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Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has revealed that Marcus Rashford may yet play again this season despite suffering a hamstring injury.

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Rashford suffers hamstring injuryFears his season was overEmery issues positive updateFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

The Manchester United loanee sustained the injury late last month, with manager Emery stating the 27-year-old would be out for a "few weeks". Now, however, the Spaniard has revealed that the England international could play one or two more games this season.

AdvertisementAFPWHAT EMERY SAID

He told reporters on Friday: “For tomorrow, he’s not available. He’s working on his comeback as soon as possible, but there’s still weeks to be available or not with us for the rest of the season. Of course, there’s four weeks and hopefully he will play with us one or two matches.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Rashford, who has reportedly flown to Dubai to aid his rehab, faces an uncertain period as it is not yet known if his time at United is over, whether Villa will exercise their £40 million ($53m/€47m) buy option, or if he will head to pastures new. But if he can return before the season finishes, with their last two games against Tottenham and United, he could aid Villa's bid to qualify for the Champions League.

Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT?

While Rashford continues his rehab, Villa host Fulham on Saturday lunchtime in a crunch Premier League clash as both teams try to qualify for European football next season.

It has been an odd month in cricket

Andrew Fidel Fernando02-Nov-2017The lapsed villain
Reports from New South Wales have suggested this month that former international umpire Darrell Hair, who had lorded it so stubbornly over several controversial incidents, pleaded guilty to stealing from the liquor store he was working at. Apparently, this was in order to fund a gambling habit that had spun out of control. The news was particularly startling for Sri Lankans (and perhaps Pakistanis) of a certain generation, because it humanised the man who had been among their foremost childhood villains. It was like discovering Darth Vader put out of action by a hip replacement, or that Hannibal Lecter no longer eats his victims because his teeth had started to fall out.The non-war
In the build-up to the Ashes, David Warner was roundly criticised for comparing the coming series with England to “war”, in addition to suggesting he would “dig deep” to develop “hatred” of the opposition. Apparently, Ashes sledges now cannot be one iota more inflammatory than abuse based on opposition players’ legitimacy of parentage, choice of preferred species for sexual relations, promiscuousness of spouse, stupidity of offspring, and gingerness of their hair. I suppose a line had to be drawn somewhere.The straight face
Chris Gayle won his defamation suit against Australia’s Fairfax Media, but the best line of the case surely goes to Gayle’s friend Donovan Miller, who without flinching told the court that Gayle had become reserved “and scared, especially [around] females” since the 2015-16 Big Bash League. It is unclear if he is referring to this condom ad in which Gayle cannot stop cowering amidst a gang of cheerleaders or this Instagram post in which Gayle appears to have been frighteningly ambushed by a posse of swimsuit-clad models.The victims of historical irony
For two decades, the Barmy Army’s go-to chant down under was one that preyed on Australia’s history as a British prison colony. Even when their cricketers were being resplendently shamed 5-0, England fans may have felt they could draw themselves to their feet, wipe the tears from ruddy cheeks, and croak out a sobbing rendition of “they’re the convicts over there”. The world, however, has been upended in 2017. Team England has left for the Ashes without Ben Stokes, who is suspected of exactly the sort of action that would have seen him transported to Australia in past centuries. As one of their own players now stands accused of antisocial behaviour, could it be possible that when groups of England supporters sit shirtless in sunny Australian stands, painted lettering upon flabby chests, lips foamed from the ninth beer of the day, they will reflect they are not intrinsically a more refined species of human being than the natives?”We essentially beat Pakistan in their own game”•Getty ImagesThe pitch scandal
The spectre of corruption was raised again in October, most notably with the allegation that Maharashtra Cricket Association curator Pandurang Salgaoncar had given pitch information to people posing as bookies, ahead of India v New Zealand ODI in Pune. However, it was not the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) – whose job it is to stamp fixing out of the game – that presented evidence against Salgaoncar. The issue was brought to light by an Indian TV channel, just as the 2010 Lord’s spot-fixing scandal had been the result of a media-driven exposé. All of this highlights long-held concerns about what the ACU actually does, apart from, as in this case, allow international matches to go ahead unhindered on what was apparently a suspect pitch.The tough act to follow
Commiserations are due to Cricket South Africa. One month after the IPL bagged what was effectively the biggest television rights deal in cricket, CSA was forced to postpone the 2017 T20 Global League, thanks partly to an inability to land a decent broadcast deal. This must have been like watching Michelangelo sculpt the famous statue of David before stabbing yourself with the chisel.The altruist
Particularly irked at this cancellation was would-be GLT20 star Kevin Pietersen, who tweeted: “I feel so sorry for all the youngsters who were going to learn & earn out of this comp!” Yes, what a pity for… “the youngsters”. We can have no reason to doubt that Pietersen’s immediate worry was for the younger players’ loss of earnings, based of course on his career, which was most distinguished by the concern he displayed for people other than himself.The collapsathon
If Pakistan are the classical masters of the batting collapse, Sri Lanka have in recent years perfected their own equally dramatic version: the neo-collapse. Their two-Test series early in the month, became, at times, a festival of batting incompetence. When Sri Lanka went into the third innings of the first Test with a three-run deficit, for example, they hurtled comically to 138 all out. They should have lost the match had they not been out-collapsed by Pakistan, who were all out for 114 less than a day after they had made 422 (in the first innings). The second Test was almost as extraordinary. Sri Lanka crashed to 96 all out after claiming a 220-run first-innings lead. Though at times in the chase Pakistan seemed like they had the measure of a big total, they lost 5 for 52 and 5 for 23, with a 173-chase in between.

Manchester City are now ready to snap up a “superstar” Champions League player, with the same agent as two members of Pep Guardiola’s squad.

Man City looking to strengthen after Bayer Leverkusen setback

After putting together a solid run to re-establish themselves as Premier League title contenders, Man City have endured a dip in form over the past week, losing 2-1 at Newcastle United on Saturday, before succumbing to a 2-0 home defeat against Bayer Leverkusen.

It was a new-look defence for City, with Guardiola making wholesale changes to his starting XI, bringing in Abdukodir Khusanov to replace Matheus Nunes at right-back, despite the 27-year-old impressing in that area this season.

However, given that both Khusanov and Nunes aren’t natural full-backs, the Blues remain keen on bringing in another option, and there has now been a new update on their pursuit of Newcastle United defender Tino Livramento.

Transfer insider Dean Jones has now told TEAMtalk that Man City will be ready to sign Livramento if the opportunity presents itself, saying: “He’s happy at Newcastle, he is in a good position, he wants to push the limits of a new contract. But equally he knows he could secure a big transfer if he really wanted it.

“City have respect for his situation and have had to wait for him to decide what he does next. If he looks to leave, they are right there and will snap him up.”

"Superstar" Livramento could be perfect for Pep

Of course, any player in a Guardiola system must be comfortable in possession of the ball, and the Newcastle defender, who has the same agent as Stones and Nathan Ake, has averaged an 85.4% pass completion rate per 90 over the past year, placing him in the 87th percentile compared to other full-backs.

Once referred to as a “superstar” by Newcastle content creator Kendall Rowan, the three-time England international is also proven in the Premier League, having reached the 100-game mark in his side’s 2-1 win against City, during which the full-back made three clearances, two interceptions and two tackles.

Having been ranked as one of the best right-backs in the world, ahead of the likes of Nunes and Khusanov, Livramento could be a real upgrade for Pep at right-back, but a deal could be on the expensive side…

Man City preparing £158m+ bid for star who wants to work under Guardiola

The Citizens are keen to make new signings and could now look to acquire one of Europe’s most prominent attackers.

BySean Markus Clifford Nov 24, 2025

Newcastle value Livramento at the £80m mark, which would make him one of the most expensive signings in Man City history, and given that Nunes has been impressing this season, it is questionable whether they should spend that much on another right-back.

Khawaja registered his highest Test score while Smith went past Bradman with his 30th ton.

Tristan Lavalette05-Jan-2023Stumps
Usman Khawaja made his highest Test score, while Steven Smith overtook Sir Donald Bradman in the record books with his 30th Test hundred, as Australia gained a stranglehold on the third Test against a hapless South Africa.Khawaja was ruthless on a slow SCG surface to finish unbeaten on 195 and anchor Australia’s massive 475 for 4. But their push for a declaration before stumps on day two was thwarted by rain ending play an hour early.With a declaration looming, Khawaja and Travis Head accelerated after tea with Australia keen on moving the match forward due to more rain forecast in Sydney on days three and four.In what has become a trademark, Head played a swashbuckling innings to smash a flagging South Africa attack with a 59-ball 70 before holing out. In his first Test match since 2018, and having tested positive for Covid-19 on a rapid antigen test before play on day one, Matt Renshaw was on 5 not out.Khawaja bettered his highest Test score of 174 in streaky fashion with a gloved boundary that just beat high-flying wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne. His 13th Test century took him level with Wally Hammond, Doug Walters and VVS Laxman as the only batters to have struck three consecutive tons at the SCG.Having revived his Test career a year ago with twin centuries against England on this ground, Khawaja has now hit four centuries from seven Tests at the SCG with an average over 100.It ended a frustrating Test summer for Khawaja, who had missed out on Australia’s run glut and only averaged 27.43 from seven previous innings.Khawaja combined in a 209-run partnership with Smith to torment South Africa for most of the first two sessions on day two. It was their 10th century partnership from just 33 innings and their highest stand, overtaking their 188 against England at the SCG in 2018.Having moved past Bradman on the career Test century list with his 30th ton, Smith fell for 104 after tamely spooning a return catch to spinner Keshav Maharaj.After a slow start, Smith produced a masterclass and reached his ton with a pull shot to the boundary off Anrich Nortje. His back-foot trigger movement was more pronounced in this innings, having been refined earlier in the season, but it didn’t affect his game with Smith toying with the bowlers.Steven Smith celebrates his 30th Test century•Cricket Australia via Getty ImagesIt would have particularly satisfied Smith, who in 20 previous innings against South Africa averaged 41.67 – nearly 20 below his career mark. His only Test ton was in his first innings against them when he struck 100 in Centurion in 2014.In the process, Smith overtook Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke to sit fourth overall in Test career runs for Australia. He also passed 1000 Test runs at the SCG as he struck his fourth ton on his home ground.Related

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Another strong Australian batting effort put them on track for a clean sweep of the series with victory to secure a position in the World Test Championship final in June. They also completely sucked the life out of a beleaguered South Africa, who have been out of answers.With just four wickets in 131 overs, the spotlight might further shine on under-pressure skipper Dean Elgar who has seemingly been reactionary and conservative with his tactics.He juggled his bowlers sometimes bafflingly like when Nortje and spearhead Kagiso Rabada were not used after lunch with offspinner Simon Harmer taking an almost brand new ball.Harmer had been under-bowled on day one and in the first session, but struggled to make an impact and was hit for a huge six by a fleet-footed Smith.Nortje couldn’t quite summon the same fire he conjured during his heroic day one effort, where he claimed the only two wickets, while Rabada was wayward to continue a disappointing series.There was relief for left-arm spinner Maharaj after removing Smith out of nowhere. He was finally rewarded having leaked 247 runs off 75.5 overs in the series before his long overdue first scalp.Their chances of a victory to revive their slim chances of making the World Test Championship final appear forlorn. To avoid a series whitewash, South Africa might need Sydney’s temperamental weather to further intervene.

Former South Africa captain wants the team to play their best attack, comprising five match-winning bowlers

Sruthi Ravindranath03-Dec-2022With South Africa still figuring out their best XI for the Test tour of Australia, former captain Graeme Smith believes they should stick to an “aggressive mindset” and play six batters and five bowlers.”I’d like to see South Africa back their six batters,” Smith told ESPNcricinfo. “I think there’s always that fear because the batting has been weak. They’ve always looked to play the extra batter. Maybe that can be a defensive mindset and not an aggressive mindset. I’d like to see them take an aggressive mindset.Related

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“You’ve got Lungi Ngidi, you’ve got Marco Jansen. You’ve got [Kagiso] Rabada and Anrich Nortje, and you’ve got Keshav Maharaj, who are all outstanding Test bowlers and can really win you games single-handedly. Work on the batters, get the six batters to bat in partnerships and get totals. If you get the totals you want, bowlers can win you games. And South Africa should pick the bowlers who can win you games.”South Africa’s Test captain Dean Elgar had suggested they were still “in a bit of debate” about playing an extra batter to lengthen their line-up. South Africa are presently second in the World Test Championship table, but their batters haven’t been racking up big numbers in the last few years. Since the start of 2020, they have had just six centuries in 19 games, the fewest among the teams part of the WTC. In their previous Test series, which they lost to hosts England 2-1 in August-September, they had just one batter among the top five run-getters. They also got bowled out under 200 four times in that series.Smith also said South Africa needed to focus on building partnerships. They have had just nine century stands in the last two years, which is again the fewest among the nine teams that are part of the World Test Championships.

“I think whenever you tour Australia you got to be prepared for being in someone else’s country for a period of time. Crowds.. and the players playing the game hard so definitely you’ve got to be mentally preparedGraeme Smith knows a thing or two about touring down under

“If you can get those partnerships together over 100-150, you start to make an impact on the team’s innings. I think when you’re under pressure, you tend to focus on yourself and the pressure just grows, how you can work together as a batting unit to post totals there in Australia is going to be key. You obviously need some of your big players to perform well and take the pressure off the youngsters.”South Africa’s bowling continues to remain their biggest strength. Their bowling average of 24.94 is the second lowest while their strike-rate of 46.7 is the best among the Test-playing teams in the last two years.Among the standouts in this department has been Rabada, who’s been their kingpin across formats. Among the bowlers to take 50-plus wickets since 2020, only his team-mate Nortje has had a better bowling strike rate than him. Rabada is the only fast bowler who was part of South Africa’s successful Test tour of Australia in 2016, when he took 15 wickets in six innings.”The thing about KG is that he’s the center piece for South African cricket at the moment so whenever he doesn’t play it’s noticeable,” Smith said•Getty ImagesAhead of this tour, however, Rabada admitted that the amount of cricket being played was a concern and that it needs to be “managed”.”The thing about KG is that he’s the centre piece for South African cricket at the moment so whenever he doesn’t play it’s noticeable,” Smith said. “But it’s about producing enough talent that you can afford to rest a player here and there. At the moment you know in a World Cup, and a big tour to Australia, he has to play his roles there. And also as he gets more experience, he will learn to manage himself and stay focused on what’s important.”With Elgar saying his side was prepared for a “feisty” series against the current No. 1 Test team, Smith, who has been part of three bilateral tours to Australia, said South Africa should solely focus on competing on the field.”I think whenever you tour Australia you got to be prepared for being in someone else’s country for a period of time. Crowds.. and the players playing the game hard so definitely you’ve got to be mentally prepared. I think the key is always playing good cricket. It’s the only way that I’ve found over the years, having lost really badly once and won twice, if you can play really good cricket and you turn everything around and the home team gets under pressure. So I hope that South Africa focus on their performances, in particular their batsmen. There is some talent in the bowling ranks, [but] if the batters can get some runs in Australia it gives you a chance to beat them.”The first of three Tests between Australia and South Africa starts on December 17 at the Gabba in Brisbane,

Manchester United could now reportedly be offered a swap deal for Marcus Rashford which would see him depart Old Trafford in exchange for another forward as soon as the January transfer window.

Man Utd and Rashford on course to part ways

Just weeks into Ruben Amorim’s time in charge of Manchester United, it seems that Rashford’s future lies away from Old Trafford. The Englishman has been left out of the squad for each of his side’s last three games, including the Manchester derby in the Premier League and the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Tottenham.

It comes after he admitted that he felt he needed a new challenge away from the north west.

“For me, personally, I think I’m ready for a new challenge and the next steps”, he told the media, before adding that he felt his best years remained ahead of him.

Appearances

287

Goals

87

Assists

40

Minutes per goal/assist

155

“I don’t expect my peak to be now. I’ve had nine years so far in the Premier League and that’s taught me a lot, that’s helped me grow as a player and as a person. So I don’t have any regrets from the last nine years. I won’t have any regrets going forward because I take things day by day and sometimes bad things happen, sometimes good things happen. I just try and keep a fine balance.”

For their part, Manchester United are willing to cash in on their homegrown star, who tops their wage bill with a massive £375,000 a week. Of course, that salary will be a major sticking point for any potential suitors, with few clubs on the planet able to afford that on top of what is likely to be a hefty transfer fee for the England international.

However, now one club have reportedly proposed a way out of what threatens to be a prolonged standoff.

Barcelona ready swap offer for Rashford

That is according to a fresh report from Spain, which claims that Barcelona are readying an audacious swap deal in a bid to try and sign Rashford in January.

The report claims that the Blaugrana are ready to offer up their own forward Ansu Fati in exchange for the 27-year-old, and even add that the club have “begun working on negotiations”.

Like Rashford, Fati is out of favour at his club and taking home a hefty salary (£221k per week in his case). Still just 22-years-old, injury and form have seen him start just a single La Liga game this season.

However, he is undoubtedly talented, inheriting Lionel Messi’s shirt at Camp Nou and singled out for praise by former boss Xavi, who dubbed him an “extraordinary” talent after working with him.

Despite this, a deal seems farfetched, especially with Barcelona already struggling with their salary cap to the point where they cannot register summer signing Dani Olmo for the second half of the season as things stand.

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Adding Rashford to the mix may only make the situation worse, while United would surely demand a fee on top of the arrival of an injury-plagued Fati for any deal to materialise.

Ireland will play Test in Bangladesh next month before facing Ben Stokes’ team in June

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2023Andy Balbirnie has said that the ultra-attacking style England’s Test team have adopted under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum “has a chance of changing the game” as a whole, as his Ireland team prepare for their first Test match in nearly four years.Ireland’s third and most recent Test was against England at Lord’s in 2019, but their hiatus from the longest format will end in Mirpur next month, when they play a one-off Test match against Bangladesh on April 4 at the climax of a multi-format tour. They will then travel to Galle, where they will play Sri Lanka in a Test match on April 18.A return to Lord’s for a four-day Test on June 1 is the highlight of Ireland’s Test calendar this year, and Balbirnie believes that their opponents have engineered “a shift” in the way that red-ball cricket is played over the last nine months – one which his side will have to find a way to counter.Hand gets Bangladesh call

Ireland have added Fionn Hand to their squads for all three formats of the Bangladesh tour. Conor Olphert has withdrawn from the T20I squad due to study commitments, while Josh Little is rested ahead of the IPL after a picking up a minor hamstring injury at the SA20 and will now miss the ODIs.

“It’s pretty obvious to see what England are doing has a chance of changing the game,” Balbirnie told Cricket Ireland’s in-house channels, before Ireland’s departure to Bangladesh on Saturday.”I think it’ll naturally filter down to county cricket over the next number of years and we’re going to see it first-hand at Lord’s this summer, and we’re going to have to find a way to create our own brand – whatever that is.”As cricketers of our generation, we’ve seen a massive shift in the game in all three formats. The beauty of white-ball cricket is that it’s always evolving. Test cricket probably hasn’t had that recently, but now, in the immediate past, we’ve seen a shift. It’s going to be really exciting to see how that continues.”Ireland have not played a men’s international in Bangladesh since the T20 World Cup in 2014, but Balbirnie has some recent exposure to conditions after a recent stint at the Bangladesh Premier League with Khulna Titans.”It was really beneficial for me,” he said. “I was there to see first-hand a couple of their players, some of the grounds and conditions we’re going to come up against in the next week or two, and just chat with some of the local guys about how they go about playing certain spinners or seamers.”Over the next week, leading up to the first ODI [on March 18], we’re going to be chatting as a team. Any little things that I picked up on in Bangladesh – or Curtis [Campher, who played for Chattogram Challengers at the BPL] – will only be beneficial to the group.”

CA’s implicit argument that domestic cricketers are non-earning assets, and thus less deserving of good pay, is disingenuous and unlikely to pass muster

Daniel Brettig06-Apr-20174:17

Brettig: Players want a significant say in financial matters

In May 2014, Australia’s then treasurer, Joe Hockey, handed down his first federal budget in which he characterised a point of difference between those who contributed to the nation’s economy and those who did not. “We must always remember that when one person receives an entitlement from the government,” he said, “it comes out of the pocket of another Australian.” His speech ended with the phrase “we are nation of lifters, not leaners”.A little less than three years later, a similar sentiment pervades Cricket Australia’s formal pay offer to the Australian Cricketers’ Association. The recurring theme is that international cricketers fund the game, and are doing their domestic colleagues a mighty favour by bankrolling state and Big Bash League contracts.The document is littered with references to how international players deserve credit for sharing the money they earn with domestic players. On page six: “CA commends international men for continuing to support domestic cricket.” Page eight: “International men should also be commended for continuing to support domestic players.” Page 21: “International men deserve significant credit for supporting domestic players given that domestic cricket does not generate a financial surplus.”In summary, Australia’s international players have been deemed the game’s “lifters”, and domestic players the “leaners”. Following that logic, CA have indicated that rises in domestic player wages will be minimal over the next five years, with only international players eligible to share in any surpluses above projections.

The logic applied to the pay offer would appear to suggest that Australian cricket exists in distinctly separate realms: international players having nothing to do with their domestic counterparts. This is a hard claim to justify

Even this measure, allowing international men and women to share in the money raised from the staging of the matches in which they play, is merely vestigial next to what was available in the past. It is the only sliver of “blue sky” left for any players under the current deal, in sharp contrast to the fixed revenue percentage inked into all previous pay deals between CA and the ACA.Yet, the logic applied to the pay offer would appear to suggest that Australian cricket exists in distinctly separate realms: international players having nothing to do with their domestic counterparts and vice-versa. This is a hard claim to justify in light of the fact that the Sheffield Shield has long been described as the breeding ground for Australia’s Test team, while the recent growth of the BBL has put domestic players at the forefront of an area that stands to reap rich financial returns for CA over the coming decades.It has been odd to hear CA’s chief executive James Sutherland consistently talking up the BBL’s burgeoning status as a source of new fans but also new revenue for the game over the past six years, then contorting his logic in the context of the pay offer by saying: “It’s true that on the surface, the BBL may be starting to break even in certain quarters, but we’ve still got a very significant deficit from previous years”. Estimates for next year’s looming renewal of the BBL television rights deal have its value tripling from A$100 million (US$76m approx) to A$300 million (US$227m approx).Equally, all the game’s broadcast and commercial partners are happy to invest in Australian cricket out of the belief that domestic competitions are strong enough to produce international players whenever necessary. The success of the likes of Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb, two players moulded as much by the Shield as anything else, over the past season confirmed that this low-profile competition is vital to maintaining the standard of talent coming into the teams that generate the revenue CA builds its operations around.This is all without mentioning that CA has itself been pushing for greater cooperation across the nation over the past eight years, starting with the Australian Cricket Conference in 2010. That event led to reforms such as the start of the BBL, the introduction of an independent CA board of directors, and even the adoption of a national philosophy called “One Team”, meaning that CA and the state associations should all be pushing in one direction, leaving old differences behind. The pay offer’s repeated assertions that domestic players do not contribute to the financial whole make for quite the contradiction to all this – One Team, or divide and conquer?Cast in the role of Hockey for CA is Kevin Roberts, the board’s head of strategy and people, appointed after serving first as one of its first independent directors, and a former Sheffield Shield cricketer himself. Roberts is fair-minded and sharp, and has at least avoided Hockey’s mistake of being caught smoking a cigar on the day the 2014 budget was announced. But like the former treasurer, he has been caught between competing demands and ideologies – those that have been in place for two decades, and those of the new board and its chairman, the former Rio Tinto managing director David Peever.Things get curiouser still when examining the rich – and deserved – increases in pay allocated to female cricketers under the offer. In explaining why CA has moved to bring greater financial rewards to the women’s game in advance of the financial returns it currently gains, the board states that research suggests a past deficit is in need of correcting: “Independent experts have highlighted that the historical disproportionate investment in international men’s cricket relative to international women’s cricket has contributed to the value differential between the two.”That is an undeniably fair justification for bringing full professionalism to women’s cricket down under. But it is also an argument that may be applied to domestic cricket across the board, given how the BBL has flourished with the help of greater investment to promote the competition and its players. CA’s appeals to find more money for grass roots falls into similar territory – funding areas that don’t bring direct financial returns but help build the game as a whole.So it must be concluded that the reality of “lifters and leaners” in Australian cricket becomes more complex and nuanced the more closely one looks, not unlike that of the national economy. Which brings us to one more parallel between Hockey’s budget and the CA pay offer: the first was blocked from passing through the Parliament, the second stands about as much chance of being agreed to by the players.

Former South Africa Under-19 player had been hospitalised after an assault near Taunton in May

Firdose Moonda08-Sep-2022Mondli Khumalo, the former South Africa Under-19 and Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland bowler, has had a final, successful surgery after being assaulted in Somerset in May. He is now able to move around without a protective helmet and hopes to be able to return to professional cricket by early next year.”That was the final piece of the puzzle,” Rob Humphries, Khumalo’s agent, told ESPNcricinfo. “Now it’s about healing and the pathway back to professional cricket. He is in great spirits and physically, he is really good. He can get up and walk about. It’s about being able to get back in the gym and rebuilding his fitness. He is fit and strong and in a really good space.”Khumalo, who was on his first trip as an overseas professional at North Petherton Cricket Club, was attacked outside a pub in Bridgwater, near Taunton, where he was celebrating a win with his team-mates.A 27-year-old man was arrested and released on investigation and the case awaits the go-ahead from the crown prosecution service.Khumalo was unconscious at the scene and then placed in an induced coma for four days. He had three operations to relieve pressure and bleeding in the brain. Ten days after being hospitalised, Khumalo was able to stand unaided and his club team-mate Lloyd Irish shared a video of Khumalo catching a sponge ball.His fourth and final operation, to replace the piece of skull that had been removed to attend to the brain injury, took place on September 7. It would have taken place sooner, but was delayed by several weeks after Khumalo contracted Covid-19. He will remain in England until he is cleared to travel, with Humphries aiming for a November return. Khumalo’s mother and uncle, who made the trip across from South Africa to England soon after the attack, have already returned home and Khumalo has been in the club’s care.In June, they organised a crowd-funding campaign to help with the costs of Khumalo’s treatment, which is chargeable by the NHS, and raised £27,379. Further funding will be needed, as his bills have exceeded this amount.

INEOS have now made contact with a “top striker” who could cost Manchester United £50 million in the summer, according to a Sky Sports report. Since the Red Devils appointed Ruben Amorim as head coach, they have been linked with several new arrivals, as the Portuguese will be looking to put his own stamp on his squad soon.

Real Madrid talking to Man Utd about £85k-p/w ace who Amorim thinks is key

Real Madrid are keen on signing a Manchester United player who has become a key player in recent seasons.

ByBrett Worthington Dec 2, 2024 Man Utd transfer news

As January fast approaches, the transfer stories are going to start heating up, and United look to have a shortlist in place should opportunities present themselves. It is unlikely that the Red Devils will spend heavily in the New Year, but there could be room for a few ins and outs depending on what INEOS and Amorim like to do.

United are keeping their options open when it comes to signing a new left-back. This has been a problem position for them for some time, and January could be where they address it, as United have now placed David Raum on their shortlist ahead of 2025.

Up front, United also have Wolves forward Matheus Cunha on their radar, as they have been scouting him ahead of making a move in 2025. The 25-year-old has been a top performer for the Midlands side this season despite the team’s struggles, and he is now being looked at as a possible addition to Amorim’s side. But Cunha is not the only striker they are keeping an eye on, as they have now contacted another player that Amorim knows well.

Man Utd make contact to sign “top striker” Gyokeres

According to Sky Sports Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, Manchester United have made contact for Viktor Gyokeres ahead of a possible move next summer, officially opening “concrete talks”. The Swedish international has emerged as one of the brightest and most exciting forwards in European football since moving to Sporting Lisbon back in 2023.

Gyokeres, who has been labelled a “top striker,” was very impressive during his time at Coventry City but has since taken his game to a new level in Portugal. The 26-year-old is under contract until the summer of 2028, but there is an agreement he will be allowed to leave for £50 million in the summer, despite having a release clause worth £83 million.

With 16 goals in Liga Portugal this season, the Red Devils are looking to sign the striker in the summer and have made their interest known. However, they are not the only side chasing his signature, as Plettenberg adds that Manchester City have also “intensified” their efforts in recent days.

Apps

12

Minutes per game

89

Goals

16

xG

13.05

Scoring frequency

67 mins

Shots per game

4.6

Goal conversion rate

29%

Assists

1

Big chances created

4

United will hope having Amorim as their head coach gives them the edge in the race to sign Gyokeres, as the forward was exceptional under the Portuguese. However, an upturn in form for Joshua Zirkzee, Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund could potentially change their minds, as all three have found the back of the net in recent matches.