Lionel Messi is regarded by many as the greatest footballer of all time, but the Barcelona and Argentina legend named another South American superstar as the best ever.
Some of the best quotes on Lionel Messi
Since making his Barca debut back in 2004 at the age of 17, Messi has dominated world football and has dazzled with the ball at his feet.
Regarded as Barcelona’s best ever player and the greatest footballer of all time by many, Messi made just under 800 senior appearances at the Nou Camp, winning every honour possible.
His individual brilliance is highlighted by lifting eight Ballon d’Or’s between 2009 and 2023, and as to be expected, there are plenty of quotes praising Messi down the years.
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Messi was asked by TyC Sports back in 2020 who he thought was his top rival for ‘Greatest of all Time’ status, and instead of naming long-term rival Cristiano Ronaldo, the Argentine selected Brazilian striker Ronaldo as his greatest.
Before the days of Messi and Cristiano, the former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid striker was one of the most recognisable names in football.
Powerful, extremely quick, incredible control and a clinical finisher, Ronaldo had every attribute a forward would want and every defender dreads.
A two-time Ballon d’Or winner, Ronaldo was also called “as good as Pele” by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whereas another iconic striker, Thierry Henry, said the Brazilian “reinvented the centre-forward position”.
If it wasn’t for a number of serious injuries, Ronaldo could have been spoken about in the same bracket of Messi and Cristiano, but even still he certainly left his mark on the former.
A third FA Cup victory in six years for Manchester City might not make up for a dismal 2024/25 campaign, but it could plant the seed for rejuvenation under Pep Guardiola next term.
Losing Rodri so early on in the season proved to be the catalyst for the club’s worst run of form since the Spaniard took over in the summer of 2016.
This ensured none of the big prizes would be heading to the Etihad. But it wasn’t just losing Rodri that impacted the club. As a group, the team underperformed as the most successful era in the club’s history drew to a close.
Phil Foden has gone from 40 goal contributions last season to registering just 16 throughout 2024/25 in what has been a steady decline.
Elsewhere, Jack Grealish has also been poor, recording only eight goal contributions all season, while even Kevin De Bruyne hasn’t quite been his influential self as he shows signs of slowing down.
Manchester City's KevinDeBruynecelebrates after the match
One of the biggest disappointments was Erling Haaland. The Norwegian had scored 52 and 38 goals across his first two seasons at the club, but has failed to hit those sorts of numbers this term.
Why Erling Haaland has struggled for Man City this season
The striker certainly began the campaign with a bang. Across his first five Premier League games, Haaland netted an impressive tally of ten goals.
This included back-to-back hat tricks against Ipswich Town and West Ham United. At this point, it appeared as though no one was going to prevent him, or City, from powering to another top-flight title.
Between the start of October and the end of 2024, however, Haaland managed to find the back of the net just three times. Even though his form picked up between January and March, an ankle injury sidelined him for a few games, and he hasn’t scored since March 30.
To put it into context how much of a drop-off the forward has endured this term, he has averaged a goal every 123 minutes in the Premier League this season, compared to every 95 minutes last year.
Metric
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
Goals
37
27
21
Goal conversion percentage
29%
22%
20%
Shots per game
3.5
3.9
3.6
Goal frequency (minutes)
77
95
123
Assists
8
5
3
Via Sofascore
Furthermore, Haaland’s goal conversion rate has dropped from 22% to 20% while he is averaging fewer shots per game (3.9 vs 3.6). These statistics might not indicate a serious drop-off, but considering he is about to end the season with his worst goal tally at a club since the 2021/22 season, there is a problem.
With Guardiola keen on bolstering his squad this summer, it looks as though he is eyeing a move for one of the finest wingers in Europe.
Could his potential arrival revive Haaland next season?
Man City eye move for Real Madrid superstar
City’s main transfer target this summer appears to be Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz. His agents apparently flew to England recently, but it is unclear whether they spoke to City about a move when the window opens.
It would be a major coup if they could secure his signature, but is another one of Europe’s finest being earmarked for a move to the Etihad?
According to Spanish news outlet Sport, City have contacted Real Madrid sensation Rodrygo in the hopes of bringing him to England.
The Brazilian will likely wait until Madrid have appointed a new manager following Carlo Ancelotti’s departure to take over as the Brazil manager.
The right offer could certainly tempt the La Liga giants into a sale, with a price tag set at around the €100m (£85m) mark, then the winger could be on the move.
Much will depend on how much Guardiola is willing to spend on the player, especially if he is successful in a deal to sign Wirtz, but City are lining up a swoop for the Brazil international.
Rodrygo on the right flank could certainly provide some much-needed attacking dynamism to the first-team, and he would work wonders for Haaland.
Why City should sign Rodrygo
Across 267 games for Madrid, the 24-year-old has registered 118 goal contributions – 68 goals and 50 assists in all competitions.
These goal involvements have helped the club win two La Liga crowns and two Champions League titles, but it looks as though his time in the Spanish capital might be coming to an end.
Capable of scoring goals in the biggest and most important games, he was hailed by journalist Dougie Critchley as being a “big game player” and this is someone Guardiola would surely love to have at his disposal next term.
When compared to his positional peers across Europe’s big five leagues, the Brazilian ranks in the top 1% for progressive passes, progressive carries, touches in the opposition penalty area, and progressive passes received per 90.
Additionally, he also ranks in the top 9% for assists and top 4% for shot-creating actions per 90 across the previous 365 days.
These qualities could be a dream for the Norwegian sensation. With Rodrygo getting into dangerous positions so often, especially in the attacking penalty area, Haaland would be the one to benefit, being offered countless chances in front of goal.
In La Liga this season, the Madrid winger has created five big chances while averaging 1.6 key passes per game. Add in the fact he succeeds with 1.6 dribbles – a success rate of 52% – per game, and it is clear to see exactly what he could offer to City from this summer onwards.
He and Haaland would make for a dream partnership that Guardiola would hope not only gives the club a chance at reclaiming back the Premier League title, but also for another chance of winning the Champions League.
Real Madrid'sRodrygolooks on
A lot of factors will have to work in City’s favour for a move to go ahead, but as the Spaniard knows, he cannot afford for his team to perform so poorly throughout 2025/26.
With Rodri set to return from injury soon, plus new signings like Nico Gonzalez and Omar Marmoush settling in nicely, City have the tools ready to begin a brand-new era at the Etihad.
Adding Rodrygo would be the icing on the cake.
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Tottenham Hotspur are actively doing their due-diligence on a potential replacement for Ange Postecoglou, according to various reports, following a lacklustre domestic campaign where Spurs are on course for their worst ever Premier League season.
Tottenham's shortlist of managerial candidates
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has been linked with the potential hires of numerous head coaches, with credible media sources like The Telegraph’s Matt Law reporting that Postecoglou could leave regardless of success in Europe.
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Even if Postecoglou delivers Tottenham’s first piece of major silverware since 2008 by winning the Europa League, his exit is seen as a real possiblity, and there are no shortage of replacements under rumoured consideration in N17.
Domestically, Andoni Iraola (Bournemouth), Marco Silva (Fulham), Oliver Glasner (Crystal Palace), Thomas Frank (Brentford) and Scott Parker (Burnley) have all found their way on to Tottenham’s managerial shortlist, while there are also more illustrious names thought of further abroad.
Tottenham’s final Premier League fixtures
Date
West Ham (away)
May 3rd
Crystal Palace (home)
May 10th
Aston Villa (away)
May 18th
Brighton (home)
May 25th
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, who now has an agreement in principle with Brazil (Fabrizio Romano), Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso and even ex-Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp have all been internally discussed as options to succeed Postecoglou, according to GiveMeSport.
Red Bull's Global Head of Soccer JuergenKloppduring a press conference
Reports in Germany last week also claimed that Tottenham have contacted Borussia Dortmund’s Niko Kovac, and we can expect many more manager links until Postecoglou’s dismissal is rebuffed or confirmed.
The link to Parker is an intriguing one, as the former Spurs midfielder knows the club well, and has just guided Burnley back to the English top flight at the first time of asking.
Pundits like Jamie O’Hara believe Parker wouldn’t be a bad appointment for Tottenham, despite the 44-year-old’s inexperience at such an elite side with high expectations.
Scott Parker would be "very" keen to manage Tottenham
Speaking to Tottenham News, former Lilywhites scout and ex-Levy employee, Bryan King, expressed his belief that Parker would be “very interested” in replacing Postecoglou at Spurs – provided they pay a “small” compensation fee of £10 million.
“Parker has worked at clubs where the budgets haven’t been large,” King said.
“He is a young up-and-coming manager, so why not look to him? It can’t be any worse than what we have had.He is an ex-Tottenham player. Therefore, I’d imagine he would be very interested in the job if it were offered to him.
“Tottenham will have to pay a compensation fee, probably around £10million. However, in today’s football market, that is a small price to pay.”
The ex-England man’s managerial career has been subject to highs and lows, with a failed stint at Belgian Jupiler Pro League side Club Brugge coming in-between Championship promotions at Fulham, Bournemouth and Burnley.
Parker was sacked by Bournemouth just four games into the 2022/2023 season after a 9-0 loss to Liverpool, and it remains to be seen if he enjoys greater top flight success at Burnley, given the massive gulf between England’s first and second tiers right now.
That being said, Parker has received glowing endorsements from the likes of Man City boss Pep Guardiola, who called him an “innovative” manager.
More than a test of his ability, the five-match series will be a test of Jaiswal’s adaptability
Sidharth Monga16-Jun-20250:58
Chopra: ‘I will back Jaiswal to do well in England’
Open trials are a wonderfully democratic notion. A place where you can bypass the need for local loyalties and connections. Especially when said trials are being conducted by an IPL team. However, in reality you have a short window of time to impress while facing bowlers you most certainly have not seen before, or heard of even.Most players are invited to trials on word-of-mouth recommendations from local rumour mills that get excited seeing young talent. One such boy at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai was then 16-year-old Yashasvi Jaiswal, yet to have played for the Mumbai senior side. His journey to the trials was astounding: leaving home, a village in Uttar Pradesh, at the age of 10 to live alone in big, bad Mumbai, starting out lodging in a tent at Azad Maidan.Nobody cares for such stories at these trials or any selection. You do so much yet you are still just one of hundreds who have turned up, hoping to catch the eye of a scout or a coach. The first ball Jaiswal faced in the nets, he moved across and ramped. This audacity, this courage, struck a chord with the Rajasthan Royals (RR).Related
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There’s nothing to say Jaiswal wouldn’t have made it through the traditional route of playing for his state side – after all, he had made it this far doing the same, and would go on to play for India Under-19 before turning 17 – but this is how it transpired. RR happen to be an anomalous T20 franchise that is format agnostic at their High Performance Centre in Talegaon in Maharashtra. It might not be all philanthropy. They realise kids in India don’t grow up playing a lot of T20 and come with little understanding of the format. So it is better to eliminate errors and have kids expand their games holistically rather than focus on a format they don’t yet know the grammar of.In Jaiswal, RR struck gold. His hunger and drive were comparable to the greats of the game. The courage was evident in his audacious journey from Bhadohi to Bombay. This level of ambition and RR’s investment in him were a match made in batting heaven. RR’s High Performance Centre is led by former Mumbai opener Zubin Bharucha, whose technique and understanding of the game is highly regarded by no less than Sunil Gavaskar. They went about dismantling Jaiswal’s game and then putting it back together.Yashasvi Jaiswal lived in the groundsman’s tent in Azad Maidan while training•Satyabrata Tripathy/Hindustan Times/Getty ImagesWhen Jaiswal played for India Under-19, former Test captain Rahul Dravid was in charge of India’s development squads. Even if he didn’t tour with every Under-19 or A team, he was the one who established the structure and oversaw the feeder systems to India’s senior teams. He remembers Jaiswal as exceptionally talented but someone who needed improvement to do well at senior levels. He was not in the league of, say, Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli before him.When Jaiswal made it as a standby batter for India’s squad for the final of the 2023 World Test Championship, Dravid was the head coach. He saw a much-improved batter. “Some of the practice pitches leading into the Test match were really spicy,” Dravid tells ESPNcricinfo. “It had been raining, and they were not well prepared. And he was willing to go out there and bat against whoever. Side-armers, [Mohammed] Shami or [Mohammed] Siraj or whoever. He just wanted to bat in those conditions, which for me and our other coaches was, ‘Wow, he wants to learn, he wants to improve. He wants to get better.’ From the time that I saw him at Under-19 to then, just his range of shots had improved.”Those who saw Jaiswal and Bharucha work in the intervening years talk of an obsessive streak. There were days when Jaiswal played 300 reverse sweeps to a variety of deliveries: different angles, height of release, pace, length, line. Any shot that needed work was met with similar dedication. There were days when they would practise just the sequencing of reverse sweep, orthodox sweep and the single down the ground. Or just the side-arm replicating bouncers at extreme pace from different angles. Often he left the nets with bloodied palms.Rahul Dravid was wowed by Yashasvi Jaiswal’s hunger to get better•AFP/Getty ImagesJaiswal was still a relatively blank slate so they could work on developing his ability to play shots to where fielders weren’t, and did so relatively safely. The idea was to face a variety of angles and deliveries in a single session. Sometimes he would face close to 100 overs of throwdowns and over-arm deliveries in a day.Skill was only part of it. This is a challenge to the notion that India has so many people playing cricket that they should automatically dominate the world. Amid such high competition, only the most desperate make it, but they also tend to be those who have had a hard childhood, which results in their desperation to succeed in the first place. In Jaiswal’s case, the RR medical team found that his body had been deprived of nutrients most kids his age should grow up with.It is again a testament to Jaiswal’s determination that he has kind of caught up when it once looked impossible. Only deeper into his career will we know how well he has progressed. Jaiswal became extremely diligent about nutrition, more deliberate in how he trained and worked out, realising this could be the difference between a good innings and a big innings, or 50 Tests and 100 Tests.If anything, Jaiswal might be a little too absorbed by his game. Those who have observed him describe him as a maverick, but one who can at times get caught up in his own head. While it is what gives him laser focus, it has the potential to ruffle those around him. That aspect of his personality is also something he has had to work on.Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrated a hundred on Test debut•Associated PressBy the time Jaiswal made his Test debut, his hunger for big innings was apparent. The West Indies attack wasn’t great in Dominica but they were disciplined on a slow pitch and slower outfield. The hosts had been bowled out for 150 so there was time in the game and Jaiswal made sure he nailed this opportunity. He went into stumps on 40 off 73, but completely shut shop the next morning when Jason Holder and Kemar Roach tested him. He added just seven in nearly an hour and ended up with 171 on debut.When conditions and match situations called for it, Jaiswal dominated England in only his third series, charging James Anderson, scoring two double-centuries, hitting 32 sixes. This ability to adapt his game to the demands of the conditions and the match situation is what most impressed Dravid, who exists between tolerating the notion of natural games and appreciating those who play the situation.”They’re all an ability to say I want to score runs, I like scoring runs, I know how to score runs and I’ll do whatever it takes to score runs,” Dravid says. “Sometimes bat aggressively, sometimes bat defensively, sometimes play from middle stump, sometimes play from outside leg stump. That’s a really good trait.”4:19
Jaiswal ‘the greatest news’ to come for India in Australia
In Australia, on tracks with excessive seam movement, Jaiswal’s usual set-up on middle stump followed by a shuffle was exploited by Mitchell Starc to get him on middle and leg. Jaiswal was quick to correct it by starting from outside leg. He was the first Indian batter to walk at the bowlers without compromising on back-foot shots. He was the second highest run-getter in the series, India’s best batter by a distance, and easily the best opener.In a young career of 19 Tests, Jaiswal has 14 fifty-plus scores at strike-rates ranging from 40.38 to 141.17. In a treacherous era for batting, he is averaging 52.88 when the overall average for openers in Tests he has played is 36.42.Jaiswal comes to England as a key member of the Indian Test team. There’s no Kohli or Rohit. Jasprit Bumrah will likely play only three Tests. Along with Rishabh Pant, Jaiswal has the most accomplished record among India’s Test batters.If England stick to playing Bazball, the pitches will be truer than the one we saw in the World Test Championship final. Such surfaces will call for Jaiswal to capitalise on starts and go big. If it seams, he will need to perhaps counterattack and respond to England’s methods. Conditions can vary a lot with the weather in England. More than a test of his ability, this tour will be a test of Jaiswal’s adaptability. And he’s shown plenty of ability to adapt already.
Champions, like Virat Kohli, embrace pressure and rise in its presence. They know how to shut out noise, and when to be buoyed by it
Sambit Bal10-Oct-2023Leading up to the World Cup, Rahul Dravid, whose press conferences have humour – often self-deprecating – and wisdom in equal measure, was asked about the inconveniences of India’s punishing travel schedule during the tournament.Indeed, no other team will log more air miles during this tournament, go through more airport routines, and play at more venues. Their World Cup began with a 2500-kilometre leg from Guwahati to Thiruvananthapuram, a route so thin that no direct commercial flights exist on it. With their two warm-up games in those cities washed out, all that travel would turn out to be an exercise in futility.Through the course of their league games, each played at a different venue than the one before, they will have travelled about 13,000km, roughly 3000 more than second-placed England. Pakistan, in contrast, will clock only about 7000km, mostly on account of playing their warm-ups and their first two matches of the tournament proper in Hyderabad.Related
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This, of course, is not the only nuisance during a home World Cup in India. As the class of 2011 could warn you, the chatter will be relentless: from airport lounges to in-room dining, the players will have no escape from their compatriots demanding the trophy be won. From 24-hour newsrooms to zillions of social-media handles, the stream of opinion and advice will be ceaseless. Unlike in 2011, when the team studiously shunned many forms of external aggravation – newspapers, websites and news channels – doing so will be a hopeless task in 2023, calling for monk-like abstinence from cell phones.And the demand for tickets – what an absolute menace. Each team member is allotted three per game, but hundreds of acquaintances beg for one or more. It prompted Virat Kohli, who must get more such requests than most, to put out a social-media post: don’t ask me for tickets, enjoy the World Cup from your homes, please. Another player made “No tickets please” his WhatsApp profile status. Others avoid calls from the usual suspects.
Sachin Tendulkar waited about 20 years to be a World Cup winner. Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan have that opportunity at the first go, in front of their own people
But it took Dravid only a couple of minutes to set things in perspective. He was responding in Hindi, so I will paraphrase. What trouble, he said. What an exciting opportunity, instead, to go to so many different places, let fans have a chance to see their favourite players, from airports to stadiums. We are playing a World Cup at home, in front of our people. What can be bigger than that? What can be more exciting?He should know. Despite a long and sterling career, he never got that opportunity. Neither did some others from that golden generation, including Sourav Ganguly. VVS Laxman never got to play a World Cup at all, and he carried that hurt for years. Only Virat Kohli and R Ashwin from the current squad know what it is like to play a World Cup at home. Rohit Sharma, who has called this World Cup the biggest event of his career, knows how utterly rotten it is to miss out: he lost out in 2011 by a whisker.What a blessing it is, then, for those making their World Cup debuts at home. Sachin Tendulkar waited about 20 years to be a World Cup winner. Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan have that opportunity at the first go, in front of their own people. Of course there will be pressure. But pressure follows expectation. And expectations are placed only on champions.Pressure, as Billie Jean King said, is privilege.King, winner of 39 tennis Grand Slam titles, won the highly publicised Battle of the Sexes match in 1973 after she accepted an obnoxious challenge from Bobby Riggs, a former Wimbledon winner and a serial baiter of women tennis players. Riggs was 55, and 26 years older than King, when the match was played, but he had earlier that year defeated Margaret Court, another Grand Slam winner, then ranked No. 1, in straight sets. The King vs Riggs match carried a winner-takes-all prize of US$100,000, a fortune in those days. But there was a lot more at stake: King was stepping up, too, for liberals and feminists, who had been appalled by Riggs’ comments, which included this gem: “Women belong in the bedroom and the kitchen, in that order.”And everywhere the players go, the fans want a piece of them•Getty ImagesAmong Indian players, no one will have known pressure more intimately than Tendulkar, and I had the opportunity to talk to him about the burden once. How was it going out to bat with a knowledge that a fifty wouldn’t be enough because a hundred was expected? His response was similar to King’s. “I have never seen it as a burden,” he said. “I would rather have people, and my team-mates, expect things of me than not expect anything. It’s an honour. I am fortunate to be in that place. It shows that people care.”Kohli hasn’t merely followed Tendulkar’s path in run-scoring, he has inherited the universality of his mass appeal too. To be at the MA Chidambaram Stadium for India’s World Cup opener was to be exposed to the full force of Kohlimania. His mere presence at the boundary was electrifying: wherever he went on the field, it led to instant and spontaneous cheering and chanting of his name, which stood out for its authenticity against the announcer’s continual, and grating, attempts to orchestrate crowd responses over the public address system.When it mattered, Kohli paid it back in equal measure, first by absorbing the blows Australia were delivering – they had reduced India to 2 for 3, a score from which no team had won chasing in an ODI – and then slowly and inexorably taking the match away.That’s what champions do. They embrace pressure and rise in its presence. They know how to shut out the noise, and when to be buoyed by it. They know how to ride the wave of emotion and how not to be swept away by it. They also accept failure as inevitable and they know how to leave it behind, like they do a game after the last ball is bowled. Kohli played and missed, chopped a ball past his stumps, and was dropped on 12. Unruffled, he extracted full toll.He has known what it is like to win a World Cup at home, having had the good fortune to experience it in his first World Cup. He now has the chance of an encore in what could be his final World Cup. And having missed out on one, what might Rohit not trade to get on board? The World Cup comes once in four years; for many, a home World Cup comes once in a career. It’s a chance to create memories for a lifetime.Pressure? Who has won a World Cup without embracing it?
He is a radically different bowler from the one he was before 2015 and the numbers say as much
Himanish Ganjoo06-Sep-2021After being omitted from India’s XI in Adelaide in 2014, a dejected R Ashwin expressed his desire to be the best in the world to India’s bowling coach, B Arun. In the 13 matches India had played outside of Asia since the winter of 2013, Ashwin had played just five, averaging 54.6 with the ball. Spurred by being dropped, he battled an old flaw in his action in net sessions: his alignment at the crease. His front foot was going across his body while delivering the ball, closing off his hip.Biomechanics research confirms how vital the hip is to a spinner’s efficacy. According to a study of the delivery motions of 36 Test match fingerspinners conducted at Loughborough University in 2019, the orientation of the hip at the time of the front foot landing was shown to be the most important factor in how many revolutions the spinner could impart to the ball. Arun gave a detailed account of how this issue was corrected, opening up Ashwin’s hip so he could transfer more energy to his bowling arm, put more revolutions on the ball, and bowl with more control.Related
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This change transformed Ashwin’s strategies and results against right-handers. We have ball-tracking data for about 50% of Ashwin’s deliveries in Test cricket before 2015, and 77% of his deliveries from 2015 onwards. We can use these samples to study this shift.The plot below shows the distribution of Ashwin’s line measured at the stumps during two segments of his career, until the WTC final of 2021. The distribution shifts noticeably after his change in action: while it was peaking on a middle-and-leg line earlier, 2015 onwards it shifts towards the top of off stump, which is the classical attacking line for an offspin bowler. This change was driven by his new, open-hip action. Because of a better alignment, his arm was less likely to fall off towards the leg stump, which shifted his overall line towards off. This off-stump line brings the outside edge into play, opening up more modes of dismissal than just the lbw, bowled or bat-pad that are in play with the middle-and-leg line.Himanish Ganjoo/ESPNcricinfoThe results of this change are clear in the numbers: Ashwin’s average to right-handers dropped from 39.7 before 2015 to 27.1 afterwards. Threatening the off stump also changed the distribution of his wicket-taking modes. Before 2015, 47% of his right-hander dismissals were caught, 23.5% were bowled and 27% were lbw. After the change in action, 60.9% of his right-hander wickets have been caught, 22.5% bowled, and only 14.5% are lbw.Shifting to a line outside the off stump gives an offbreak bowler greater chances of inviting the drive or of making the batter fend slightly away from the body, which results in greater chances of slip- and bat-pad catches. This line also exposes the stumps more often, leading to a higher chance of getting a batter bowled. Before 2015, Ashwin got a right-hand batter bowled every 316 balls; from 2015 onwards, this happened every 241 balls.Against left-hand batters, Ashwin possesses an exceptional record, even for an offspin bowler. Fifty one percent of his career wickets have been left-hand bats, at a strike rate of 45.8, which is the lowest among offspin bowlers to have bowled more than 100 balls to left-handers since 2005 (from which time ball-by-ball data is available). Forty-four per cent of Ashwin’s career deliveries have been to left-hand batters, the highest among offspinners in the ball-by-ball database.What makes Ashwin exceptional, compared to the average offspinner, to left-handers?Himanish Ganjoo/ESPNcricinfoOverall, Ashwin’s strike rate to left-handers is 45% better than that of the average offspinner in the ball-by-ball database. We can break this down by mode of dismissal: his likelihood of getting a left-hand bat out lbw is 37% better than the average, while his rate of getting left-hand players out bowled is a whopping 92% higher than other offspin bowlers. The key to uncovering the reasons for these numbers lies in the areas Ashwin bowls.The plot below shows distributions of the line of the ball in the plane of the stumps for Ashwin and other offspin bowlers to left-handed batters. Ashwin is much likelier to have the ball end in line with the stumps compared to other offspinners: 52% of his recorded balls end up within the stumps, compared to 36% for other spinners. This translates to a twofold risk: batters are likelier to get bowled or lbw, and likelier to play at deliveries. And if the ball turns to beat the outside edge, there is a higher risk of getting bowled.Himanish Ganjoo/ESPNcricinfoAshwin is not only bowling straighter now but is also deadlier. The plot below shows the bowling strikes rates of Ashwin and other offspinners to left-hand batters, segmented by the line and length of pitching. Only regions with more than 20 balls in them are shown. The values in the cells show the strike rate, and the numbers in brackets for Ashwin are the total balls recorded pitching in that zone.Ashwin generally has a better strike rate in almost every slot, but the difference for full-length balls (three to five metres from the stumps) on both off and leg stumps is stark. Ashwin is much more successful at outdoing the batter on a fuller length compared to other offspinners, who often get defended on the front foot or driven off similar balls. Ashwin bowls more on turning pitches, but the key to this higher efficacy also lies in his mastery over changes of pace, changes in turn, and what the ball does in the air.Himanish Ganjoo/ESPNcricinfoSpinners usually bowl with the seam oriented in one direction. This orientation of the seam not only determines turn off the pitch but also the drift and dip the ball gets. Drift and dip are complementary shades of the same force, and changing the direction of the seam controls the relative amounts of each.Ostensibly, spin bowling is about the changing line of the ball on pitching. The key to playing spin, however, is gauging length effectively. Playing spin well demands a binary strategy: either going fully forward and meeting the ball right after pitching, or rocking back, letting the ball turn and then playing it. The former minimises the lateral deviation of the ball by having the batter intercept it early, giving the best chance at middling it. The latter gives the batter enough time to watch the ball after turning. In between these two lies the danger of getting out – defending the ball while not reaching the pitch leaves the batter vulnerable to the uncertainty of the turning ball, raising the chances of missing it.The statistics support this definition of a “danger zone”. In , a book that describes the mechanics of the game through numbers, Nathan Leamon and Ben Jones use ball-tracking and shot-interception data to conclude about playing spin: “…it is far safer to play the ball within 1.5 metres of where it pitches, or to play it over 3.5 metres away from that point. Those areas both average over 80 for top-order players, whereas the most dangerous zone between 2 and 3 metres has an average of just 14.”Because spinners bowl slower than other bowlers, it is easier for batters to adjust to length. The key to deceiving a batter, then, is hoodwinking them over where the ball will pitch.Here is where dip comes in. The batter estimates the pitching length from the height of the ball and extends their foot forward. A ball with dip drops at the very end of its trajectory, falling shorter than anticipated, in the danger zone.Ashwin uses this dip expertly to beat the bat in two major modes of dismissal. The right-hand batter’s inside edge is threatened by the dipping ball that lands a little farther from the bat than expected, increasing chances of the bat-pad dismissal. A recent instance of this was Steve Smith’s dismissal in the second innings of the Melbourne Test of 2020. Smith extended his front foot to reach the pitch, but the ball dipped and deviated more than he had predicted, making him close the bat face and edge it to leg slip.Another telling example was the wicket of Jermaine Blackwood in the Jamaica Test of 2016. ESPNcricinfo commentary describes the bat-pad catch: “…the ball dips to create a gap between the bat and the pitch of the ball, it then turns to take the inside edge of the bat onto the pad…”The data supports Ashwin’s use of drift to target the inside edge of right-hand batters. The CricViz database records which edge is touched when a batter makes contact with the ball. In Asia, where we have a decent sample size, 39% of other offspinners’ wickets come off the inside edge. The corresponding figure is 51.2% for Ashwin, from a total of 39 recorded wickets.The second form of dismissal is the classical one for an offspin bowler – opening up the batter for the big drive on the off side and sneaking through to hit the stumps. The dismissal of Roston Chase in Rajkot in 2018 illustrates the role of dip beautifully for this case. The ball is floated up, invites a drive, and dips at the very last moment, missing the bat and turning big to hit the stumps.Ashwin got Alastair Cook out twice at Edgbaston in 2018 with deliveries that dipped, then gripped and turned to hit the stumps•Getty ImagesTo left-handers, Ashwin uses dip to threaten the stumps beyond the outside edge off fuller lengths. There are seven bowled dismissals of left-handers in the ball-tracking data for which the pitching line is within the stumps and the length is less than five metres from the stumps. The ESPNcricinfo commentary for six of these mentions either drift or dip. This is what lowers Ashwin’s strike rate in the full-length region for balls pitching on middle and leg to left-hand batters (as the strike-rate plot above shows). A classic example of this was his dismissal of Alastair Cook in the Edgbaston Test of 2018. Anticipating a full ball, Cook extends his foot forward gently. The ball dips at the very last moment, landing far ahead of Cook’s pushed-out pad, turning past the blade and hitting the stumps. Talking to the host broadcaster later, Ashwin confirmed the role of dip.Dip, although essential, is not the only component of a spinner’s threat. In the example of the Cook wicket, the seam is tilted towards second slip. This generates both dip and drift.Drift makes the ball deviate laterally mid-air, deceiving the batter into playing down the wrong line. An offspinner’s ball drifts towards the leg stump of the left-hander in this instance, making them play straighter. In the Cook dismissal, the ball drifts in gently with the angle, and Cook’s push is towards long-on, his chest opened up completely, his off stump exposed.Drift sets the stage for the batter to miss the away-turning ball. Ben Duckett’s wicket in the Vizag Test of 2016 is similar; he is even more squared up by the drift, his front pad moves almost outside leg stump as the ball hits the stumps.Against the right-hand batter, this outward drift invites the big drive, exposing the bat-pad gap, like in the Chase dismissal above. Less conventionally, Ashwin combines it with pinpoint control over the turn he gets to deftly threaten the outside edge of the bat, making the ball drift away and then skid on with the line. The twin dismissals of Ollie Pope in Ahmedabad earlier this year are classic examples – the ball drifts away and beats the outside edge of the right-hand bat, landing on the leather because Ashwin has released it with his palm facing upwards. The same mechanics were at work when Steve Smith was caught at first slip in Adelaide in 2020.In the post-doosra era, Ashwin has found ways to threaten both edges of the bat by controlling turn, drift and dip with subtle variations of his finger positions on the ball and the way he loads and unloads his wrist upon release.
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Controlling the fate of one delivery is just half the job. Wickets in long-format cricket are about set-ups: getting the batter programmed to respond to a certain ball and then bowling something else to catch them off guard. For a spinner, this con is established via variations in turn and pace.The Cook wicket we looked at above is an example of this too. The first two balls in the over are quicker, bowled at more than 90kph, while the third and fourth – the latter of which fetches the wicket – are at 83kph. Moreover, the second ball is shorter and slides on with the arm, seeding doubt in Cook’s mind, setting him up for the wicket ball, which turns big.A more recent example is the wicket of Tom Latham in the second innings of the WTC final. In the 20 balls Ashwin bowled to Latham before getting him out, only two were slower than 85kph, mostly hovering in the late 80s and early 90s. The wicket ball was floated up wide and slow – at 83kph – inviting the drive and creating a catch.The available tracking data does not have information on release points, so turn can be hard to measure, but we can use it to judge how Ashwin compares with other prominent spinners of today in how he uses variations in pace to get wickets. We will consider all of Ashwin’s wickets for which we have tracking data, and for which the previous ball was faced by the same batter. We will then calculate the difference in speed between the wicket-taking ball and the one before it. Although this does not account for longer drawn-out set-ups, it does give us a simple measure of the variation of speed immediately prior to the dismissal.The table below shows a summary of this “speed variation” for seven spinners for whom a large enough sample is available. The third column shows the proportion of instances in which the speed variation between the wicket ball and the one before it was more than 5kph.Ashwin employs this variation of speed for more than a third of his wickets (36.59%). Ravindra Jadeja, who is a phenomenal spinner himself, is the only one who comes close. The fourth column shows the proportion of wickets when the speed variation is extreme: more than 10kph. Here too, Ashwin (and Jadeja) are comfortably clear of the others. Ashwin’s median variation in speed is also much higher than the other five bowlers in the list.Himanish Ganjoo/ESPNcricinfoAs Ashwin took bagfuls of wickets at home, discussions of his place among the pantheon of greats always came with the riders of not having done well in the SENA countries – supposedly similar conditions that are different from his home surfaces. In recent years, pitches in England and South Africa have been exceptionally pace-friendly, and Australian pitches have never been known to be kind to fingerspin. Despite all this, considering the period from 2015 to the end of the WTC final, Ashwin has the best average in the SENA nations for specialist spinners who have bowled in ten or more innings and 100 or more overs. He also has the best economy rate (2.62), which points to him being a controller of runs at one end in support of India’s recently raring pace battery. In addition, he also has the second-highest wickets-per-innings figure (2.0). The label of Ashwin not being good in these select nations is a misconception that has stuck around for too long – and the record needs to be set right. Ashwin has been the best a spinner can be in the conditions given to him, in addition to being unbelievably good in Asia.Himanish Ganjoo/ESPNcricinfoOn his YouTube talk show, Murali Kartik asked Ashwin what had changed after that disappointing Australia tour in 2014-15. Ashwin talked about his inexperience, the “exuberance of youth”, and about how he looked at the result and not the process. He went on to gorge on footage of great offspinners and videos detailing the execution of various kinds of deliveries, to “learn something from somewhere, and identify and piece together the puzzle” for himself. Ashwin explained that he was a completely different bowler – he was in a better state to control the properties of his deliveries as he wanted because he understood the how of his bowling.The result of this obsessive devotion to understanding and honing the mechanics of his bowling has been the elevation of Ashwin to No. 2 in the ICC rankings for Test bowlers. Today he is at the peak of the long-form bowler’s craft: that holy confluence of cricketing nous to construct wickets and physical ability to execute those plans near perfectly. He already knew how to use the pitch; he has now mastered the art of beating the bat in the air as well. The best in the world.
The Mets envisioned competing for a World Series in 2025, a season removed from a surprise run to the NLCS with a roster bolstered by the $765 million man, Juan Soto. As the July 31 trade deadline looms, New York is right in the thick of the crowded playoff race, at 62–44 and 1.5 games up on the Phillies in one of baseball's most competitive divisions.
After running out to a blazing hot start, however, the Mets hit a major skid ahead of the All-Star break, one that pulled back the curtain on a number of significant issues for the current roster. The starting rotation is relatively deep, and none of the Mets’ main starters have been truly disappointing, but aside from first-time All-Star David Peterson, the group has struggled to give manager Carlos Mendoza real length to begin games. The bullpen was a strength early on, but beyond All-Star closer Edwin Diaz, who has had an impressive bounceback season, the Mets’ top options struggled while the team limped into the midseason break. And while the dynamic group of Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso and Soto have provided the top of the Mets order with some serious punch, the back end has struggled to provide a real threat, with center field serving as a spot that could use an offensive upgrade.
With the hours counting down to Thursday’s trade deadline, the Mets are expected to target arms for both the rotation and bullpen, with center field being the most logical position for an offensive upgrade. Here are the three players that could slide seamlessly into New York’s roster in the coming days.
Mets Need: Starting Pitcher
New York entered the season with injuries to Sean Manaea, the team’s top pitcher for much of last season, as well as offseason addition Frankie Montas. The eight pitchers tasked to handle the majority of the team’s starts to begin the year, have averaged just over five innings per outing.
It is unlikely that team president David Stearns will be able to find a true top-flight starter in a relatively weak trade market for those types of arms, but adding someone who can consistently give the team six or seven quality innings would go a long way towards bolstering the staff.
Ideal Fit: Joe Ryan — Twins, RHP
Joe Ryan has been one of the American League’s best starters this season, and was named to his first All-Star Game. / Matt Blewett-Imagn Images
Ryan, a first-time All-Star for Minnesota this season, may be the top arm available on the market this week and comes in at No. 1 on 's trade candidate big board. It will likely take a pretty impressive offer for the Twins to part with him; at 29, Ryan is hitting his prime but remains under team control through the 2027 season and is making $3 million this year. That blend of factors could make him more attractive to Stearns, who is often loath to commit big money to top-flight pitchers in free agency.
MLB insider Jon Heyman indicated that the Mets had interest in Ryan at the deadline last week.
Ryan is 10–5 with a 2.82 ERA and 137 strikeouts in 121.1 innings pitched. His impressive 0.923 WHIP is fifth in all of baseball. He’d immediately give the Mets real punch at the top of the rotation, and his addition could help the Mets’ staff holistically, taking some pressure off of the strained bullpen. Ryan has pitched at least six innings in 11 of his 21 starts, and has gone seven innings five times this season. The Mets’ entire rotation has just starts of seven or more innings, with Peterson responsible for five of them.
Mets Need: Relief Pitcher
New York has already made one move to bolster its tired bullpen, trading for Orioles lefty reliever Gregory Soto. He was effective in his first outing with his new team on Sunday, posting a 1-2-3 seventh inning in the Mets’ 5–3 win at the Giants.
Before the Soto move, Stearns indicated that the franchise could add multiple arms to the pen, saying that “providing our group some reinforcements in the bullpen would be great.” With season-ending injuries to A.J. Minter, Dedniel Núñez, Danny Young and Max Kranick, New York could certainly use another reliable arm to spare Diaz and the Mets’ main setup options, Reed Garrett, Huascar Brazoban and Ryne Stanek, all of whom have pitched in at least 41 games this season.
Ideal Fit: David Bednar — Pirates, RHP
Pirates RHP David Bednar has bounced back from a rough start to the year to become one of baseball’s most reliable relievers. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
After a rough start to the season and an early April option down to the minors, Bednar has reemerged as one of baseball’s most reliable relievers, earning National League reliever of the month honors in June. Bednar has been incredibly effective at missing bats, striking out 12.4 batters per nine innings. Of the Mets’ core pitchers, only Diaz has been more prolific in striking out batters.
The two-time All-Star has recorded 16 saves this season, and would give New York another option on nights in which Diaz is unavailable, and could serve as a more reliable bridge to the ninth-inning otherwise.
With the Pirates once again falling into mid-season rebuild mode, Bednar could be one of the more affordable top-flight relief options on the market compared to players like the Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase and Twins’ Jhoan Duran, and brings another year of team control on his deal. 's MLB team ranks him as the No. 21 player on the trade candidate big board.
Mets Need: Center Fielder
Nimmo and Juan Soto are locked in, every-day players in the Mets’ corner outfield spots, but center field has been problematic for New York this year. Tyrone Taylor is a defensive stalwart but doesn’t provide much with the bat. Jeff McNeil has filled the position admirably, but that creates another hole at his natural second base. Adding an everyday center fielder could help shore up the back end of the order for a team ranked in the bottom 10 in baseball for runners left in scoring position at 3.58 per game.
Ideal Fit: Cedric Mullins — Orioles
Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins has been inconsistent at the plate in 2025, but could provide the Mets with some much-needed pop in the bottom of the lineup. / James A. Pittman-Imagn Images
The Mets have already done business with Baltimore at the deadline, adding Gregory Soto last week. The Orioles have been one of baseball’s biggest disappointments in 2025 at just 47–58 and in last place in the AL East. The future in Baltimore should still be bright, but ‘25 is proving to be a lost season, and Mullins may not factor into the franchise’s plans down the road, as he prepares to hit free agency in the offseason.
Mullins has struggled as the year has gone on, with a batting average of .217 and a rough 97 OPS+ on the year. Even so, he provides pop, with 14 home runs and 45 RBIs on the year, and could be a prime candidate for regression up to the mean with a change of scenery to a team in contention.
ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports that New York has eyed Mullins and the White Sox’ Luis Robert Jr. as candidates to fill the center field void, but with Robert’s higher price tag, current injury concerns and his own inconsistencies over the last few years, Mullins could be the safer and more affordable bet here. He is currently ranked No. 19 on SI's trade candidate big board.
Arsenal are well-stocked all over the pitch and boast one of the finest squad depths in England, yet they continue to be linked with high-profile transfers ahead of January.
Arsenal overcome Brentford to go five points clear
On the pitch, Mikel Arteta’s side maintained their commanding lead at the Premier League summit with a professional 2-0 victory over Brentford at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
The victory extended their unbeaten streak to an incredible 18 matches across all competitions, with Arteta seriously rotating his squad following a recent demanding triple-header against Tottenham, Bayern Munich and Chelsea.
Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest
Athletic Bilbao 0-2 Arsenal
Arsenal 1-1 Man City
Port Vale 0-2 Arsenal
Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal
Arsenal 2-0 Olympiacos
Arsenal 2-0 West Ham
Fulham 0-1 Arsenal
Arsenal 4-0 Atlético Madrid
Arsenal 1-0 Crystal Palace
Arsenal 2-0 Brighton
Burnley 0-2 Arsenal
Slavia Prague 0-3 Arsenal
Sunderland 2-2 Arsenal
Arsenal 4-1 Tottenham
Arsenal 3-1 Bayern Munich
Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal
Arsenal 2-0 Brentford
Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber and Eberechi Eze were all rested from the starting lineup, but the Gunners’ strength in depth showed with Ben White and Noni Madueke combining brilliantly down the right throughout.
The opener arrived early on when White delivered an inviting cross that found Mikel Merino, who powered a header past Caoimhin Kelleher for his fifth goal of the campaign.
The Spaniard, who Arteta never expected to be the proficient going forward, has now netted 21 times in 2025 for club and country, showcasing his remarkable goalscoring form.
Arsenal suffered a blow before the interval when Cristhian Mosquera limped off with an ankle injury, compounding their defensive concerns with both Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba already sidelined. Timber then replaced the injured defender as Arteta juggled his limited centre-back options.
Brentford manager Keith Andrews introduced Igor Thiago, Mikkel Damsgaard and Jordan Henderson from the bench after an hour, while Arteta countered by bringing on Saka and Eze.
Arsenal controlled proceedings but missed several opportunities to seal the contest earlier.
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To add further injury worry after Mosquera, Arsenal’s arguable player of the season, Declan Rice, departed late with a calf problem, with Arteta now sweating over his fitness ahead of a hectic Christmas schedule and the clash with Aston Villa.
Saka finally made the points safe in stoppage time, latching onto Merino’s perfectly weighted pass before finishing past Kelleher despite the goalkeeper getting a hand to the effort.
Given Arsenal’s injury curse which has plagued them since last season, sporting director Andrea Berta will be attentive to any unmissable transfer market opportunities.
Enter Real Madrid forward Rodrygo, who is reportedly up for sale this winter after playing a bit-part role under Xabi Alonso.
Rodrygo expresses wish to join Arsenal as agents open talks
Arsenal have already been linked with a move for the Brazil international heading into January, following exploratory talks over a deal last summer.
The 24-year-old has managed just three La Liga starts this term, making the vast majority of his appearances off the bench, with Rodrygo believed to be in the process of finding a new club.
That is according to TEAMtalk and reporter Graeme Bailey, who also state that Rodrygo has ‘expressed a wish’ to join Arsenal among four other Premier League sides he’s also interested in.
Crucially, though, the ex-Santos star’s agents have apparently reopened talks with Arteta’s side, who also ‘pushed hardest’ to sign him in the summer window.
However, Arsenal will need a minimum £70 million to strike a deal, with a loan appearing unlikely as things stand.
Berta and co, meanwhile, are believed to be monitoring his situation closely, which isn’t hard to see why given their bad luck with injuries, not to mention the uncertainty surrounding Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.
The latter wingers are both out of contract in under two years, and with no sign of an extension for either, Arsenal need to think about long-term succession planning.
Rodrygo’s £282,000-per-week salary would put him in line with Arsenal’s highest earners, so it is an expensive transfer to pull off beyond just his club fee.
That being said, Rodrygo is also a player of proven quality, having racked up 68 goals and 53 assists in under 300 appearances for Los Blancos.
Major League Baseball will be making a "strategic investment" in the new AUSL—Athletes Unlimited Softball League—in a "first-of-its-kind, comprehensive partnership with a women's professional sports league," the body announced Thursday.
The partnership will serve to elevate and grow the AUSL by leveraging MLB's "marketing, events, distribution, editorial, digital and social platforms, content and more, including select AUSL games airing on MLB Network and MLB.com," per the release.
Major League Baseball will also support the fledgling operation financially by assisting with operational costs and growth initiatives.
“Major League Baseball’s investment in the AUSL represents an opportunity to support softball’s long-term growth and expand our engagement with these outstanding athletes and their fans," said baseball commissioner Robert Manfred.
"During this extraordinarily exciting time for women’s sports, we want softball to thrive. MLB is committed to help build a sustainable and impactful league that drives fandom, serves the softball community, and benefits all female athletes.”
Added AUSL commissioner and former Miami Marlins GM Kim Ng: “This is a watershed moment for women’s sports and especially for softball. MLB’s investment will supercharge our efforts to build the sustainable professional league this sport has long deserved, and sends a powerful message about the value of female athletes and the importance of creating professional opportunities for them. Together, we’re going to reach new fans and inspire the next generation of softball players.”
The AUSL will begin its inaugural season, comprising 24 games, on Saturday, June 7. Four teams will compete this year: the Bandits, Blaze, Talons and Volts.
Newcastle United have now reignited their interest in James Trafford, who has reportedly made his feelings clear about a potential move away from Manchester City in January.
The Magpies could certainly do with a lift in the winter window amid their current struggles. Eddie Howe’s side have won just three of their opening 11 games in the Premier League so far this season and are paying the price for a chaotic summer.
After defeat against Brentford, the international break couldn’t have been better-timed. It’s allowed record signing Nick Woltemade to find the back of the net for Germany once again and has granted Howe the time he needs to find a solution for his side’s problems.
The towering 23-year-old has been one of the few bright sparks for Newcastle since arriving in the summer, but Alan Shearer still believes he can still go up a few levels.
Speaking after Newcastle’s loss against Brentford, the Premier League’s record goalscorer said: “I’ve said before that as good as Nick Woltemade is with the ball at his feet, he is a problem for Newcastle because he’s not the quickest, and he can’t press, and he doesn’t run in behind.
“Eddie’s teams have always done that. Look at what Alexander Isak did or look at what Callum Wilson did, they all pressed and ran behind. But this guy can’t do that, and that’s a problem for Newcastle.”
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ByAngus Sinclair Nov 14, 2025
That said, it would be harsh to suggest that Woltemade is the Magpies’ biggest problem. Before anything, they must address the form of their wingers and perhaps even return for some missed targets such as Trafford from the summer.
Newcastle reignite James Trafford move
According to TeamTalk, Newcastle have now re-opened talks with Trafford via his representatives, as they a January deal with Man City.
The goalkeeper rejected the chance to join the Magpies in the summer, but has since been made to regret his decision after City signed Gianluigi Donnarumma so soon after his return to the Etihad.
Despite interest from Tottenham and West Ham, it is believed Newcastle’s ‘advanced talks’ from the summer, their pull and Saudi-backed ambition hands them an ‘edge’ in the race for his signature — making Howe’s side favourites.
He’s reportedly desperate to leave the Manchester club in an attempt to keep hold of his place in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad. Newcastle, as a result, are moving ahead of the winter window.
If the 23-year-old could turn back time, then he could be a Newcastle player right now. He returned to Man City ready to take Ederson’s place, but was simply sold a dream by Pep Guardiola and others who quickly welcomed their true replacement for the Brazilian in Donnarumma.
Now, he arguably needs Newcastle more than they need him. With Aaron Ramsdale and Nick Pope providing them with solid options, Trafford’s arrival would be more of a luxury than a necessity at this stage.
Nonetheless, having been described as “world-class” by Burnley boss Scott Parker last season, the young shot-stopper is still undoubtedly a player full of potential in the Premier League.
Newcastle now ready to race Barcelona to sign De Bruyne-esque talent