توصل نادي ريال مدريد الإسباني إلى اتفاق لحسم ثالث صفقاته الصيفية، وفقًا للتقارير الواردة، ويستعد للإعلان عنها قريبًا.

ويشارك ريال مدريد في منافسات كأس العالم للأندية المقامة بالولايات المتحدة الأمريكية، والتي تنطلق يوم 14 يونيو الجاري.

وكان ريال مدريد أعلن تعاقده مع ترينت ألكسندر أرنولد من ليفربول، ودين هويسين من بورنموث.

وبحسب ما أفاد الصحفي فابريزو رومانو، سيضم ريال مدريد موهبة أرجنتينية إلى صفوفه، بعدما حسم الاتفاق.

وسيتعاقد ريال مدريد مع الأرجنتيني فرانكو ماستانتونو من صفوف ريفر بليت بعقد لمدة ست سنوات.

اقرأ أيضًا | ريال مدريد يضع خطة التعاقد مع زوبيميندي ويحدد الراتب

وستكلف الصفقة ريال مدريد مبلغاً قدره 45 مليون دولار تدفع على أقساط، وسيبرم الاتفاق رسميًا بين الناديين خلال الأسبوع المقبل.

وأشار رومانو إلى أن ريفر بليت سيطلب من فرانكو المشاركة في كأس العالم للأندية ثم الرحيل في أغسطس.

فرانكو يبلغ من العمر 17 عامًا، ويجيد اللعب في مركز خط الوسط، ويعد أبرز المواهب الواعدة في أمريكا الجنوبية.

وقد جذب فرانكو اهتمام العديد من الأندية الأوروبية الكبرى، وكان ريال مدريد هو الأسرع والأكثر حسمًا في التفاوض.

ويستعد ريال مدريد لمنافسات كأس العالم للأندية بمشاركة المدرب تشابي ألونسو، ويقع في مجموعة تضم أندية الهلال السعودي وريد بول سالزبورج وباتشوكا.

Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has made a big claim regarding Alexander Isak’s availability for the upcoming EFL Cup final clash with Liverpool.

Latest Newcastle news

The Magpies were beaten 2-0 away to the Reds in midweek, with the Premier League leaders’ superiority ultimately showing at Anfield, following goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister.

Newcastle were without star man Isak to lead the line, however, with an injury keeping him sidelined, as Eddie Howe looks to handle him with care. Without the Swede, the visitors weren’t the same force, with Liverpool’s defence troubled far less than if he had been in the starting lineup, having given Virgil van Dijk a tough assignment in the 3-3 draw at St James’ Park back in December.

There is now a huge amount of understandable focus on the EFL Cup final on March 16th, in what is one of the biggest days in the Magpies’ history, as they look to end their unfathomable 70-year wait for a major trophy.

Isak’s fitness is understandably a cause for concern for Newcastle supporters, considering the clash with the Reds is now only just over two weeks away, and their chances of glory will be hugely affected if he is only able to watch on from the sidelines. Now, a key update has emerged regarding the situation.

Shearer provides Isak injury update

Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Shearer said that he believes Isak will be fit for Newcastle’s EFL Cup showdown with Liverpool at Wembley.

It goes without saying that Magpies fans will be breathing an enormous sigh of relief at this news, with the 25-year-old’s involvement against Liverpool so integral to their hopes of glory.

It does appear as though Howe is making sure he doesn’t overplay his influential striker, especially as he has had injury problems in the past, and it would be negligent to run him into the ground before one of the biggest games in many decades.

Shearer himself knows a thing or two about what makes a special attacking player, and he recently described Isak as “world-class”, putting him in the same bracket as two current greats of the game.

It’s hard to argue with that, with Isak’s form this season making him one of the most feared strikers in Europe, and he could make himself a St James’ Park legend if he inspires Newcastle to victory at Wembley next month.

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Even Shearer failed to win anything during his legendary stint at the club, so for Howe and all of his players, this acts as a wonderful opportunity to make themselves heroes for the rest of their lives.

South Africa captain calls for more Tests against tough opponents so that the players can improve

Firdose Moonda29-Dec-20221:20

Elgar: “The negatives outweigh the positives, it was a pretty weak performance”

In the aftermath of South Africa’s first series loss in Australia since 2005-06, Test captain Dean Elgar said he had to “bite his tongue” about the structure and schedule of South African cricket and the impact it is having on the Test team.The defeat is their second successive series loss, after a 1-2 result in England in August-September, and they have now lost four Tests in a row.Since South Africa’s domestic system was restructured in the 2021-22 season, their provincial teams play seven matches a season instead of the ten they played before. With the launch of the SA20 this season, those matches are pushed to the margins of the summer. The SA20 was also cited as one of the main reasons for South Africa’s lean Test schedule in the next Future Tours Programme. They will play 28 Tests in the next four-year cycle, no three-Test series until at least 2026, and only four Tests in 2023.Related

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Asked if this is the start of a spiral South Africa would find it difficult to climb out of, Elgar said: “Hopefully that spiral can come to an end come next season where first-class cricket will be looked after a bit better. I know that is in the plans that we do potentially have more first-class cricket back home. But yes, it’s a tough one. I’ve got to bite my tongue.”When pushed on what he was holding back, Elgar did not take the bait. “If I tell you then it’s pretty pointless me biting my tongue, right?,” he said.Elgar wants South Africa to play tougher teams more often
Elgar, however, did express concern at the scarcity of Test cricket in South Africa’s calendar and asked for more tough contests in order for the current group to develop. “We need to be playing more Test cricket and our players need to be exposed to this level. Even though we’re taking a hiding like we’ve had in the first two Tests here and the England series that we had, our players need to be exposed to that.”Unfortunately we are all learning in the most ruthless and brutal way but I think there are more learnings out of this than going out and playing against a team that’s of similar strength and we beat them.”South Africa’s next series, for example, consists of two Tests at home against eighth-placed West Indies. Their only other Test in 2023 will come at the end of the year, against India after the ODI World Cup, and will be part of the next WTC cycle.For now, despite the hefty defeats in Australia, South Africa are still in contention for the current WTC final but have to win the last Test in Sydney, and all of Elgar’s energy will be directed towards that. While admitting the “negatives outweigh the positives currently,” he aims to keep the squad motivated to finish 2-1 instead of 3-0.”For me, it’s about that positive affirmation that you have to give to the greater group. I’m not going to go away from that because I still feel the guys that we have here are talented cricketers and hardened first-class cricketers, but they obviously just lack experience at the Test level. We’ve still going to show faith in them. And hopefully that turns things around.”There’s a saying in cricket – you’re only one knock away from being back in form and got to believe that. For me, it’s not just a cliche. I think there’s a lot of merit in it. We have to still keep the encouragement and keep reminding the guys that they’re not crap cricketers – let’s put it that way and to be blunt.”Elgar calls for South Africa to restore pride
He also emphasised restoring respect in South African cricket over WTC points. “We are playing for the badge, playing for the pride of our team. We’ve got to believe we can still bounce back and put up a massive effort for the third Test. Playing for pride is of utmost importance for us going forward now. I’m sure there’s a lot of guys hurting. I can tell you that. So going forward, I’m sure that conversations are going to be about playing for this badge and we need to try and restore a little bit of pride that has maybe been hurt over the last two weeks.”The obvious way to do that will be a better effort with the bat. South Africa have been bowled out for under 200 in seven of their last eight Test innings and only just eked over the mark in the second innings at the MCG. While there are well-documented technical deficiencies among the batters, Elgar prefers to focus on the mental side of the game for now.”You can hit as many balls as you want, it’s not going to change as a cricketer. The game is 80-20: 80% in the mind, 20% skill. At the moment that applies quite highly for our batting group. The thing about Test cricket is you want to get bowlers into their third and fourth spells. We’re not getting to that position in the game which is quite disappointing because I always feel that might be a weakness in most bowling line-ups. If the guys are really tired and you’re pushing them into those longer spells where they really need a lot more energy, you can gauge or judge what they might have.”But the specifics of how South Africa plan to keep an Australian attack that Elgar described as “extremely consistent,” in the field for longer are yet to be fully fleshed out. In the immediate shadows of their most chastening losses, all Elgar had was an admission that things are not as they should be. “We know we’re falling short. The harder you try, sometimes the more you fail around it,” he said. For now, let’s just let things simmer down and move on to Sydney.”

Will Wolves avoid Premier League relegation?

Recent victories over Aston Villa and Bournemouth mean Vítor Pereira’s team are currently five points clear of the drop zone.

However, a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Fulham means Wolverhampton Wanderers have lost six of their eight league outings since the start of 2025, meaning they very much remain in danger.

On Saturday night, the Old Gold will welcome Everton to Molineux, but will have to face that clash, as well as upcoming games against Southampton, West Ham and Ipswich without their star man, so will they be made to rue selling a player now starring in Serie A?

The latest on Matheus Cunha's ban

Matheus Cunha has scored 15 goals this season, 13 of which have come in the Premier League, meaning only six players have scored more than him, namely Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland, Alexander Isak, Chris Wood, Bryan Mbeumo and Cole Palmer. Not bad company to keep.

During last weekend’s FA Cup tie at Bournemouth, however, in which Wolves were ousted on penalties, Cunha equalised with an absolute rocket, before being sent off right at the end of extra time for headbutting Miloš Kerkez, which Will Magee of the Guardian described as a ‘complete headloss’.

Cunha has already been sent off this season, dismissed after the full-time whistle for ‘scuffling’ with a member of Ipswich Town’s staff in December, infamously stealing his glasses, a ban reduced to two matches given that he ‘offered to pay for a new pair’.

Nevertheless, given that this is the Brazilian’s second red card of the campaign, Cunha is set for a four-match ban, thereby unable to feature until 12 April, which is a massive blow, considering his importance to Wolves.

Cunha has 17 league goal involvements to his name this season, Jørgen Strand Larsen has the next most of any Wolves player with nine, so how does he compare to the rest of the Premier League’s best?

Salah

25

17

42

63.64%

Isak

19

5

24

52.17%

Haaland

20

3

23

43.40%

Wood

18

3

21

47.73%

Palmer

14

6

20

36.46%

Mbeumo

15

4

19

39.58%

Watkins

12

6

18

45%

Cunha

13

4

17

45.95%

Kluivert

12

5

17

37.78%

As the table shows, only Chris Wood, Alexander Isak and Mohamed Salah, who Alex Keble believes is having ‘the best Premier League season in history’, have contributed to a higher percentage of their team’s goals than Cunha.

Thus, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Wolves struggle to score goals in the Brazilian’s absence, but did they have a ready-made deputy in their squad, allowed to leave in 2022?

Forgotten Wolves striker in form in Serie A

Back in the summer of 2019, having qualified for the Europa League, Wolves signed AC Milan striker Patrick Cutrone for a fee that could rise to £20m, a deal that then sporting director Kevin Thelwell described as an “exciting signing”.

Fair to say, this move did not go to plan, given that Cutrone scored just three goals in 28 appearances, quickly loaned out to Fiorentina before, following brief stints at Valencia and Empoli, joining Como, then of Serie B, on a free transfer in 2022.

Having been born and raised in Como, Cutrone described it as a ‘real honour’ to ‘play and represent the club of my city’ adding ‘as soon as I heard about Como, I had no doubts it was the right move’.

I Lariani finished mid-table during Cutrone’s first campaign at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, before gaining promotion to Serie A for the first time since 2003 last season, with Cutrone their top-scorer, bagging 14 goals.

Now, Cesc Fàbregas’ side are establishing themselves in the top flight; I Biancoblù currently sit 13th in the Serie A table, with Cutrone having scored seven times this season, most notably bagging a brace against Hellas Verona.

James Horncastle of the Athletic believes Cutrone has now rediscovered the form he showed back when he was a teenager who ‘burst on the scene’ at AC Milan eight years ago, so will Wolves live to rue letting the Italian striker go, especially at a time when they’re without Cunha? He may well have been the perfect deputy in his absence.

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Mlaba and Tryon star with ball and bat to keep hosts on track for semi-final spot

Valkerie Baynes & Firdose Moonda13-Feb-2023South Africa 132 for 6 (Tryon 40, de Klerk 28, Carson 2-23, Tahuhu 2-27) beat New Zealand 67 (Devine 16, Jess 11, Mlaba 3-10, Tryon 2-12) by 65 runsA fired-up South Africa reignited their home World Cup campaign with a 65-run win over New Zealand in front of a boisterous Boland Park crowd.After their shock defeat to Sri Lanka in the tournament opener and with six of the playing XI including captain Sune Luus going unsold in the WPL auction, South Africa responded with a determined batting and disciplined on-fielding performance, to defend successfully against New Zealand for the first time. It was also only their third victory over New Zealand from 13 previous meetings and it has left New Zealand on the brink of elimination.New Zealand will be disappointed with the way they let things slip after they had South Africa 78 for 5 in the 13th over, but then lost their control. They were messy in the field and put down four catches, all in the last five overs, which South Africa entered on 97 for 5. The hosts scored 35 runs and lost only one wicket in that time to post what seemed a slightly under-par score.They made it look worth much more, though, with a stunning new-ball performance on a spin-friendly pitch. Nonkululeko Mlaba took two wickets in her first two overs and finished with a career-best 3 for 10. Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka claimed one apiece and New Zealand finished the Powerplay on 19 for 4, with little chance of clawing their way back. Chloe Tryon accounted for Maddy Green and Sophie Devine, who batted at No.5, before Shabnim Ismail and Kapp finished thing off. New Zealand were dismissed for their second-lowest total in T20Is.Tahuhu causes trouble Kapp, who was picked by Delhi Capitals at the WPL auction earlier in the day, was in to bat early after Tazmin Brits was dismissed in the first over but she did not live up to her US$183,000 tagline. After slicing Jess Kerr over point and flicking Lea Tahuhu off her pads for four, Kapp tried to hit New Zealand’s most experienced bowler over mid-off but top-edged and sent the ball straight to Jess at mid-off to leave South Africa’s middle-order exposed again.And Tahuhu wasn’t done either. She was brought back on in the ninth over as South Africa were rebuilding and started with a pinpoint yorker to Laura Wolvaardt. She pulled her length back for the next ball, and the next one, and an impatient Wolvaardt tried to heave across the line but missed as Tahuhu hit middle and off stumps. South Africa were 56 for 4 after nine overs, with their top four all back in the dug-out.Tryon turns up Tryon has established herself as South Africa’s finisher but had a lot longer to bat as South Africa’s top order gave way. She was in in the seventh over and immediately showed positive intent when she flicked Hayley Jensen to fine leg. As wickets fell around her, Tryon found boundaries in every second over or so to keep the scoreboard ticking over.She was strong in the V and behind square, hitting the ball hard down the ground and on the pull, but then she also got lucky. She was dropped when she tried to cut Tahuhu and toe-edged to the right of Bernadine Bezuidenhout, who moved too late to get her hands to it. Tryon went on to make 40 off 34 balls, and shared in a 47-run sixth-wicket stand with Nadine de Klerk, which gave South Africa much needed lower-order runs.Ayabonga Khaka ran out Hayley Jensen as South Africa closed in•ICC/Getty ImagesMlaba finds her magicMlaba was tipped for big things in this tournament after recently moving to No. 2 on the ICC Women’s T20 bowling rankings and had opened the bowling 18 times in 27 matches since her debut. Still, South Africa opted to use seamers Shabnim Ismail and Kapp at Newlands before returning to Mlaba for this match, and she stormed back.She struck with the second ball of New Zealand’s reply to remove Bezuidenhout with a full, flighted delivery on fifth stump outside off that enticed an attempted push towards cover. Instead, the ball spun past the edge and into the waiting gloves of Sinalo Jafta, who whipped off the bails. With the first ball of her next over, Mlaba bowled Suzie Bates for a second consecutive duck with one that skidded on to beat the opener’s attempted pull and crash into middle stump. She returned in the 15th over and had Tahuhu trapped lbw as she tried to flick across the line and missed.New Zealand batters stumble againThis was the second match in a row that New Zealand’s batting line-up had failed to fire. Having opened with Bates and Devine, who also made a duck, they had been 26 for 3 against Australia, winners by a whopping 97 runs.On Monday, Devine came in with her side 13 for 3 and things failed to improve from there as Jafta took three catches to reduce them to 31 for 5. At 51 for 8, New Zealand looked in danger of being bowled out for their lowest total in T20Is. As it happened, their 67 all out was instead their second-lowest, and came just two days after their fourth-lowest of 76.

Roy Keane says Liverpool have lacked "class" since winning the Premier League title, while criticising Mohamed Salah's selfie celebration.

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• Liverpool struggle for wins after title triumph
• Keane says they have lacked "class" since then
• Criticises Salah's selfie celebration vs Spurs

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Since Liverpool won the Premier League title, Arne Slot's side have failed to beat Chelsea, Arsenal, and Brighton and have fielded more second-string players in the process. Manchester United legend Keane has accused the Reds of "switching off", while directing his ire at Salah for getting out a phone and doing a selfie celebration during their title-clinching win over Tottenham last month.

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  WHAT KEANE SAID

  He said on the Stick to Football podcast brought to you by : "Liverpool have switched off – they're irritating me. It doesn't matter [that they've won the league], but the fringe players and the B team are coming in – what kind of message is that? I'm thinking, come on – show a bit of class. Salah scores a goal, and he's taking pictures – the game's still on. Liven up a little bit!"

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  While Liverpool's ultimate goal of winning the Premier League has been done with relative ease and style, they are ending the season with a bit of a whimper. Slot will hope for a reaction from his side, perhaps to keep critics like Keane at bay, on the final weekend of the season.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Liverpool's final Premier League match of the season is against FA Cup winners Crystal Palace at Anfield on Sunday. It remains to be seen what side Slot will choose for that game.

Just how far can Rangers go in this season’s Europa League?

On Thursday night, the Light Blues took a gigantic step towards the quarter-finals, thanks to a famous 3-1 victory over Fenerbahçe at Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium.

So, assuming Barry Ferguson’s side can complete the job back at Ibrox next Thursday, they’ll face either Roma or Athletic Club in the last eight in April; that tie is perfectly poised following I Giallorossi’s 2-1 victory in the Italian capital.

This would be the Gers’ 13th appearance in a major European quarter-final, memorably getting all the way to the Europa League Final just three seasons ago, and if they’re to repeat those exploits, they’ll need one rising star in particular to be at his best.

Rangers' Thursday night heroes

Rangers’ stars of the victory in İstanbul were, unquestionably, the two scorers: Václav Černý and Cyriel Dessers.

The Czech winger netted twice, on target at the end of both halves, taking his tally to six in the Europa League this season, second only to Ayoub El Kaabi of Olympiacos, who scored when the Gers visited Piraeus in November, one of his seven strikes in the tournament.

Meantime, Dessers actually had the ball in the net on three occasions, albeit both of his second-half goals were disallowed for very marginal offsides.

The Nigerian’s goal that did count came after just six minutes, rounding goalkeeper İrfan Can Eğribayat before his shot made it over the line by mere picometres, despite Çağlar Söyüncü’s best efforts to clear.

Scottish Football analyst John Walker stated that this was Dessers’ “best match for Rangers”, with Gavin Berry of the Daily Record describing his performance as ‘superb’, while Fenerbahçe boss José Mourinho claimed “today, Dessers looked like the best player in the world”, which is high praise indeed.

While this attacking duo are getting all the plaudits, and deservedly so, could another Rangers forward, who was reduced to a late cameo on the Asian side of the Bosporus Strait, be their key man for the remainder of this European escapade?

Rangers' highest-value attacker

Many were surprised that Hamza Igamane was only named on the bench in Turkey on Thursday, but one cannot argue with Ferguson, considering the end result.

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The 22-year-old Moroccan has exceeded all expectations since arriving in Glasgow from Botola side Association sportive des Forces armées royales, or AS FAR for short, in the summer for a reported fee of £2.5m, having been lauded as “outstanding” by data analyst Ben Mattinson.

The striker has 13 goals to his name this season, four of which have come in the Europa League, while he also bagged a perfect hat-trick at Hibernian in January, during a time he was, as Anthony Evans of the Daily Record puts it, in ‘red-hot form’.

Meantime, Matthew Elder of the Scotsman believes him to be the Scottish Premiership’s ‘signing of the season’, while Keith Jackson of the Daily Record labels him a ‘superstar’, so let’s assess how Igamane compares to Rangers’ other attackers.

Rangers’ highest-scorers 2024/25

Players

Goals

Assists

Cyriel Dessers

22

7

Václav Černý

17

7

Hamza Igamane

13

3

Danilo

6

3

Mohamed Diomandé

5

7

Nedim Bajrami

5

4

Tom Lawrence

5

2

All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt

As alluded to earlier, Rangers paid just £2.5m for Igamane last summer, described as a “jackpot transfer” by Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout.

Indeed, in January, amidst interest from Everton, the club reportedly placed a £25m price tag on Igamane’s head, with that figure far exceeding the current valuations of both Dessers and Cerny.

Reports during the winter window claimed that Dessers could depart for a fee of around £6m, while in the case of Cerny, it has been reported that a permanent deal could be struck for £6.75m.

Should Igamane depart for that amount, it would make him the club’s record sale, currently held by Calvin Bassey’s £19.6m move to Ajax in 2022. For Rangers’ sake, however, they’ll be hoping he sticks around for a little while longer yet.

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Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca is a manager under some pressure right now, despite an electric start to life in the Stamford Bridge dugout at the beginning of 2024/2025, with results taking a real dip in recent months.

Enzo Maresca facing Chelsea revolt behind-the-scenes

According to reliable journalist Simon Phillips, certain members of the Blues squad are set to consider their futures in west London if the club do not qualify for the Champions League this season, with one “top” unnamed Chelsea player already considering an exit.

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Phillips also reports that Chelsea squad members have become “restless” with recent results, with Maresca’s men winning just three of their 10 matches across all competitions, including back-to-back defeats at Brighton, coupled with losses to the likes of Ipswich Town and Fulham.

Aston Villa (away)

February 22nd

Southampton (home)

February 25th

Leicester City (home)

March 9th

Arsenal (away)

March 16th

Tottenham (home)

April 2nd

Maresca faces another crucial Premier League test with Chelsea’s trip to Aston Villa this weekend, and nothing but three points will do to ease the frustrations among both players and supporters alike.

Nicolas Jackson, Marc Guiu and Noni Madueke are also currently out with long-term injuries at Chelsea, adding further obstacles in the way of Maresca attempting to resurrect their faltering form.

BlueCo may well be regretting their decision not to bring in a world-class new striker last summer and in January, despite Chelsea’s rumoured attempts to sign Mathys Tel from Bayern Munich among other high-profile names.

Brown makes Maresca sack claim with Chelsea pressure "growing"

Former chief Man United scout Mick Brown, who remains well-connected with contacts inside the beautiful game, has shared what he believes about Maresca’s future at Cobham amid mounting pressure.

Brown believes that Maresca could be sacked by Chelsea if their results don’t pick up quickly, as the current owners have displayed a ruthless willingness to pull the trigger on past managers Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Mauricio Pochettino – who’ve all been dismissed since the takeover in 2022. The ex-scout also says that Maresca’s “biggest problem” at Chelsea right now is the lack of stability.

“I think the pressure on his position is growing,” he told Football Insider. “These owners have been very trigger-happy since they took over, so nothing would surprise me. Results in recent weeks haven’t been good enough, there’s no doubt about that. Then when the fans start to make their voices and concerns known, it only adds to that pressure.

“If they don’t start winning games soon, especially when you look at where they were earlier this season, I think they’ll get rid of him. But if he can start to put a run of a few wins together then the whole complexion changes.

“The biggest problem they’ve got at Chelsea is the lack of stability in their side. They’ve got some very good assets, but at the back the solidity just isn’t there, and that spreads throughout the team.

“So that’s a problem the manager has to address quickly to turn things around.”

India wicketkeeper thanks Rajat Kumar and Nishu Kumar in first comments since his car crash

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2023

Rishabh Pant’s car after the accident on December 30•PTI

In his first public comment since his car accident on December 30, Rishabh Pant has singled out two individuals, Rajat Kumar & Nishu Kumar, saying he would be “forever grateful and indebted” to them for ensuring he was taken to hospital safely.Pant put out a series of Tweets on Monday evening, saying his “road to recovery had begun” and thanking the BCCI, Jay Shah and government authorities for their “incredible support”.”I am humbled and grateful for all the support and good wishes,” Pant wrote. “I am glad to let you know that my surgery was a success. The road to recovery has begun and I am ready for the challenges ahead.Related

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“I may not have been able to thank everyone individually, but I must acknowledge these two heroes who helped me during my accident and ensured I got to the hospital safely. Rajat Kumar & Nishu Kumar, thank you. I’ll be forever grateful and indebted.”From the bottom of my heart, I also would like to thank all my fans, team-mates, doctors and the physios for your kind words and encouragement. Looking forward to see you all on the field.”