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Newcastle star Anthony Gordon has sparked rumours over his future on Tyneside after naming a Premier League as one of his 'favourite players ever' and role model.

Gordon in South Korea for tourNamed PL rival as role modelCould make move to replace him Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Gordon has been linked with a move away from Newcastle for over a year now, with Liverpool previously tipped to poach the England international. But another club has now entered the conversation after the winger named Tottenham captain Heung-Min Son as one of his favourite ever players.

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Tottenham were interested in Gordon during his Everton days and may be looking for a Son successor with the South Korean in talks to join LAFC this summer. However, with Newcastle missing out on so many transfer targets and likely to lose Alexander Isak, they may not be willing to sanction the sale of another attacking star.

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Gordon and Son will come face-to-face with each other on Sunday when Spurs play Newcastle in South Korea. Gordon was giving his interview having already arrived in Son's homeland, which may explain the added praise for the 33-year-old.

Joao Pedro scored his third goal in just his second appearance for Chelsea as he immediately won his first major title at the Club World Cup. Cole Palmer starred with a brace and an assist as the Blues lifted the trophy, beating European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the final on Sunday. The Brazilian was on cloud nine as in a span of two weeks, he went from being on holiday to becoming a world champion.

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• Pedro elated to win Club World Cup title
• Chelsea beat PSG 3-0 in the final
• Pedro joined Chelsea less than two weeks ago

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Pedro formally completed his £60 million ($81m) move from Brighton to Chelsea on July 2 and less than two weeks, the Brazilian is now a world champion. After helping the Blues down boyhood club Fluminense 2-0 in the semi-final with a brace, the 23-year-old forward found the back of the net in the Club World Cup final as the Premier League giants thrashed PSG 3-0.

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• WHAT PEDRO SAID

  Inside the Chelsea dressing room, caught up with Pedro and asked how he felt after going from his summer break to becoming a world champion in such a short space of time, to which the Selecao star responded: "What can I say? What can I say? This is Chelsea. That's why I came, to win trophies. I said before, I need to enjoy it. I came here."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Sunday marked Chelsea's second Club World Cup title, with their other victory coming in the 2021 edition in the tournament's previous format. Palmer was handed the Golden Ball post-game, taking best player honours for his performances throughout the tournament, while goalkeeper Robert Sanchez won the Golden Glove after starring in the final, too.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR CHELSEA?

  Enzo Maresca's side will now enjoy a well-earned break before they return to action next month. The west London side will play a couple of friendlies against Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan before kicking off the 2025-26 campaign formally on August 17 with their season opener against Crystal Palace.

If there were any doubts about his readiness to play 50-over cricket after 14 months in ODI retirement, Ben Stokes laughed them off at the KIa Oval. He belted his fourth century in the format off 76 balls, then pushed on to claim the highest score in the format by an Englishman with 182 off 124 to set up a crushing victory over New Zealand.Stokes walked out in the third over with Trent Boult swinging the new ball and England in trouble at 13 for 2, but shared a third-wicket stand worth 199 in 165 balls with Dawid Malan. He launched a brutal assault on Lockie Ferguson, looting 56 runs off the 30 balls he faced from him; all told, Ferguson’s nine overs cost 80.Stokes started frantically, charging down the pitch and skipping outside leg stump to give himself room to play over the off side. He had 13 off 19 when Ferguson came into the attack and immediately looked to take him on, hitting three boundaries in four balls – one via a thick leading edge – in Ferguson’s second over.That was enough to get Stokes going, and thereafter he played at a similar tempo to the one he adopted during the Ashes earlier this summer: prodded and scuffed singles interspersed with calculated, dismissive swipes into the stands. The pick of the bunch, a skip-down-and-swing off Glenn Phillips, was caught in the second tier of the Pavilion.As he battled his knee injury, Stokes opted to stand and deliver. He crunched nine sixes, including six in his final 31 balls. When he holed out to square leg, attempting to hit a tenth, the sell-out crowd stood to applaud the hero of England’s 2019 World Cup triumph, no doubt imbued with the belief that he could yet inspire them to a successful defence of their title in India.”It’s good to come back in after a while out and put a big contribution into us winning the game,” Stokes said. “Today was good for me personally, just to get familiarity again with how 50-over cricket goes. We lost a few quick wickets and I wanted to go out and put them under a bit of pressure. There were a couple of times I had to check myself because I looked up and there were still 23-24 overs left… you have way more time than you think.”I didn’t really know [about the record] until the bloke on the tannoy announced it – then I got out next ball,” he said. “There were a couple of stages where I was scoring quite freely and felt like I wanted to keep going and going and going… in 50-over cricket, we always want to go out and put on big scores but [it was a case of] realising how much more time I had.”Stokes spent the start of New Zealand’s innings off the field, though insisted his knee is “getting better and better”. He said: “I just needed a little bit of treatment. Test matches are longer, but you get a break; one-day games, you don’t get that. It’s just different, but these first three games have been good.”New Zealand’s nominal attempt to chase 369 quickly turned into glorified middle practice. Chris Woakes bowled eight overs on the reel from the Pavilion End, finishing his opening spell with 3 for 31 and ending the game as a contest; Phillips, who made a career-best 72, was the only batter to reach 30 as New Zealand folded for 187.While Stokes took centre stage, this might have been the day that England’s World Cup squad worked itself out. With Jason Roy ruled out for a third consecutive ODI after suffering his second back spasm in six days, Malan returned from paternity leave and took his chance. His 96 off 95 balls was his second half-century of the series and his ninth 50-plus score out of 20 in ODIs.Malan appeared to be the spare batter when England named their provisional 15-man squad a month ago. After being dropped by Trent Rockets in the Hundred and a scratchy T20I series, Malan’s spot looked vulnerable – not least with Harry Brook, who missed the initial cut, pitching an irresistible case.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

But it now feels increasingly likely that Malan will feature on October 5, when England play New Zealand in the opening game of the World Cup in Ahmedabad, quite possibly as Jonny Bairstow’s opening partner. And if Malan is pencilled in for that role, Brook might well edge Roy to the remaining batting spot in the squad, given his versatility and Roy’s patchy fitness record.After England’s victory at the Ageas Bowl on Sunday, Jos Buttler and his players spoke “about freeing ourselves up… trying to get back to being even more positive, even more aggressive”. Malan and Stokes responded accordingly, bringing up a 100-run stand in 15.1 overs; Malan attacked the new ball, with six crisply-struck boundaries inside the first 10 overs.Malan was typically strong on the pull, twice nailing Ben Lister through square leg for four, and raced into the 80s by flogging Kyle Jamieson over long-on. He strangled Boult down the leg side after getting a little stuck as three figures approached, but at 212 for 3 after 30.1 overs, he had laid the ideal platform.England couldn’t convert it into the 400-plus score that seemed inevitable, leaving 11 balls unused as their lower order collapsed. Buttler sparkled briefly for 38 off 24 but Stokes’ dismissal in the 45th over triggered a slide of 5 for 20; Boult, the pick of the New Zealand attack, claimed a sixth ODI five-for by rearranging Gus Atkinson’s stumps.There was some mitigation for New Zealand with the ball. With Mitchell Santner jarring his knee at the Ageas Bowl on Sunday and Ish Sodhi rested, they relied on two allrounders in Phillips and Rachin Ravindra to bowl spin, while neither Jamieson nor Lister will feature for them in the World Cup, barring injury.But Stokes ensured that England took advantage of their weakened attack, scoring 59 off the 35 balls of spin he faced – including three huge sixes which rendered Ravindra unusable after his second over. It came as a surprise when he eventually fell to Lister – but not before breaking Roy’s record for the highest innings by an Englishman in ODIs.With Adil Rashid and Mark Wood both kept in cotton wool – or, at least, in luminous green bibs in the substitutes’ dugout – England were also without their two main bowlers in their defence, but it hardly mattered: Woakes had Will Young caught behind and Henry Nicholls miscuing to square leg, and his inswinger rattled Tom Latham’s stumps.Devon Conway looked out of sorts for his 9 off 18 before he fell lbw to Reece Topley to leave New Zealand 37 for 4, before Sam Curran had Daryl Mitchell caught behind and Moeen Ali bowled Ravindra with an arm ball. Phillips launched a couple of futile sixes as the asking rate soared; by the time he was lbw on review for the first of Liam Livingstone’s three wickets, The Oval was half-empty.

The final, deciding Women’s ODI between Bangladesh and India should have been about the exciting finish, since it ended in a tie, but instead, Harmanpreet Kaur’s conduct – she smashed the stumps after being given out, and later called the umpiring “pathetic” – has become the talking point.While Smriti Mandhana defended her captain at the post-match press conference, Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana didn’t hold back, saying Harmanpreet “could have shown better manners”.In the 34th over of India’s chase of 226, Harmanpreet was given out caught at slip off Nahida Akter while attempting a sweep. Did it go off the pads, or was there a bit of glove or bat on the way? Harmanpreet hit the stumps with her bat after being given out, and then had words for the umpires before walking off, giving a thumbs-up to the crowd on her way. Initially, it looked like Harmanpreet was unhappy as she assumed it was a lbw decision, but the umpire made the decision after the catch was completed.Related

• Harmanpreet on Dhaka umpiring outburst: 'I don't regret anything'

• Harmanpreet to miss start of Asian Games after pleading guilty to ICC charges

• More misses than hits for India on white-ball tour of Bangladesh

• 'Now people will recognise us' – Nigar Sultana pleased after sharing ODI series against India

• Drama in Mirpur as decider ends in thrilling tie

Yastika Bhatia had earlier protested the lbw decision against her in the fifth over, standing her ground and staring back at the umpire after being given out. Later, in the final over, after Jemimah Rodrigues’ single had tied the scores, Meghna Singh played away from her body to Marufa Akter’s next delivery, and was given out caught behind.Curiously, Meghna appeared to be walking towards the dressing room initially, even as the Bangladesh players celebrated around her, but then stopped and started speaking to the umpire.For the Harmanpreet and Meghna dismissals, the umpire at the bowler’s end was the experienced Tanvir Ahmed, while for the Yastika wicket, it was Muhammad Kamruzzaman.”A lot of learning from this game,” Harmanpreet said at the presentation ceremony. “Even apart from the cricket, the type of umpiring that was happening there, we were very surprised. The next time whenever we are coming to Bangladesh, we’ll have to make sure we have to deal with this kind of umpiring and accordingly, we’ll have to prepare ourselves.”Bangladesh, batting first after winning the toss, rode on Fargana Hoque’s 107 to score 225 for 4. In the chase, when Harmanpreet was dismissed, India were 160 for 4 in 33.4 overs, and well placed to win. But they collapsed to 225 all out.”They [Bangladesh] batted really well, batted according to the situation. They were taking those singles which were very crucial,” Harmanpreet said. “In between, we leaked a few runs but when we were batting, we controlled the game very well. But, as I mentioned earlier, some pathetic umpiring was done, and we are really disappointed about some decisions given by the umpires.”ESPNcricinfo understands that when the end-of-series photograph with both sets of players was being taken, Harmanpreet shouted “bring the umpires too”, suggesting they were a part of the Bangladesh team. Nigar, it is understood, spoke about it to BCB officials, and took her players back to the dressing room soon after.”It is totally her problem. I have nothing to do with it,” Nigar said in the press conference when asked about the incident. “As a player, she could have shown better manners. I can’t tell you what happened, but it didn’t feel right to be there [for the photograph] with my team. It wasn’t the right environment. That’s why we went back. Cricket is a game of discipline and respect.”About the umpiring, Nigar said, “The umpires wouldn’t give her out if she wasn’t out. We had umpires from men’s international cricket, so they were good umpires. What are they [India] going to say about the caught or run-out dismissals [of which there were six excluding the Harmanpreet and Meghna wickets]? We have respected their decisions. The umpire’s decision is the final decision, whether I like it or not. Why didn’t we behave in that way [like the India players]?”Possibly the moment when Harmanpreet Kaur asked for the umpires to be brought for the photograph as well•BCB

At the press conference, Mandhana had said that Harmanpreet was caught in the heat of the moment as she couldn’t accept the umpire’s decision. “When you play for India, you want to win the match, and it happens in the heat of the moment,” Mandhana said. “I think she [Harmanpreet] wasn’t really happy with the decision given and she felt she wasn’t out. That is why that [reaction] came about. It is just the heat of the moment and nothing much.”What happened in the middle is a part and parcel of the game. We’ve seen these incidents so much in the past as well. When you really want that ‘W’ on the board for India, these things happen.”Mandhana did, however, call on the ICC to appoint neutral umpires in the future.”In any match, sometimes it happens that you are really not happy with the [decisions]. Especially when there is no DRS in a match in a series of this kind, we kind of expect a little better level of umpiring in terms of some decisions,” she said. “It was very evident that there was not even a second thought given when the ball was hitting the pad when our batters were batting. There was not even one second of thought given before the finger went up.”I am sure the ICC, BCB and BCCI will have more of a discussion on that and maybe we can have a neutral-umpiring system from maybe next time so that we don’t sit here having these discussions and maybe we can focus more on cricket and cricket-oriented questions.”Separately, Harmanpreet also criticised the BCB for not inviting the Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh, Pranay Kumar Verma, for the presentation ceremony even though he was present at the ground. “Our high commissioner from India is also there – I hope you could have also invited him here, but that’s also fine.”

Manchester City have clearly been struggling this campaign to hit the same levels they have done in the previous four Premier League campaigns, currently sitting fifth with 48 points, a whopping 22 points away from first-place Liverpool.

Despite their poor form, Pep Guardiola’s side are still topping plenty of the league’s metrics, however.

They are averaging the most possession per game in the division with 60.8% and have the highest successful pass percentage with 89.9%. They also sit second for shots per game, averaging 16.1 shots per match, with only Liverpool averaging more with 17.

Clearly, City have identified their need to invest, spending big money in the January transfer window to bring Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Nico Gonzalez to the club.

But, who has been underperforming this season, which has led to such heavy investment?

The biggest losers from Man City's awful season

One man who has underperformed since returning to play for Guardiola’s side this season is İlkay Gündoğan. The German has made 39 appearances for the Citizens so far, scoring two goals and providing three assists. It’s a far cry from that 2021/22 season where he was involved in 16 goals across all competitions.

18 of his appearances have come from the base of midfield, a byproduct of Rodri being missing through injury, which has led to an underwhelming return for the 34-year-old midfielder, not having the same effect on the ball for his side, whilst not solving their out-of-possession issues either.

Another key figure who was a huge part of Manchester City’s infamous treble campaign, but now finds himself lower in the pecking order, is Jack Grealish.

The 29-year-old has made 26 appearances this season, netting two goals, providing five assists and totaling 1,319 minutes played.

The English winger, who has struggled with a few injuries in the past two seasons, now finds himself behind the likes of Jeremy Doku, Savinho, Marmoush and even Phil Foden, who himself has had a very poor season thus far, underwhelming for both club and country.

The Englishman, who was criticised by Thomas Tuchel during the international break, has struggled to replicate the dazzling numbers of 2023/24 when he won the PFA Player of the Year award.

He has scored just ten times, down from the ridiculous 27-goal haul of last term. So, perhaps they may regret losing another academy star…

Better than Foden: Man City's lost "wonderkid"

Spending two years in the City academy system from 2018-2020 was a highly promising individual, a “wonderkid” in the words of scout Jacek Kulig.

That player was Jamie Gittens. Remarkably, he never played for City’s U21s but did feature in two U18 Premier League games. Then, in a puff of smoke, rather like Jadon Sancho, he headed for Borussia Dortmund.

Well, at BVB, it’s safe to say he’s starring. Gittens, who was in Lee Carsley’s latest England U21 made, has made 40 appearances for Dortmund so far this season, scoring 11 goals and providing four assists in 2,535 minutes played.

Boasting “electric pace” in the words of analyst Ben Mattinson, the English winger is certainly starting to turn heads in Europe, with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United linked with the young winger.

So, how does he compare to that man Foden? Certainly favourably in the goalscoring department.

Goals

0.39

0.34

Assists

0.11

0.17

xG

0.18

0.26

xAG

0.13

0.23

Progressive Carries

5.78

2.72

Progressive Passes

2.09

5.49

Shots Total

2.57

3.02

Key Passes

1.10

2.33

Shot-Creating Actions

3.80

4.67

Successful Take-Ons

3.84

0.93

When comparing Foden and Gittens’ underlying metrics this season, you can see how their playstyles differ, with the former being more creation heavy, looking to drop into pockets of space, play progressive passes and create for others, whilst the latter has a direct manner, looking to attack the box with carries and score goals.

Whilst Foden isn’t a natural winger, he has seen 18 of his 38 appearances come from wide areas, due to the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and now Marmoush, who can both play as that central attacking midfielder in close vicinity to Erling Haaland.

On the other hand, Gittens would have provided City with something they have lacked in wide areas this season, and that’s goals, with both Doku and Savinho excelling in the creation department, as opposed to the direct, high-shot-volume playstyle of their former academy star.

Man City offloaded their own Bellingham for £0, now Man Utd want him

Man City could see yet another of their former academy graduates end up back in the Premier League

ByRobbie Walls Mar 27, 2025

Returning as wicketkeeper-batter to the Test side after 2017, he hit his first hundred in the format

Andrew Fidel Fernando17-Apr-2023In his first eight innings in Test cricket, way back in 2017, Sadeera Samarawickrama’s best innings were two thirty-odds. There was promise there for sure – his first knock, a sparkling 38 off 35 balls in a Dubai Test that Sri Lanka won, was especially good.But then he went to India, as tough a place as there is for a 22-year-old batter to tour, and made 23, 0, 13, 0, 33, and 5. He was dropped, but has been on the fringes of the team ever since. Now, he’s back as a wicketkeeper-batter, and struck an unbeaten hundred against Ireland in Galle – ostensibly a far easier challenge than playing India in India, or even Pakistan in the UAE.His 104 not out off just 114 balls also came after Sri Lanka’s top order set them on course for a big total. But regardless, Samarawickrama did as could have been hoped. He said it was the mental side of his game that needed working on, following his first foray in Test cricket.Related

Jayasuriya five-for stuns Ireland after SL post 591

“I learned a lot from being dropped,” he said after the second day. “I was about 22 when I played three Tests against India, and they are the best team in the world. I wasn’t able to do much in those matches, but I did learn from them. And what I learned there I brought here. I learned a lot about what’s required at the top level. I tried to work on those things in the domestic competitions.”I worked very hard on my batting. I batted in a lot of different spots in domestic cricket, the A team, and in provincial cricket. I think the biggest change is mental. I worked really hard on what I need to be doing and what I need to be thinking, and how to handle various situations.”Coming in at No. 8 is an unusual batting position for Samarawickrama, who usually plays in the top order even when he is the wicketkeeper, but was slated to come in at No. 7 against Ireland.”This is the first time I was [to be] batting No. 7. Although I’d batted in many other spots, I hadn’t batted in this position. Because we sent a nightwatchman out, I slipped down one more place – to No. 8. There was a bit of nervousness. But because I was positive in the middle, that went away quickly. Because I’d planned on how I’d build my innings, it became easier for me.”His unbeaten partnership with Dinesh Chandimal was worth 183, and came off only 217 balls. Sri Lanka declared soon after both batters had got to triple figures. Their stand turned a big total into a mammoth one.”I’ve batted a lot with Chandi in various teams,” Samarawickrama said. “The wicket was a little tougher to bat on today than yesterday because it had got older. I tried to bat positively and hit the loose balls, because I knew we’d be declaring today. I have to think about the team as well as my milestone. I tried to get those runs quickly and get the team to a stable place.”Ireland had been in the field a lot and what we talked about was to wait for the loose balls, and how to make the best use of that. Because we were positive, we were able to attack the bad ones. We got a lot of runs that way.”

أعلن مسؤولو نادي الأهلي، عن حالة لاعبي الفريق قبل مباراة إنتر ميامي في كأس العالم للأندية 2025، الأحد المقبل، في أمريكا.

ويلتقي الأهلي مع إنتر ميامي الأمريكي في افتتاح مباريات كأس العالم للأندية التاسعة مساء يوم 14 يونيو بتوقيت أمريكا – الثالثة صباح يوم 15 يونيو بتوقيت القاهرة.

طالع| لاعب الأهلي السابق: تكشيرة ريبيرو مطلوبة.. وبيكهام مدافع موهوب

ويتواجد الأهلي ضمن المجموعة الأولى في بطولة كأس العالم للأندية رفقة إنتر ميامي الأمريكي، وبالميراس البرازيلي، وبورتو البرتغالي.

وبحسب موقع الأهلي الرسمي، طمأن أحمد جاب الله، طبيب الفريق الأول، الجهاز الفني بقيادة خوسيه ريبيرو على جاهزية جميع اللاعبين في معسكر الفريق المقام في مدينة ميامي بالولايات المتحدة الأمريكية، استعدادًا لمنافسات بطولة كأس العالم للأندية.

وكان ريبيرو حرص على الاستفسار من الجهاز الطبي حول جاهزية لاعبي الفريق من الناحية الطبية، من أجل مساعدته في البرنامج الإعدادي للفريق، وكذلك لتفادي الإجهاد، وتجهيز كل اللاعبين فنيًا وبدنيُّا قبل مواجهة إنتر ميامي في افتتاح مونديال الأندية.

ويواصل الأهلي استعداداته في معسكره المغلق في ميامي، ويخوض الفريق تدريباته مساء اليوم، بعدما حصل على راحة أمس الثلاثاء.

ويسعى ريبيرو للوصول باللاعبين لأفضل مستوى فني وبدني قبل لقاء الافتتاح، كما يعقد عددًا من المحاضرات الفنية للاعبين بصفة مستمرة، للتأكيد على العديد من النقاط الفنية والتكتيكية.

Bayern Munich chief Max Eberl says Leroy Sane "doesn't want to accept" their contract offer as fears grow over a summer exit.

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• Sane yet to extend Bayern Munich deal
• Weeks away from becoming free agent
• Winger "doesn't want to accept" contract offer

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The 29-year-old was offered a new contract with a reduced €10 million (£8m/$11m) salary, plus €5.5m in bonuses, but as it stands, the German international will run down his contract and become a free agent this summer. Now, joint Bayern sporting director Eberl says Sane doesn't want to accept their current proposal but there is "no bad blood" and he believes the winger wants to stay.

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  WHAT EBERL SAID

  He told Sky Sport in Germany: "He said [on Saturday] he doesn't want to accept our offer in this form. There's no bad blood. The offer is there. We've expressed our desire. You can sense, at least in my opinion, that Leroy wants to stay. Now we'll see what happens in the next few days."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Just when it looked like the Arsenal-linked Sane would sign a contract extension with Bayern, the former Manchester City man switched agents and talks have been at a standstill ever since. It seems a Bayern exit is very much on the cards.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Fellow Bayern sporting director Christoph Freund says talks over a new Sane contract are ongoing but the initial signs are not positive.

With Dominic Calvert-Lewin set to depart as a free agent this summer as it stands, Everton are now reportedly plotting a move to replace their forward with a Champions League winner.

Everton transfer news

The Toffees have already impressed once on the transfer front since The Friedkin Group arrived and completed their takeover, welcoming Carlos Alcaraz on loan from Fluminense at the end of last month. The former Southampton man has wasted no time before making his mark on English football once again, scoring his first Everton goal in a late 2-1 win over Crystal Palace last time out.

Now, the new owners will be setting their sights on the summer transfer window and replicating that success for David Moyes, who has enjoyed an excellent start to his second stint in charge.

There will still be some concerns on the exit front though, with Calvert-Lewin yet to sign a new contract and Jarrad Branthwaite reportedly attracting the interest of Real Madrid. But any departure may well pave the way for a number of fresh faces this summer, including a Champions League winner.

Value's soared: Everton hit jackpot with star who's worth more than Ndiaye

Everton have struck gold with the defender who is now worth more than Iliman Ndiaye.

ByDan Emery Feb 20, 2025

According to The Boot Room, Everton are now plotting a summer swoop to sign Tammy Abraham to replace the out-of-contract Calvert-Lewin at the end of the season.

The former Chelsea forward has endured a mixed spell in Italy. Whilst he initially starred at AS Roma, Abraham has since struggled with injuries and failed to break into AC Milan’s starting side on loan this season. After they signed Santiago Gimenez from Feyenoord in January too, a permanent switch to the San Siro currently seems unlikely, leaving the door ajar for a return to England.

A Champions League winner at Chelsea, Abraham could now come back to haunt his former club.

"Great" Abraham could become Everton star

Whilst he has been forced to watch on from the bench at times this season, Abraham would be an instant star at Everton in place of Calvert-Lewin. The Toffees wouldn’t be signing another striker who struggles in front of goal either, given that the former Chelsea man has netted eight goals from a back-up role at the San Siro this season.

Praised for his “great facilitator play” by Ben Mattinson in December, the analyst was one of many who welcomed the return of the clinical version of Abraham who initially took Italian football by storm after leaving Chelsea.

Returning to end unfinished business, Abraham could yet become the main man that Everton have desperately been crying out for in recent years.

Marcus Rashford is yet to find a new club since admitting to journalist Henry Winter he was ready to leave Manchester United in the January transfer window.

The Old Trafford star put clubs on red alert after new manager Ruben Amorim decided to omit him from the matchday squad for the victory over Manchester City back in December.

Speaking to journalist Winter, the England international said: “For me, personally, I’m ready for a new challenge and the next steps. When I leave it’s going to be ‘no hard feelings’. You’re not going to have any negative comments from me about Man United. That’s me. I will always be a Red.”

Whilst Amorim has since attempted to diffuse the situation, Rashford’s desire couldn’t have been made much clearer, and as such, we’ve taken a look at the clubs who could now swoop in and land his signature in the winter window.

6 Man Utd players in danger of Amorim axe

Ruben Amorim will be keen to move some players out of Manchester United as he gets to grips with his new team.

By
Ross Kilvington

Jan 15, 2025

1

Barcelona

If Rashford wants to make a fresh start whilst realising a dream move for almost any player, Barcelona’s reported interest will surely be music to his ears. The 27-year-old can put what has become an Old Trafford nightmare behind him to follow a similar path to David Beckham to become a star in Spain.

Hansi Flick certainly knows how to transform a winger, too, having helped Raphinha recover from being on the verge of a Barcelona exit to becoming one of the most in-form players in Europe.

Financially speaking, logic would suggest that he’d need to take quite the pay cut from a reported £300,000 a week in order to become an affordable option for Barcelona in 2025. A move could still be doable, though, with Sky Sports recently claiming that Barcelona is Rashford’s preferred destination – and initial talks have been held over a transfer.

2

Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund have been named as another potential European destination for Rashford should the England international want to try his luck abroad for the remainder of the campaign and possibly beyond.

The Bundesliga side held internal talks over a move to sign Rashford earlier in the January window and are pushing to land the Man Utd attacker on loan to rival the likes of Karim Adeyemi, Max Beier, Jamie Gittens and Serhou Guirassy.

However, since then, Dortmund have decided to part company with Nuri Sahin after four defeats in a row – something which could impact their plans to sign Rashford before the deadline.

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3

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur could look to take full advantage of Rashford’s current situation, with Ange Postecoglou’s side in an arguably worse position than the Red Devils right now, especially in the Premier League table.

Spurs could look at new forwards amid Dominic Solanke’s injury concerns, while Richarlison’s future has been up in the air for a number of months, meaning Rashford and Tottenham could be just what each other needs at this moment in time.

Of course, a fair few dominoes would have to fall in place for such a move to occur, and question marks would remain over United’s willingness to sell to a Premier League rival, but Spurs could yet find themselves in the picture for Rashford. Amorim’s trash could quickly become Postecoglou’s much-needed gold in his pursuit of transforming the Lilywhites.

4

Bayern Munich

Another club reportedly offered Rashford’s signature is Bayern Munich – and that should come as no surprise. The German giants are set to lose Leroy Sane as a free agent at the end of the season and could need an instant replacement, with the former Manchester City man already linked to Old Trafford.

Bayern could strike a win-win agreement with the Red Devils to welcome Rashford and combine the winger with England teammate Harry Kane.

Bayern should have little trouble affording Rashford’s high wages, adding to the chances that the Bundesliga side may well be among those best placed to sign the Carrington graduate. One final boost could even be the fact that Bayern boss Vincent Kompany is already well aware of Rashford’s quality, having faced him as a Manchester City player and Burnley manager.

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5

Arsenal

In what would be the most controversial move on this list, Arsenal have been linked with a move to sign Rashford more than once in recent months, and could finally decide to act on their reported interest.

Unfortunately for those at Old Trafford, it’s a move which makes perfect sense, too. The Gunners are crying out for a winger capable of dragging Mikel Arteta’s side to victory after an injury to Bukayo Saka and a general lack of attacking potency.

Rashford, meanwhile, is crying out for a new challenge, and Gabriel Jesus’ injury could also allow for a more central role for the United star.

Arteta’s side have been forced to rely on set-piece goals in the current campaign, which has seen them fall short of expectations. Simply put, if it’s not Saka, it’s difficult to name a world-class threat from open play within the current Gunners front three.

If they swoop in and land the version of Rashford that scored 30 goals and assisted another nine in all competitions just two years ago, Arsenal could finally have the key to unlocking Premier League glory for the first time since 2004

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