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Tottenham Hotspur continued their impressive start to life under Thomas Frank with a 3-0 win over West Ham United at the London Stadium on Saturday.

Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergval, and Micky van de Ven scored the goals for the Lilywhites to claim all three points against their London rivals, taking them to three wins from four matches.

One thing Spurs have not had so far this season, though, is an academy graduate playing any minutes in the Premier League, as they are still looking for their next Harry Kane.

Why Spurs need to find their next Harry Kane

Not every supporter will feel this way, or as strongly as others do, but it can be a source of pride to have a player from the team’s academy shining week-in-week-out. One of their own.

Kane was the ultimate version of that. He burst through the academy and loan systems to emerge as an incredible performer, moving on from North London in 2023 with a club-record 280 goals in all competitions, per Transfermarkt.

As well as being one of their own, England’s all-time top scorer was also the king of derby day for Tottenham with an impressive goalscoring record against Arsenal.

Kane achieved all of this, though, after he scored two goals for Leicester City, five goals for Leyton Orient, nine goals for Millwall, and no goals for Norwich City on loan before his first-team breakthrough, per Transfermarkt.

With this in mind, Spurs may be brewing their next version of Kane in one of their current young talents who are struggling out on loan at the moment, Mikey Moore.

Why Mikey Moore is the next Harry Kane in the making for Spurs

The 18-year-old winger was sent out on loan to Glasgow Rangers during the summer transfer window, but has not had the best start to life north of the border.

In five appearances in all competitions for the Scottish giants, Moore has yet to find the back of the net and his only assist came against Alloa Athletic, a lower league outfit in the League Cup, per Transfermarkt.

The England youth international has not hit the ground running for Russell Martin’s team at Ibrox, particularly in the Scottish Premiership, since completing his first loan move away from Spurs.

Appearances

3

Starts

2

Shots on target

0

Goals

0

Key passes

1

Big chances created

0

Assists

0

Dribble success rate

17%

As you can see in the table above, Moore has struggled in his first three league outings for Rangers, with no shots on target and no ‘big chances’ created for his team.

The 18-year-old talent is still finding his way at first-team level, though, and these are negative experiences that will provide the harsh lessons that he will need to learn from to kick on and progress, as Kane did after struggling in his loan spells away from Tottenham.

Moore, who analyst Ben Mattinson claimed has “superstar potential”, caught the eye at academy level for Spurs with a return of 19 goals and 13 assists in 24 matches for the U19s, per Transfermarkt.

These statistics show that the English youngster has the potential to deliver goals and assists on a regular basis, but it is down to him to start to show that in the first-team when he returns from Rangers next summer.

Spurs will be hoping that Moore, who has scored one goal for Tottenham’s first-team, uses the 2025/26 campaign as a big learning experience to teach him what to and what not to do at senior level as a regular starter.

Kane used his time at Millwall, Norwich, Leyton Orient, and Leicester to propel him to glory in the first-team, and Moore may well be on his way to following the England captain’s footsteps.

He'll be Frank's own Bale: Spurs have hit gold on "phenomenal" £20m star

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At the age of 18, the winger has so much time left ahead of him to grow and develop. Hopefully, he will eventually be able to star for Spurs as their first-choice left winger in the future.

Arsenal have now been tipped to drop a key member of the starting eleven for their looming opening day clash against Manchester United in the Premier League this weekend.

Mikel Arteta is poised to do battle with Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford on Sunday, with the north Londoners ending their pre-season preparations as they gear up for yet another title challenge.

Nothing but a perfect start will do for Arsenal, having watched a plethora of their nearest rivals in Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City all splash hundreds of millions on a plethora of summer signings to bolster their squads.

Gunners sporting director Andrea Berta has been a busy man too, investing north of £200 million on six major signings, with Kepa, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Noni Madueke, Cristhian Mosquera and star striker Viktor Gyokeres all making the move to N5.

It is shaping up to be one of the most competitive Premier League campaigns in history, and especially near the top of the table, with many standout contenders already making themselves known after productive transfer windows.

“I think on the physical part we’re in a really good place,” said Arteta after Arsenal’s final pre-season game against Athletic Bilbao.

“I think we have competed against very different opponents in different contexts, in different countries, so it’s been a really complete pre-season. You constantly learn and evolve in the team, that’s not going to stop now because this is the last test of pre-season. On Monday we’ll continue to work on things, on things that we have to develop and improve from today, from the last few games, and other things that we want to still do. And especially the integration of the new players to make sure that we create such a bond and spirit in the team that we can compete against the opposition.”

Arteta has a few imperative decisions to make ahead of Arsenal’s face-off with United in Manchester, who are under a significant amount of pressure themselves to make a good start to 2025/2026.

Arsenal tipped to drop Myles Lewis-Skelly for Man United

Journalist Charles Watts, speaking to CaughtOffside, is convinced that Arteta could even drop star left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly for the clash.

The 18-year-old enjoyed a stellar breakthrough campaign last season, with his performances at full-back earning Lewis-Skelly both calls to the England squad and a brand-new long-term contract.

The rising star teenager played 23 Premier League games last year, starting 15 of them, and was handed the nod by Arteta in their blockbuster Champions League ties against Real Madrid and PSG.

Lewis-Skelly has been called “incredible” by the likes of Gary Neville after his rise to the first-team, and he’s now become a key player for them.

However, Watts believes that Lewis-Skelly will be axed for United in favour of Riccardo Calafiori.

“I think who starts at full-back this weekend will be interesting for Arsenal. There is a real competition in those positions,” said the reporter.

“When he’s been on the pitch Riccardo Calafiori has looked very good. I really enjoyed his performance last weekend and if he’s deemed fully fit I think he might get the nod at left-back over Myles Lewis-Skelly.

“It’s a tough call, but Lewis-Skelly hasn’t looked at his best yet this summer, so I would not be surprised if Arteta goes with the Italian to try and negate the threat of Bryan Mbeumo and also cause problems up the other end.”

Calafiori suffered various injury problems across 2024/2025, which hampered the Italian’s game time, but if he can stay fit, Arteta will have a seriously star-studded left-back rotation at his disposal.

يلتقي الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي بيراميدز، اليوم الأحد، مع نظيره الجيش الرواندي، ضمن منافسات بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

ويستضيف بيراميدز، الجيش الرواندي، ضمن منافسات إياب دور الـ64 من دوري أبطال إفريقيا على ملعب استاد الدفاع الجوي.

طالع.. قائمة بيراميدز لمباراة الجيش الرواندي في دوري أبطال إفريقيا

واقترب بيراميدز من التأهل إلى دور الـ32 حيث يكفيه الفوز أو التعادل أو الخسارة بفارق هدف من أجل التأهل بعد الفوز بهدفين دون مقابل في كيجالي.

ويلاقي المتأهل من هذه المواجهة فريق التأمين الإثيوبي في دور الـ32 من البطولة، ما يمثّل محطة جديدة على طريق البحث عن مجد إفريقي جديد للفريق المصري. موعد مباراة بيراميدز والجيش الرواندي اليوم

وتنطلق المباراة بين بيراميدز والجيش الرواندي، في تمام الثامنة مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة والسعودية، والتاسعة مساءً بتوقيت الإمارات العربية المتحدة. القناة الناقلة لمباراة بيراميدز والجيش الرواندي اليوم

ومن المقرر أن تنقل مباراة بيراميدز والجيش الرواندي، عبر قناة “أون سبورت”.

ويمكنكم مطالعة مواعيد ونتائج جميع المباريات لحظة بلحظة عبر مركز المباريات من هنا.

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.”

After losing Mohammed Kudus earlier this summer, West Ham United could now reportedly lose another attacking star amid reports that Jose Mourinho is set to launch his opening move.

West Ham still seeking reinforcements

It’s not exactly been a headline summer at the London Stadium so far, but West Ham have at least managed to splash out on El Hadji Malick Diouf whilst also welcoming young forward Daniel Cummings and free agent Kyle Walker-Peters. The latter recently became the latest to arrive and will be hoping to enjoy a far better season than last time out, when he was relegated with Southampton.

There is, of course, still plenty of work to be done at the London Stadium, however. But with the Premier League season closing in, the Hammers could yet suffer another frustrating exit blow and lose yet another member of Graham Potter’s frontline.

Mourinho set to launch Summerville move

According to reports in Turkey, as relayed by Sport Witness, Mourinho is now set to launch a move to sign Crysencio Summerville for Fenerbahce this summer. The club’s director Devin Özek is reportedly set to travel to England in an attempt to secure a loan move for the winger, whilst the self-proclaimed Special One is also set to make contact.

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He outperformed Wilson last season…

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Whilst Summerville endured a debut campaign to forget at the London Stadium, Kudus’ departure opens the door for the former Leeds United man to finally make his mark. Given that he cost the Hammers as much as £25m, plus add-ons, last summer, all involved at the London Stadium should also be keen to hand him the time to eventually come good.

It wasn’t so long ago that Summerville was dubbed a “coup” for West Ham by former Leeds player Carlton Palmer and the winger will be desperate to prove that’s still the case

Palmer said last summer: “This is a really big coup for West Ham, given the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain were interested in the player.

“Summerville has decided to join West Ham, a fantastic bit of business for West Ham. As I said, he was a standout player in the Championship, still young.”

Katie George anchors run chase as Sparks clinch consolation victory

ECB Reporters Network06-Sep-2024The Blaze face an anxious 24 hours to learn if their dream of landing the domestic double in women’s regional cricket remains alive after slipping to a five-wicket defeat against Central Sparks in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy at Chesterfield.The result leaves the Charlotte Edwards Cup holders fourth in the table with one hand on a semi-final place but just a one-point advantage over fifth-placed Sunrisers, who complete their 14-match league programme on Saturday. Sunrisers travel to Southern Vipers, who are the defending champions but have lost their last three.On a track that yielded runs only sparingly, The Blaze were restricted to 166 after being asked to bat first. Michaela Kirk top-scored with a season-best 36, backed up by Kathryn Bryce’s 33, sharing a 63-run partnership for the second wicket.Seamer Grace Potts led the Sparks’ bowling effort with a List A-best 3 for 38 with Charis Pavely, Emily Arlott and Hannah Hardwick taking two wickets each, before Katie George anchored their winning reply with an unbeaten 57 off 90 balls, with five fours.The Blaze, missing Ireland allrounder Orla Prendergast because of the white-ball series against England which also deprived the Sparks of leading wicket-taker Hannah Baker, quickly lost Sarah Bryce, caught at point in Potts’ opening over, but recovered to 68 for 1 in the 13th over.Alongside Kirk, the in-from Bryce added 63 in 11.1 overs, but a double setback saw her and new batter Marie Kelly out within the space of five balls, both bowled. Left-arm spinner Pavely, who will join England for the T20 matches against Ireland, dismissed Bryce and seamer Arlott removed Kelly without scoring. Bryce hit five boundaries, as did Kirk, but the latter was leg-before when Potts returned in the 20th over.Teresa Graves lifted Hardwick for a boundary down the ground but was bowled shortly afterwards as the 20-year-old seamer celebrated her maiden List A wicket on her second Sparks appearance, following it up immediately by bowling Lucy Higham first ball.From 103 for 6 at the halfway point, The Blaze – last year’s runners-up – struggled to find any momentum, with only two boundaries thereafter. Ella Claridge (19) and skipper Kirstie Gordon (22) painstakingly added 37 for the seventh wicket in 11 overs before offspinner Ria Fackrell turned one to bowl the former, Gordon then dragging on to Arlott.Grace Ballinger and Josie Groves eked out another 20 for the ninth wicket before Groves and Cassidy McCarthy succumbed in search of boundaries.Needing 3.34 runs per over, Sparks opener Ami Campbell blasted three boundaries in Bryce’s opening over and another two in her second but was almost immediately caught at cover when offspinner Higham took over.From 28 without loss in five overs Sparks were 43 for 3 in the 10th after left-arm seamer Ballinger bowled Davina Perrin and left-arm spinner Gordon trapped Meg Austin in front for her 18th wicket of the season.Gordon and Bryce restricted Sparks to just 14 in the next five overs but after Abbey Freeborn had chopped on to be bowled by Bryce, George and Chloe Brewer upped the tempo. The visitors were 110 for four after 25 overs, needing another 57.Brewer was leg-before to Gordon for 22 after the pair had added 55. The Blaze bowlers gave away few easy runs – Bryce ending her 10 overs with two consecutive maidens – but with only a little more than two per over needed, George and Pavely had no need to take risks and their unbroken 53-run stand finished the job with 52 balls to spare, George completing her half-century and then winning the match with back-to-back boundaries.The result meant that the Birmingham-based team marked their last appearance as Central Sparks with a win. Trent Bridge-based The Blaze will retain their current identity, but as domestic women’s cricket undergoes another overhaul next season, the Sparks will play as Warwickshire in 50-over cricket and Birmingham Bears in T20.

Domestic fixtures for the 2024-25 season have been confirmed with the new women’s T20 competition to take place over 10 days in Adelaide and Sydney

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-2024

Pat Cummins’ Sheffield Shield appearances for New South Wales have been few and far between•Getty Images

Australia’s multi-format stars have been handed their best red-ball preparation for a summer in five years, with players to have up to four Sheffield Shield matches to fine tune for the Test series against India.Cricket Australia announced the schedule for the domestic summer on Thursday, which includes the new women’s T20 competition before the WBBL. As has been the case in recent seasons, the Sheffield Shield while the men’s one-day cup sits at seven matches each.Related

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But for the first time in a long time, multi-format players will have a long stretch of Shield games to prepare for the Test team’s bid to win back the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.Australia’s last overseas white-ball commitment this year is on September 29 in England, giving players a week before the beginning of the Shield season on October 8. Even if the quicks are rested from the first round, each state will play another three fixtures before players enter camp for the first Test against India starting November 22.Pat Cummins is missing the entire limited-overs tour of the UK in September while Mitchell Starc will only feature in the ODI series against England. Josh Hazlewood has been included for both formats.While Starc played matches for NSW during the 2020-21 bubble, Cummins and Hazlewood have not played Shield before the first Test since November 2019. Mitchell Marsh, meanwhile, has only played two Shield matches since 2019.Availability of multi-format players for the Shield will likely be impacted by the limited-overs visit of Pakistan with the ODI series starting on November 4. The proximity of the T20Is (November 14-18) to the start of the India series means only players not featuring in the Test will likely be selected. There are also two Australia A-India A matches from late October which will pull players out of domestic cricket.The glut of Shield matches will also provide an opportunity for the likes of Matt Renshaw, Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft a chance to push their selection causes.While Australia’s Test team is largely set for now, they will want to take a reserve batsman into the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Chief selector George Bailey said in March there was no longer a front-runner to one day replace Steven Smith or Usman Khawaja at the top of the order, after each of Renshaw, Harris and Bancroft missed out on national contracts.Bailey has indicated that a specialist opener will be the one to eventually replace Smith or Khawaja in the long-term future, after the former was moved into the role to replace David Warner last summer.In total six Shield rounds will be played before the BBL break, before each state plays four more matches in February and March. Shield fixtures will again be interwoven with the one-day cup, which starts on September 22, with Western Australia aiming for a fourth consecutive title in both competitions.The Shield final will take place between March 26-30 while the 50-over finals will take place on consecutive days – the Marsh Cup on March 1 and WNCL on March 2.The 50-over WNCL tournament, where Tasmania are bidding for a hat-trick of titles, again has 12 matches per team, while the newly introduced T20 series for women includes four games each as a result of the shortened WBBL.Each of the eight WBBL teams will feature as well as the ACT Meteors, with the tournament to run while Australia’s big-name players and overseas stars are in Bangladesh for the T20 World Cup.

The transfer window is just around the corner, and it feels set to be an era-defining one for Arsenal.

While a third second-placed finish on the bounce is far from ideal, Mikel Arteta’s side have proven without a shadow of a doubt now that they are one of the very best teams in the country, but they’ve also shown that they lack a cutting-edge up top.

Therefore, it’s hardly been surprising to see the club linked with a host of talented strikers in recent weeks and months, with two of the most significant being Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko.

However, while either would surely improve the Gunners, recent reports have linked them to someone who’d be a better signing than both.

Arsenal's Sesko & Gyokeres alternative

Before getting to the superstar in question, it’s worth looking at some of the other centre-forwards who have been touted for moves to Arsenal in recent weeks, like Julian Alvarez and Joao Pedro.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

The former has been linked with the North Londoners quite heavily over the last week or so, and while it would be hard to pry him away from Atlético Madrid a year after he joined them, it would be worth trying as in just 54 games this season, he has scored 29 goals and provided seven assists.

On the other hand, Pedro could be available for close to £100m, which, for all his undeniable talent, does feel a little steep, as he’s only played 30 games this season, in which he’s scored ten goals and provided seven assists.

In other words, the Brazilian marksman doesn’t feel like he’d be a better signing than Sesko or Gyokeres, unlike Alexander Isak.

Yes, according to a recent report from the Mail Online, the Newcastle United striker remains in the picture ahead of the summer.

While the report claims that a transfer feels unlikely due to his price tag now being ‘north of £100m,’ it also reveals, crucially, that the Swedish international is ‘Arteta’s preferred choice.’

It would be a complicated and costly deal to get over the line, but given Isak’s unreal ability, it’s one well worth going all out for, especially as he’d be a better signing than Sesko or Gyokeres.

Why Isak would be a better signing than Sesko & Gyokeres

So, let’s start off with the most straightforward and significant reason why Isak would be a far better signing than Sesko: his output.

For example, in just 42 appearances for the Toon this season, totalling 3324 minutes, the 25-year-old “bagsman,” as dubbed by respected analyst Ben Mattinson, has scored 27 goals and provided six assists.

That comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.27 games, or every 100.72 minutes, which is undeniably superb.

Appearances

42

45

Minutes

3324′

3258′

Goals

27

21

Assists

6

6

Goal Involvements per Match

0.78

0.6

Minutes per Goal Involvement

100.72′

120.66′

In contrast, the Leipzig star has found the back of the net 21 times and provided six assists in 45 appearances, totalling 3258 minutes this season, which comes out to a good but less impressive average of a goal involvement every 1.66 games or every 120.66 minutes.

Now, that might be a little crude, but when it comes down to a striker, the most important metric is their raw output, and when it comes down to it, that’s something the former Real Sociedad star has over the Slovenian.

However, things get a little more complicated when it comes to Gyokeres because, by that same logic, his absurd haul of 54 goals and 13 assists in 52 appearances suggests he’d be the better poacher to bring to the club this summer.

Yet, that’s not the case, and the crucial reason why is that the former Coventry City gem has no experience of football in a top five league.

There is a genuine risk that the Stockholm-born star could be a repeat of Darwin Núñez, who moved to Liverpool off the back of producing 38 goal involvements in 41 games for Benfica in the 21/22 campaign and just finished this season with a haul of 14 goal involvements in 47 games.

Ultimately, if Arsenal can, they should be doing all they can to sign Isak this summer, as he’s already a far better goalscorer than Sesko and has far more experience playing and thriving in the toughest competitions than Gyokeres.

Better than Sane: Arteta makes £50m winger Arsenal's new priority signing

The international star would be a great addition to Arsenal’s squad this summer.

ByJack Salveson Holmes May 29, 2025

Celtic are preparing for an exciting summer under Brendan Rodgers, though they may now be resigned to losing one of their most talented young prospects.

Celtic look forward to chance to complete domestic treble

Domestic trebles have become a speciality for the Hoops over recent years, and they will have a chance to complete another clean sweep against Aberdeen this weekend in the Scottish Cup final.

Rodgers was able to soak up the acclaim of supporters after witnessing his side lift the Scottish Premiership trophy last weekend. However, the Irishman knows there is still work to do before the champagne can really start to flow at Parkhead.

Speaking ahead of the clash, he said: “We’ve had some great performances and results against Aberdeen, but finals are finals.

“I enjoy the occasion, I enjoy the pressures of finals, but we can only really enjoy it if we go in with the right mentality, the right preparation and then we can see where it takes us.”

Coming to the end of a long season, Rodgers will already have one eye on the transfer market as Celtic prepare to strengthen on all fronts to put up another fight for silverware and European progression next term.

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1 ByDan Emery May 20, 2025

Blackburn Rovers star Tyrhys Dolan is a target for the Bhoys on a free transfer and could join Kieran Tierney in walking through the Parkhead entrance once the window opens.

Nevertheless, departures will also be expected to make room for new arrivals to settle into life in Glasgow, and one of the Hoops’ most prodigious stars could now be on his way out of the club, per recent developments.

Celtic gem Cummings spotted at West Ham's London Stadium

With his contract set to expire at Parkhead, Celtic striker Daniel Cummings was spotted at West Ham United’s London Stadium on Sunday, a stadium which is bigger than Parkhead, taking in their 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest. It has been claimed that a move to the Irons looks imminent for the forward.

The Scotland Under-19 international has been in brilliant form for the Hoops’ B Team this campaign, registering 29 goals in 37 appearances, combining his first-team outings and exploits further down the ladder.

Commended for his “spectacular” finishing by The Young Team, he now appears poised to leave his boyhood club after months of no progress over a contract extension.

West Ham previously tried to sign Cummings on deadline day earlier this year, though they now look to have prevailed in their attempts to bring the clinical poacher to East London.

From a Celtic standpoint, losing another young talent is a sign of the limited pathway to the first team for homegrown stars, but most will acknowledge that this has been coming for a long time.

Chelsea are set for a busy summer, as the club are targeting a new striker, a right-footed winger and a central defender.

There have already been plenty of links, as the club draws up their plans ahead of the summer break.

However, Enzo Maresca will be hoping business can be done quickly, as just weeks after the Premier League season concludes, his side will be competing in the FIFA Club World Cup, which seems to have been placed in high regard by the Chelsea owners.

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Posts ByRoss Kilvington Oct 30, 2024 Chelsea hold talks to sign new winger

One area that is key for Maresca and his system is his wide men, often isolated in 1v1 scenarios and given the responsibility to create chances for the side.

Whilst Noni Madueke and Pedro Neto have shown some good signs from the right, Jadon Sancho hasn’t been as consistent off the left – scoring just once since 8th December – whilst Mykhailo Mudryk is currently unavailable through suspension.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

Expand Collapse

So, who could come in? Well, according to reports from Blues insider Simon Phillips, Chelsea have held initial talks with Jorge Mendes this week, regarding a potential transfer for AC Milan forward, Rafael Leao.

Whilst the Portugal international is likely the most high-profile name being touted, the Blues have also been linked with a host of other wide targets such as Jamie Gittens, Alejandro Garnacho and Nico Williams.

Leao, aged 25, has been linked with Chelsea in the past, with the Blues reportedly failing to sign him back in 2023, offering player-swap deals to try and get it over the line.

Any deal could be complicated by his astronomical release clause, which reportedly exceeds £80m.

Why Leao would be such a good signing for Chelsea

The dazzling winger has made 46 appearances so far this season, scoring 11 goals, providing 12 assists and totalling 3,253 minutes played. The Portuguese winger certainly fits the mould of a Maresca winger going forward, with the only real question mark being his willingness to work hard off the ball.

To ascertain how good a signing he would be, we can compare him to another of Chelsea’s transfer targets. It’s been reported this week that they are set to ‘push’ for the arrival of Juventus star, Kenan Yildiz, who isn’t quite the same profile of forward as Leao.

Yildiz is more of a hybrid winger, who likes to drift inside and play in central attacking midfield areas, dropping deep to pick up the ball and aid build-up before attacking the box and looking to create at the top end of the pitch.

Rafael Leao vs Kenan Yildiz comparison

Stats (per 90 mins)

Leao

Yildiz

Goals

0.29

0.24

Assists

0.29

0.13

xG

0.27

0.15

xAG

0.28

0.15

Progressive Carries

4.77

4.15

Progressive Passes

3.62

4.25

Shots Total

2.29

2.39

Key Passes

2.01

1.66

Shot-Creating Actions

4.22

4.09

Successful Take-Ons

2.86

2.43

Stats taken from FBref

When comparing their underlying metrics this season, you can see Leao is more direct with his actions, driving with the ball, looking to beat his man 1v1 and provide output for the team. Such are his exceptional skills in this area that the Athletic’s Alex Barker once proclaimed that he is “one of the best dribblers in the world”.

On the other hand, Yildiz excels with his creative actions, making clever passes, thriving in tight spaces and taking slightly more shots per game.

The Juve attacker has the ability to beat his man 1v1 with precise dribbling, combine with his teammates and break open games through his quality, but he isn’t the same relentless type of winger as Leao, who is better suited to Maresca’s current model.

Ex-AC Milan winger Ronaldinho had high praise for Leao back in 2022, labelling the Portuguese winger as “one of the best” in the world at the time, rubberstamping why he’d be such an exceptional acquisition this summer.

Should Leao get a move to Chelsea, he could thrive in the limitless 1v1 opportunities Maresca’s system would supply him with, but he would have to be willing to work harder off the ball in order to make things work.

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Posts ByJoe Nuttall Apr 24, 2025