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It was just after tea when the question arose in the Edgbaston press box: ‘Has any side ever lost their first three Championship games in a season by an innings?’

George Dobell at Edgbaston22-Apr-2017
ScorecardIt was just after tea when the question arose in the Edgbaston press box: ‘Has any side ever lost their first three Championship games in a season by an innings?’Whether they have or not*, the fact that the question came up provides a fair reflection of the mood around Warwickshire at present. Kumar Sangakkara had just reached his 50 with a pull so dismissive you half expected him to ruffle the bowler’s hair and ask him what he wanted to be when he grew-up and Mark Stoneman had just reached his second Championship century against Warwickshire this season. Warwickshire still had a first innings lead of almost 100 but the sense persisted that, if Surrey decided to make pelts from the Warwickshire players before the end of this match, there wasn’t much to stop them.In the grand scheme of things, the Warwickshire performances this season don’t even register in a ‘top 10’ of their shockers of the last 20 years or so. And, in a way, that is more of a worry. Because it’s not that they’re playing that badly. They’re just up against sides that are substantially better than them.The second day here exemplified it. Presented with a flat pitch and a strong batting line-up, Warwickshire’s bowlers might have been a fraction tighter. But, basically, they put the ball in pretty good areas, they showed their variations and they demonstrated their heart. But they lacked the pace, the skill or the assistance to break through against a strong side and might reflect that, playing against Sangakkara with one boundary as short as this is like covering yourself in bacon and going to pet a tiger.The truth is, Warwickshire failed to make use of a good batting surface in their first innings. While they undoubtedly had the more testing conditions on the first day, it is worth remembering that they were 126 without loss at one stage. And it’s worth remembering, too, that they were 290 for 4 when Surrey took the second new ball. The final six wickets added only 42 and that included a tenth-wicket stand of 28.Why? Because Surrey’s bowlers – younger, hungrier and yes, a bit quicker – gained a little bit more from the surface and in the air. And Warwickshire’s batsmen, all too often crease-bound and flirty, were not equal to it. Surrey will bowl much better than this in much more helpful conditions.Perhaps Warwickshire were a bit unfortunate. The weather was substantially brighter on the second day and there was no need for floodlights. But by losing their final seven wickets for 69, they pretty much forfeited the opportunity to bat in such conditions. Besides, they still had four wickets in hand when they resumed on Saturday.Most of all, they were unfortunate to come up against two fine batsmen. Stoneman, who has now scored three centuries in his last five Championship innings (he finished his Durham career with one against Hampshire), looked terrific. Having made 165 against Warwickshire on his Championship debut for the club a couple of weeks ago, he dealt with Keith Barker’s swing expertly and looks hungry to ensure this move to Surrey brings the rewards he wants. That career average – in the low 30s – is no reflection of his class.Maybe, on another day, he might have been dismissed without scoring. Certainly his first scoring stroke was his least convincing with Ateeq Javid, at point, flinging himself to his right but finding the sliced drive just out of reach, while later, on 83, William Porterfield at gully should have held on to a sharp chance offered off the admirably persistent Chris Wright.Those moments apart, he looked wonderfully solid and unhurried. He played within himself and, when the bowlers strayed, either picked them off with deflections – he took 18 off one Barker over without needing to play a shot in anger – or cut or drove without fuss or trouble. He added 116 with Scott Borthwick, the pair of them running so fast that it proved impossible for Warwickshire to stem the flow, and then 140 with Sangakkara. It was some surprise when he was adjudged to be leg before and not just because it seemed a little high.As for Sangakkara… to see him skip down the pitch and thread his drive off Jeetan Patel between the fielders in the covers; to see him pull and upper cut sixes when the seamers dropped short; to see him somehow cut Patel behind square so that the ball gained speed as it split the field… however many times you’ve seen him bat, however many centuries you’ve seen and whatever you think of the standard of county cricket, it was refreshing, it was classy, it was beautiful. If you’re in the Edgbaston area on Sunday – hell, if you’re anywhere near the Midlands – it may be worth coming to witness him reaching the 58th first-class century of his career. There won’t be too many opportunities and they really don’t come along like this very often.Not that Warwickshire will be thinking in those terms. They have to believe they can turn around this match – they do still lead by 33, after all – and this season. We’re not even in the last week of April. The sense from those watching, though, is that while they may not have sunk yet, they have struck the iceberg.*Admit it, you were wondering about sides which had started the season with a hat-trick of innings losses, weren’t you? Well, thanks to statistician Andrew Samson we know that Somerset (in 1899) and Glamorgan (in 1922) both lost their first four Championship matches in a season by an innings. But no team has ever lost three by an innings before the end of April. Warwickshire supporters will be hoping they are not on the cusp of history.

A round-up of the Group D games in the 2016-17 Vijay Hazare Trophy, which took place on February 25, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2017Hyderabad seamer Ravi Kiran and left-arm spinner Mehdi Hasan took three wickets each to help their side bowl out Jammu & Kashmir for 228 and set up a 29-run win. A 70-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Parvez Rasool and Ahmed Bandy, which came at more than eight runs an over, had put J&K’s chase of 258 back on track after quick wickets. However, once both batsmen were out, the lower order slumped quickly – J&K lost their five wickets for 22 runs to fold in the 43rd over.Earlier, fifties from openers Tanmay Agarwal and Akshath Reddy carried Hyderabad to 257. Their 127-run opening partnership gave Hyderabad a platform strong enough to survive a brief slide where they lost four wickets within five overs, before S Badrinath and Hasan nudged the score past 200. Hasan remained unbeaten on 28 off 26 balls, having seen the side through to 257.MS Dhoni’s 50-ball 43 and Saurabh Tiwary’s 68 were not enough to help Jharkhand chase down a target of 267 against Karnataka, who won by five runs with only one ball to spare. The pair came together with Jharkhand at 79 for 4 in the 20th over and added 81 runs to put the chase back on track. After Dhoni fell, Tiwary kept the chase alive with a rapid 39 runs for the seventh wicket with Shabaz Nadeem off 26 deliveries. However, Tiwary’s dismissal in the 42nd over left Jharkhand with another 63 to get and although the lower order strung up partnerships, the side was eventually dismissed off the penultimate ball of the game. Rahul Shukla was the last man to fall, run out for 23 off 20 balls, having driven the lower-order partnerships. K Gowtham had returns of 4 for 58.Shukla had earlier taken 4 for 45 in his nine overs as Karnataka were bowled out for 266. Ravikumar Samarth (71) and Manish Pandey (77) struck fifties and shared a 116-run partnership for the third wicket. Pavan Deshpande, too, chipped in with 36 off 34 balls.Seamer Suraj Yadav and wicketkeeper-batsman Nakul Verma played stellar hands in Services’ 48-run victory over Saurashtra.Yadav struck three times in his first two overs – including two wickets off two balls in the first over – to leave Saurashtra’s chase of 263 in trouble. Their score of 6 for 3 soon became 44 for 5 and they only managed to limp to 215 due to half-centuries from Prerak Mankad (58) and Jaydev Unadkat (57). Yadav returned to pick up one more wicket for figures of 4 for 47.Earlier, Verma’s second List-A century, 124 off 132 balls at the top of the order, set the base for Services’ total of 263 for 9. The remaining Services batsmen got starts but only Soumya Swain made a substantial contribution among them, with 32 off 36 deliveries. Seamer Shaurya Sanandia took 4 for 67 for Saurashtra

Ireland’s woes in the T20 format continued as they were no match for the top-ranked Associate side, meandering to a total of 125 for 6 before Afghanistan coasted to victory

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Abu Dhabi14-Jan-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:38

‘We didn’t feel like we were under pressure at any point’ – Rajput

Ireland’s woes in the T20 format continued as they were no match for the top-ranked Associate side, meandering to a total of 125 for 6 before Afghanistan coasted to victory with eight balls to spare.After electing to bat, Ireland got off to a promising start thanks to a typically belligerent Paul Stirling and a travel-weary Stuart Poynter, who arrived at 2am as an injury replacement after Stuart Thompson had a mishap at training on Friday afternoon. As was the case in the early match at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, the wind blowing southeast acted as a temptress which sucked Stirling into giving away his wicket, failing to get enough lift into a heave towards the midwicket rope.Once Stirling fell, Ireland’s middle-order struggled against the three-headed spin attack. The most potent threat among them was legspinner Rashid Khan, who had Kevin O’Brien playing down the wrong line before beating Gary Wilson’s attempted sweep for a pair of lbws. It left a long Ireland tail exposed with more than three overs to bat out and they barely managed to finish with a target of more than a run a ball.Afghanistan cruised through their Powerplay behind Mohammad Shahzad and Najeeb Tarakai but Ireland’s own new legspinning hope Jacob Mulder caused some problems by beating Shahzad in flight after a charge down the pitch before claiming Asghar Stanikzai with a slider two overs later. Tarakai was run out off Mulder’s bowling as pressure built slightly. But Mohammad Nabi ensured the match was never in doubt.Nemesis Nabi
The star allrounder made his impact felt with bat and ball in this contest to give Afghanistan a winning start to the tournament with a man-of-the-match display. With Ireland desperate to build confidence after entering this game, having lost 8 of their last 11 completed T20Is, Nabi broke the ominous opening stand with his second ball, teasing Poynter into playing across the line to a straight ball in the sixth over. He ended the 16th over by ending Greg Thompson’s laborious stay for 3 off 9 balls.With the bat, Nabi entered after Mulder had spooked the top order back into the pavilion at 81 for 3 in the 12th. Afghanistan remained ahead of the run-rate for most of his innings but, just when the slightest bit of pressure built with the rate climbing back over a run a ball in the 17th during Mulder’s last over, Nabi provided a release with a deflating heave over midwicket into the southeast stand for six. He clobbered Boyd Rankin for good measure in the following over for another six over midwicket, before tapping the winning single in the 19th over.Home away from home Afghanistan supporters began filing into the stadium during the second innings of Scotland’s victory over Hong Kong, more than two and a half hours before the first ball had been bowled by Fareed Ahmad to Stirling. By that stage, there were about 1500 inside the ground and, when the first wicket fell, that number had swelled to 4000. By the end of the first innings, almost the entire pavilion stand on the south side was filled.Though the atmosphere wasn’t quite as intense as the three finals played between these two sides at the World T20 Qualifiers in 2010, 2012 or 2013, it was still lively nonetheless. In the field, Rashid showed himself to be a fast-rising crowd favorite, getting arguably the loudest reaction when he first came on to bowl. But Nabi is especially beloved among the Afghan faithful and when he cranked sixes in back-to-back overs off Mulder and Rankin late in the chase, the south stand turned delirious.After the teams exchanged handshakes, the Afghanistan players walked from the east to the west, waving back to the crowd to show their appreciation, setting off a volley of mobile-phone camera flashes. UAE may be the official host side, but there is no disputing who has the true home advantage in this event.

Newcastle United have been handed a major boost in their pursuit of Leicester City playmaker James Maddison following the club's relegation from the Premier League.

What's the latest on James Maddison to Newcastle?

According to the Mirror, the 26-year-old England international will lead the mass exodus at the King Power Stadium after City's miserable campaign ended with a slump into the second tier, with a fee of £40m touted.

The Magpies actually failed with a £50m bid for Maddison one year ago, with Leicester holding out for £60m, but it is Newcastle technical director Dan Ashworth who will be able to exert his authority in pursuing a deal, with the Foxes already revealing record £92.5m losses this year.

With London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur also vying for a deal, Newcastle must seal the deal swiftly; Maddison will be highly coveted now his club have plummeted from the top flight.

How would James Maddison perform at Newcastle?

The two-cap England international has been a prolific midfield force since signing from Norwich City for £24m in 2018, having chalked up 203 appearances for Leicester, plundering 55 goals and 41 assists – notably winning the FA Cup and Community Shield.

His boss Dean Smith described him as a "football nut" and he is an astute and intelligent playmaker, and his passion for his play is evidenced by his prolific return this season, flourishing despite his club's woes and scoring ten goals and serving nine assists from 30 matches.

He would arrive on Tyneside at a time when his addition could transform the club's offensive impetus from the centre.

Indeed, Newcastle have been sensational under Eddie Howe's stewardship this season and have qualified for the top four with the conviction of a tried and tested squad of winners, and the feeling is that a first-rate addition or two could transcend fortunes to something greater, potentially taking a place alongside the likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid at the forefront of Europe.

He could well emulate the success of Bruno Fernandes at Manchester United, who has been the creative catalyst for the Red Devils since his initial £47m signing from Sporting Lison, making 184 appearances, scoring 63 goals, assisting 54 more and winning the Carabao Cup – against Newcastle – this season.

The "monster" – as dubbed by journalist Josh Bunting – that is Maddison certainly bears a semblance to his Portuguese counterpart, with FBref, ranking the aces as similar players.

Fernandes ranks among the top 3% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for shot-creating actions and the top 4% for rate of progressive passes per 90.

The £110k-per-week Maddison, comparatively, ranks among the top 20% of positional peers for rate of non-penalty goals, the top 13% for rate of assists, the top 12% for shot-creating actions and the top 14% for progressive passes per 90, which is not too shabby for a star embroiled in a relegation battle all term.

Hailed as "world-class" by his England manager Gareth Southgate, Maddison would provide the spark and ingenuity to lift Newcastle to new heights, which is an ominous thought for the rest of the Premier League after such an exemplary 22/23 campaign.

Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey could leave the club during the summer transfer window, according to an update from journalist Dean Jones.

Has Bailey had a good season for Villa?

The Villans' fortunes have turned around so much this season, with things looking bleak earlier in the campaign when Steven Gerrard was in charge. Since Unai Emery has come in as manager, however, they have been transformed, with results and performances going up a significant gear.

So many individuals have improved under the Spaniard as the season has gone on and Bailey is one of them, because a more consistent and dangerous presence in Villa's attack. The £100,000-a-week attacker has scored and assisted four times apiece in the Premier League in 2022/23, with his most recent assist coming in the 2-1 win over Tottenham earlier this month.

The 25-year-old's current deal at Villa Park expires in the summer of 2025, however, and while there is still a couple of years left on it, there is the possibility that the club decides to potentially accept an offer for him at the end of the season.

Could Bailey leave Villa this summer?

Speaking to Give Me Sport, Jones claimed that Bailey is someone who could possibly depart once the summer window opens:

"I think there will be a market for him. He's the type of player that will always attract a certain level of club. I would be surprised if he was at Villa next season, even if he was to have a banging last game of the season."

This is a tricky one for Villa, with Bailey's displays much improved in recent months and his age meaning he could improve further in the coming years. That being said, he does arguably feel like someone who could both be improved and who Villa could receive good money for, so it is a key decision to make in the coming months.

The key ultimately depends on whether Emery sees the 19-cap and three-goal Jamaica international as an important figure moving forward, or if he believes there are stronger options out there.

Granted, he has got better after some questionable form in the past, but a more prolific wide man could help take Villa to that next level this season – someone who can deliver more relentless numbers than eight Premier League goal contributions in 32 appearances.

If Bailey stays, it is unlikely that many supporters will be complaining, but equally, there would be logic in letting him go, helping boost Villa's summer transfer kitty in the process.

Left-arm spinning allrounder Milinda Siriwardana will lead the Sri Lankan XI in the three-day practice match against Australia, which begins on Monday in Colombo

Andrew Fidel Fernando17-Jul-2016Left-arm spinning allrounder Milinda Siriwardana will lead the Sri Lankan XI in the three-day practice match against Australia, which begins on Monday in Colombo. Also in the XI are seam-bowling allrounder Dasun Shanaka, who made his Test debut on the recent tour of England, spin-bowling allrounders Shehan Jayasuriya and Chaturanga de Silva, and pacers Dilhara Fernando, Vimukthi Perera and Nisala Tharaka.Siriwardana had made a reasonable start to his international career, even winning the Man-of-the-match award in one of his five Tests so far, but has not had a constant place in the Sri Lanka XI since Sanath Jayasuriya’s selection committee took charge. A good performance against the tourists will make him difficult to overlook for the Test squad, however. Shanaka is viewed as more of a limited-overs option, but could also force his way into the squad for the first Test.Dilhara Fernando’s selection is a reflection of the state of Sri Lanka’s fast-bowling resources at present. Dushmantha Chameera and Dhammika Prasad have been virtually ruled out of the Tests, with Shaminda Eranga suspended from bowling in international cricket due to an illegal action. Suranga Lakmal, will undergo a fitness Test on Monday to assess his availability, leaving Nuwan Pradeep as the only fully fit and available option from among the recent Test quicks.Sri Lanka’s selectors have suggested A team seamers Vishwa Fernando and Asitha Fernando could also be drafted into the squad, though both are currently touring England. Perera and Tharaka, who are playing in this three-day encounter, may also be considered.The warm-up match – Australia’s only official practice fixture ahead of the Tests – will be played at the P Sara Oval.Sri Lankan XI: Madawa Warnapura, Osanda Fernando, Manoj Sarathchandra (wk), Asela Gunarathna, Shehan Jayasuriya, Milinda Siriwardana (capt), Dasun Shanaka, Chathuranga Silva, Nisala Tharaka, Vimukthi Perera, Dilhara Fernando

Chelsea take on Liverpool in the Premier League on Tuesday evening, just two days after Graham Potter was sacked at Stamford Bridge.

The former Brighton boss struggled throughout his tenure with the Blues and his fate was sealed by the 2-0 defeat against Aston Villa last weekend, with interim manager Bruno Saltor in charge for the visit of Liverpool tonight.

If the Spaniard wants to avoid following in the footsteps of his predecessor, then he must consider dropping Mykhailo Mudryk after the January signing produced another shocking performance against Unai Emery's side last time out.

Should Chelsea drop Mudryk vs Liverpool?

Mudryk was perhaps always going to be a risky signing for the Blues given he was untested in England and had made just 44 senior appearances for Shakhtar Donetsk, contributing 12 goals and 17 assists.

However, Todd Boehly still invested £88.5m to bring the 22-year-old to the Premier League and for that sort of money, you would expect the winger to have an instant impact and help fire Chelsea up the table.

The £97k-per-week winger made just eight appearances under Potter before his sacking late last week, in which he contributed no goals and just one assist, averaging a woeful 6.21 rating from WhoScored for his performances in the top flight, which ranks him as the 30th-best performer in Chelsea's squad.

Despite his poor start to life at Stamford Bridge, Potter opted to start the young winger against Villa but the Ukraine international arguably played a big part in his sacking, as he first failed to square the ball to Kai Havertz for a tap-in, before hitting a tame effort straight at Emiliano Martinez when through on goal.

Former Premier League striker Tony Cascarino was less than impressed with Mudryk's performance against Villa and criticised him on talkSPORT.

He said: "Ok he had a couple of chances and didn't take them. That happens. But since he's come, he's looked like he hasn't got a clue what is happening around him."

In the Champions League with Shakhtar earlier in the season, Mudryk was averaging 1.5 shots, 0.8 key passes and 1.7 dribbles per game but in the Premier League thus far he has mustered just 0.9 shots, 0.3 key passes and 0.3 dribbles per game, which emphasises that he hasn't lived up to his potential.

While a number of Boehly's signings have also flopped, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang completely ostracised under Potter, at least the Gabon striker had Premier League pedigree and didn't arrive for an eye-watering amount of money.

Aubameyang has at least found the net too, albeit on just three occasions, while averaging a fractionally better WhoScored match rating of 6.39. That is still woeful, but not quite as bad as Mudryk.

The early signs from the flanker are that Chelsea could be stuck with a player that isn't cut out for the Premier League until his contract expires in 2031, so if Bruno wants to get off to a good start at Stamford Bridge, he must drop the Ukrainian against Liverpool tonight.

Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Julen Lopetegui has been handed a boost in his pursuit of Bristol City midfielder Alex Scott, who has reportedly expressed his desire to join the ranks at Molineux.

What's the latest on Alex Scott to Wolves?

The Telegraph's John Percy reported in January that the Old Gold were indeed interested in the flourishing starlet, but a move did not materialise due to The Robins' £25m asking price, a figure Lopetegui and co were reluctant to pay for an untested Championship commodity.

And now, according to the Express & Star's Lewis Keen, Scott favours a move to Wolves above all else, reigniting the hopes of the Old Gold that a deal could be struck this summer.

Keen said: “I think Spurs and Everton have been mentioned. There’s a few other rumours as well. But as far as I understand it, the player likes Wolves. He would be keen on the move to Wolves. It’s whether they can make it happen, and whether another club turns his head."

A dream partner for Ruben Neves?

Wolves have clearly completed their homework on City's most coveted asset, and should the cogs fall into place over the coming months, a move might indeed be forthcoming.

The revelations that Scott's interest has been piqued over a move to the Premier League outfit is will be sweet music to Lopetegui's ears, but whether his stance, or indeed Bristol City's, will change as the summer transfer window opens remains to be seen.

But in the "fearless" prodigy, as dubbed by Henry Winter, Wolves could nurture one of English football's brightest talents into a devastating phenom, with Scott having started 35 of his outfit's 36 league matches all term, scoring one goal and supplying four assists.

As per Sofascore, the dynamic ace has recorded an average match rating of 6.9 this season, completing 80% of his passes, making one key pass per match and exhibiting the combative nature of his game by forging 2.1 tackles and 0.9 interceptions per outing.

And having taken to the field in an arresting display during Bristol City's recent 3-0 FA Cup defeat at the hand of Manchester City, earning a match rating of 7.0 after succeeding with four of his five attempted dribbles and winning 11 of his 15 attempted duels, he was even hailed a "top talent" by City's £100m man Jack Grealish after his impressively stoic performance.

With a transfer, he could be the perfect partner for the established Ruben Neves, who has been the centrepiece of Wolves' engine over the past five years following his £15m transfer from Porto in 2017.

Neves is an assiduous and tenacious midfielder, having scored five goals in the Premier League this term – a joint high in the squad – completed 85% of his total passes and made 2.4 tackles per game, as per Sofascore.

This level of rock-solid assurance to provide Scott license to roam and instigate promising openings will only enhance the collective fluidity and energy of Lopetegui's outfit, and despite concerns over the price, Wolves must swoop.

Indeed, the thought of the young Championship ace battling alongside Neves is truly mouthwatering one.

West Ham United are eyeing a move for Norwich City star Gabriel Sara as David Moyes looks to bolster his squad.

What’s the latest on Gabriel Sara to West Ham?

According to a report from the Sunday Mirror (March 12th, page 71), West Ham are reportedly keeping an eye on Sara and Moyes wants to sign the Championship star during the summer transfer window.

The Brazilian signed for the Canaries for a £11.5m fee last summer, and he has clearly impressed during his spell at the club, generating interest from the Premier League as a result.

No potential transfer fee has been mentioned, yet with the 23-year-old still having three years left on his deal, Norwich will certainly want much more than the £11.5m they paid for him just a few months ago.

Will Declan Rice leave West Ham this summer?

It is looking increasingly likely that Declan Rice will depart the club this summer, especially following his comments late last year, when he admitted that he wants to play in the Champions League, something he is unlikely to achieve with the Hammers.

The midfielder has appeared over 200 times for the club and with just over a year left on his current deal, this summer represents the best chance of Moves racking in a massive transfer fee for the player.

Moyes has set a price tag of around £70m for Rice and if he wants to go, there is no doubt he should ditch him and launch a bid for Sara as a replacement.

The Brazilian has settled into life at Norwich extremely well, already scoring five goals and grabbing four assists for good measure, which from a central midfield role is excellent, and he certainly has the potential to succeed Rice.

Indeed, this season, the Championship sensation not only has more goals and assists than the Englishman, but he has also registered more shots (42 to 26), crosses (132 to 38), goal-creating actions (nine to four) and touches in the attacking penalty area (44 to 14), proving that he would be a significant upgrade, especially in an attacking sense.

Presenter Rob Butler recently stated that Sara “has officially reached hero status” following his recent performances and if Norwich don’t get promoted to the Premier League this term, they may find it hard to turn down a bid for the player.

With Rice’s future lying away from West Ham, Moyes will be working hard behind the scenes to secure someone who could adequately replace him.

Sara’s performances this season undoubtedly prove he could make the step-up with ease.

Manchester United are a club that have seemingly tried everything in an attempt to return to the top, having been so absent from the pinnacle of English football ever since Sir Alex Ferguson's 2013 retirement.

First employing David Moyes on his recommendation, his short-lived tenure gave birth to a decade of managerial upheaval, employing club heroes like Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, legends of the game like Jose Mourinho, and more recently a progress manager in Erik ten Hag with whom they are expected to trust to oversee the creation of a long-term sustainable project.

However, their start to the new Premier League season has thrown doubt over his credentials, with fans quick to forget the good work he engineered the year previously that returned them to the Champions League.

He will be keen to turn things around, but it must be noted that this is a process not to be completed overnight. Along with implementing a system which he hopes to yield unbridled success once again, he is also battling with regard to personnel, and ensuring that the right characters remain within the dressing room.

After all, there have been years of misfires in the market that have left them far from the level they will hope to be at.

When looking back on that plethora of deals that once promised the world, few disappointed so severely like Memphis Depay.

Why did Man United sign Memphis Depay?

Joining from PSV Eindhoven for £31m in 2015, the Dutch winger had been terrorising his homeland for years before the Red Devils came calling, with Louis van Gaal keen to bring in his compatriot in order to revolutionise his frontline.

After all, having scored 28 goals across all competitions in his final year before departing whilst also taking home the division's Golden Boot award, it seemed a foolproof signing especially given the rich history they share with forwards from that nation.

Robin van Persie and Ruud van Nistelrooy had both joined and spearheaded title charges in the past with their goalscoring exploits, and given the 29-year-old had recorded 79 goal contributions in 124 appearances for his club as a youngster, there was every reason to believe that the same might occur, especially under the experienced manager at the helm.

How good was Depay?

It would not pan out as expected, with the trickster scoring just two Premier League goals across a torrid debut year.

Such a titanic club suffering such aggressive upheaval were not to wait about for him to fulfil his potential, and just two years after his 2015 move he had left with just seven goals in 53 outings to his name, seeking to reignite his career with Lyon.

It is clear now that French football suited the dynamic forward far more, and there he would enjoy arguably the pinnacle of a career that later saw him join Barcelona before moving to their La Liga rivals for whom he now plays. Across four years in France, the £145k-per-week earner would score 76 and assist a further 55, typifying the perfect false nine, able to both drop deep to create and spearhead an attacking unit.

Such form then allowed him to become a mainstay for the national side too, with Ronald Koeman noting back in 2018: "He's great, he's turning into a top player. That's great, we need that, especially in attacking positions. He's showing that at Lyon, and at Oranje now as well.

"He has freedom here, that's what he needs to be the best Memphis. He can do that in this team. When he's a lone striker he tends to drift back too much, so we have a hole up front. But when he plays between the lines, like in the last part, he was so strong. He's turning, attacking, he's a joy to watch."

Whilst many might argue that Depay has fulfilled his potential away from Old Trafford, given the huge expectations placed upon his shoulders, this remains a notion still somewhat uncertain.

What was said about Depay when he first signed for Man United?

Given the money expended, it marked a hugely significant outlay for the time, but one which provoked huge interest from the masses.

Van Gaal would seek to talk up his new acquisition just after that 2015 capture, claiming: "I think he is one of the biggest, highly talented boys of his age because he is full of confidence."

However, that confidence would perhaps spill over into arrogance, with Dutch legend Ruud Gullit questioning his attitude during that torrid debut season: "I’m a fan of Memphis and have faith in him, but he has to do something to live up to expectations — and that is to perform.

"If you’re not performing you should not turn up for training in a new Rolls-Royce or Hummer. He’s got to focus entirely on football and that is where his advisors and so-called friends have a key role. He has been regarded as the biggest waste of money this season."

What makes his underperformance and subsequent speedy exit even more frustrating is the calibre of player he was compared to, with ESPN even penning a 2015 article suggesting he could be the club's new Cristiano Ronaldo.

"He is the type of player whom the United faithful have been dying to see since Ronaldo left in 2009 — a player who will make Old Trafford stand up each time he has the ball at his feet, like George Best, Eric Cantona and Ronaldo," writer Paul Parker noted.

An arrogant left winger with all the skill and bravado to terrorise full-backs, the comparisons were admittedly there to be made. However, with one quote reading "He is probably a better footballer than Cristiano Ronaldo was at 21," it feels like this is a report that has certainly not aged well.

How many goals has Cristiano Ronaldo scored?

Having first made his move to Old Trafford in 2003, as a little-known 18-year-old from Portugal, there were next to no expectations on the shoulders of the trickster.

Few could possibly have predicted that this gangly speedster would turn into one of the greatest goalscorers of all time, having currently notched 726 career goals and won countless trophies, including five Champions Leagues.

However, to refute that earlier claim, at 21 the 202-cap superstar had just spearheaded another Premier League triumph for Ferguson, scoring 17 and assisting eight in the process. In fact, just three years later he would make his legendary move to Real Madrid too, where he would become their leading all-time goalscorer and La Liga's second all-time top scorer, only bettered by his long-time rival Lionel Messi.

Depay realistically stood no chance of ever living up to such an impossible comparison, as it is unlikely that football will ever produce someone as talented as the Portuguese ace who won five Ballon d'Or's.

However, what is especially frustrating is that he never even came close, and even though he has enjoyed a solid career in his own right, it marked a lofty comparison that forced far too much weight onto such young shoulders.