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Alexander Isak’s form in the 2024/25 campaign for Newcastle United has been sensational. Around a month ago, at the end of April, Jamie Carragher described the Swede as the “best striker in the Premier League right now”, and looking at the numbers, it is not hard to see why.

In 33 games in the English top flight, the striker has scored 23 goals and grabbed six assists. He has featured for 2,684 minutes in the Premier League, leaving him with an extraordinary average of one goal every 116 minutes.

With Isak’s superb form, it is no surprise Newcastle are looking to bolster his attack and bring him even more support in forward areas ahead of next term.

Newcastle’s latest attacking target

There might not be a more eye-catching signing to go along with Isak and winger Anthony Gordon in the Magpies’ attack than Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens. It has been an impressive campaign for the Englishman, and he could well leave the Bundesliga this summer.

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According to a report from former Manchester United chief scout Mick Brown, in conversation with Football Insider, Newcastle ‘are working on a move to sign’ the young winger this summer. Brown confirmed that the North Eastern side have ‘had scouts watching him this season’ and could now swoop in to sign him.

Surprisingly, although Gittens is a player with high potential, this is a deal that could come cheap.

A report from talkSPORT last month claimed he is valued at just £35m by Dortmund. However, they also link Chelsea to a move for the winger, meaning Newcastle might face strong competition.

Why Gittens would be a good signing

It has been a strong campaign for Gittens, despite a tough time of it as a team for Dortmund. Described by Sky Sports’ Dougie Critchley as “England’s best winger in 24/25”, the 20-year-old has certainly made a difference at times in that famous Black and Yellow shirt.

In 48 games this season across all competitions, Gittens has managed to find the back of the net on 12 occasions and has also created five goals for his teammates. In total, 12 of those goal involvements have come in the Bundesliga.

However, if there was one game where Gittens really showed what he can do, it was away to Real Madrid in the Champions League group stage. The former Manchester City academy man impressed against the La Liga giants, executing an incisive counter-attack to give his side a 2-0 lead.

One thing that really stands out about Gittens is his ability with the ball at his feet. He is a fantastic ball carrier, deadly in one-vs-one scenarios and confident in taking a defender on and beating him in those situations.

In fact, the stats on FBref from the Bundesliga season show just how good he is when carrying the ball. For example, Gittens averages 5.73 progressive carries and 3.9 successful take-ons per 90 minutes, both of which rank him in the top 1% of wingers in the Bundesliga.

Gittens dribbling numbers in 2024/25 Bundesliga

Stat (per 90)

Number

Percentile vs. attackers

Take-ons attempted

8.67

99th

Take-ons completed

3.9

99th

Progressive carries

5.73

99th

Carries into final third

2.84

94th

Carries into penalty area

3.19

99th

Stats from FBref

Well, Newcastle will be hoping that Gittens can replicate Isak’s impact at St James’ Park. Just like the young England U21 star, Isak was formerly a Dortmund player, where he made 13 appearances but only scored once.

However, his impact in the North East has been colossal, proving that you can certainly make a fine transition from Germany to English football.

108 games and 62 goals later, he is, as Carragher said, one of the stars of the Premier League, and a far better player than he was at Dortmund all those years ago.

Newcastle would surely love for Gittens to replicate that sort of impact. He could well become the second coming of Isak, that is to say, a former Dortmund player who has a fantastic impact on the North Eastern club.

At just £35m, Gittens seems like a bargain, and this feels like a move Newcastle must do, to further elevate their attack.

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Posts ByRoss Kilvington May 17, 2025

It’s been coming. Liverpool have enjoyed the most incredible of campaigns, FSG hitting the jackpot with their appointment of Arne Slot, but in keeping with the yearly routine, the season has produced a bitter pill for the fanbase to swallow.

Last year, it was a tired Jurgen Klopp’s decision to step down after nearly nine illustrious years at the helm. 12 months earlier, Liverpool waved goodbye to Bobby Firmino, with the core of Anfield’s midfield all departing too.

Now, Trent Alexander-Arnold has decided to leave Liverpool at the end of his contract this summer, and while it hasn’t been set in stone, he will sign for Real Madrid on a free transfer.

Why Alexander-Arnold is leaving Liverpool

Alexander-Arnold’s Liverpool journey has been synonymous with the club’s ascension under Klopp’s wing. The German gaffer birthed Trent onto the senior stage, handing him his debut across every competition for the Reds.

He’s won it all, but the 26-year-old’s decision to leave Liverpool and the peak of their (and his) powers is something that many fans aren’t going to be able to accept.

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s Liverpool Career by Competition

Competition

Apps

Goals

Assists

Premier League

257

18

67

Champions League

60

2

13

FA Cup

13

1

3

Carabao Cup

10

0

6

Europa League

5

0

2

Club World Cup

2

0

1

CL Qualifying

2

0

1

Community Shield

2

1

0

UEFA Super Cup

1

0

0

Stats via Transfermarkt

FSG did everything in their power to keep him on the books, reportedly offered him a healthy upgrade on his £180k-per-week contract, showcased an ambitious plan led by Slot, whose tactical grasp Trent has been dazzled by.

In the end, he just wanted to leave.

We could pick at it all day but the truth is that Alexander-Arnold feels he has given two decades of his life to his football club and won the lot. He believes that this is the right time for a change, and Real Madrid usually get what they want.

Sky Sports have even suggested that playing in Los Blancos white is something of a lifelong ambition for the England international, whose sights have likely been set on a move for a few years now, in one way or another.

Sporting director Richard Hughes will take his time in working with Slot and deciding on the best route forward at right-back. For now, though, he is looking to sign another defender nice and swiftly.

Liverpool lining up new defender

The Premier League champions are gearing up for a big summer, and the perfect way to put Alexander-Arnold’s decision in the background would be to win the race for Dean Huijsen.

Bournemouth’s star centre-back has been one of the breakthrough stars of the season, thriving on the South Coast. He has a £50m release clause in his contract and is being pursued by all of England’s heaviest hitters.

Certain reports have suggested Chelsea have the edge but according to Fabrizio Romano, the race is very much on, and Liverpool are in need of a new up-and-coming defensive star.

Why Dean Huijsen could be a bigger talent than Trent

Huijsen hasn’t been in the Premier League for long, but he’s already being head-hunted by the best of the best and this is all down to his performances on the pitch.

How Juventus must regret their decision to sell the 20-year-old to Bournemouth in a £15m deal last summer, for he has featured prominently in a Cherries side chasing Europe, with journalist Henry Winter even noting that he “shackled [Alexander] Isak on ground and in the air” back in January.

Sofascore record that Huijsen has won 61% of his aerial battles in the Premier League this season, also averaging 2.7 tackles and interceptions per game, so it’s clear he’s able to produce the goods against the best of the best with consistency. One analyst has already declared that he’s going to be “world-class” in the coming years.

His latest showstopping game, a 2-1 win over Arsenal away from home, highlighted many of the qualities that have piqued the interest of so many clubs, notably scoring the equalising goal.

It was a statement display, not just the architect of the Emirates fall through his headed goal, but an all-round display that negated much of the Gunners’ attacking play.

A big-game player, dynamic as they come, Huijsen is already demonstrating an ability that could see him slot right into Liverpool’s starting line-up, fostering his talents over the coming years to eventually become an even bigger star than Alexander-Arnold.

With some suggesting that he has everything he needs to become “the ultimate modern-day centre back,” Huijsen could actually rise to an even higher level than Alexander-Arnold, should he make the move to Liverpool.

That’s not actually to detract from the Three Lions star’s skill set: Trent is a one-of-a-kind player, with a celestial range of passing that has been so important across a sustained period of success at Anfield.

But Huijsen, too, is showing himself to be a unique player. As per FBref, he ranks among the top 7% of defenders in the Premier League this season for goal contributions, the top 16% for progressive passes, the top 13% for progressive carries, the top 6% for shot-creating actions and the top 4% for blocks and clearances per 90.

It’s not difficult to see why Liverpool (and all the rest) have a vested interest in securing his services as he steps toward footballing maturity.

Surpassing Alexander-Arnold’s legacy would take quite an effort from a young Spaniard like Huijsen (born in the Netherlands), but the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah have already arrived as foreigners and established themselves as heroes for the ages.

Huijsen could repeat the trick, outstripping Alexander-Arnold in doing so.

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Posts ByAngus Sinclair May 5, 2025

Chelsea have now identified an “incredible” midfielder as a potential summer transfer target, but there may be fierce competition for his signature, with a whole host of Premier League clubs keen, according to a report.

Blues stepping up summer transfer plans

While the Blues have long since been out of the Premier League title race, they are still on course to have a fairly successful season, with Friday’s 1-0 victory against Tottenham Hotspur solidifying their place in the top four.

However, if Enzo Maresca’s side are to compete with the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool next season, they may need to strengthen in a number of areas, with a striker believed to be of particular interest.

A £59m bid has been submitted for Real Madrid’s Endrick, while Napoli’s Victor Osimhen is also interested in a move to Stamford Bridge this summer, with a deal possible for a fee of around £68m.

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ByEmilio Galantini Apr 3, 2025

Central midfield hasn’t been a problem position this season, with Moises Caicedo receiving rave reports, but there have been suggestions Maresca could also look to strengthen his options in the engine room this summer.

According to a report from The Boot Room, Chelsea have now joined the race to sign Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Hugo Larsson, but there could be fierce competition for his signature, with Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool also keen.

Larsson’s impressive performances this season have put him in the Blues’ sights, with checks being conducted, and they are planning to watch him closely when he comes up against Tottenham in the Europa League next week.

Previous reports have suggested the Swedish midfielder is valued at £50m, but his stock could well rise if he continues to perform well between now and the end of the campaign.

"Incredible" Larsson could be excellent signing

Maresca is blessed with some quality options in the middle of the park, with Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez among Chelsea’s best performers in the Premier League this season, but there are plenty of signs the Frankfurt midfielder could still be a solid addition.

Sport1-journalist Christopher Michel has lauded the 20-year-old as “incredible”, and he has proven himself as a major goalscoring threat for Frankfurt over the past year, ranking in the 92nd percentile for non-penalty goals per 90.

Perhaps in part due to his goalscoring ability, the Frankfurt star has been lauded as “very similar to Bellingham” by football scout Ben Mattinson, who has also praised him for his ability in possession of the ball.

Larsson could be an excellent signing for Chelsea, but given that they are already well-stocked in midfield, signing a top striker should be their top priority this summer.

There is a crisis in Bangladesh, and tough decisions need to be taken to reach a long-term solution

Mohammad Isam19-Nov-2024As the world raves about Harry Brook, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kamindu Mendis and Rachin Ravindra, it’s fair to wonder if any young, emerging talent in Bangladesh can be mentioned in the same breath. A few promising batters have broken through to the national team over the last several years, but none of them has put up the consistent numbers that would put him in a list such as that.As a result, Bangladesh are still dependent on three batters who are far from young. Mushfiqur Rahim is now in his 19th season as a Test cricketer. Mominul Haque and Litton Das are of more recent vintage, but are both in their 30s now. Among the slightly younger lot, Najmul Hossain Shanto has hit a rough patch after showing promise last year, while Mehidy Hasan Miraz, an allrounder, is widely regarded as the team’s most improved batter.The scariest part is that there hasn’t even been a false dawn. No one has looked the part, the sort that would hold down one position for a length of time.Related

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As for the immediate future, the selectors have picked Shahadat Hossain and Mahidul Islam Ankon as replacements for the injured Mushfiqur and Shanto, who are out of the Test series against West Indies that begins on Friday. Shahadat is making a comeback after failing to impress in his first four Tests, while Mahidul, who made his debut against South Africa last month, is the third-choice wicketkeeper and a back-up batter.Slim pickings then.The 26-year-old Shanto is the best of the younger batters.After making his debut in 2017, it took him four years to find a regular spot in the team. Even then, it was only in 2023 that he found a regular spot in the Test side. He has the ability to score all around the wicket, with his punches and drives through the off side the main barometers of his confidence and rhythm.But just when he was establishing himself, the BCB decided to reward him. They made Shanto Bangladesh’s Test captain in November 2023. He started well with a century in the Test win against New Zealand in Sylhet, but it has been downhill from that point. After enjoying his best year as a batter in 2023, scoring three hundreds and averaging in the 50s, his form nosedived: this year, he has scored 317 runs at 21.13, with just the one fifty in 15 innings.The situation came to a head when, in the middle of the South Africa series last month, Shanto informed the BCB that he wanted to quit the captaincy. The BCB convinced him to continue in the role, and he was named captain for the Afghanistan ODIs and the West Indies Tests.Has captaincy played a role in Najmul Hossain Shanto’s dwindling returns?•Associated PressOne reason for Shanto’s struggles is the batting around him. Shadman Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Zakir Hasan have occupied the two opening slots this year, and Shadman (23.09) is the only one of them to average above 20. These three will now form Bangladesh’s top three in the West Indies with Shanto out injured.Joy, who recently turned 24, began his career promisingly, with runs in New Zealand and South Africa, but has blown hot and cold ever since, proving to be a nervous starter.Zakir struck a debut Test century against India two years ago, but hasn’t done much since.Shadman is the oldest of the trio, and made a strong comeback to the side with a 93 in Pakistan and a half-century in India, but has had issues against the short ball and struggled in the home series against South Africa.Among the other batters who made their Test debuts after the pandemic, Yasir Ali made a promising start before being dropped on the basis of white-ball performances. Mohammad Naim has played only one Test, while the jury is still out on whether Shahadat can deliver on his Under-19 promise.Bangladesh’s batting coach David Hemp initially joined the BCB as the head coach of their high-performance unit in 2023. He worked with several young batters including Joy, Shahadat, Shamim Hossain and Tanzid Hasan.Mahmudul Hasan Joy looks good when he gets going, but he can be a nervous starter•PCB”I believe that there are several challenges which may include higher skill level in bowling with greater consistency in execution, therefore greater pressure for longer periods of time,” Hemp said about the Bangladesh batters’ struggle when moving up to the highest level. “Certain surfaces but in particular those with pace and bounce [trouble them more]. Managing bowlers with pace like 145-150kph will always be a challenge but if you are not facing that too often in domestic cricket then it can take time to adjust.”National squad selection is a fantastic moment but with that selection comes greater attention and expectation. So managing this from an individual perspective can be an additional challenge.”One of the ways to mitigate the steep jump from domestic to international cricket is A-team tours. The BCB, however, has only made the rare effort to organise these tours. They usually play one or two series per year, and Test players often make up most of the XIs.This year, however, the BCB made the wise decision to send the Bangladesh A team to Pakistan before the Test series in that country. They also sent the high-performance squad to Australia. However, the likes of Mushfiqur, Mominul, Zakir and Joy took up batting spots in the ‘A’ side in Pakistan, and it made sense, since they needed a preparatory period ahead of the Test series. When they left for the Test matches, the others had limited opportunity for game time with the second four-day game in Islamabad mostly rained off.What is the ideal balance between giving younger players exposure and preparing Test players for tough assignments?”I wouldn’t necessarily put an exact number on it as it often depends on the situation at a particular moment in time,” Hemp said. “A-team tours are naturally a great vehicle for younger players to be tested and develop their skills, but other considerations often revolve around national players returning from injury or fringe players that have had limited playing opportunities that need match time leading into a series.”The likes of Jaker and Mahidul made Test debuts after appearing for the ‘A’ team this year, while Shadman and Shahadat earned recalls after taking the same route. None of them, so far, has made a significant impact.Bangladesh’s most impressive young white-ball batter, Towhid Hridoy, still awaits his Test debut•ICC/Getty ImagesOther candidates, meanwhile, wait for their turn. The selectors haven’t yet tried Towhid Hridoy in Tests. He has been Bangladesh’s best young batter in the white-ball formats in the last two years, and also has an interesting first-class CV, with an average of 45.65 after 15 matches. He batted for more than ten hours for his maiden century, which was a double-hundred. He also made a quick 165 last season.Then there’s the case of Amite Hasan, who crossed the 500-run mark in the National Cricket League this week. The selectors have suggested that Amite needs to score more runs for the high-performance and A’ teams before he gets his Test call-up.What happens once these young players get into the Test side is also instructive. Batters can always expect overseas conditions to challenge them; with Bangladesh, even home Tests aren’t a straightforward proposition, with the team playing most of its games on turning pitches at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. It’s a strategy that has made the team competitive against top teams at home, but it has come at the cost of batters’ long-term development.Ultimately it is up to the BCB to create the right atmosphere, where it prioritises red-ball cricket. The previous BCB regime believed that raising match fees and the value of red-ball contracts would do the trick, but you need more than money to produce batters in the class of Brook, Jaiswal, Kamindu and Ravindra, to name just a few. It needs a strong domestic first-class system and an A-team programme that exposes players to at least two or three different sets of conditions in a year. If the BCB can’t get the bigger boards to play them more often, they could even engage with Associate nations interested in red-ball cricket.Bangladesh have faced a similar batting crisis once before in their Test history. It was around the 2007-08 season when Habibul Bashar and Javed Omar were coming towards the end of their careers. It gave a large group of youngsters their opportunities. The selectors were patient with them, often to the annoyance of observers. They then began to perform and win games for the team, and Bangladesh benefited for a decade and a half.There’s a lesson to be learnt there, but the future can only begin to brighten if those in charge take tough decisions in the present.

Their line-up has taken shape so well towards the end of the league stage that no total is safe in front of them

Vishal Dikshit10-May-20233:28

Moody: Wadhera ensuring the chase wasn’t entirely on Suryakumar was critical

One of the big questions for Mumbai Indians’ batting line-up in the last couple of years was how they would fill the massive hole in the middle order left vacant by Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard. Hardik moved on to another franchise in the mega auction before 2022 and Pollard retired from the IPL recently, giving Mumbai a headache that couldn’t be cured overnight.Somehow, in their second IPL season without Hardik and in their first without Pollard, Mumbai have assembled a batting line-up that just mowed down its third consecutive total of 200 or more while chasing, that too without any major contributions from Rohit Sharma.Rohit’s last five scores have been in single digits, and in those three 200-plus chases, he managed only 7, 0 and 3. Yet, Mumbai have raced to 62, 50 and 65 in the powerplay of those games, largely thanks to Ishan Kishan, who has blasted 42 off 21 and 75 off 41 in the last few days. Kishan is not just picking those boundaries; he is also finding that rhythm again as a clean six-hitter that had made him a mainstay at the top of Mumbai’s batting order.Related

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On Tuesday too, against RCB, Kishan took charge of the 200 chase with back-to-back sixes in the third over against Mohammed Siraj, one of the best powerplay bowlers this season. Nor did he spare Josh Hazlewood and Wanindu Hasaranga, striking at at least 250 against each of them.Mumbai have also been rewarded for their bold decisions. At two down in the powerplay, after Rohit and Kishan fell in the fifth over, they sent out Nehal Wadhera, who was playing only his sixth T20 innings, instead of Cameron Green, and in the absence of the injured Tilak Varma. Against Chennai Super Kings three days ago, Wadhera struck his maiden T20 half-century by taking on the international names of Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali and Maheesh Theekshana, while none of his team-mates could score 30.Against RCB, the task was stiffer because the openers had just walked back with the score at 52 for 2 in a big chase. Wadhera, 22, didn’t seem perturbed by that, and he decided he was not going to merely play second fiddle to his senior partner, Suryakumar Yadav, and be content with giving him the strike for the heavy lifting. And nobody would have blamed Wadhera had he done that. Nor was he scared of taking risks in the powerplay by pulling a short ball for six despite there being a deep midwicket at the boundary. In fact, he nearly matched Suryakumar stroke for stroke in the century partnership before the latter took off for his fifty.Suryakumar Yadav and Nehal Wadhera put on a partnership of 140 off 66 deliveries•BCCIWhen Suryakumar pulled Harshal Patel for four – with the help of a misfield from Virat Kohli in the deep – to start the seventh over, Wadhera drilled a cover drive two balls later for a four of his own. When Suryakumar dispatched Wanindu Hasaranga beyond midwicket for six in the 11th over, Wadhera slog-swept the same bowler two balls later for six to put a dent in the car on display beyond the boundary. If Suryakumar was striking at 156.25 at that time, Wadhera was blazing with as much fire at 157.14. Two overs later, when their partnership had swollen to 89 off just 48 balls, they had brought the equation down to a very gettable 59 off 42, and Tim David and Green were yet to bat.David had blasted three consecutive sixes in the final over of the chase to stun Rajasthan Royals barely ten days ago. He has been striking at nearly 166 this IPL and has struck the most sixes in T20s since 2022. All that only adds to the brutality of Mumbai’s lower middle order and its finishing qualities.For acquiring David and Green, two established global names in the T20 format, Mumbai still had to break the bank and spend over INR 25.75 crore (USD 3.1 million approx.) over the last two auctions. In unearthing the talent of Wadhera, handing him a T20 debut this IPL after he had played just five first-class matches, and buying him for his base price of INR 20 lakh, Mumbai have again shown the pricelessness of their scouts.Their batting might has taken shape so well towards the end of the league stage that they scripted the fastest chase of 200 or more in the IPL, and the second-fastest overall in T20s. Their last three successful chases – 200, 216, and 214 – rank among the best chases in the IPL ever, and they also hold the record for the most 200-plus chases in a single T20 season.Since no total is safe in front of them, it makes Mumbai arguably the most feared batting line-up in the IPL currently, and it’s possible they may even want that “arguably” taken out soon.

What they said about Devdutt Padikkal’s classy century against the Rajasthan Royals

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Apr-2021

Devdutt Padikkal has played a supremely masterful innings. The sheer power and dominance of his stroke-play was something to behold. And, he enjoys batting with his captain Virat Kohli. Well played @RCBTweets

— Ian bishop (@irbishi) April 22, 2021