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Leeds United have now submitted a proposal for an “insane” forward, who is now keen on a move to Elland Road this summer, according to a report.

Leeds eyeing new forwards amid Joseph and Bamford uncertainty

Daniel Farke has now made it clear that Mateo Joseph has expressed a desire to move on this summer, with the manager saying: “With him the situation is quite clear. We really value and rate him – otherwise we wouldn’t have played him, especially in the beginning of the last successful campaign ahead of a golden boot winner in Joel Piroe and an experienced striker like Patrick Bamford.

“Nevertheless, he came to me and asked for a new challenge and would like to move. He has also hinted that he prefers a move to Spain due to his Spanish roots. That was his call.”

It is starting to look increasingly likely the striker will leave, given that Farke has no plans to stand in his way, and he is not the only Leeds centre-forward that could be on the move, with widespread reports suggesting Patrick Bamford’s time at Elland Road could be over.

Better than Muniz: 49ers open first talks to sign "ridiculous" CF for Leeds

Leeds United might prefer to clinch a deal for this ridiculous striker over chasing after Rodrigo Muniz.

5

By
Kelan Sarson

Jul 23, 2025

As a result, one of Farke’s main tasks will be to bring in a new striker this summer, but the manager is also keen on bringing in a new winger, with Tottenham Hotspur’s Manor Solomon recently re-entering the frame as a potential option.

Feyenoord’s Igor Paixao has also emerged as a target for the Whites, and there has now been a promising new update on their pursuit of the forward, with The Yorkshire Evening Post revealing he likes the idea of playing for Leeds in the Premier League.

The newly-promoted side have now submitted an official proposal to the representatives of Paixao, and his entourage were impressed by Leeds’ presentation, indicating that a deal could be possible.

In a further update, it has now been revealed the Whites have submitted a formal €35m (£30m) offer for the forward’s services, which is close to Feyenoord’s asking price.

"Insane" Paixao could be statement signing for Leeds

Having only just achieved promotion from the Championship, Farke’s side would be making a real statement if they were able to sign the 25-year-old, given the level of his performances for Feyenoord last season.

The Brazilian was the driving force behind his club recording a third-place finish in the Eredivisie, collecting 16 goals and 14 assists in 34 appearances, while also picking up seven goal contributions in 11 Champions League outings.

Scout Ben Mattinson has also likened the Eredivisie star to Real Madrid’s Rodrygo, in light of his “insane” ball striking ability, and he is very impressive at dribbling in tight spaces.

It is clear that Paixao could make a real impact in Leeds’ battle for survival next season, so it is exciting news that a deal could very much be on the cards.

Bairstow leads new leadership shake-up at Headingley with Dawid Malan to captain in the T20 Blast

Vithushan Ehantharajah27-Mar-2025Jonny Bairstow has been announced as Yorkshire captain, following in the footsteps of his late father, David, who skippered the county between 1984 and 1988.Bairstow will lead the club upon their return to Division One of the County Championship next week as part of a new leadership set-up at Headingley which will see Dawid Malan captain in the T20 Blast.Born in Bradford, Bairstow came through the ranks at Yorkshire, playing a prominent role in their last County Championship title win in 2015, with 1108 runs at an average of 92.33 from just nine appearances that season. By then, he had broken into the England team, and played three Tests against Australia that summer to help England secure the Ashes – the last time they won the urn.Now 35, Bairstow finds himself out of the international reckoning, despite the fact he has six months remaining on an ECB central contract. He earned his 100th Test cap in the final match of England’s tour of India at the start of 2024, and made his last international appearance in June as England lost to India in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup.Related

Dawid Malan, England's former No.1-ranked T20I batter, retires from international cricket

Jonny Bairstow: 'I'd be stupid not to push for England recall'

Do England players not care about the IPL anymore?

Captaincy had been on the table for Bairstow since last summer following the decision to part ways with Shan Masood, now at Leicestershire, who had held the role for two years as the club began emerging from the racism scandal that mired them in turmoil. Conversations progressed over the winter when Anthony McGrath left Essex to return to Yorkshire as head coach following the depature of Ottis Gibson, who secured promotion from Division Two in his final season.After not being picked up in the IPL mega auction, and with the ECB blocking players with red-ball commitments from taking part in the PSL, Bairstow will be available from the start of the season, which begins next week away to Hampshire.”I am incredibly proud to have been named captain of Yorkshire,” Bairstow said. “The county is embedded in my heart, and I take immense pride in representing the club on the field.”I’m very pleased and excited for what the season holds. We’ve got a great bunch of lads that have been working really hard over a period of time.”It was fantastic, first of all, for us to get promoted last year after what has been a very tough couple of years for the club. But what I will say is how resilient the guys, especially the younger guys, within the group – who three years ago went through turmoil – have been.”They’ve now got that in-built within them, and it’s started to come through not only because of the promotion but with the challenges that lead into Division One this year.”While Bairstow makes no secret that he intends to force his way back into the England set-up, particularly with a five-Test series against India this summer, followed by an Ashes tour at the end of the year, he has his sights on ending Yorkshire’s wait for meaningful red-ball silverware.”We need to be grounded in everything we do but you never say never. I firmly believe we are good enough to do it, whether it’s this year or further down the track, we’ll find out.”Malan, who moved to Yorkshire from Middlesex at the end of 2019, was as enthused about the prospect of his own captaincy. Having signed a two-year extension last summer on what was initially a white-ball only contract, he will be involved for the start of Yorkshire’s Championship campaign given the limited availablility of Joe Root and Harry Brook for the first six rounds leading into the opening men’s Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge, on May 22.Dawid Malan will lead Yorkshire in the Blast•Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images”To be appointed captain in any format of cricket for Yorkshire CCC, with the history it’s got, is a proud moment and exciting moment as well,” Malan said. “It’s not only me with the new leadership, we’ve got a whole new leadership behind me with coaches and director of cricket. So it’s an extremely exciting time for the club and hopefully, you know, we can put some things in place that put white-ball cricket in a good place at Yorkshire.”Malan has a distinguished record in the shortest format, helping England to their 2022 World Cup success having broken into a settled team through a run of form that propelled him to the top of the ICC T20 batting rankings in September 2020.The 37-year old retired from international duty last year with 114 caps across all formats, having made his final appearance at the end of England’s botched 2023 ODI World Cup campaign, the first of three poor showings at ICC events in the space of 18 months.”Do I still think I was good enough to play last year? Yeah, I do I think I was good enough to play,” Malan said when asked if his enforced retirement had been premature. “That’s ultimately not my decision.”I wouldn’t say I was hard done by, I probably didn’t score as many run as I’d have liked in the T20 stuff for a little bit of a period, but especially … the 50-over cricket, I think the last year, year and a half, I had performed in every series.”But look, time moves on, cricket moves on, decisions need to be made and if you’re going to look back at every decision with regret or with bad or ill thoughts, it’s going to be a lonely world. I enjoyed my time with England and my time is done. My time has now been putting everything that I have into Yorkshire being as good as they can be.”Despite Yorkshire’s recent pedigree across all formats, certainly in terms of personnel, they remain huge underperformers in white-ball cricket. They are one of only four counties out of 18 who have yet to lift the T20 Blast, reaching Finals Day just three times, in 2012 (finishing as losing finalists), 2016 and 2022.Malan is keen to change that, drawing from his wealth of international and franchise experience. Domestically, he was part of the 2008 Middlesex side that lifted the Twenty20 Cup, and was a vital cog for Oval Invincibles last year as they won The Hundred. Having been picked up by Headingley-based Northern Superchargers for this season’s competition, a stand-in captain for Yorkshire’s One-Day Cup campaign will be announced in due course.”It’s surprising, actually because when you look at the teams and the players they’ve had, they’ve had some fantastic players over the years,” Malan said on Yorkshire’s limited-overs drought.”I think that’s the challenge for us, trying to look at what we can to put things in place to make us a better team. We’ve come close at times, we’ve made in the last four years a quarter-final and a Finals Day, and we haven’t managed to go one better. It means we have a good base of white-ball cricket and it’s just fine-tuning a few things here or there.”We’ve made some really, really good signings in Will Sutherland and Will O’Rourke. I think they’ve been really good additions.”If you look at over the last couple of years, we’ve really struggled with injuries and being able to nail down overseas players for the full Blast and we’ve had them for bits and pieces. But to have guys that are going to be available for a good bit and that are actually going be able to bowl in the tough times, which we’ve probably not had the personnel available to us at all times with injuries. I think that’s going be a massive plus for us.”

Puthur, who made an impressive debut this season, has had bone stress reactions in both shins

ESPNcricinfo staff01-May-2025

Raghu Sharma joins the main squad at his base price of INR 30 lakh•Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians’ (MI) left-arm wristspinner Vignesh Puthur has been ruled out of IPL 2025 with bone stress reactions in both his shins. The franchise has signed uncapped legspinner Raghu Sharma as Puthur’s replacement.Puthur had a memorable debut earlier this season, picking up three wickets against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). In all, he took six wickets in five games at an economy rate of 9.08.”Vignesh will continue to be with the team to focus on his recovery and rehabilitation with the Mumbai Indians medical and S&C team,” the franchise said in a statement.Related

Auto-rickshaw driver's son latest entrant to MI's talent club

Raghu, 32, was part of MI’s net bowlers and joins the main squad at his base price of INR 30 lakh. Just like Puthur, this will be a maiden IPL stint for him.He has represented Punjab and Puducherry in domestic cricket over the years. In 11 first-class matches, he has 57 wickets at an average of 19.59. He has 14 wickets in nine List A games and three in three T20s.MI had a slow start to the tournament with one win from their five games. Since then, they have stacked five wins in a row and are currently third on the points table with 12 points from ten games.

Punjab Kings (PBKS) fast bowler Lockie Ferguson picked up an injury two balls into his spell in the IPL 2025 game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Saturday.Ferguson pulled up after the second delivery of the sixth over and was seen holding the side of his left leg just below the hip. He had to leave the field after consultation with the physio and did not return to bowl again as SRH pulled off the second-highest successful chase in IPL history with eight wickets in hand.In Ferguson’s absence, Marcus Stoinis completed the sixth over but did not bowl again for the remainder of the SRH chase. PBKS used eight bowlers in total, including the medium pace of Shashank Singh, who was bowling for the first time this season.”He’s someone who can get you wickets… as he’s done in the previous matches, that was a big blow for us,” PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer said of Ferguson after the match. “But it happens. He’s someone who clicks 140-plus all the time. It’s part and parcel of a bowler’s life.”Ferguson had only just recovered from a hamstring injury that he picked up in the ILT20 in the UAE, which forced him to miss the Champions Trophy in February. This is the third time since November 2024 that Ferguson has been injured. Before his hamstring issue in the ILT20, he had also suffered a calf injury, which forced him to miss the ODIs against Sri Lanka late last year.With PBKS having made an Impact Player substitution already in the game – fast bowler Yash Thakur came in for batter Priyansh Arya – they were left a fast bowler short in their defence of 245. Ferguson is one of only two overseas fast bowlers in the PBKS squad this season, the other being Australia’s Xavier Bartlett. Before this game, Ferguson had taken five wickets in three innings while maintaining an economy of 9.36 and a strike rate of 13.20.

A £4.5 million-per-year manager has internal backing from figures within Chelsea to replace Mauricio Pochettino, and it is believed he's equally keen.

Chelsea shortlist as Boehly begins managerial search

The west Londoners are thought to have narrowed down their shortlist to a few interesting options, and they apparently want their new manager in by the end of next week with a deadline set on the process (Kaveh Solhekol).

Chelsea chief Boehly now offered £6 million-a-year manager with 11 trophies

He’s highly decorated.

ByEmilio Galantini May 23, 2024

The leading candidates are believed to be Leicester City boss Enzo Maresca, Brentford head coach Thomas Frank, Ipswich Town's Kieran McKenna and a mystery "high-profile" name who is yet to be identified by sources (Solhekol).

All the aforementioned tacticians have their merits. Maresca, who only joined Leicester at the start of last season, guided them to immediate promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking following their 2023 relegation. Winning the Championship title, Leicester were imperious – boasting the best defensive record and second-best goalscoring numbers in the division.

Chelsea 2-1 Bournemouth

Brighton 1-2 Chelsea

Nottingham Forest 2-3 Chelsea

Chelsea 5-0 West Ham

Chelsea 2-0 West Ham

Frank, meanwhile, has consistently worked wonders at Brentford on a shoestring budget and has done since their promotion to the top flight in 2021. McKenna, achieving back-to-back promotions with Ipswich over the last two years, also fits the mould of what Chelsea are looking for in a young and more progressive coach.

"Pochettino was not seen as a strategic fit. Pochettino himself felt the situation might deteriorate further if he stayed. This was relayed to Todd Boehly in a phone call," said journalist Ben Jacobs on Chelsea's search for a new manager.

"Several senior players surprised by the news. The dressing room wanted him to stay. Chelsea are looking for a 'young' manager. That really means 'modern' and 'progressive'.

"Chelsea are not considering Thomas Tuchel or Jose Mourinho. Ruben Amorim is not currently a frontrunner either. Kieran McKenna is expected to be a leading candidate, but #CFC feel Brighton are further ahead so would need to move fast. Brentford’s Thomas Frank, Girona’s Míchel, Newcastle Eddie Howe and Stuttgart’s Sebastian Hoeness have all been discussed."

Chelsea have also been offered FC Porto boss Sergio Conceicao by super agent Jorge Mendes, according to some reports, but it is believed the 49-year-old doesn't quite fit the criteria set out by co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley.

Chelsea chiefs backing Frank who's keen to join

Now, as per The Telegraph, an update has surfaced on the possibility of Frank joining Chelsea.

The outlet claims Frank has internal support at Chelsea and would be interested in replacing Pochettino, with the Dane long linked to a move away from the G-tech Community Stadium.

The 50-year-old, on a reported £4.5 million-per-year at Brentford, deploys a 4-3-3 attacking formation and achieved a ninth-placed finish with Brentford in 2022/2023 – very nearly qualifying for the Europa Conference League despite his lack of real star quality.

The Aston Villa faithful will already be looking at booking flights to Greece, after their beloved club made it to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.

After picking up a 2-1 win at Villa Park in the first leg, Unai Emery’s side travelled to Lille, where they left it until the last minute.

Matty Cash’s 87th-minute goal sent the tie to extra time, where the Villans looked more likely to score.

Their efforts were rewarded in the penalty shootout, but there’s one player who was the real hero, even more so than the penalty hero Emi Martinez.

Emi Martinez’s performance against Lille

The Argentine World Cup winner proved that he’s the man for the big occasion yet again, after almost single-handedly keeping Villa’s one-goal advantage intact in the reverse fixture.

Although the number one wasn’t quite as busy as he was at home last week, he still made two saves, had 87 touches, and made 60 passes over the 120 minutes.

Martinez had absolutely no chance on either of the two goals in the ninety minutes, and he had an utterly flawless performance, which is why Birmingham Live handed him an unbeatable 10/10 rating.

The main reason for such a high score was his heroics in the penalty shootout, saving two penalties and really looking at home in between the sticks; it would usually be described as nerves of steel, but he had no nerves whatsoever.

With all that in mind, it’s difficult to believe someone could have impressed just as much, but a certain Villa ace quietly went under the radar.

Ezri Konsa’s statistics against Lille

Yet again, Ezri Konsa personified class, with another dominant performance in the Villa backline.

The number four has alternated between a right-back role and playing in his usual centre-half position, and last night he starred at the heart of the Villa defence alongside Pau Torres.

The 26-year-old played every single minute of the match, in what was the perfect example of how to perform as a centre-half at the highest level.

However, Birmingham Live only handed Konsa a 7/10 rating for his performance, which is a little harsh, but the statistics from the game really do speak for themselves and prove just how influential the former Brentford ace was.

Konsa vs Lille
Stats	Konsa
Tackles	2
Interceptions	1
Clearances	5
Dribbled past	0
Duels won	5/5
Passes completed	97
Touches	116
Via Sofascore

As you can see, not only does Konsa thrive when undertaking his defensive duties, but he’s absolutely superb on the ball, which enabled the side to not panic, even when two goals down.

Playing against Jonathan David isn’t an easy task for any defender, but Konsa passed the test with flying colours, winning all of his duels, making two tackles, and limiting the Canadian to just 19 touches in 120 minutes of action.

The England international was always one step ahead, often being proactive to sniff out danger quickly, especially from crosses, as he made five clearances.

Furthermore, Konsa was fantastic on the ball, helping the side sustain periods of control, as shown by his 116 touches and 97 passes with an accuracy of 93%.

Overall, it was a spectacular performance from the defender, and in truth, every single Villa player became a hero last night, not just the two mentioned in this article.

Aston Villa in race to sign £17m attacker compared to Jack Grealish

He’s impressed this season.

By
Josh Barker

Apr 15, 2024

da realbet： Arsenal stars Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard could inadvertently thwart the club's chances of signing a £60 million forward who the club really like.

Edu and Arteta planning to sign new attackers for Arsenal

da betsul： The North Londoners, in their bid to win a first Premier League title in 20 years, have been imperious going forward, despite not having an out and out goalscorer leading the line.

Related £43 million star certain to move as Arsenal enter pole position for deal

The Gunners are “very impressed” by his ability.

Posts ByEmilio Galantini May 8, 2024

Indeed, no other team have racked up more goals in the top flight than Mikel Arteta's men so far this season, with strikes coming from all across the attacking areas courtesy of top scorers Saka (16), Kai Havertz (12) and Leandro Trossard (11).

However, it is still widely believed that Arsenal are planning to bring in an important new striker this summer, and reliable journalist Charles Watts has also claimed they could look to bring in yet another winger as well.

Arsenal's top scorers in the league this season

Goals

Bukayo Saka

16

Kai Havertz

12

Leandro Trossard

11

Martin Odegaard

8

Declan Rice

7

The Gunners are targeting number nines in big names like Napoli star Victor Osimhen and Sporting CP's Viktor Gyokeres. The latter has been in scintillating form over 2023/2024, scoring 41 goals in all competitions, and it is believed Arsenal are in pole position to sign Gyokeres for Arteta.

In terms of wingers who Arsenal could have their eyes on, Crystal Palace star Michael Olise is thought to be one of them.

The France youth international, barring his injury absences, has been a star player for Oliver Glasner and his predecessor. Scoring nine goals and assisting four others over 17 league appearances, he's displayed real cutting edge, and this has alerted Arsenal chiefs.

Arsenal really like Olise but Odegaard and Saka could thwart deal

According to Football Transfers, Arsenal are big fans of Olise but Saka and Odegaard could actually thwart a deal. This is because the prospect of regular game time for the 22-year-old is diminished, thanks to the latter pair cementing their roles in similar positions to Olise.

The Eagles star wants to join a team playing Champions League football next term but also wants to start week in week out, with Aston Villa now confident they can beat both Arteta and Man United in the race for Olise – who is rumoured to command a £60 million price tag.

“In the first-half we didn’t get enough out of him, and we couldn’t bring him into the game as much as we wanted," said former Palace boss Roy Hodgson when discussing Olise's future after a terrific 5-1 win away to Leeds last season.

“In the first-half he was a figure on the right but he wasn’t creating chances or showing aggression in his play. In the second-half he got it all right in both defence and attack and he showed what a wonderful player he is.

“I have seen him for 10 days less than I have seen the others. What I make of him is that I think he is an enormous talent – he has got a great possibility to have a wonderful career and a wonderful future. We can only hope we at Crystal Palace can give him that platform.”

Battling sixth-wicket stand takes visitors into slender lead ahead of final day

ECB Reporters Network03-Aug-2020Northamptonshire 142 (Stone 4-39) and 317 for 6 (Thurston 96, Rossington 60*, Curran 58) lead Warwickshire 369 for 8 (Bresnan 105, Yates 88, Thomson) by 90 runs Northamptonshire fought back hard to stall Warwickshire’s victory push on the third day of a compelling Bob Willis Trophy tussle at Edgbaston. Trailing by 227 on first innings, the visitors closed the third day on 317 for 6, for a lead of 90. Quick wickets on the final morning would still leave the home side strongly placed for victory but Northamptonshire have put themselves right back in the game.When, shortly after lunch, they declined to 148 for 5, still 79 behind, defeat beckoned inside three days. But Charlie Thurston, who made 96 off 168, and Adam Rossington added 159 in 48 overs, a Northamptonshire sixth-wicket record against Warwickshire, to set up an interesting last day.For the Bears, there was frustration after their domination of the first two days. They were hampered by the absence of England paceman Olly Stone who took the field at start of play but did not bowl before leaving as a precaution after feeling some discomfort in his side. The problem does not appear serious, as he took the drinks out to his team-mates a short time later, but no risks will be taken with a player who is firmly in England’s reckoning.Without Stone, as the day wore on, Warwickshire’s attack looked much less potent than in the first innings, though they made strong progress at first. After Northamptonshire resumed on 19 without loss, they soon lost Emilio Gay who edged Olly Hannon-Dalby to Tim Bresnan at first slip.The impressive Hannon-Dalby had both Ben Curran and Ricardo Vasconcelos dropped in the cordon and the pair took advantage of their reprieves to add 79 in 19 overs. Curran batted fluently for 58 from 88 balls, his fifth first-class half-century, which arrived during a flurry of four fours in an over from Ryan Sidebottom. The 24-year-old’s hopes of advancing to a maiden century were ended in the next over when he fell lbw to Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes.Northamptonshire looked solid at 135 for 2 at lunch but lost three wickets in the first eight overs of the afternoon session. Vasconcelos departed in careless fashion when he lifted Alex Thomson to short extra cover and Rob Keogh chipped Tim Bresnan loosely to point but Saif Zaib was blameless, nicking an away-swinger from Bresnan to complete a pair.Northamptonshire looked to be hurtling towards defeat but Thurston and Rossington shored up the innings with intelligent, compact batting. Thurston reached his half-century from 92 balls with Rossington following to his from 117 in two-and-a-half hours’ worth of true captain’s innings.They were separated late in the day when Warwickshire had eight overs with the new ball. In the second of them, Bresnan continued his excellent debut by trapping Thurston lbw but the resolute Rossington remained to take the fight into the final day.

Losing James Maddison to injury for the final stretch of the campaign could be detrimental to Tottenham Hotspur's hopes of returning to the Champions League – the England international is that influential.

Look at the bleak period throughout November and December, when injuries to Maddison and fellow summer signing Micky van de Ven sent Spurs' season into a spin, with last season's struggles fixed through Ange Postecoglou's appointment and the shrewd recruitment since.

Suffering another issue against Aston Villa earlier in March, Van de Ven missed out last weekend as Tottenham got thumped 3-0 by Fulham at Craven Cottage, underscoring the Dutchman's significance within Postecoglou's entertaining system.

Maddison is just as important, if not more so, and he is indeed the lynchpin for success, vital in bringing Spurs back to that coveted spot in Europe's elite club competition.

James Maddison's season in numbers

When the screech of the final whistle solemnly sounded throughout the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium back in November, with Chelsea 4-1 victors after Spurs suffered two red cards and saw Maddison and Van de Ven trudge off injured, it did seem to be a portent of issues to come.

And it was. Maddison had won the Premier League's Player of the Month award back in August and had been described as one of "the buys of the summer" by The Times' Henry Winter, so sublime was the 27-year-old in his playmaking, commitment, command.

Matches played

18

Goals

4

Assists

7

Pass completion

87%

Key passes per game

2.5

Dribbles per game

1.3

Tackles per game

1.3

Duels won per game

5.5

He returned to action in January after a couple of months on the sidelines and while he's not quite returned to those pre-injury levels, the £170k-per-week ace remains the chief creator in Postecoglou's system, also the joint-most valuable centre-midfielder in the squad at £43m (with Pape Sarr), according to CIES Football Observatory's player valuation model.

Remarkably, there's a former Spurs star who was worth just short of double this amount way back when, and that man's Michael Carrick.

How much Spurs could've sold Michael Carrick for in 2024

According to Totally Money, a site specialising in working out how past transfer fees would look in the modern market, Carrick would have been sold for quite the sum if he played today.

The 42-year-old, now manager of Middlesbrough in the Championship, completed 75 appearances for the Lilywhites before completing a £19m move to Manchester United back in July 2006, where he would go on to win a wealth of major honours and retire as one of England's most decorated players.

This was a sizeable sum back in the day, sure, but Totally Money have arrived at the conclusion that the Red Devils legend would have commanded an incredible £84m fee if United had pounced in the same circumstances, just some 18 years in the future.

Quirkily described as a "piano" by his former teammate Gary Neville for his elegance and deftness alongside some heavy-metal peers, Carrick at his peak would walk into Postecoglou's side and would surely rival Maddison in his effectiveness and influence, albeit in a different regard.

Ultimately, Carrick's transfer value is probably a fair reflection, if seeming somewhat exorbitant at a glance. He was an incredible player and underrated inside the Manchester United system, endowed with a brilliant ball-playing ability.

£15m Spurs hero would be worth more than Maddison if he was sold in 2024

A top talent at Tottenham way back when, this world-class midfielder would eclipse Maddison’s value.

ByAngus Sinclair Mar 21, 2024

Maddison's £43m market value as claimed by CIES is probably not a wholly fair figure, should Spurs be inclined to sell in the future, but he would be unlikely to arrive at Carrick's projected value.

Hafeez had questioned Sharjeel Khan’s return to cricket despite his being implicated in the PSL 2017 corruption scandal

Umar Farooq21-Mar-2020

Mohammad Hafeez celebrates•Getty Images

In a strongly worded reprimand to Mohammad Hafeez, the PCB chief executive officer Wasim Khan said the batsman should be “focusing on his own cricket” instead of giving opinions on “right and wrong” after Hafeez questioned the return of Sharjeel Khan to competitive cricket.Sharjeel had received a five-year ban from the PCB for the role he played in the PSL corruption scandal from 2017. The board suspended his sentence following an “unconditional apology” in August 2019, paving way for a sooner-than-expected comeback. Even so, it seemed unlikely that he would play in this year’s PSL until the Karachi Kings bought him at the auction and deployed him as their opening batsman.Sharjeel could only make 199 runs from 10 matches, which raised questions about whether he was physically fit enough to play at the top level. Hafeez was replying to one such question on Twitter when he said, “Shouldn’t we set Standards of Dignity & Pride Higher than any other “Extra Talent” to represent Pakistan.”The PCB CEO didn’t take kindly to that. “Current players should not be going up on social media to criticise other players or talk about what policies the cricket board should or shouldn’t have,” Wasim said through a video link from Lahore. “They can have their opinions about various things about world cricket and cricket in general but not about the rights and wrongs of players and the boards and they should leave that to cricket board to answer.”I will be personally speaking to Mohammad Hafeez about that and I don’t think it’s his place to be doing it. No other player in the world does that so why should our Pakistani players do that? I don’t think they have any space to do that and I don’t think they should be doing that. That’s my personal view. Coming from an English environment, I never saw an English player tweet about policies, procedures, talking about other players’ right or wrong. My view is, he should focus on his own game, focus on the cricketing opinion he can give but don’t give personal opinion about other players.”PCB agreed to waive Sharjeel’s suspended sentence following his ‘unconditional apology’•Umar Farooq/ESPNcricinfo

This is not the first time Hafeez has questioned a player on his return from a ban. In December 2015, he and current Test captain Azhar Ali stayed away from a training camp ahead of a tour of New Zealand because Mohammad Amir, who was returning from a spot-fixing ban, was picked to be a part of it. Both of them eventually joined training after the PCB intervened and have since played several matches alongside Amir.Sharjeel was a promising talent for Pakistan before his ban. He played 25 ODIs, 15 T20Is and one Test and in that time cultivated a reputation for being a hard-hitting batsman. PSL 2020 was his first taste of action in over two years. The 30-year-old had to miss the whole of the Pakistan domestic season since he was still undergoing the rehabilitation part of his sentence.”He has done his time, whatever was set,” Wasim said. “He has carried out that ban. He is back and was picked up by a franchise and he is available to play again. In terms of him getting selected [for Pakistan] going forward, that is up to the selectors. There is a long way for Sharjeel Khan to go before he is considered to play for Pakistan again.”First of all, there is an importance around fitness. [Head coach] Misbah[-ul-Haq] had said that verbally and he is emphasising the policy on fitness with us as well and [bowling coach] Waqar [Younis] has also spoken about it as well, that we are moving in a different direction.”One of the things Sharjeel Khan could have done in his time when he wasn’t playing and inactive is that he could have got himself fit. In your life, you have controllables and non-controllables. Fitness is controllable, what goes in you mouth, what you do, how you keep yourself fit, that is all under your control. If you are serious about playing for Pakistan, get yourself fit. There is no excuse.”I am sorry but I am a stern believer that he turned up playing PSL unfit. He will not get selected for Pakistan as long as he stays the way he is. He now has a few months – get yourself fit, show that you have an ambition to play for Pakistan, show you have commitment and desire to get yourself fit and then you will be considered. I am sure Misbah and the selectors are looking it at that way – they have a policy and it’s important that people abide by that.”