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All eyes will be on the weather and the pitch in Providence, as Amazon Warriors look to defend their title

Deivarayan Muthu05-Oct-2024Big picture: A rich SA flavour to the CPL finalAfter having had to wait 11 years for a maiden CPL trophy, Guyana Amazon Warriors are now just one step away from winning back-to-back titles. Imran Tahir was targeted when he was appointed Amazon Warriors’ captain last season at 44 – Tahir said “everyone was sending jokes” about it – and having been retained as captain this year, he will be looking to lead Amazon Warriors to glory once again, in front of their home fans, in Providence.At 45, Tahir became the first overseas bowler to 100 wickets in the CPL and continues to rock the league with his variations and celebrations. He had joined Amazon Warriors in 2018 and has remained with the side for seven seasons, which is quite rare in the cutthroat world of franchise T20 cricket. Midway through this season, Tahir suffered an injury, but he recovered to forge a potent partnership with Gudakesh Motie, the local left-arm fingerspinner, and Moeen Ali, the English offspinner. The trio has been hard to get away, especially on the spin-friendly surfaces in Providence.Amazon Warriors have also loaded their side with spin-hitters like Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope and Moeen. After not playing a single game in the 2024 T20 World Cup, Hetmyer has reminded the world of his T20 pedigree, hitting 391 runs in 12 innings at an average of 43.44 and strike rate of 187.98 in this CPL heading into the final.Since the start of CPL 2023, Amazon Warriors have lost just four games at home, with two of those losses coming at the hands of St Lucia Kings, including the Qualifier 1 earlier this week. Despite losing tosses and losing key personnel – like Heinrich Klaasen even before the start of the tournament – Kings have remained a formidable force under Faf du Plessis, who, like Tahir, is a familiar face at the CPL.At 40, du Plessis is still going strong. This is his most prolific CPL in terms of runs – 384 runs in 11 innings at an average of 38.40 and strike rate of 148.83 – and if it culminates in a title, it could potentially raise his stocks ahead of the IPL retention deadline and player auction. Du Plessis’ stint in CPL 2023 was cut short by a tennis-elbow injury, but he has worked his way around that this season, dovetailing well with Johnson Charles, who has reinvented himself as a 360-degree batter.Related

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Johnson Charles switches his T20 fortunes

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Russell, Pooran opt out of SL T20Is; Andrew bolts into ODI squad

While this is the St Lucia franchise’s third CPL final, this will be du Plessis’ first – he had suffered an injury before the title clash in 2021, when they lost to St Kitts & Nevis Patriots. However, he is used to the pressure that a final brings, having been part of Chennai Super Kings for a number of years in the IPL.Kings’ coach Daren Sammy also has some unfinished business: in his last match as CPL captain, he lost to Trinbago Knight Riders in the 2020 final. Can he and du Plessis upstage Amazon Warriors at their home ground and lead Kings to their first CPL title?Form guideGuyana Amazon Warriors WLWWW (last five T20s, most recent first)
St Lucia Kings WLWWWImran Tahir and Moeen Ali have produced vital breakthroughs for Guyana Amazon Warriors•CPL T20 via Getty ImagesIn the spotlight: Moeen Ali and Alzarri JosephJust over three months after in England’s T20 World Cup semi-final defeat to India in Providence, Moeen Ali is now on the verge of winning a title, in his first CPL stint, at the venue. He has bagged 14 wickets in nine innings at an average of 11.35 and an economy rate of less than five. With the bat, he has floated up and down the order and in the qualifier 2, he scored an unbeaten 44 to put Amazon Warriors in the final.In another spin-dominated CPL, Alzarri Joseph is the most successful fast bowler with 15 wickets in 11 innings. His ability to hit hard lengths and generate extra bounce have served him well, and on potentially slow surfaces in Guyana, he could take the conditions out of the equation and provide a point of difference to Kings’ attack. Du Plessis, too, trusts Alzarri to bowl the tough overs, having also worked with him at the SA20 (Joburg Super Kings) and IPL (Royal Challengers Bengaluru).Team news: Who will open the batting for GAW?Since the start of CPL 2023, Amazon Warriors have used 14 openers with only Rahmanullah Guraz and Saim Ayub, who has missed this season for national duty, getting more than five innings each at the top. It remains to be seen if Moeen will open alongside Gurbaz again in the final on Sunday. Amazon Warriors will also have to make a choice between the fingerspin of Kevin Sinclair and the pace of Shamar Joseph.Guyana Amazon Warriors (probable): 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 2 Moeen Ali, 3 Shai Hope (wk), 4 Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Romario Shepherd, 6 Keemo Paul, 7 Dwaine Pretorius, 8 Raymon Reiffer, 9 Kevin Sinclair/Shamar Joseph, 10 Gudakesh Motie, 11 Imran Tahir (capt)Will Kings stick with Johann Jeremiah, who had made his CPL debut in Qualifier 1, or will they go back to Shadrack Descarte?St Lucia Kings (probable): 1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Roston Chase, 4 Ackeem Auguste, 5 Tim Seifert (wk), 6 David Wiese, 7 Johann Jeremiah/Shadrack Descarte, 8 Matthew Forde, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Khary Pierre, 11 Noor AhmadPitch and conditions: Spin to win?Though the Providence pitch used for the last two games against Kings saw the ball come on to the bat better, the venue has traditionally rolled out slow tracks. Rain had interrupted Amazon Warriors’ chase in the first qualifier and though rain has been forecast for Sunday morning as well, the forecast is more promising for the evening. Dew could be a factor later in the night.Shimron Hetmyer has been in terrific six-hitting form in CPL 2024•CPL T20/Getty ImagesStats and trivia The team batting first has won seven of the ten games Providence has hosted so far this season. Hetmyer and Charles have hit 31 sixes each in CPL 2024. Only Nicholas Pooran (35) has smashed more sixes than them this season.Noor Ahmad has dominated right-hand batters in this tournament, taking 16 wickets against them in ten innings. While he has managed just three wickets against left-hand batters, he has tied them down, conceding at just 5.34 an over.Quotes”We gelled well together last year, and we knew we had to work hard to win the competition. Coming back and defending the title is a bigger challenge.”
“I feel like we’ve adapted well wherever we’ve played, bar two games at home where he were a little bit slow on reacting to those conditions.”

Young opener Sam Konstas will face Scott Boland at the MCG after Victoria named the Test seamer for his first game of the summer

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Oct-2024 • Updated on 18-Oct-2024Steven Smith and Mitchell Starc will play for New South Wales against Victoria in the Sheffield Shield at the MCG from Sunday as they ramp up preparations for the international summer.Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood won’t feature in the Shield contest but are in line to play the One-Day Cup fixture at Junction Oval on October 25. Cummins is not expected to play any red-ball cricket before the Test series against India while the same may now apply to Hazlewood with the third round of Shield overlapping with the start of the ODI series against Pakistan.Related

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Sean Abbott will also return for NSW after sitting out the opening round after picking up a minor injury late in the England tour while Nathan Lyon, who took eight wickets against South Australia, will again feature.Victoria have named Scott Boland in what shapes as a fascinating contest with 19-year-old opener Sam Konstas who was called up to the Australia A squad earlier this week after his twin hundreds against South Australia.Victoria captain Will Sutherland has also been included after bowling 15 overs and making an unbeaten 104 in Victoria’s second XI match against Queensland this week. Glenn Maxwell also played in that game, returning scores of 14 and 10 and bowling eight overs across the four days. Maxwell and Matthew Short have not been included in the Shield squad to face NSW but are both expected to return for the One-Day fixture next Friday ahead of the ODI series against Pakistan.Maxwell could play at least one Shield match for Victoria after the limited overs series against Pakistan as he continues to build his case for a Test recall on next year’s tour of Sri Lanka.Starc last played a Shield match in the 2020-21 final against Queensland while Smith’s previous outing was against Victoria in February 2021.Elsewhere, Travis Head has been rested from South Australia’s squad for their clash with Queensland at Allan Border Field in Brisbane due to the imminent birth of his second child. Jake Fraser-McGurk remains on the outer after missing selection for the opening Shield round. Jake Lehmann has instead been named as Head’s replacement following his 173 for SA’s second XI in their loss to Western Australia last week. Fraser-McGurk made 28 off 13 and 30 off 22 in the same game.Queensland quick Xavier Bartlett is nearing a return to cricket following the serious side strain he suffered on the tour of the UK but won’t play any Shield cricket until late November at the earliest.”I’ll probably play some premier cricket for the Gold Coast. I’ve got one eye on the T20 series against Pakistan, and then we’ve got some Shield cricket and one day cricket with Queensland leading into the Big Bash as well,” he said.Western Australia have included allrounder Aaron Hardie for their meeting with Tasmania in Perth although he will play as a batter only as his workload is managed. Mitchell Marsh said he was expected to bowl during the game.New South Wales squad Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Ollie Davies, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques (capt), Sam Konstas, Nathan Lyon, Nic Maddinson, Jack Nisbet, Josh Philippe, Tanveer Sangha, Steven Smith, Mitchell StarcVictoria squad Will Sutherland (capt), Scott Boland, Ash Chandrasinghe, Sam Elliott, Peter Handscomb, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Campbell Kellaway, Cam McClure, Jon Merlo, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Tom RogersQueensland squad Marnus Labuschagne (capt), Jack Clayton, Liam Guthrie, Lachlan Hearne, Usman Khawaja, Ben McDermott, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Tom WhitneySouth Australia squad Wes Agar, Jordan Buckingham, Alex Carey, Harry Conway, Daniel Drew, Henry Hunt, Jake Lehmann, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Conor McInerney, Nathan McSweeney (capt), Liam ScottWestern Australia squad Sam Whiteman (capt), Cameron Bancroft, Hilton Cartwright, Brody Couch , Cooper Connolly, Cameron Gannon, Jayden Goodwin, Aaron, Hardie, Josh Inglis, Matt Kelly, Mitch Marsh, Corey Rocchiccioli, Charlie Stobo.Tasmania squad Jordan Silk (capt), Jake Doran, Kieran Elliott, Brad Hope, Caleb Jewell, Matt Kuhnemann, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Will Prestwidge, Charlie Wakim, Tim Ward, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

Leeds United find themselves on the prowl in the market and could now have gained an advantage over one of Europe’s most reputable sides in the race for a wide reinforcement, according to reports.

Leeds seek alternatives after missing out on Igor Paixao

Daniel Farke has needed to roll with the punches this summer at Elland Road as his side collide with the competitive forces of the market, which has led to the Whites missing out on one or two talented stars who would’ve helped their Premier League survival bid.

Taking to social media platform X, Fabrizio Romano signalled that Leeds have missed out on Feyenoord winger Igor Paixao, who is now set for a move to Marseille that could receive imminent confirmation.

He stated: “Igor Paixão to Olimpique Marseille, here we go! Deal in place for the winger to join OM. Five year deal and agreement club to club with Feyenoord. Paixão wanted OM despite efforts and improved bid sent by Leeds United.”

Nevertheless, Leeds have moved on to pursuing English winger Jonathan Rowe, who is incidentally at Marseille himself. However, they will face competition from Bournemouth, Roma and Atalanta to land their man.

Potentially available due to Paixao’s arrival at the French giants, there may still be a scenario where the Whites emerge victorious in their hunt for a winger.

Leeds United’s first five Premier League fixtures

Everton (H)

Elland Road

Arsenal (A)

Emirates Stadium

Newcastle United (H)

Elland Road

Fulham (A)

Craven Cottage

Wolverhampton Wanderers (A)

Molineux

Leicester City’s James Justin could also strengthen Leeds’ full-back pool as Isaac Schmidt heads to Werder Bremen, opening up the prospect of a knock-down transfer fee as the England international is into the final year of his contract at the King Power Stadium.

Reverting back to the subject of wingers, the Whites are now reportedly fighting it out with Sporting Lisbon to sign a known top-flight name.

Leeds United pushing to sign Jota Silva from Nottingham Forest

According to Noticias ao Minuto, Leeds United are pushing to sign winger Jota Silva from Nottingham Forest amid competition from Sporting for the £13 million-rated star.

The Primeira Liga champions want to sign him on loan with an option to make his move permanent. Meanwhile, Nuno Espirito Santo wants to sanction an outright sale.

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He’s a rising star.

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Leeds are willing to match Evangelos Marinakis’ price for the Portugal international, which has exerted pressure on Sporting as they are unwilling to enter at the same ballpark. Last term, Silva registered five goals and three assists in 38 outings across all competitions, though his next destination is now a waiting game as all parties ponder their next steps.

Dubbed “inexhaustible” by Pedro Carvalho, it remains to be seen whether Leeds will throw their hat in the ring to sign the Gondomar-born man by submitting an official offer, or if they still have alternative targets in mind after missing out on Paixao.

EA Sports released the official ratings for MLS players in the upcoming EA FC 26, with Inter Miami's Lionel Messi continuing his reign as the highest-rated player in the league at 86 overall. The Argentine superstar's is followed closely by LAFC's summer signing Son Heung-min, who enters the game with an 85 rating.

Getty Images SportRounding out the top six

Messi's Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul claims the third spot with an 84 rating, further cementing the Florida club's virtual superiority. Three players share the fourth position with 80 ratings: Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Thomas Muller, Inter Miami defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets, and LA Galaxy playmaker Riqui Puig. 

AdvertisementDiving into ratingsStar arrivals boost profile

The EA FC 26 ratings reflect the ongoing transformation of MLS from a retirement destination to a league capable of attracting elite talent still in their prime years. The influx of star power has elevated the league's profile both on the pitch and in gaming representations, with six of the top 26 rated players having joined MLS during or before the 2025 season.

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Getty Images SportAnticipation building

Players worldwide will have access to these MLS stars when EA FC 26 launches on Sept. 26, with Ultimate Edition owners gaining early access on Sept. 19.

SL head coach feels batters didn’t convert their scores and that their bowlers gave away too much to the SA lower-order batters

Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Dec-2024Sri Lanka arrived in South Africa dreaming of a World Test Championship final spot, but having now been crushed 2-0, that dream has almost certainly faded. There is special regret that Sri Lanka got to play on the two venues that would have best suited them – Durban and Gqeberha – and still could not seriously push the hosts, as they had done in 2019.Head coach Sanath Jayasuriya broke down the defeat, putting it largely down to the failure of batters to push on from starts to bigger scores. This was especially evident in the first innings at Gqeberha, when each of the top five got to at least 20, but only one passed 50. And Pathum Nissanka, who did make a half-century, did not push on to triple figures, though he had the chance to do so.”Batsmen have to convert their scores into hundreds – 30s and 40s aren’t enough,” Jayasuriya said. “It’s tough on these wickets, but at least two batters have to score hundreds on a tour like this. We didn’t get that. All we got were two 80s. I think the batters by now know the value of hundreds on the road, having played in a place like England recently as well. We missed that this time.Related

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“Although there was a lot of effort from the senior batters, I think if they assess themselves individually, they will realise it wasn’t enough.”This was also the first series in his Test career that Kamindu Mendis failed to make a score of substance. He made scores of 13, 10, 48, and 35 – his average plummeting from a Bradmanesque 91.27 before the series, to 74 by its end.”Kamindu Mendis is a key player,” Jayasuriya said. “In every Test match almost he was in the runs, aside from this series. If you saw the way he batted in this series, it was still with a lot of confidence. In his last innings especially, you saw that. You can’t expect a batter to hit 50 or 100 every innings – that’s why you have six or seven batters. As a player, he’s a quality player. If he’s got shortcomings, he works with the batting coach to figure those out.”I know that oppositions are quite concerned, and South Africa were as well. Now, he will have to work hard to counter that. But I love watching a player like him in the team – he scores at a run-a-ball, and plays positively. What I’ve told everyone is to play their natural game and play positive cricket.”Centurion Kyle Verreynne walks back after his century•Gallo Images/Getty ImagesOn the Gqeberha loss itself, he felt the match had been lost in key periods. The first of these was the second morning, on which South Africa had put on 89 runs via their last two partnerships.”In that first innings, after we got eight or nine wickets, we let them have roughly 40 runs too many.Another period was the third morning, on which Sri Lanka lost five wickets, having ended the previous day 116 runs behind, and with seven wickets in hand.”We couldn’t afford those wickets. We could have got a big first-innings lead, and we let the match slip a bit on that morning.”And then on the fourth day, there were a couple of instances in which Sri Lanka did not quite turn their momentum into a definitive advantage. They’d had South Africa 282 for 8 at lunch but allowed the No. 9, 10, and 11 batters to crash 35 further runs. Later that day, they’d also been 117 for 3 before losing two quick wickets.”That 25-30 extra runs from their tail also hurt us in the second innings. In the second innings, when we gave two extra wickets in the evening session. If we’d had the chance to come in today only three down, that would have made a big difference to our batting unit. It’s in those little places that it got away from us.”

Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta has made a serious statement during his debut summer window at the club, having already spent well north of £200 million on a host of key additions.

Kepa Arrizabalaga, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Noni Madueke, Cristhian Mosquera and star new number nine, Viktor Gyokeres, have arrived to rejuvenate Mikel Arteta’s squad ahead of another Premier League title challenge.

19/20 – winter

£0

20/21 – summer

£81.5m

20/21 – winter

£900k

21/22 – summer

£156.8m

21/22 – winter

£1.8m

22/23 – summer

£121.5m

22/23 – winter

£59m

23/24 – summer

£208m

23/24 – winter

£0

24/25 – summer

£101.5m

24/25 – winter

£0

25/26 – summer

£208m

According to reports, Arsenal have maintained their long-standing interest in Eberechi Eze too, which has been ongoing for well over a month now.

The Gunners are prioritising the creative midfielder as they seek to bolster their attacking options – but Berta wants to balance the books first (Fabrizio Romano), with the likes of Reiss Nelson, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, Jakub Kiwior, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Leandro Trossard all tipped for potential exits recently.

Major discrepancies revolve around Eze’s £68 million release clause, with some credible reports claiming that this buy-out expired over a week ago on Friday at 11:59pm, whilst others believe that the clause doesn’t run out until August 15. However, there was never a plan from Arsenal to trigger it anyway.

talkSPORT reported last week that Arsenal wish to strike a deal for the England international at around £55 million after Eze’s direct talks with both Arteta and Berta.

This situation is definitely one to keep an eye on from now until the transfer deadline on September 1, but Palace chairman Steve Parish has displayed in past windows that he’s not afraid to dig his heels in when it comes to selling key assets.

In January, the Eagles snubbed an ambitious £70 million bid from Tottenham for star defender Marc Guehi, despite the centre-back’s contract expiring in 2026, so Palace are unlikely to be bullied around in negotiations over Eze either.

A deal may end up not being feasible for Arsenal after a summer of lavish spending, but Berta is known for working on many different transfer targets at once, so it’s not surprising to see them linked with a move for wantaway Atalanta star Ademola Lookman.

Arsenal plot £44m bid for Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman

The Nigerian wants out of Atalanta, and has admitted to handing in a formal transfer request in his bid to wave goodbye to the Gewiss Stadium.

Lookman was occasionally deployed in the number 10 role last season, making the rest of his appearances as a left-winger, centre-forward and striker, so he could tick many boxes for Arteta, who demands versatility from his players.

Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera (page 6) report that Arsenal could make a £44 million bid for Lookman and hijack Inter Milan’s long-winded talks for the 27-year-old, coming after the Nerazzurri’s most recent £39m offer was turned down.

The former Everton, Fulham and Leicester star is perhaps best known for one of the most scintillating performances ever witnessed in a cup final.

Lookman’s 2024 Europa League hat-trick both won the trophy for Atalanta and ended Bayer Leverkusen’s unprecedented, season-long unbeaten run – with the African standing out as a star player in Bergamo ever since then.

His 20 goals and seven assists last term, with five of those strikes coming in the Champions League, are testament to his obvious quality and Arsenal would have a serious player on their hands.

Victoria batter has joined Australia’s squad in Sydney to train and sub field and is in the mix for a recall on the upcoming Sri Lanka tour

Andrew McGlashan03-Jan-2025Peter Handscomb is a strong contender to be included in Australia’s squad for their Test tour of Sri Lanka later this month with the Victoria batter joining the team in Sydney for the final match against India as a substitute fielder.Handscomb does not hold BBL contract so is free to be with the squad throughout the final Test. He will be joined by spinners Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann at various stages who are both likely to be part of the Sri Lanka trip, the squad for which is expected to be named shortly after the conclusion of the India series.Handscomb last featured for Australia on the 2023 tour of India where he played all four matches and is viewed as a subcontinent specialist given his prowess against spin. He made 145 runs in that series with a top score of 72 not out in Delhi, a Test Australia were well placed to win before a second-innings collapse against R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.Related

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However, he has previously spoken about how he does not want to be pigeon-holed as only a batter for certain conditions. “I’d like to play some home Tests,” he said before the start of the 2023-24 following his experiences in India.Previously, speaking to in 2022, Handscomb said: “If [being a good player of spin] does help me get on subcontinent tours, which it has done before, then that’s great. But also don’t forget I do like batting in Australia as well, where it is fast and bouncy and I can play a few cuts and pulls if need be.”Depending on how Australia structure their side in Sri Lanka, there could be a vacancy in the middle order with Travis Head having been earmarked to open although Sam Konstas’ move into Test side may alter the planning. Josh Inglis, also an excellent player of spin, is also understood to be another option to play as a specialist batter in Sri Lanka. He is currently recovering from the calf strain he picked up while fielding at the MCG but is expected to be fit for the tour.Overall Handscomb has played 20 Tests with an average of 37.20 having made is debut back in 2016.Handscomb was overlooked for the Australia A-India A four-day matches earlier this season, but the indication was that he was a player the selectors felt they knew enough about.He had a prolific 2024 across first-class cricket in Australia and England where he was the fifth-highest run-scorer in the world. In the first part of this Sheffield Shield season he has made 478 runs at 47.80.If Australia win the ongoing Sydney Test they will assured of a spot in the World Test Championship final against South Africa, otherwise they would need to win one of the Tests in Galle.

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler admits that Manchester United's transfer interest in Carlos Baleba may have unsettled the midfielder after a difficult start to the season. The Red Devils were keen on signing the 21-year-old this summer but in the end, they were put off by his reported £115 million price tag. And after being taken off early against Tottenham, Hurzeler has fired a warning to Baleba.

Baleba struggling after Man Utd transfer links

Baleba's 2025-26 preparations were not helped by a pre-season injury, and in Brighton's 2-2 draw with Tottenham on Saturday, he was taken off at half-time as head coach Hurzeler said the youngster was "tired" and "didn't track back". The German challenged the Cameroon international, who is yet to play a full 90 minutes this term, to "stay humble" after United's interest but called for patience as he is "not a machine".

Advertisement(C)Getty ImagesBrighton boss Hurzeler fires warning to Baleba

He told reporters: "For sure, when a young boy reads there is interest from Manchester United with a big, big offer, it might affect him deep, deep (down). That’s also part of the development to understand that when you play well, there comes a big offer, there comes a big club who wants to have him. But then to keep pushing, to be humble, stay here in Brighton, and try to make the next step with the team and that’s something we have to keep on working with him and therefore I can’t give you a clear answer if it’s really affected him or not. But for sure, he’s a young boy and we need to understand he’s not a machine that if you click on then he always runs and off then he stops. We need to understand his feelings, his emotions, where he comes from, and that’s our responsibility."

Man Utd to return for Baleba

Baleba is reportedly a top target for United boss Ruben Amorim as he tries to sign an athletic, defensively-minded player who can anchor his midfield. But other big teams, who are more likely to win trophies and qualify for the Champions League, may try and sign him next summer. Alternatively, if he struggles for form, eye-catching transfers elsewhere may be put on hold.

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Getty Images SportWhat next for Baleba and Brighton?

Brighton, who sit 14th in the Premier League, will hope Baleba can find some form again ahead of their third round Carabao Cup trip to League One side Barnsley on Tuesday, before heading to Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

Crystal Palace sold Eberechi Eze to Arsenal earlier this month and may well have found their replacement for the Eagles legend, per Fabrizio Romano.

Crystal Palace look for reinforcements amid Marc Guehi uncertainty

There is no secret that Crystal Palace are a club with in-demand players this window, and it is fair to say that Marc Guehi’s future at Selhurst Park is uncertain amid interest from Liverpool in taking the England international to Anfield.

Arne Slot’s men have remained focused on landing their target over the last few weeks, and Romano’s latest update on his future via X has made it clear that if he does leave South London, a move to the Premier League champions is the only possible outcome.

He stated: “Despite reports on Man City and more clubs, Marc Guehi situation has not changed: Liverpool is his favorite destination. Guehi wants LFC, talks still ongoing for deal to happen before end of the window. If not possible with Palace, Liverpool will be on it for 2026.”

With his future still very much up in the air, Crystal Palace have transfer plans of their own involving Conor Gallagher as reports gather that they are about to spring a late move to bring the Atletico Madrid midfielder back to Selhurst Park.

Lucas Paqueta is also on the Eagles’ radar, even if if would be hard to envisage West Ham United selling to a London rival, though stranger things have happened in the world of football.

Crystal Palace want to complete £40m double deal to replace Eberechi Eze

The Eagles are ready to plough their summer budget into attacking reinforcements.

1 BySean Markus Clifford Aug 25, 2025

Speculation will continue to escalate as the window reaches fever pitch, though Crystal Palace fans will be doubled over with excitement amid reports that they could now be about to shatter their transfer record.

Crystal Palace in advanced talks to sign Yeremy Pino

Once again addressing his followers on X, Romano has confirmed that Crystal Palace are in advanced talks to sign Villarreal star Yeremy Pino for a fee in the region of £43 million, which would smash their transfer record.

Talks are still ongoing to fully agree a deal and nothing is signed and sealed yet, though they do appear to be closing in on a replacement for fan favourite Eze that will command nationwide attention.

Labelled “unique” by Antonio Mango, Pino has scored 22 times for Villarreal and laid on 23 assists in 173 appearances and featured in both of their opening La Liga fixtures this term against Real Oviedo and Girona.

After the heartbreak of Eze joining Arsenal, Crystal Palace are set to go all out for a quality alternative and supporters will be keen to see how he settles into life at Selhurst Park.

Arsenal have now reached an agreement for a “creative” player to leave the Emirates on deadline day in what has been described as an “unbelievable deal”.

Carragher and Keane blast Arsenal after Liverpool defeat

The Gunners fell to a 1-0 Premier League defeat against Liverpool prior to the international break, with Mikel Arteta’s side struggling to create from open play at Anfield, despute the introcuduction of new signing Eberechi Eze in the second half.

Dominik Szoboszlai’s late free-kick was the difference between the two sides, and after the game, Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher and Roy Keane weren’t impressed with what they saw from Arsenal in the final third.

Carragher said: “You bring [Martin] Zubimendi in, Eze’s come in. It’s only three games but the two away games that we’ve seen Arsenal this season, nothing has changed. Heavily reliant on set-pieces, don’t create anything in open play and are the best team in Europe for me defensively.”

Keane was also critical, saying: “I think when they’ve got the defensive record that they have and they’re great at set-pieces, we’ve got to give Arsenal credit for that. If you’re just dependent on that all the time, and you come to Liverpool away.

“It’s hard to score at Liverpool. Do something a little bit different. Rice taking corners, they’re taking ages. You’re looking at Arsenal, do something off the cuff. Do something quickly. There was rushing towards the end when they were chasing a goal. Going forward they’re a bit robotic. You have to find something else.”

Kieran Tierney

Celtic

Free

Jorginho

Flamengo

Free

Nuno Tavares

Lazio

Undisclosed

Marquinhos

Cruzerio

Undisclosed

Takehiro Tomiyasu

N/A

Released

Karl Hein

Werder Bremen

Loan

Ismeal Kabia

Shrewsbury Town

Loan

Now, Arsenal are set to let go an attacker who has previously come in for praise from Arteta.

Arsenal reach deadline day agreement for Fabio Vieira exit

As per Sky Sports reporter Florian Plettenberg, Arsenal have reached an agreement for Fabio Vieira to join Hamburger SV before the deadline.

The 25-year-old will join on a loan with an option to buy for more than €20m, following Albert Sambi Lokonga to the German side, with Plettenberg describing it as “an unbelievable deal” for Hamburger.

Vieira, who cost Arsenal around £34m in 2022, has made 49 appearances for the Gunners, scoring three times and providing 10 assists. He was hailed by Arteta following an FA Cup victory at Oxford United in 2025 after providing two assists.

“He has the quality. He is a really creative player and has the capacity to decide games in the final third. The moment we got him into the right spaces he made the difference.”

Now, though, Vieira’s future lies in Germany, potentially for the long run if he impresses in 2025/26.