th to set things in motion and even then, the first offer that came in was from Newcastle United. The Toffees actually wanted to sell him to Chelsea, such was the money they were throwing around.

United were the ones to put up the cash, however, and it's safe to say there's no regret there. Not only was this a notable transfer for the time, but Rooney would go on to be both England and United's all-time top scorer while winning every trophy at club level. That massive risk turned out to be a bargain, and we may never see a deadline-day transfer as big as this one ever again.

'Ashwin will come first in the auction' – Dhoni

MS Dhoni has confirmed Chennai Super Kings will look to acquire local hero R Ashwin’s services at the IPL auction, but cautioned against letting emotions override auction strategy. Dhoni, the Super Kings captain, acknowledged the challenge of bringing back the team’s core group of players from the past while also grappling with the wildly oscillating prices of players at the auction. So how would he approach such a tricky tightrope? By staying adaptable.”It’s always a tough call,” Dhoni said of the Ashwin situation. “We will definitely go for him in the auction. Ashwin being a local lad… we want a lot of local players in the side. We have somebody like a [Dwayne] Bravo, Faf [du Plessis] and Brendon McCullum [on the radar]”. With Super Kings having already retained three capped India players in Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja apart from Dhoni, they can’t use the Right-to-Match Card to retain Ashwin. Dhoni was realistic about the unpredictability of the auction process.”These are the things where it becomes difficult. We don’t know what margins to go for,” he said, during a promotional event in Chennai. “You look at all the other players that we have got and then we can go for someone else because it gives the stability to the side. For somebody else, a player may not be worth the same, but for your team because of all the other players, he may be that one person who really strengthens the side. Ashwin will come first in the auction but as I said I have to wait and watch. I can’t put any number to it but we will try to get him for the reasons I have said but at an auction it’s the price that dictates the terms.”How much money we can afford to go for each individual and still make a strong team will be the key. That’s why I said we have to keep the emotions aside and we may want somebody and if the price goes outside our range and then we actually have to let him go. That’s the adaptability factor that we need to have at the auction table because it will be turning at that point of time.”Dhoni said Super Kings’ popularity hadn’t diminished during their two-year suspension from the IPL. The unflinching focus on the game, he felt, was what made them a successful franchise with “the biggest fan base across the country.” On the cricket front, however, he said the franchise had to start from scratch. “After 10 years there is a fresh auction and we will have fresh challenges. We have had tough times, we always got the kind of support needed from the players and management,” he said. “The relationship grew, the fan-following grew, the kind of cricket we played got better and better. That will be the target again, but it’s an uphill task because of the auction.”Given Super Kings’ stated aim of reconstituting their core squad, their wish-list of players isn’t really a secret. Dhoni was asked how Super Kings would guard against other franchises deliberately jacking up the prices of such players at the auction, and if the think-tank was contemplating the creation of another core group of players keeping the future in mind. While Dhoni didn’t get into the specifics, he admitted it was something the franchise had to be “watchful” about.”It’s always a strategy and as I said we need to have the right mix because there will be an auction next year as well. You can always supplement players,” he said. “Whichever areas you feel slightly weak, you can buy and trade a few players to get stronger in those areas. But the core group remains to be strong and that’s what we will try to retain. But like you said, there may be inflation and so on. That’s why I said we need to keep emotions to the side.”If you back off one player that has had an inflated price, none of the teams are going to take him further at that point of time. Whom you may lose depends on the auction but as I said we won’t get all the players. We have never gotten all the players. Some of the players who performed for us, their prices went high so much there was no way we could have gotten them back. Also when you retain players, you lose a big chunk of money. So we have to see everything.”What we also want is to have a strong connection with the local boys and at the same time people who have played for us. I always felt that people were like ‘there shouldn’t be any retainership and stuff like that’. But unless you give that stability to the fan… If I had played for eight different franchises in ten years then the association isn’t there. But you want that sort of association, the franchise has to have a fan following. And that can only happen if the players stay in one franchise for a longer duration.”BCCI

On his own association with the franchise – Dhoni captained the Super Kings in every season of the IPL from 2008 to 2015 – he said there was no other team he could have possibly played for. “A lot of people approached me, I can tell you that,” he said. “I can’t think of not coming back to CSK. As I said, it’s because of everything – what we have been through as a team, how we have conducted ourselves, how the management has been, how the players have been, how the fans have been. I always keep saying it’s like a second home to me. The fans over here have adopted me, they accept me like one of their own. There can’t be any bigger compliment than that. So that thought of being with any other franchise was never a question.”As a captain, it was slightly easy for me with the management. Actually when you go when you have lost a game, they already know the reasons – where the game changed, what could have been done or the wicket slowed down. If they know that, there is less pressure on you. The last two years we were not there, our fan following got stronger because none of the players were involved in anything.”Often when some mistake is committed, people bear the brunt and the team has to bear brunt of whatever happened. But the players were cleared of all the controversies, and we are back to cricket and the fact that we sold whatever the endorsement [targets] were there. That is, in fact, a big endorsement of the fact that they believe in CSK and the franchise.”During the time Super Kings were serving their suspension, Dhoni was part of the Rising Pune Supergiant franchise. As their captain in 2016, he saw the team finish seventh on the points table – uncharted territory after making the Playoffs with Super Kings eight times in succession. Dhoni called it a big learning curve for him and coach Stephen Fleming. Rising Pune finished runners-up in the season after that one, with Steven Smith taking over the captaincy.”There is this one saying: ‘What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.’ Definitely I am stronger,” he said. “The whole of eight editions of the IPL, we always qualified ([or the knockout stages]. Out of the next two editions, we were seventh on the table once. So it’s a big learning curve not only for me but for Stephen Fleming as a coach. Since he took over the coaching part of CSK we have always done well. Yes, there were times when we were under pressure when we had to win 4 out of 5 games or 3 out of 4 games to qualify but we have done it. How do you know you are a strong character unless you are pushed to a deeper end and feel that pressure.”I felt those two years made me stronger and at the same time gave a glimpse of what actually could be done when you are doing badly. It doesn’t always work but you can at least have a perspective for it. But again, not something that I have not seen. When I was part of the international team I have seen the ups and downs. I would say it has been a fair experience for me and it’s also good to be back.”

Forest Could Sign Danilo Partner In £18m "Machine"

Nottingham Forest could be eyeing their fifth summer signing, as latest reports identify a potential target for Steve Cooper to chase before the transfer window closes.

The Welshman guided his team towards their first victory of the 2023/24 calendar in match week two, as a late header from Chris Wood handed the Reds a late victory over Sheffield United at the City Ground.

In what was a convincing performance, the Tricky Trees seem to be getting into their stride after a lengthy break away from the Premier League, however, Cooper’s squad is far from finalised at this point in the summer.

Who could Nottingham Forest sign this summer?

In welcoming Matt Turner, Ola Aina, Anthony Elanga and securing Wood on a permanent basis, Forest have equipped wisely during the transfer window so far, with latest news speculating that more new faces could arrive.

As reported by the Daily Mail, Chelsea starlet Andrey Santos could be an option for the Reds to bolster their squad on a season-long loan, with the report suggesting that Brennan Johnson could go in the opposite direction.

Captured for £18m in January by the Blues from Vasco da Gama, the 19-year-old gem could be sent on loan to gain vital experience at senior level for the 2023/24 campaign.

The midfield signings of Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo have made the Brazilian’s claim to game-time less realistic, making links to Forest a potentially exciting idea to benefit both club and player.

What is Andrey Santos’ playing style?

Deployed as a defensive midfielder, the teenager has been identified by scouting site Scouted Football as being capable of filling ‘every spot of a midfield three’, being described as already being ‘very accomplished’.

At such a young age, the versatile talent has the ability to adhere to all roles in the midfield pivot, showing strengths in the final third as a scorer and creator, as well as being impressive in defence.

The youngster shone at the U20 World Cup when representing Brazil, contributing to three goals in five games, as well as averaging 1.8 key passes and a mammoth 3.8 tackles per game, as per Sofascore.

Andrey Santos Chelsea

A pattern regarding his defensive strengths are evident when revising his 2022 Brazilian Serie B campaign via Sofascore, in which he averaged 2.9 tackles per game over 33 appearances, winning 60% of his total duels over an average of 8.4 per game.

Having been lauded as a “one-man war machine” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, Santos could be a significant addition to Cooper’s squad, where he could unearth a deadly middle-of-the-park pairing with him and fellow Brazilian Danilo.

The 22-year-old has been praised as an “exciting player” by the Forest boss and has adapted well to the Premier League following his arrival at the City Ground in January.

Now, the Welshman could go one-step further for his midfield revamp and place Santos beside his compatriot, in a move that could complement the strengths and playing styles of both talents.

Danilo could bring an equally creative and defensive presence to the talents of the Chelsea youngster at the City Ground, as suggested by him averaging a similar rate of 2.1 tackles per game in the 2022 Brazilian Serie A prior to his move to England.

Nottingham could be handed its own Brazilian core in the two similarly poised midfielders, in a move that could significantly benefit and strengthen the outlook in the engine room.

South Africa ahead despite Pandya's all-round heroics

A Hardik Pandya counterattack came at just the right time for India as the Newlands Test continued to surprise

The Report by Alagappan Muthu06-Jan-20181:23

Cullinan: Kohli needs to make Ashwin bowl more

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details (Viewers in the Indian subcontinent can watch highlights of the Test here)In their first innings of a season in which they’ll be living out of their briefcases, India realised they forgot to pack something rather important. The middle of the bat. They were 92 for 7 and the Newlands Test began to look like another one in a long line of dismal performances away from home.Two months ago, when Hardik Pandya was rested from the Test team, he spoke about playing in South Africa in this way. “I might be the difference, let’s see.” Living up to his own lofty billing, the 24-year old allrounder defied a fearsome fast-bowling attack to make 93 off 95 balls. South Africa did eventually secure a lead of 77 runs, bowling India out for 209, but it might have come at a sizeable cost. With three overs to tea, Dale Steyn injured his left heel and there are concerns that he may he out of the series.Cape Town, as it did on the first day, continued spoiling cricket fans rotten. Vernon Philander began the day with five successive maidens. Kagiso Rabada was just plain mean. Morne Morkel seemed to be pushing through his action better; the snap of his wrist had been more palpable and those awkwardly rising deliveries came with greater frequency. Steyn, while fit, calmly moved to 418 Test wickets, three away from the national record.Can you spot a weak link in there? Given helpful conditions, each of them can be a spearhead. They also pose different questions to a batsman, are incredibly accurate, and hate giving away runs. All of that meant India had not a moment of respite. They made only 29 in the first 18 overs – the point when they lost their first wicket of the day. Back then, the plan was to survive. Invest time in the middle as the surface flattens out and hope to have wickets in hand when the bowlers start to tire.And they did. They also got frustrated because Pandya wasn’t trussing himself up and presenting his wicket to them. As audacious as the shots he played were – upper cuts to a 145 kph bouncer, a flat-batted biff over extra cover to get to his fifty and a still-headed down-the-track flick through midwicket – he was also thoughtful. Once, when he was beaten while playing a cut shot – he’s very good at that – he queried his partner Bhuvneshwar Kumar whether his execution was off or if the ball had kept low. The exchange of information continued all the way through their 99-run stand for the eighth wicket.Pandya made runs all around the dial. Crucially, he threw South Africa off their plans. They began bowling around the wicket, targeting his body. That left lbw in the bin. He walked at Philander first ball, giving a bowler who relies exceedingly on lateral movement something more to think about than the outside edge. That his strokeplay is eye-catching is no surprise. But his ease in countering a quality bowling line-up in Test cricket certainly was. India may have finally found a bankable seam-bowling allrounder, the discovery taking place while their greatest ever was celebrating his 59th birthday.South Africa could, of course, have saved themselves some irritation if Dean Elgar had held on to a sharp catch at gully when Pandya was only 15. Prior to that, he overturned Richard Kettleborough’s verdict of caught behind with the help of a review. Steyn was the aggrieved bowler on both occasions, and his day only got worse when he hobbled off the field.The loss of a bowling leader often derails campaigns. But as in Perth 2016, Rabada stepped up. His third ball of the day was clocked at 146 kph. It beat the splice of the bat on its way to the wicketkeeper. In light of that, there may be sense in playing him off the back foot. But, he is just as adept as pitching the ball up, and has sensational speed through the air. Rohit Sharma found that out the hard way when he was late to bring the bat down and was out lbw.Rabada’s next wicket was Pandya – right after he nailed the batsman in the gut – and he was rewarded with a kiss on the forehead from captain Faf du Plessis. The 22-year old is every bit in the mold of his mentor. He was disgruntled that he was used for only seven overs early on. He indulged in angry screams after taking a wicket. He made batsmen hop. He greeted the opposition’s premier spinner with a short ball aimed at the heart. Best of all, when Chesteshwar Pujara played a rare drive through the covers and trotted across for a single, he told the batsman “you hit that so hard, and it didn’t even go off the square.” It had all the hallmarks of a Steyn sledge – the man did memorably respond to Rohit’s call of “come to India, let’s see what happens” with “I have more runs than you do this series” in 2013-14.Pandya’s day was not quite done yet. He came on second-change for India and dismissed both of South Africa’s openers but their lead is already at 142 and the Test remains in their control.

إبراهيم حسن: نريد العبور بـ منتخب مصر إلى بر الأمان.. ولا يوجد لاعبين منسيين

علق إبراهيم حسن مدير منتخب مصر الأول على اختيارات الجهاز الفني للفراعنة لقائمة اللاعبين استعداداً لمواجهة بوركينا فاسو وغينيا بيساو في إطار منافسات تصفيات كأس العالم 2026.

ويستعد منتخب مصر لمواجهة بوركينا فاسو وغينيا بيساو، في إطار الجولتين الثالثة والرابعة من تصفيات كأس العالم 2026.

وقال إبراهيم حسن في تصريحات تلفزيونية عبر قناة ام بي سي مصر2: “الخطوة الأولى نريد التأهل لكأس العالم، وبعد ذلك سيتم ضم لاعبين صغار لـ منتخب مصر، وأنا أطالب الناس بعدم التعجل”.

وتابع: “لا يوجد لاعبين منسيين ونتابع الجميع، نريد فقط العبور بمنتخب مصر إلى بر الأمان ونصل لكأس العالم أولًا”.

طالع | بعد استبعاده بسبب المنشطات.. حسام حسن يستقر على بديل رمضان صبحي مع المنتخب

وأردف: “كل واحد له رؤية، لكن يجب على الناس أن تثق بنا، وأننا نعمل بضمير وذمة، لأننا لا نُحب الظُلم، وأي لاعب سيجتهد سينضم”.

وأكمل: “كما قلت فقط في هذه المرحلة نريد أن نصل لكأس العالم وبعد ذلك الاختيارات ستكون أكبر وأوسع”.

واختتم: “نعد الجماهير بأننا سنبذل أقصى جهدنا، وأتمنى أن ندعم منتخب مصر في الفترة القادمة والفوز على بوركينا فاسو وغينيا بيساو”.

Sunderland 21-Goal Target Moving Closer To Stadium Of Light Move

Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray could be about to land a striking addition late on in the window at the Stadium Of Light, according to recent reports.

What's the latest news involving Sunderland?

Sunderland have endured a mixed start to the Sky Bet Championship campaign and have recorded four points in their opening four fixtures, leaving them 18th in the league standings, as per Sky Sports.

Cited by Chronicle Live, Black Cats striker Ross Stewart is edging closer to returning from his Achilles tendon rupture that has seen the Scotland international ruled out since late January and the Scotland international may participate in a behind-closed-doors friendly before the international break ends. Speaking last week, Mowbray spoke about Stewart's potential return, stating:

"We're not at the stage where we have a date for his return, it's too early for that. It's just one where you have to watch this space, I think. Maybe at the end of the international break there might be a potential that he plays in an internal game behind closed doors here, that's about where he is in my mind. We'll have to wait and see."

Luke O'Nien has become a popular figure among fans on Wearside and has signed a new three-year contract extension with the option of an extra 12 months included in his new deal.

Clearly delighted with his decision to continue at Sunderland, O'Nien stated upon completion of his renewal:

"It feels incredible to have extended my contract at the club. I’ve got so many people to thank for the journey so far and I’ve loved my five years here. I didn’t want it to end and I can’t wait to continue my time here and create more incredible memories with some great people."

Next up for Sunderland is a home tie against Southampton this Saturday and they will hope to extend their unbeaten run to three matches in the English second-tier, as per Sky Sports.

Who could Sunderland sign?

As per sport.ua via The Chronicle, Zorya Luhansk striker Nazariy Rusyn has revealed in an interview that he is waiting for paperwork to be completed before travelling to Sunderland to undergo a medical ahead of the transfer deadline.

Rusyn has revealed that he is set to sign a four-year contract at the Stadium Of Light, stating:

"Yes, as my agent Vadim Shabliy said, there is an agreement that I will legalise business relations with Sunderland for a period of four years with an extension for another season. This option suits me."

nazariy-rusyn-zorya-luhansk-ukrainian

In his time at Zorya Luhansk, Rusyn has been a prolific presence in front of the target, registering 21 goals and ten assists in 49 appearances across all competitions from the middle or out wide, as per Transfermarkt.

Injured striker Stewart has rejected several offers to sign a new contract at Sunderland amid uncertainty over his future and links with Southampton, Stoke City, Middlesbrough and Rangers, signifying the Black Cats' need to potentially draft in a replacement, as per TEAMtalk.

By the looks of things, it looks like there is a chance Rusyn, who journalist Josh Bunting described as "random" who would offer "good versatility", could be drafted in either alongside or to succeed Stewart in the last embers of the window.

Karthik to join Test squad in South Africa; Saha injured

First-choice wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha is out of the tour because of a hamstring injury

Nagraj Gollapudi16-Jan-20182:34

Chopra: India should have picked Rishabh Pant or Ishan Kishan

India wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has been named as a replacement for the injured Wriddhiman Saha in the squad for the third Test against South Africa in Johannesburg. Saha suffered an upper left hamstring tendon injury during training on January 11, and was replaced by Parthiv Patel in the starting XI for the ongoing second Test in Centurion.As a result, Karthik will be in South Africa a couple of weeks earlier than planned because he had already been picked for the six ODIs that will follow the Test series.Karthik, who made his Test debut in 2004, played his last Test nearly eight years ago, against Bangladesh. Since then, he has been in and out of India’s limited-overs squads. Karthik, however, has managed to be on the selection panels’ shortlist with impressive displays in domestic arena. In the ongoing domestic season, Karthik scored 296 runs in four first-class matches at 59.20, which included three Duleep Trophy fixtures and one Ranji game. He has carried on his robust form into the T20s, making 211 runs including three half-centuries, in five innings in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.In Centurion, Saha’s replacement Parthiv has not had the best of Tests. While he scored 19 in the first innings, he dropped two catches and failed to attempt a third regulation chance. Hashim Amla was dropped on 30 off Ishant Sharma down the leg side in the first innings and went on to score 82. Later in the innings, Faf du Plessis was on 54 when Parthiv failed to hold on to an outside edge off R Ashwin.In a tense second innings, Dean Elgar was on 29 and South Africa 70 for 2 when Parthiv did not go for a catch to his left. Elgar ended the day unbeaten on 36, and South Africa 90 for 2, which took their lead to 118 with eight wickets in hand.

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