Raheem Sterling is reportedly open to the idea of joining Fulham on loan as the experienced forward looks to end his nightmare at Chelsea.
| Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱 |
The former captain made his first-class debut aged 17, scored 28 Test centuries and led Australia to 2015 ODI World Cup
AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jan-2025Former captain Michael Clarke has been inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of FameClarke, 43, accepted the honour on Thursday, nearly a decade after he closed the chapter on his remarkable playing career. He is the 64th inductee, with two further members to be named this season.Making his first-class debut for New South Wales at 17, Clarke captained Australia to victory in the 2015 ODI World Cup and led the side across 47 of his 115 Tests.Overall, Clarke scored 8643 Test runs, putting him sixth on Australia’s all-time list, and 7981 in ODIs where he stands fourth. His tally of 28 Test centuries also leaves puts him sixth on that list.Having impressed early in his ODI career – he wasn’t dismissed in his first three innings – Clarke burst onto the Test scene during Australia’s 2004 tour of India, crowned the player of the match in Bengaluru after scoring 151 on debut.After being dropped in late 2005, Clarke returned a even more formidable player. He became the sixth Australian to score a Test triple-century after posting an unbeaten 329 against India at the SCG in the 2011-12 series.He followed up his SCG performance with a double century in the fourth Test against India, before notching two further double centuries against South Africa the following season.Other standout innings included the 151 against South Africa at Cape Town in 2011 (from a total of 284) in the game Australia were later dismissed for 47, his 161 at the same venue in 2014 when he defied a broken shoulder to set up a victory that would take Australia to No. 1 in the world and the hugely emotional 128 against India at Adelaide in 2014 shortly after the death of the Phillip Hughes in what would prove his final home Test.Michael Clarke was prolific in the period from 2012 to 2014•Getty Images
It had been in 2011, after England won the Ashes 3-1 in Australia, that Clarke succeeded Ricky Ponting as captain. At his peak, he was ranked the best batter in the world. He was also at the helm for the Ashes whitewash in 2013-14 and retired at the end of the lost 2015 campaign in England.”To be able to sit along so many wonderful players, idols, role models growing up as a kid and looking up to is something I’m honoured by,” Clarke said. “Retirement does a lot of things to you. Through stages of watching cricket now, you miss parts.”When you play at the highest level, people talk about your international career but for me, it started at six years of age. I retired at 34 so it was my life. It’s still a part of my life.”Cricket – it’s probably so similar to life in general. You walk out and make 100 and then lift the bat, and then you walk out to field, field in slip and drop a catch second ball of the game.”Australian Cricket Hall of Fame chairman Peter King praised Clarke as a player who “defined his generation”.”Michael’s extraordinary first-class playing career started at just 17 at the SCG – the place where many of his highlights occurred, including a Test triple century against India in 2012,” King said.”Michael’s career will forever be remembered fondly by the Australian public and his standing held alongside those at the upper echelon of our game.”Clarke also proved capable as a left-arm spinner. It was his spell of 3 for 5 in 1.5 overs in 2008 against India that helped Australia retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and extend their winning streak to a record-equaling 16 Tests. In his debut series against India he had also taken 6 for 9 in Mumbai.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca will be chasing Club World Cup glory, but he certainly isn’t taking his eye off the ball regarding potential signings.
Defender Tomas Araujo has been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge. Elsewhere, Jamie Gittens is a major attacking target, and the Blues are keen to wrap up a deal for him sooner rather than later.
Add in the fact that Maresca has already signed Liam Delap, it suggests that the manager is plotting an overhaul this summer.
|
Chelsea’s Club World Cup fixtures |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Date |
Opponent |
Venue |
|
Monday, June 16 |
Los Angeles |
Mercedes-Benz stadium |
|
Friday, June 20 |
Flamengo |
Lincoln Financial Field |
|
Tuesday, June 24 |
Esperance |
Lincoln Financial Field |
Hugo Ekitiké is another key target, and with Manchester United revving up interest in the young striker, now could be the time to act.
Despite being one of the Blues’ top transfer targets, it now appears that the Red Devils are looking to secure his signature this summer.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
With a reported price tag of €100m (£85m), it is a significant outlay for the Blues as they seek to bolster their attacking options.
Last season, the Frenchman scored 22 goals and grabbed 12 assists, emerging as one of the most sought-after talents on the continent.
The striker would compete with Delap and Nicolas Jackson for a role in the team should he move to London, but for the price, Maresca will be determined to use him as his main option.
That said, could he perhaps make a move for another youngster this summer instead? Especially as a player who was on the club’s radar previously looks set to leave their current club.
The Colombian striker was close to a move to Stamford Bridge last summer, but ultimately decided to stay with Villa.
Unai Emery couldn’t turn down an offer of around £65m for the talented hitman, however, and he made his move to the Middle East in January.
According to reports from Saudi Arabia (as per the Metro), Duran could be set to leave Al-Nassr in the summer, with the chance there for Chelsea – among other suitors – to reignite a move for the player. It is said that unnamed clubs have expressed interest in signing him on loan, should the chance of an exit emerge.
While Ekitiké shone in the Bundesliga for Frankfurt last term, is there a case to be made that Duran is the bigger talent?
When comparing the two strikers via FBref, Duran not only registered more shots per 90 (4.26 vs 4) than Ekitiké last term, but he also recorded more shots on target (1.92 vs 1.55) per 90 and won a higher percentage of aerial duels (50% vs 46.8%) domestically last season.
Given the fact he is younger and has a potentially higher ceiling for growth, Duran – who already scored 12 goals in 55 Premier League games – could perhaps turn out to be the better striker for the club.
Following his excellent first half of the 2024/25 season at Villa, football talent scout Jacek Kulig described him as a “monster in the making” and with 12 goals in 18 games for his new club, he is living up to that statement.
Maresca must be on high alert in the coming weeks if Duran is available, especially if he costs less than the £85m that has been demanded for Ekitike.
He may be a “maverick”, in the words of analyst Ben Mattinson, although unlike Ekitike, he has already proven himself in England’s top flight.
Free agent defender now "close to finalising" Chelsea move after talks
The west Londoners are pushing.
1
By
Emilio Galantini
Jun 13, 2025
He seemed to be out of favour in limited-overs by mid-2017, but a door that appeared shut is now a window full of possibilities
Saurabh Somani18-Nov-20211:12
Daniel Vettori: Ashwin’s skill helped him set Chapman and Phillips up
Since India’s tour of England which began in August, the team has played four Tests and six T20Is, including the first game of the ongoing series against New Zealand. If told at the start that R Ashwin would feature in four of those international games, how many people would have predicted zero Tests and four T20Is?Ashwin, a bonafide candidate in discussions of an all-time India Test XI, has suddenly got a new lease of life in white-ball cricket. A door that appeared slammed shut after mid-2017 is now a window full of possibilities.Not that the white-ball skills were lacking. In the IPL, Ashwin regularly showed how effective he could still be in limited-overs cricket. IPL 2018, the first one since his limited-overs exile, was a decent outing. But from IPL 2019 onwards, Ashwin has been among the top bowlers in the most competitive T20 league on the planet. He’s done it with guile, nous and a fine control. The door might have appeared shut, but Ashwin kept knocking on it.Related
Chapman on impressive NZ return: 'Nothing beats being out in the middle'
Ashwin, Suryakumar, Rohit shine as India earn hard-fought victory
It is the mark of a good team that there will always be quality players on the outside, hungry to get in. Ashwin was one of those players for India’s limited-overs teams in the recent past. It is also the mark of a good player that once in, he’ll make himself difficult to dislodge. When Washington Sundar’s injury meant he wouldn’t be there for the T20 World Cup, that opportunity came Ashwin’s way. It wouldn’t have, if he hadn’t stacked up the performances he did leading up to that. And once back, Ashwin has bowled his full quota of 16 overs in four T20Is, taking 8 wickets and giving up runs at just 5.375 per over.More than the limited sample size of his recent T20Is, it is the IPL that reveals Ashwin’s value and effectiveness.The middle overs of T20 cricket are spinners’ bastions, but a bowler versatile enough to be effective elsewhere is gold-dust. Since IPL 2019, no spinner has bowled more in the powerplay than Ashwin’s 38 overs. Not coincidentally, no one has taken more than the 10 wickets Ashwin has in the powerplay in this period either. In the middle overs, Ashwin has taken 22 wickets, which seems at first glance a tad less for 105.5 overs bowled, especially when set against fellow spinners like Rahul Chahar (37 wickets in 128 overs), Yuzvendra Chahal (50 wickets in 127.1 overs) or Varun Chakravarthy (27 wickets in 84 overs). However, Ashwin’s role has often been to enforce control for his team, and he’s been excellent at doing that. Ashwin remains a bowler who seeks wickets, but he does so while also keeping one foot on the opposition’s run-rate.What the bare figures don’t account for, is Ashwin’s impact even when it comes to wicket-taking. That is something Smart Stats brings into focus, with an algorithm that takes into account the quality of batter dismissed, and the match situation in which the bowler operates and assigns a value to a wicket in accordance with that. In IPLs since 2019, Ashwin has the difference between the Smart Wickets he’s taken and the conventional ones. He has 35 wickets in 42 innings, but in terms of Smart Wickets, the figure is 50.1. Among spinners, only Chahal has a bigger difference in that time frame, with his 57 wickets worth 74.27 Smart Wickets. Ashwin’s strikes have had game-changing impact, because he’s gotten top order batters early. And he’s done it while keeping the runs in check too.R Ashwin (left) has made himself difficult to dislodge from the T20I team•BCCIHe illustrated exactly those qualities against New Zealand. Brought on for his first over within the powerplay, he gave up only six runs. In his second over, immediately after Martin Guptill and Mark Chapman had taken 15 off Deepak Chahar, he conceded seven runs. And that too, was because bowling first and one over in the powerplay meant he had to suss the pace of the pitch by degrees.”It is kind of tricky, right, in a T20 game, how much do you toss it up? When do you toss it up? The windows for attacking the batsmen are pretty less, so you need to find them and then deliver those balls,” Ashwin would tell host broadcaster Star after the game. “Line and length, you can’t miss much of it.”Identifying the right pace is always a challenge when you’re bowling first in a T20 game. I bowled my first over inside the powerplay, so the pockets of change of pace had to be much lesser than what you did later on in the game. Identifying that pace took a little bit of time for me. I probably slowed it down once or twice in the first two overs I bowled, and then I realised if you slowed the ball down the purchase was better on this pitch.”By his first two overs, Ashwin had figured out that slowing the ball through the air and landing it correctly would get him more bite. And when he was brought back for his final over – the 14th of the innings – he did what he often has, prising out wickets to cause an inflexion point in the game. Chapman was done in by a classical off-break, while Glenn Phillips got a carom ball that pinned him in front after two off-breaks. New Zealand had lost two wickets, one of a set batter who was accelerating and another of a big-hitter who could have wrecked India’s death overs.Guptill, who lashed 70 from 42 balls in New Zealand’s total, summed up the difficulty of facing Ashwin in reply to a question from ESPNcricinfo. “He’s a wily bowler, got a great control of his line and length,” Guptill said. “And he just doesn’t bowl bad balls. I don’t remember him bowling any bad balls. He’s just very difficult to get away. His change of pace is so subtle and so well controlled, he’s just very hard to get away.”The T20 success for Ashwin is not unexpected, given the pedigree he has shown. He also gave a teaser of what could be coming New Zealand’s way on this tour, bowling a more classical pace of off-spin and finding bite in the surface. If he could do it with a white ball, given only four overs, what might Ashwin do with a red ball, with more overs and more purchase, with wickets to make up for after having sat out four Test matches?
Sunderland's ambitious summer transfer window is set to continue after striking a loan deal for Chelsea striker Marc Guiu.
| Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱 |
Pant takes the reins from KL Rahul, who led the franchise for its first three seasons
Sreshth Shah20-Jan-2025Rishabh Pant has vowed to “give 200%” to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) after being officially unveiled as the franchise’s captain for IPL 2025. As ESPNcricinfo had reported earlier, Pant was set to be named captain after being bought at the pre-season auction for a record INR 27 crore (USD 3.21 million approx.).”Thank you to LSG family for showing the faith in me,” Pant said, alongside team owner Sanjiv Goenka and mentor Zaheer Khan, in Kolkata on Monday. “I will give my 200% and that’s my commitment to you. I will try whatever is in my power to repay the faith you have shown. Looking forward to have a new beginning with new energy and just have a blast out there, and have lots of fun.”Pant takes over from KL Rahul, who led the franchise for its first three seasons before going back into the auction this time around. Pant moves to LSG after a long stint with Delhi Capitals – he was with the franchise since 2016, took over its captaincy in 2021 and led all through barring the 2023 season, when he was recuperating from a serious car accident.Related
Fast-bowler injuries threaten Pant-powered LSG's season
Rajat Patidar appointed new RCB captain for IPL 2025
IPL 2025 begins March 21 weekend
Shreyas Iyer to lead Punjab Kings
With LSG, he has a chance to build on the team’s previous three seasons of moderate success; they made two playoffs in a row before missing out in IPL 2024.”Yes this is a new team and a new set-up but my ideology of captaining a side doesn’t change,” Pant said. “But as a cricketer you are [always] trying to add to your captaincy. If you give confidence and trust in a player, he will do things you can’t even imagine. That’s the ideology we will try to have. We will give them trust, clear communication and lay out what role we have for them.”One thing we will stress on is a never-say-die attitude. ‘You fight till the last ball.’ That’s what I emphasise on. Performances will come and go, but are you fighting enough? Are you giving your 100% on the field? And that is something you can control as an individual.”See, everyone gets tired but eventually how far are you willing to take it? Are you willing to give that extra 20-30% for the team, even though your body is not allowing? That’s the kind of character we want in the team and that’s the culture we are building.”
Zaheer, who as captain of Delhi Daredevils in 2016, had worked with a young Pant fresh off his India Under-19 stint, said Pant is someone who has inspired a new style of play. He said that acquiring Pant and naming him captain was the first of many pillars that LSG were putting in place to create a winning franchise.But will their crew of middle-order left-hand batters affect team balance? LSG will potentially line up with Pant, David Miller and Nicholas Pooran back-to-back. Zaheer said good batters will always find a way.”It can be a tactical edge also,” Zaheer said. “That’s how we are looking at it. I haven’t looked at how many left-handers I want in the team. It’s fine as long as you have the balance, you have options in the squad and your bases are covered. When I’m looking at our team, it’s looking like a solid unit.”Now about creating that environment entering the season and creating the pillars of success for any team. We want to get that in place and that starts with Rishabh being captain. He’s going to drive the whole unit in that way so that so that there’s a ‘Brand LSG’ – the kind of cricket that LSG wants to play, and we will be able to deliver.”IPL 2025 is set to start on March 21 at Eden Gardens, and run till May 25. LSG is the second franchise to unveil a new captain for 2025, after Punjab Kings put Shreyas Iyer in charge.
The closest Tottenham Hotspur have come to winning the Premier League in generations was under Mauricio Pochettino.
The Argentine’s best team may have ended up being less successful than Ange Postecoglou’s current side – trophy-wise, anyway – but it was stacked with some outrageously talented players.
The likes of Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and a young Son Heung-min will always get the plaudits from those outside of the fanbase, and understandably so, but the Lilywhites faithful know full well that Mousa Dembélé was just as important to that side.
The Belgian was an utterly superb central midfielder, so supporters should be excited about recent reports linking the team to a youngster who has shades of the retired monster about him.
Before getting to the player in question, it’s worth looking at some of the other central midfielders who have been touted for moves to Spurs in recent weeks, like Quinten Timber and Angel Gomes.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
The former is the brother of Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber, the captain of Feyenoord, reportedly worth £25m and could be an ideal addition to the squad, as he’s capable of playing in attacking, central and defensive midfield.
Likewise, Gomes could be a sensational signing as, thanks to his contract with LOSC Lille expiring this month, he’ll be available for nothing, and at just 24 years old, he already has experience of national team football, the Champions League and top-flight football in both Portugal, France and England.
Yet, neither one of these internationals could really be described as having shades of Dembélé to them, unlike Adam Wharton.
Yes, according to a recent report from TEAMtalk, the Crystal Palace star is now a serious target for the North Londoners.
The report has revealed that the club are ‘prioritizing a central midfield’ signing this season, and the young Englishman ‘figures highly on their shortlist.’
However, it won’t be an easy deal to get done, as the Eagles are after upwards of £60m for the midfield maestro, but even then, with his ability and potential, that may be a fee worth paying for Spurs, especially as he could emulate parts of Dembélé’s game.
So, before the pitchforks and torches come out, it’s important to state that we are not saying that Wharton is currently as good a player as Dembélé was during his pomp at Spurs, as that would just be silly.
However, given the fact that he’s still just 21 years old and will be until midway through next season, it’s not that out there to suggest he could reach that level in time, especially as there are some similarities between the pair.
The first, and perhaps most significant, is the fact that the Palace gem very rarely loses the ball.
In fact, according to FBref, the “generational” talent, as dubbed by members of the media, sits in the bottom 40% of midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues for the frequency he is dispossessed, coming in at just 0.89 times per 90, or, in other words, less than once a game.
A great example of this was in the FA Cup final against Manchester City, as, on top of winning duels, making tackles and playing a number of excellent passes, he was also able to hold onto the ball brilliantly despite the immense amount of pressure Pep Guardiola’s side tried to exert on him.
This ability to keep the ball was one of the Belgian’s most impressive, and it seems like the young Englishman has it in spades.
Then there are the more surface-level comparisons, such as both players coming from a London club – Fulham in Dembélé’s case – and the fact that they could and can play in either central or defensive midfield.
|
Wharton’s senior career |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Team |
Blackburn |
Palace |
|
Appearances |
51 |
43 |
|
Minutes |
3571′ |
3011′ |
|
Goals |
4 |
0 |
|
Assists |
5 |
5 |
|
All Stats via Transfermarkt |
||
Ultimately, while it’s a lot of money, Spurs should do what they can to sign Wharton this summer, as he looks like he has the raw abilities and ceiling to become the club’s next Dembélé.
Eriksen 2.0: Spurs looking to sign "extraordinary" £25m Sarr upgrade
The young leader could be just what Spurs are after.
By
Jack Salveson Holmes
Jun 4, 2025