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da betsson： Tottenham Hotspur are “dreaming” of signing a £67 million former PSG star after their triumph in the Europa League final on Wednesday night.

Tottenham summer transfer plans after Europa League win

da supremo： Now that their 17-year wait for a piece of major silverware is officially over, chairman Daniel Levy has a real to-do list to sift through ahead of Spurs’ final Premier League game of 2024/2025 and the summer transfer window’s opening.

Related Tottenham hold talks with forward compared to Messi amid Europa League glory

Ange Postecoglou’s side now have a big summer to plan for.

Posts 1 ByEmilio Galantini May 22, 2025

An historic night in Bilbao, where Brennan Johnson etched his name into Lilywhites folklore by scoring the winning goal in their 1-0 win against Man United, has also gifted the club a major boost when it comes to their recruitment drive.

Tottenham vs Man Utd – best performers on the night

Match Rating

Guglielmo Vicario

7.7

Yves Bissouma

7.6

Cristian Romero

7.4

Bruno Fernandes

7.4

Destiny Udogie

7.2

via WhoScored

Not only will Tottenham have a far greater pull when it comes to enticing the continent’s best players, but they’ll also have more funds to play with given the seismic financial windfall they’ll receive from both winning the Europa League and competing in the Champions League next season.

According to BBC journalist Sami Mokbel, Tottenham chiefs believe they need to sign more experienced players to complement their very young squad of rising stars, and this is made all the more possible by their victory in midweek.

Spurs are also targeting a defender, midfielder and forward, with Levy looking to strengthen across the board.

As per GiveMeSport, the north Londoners have held discussions with the representatives of Lyon star Rayan Cherki, who’s bagged 20 goals in all competitions this season, with Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi still a Tottenham target for the summer as well after their failed £70 million bid in January.

Spurs have a £21m first option in place for Real Betis midfielder Johnny Cardoso from last year, as part of the deal which saw Giovani Lo Celso head to La Liga, so the USA international is another option.

Tottenham "dreaming" of signing ex-PSG star Xavi Simons

According to reports in Spain, following their Europa League winners’ medal, the north Londoners are launching “ambitious” plans.

It is now believed that ex-PSG star and RB Leipzig attacking midfielder, Xavi Simons, is firmly on their agenda.

The Netherlands international has scored 11 goals and bagged an additional eight assists in all competitions, but his asking price is around £67 million, so Levy and co will need to significantly invest in his capture from the Bundesliga.

Nevertheless, it’s reported Tottenham are “dreaming” of signing Simons after their historic night in Spain earlier this week, and they stand a much greater chance now that they can be deemed champions of Europe.

Those within Spurs apparently hold a real belief that they can convince both the 22-year-old and his club to green-light a move to N17, especially following their Europa League celebrations.

“He’s developed really well,” said Bayern Munich sporting director Christoph Freund about Simons last year.

“I think he’s going to have a really good career at the highest level. He has everything, mentality, character and is just an exceptional player.”

Simon Cook, the Hong Kong coach, chats with ESPNcricinfo about the challenges of motivating a team that has lost its ODI status, and of retaining talent in a system without too much money

Shashank Kishore in Dubai17-Sep-2018How tough is it to motivate a group without ODI status? How do you deal with it?It’s tough. We try and isolate the players from political talk. There are always questions on issues like ODI status. ‘Is it fair’ or ‘is it not fair?’ We can sit here and debate that for hours together. We’re of the opinion that two-and-a-half years of the World Cricket League should be rewarded in a better way than having a bad week [at the World Cup qualifiers] in Zimbabwe. It happened to the Netherlands four years ago, so the same situation can be used as a catalyst, but the fact is we’ve lost four years. There’s a lot of talk at the moment about ways of assigning ODI status to top Associates: whether you assign it on a tournament-to-tournament basis or go through the ranking system, I’m not sure. I will be attending an ICC meeting in Madrid about the WCL. Whether we talk ODI status, I’m not sure, but the fact is we’re at the receiving end of a poor week in Zimbabwe.What did it take to lift the team from that slump?It didn’t take a lot. We know we had a bad week. You don’t become a bad player overnight. It’s about making sure the players still believe in themselves. Unfortunately it happened at the wrong time. We had honest chats about how we can improve and they responded brilliantly at the Asia Cup Qualifiers. After losing to Malaysia in the first game, it could’ve slid down, but they showed character to win the next six games in a row.What are the challenges for a Hong Kong cricketer currently? It’s largely an amateur sport. Even now, you play one week and then have three weeks off. In Premier Division cricket, you play 10 games in nine months. You can’t build momentum like that. We’ve got three grounds and so many teams, so you have to rotate fixtures. There are five premier clubs and the league is structured in different parts of the year, depending on the availability of the national team. They play in a T20 League, 50-over league and only two two-day matches. You can’t get a constant run of form by playing so little. As a player, you get a hundred, and then wonder what next for three weeks? Coming from an English system, where you play every Saturday-Sunday, train two days, then play two more games, this is different, but you have to live with it and be realistic.What have you done to drive more cricketers to the game?We’ve now brought in full-time contracts for 13 cricketers, strength and conditioning coaches and physios. Players are trained to work on other aspects of their games like lifestyle and wellness. The guys get cooking lessons, so that they can eat properly and manage their weights. The good thing is the average age of the current national team is in the mid-20s. Gradually we’re getting to a stage where we’re starting to move forward. These systems are also trickling down to the Under-16s and Under-19s. But it’s a gradual process.

“We can’t retain players who want to go to university for banking or law; they’re full-time careers. We can’t stop them, we shouldn’t stop them.”

There must be hindrances too?Of course. We lose players at 23-24. In a normal county system, that’s the peak age for a young cricketer, and you look at possibly having him in the mix for 10-12 years. That’s not the case here. Chris Carter for example is going to flight school probably after the Asia Cup, Jamie Atkinson, our previous captain, wanted to become a full-time teacher. He’s still available, but can’t commit all the time. Mark Chapman went to New Zealand at 20, and needs to have a three-year cooling-off period if he wants to return, but he played a lot of early cricket here. So we lose all our players at 23-24, so we have to make sure we invest a lot in the Under-16s and Under-19s. We’re slowly having a core group who will probably play international cricket at a young age, so we need to ensure we maximise their time with us before they go off to university.What can you do to prevent losing players?It all comes down to money. We’re governed by things we can’t control. Hong Kong is among the most expensive places to live and work in the world. Our player contracts are not enough for them to realistically live and work, have a family and make a career by just playing cricket. We know we can’t pay as much, but if we can provide a professional set-up to potentially play in CPL, Canada T20, PSL or BPL to earn franchise contracts, that’s great. It could also give us some spin-off benefits when it comes to their development. So we support them to find avenues to play elsewhere. It is a constant challenge.So if a player wants to study and yet play cricket, which may not allow him to commit 100% all the time, what do you do?We can’t retain players who want to go to university for banking or law; they’re full-time careers. We can’t stop them, we shouldn’t stop them. It’s just a case of giving them an opportunity at another career. Some delay going off, some don’t. I’m very big on players getting an education degree that allows them to buy opportunities to have a crack at cricket, without worrying about being picked or having an annual retainer. Once you have something to fall back on, you can play with freedom. We try and stress upon this for a lot of them from the 16-19 age-group.How does selection work in Hong Kong, with so many players also having alternate careers?We contract 13 players, but that doesn’t guarantee national selection. Selection-wise, it’s tough because we can’t go always by the numbers because of huge gaps between matches. We’re also constrained by dimensions of the ground. Suddenly you will see guys getting a lot of runs, and then when they transition into grounds that have 75m boundaries, they struggle, because they’d use the same options that got them runs in smaller grounds. We have a group of three selectors. Apart from them, we talk to coaches and umpires to get feedback. You try and look at how players play, are they playing in a way that will give them success. We also look at players sometimes who don’t get runs. That might be because they’re not willing to take risks, like to work the ball around, pick gaps and not look to hit a 45-metre six. Sometimes such players may be better suited to make the transition to international cricket. So we have to be careful to find a mix.How do you scout for talent?The one thing we have an advantage over any other country in the world is, we know every single player intimately in our system. We don’t have that many, but our five main clubs produce 90% of our players. We know all the players and coaches, so from that aspect it is pretty easy. No ground is farther than 20 minutes, you can watch every single game across the three main grounds on one day. You can’t do that in most countries. That is an advantage when it comes to talent identification, but it’s the other aspects like retaining them that is a challenge.

Daniel Levy has learned that Tottenham could be sold for "three quarters of Manchester United" if ENIC chooses to leave north London.

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• Spurs could have new owners
• Levy remains open to selling the club
• High debts remain a stumbling block

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Levy, who has overseen Spurs as chairman for over two decades under the ownership of ENIC, could soon draw the curtain on his 24-year tenure if the right offer comes in, as revealed by The north London club has just secured Champions League football for next season, and a potential change in ownership cannot be ruled out.

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• AFP
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Spurs are expected to generate approximately £600 million ($807m) in revenue for the 2025–26 season, a figure buoyed by their Champions League qualification. Industry standards suggest a football club’s valuation typically falls between five to six times its annual revenue. Using this model, Spurs’ enterprise value is projected between £3 billion ($4bn) and £3.6bn ($4.85bn). However, when factoring in the club’s £900m ($1.2bn) debt, largely stemming from the construction of their new stadium, the net valuation ranges between £2.1bn ($2.82bn) and £2.7bn ($3.63bn).

• DID YOU KNOW?

  To place that figure into perspective, Manchester United was recently valued at £4.5bn ($6bn) during Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s acquisition of a 27.7 per cent stake for £1.25bn ($1.68bn). Based on this, Tottenham’s current market value would be around three-quarters of United’s valuation. When Chelsea were sold in 2022 for £2.5bn ($3.36bn), their valuation was dampened by the urgency of Roman Abramovich’s forced exit and the stadium limitations at Stamford Bridge.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR TOTTENHAM?

  Given all the factors, stadium infrastructure, revenue growth, Champions League football, and London appeal, it’s widely believed that any ownership bid would need to exceed £2.5 billion just to be seriously considered. This figure excludes Spurs' debt obligations, which would need to be settled separately. If Tottenham were to receive such an offer, it would mark one of the most significant deals in Premier League history.

Chandika Hathurusingha had a lot of belief in Soumya Sarkar’s ability, even when he went through prolonged lean patches. Dropped from the Bangladesh squad soon after the coach’s exit, the batsman will have to prove himself all over again to stage a comeba

Mohammad Isam07-Jan-2018It is not entirely a coincidence that Soumya Sarkar’s first axing from a Bangladesh squad has closely followed Chandika Hathurusingha’s exit. Soumya was for long labelled as the coach’s blue-eyed boy because of the way he remained a fixture in the squad despite his form suffering a dip.The issue of certain players being perceived as the coach’s favourite was a major talking point when Jamie Siddons was coach between 2007 and 2011. During that time, Siddons worked very hard on the batting of Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Raqibul Hasan and Junaid Siddique, and they were soon given the label of being the coach’s favourites.Shakib and Tamim performed admirably during Siddons’ reign but Junaid and Raqibul didn’t do justice to their talent and their coach’s efforts. The international careers of Junaid and Raqibul ended, perhaps prematurely, after Siddons’ departure in May 2011.Players and officials have often compared Siddons’ love for those four with Hathurusingha’s affinity for Soumya.Soumya’s route back into the national side isn’t straightforward. An immediate big innings in the domestic first-class competition could bring him back even during this month’s tri-series but, at the same time, the batsmen who have earned recalls – Anamul Haque and Mohammad Mithun – will be hungry to make an impact. And they will get an extended run, which means Soumya might have to endure a frustrating wait.It is a world away from the last three years in which Soumya was treated with a lot of care. Hathurusingha first saw Soumya taking a catch at slip in Mirpur and, to quote the cliche, it was love at first sight. He was amazed by the young player’s soft hands which translated into his superb hand-eye coordination. Soumya was handed an ODI debut on December 1, 2014, and though he didn’t score too many that day, he did enough to win a World Cup place.Soumya’s honeymoon period extended from February 2015 to August 2015 when he impressed during the World Cup and a run of home series against Pakistan, India and South Africa, against whom he made an unbeaten 88 and a 90 in successive ODI innings. Runs dried up from that point, and 12 months later, Soumya’s selection began raising questions. His struggles against Afghanistan in a three-match ODI series led to his being dropped from the XI in the ODIs against England in October 2016, though he remained in the squad. It was a contentious call, and much of it came down to what Hathurusingha felt at the time.Often in the past, the team management’s view was that Soumya needed to be in the national set-up in order to regain his rhythm which had gone missing since those two match-winning knocks against South Africa. But even after he made a string of Test fifties in early 2017 – four in seven innings in New Zealand and Sri Lanka – Soumya’s form wasn’t reliable. He had a poor Champions Trophy in June 2017, scoring 34 at an average of 8.50, and struggled in the Tests at home against Australia and away in South Africa, scoring a combined 77 runs across those two series at an average of 12.83.Things didn’t get any better in the home front after the South Africa tour. Soumya averaged 15.36 in 11 innings in the BPL for Chittagong Vikings. Chief selector Minhajul Abedin, who acted as a mentor for the BPL franchise this season, said Soumya looked like he needed a break in international cricket.Now, with Hathurusingha’s exacting influence gone from the Bangladesh team, the national selectors have given Soumya that break.”Soumya has been playing all the formats for quite some time,” Minhajul said. “There’s no question about his talent, but since he hasn’t been consistent, we have decided to give him a break. He is still in our plans. We are hoping he will return to form, and also restore his mental make-up. Performance is the first criteria for a player in any format. I am hopeful that he will do very well, better than the others, in domestic cricket.”Minhajul hasn’t said or implied that his exclusion had anything to do with Hathurusingha’s exit. But it looks like it had been a long time coming for the young batsman, who has had trouble dealing with his technical flaws amid all his talent. Now he has to harness all his talent and find a way to come back into the national side.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has been immensely successful throughout his time with the Scottish giants, in his second spell now with the club.

The Northern Irish boss won seven trophies in just over two-and-a-half years at Parkhead between 2016 and 2019 in his first go at it with the Hoops, before joining Premier League side Leicester City.

Rodgers won two trophies in his first year back at Celtic last term, securing the Scottish Premiership title and the SFA Cup, and is currently on course to land the domestic treble.

The Hoops beat Rangers on penalties to win the League Cup in the first half of the season, they are one game away from winning the league title, and they are in the SFA Cup final against Aberdeen.

This means that the former Leicester and Liverpool head coach could have won 12 trophies in his career with Celtic to date by the end of this season.

The Northern Irish tactician has clearly been hugely successful for the Scottish giants, but that does not mean he has been perfect throughout that time. In fact, there have been some question marks over his centre-back selections of late, with Liam Scales getting the nod at the weekend.

Celtic's centre-back debate

The Hoops started the 2024/25 campaign with Cameron Carter-Vickers and Stephen Welsh as the two first-choice options in the right centre-back role and Auston Trusty and Liam Scales as the two first-choice options on the left side of the pairing.

Rodgers recently revealed that he prefers to play a left-footed player on the left side of the defence because it “allows you to get through the pitch quicker”, but he has had problems in that position this season.

Scales and Trusty have both dropped out of the team at times, with neither able to definitively say that they are the number one option, and thay may be because of the mistakes that they have made in the Premiership.

Appearances

22

20

Starts

17

20

Error led to shot

1

4

Error led to goal

0

1

Penalties committed

1

0

Dribbled past

4x

10x

As you can see in the table above, they have both started a similar number of matches and have combined for five errors that led to shots, one error that led to a goal, and one penalty conceded. Trusty has also been dribbled past twice as much as the Irishman, as opposition forwards have found it too easy to get the better of him.

These statistics show that the two naturally left-footed defenders in the squad have not been particularly reliable at the back, because of the errors that they have made in the Premiership.

Scales started the 5-0 win over St. Johnstone in the SFA Cup and the 5-1 win over Kilmarnock in the Premiership, suggesting that he is currently ahead of Trusty in the pecking order.

That is despite Scales (£3m) being worth significantly less than Trusty (£6.4m), as per Transfermarkt, who joined the club from Sheffield United last summer.

The Irish defender’s value may have been higher, however, if he had more game time on the pitch because he has only started 17 times in the Premiership, which means that the centre-back has not had as many starts to showcase his quality as Trusty has had.

But Scales is not the only central defender who falls into that category. Rodgers has also messed up with Polish stopper Maik Nawrocki, whose value has plummeted during his time at Celtic.

Why Maik Nawrocki's value has plummeted at Celtic

The Hoops were in the market for a replacement for Carl Starfelt in the summer of 2023 and decided to splash a reported fee of £4.3m on the Legia Warsaw squad to bolster their options in that position.

That was a significant outlay, given it was the most expensive signing of the summer as per Transfermarkt, for Celtic and that suggests that they expected him to play a key role on the pitch.

That was not what happened, though, as Nawrocki went on to play just ten times, starting seven of those outings, in the Premiership during the 2023/24 campaign.

He won 57% of his duels and did not make a single error that led to a shot, goal, or penalty in those ten matches, but that was not enough to earn him a regular place in the team.

Carter-Vickers has nailed down the right-sided centre-back role and that has left Nawrocki fighting for a place on the left, which leaves him at an immediate disadvantage as a right-footer.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

He did not make a single appearance in the league until March of this season, when injuries to Trusty and Scales presented him with a chance to shine against Rangers and Hearts.

Nawrocki took his chance to impress in both of those matches, as you can see in the table below, by dominating opposition attackers in duels and being reliable in possession.

Minutes

90

90

Clearances

7

9

Blocks

0

3

Tackles + interceptions

5

1

Duels won

7/10

8/9

Dribbled past

0x

0x

Pass accuracy

93%

98%

Error led to shot/goal

0

0

These performances from the £12k-per-week star were not enough to keep his place in the side, however, as he has been an unused substitute for the last two Premiership matches and did not make the matchday squad against St. Johnstone in the SFA Cup.

As a result of his lack of minutes on the pitch in the last two seasons, Nawrocki’s Transfermarkt value has plummeted millions down to just £1.7m, making him worth even less than Scales and Trusty.

This shows that Rodgers has messed up with the defender because Nawrocki was brought in for a whopping £4.3m and has rarely been used by the manager, despite his impressive performances, and the club now have a depreciating asset because of it.

Celtic fumbled the next Dembele when "generational" star left on the cheap

Celtic fumbled another Karamoko Dembele when they lost Ben Doak on the cheap.

ByDan Emery Apr 22, 2025

It will now be interesting to see what Celtic do with Nawrocki in the summer because he is not worth anywhere near as much as the fee they paid for him due to Rodgers’ reluctance to use him, and he does not seem likely to be a key player moving forward due to his lack of minutes.

The Wellington batted admitted he was still coming to terms with his first international call-up

Andrew McGlashan03-Apr-2024

Tim Robinson’s 139 was the second-highest individual score in Super Smash•Getty Images

Tim Robinson, the newest member of New Zealand’s T20I squad, has a pretty simple outlook when it comes to the format. “I love hitting sixes,” he said, something that started in the backyard as a kid and has now carried him to the brink of an international debut against Pakistan.Robinson only has 20 domestic T20 matches under his belt but, until injury struck, was putting together an impressive Super Smash earlier this year. In the opening match of the season against Otago he plundered 139 off 64 balls with 10 sixes, the second-highest score in the tournament’s history, and later on struck 86 off 56 against Canterbury before his tournament was cut short.Still, it was enough to leave him on the radar of the selectors and, with nine players unavailable for the Pakistan trip due to the IPL, along with Will Young (county) and Tim Latham (paternity) not considered, Robinson was one of those to benefit. But the call from selector Sam Wells was still a lot to take in.”I was actually stuttering away trying to hold a conversation, but I was struggling a little bit,” he told reporters. “I couldn’t believe it and to be honest it hasn’t quite sunk in yet. It’s hard to put those kinds of things into words. Something I’ve dreamed off since I was a kid, trying to hit sixes in the back yard but for it to all come to fruition is pretty amazing and just really excited.”I love hitting sixes and trying to entertain people and to be honest it’s addictive when you get one out of the middle and it goes a mile. I took a lot of confidence out of that [century] but this is a completely different challenge and I’m excited to get over there and have a real crack.”Robinson added he would be going into the tour “with an open mind” and was thrilled that the trip would be led by his Wellington team-mate Michael Bracewell.”He’s been a fantastic role model for me,” he said. “We help each other on and see who can hit the ball furthest. He’s a fantastic guy and fills me with comfort that I’m going over with him.”Bracewell himself reflected on a lengthy journey back from injury after suffering a ruptured achilles playing in the T20 Blast for Worcestershire last year. He returned to action in January during the Super Smash and last month claimed a career-best 8 for 41 in the Plunket Shield, two days before being told he would captain New Zealand.”It’s been a slow grind, a lot of days here at the Basin working hard on all the little things,” he said. “It probably feels fast for people who haven’t lived that journey but for me it’s been a bit of a slow grind.”It’s huge to firstly be picked again the another huge honour to be selected as captain. I had a golden sort of three days: got that eight-for at the Basin, a hole-in-one the next day and third thing was the call from Steady about the captaincy. Three days I’ll never forget.”It’s a little bit sweeter when you’ve had a bit of time on the sidelines to reflect and grow that hunger even more to be back out there.”The five matches in Pakistan will play a key part in firming up the small number of uncertain spots in New Zealand’s T20 World Cup squad and Bracewell, who offers middle-order power with the bat and his offspin, will be a strong contender but he wasn’t looking too far ahead.”There’s obviously some exciting things coming up throughout the rest of the year but the job at hand is taking on Pakistan in their own conditions,” he said. “That’s certainly what we’ll be focusing on. Obviously you have those thoughts of where you’d like to be but the only way you get to where you want to go is focusing on what’s in front of you.”

He’s often asked more questions about his father, the former All Black John Mitchell, than about himself, but that is all set to change for New Zealand’s newbie allrounder

Deivarayan Muthu05-Feb-2019Ever wondered how cool it would be to rub shoulders with the All Blacks as well as the Black Caps? Ask New Zealand newbie Daryl Mitchell, the son of former All Black John Mitchell, who later coached the rugby side as well. On his first day of training with the New Zealand cricket team Daryl gushed: “It’s pretty cool; something you dream of as a little kid. It’s like a kid opening up your package on Christmas and getting into it. Stoked.”Watch India v NZ live

Followers in the United States can watch the first T20I live on ESPN+

It must have been equally cool getting to watch the All Blacks train with his father while growing up. Mitchell senior is now with England as their defensive coach, and his son was up early in Hamilton on Sunday to watch England topple pre-tournament favourites Ireland in the Six Nations Championship. Now, with Kane Williamson hinting that New Zealand will use the three-match T20I series against India to test their bench strength, Daryl, who had a stellar season in the Super Smash T20 tournament, is on the brink of an international debut.”I woke up and watched England get up for the win,” Daryl says. “Dad was pretty happy with that performance I’d say. I messaged him, he’s excited for me to get this opportunity, and I’m happy for him. Hopefully, they win the Six Nations and put a smile on his face. “So who is Daryl supporting at the Rugby World Cup – England or the All Blacks?”That’s a tough one. If England make the final against the All Blacks, but the All Blacks beat them, maybe. Let’s go with that.”After breaking into New Zealand’s squad, Daryl has had to deal with more questions about his high-profile father than about himself. While he concedes that spending time with the All Blacks has helped him become the professional he is now, he downplays the spotlight on him and his father.”He’s always just been my dad, he’s gone to work just like every other dad does,” Daryl says.”It just happened that he went to rugby training instead of to an office or something.”It was cool growing up, I got to watch the All Blacks and the Chiefs train and be around professional sport which probably helped me create who I am and how I go about things today. At the end of the day he’s just my dad and he’s still a pain in the ass sometimes and it’s pretty normal for me anyway.”Daryl Mitchell makes a valiant attempt to stop a boundary•BCCIIn addition to being well-equipped to deal with pressure, Daryl can bank on his excellent form, especially with the bat, in the Super Smash. In the absence of several New Zealand players and allrounder Anton Devcich, who is playing for the Sydney Thunder across the Tasman Sea, Daryl led the way for table-toppers Northern Knights. He is currently the second-highest run-getter in the competition with 318 runs in nine innings at a strike-rate of 140.08. But the most telling stat is that nobody has struck more sixes this season than his 19.Daryl is among the cleanest strikers in New Zealand domestic cricket and is particularly strong hitting in the V. He also has an Australian connection, having honed his skills at Scarborough Cricket Club in Western Australia. When he was 14, Daryl moved to Perth for about six years as his father secured a deal with Western Force.He then returned to Hamilton and made his debut for Northern Districts in 2011-12. Having started his career as batsman, he has developed into an allrounder who can pitch in with handy medium-pace. In this season’s Super Smash, after Chris Jordan joined Devcich at the Thunder, Daryl was the Knights’ go-to death bowler alongside their South African recruit Kyle Abbott. He impressed with his wide yorkers and cutters, and reckons he’s ready to do the job for New Zealand as well.”My role doesn’t change a lot with what I’m doing with ND at the moment,” Mitchell says. “I’m happy to do a job with the ball if Kane needs me. Obviously, batting is my main priority. If Kane throws me the ball, I’ll do whatever job that needs to be done.”Daryl’s also a fantastic fielder to boot. Remember his tag-team effort at the edge of the boundary with Tim Southee to dismiss Asif Raza in the Champions League T20 in 2014? It even made ESPN’s Sportcenter’s top 10 plays of the day.When Mitchell Santner was playing county cricket in 2016, he joked to Daryl, his Northern Districts team-mate, that his captain at Worcestershire, the English Daryl Mitchell, was the better Daryl Mitchell. He might revise that opinion, though, when the other one makes his international debut.

They might not get the same attention as some of their rivals for it, but Tottenham Hotspur have an incredible academy.

In the here and now, Hotspur Way has produced some incredibly exciting talents who will surely be future stars like Mikey Moore and Luca Williams-Barnett.

Moreover, some of the best players in Premier League history have come through the North Londoners’ youth set-up, such as Harry Kane, Ledley King and even he who shan’t be named.

However, as well as the international superstars, the Lilywhites have produced several underrated players currently plying their trade around Europe, including one centre-back who’s one comparison to an incredibly valuable superstar.

Hotspur Way's underrated stars

One of Spurs’ former academy gems, who some might not know played for the club’s academy, is Noni Madueke.

The Barnet-born winger was a part of the club’s youth set-up for quite some time, but despite efforts to keep him in the capital, he decided to take a leap of faith in the summer of 2018 and moved to Eredivisie giants PSV Eindhoven.

It didn’t take long for the Englishman to establish himself in the Netherlands, and by the time he moved to Chelsea for £30m in January 2023, he had racked up a haul of 20 goals and 14 assists in just 80 first-team appearances, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 2.35 games.

Madueke’s senior career
Team	PSV	Chelsea
Appearances	80	74
Goals	20	17
Assists	14	7
Goal Involvements per Match	0.42	0.32
All Stats via Transfermarkt

Since returning to England, the dynamic attacker has scored 17 goals and provided seven assists in 74 games for the Blues.

However, a hamstring injury he picked up a couple of weeks ago has put a halt to what was looking like a promising campaign.

Another academy gem who left N17 for the Netherlands is Irish striker Troy Parrott, who, after spending last season on loan with Dutch side Excelsior, decided to make his move to the country permanent, signing with AZ Alkmaar.

The former Lilywhites’ gem has already found the back of the net on 17 occasions in just 36 appearances this season and has provided three assists to boot.

So when Ange Postecoglou’s side lineup against him in the Europa League knockout rounds next week, they’ll have to be on top form, even if he failed to score in their league phase encounter.

However, it’s not just attacking talents who have gone on to have brilliant careers since leaving Spurs’ academy, as an international centre-back is thriving north of the border and has been compared to a Premier League titan worth an increible amount of money.

Parrott’s senior career
Team	Appearances	Goals	Assists
MK Dons	47	10	7
AZ Alkmaar	36	17	3
Preston North End	34	4	0
Excelsior	32	17	5
Ipswich Town	18	2	0
Millwall	14	0	1
Tottenham	4	0	0
All Stats via Transfermarkt

The Spurs academy gem who's a £69m star in the making

It’s been a brilliant campaign for Celtic this season, as they pushed Bayern Munich all the way in the Champions League play-offs and have a commanding lead over Rangers in the Scottish Premiership.

One of the Hoops’ most important players this year, and in the seasons prior, has been Cameron Carter-Vickers, who joined Tottenham as an 11-year-old in 2009.

The American international would go out on several loan moves over the years, including one to Celtic in 2021, before agreeing a permanent move to Parkhead a year later for around £6m.

In all, the 27-year-old titan has made 148 appearances for the Glaswegian giants, scoring seven goals, providing two assists, and winning three league titles, three league cups, and two Scottish Cups.

During his time north of the border, the 18-capped international has won plenty of plaudits for his sensational displays, with The Athletic’s Alex Barker going as far as describing him as “the best centre-back outside of the top five leagues” last week.

Carter-Vickers & Dias
Statistics per 90	Carter-Vickers	Dias
Passing Accuracy	94.2%	93.6%
Key Passes	0.15	0.20
Interceptions	1.04	1.20
Carries	67.8	60.8
Dribblers Challenged	1.04	1.00
All Stats via FBref for the 24/25 UCL Season

On top of that, he’s also been likened to Manchester City’s Rúben Dias by FBref, which compares players in similar positions in the Champions League, then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one, and in this instance, has concluded that the Portuguese ace is the third most similar centre-back to the American.

The best way to see where this comparison has come from is to look at the underlying metrics in which the pair rank closely, including, but not limited to, passing accuracy, key passes, carries, dribblers challenged, interceptions and more, all per 90.

On top of the prestige that should come with such a comparison, it could also potentially reflect Carter-Vivkers’ future price tag should he leave Scotland.

For example, according to Football Transfers, the City ace is worth up to €83m, which converts to about £69m, and if the former Lilywhites ace is so statistically similar, why shouldn’t his price tag also increase?

Ultimately, it was probably the right decision for his future at the time to sell Carter-Vickers, but we can’t help imagining just how useful he would have been to Postecoglou this season.

Ange can forget Tel by unleashing Spurs starlet who's "born to score goals"

The promising prospect could be a future star for Spurs.

By
Jack Salveson Holmes

Feb 27, 2025

Karnataka’s 24-year-old left-handed batter Satheesh Shubha also earned a call-up for the Tests against England and Australia

Shashank Kishore01-Dec-2023Renuka Singh has made a comeback from a stress injury, while WPL breakout stars Shreyanka Patil and Saika Ishaque have earned maiden T20I call-ups for the three-match series against England beginning December 6 in Mumbai.Renuka and Ishaque are also part of the Harmanpreet Kaur-led 15-member squad for two back-to-back Tests against England and Australia. There was also a maiden Test call-up for Karnataka’s 24-year-old left-handed opener Satheesh Shubha, who impressed with scores of 99 and 49 in the practice four-day fixture prior to selection.India will be playing a home Test for the first time since November 2014. Since then, they’ve featured in just two Tests (one each in England and Australia). The upcoming games will mark a change of guard in many ways, given it will be India’s first Test outing in over 20 years without retired stalwarts Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami. This will also be the first time that Harmanpreet will lead India in a Test.Related

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Patil was one of the bright stars for Royal Challengers Bangalore during an otherwise dismal maiden WPL campaign for the team. Earlier this year, she also became the first Indian to play in the women’s CPL where she was the tournament’s top wicket-taker while representing Guyana Amazon Warriors. Patil is currently part of the India A squad for the three-match T20 series against England A.Meanwhile, Ishaque, the left-arm spinner, was a key figure for Mumbai Indians during their spectacular run to the inaugural WPL title in March. Ishaque was the tournament’s joint second-highest wicket-taker with 15 scalps, with her ability to bowl across phases earning plaudits. Ishaque’s inclusion in the T20I squad leaves no room for experienced left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad, while Patil’s call-up has led to Devika Vaidya being dropped.In addition to Patil, Ishaque and Deepti Sharma, India also have a fourth spin option in the form of left-arm fingerspinner Mannat Kashyap, who was part of India’s Under-19 World Cup winning squad earlier this year. Middle-order batter Kanika Ahuja, who like Patil impressed for RCB in the WPL, retains her place in the T20I squad.Saika Ishaque picked 15 wickets to help Mumbai Indians win the inaugural WPL title•BCCI

Yastika Bhatia was handed a comeback as one of two wicketkeeping options alongside Richa Ghosh. Bhatia was dropped from the Asian Games squad that returned with a gold medal from Hangzhou in October. Her inclusion meant there was no place for rookie wicketkeeper Uma Chetry.The selectors have also opted to overhaul the pace stocks for the Tests. With Goswami having retired and Shikha Pandey left out, Renuka will lead a four-member attack consisting of Titas Sadhu, Meghna Singh and allrounder Pooja Vastrakar. Also returning for the Tests is Sneh Rana, the offspinning allrounder.The upcoming home series marks the beginning of a long stretch of games for the Indian women’s team leading into next year’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh. After the three T20Is and Test against England, India are slated to play Australia in a Test, followed by six white-ball matches.The upcoming series marks the first assignment as head coach for Amol Muzumdar, the former Mumbai captain, who takes over from Hrishikesh Kanitkar, who had helmed the team in an interim capacity.India Women’s squad for England T20Is: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Shreyanka Patil, Mannat Kashyap, Saika Ishaque, Renuka Singh, Titas Sadhu, Pooja Vastrakar, Kanika Ahuja, Minnu ManiIndia Women’s squad for England and Australia Tests: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Shubha Satheesh, Harleen Deol, Saika Ishaque, Renuka Singh, Titas Sadhu, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar

علق آرني سلوت، مدرب ليفربول على التقارير التي أشارت لغياب محمد صلاح عن بعض المباريات في نهاية العام بسبب مشاركته في كأس الأمم الإفريقية.

وستقام كأس الأمم الإفريقية في المغرب للمرة الثانية ومن المقرر أن تلعب في الفترة بين 21 ديسمبر 2025 و18 يناير 2026.

أقرأ أيضاً.. سلوت قبل مباراة الدرع الخيرية: ثنائي ليفربول لديهما فرصة رائعة للعمل مع محمد صلاح

وكانت تقارير صحفية قد أفادت أن محمد صلاح سيغيب عن مباريات ليفربول، طوال فترة مشاركته في كأس الأمم الإفريقية.

وسئل سلوت في المؤتمر الصحفي عن التعاقد مع جيريمي فريمبونج وإمكانية غياب صلاح عن الفريق بسبب كأس أمم إفريقيا فأجاب: “لقد فكرنا بالتأكيد في كأس الأمم الإفريقية”.

وأضاف: “هذا أحد أسباب ضمنا لفريمبونج لأنه يجيد اللعب كجناح أيمن، سنلعب 6 مباريات كحد أقصى بدون محمد صلاح وهذا كثير في الدوري الإنجليزي، خاصة بعد أدائه الرائع الموسم الماضي”.

واسترسل: “كان التعاقد مع فريمبونج لأسباب عديدة، أحدها أنه يستطيع تعويض محمد صلاح في حال غيابه”.

وشدد: “هناك خيارات أخرى متاحة لي لتعويض محمد صلاح، ولكن جيريمي هو بالتأكيد أحدها”.

وحول جاهزية ألكسيس ماك أليستر لمواجهة الدرع الخيرية: “سيكون ضمن قائمة الفريق، غاب عنا لشهرين أو أكثر، تدرب معنا ولعب 30 دقيقة أو 45 دقيقة ومن الممكن أن يبدأ أساسياً ولكن ليس 90 دقيقة”.

وعن إمكانية الاعتماد على إندو وجرافينبيرش كقلوب دفاع: “يمكنهم اللعب هناك وكذلك جو جوميز الذي لديه إصابة طفيفة وتوجد العديد من الخيارات في هذا المركز”.