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While the Premier League season has rather petered out for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta, the future remains bright for a football club that is still very much on the rise.

Of course, they will be disappointed at the way they fell behind Liverpool in the race for the title but their remarkable 3-0 win over Real Madrid last week sent a message around the continent that the Gunners are a mighty fine team, even when they aren’t at full strength.

Last week, Declan Rice’s free-kick heroics ensured that Arteta’s men head to the Bernabeu this week in pole position to seal a semi-final spot.

However, they managed to do so without Kai Havertz and Gabriel, only making the achievement even more incredible.

That result was one of the greatest the Emirates has ever been and new sporting director, Andrea Berta, certainly needs to build on that over the summer. It could have been just the message his various transfer targets needed.

Arsenal's summer transfer plans

The biggest priority for Berta this summer will be strengthening the forward line.

Alexander Isak is the dream acquisition but reportedly valued at somewhere around £150m, it makes any deal pretty impossible to complete.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

As a result, Sporting’s Viktor Gyokeres could be the player they turn to with The Athletic’s David Ornstein reporting a few weeks ago that he is the leading target.

However, they may also strengthen in midfield with Ornstein providing the latest on their pursuit of Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi over the weekend.

Speaking on the Athletic podcast, he admitted that Arsenal are “expecting” to sign the Spanish midfielder in the summer, having done a lot of work on a possible transfer.

A move could cost in the region of £51m, the release clause in Zubimendi’s contract at La Real.

How Zubimendi would fit into Arsenal's midfield

At the end of the season, Thomas Partey and Jorginho’s contracts will expire, hence Arsenal’s desire to sign a new midfielder.

Jorginho – now just a bit-part of the side – won’t be a huge miss on the field but it’s safe to say the Gunners may miss Partey a little bit more.

He’s proven his worth, particularly in recent weeks, delivering a stand-out performance against Real Madrid last Tuesday and scoring against Brentford on Saturday evening.

During that thrilling win over Carlo Ancelotti’s side, no midfielder completed their passes at a more successful rate than Partey’s 93.8%. Furthermore, only William Saliba on both sides completed more carries.

Passes completed

62

2nd

Pass success %

93.8%

3rd

Passes into final 3rd

5

3rd

Attempted take-ons

3

3rd

Carries

48

2nd

Tackles won

3

3rd

That said, in Zubimendi, they won’t be signing a replacement for Partey. He only ranks in the top 57% of midfielders in Europe’s big five leagues for progressive carries.

Instead, they would be replacing Jorginho’s role as a tempo-setter and conductor of play. Zubimendi ranks among the best 7% of midfielders in Europe for touches in the defensive penalty area and the top 16% for tackles in the attacking third, indicating that he likes to come short towards the defence but also that he likes to press high up.

As a result, this transfer is likely to mean that Rice’s days as an out-and-out holding midfield player are numbered. While that may have looked like a bad thing at the start of the season, the idea of placing Zubimendi alongside the club’s record signing is a salivating one.

Indeed, Rice has done a lot of his best work in the no.8 role this season, playing further forward and impacting games in the final third.

His attacking traits are improving all the time and that has been abundantly clear over the last week. Those two free-kicks against Madrid were a sign that his ball striking would be put to good use in a more advanced role while the way he galivanted forward for Partey’s goal against Brentford summed up why Arteta is keen to use him further forward.

Rice broke quickly from a Bees corner, beating one man and then surging into the opposition half like a racehorse, devastatingly darting towards goal and then playing the ball at exactly the right time.

That type of line-breaking carry would rarely be seen if he was playing in a holding role but the arrival of Zubimendi would give Rice the license he truly needs to establish himself as one of the game’s most elite midfielders.

100% duels won, 94% passing: Arsenal star is now as undroppable as Rice

Arsenal failed to overcome Brentford on Saturday evening.

2 ByMatt Dawson Apr 13, 2025

da cassino online： Over the last few years, Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has gained a reputation for rubbing people up the wrong way.

da marjack bet： Whether it’s penalty antics or goading the crowd, the World Cup winner has made his fair share of enemies. But how has he irritated so many with his performances and antics? Here, we take a look at the moments that made Martinez one of football’s best wind-up merchants.

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Posts 1 ByCharlie Smith Nov 28, 2025 1 Psyching out Yerry Mina Argentina v Colombia, 2021 Copa America

Martinez took full advantage of an empty stadium at the pandemic-delayed Copa America in 2021 by using his taunting skills to put off Yerry Mina during a tense semi-final penalty shootout.

With the scores locked at 1-1, Martinez hurled insults at the defender, saying: “You’re nervous, huh? You’re laughing but you’re nervous. Yeah, yeah. You’re nervous. You’re nervous.

“Hey! The ball is ahead [of the penalty spot]. Yeah, yeah. Turn a blind eye. I already know you.

“Hey, look. See how I know where you’ll shoot. And then I’ll save it. I’m eating you up, brother. I’m eating you up, brother.”

Martinez had successfully flustered his opponent, and Colombia lost 3-2 on penalties, while Argentina went on to win the tournament with a 1-0 win over Brazil.

2 Winding up Ronaldo and teasing United fans Man Utd v Aston Villa, 2021/22 Premier League

With Aston Villa holding on for what would be a historic victory at Old Trafford, those hopes were left dangling by a thread when Man Utd were awarded a stoppage-time penalty.

Not fazed by the situation at all, Martinez prepared his wind-up act.

With Bruno Fernandes appearing favourite to take the kick, Martinez appeared to gesture towards Cristiano Ronaldo to take the kick himself, presumably to get in Fernandes’ head.

Fernandes was the one to eventually step up but ballooned his shot over the bar, leading Martinez to shake his hips at the devastated crowd to add insult to injury.

3 Dancing at the World Cup Netherlands v Argentina, 2022 World Cup

Martinez brought his post-penalty dancing to a global audience when the Netherlands and Argentina met in the World Cup quarter-finals.

After a 2-2 draw in normal time, the sides couldn’t be separated in the extra period, either – which meant it was time for Martinez to strut his stuff again.

The Villa ‘keeper kept out Virgil van Dijk to get the shootout off to a flyer, before repeating the trick with Steven Berghuis’ spot-kick.

The latter prompted La Albiceleste’s No 1 to celebrate with the fans, with the kicks being taken at the Argentina end. He was later labelled “crazy” for his actions, but that didn’t stop him from repeating them in the final.

4 Making crude gesture with the Golden Glove Argentina v France, 2022 World Cup

Winning the World Cup is a moment of immense pride, but you can also get carried away in the delirium of taking home football’s biggest prize.

Emi Martinez fell victim to this in the presentations following Argentina’s dramatic shootout win over France, during which he was handed the Golden Glove for being the best goalkeeper at the tournament.

Upon receiving the trophy, Martinez made a lewd gesture among a series of post-match taunts, angering the French FA, which launched an official complaint against his behaviour.

He had also called for a minute’s silence for Kylian Mbappe in the dressing room after denying the hat-trick hero a second World Cup.

5 Battling fellow mischief-maker Neal Maupay Brentford v Aston Villa, 2023/24 Premier League

Martinez vs Maupay is perhaps as box-office as it can get when it comes to a certain type of, shall we say ‘housery’.

And during a heated match between Brentford and Aston Villa in the 2023/24 Premier League, both players came to blows as they tried to outdo each other.

The main flashpoint between them came when Maupay collided with Martinez when retrieving a ball that went out of play, with Martinez making the most of the contact.

Moments later, Maupay went down under even lighter contact from the goalkeeper, with Martinez attempting to drag the Frenchman to his feet and Maupay almost ending up with his shirt over his head.

It was as farcical as it was entertaining.

6 Yellow card chaos (and more crowd-teasing) Lille v Aston Villa, 2023/24 Conference League

Martinez was the villain of the piece once again as Aston Villa prevailed in the Conference League quarter-finals.

Despite already being on a yellow card, the Villa shot-stopper wasted no time getting to work once the game entered a shootout.

As Nabil Bentaleb was stepping forward to take Lille’s first penalty, Martinez made sure he got to the ball first, much to the annoyance of the home support – before saving from the Algerian.

Martinez proceeded to gloat by shushing the Lille faithful, who responded by hurling objects at the Argentinian.

The goalkeeper’s protestations – or provocations – as a result of the missiles led to another yellow card from the referee, who had repeatedly warned Martinez he was on a tightrope.

Staying on the pitch due to a rarely seen rule regarding cautions not being carried over into penalty shootouts.

Not done there, Martinez then saved a match-winning kick from Benjamin Andre, before failing to resist a final celebratory jig in the direction of the fans.

7 Scrapping with Jack Grealish Aston Villa v Man City, 2024/25 Premier League

Jack Grealish didn’t get the best of receptions when he came back to Villa Park with Manchester City earlier this season, handing Martinez a chance to gee up the home supporters.

Martinez took issue with Grealish after the former Villa hero approached the referee to make a complaint, supposedly about the amount of added time.

Grealish got a shove from the goalkeeper for his troubles, and after Martinez was booked for his role in the skirmish, the two players continued to trade verbal blows down the tunnel.

Luckily for Grealish, he’s not the first, nor the last, player to let Martinez get under his skin.

One team is very much in the race for the World Cup semi-finals, the other is desperate for Champions Trophy qualification

Andrew Miller03-Nov-20235:47

Harmison: ‘England have to turn up, they have no choice’

Big picture: Can England spoil Australia’s semi-final push?Suffice to say, this is not the occasion it was earmarked to be. England versus Australia at the back-end of the group stages, at the most grandiloquent venue that this World Cup can offer. This was intended, at the very least, to be a shoot-out for the semi-finals, and maybe even a dress rehearsal for a yet more significant showdown at this same venue further down the line.And long, long ago, when Australia were the team sitting rock-bottom of the World Cup standings after back-to-back losses to South Africa and India, England might even have assumed that this would be their opportunity to land the final smackdown on their oldest foes.How the worm has turned since then. Australia have gone on to win four from four, while it’s England who have spent the past fortnight circling the drain. Somehow, they go into this contest with a 0.4% chance of reaching the knock-outs – but the fact that they aren’t dead yet despite five losses in six only goes to show how loaded towards the established teams this format really is.”The problem is, we’ve been crap,” as Ben Stokes succinctly put it, in summary of an epochally terrible campaign.And yet, there’s still an awful lot at stake for both sides – and it’s not simply a matter of pride on England’s part. Last week’s shock revelation, that the final placings in this group stage will determine the participants for the 2025 Champions Trophy, means there’s still more humiliation to come if England cannot somehow scramble their way from tenth to eighth in the table.As for Australia, it won’t be entirely plain-sailing into the semis if they drop the ball now. A pumped-up Afghanistan lie in wait in their next round (and they look set to be level on points by the end of their ongoing clash with the Netherlands) while a late-charging Pakistan offer another unexpected top-four challenge, albeit their own clash with fourth-placed New Zealand will mean two points dropped by one rival or the other.Very different degrees of jeopardy are at play therefore, but as tends to be the case in Anglo-Australian World Cup clashes, the immediate tournament context is sure to be rolled into the wider, wilder, narrative of an ancient and implacable rivalry.Australia have won four in a row since losing their first two games at the World Cup•AFP/Getty ImagesAnd for most recent instalment, you don’t need to dredge too far into the memory banks. Up to 15 of the 22 players on parade in Ahmedabad on Saturday will have played their part in an Ashes for the ages in the English summer just gone, and with that series locked at 2-2 – amid talk of moral victories on the one hand and disdain for the “Bazball” narrative on the other – it won’t take much for this rematch to be dressed up as a decider.Certainly, the near-messianic sense of purpose that encapsulated England’s Test summer has deserted them since the switch from red- to white-ball cricket, and speaking in Dharmasala last week, Pat Cummins, Australia’s captain, visibly struggled to choke down his mirth when asked to comment on his rival’s plight.He’s had rather less to smile about in an uncomfortable build-up to this match. Glenn Maxwell, the recent compiler of the fastest century in World Cup history, is out of contention after his freakish golf injury (why always golf? How do actual professional golfers not suffer these endless on-course mishaps?), while Mitchell Marsh’s return to Perth for family reasons is an untimely disruption after his richly productive role in the top three.In David Warner and the fit-again Travis Head, Australia still boast a pair of openers with three times as many centuries as England’s entire line-up has contributed across six matches – and the confidence that they will be able to project in the powerplay could yet be crucial.England, however, will enter this match with judgement swirling around their misfiring troops – and David Willey’s impending international retirement is a reminder, too, that stages such as these don’t present themselves forever in the cut-throat world of professional sport. There’s no time like the present, therefore, for the still-just-about-reigning World Champions to serve a reminder of their ability. Especially if, in the process, they can make their arch-opponents’ progress that little bit less serene.Form guide: Australia on a hot streak, England less soAustralia WWWWL (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
England LLLLWBen Stokes hasn’t minced words when talking about England’s performance at this World Cup•Getty ImagesIn the spotlight: Joe Root and Adam ZampaSpeaking in the build-up, Joe Root insisted that, “man for man”, England are still a better team than Australia. However, his caveat, “when we play our best stuff” might as well have been a deeply self-referential comment. Root is not the only senior player to have suffered a collapse in form in this most desperate of campaigns, but his downturn still feels the most surprising, because he’s never really done peaks and troughs in the course of his formidable career. Remember when his failure to convert endless Test fifties into hundreds was the single biggest gripe about his record? Right now, England’s most stealthy run-accumulator is unable even to get out of the powerplay – in 16 ODIs since the start of 2022, he’s been dismissed eight times in the first ten overs, for a total of 33 runs from 72 balls, which are unsustainable figures by the standards of any international No.3, let alone one of England’s very greatest.In their former guise as ODI world-beaters, England would almost certainly have considered Adam Zampa a marked man. They never used to stand on ceremony against their opponents’ star wristspinners – look at the treatment of Kuldeep Yadav (1 for 72) and Rashid Khan (0 for 110) in 2019, both of whom have exacted notable revenge this time out. And after a tough start to this tournament against India and South Africa, Zampa has grown in confidence with every subsequent outing – his current haul of 16 wickets includes 15 in four consecutive wins, giving him twice as many as Australia’s next most effective bowlers, Cummins and Josh Hazlewood (eight apiece). Zampa also has recent success against these opponents. Albeit England were rather distracted by their T20 World Cup win when they last met in an ODI series in November 2022, he still emerged with 11 wickets at 11.90 in a 3-0 whitewash.Team news: Maxwell, Marsh out for AustraliaThere might be temptation for England to look to the future, and give opportunities to some of the players more likely to feature in the post-World Cup rebuild – most notably their Under-30 pairing of Harry Brook and Gus Atkinson, who has been passed fit despite wearing a cast on his little finger following a blow during training on Thursday. But that would require some statement omissions from the existing XI, and the sense in the build-up is that the players who got England into this mess will be given a chance, for now, to atone for their shortcomings. Brydon Carse, Reece Topley’s replacement, is waiting in the wings, but Mark Wood – three-year contract and all – is just as likely to be unleashed once more with Ashes-style orders to “bowl rockets”.England (probable): 1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Joe Root, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Jos Buttler (capt, wk), 6 Moeen Ali / Harry Brook, 7 Liam Livingstone, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 David Willey, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Adil Rashid2:07

Who will Australia bring in for Glenn Maxwell?

All manner of upheaval for Australia in their build-up, with Maxwell’s golf-buggy-induced concussion now compounded by Marsh’s return home for family reasons. It leaves their 15-man squad stretched very thin, a point that captain Cummins has commented on, but the short-term fixes are fairly self-evident. Two further allrounders in Marcus Stoinis and Cameron Green are the obvious stand-ins, leaving Sean Abbott once again on the sidelines, while Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne are likely to move up a place each in the order, to Nos. 3 and 4 respectively.Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Travis Head, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Josh Inglis (wk), 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Cameron Green, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh HazlewoodPitch and conditions: The red or the black?As so often in Ahmedabad, the soil type will be a key factor in how the pitch plays. Black soil promises slow and low, red soil promises quick and bouncy, or so the lore goes. At least there won’t be any of the smog concerns that are dogging the build-up to Bangladesh-Sri Lanka in Delhi. A toasty 35 degrees is promised by day in Ahmedabad, with some prospect of dew under lights in the evenings – although England in particular have been caught out by that assumption before.Stats and trivia: Buttler closing in on 5000 Australia have won six of their previous nine meetings with England at the 50-over World Cup, including four in a row from 2003 to the group stage in 2019. However, England did win the most recent clash, by eight wickets at Edgbaston in the 2019 semi-final. Jos Buttler needs another 72 runs to become the third-fastest Englishman to 5000 ODI runs, in 150 innings. Overall, only six wicketkeeper-batters have 5000 or more runs in ODIs. David Willey, who has confirmed his retirement from international cricket at the end of the tournament, needs six more wickets in a maximum of three games to reach 100 in ODIs. Quotes”That was a couple of months ago. It’s done: it’s a new game, new tournament. But I always think a healthy amount of rivalry is good – especially our playing group. We’re quite a chilled, calm group, so when we get a little bit more fired up, I actually don’t think it’s too bad a thing.”
“It’s just been a disaster, and there’s no point sugarcoating it because it’s probably what you’re all going to write anyway – and it’s true.”

Ravi Shastri, meanwhile, has been conferred the lifetime achievement award

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jan-2024Shubman Gill and Deepti Sharma have won the BCCI awards for best men’s and women’s international cricketers of 2022-23. Gill won the men’s award, named after the former India captain Polly Umrigar, for the first time in his career, while Deepti won the women’s award for the second time – she also won it for the 2019-20 season.The BCCI had not announced their awards since naming Jasprit Bumrah and Poonam Yadav the international cricketers of 2018-19. They have now cleared their backlog, announcing winners for the past four seasons in one go. Mohammed Shami and Deepti have taken the honours for 2019-20, R Ashwin and Smriti Mandhana for 2020-21, and Bumrah and Mandhana for 2021-22.Gill made the step up from exciting prospect to international superstar in 2022-23 (the award timeframe runs from October 1 to September 30), enjoying incredible returns with the bat particularly in ODIs, in which he scored a world-leading tally of 1418 runs at an average of 64.45, with five hundreds including a double-century against New Zealand in Hyderabad. In the same period, Gill also scored 387 runs at 35.18 in seven Tests, and 304 runs at a strike rate of 146.85 in 11 T20Is.Related

• Jasprit Bumrah, Poonam Yadav claim top BCCI awards

Deepti, meanwhile, was a key member of an India side that won the Women’s Asia Cup and the Asian Games gold medal in a year packed with T20I action. The offspinner picked up 38 wickets – the fifth-most in the world in the award period, and the most by a bowler from a Full Member nation – in T20Is at an average of 14.81 and an economy rate of 5.71, while also contributing 313 runs with the bat, including two half-centuries, at an average of 28.45. Deepti only played three ODIs and no Tests in the award period, but carried her form into a triumphant 2023-24 home season, taking 11 wickets at 10.81 and scoring 165 runs at 55.00 as India beat England and Australia in one-off Tests in Mumbai.Ravi Shastri excelled in various roles up and down the batting order•PA Photos

Shastri wins lifetime achievement award

Former India allrounder Ravi Shastri, meanwhile, has been bestowed the BCCI’s lifetime achievement award. A versatile batter who played multiple roles through his career – he had a particularly impressive record as opener outside Asia – and an accurate left-arm fingerspinner, he finished with 3830 Test runs at an average of 35.79 and 151 wickets at 40.96.After knee injuries ended his playing career when he was still only in his early 30s, Shastri moved effortlessly into TV commentary, where he established himself as an incisive voice with a distinctively punchy manner of calling big moments. While he only got to captain India in one of his 80 Tests, he got a wider canvas to express his skills as a tactician and man-manager as coach: his stints at the helm of India’s men’s team from 2014 to 2016 and 2017 to 2021 coincided with their rise as an all-formats, all-conditions force. Under him India became a near-invincible Test team at home and achieved unprecedented levels of competitiveness away from home, most memorably winning two successive series in Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-21.

Tom Prest scored his maiden LV= Insurance County Championship century to frustrate title hopefuls Essex, despite Simon Harmer’s 35th first-class five-wicket haul for the county.Former England Under-19 skipper Prest masterfully scored an unbeaten 102 to guide Hampshire past the follow-on score with vital contributions from Toby Albert, Fletcha Middleton, James Vince and Keith Barker.Harmer claimed 5 for 143 as he churned away from the River End for 36 overs but Hampshire ended the day on 322 for 8 – and 125 runs adrift – with the potential to set up a result on the final day.Albert and Middleton had seen out seven overs the previous evening and combined on the third morning with a mix of patience and skill to clear the new ball with little problems.

Ruben Amorim sung the praises of Mason Mount after his two second-half goals at Old Trafford saw Manchester United through to the Europa League final.

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• Mount struck twice as United beat Athletic Club
• Stunning strike from near halfway rounded off victory
• Amorim praised Mount's hard work

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Mount struck twice to secure a resounding 4-1 victory on the night against Bilbao, after a 3-0 first leg win, with his manager crediting all the hard work the 26-year-old has put in this season, including numerous ice baths and a focus on his diet. Both goals showed class but his second was something special, with shades of David Beckham as Mount struck from almost the half-way line.

Advertisement

• Getty Images Sport
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Mount has struggled massively with injury at Old Trafford since joining from Chelsea in 2023, making just 42 appearances in almost two seasons. Last night's brace saw the midfielder double his goal tally for the Red Devils, which Amorim will hope is a sign of things to come.

• WHAT AMORIM SAID

  Amorim said: "I'm so happy for him. He is such a player. He works really hard, he has quality.

  "When you see that kind of guy like Mason working hard every day, eating well, having ice baths, when you have this kind of player you just want to help him. He is perfect for this position as he can be a midfielder, but also runs like a winger so I'm really happy for him.

  "When you have a full squad you can think about the game. Sometimes we're surviving with people in different positions, but with more options you can change the game and push forwards and these things can help you win games."

• Getty Images Sport
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR MOUNT AND MAN UNITED?

  Following goals at Brentford and Bilbao, Mount will look to score for a third successive game when United host West Ham United on Sunday. But the main event of their season is on 21 May, when they will do battle with Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final.

da marjack bet： Manchester United have now made contact to offer a big salary to a “monster” forward in the summer, according to a new report.

Amorim reacts to Man Utd defeat at Spurs

da wazamba： The Red Devils were unable to overcome a 13th-minute goal from James Maddison on Sunday afternoon, as they were beaten 1-0 by Tottenham Hotspur. It was another frustrating and bitterly disappointing day for United and Ruben Amorim, who said his job “is so hard” as he deals with an out-of-form squad and an injury list that now has 12 players on it.

Related Man Utd have unearthed their new Berbatov who "belongs to a different era"

The Man Utd star stood out against Spurs

Posts ByJoe Nuttall Feb 17, 2025

“I have a lot of problems,” Amorim told Sky Sports, via BBC Sport. “My job is so hard, but I am here to continue my job to the next week with my beliefs, and I will try to win again.”

The former Sporting boss went on to add that he is not worried about himself, he is focusing on his players and improving the team: “I am not worried. I understand our fans and what the media think about it. I hate to lose; that feeling is the worst.

“The rest I am not thinking about. I am here to help my players. I understand my situation and my job; I am confident on my work, and I just want to win games. The place in the table is my worry – I am not worried about me.”

Man Utd offer contract to Victor Osimhen

One aspect that continues to let United down week in and week out is lack of goals in the team, but that is something that INEOS are looking to address. According to Turkish journalist Yagiz Sabuncuoglu, relayed by Caught Offside, Man United have tabled a verbal contract offer to Victor Osimhen, as they look to sign him in the summer from Napoli.

The Nigeria international looks set to leave the Italian side this summer on a permanent basis after his season-long loan spell at Galatasaray. As well as United offering a contract, Paris Saint-Germain are also interested in the forward and have offered Osimhen a similar deal.

Both clubs are ready to trigger his €75 million release clause, which is roughly £62 million, but at this stage Osimhen hasn’t given an answer to either to press ahead and speak to his club.

The 26-year-old was linked with a move to Chelsea or Saudi Arabia back in the summer, but a deal didn’t work out, and instead of being frozen out by Napoli, Osimhen decided to join Galatasaray on loan. The forward, who has been described as a “monster” by data analyst Ben Mattinson, has scored 12 goals in 17 Süper Lig games as well as being on form in the Europa League.

Victor Osimhen’s Galatasaray stats

Apps

23

Goals

17

Assists

5

For United, signing a new striker in the summer must be a top priority for Amorim and INEOS. Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have both struggled to make an impact in front of goal, and, given Hojlund has not scored in the Premier League for over 10 games now, he is someone who the Red Devils could look to cash in on so they can bring in a player like Osimhen.

United need to move players on in the summer to raise funds, and despite his struggles, Hojlund could be someone who brings in a decent amount of money, given his age, and that could help United pay the £62 million release clause of Osimhen.

There are various roles to account for but the selectors have options for each of them. Here’s a run through, with an IPL lens for context

Gaurav Sundararaman21-May-2022

BATTERS
Role 1: Powerplay enforcer
Contenders: Prithvi Shaw and Ishan Kishan
One of the key requirements of a T20 opener is the ability to maximise the powerplay. This is crucial for various reasons: conditions could get tougher for run-scoring later in the innings, and teams often try to slip in a few overs from a weaker bowler up front if the batters are conservative. Not to mention, the powerplay enforcer is critical to taking advantage of fielding restrictions to set a strong foundation and/or bring the asking rate down in a jiffy.