da premier bet： One of Aston Villa’s standout players could still be on the move this summer, despite both the club and the player reportedly being “happy” with the current situation, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.

Villa thump Magpies to boost Champions League hopes

da marjack bet： Aston Villa kept their Champions League hopes alive in emphatic fashion over the weekend with a dominant 4-1 win over high-flying Newcastle United at Villa Park. Ollie Watkins, Ian Maatsen, and Amadou Onana all found the net for Unai Emery’s side, while Magpies defender Dan Burn added to their tally with an own goal.

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Aston Villa secured a vital 4-1 win over Newcastle on Saturday

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The result moved Villa within just two points of Newcastle. They’re also now just one point behind Manchester City and level with Chelsea, making the race for a top-four finish incredibly tight with only a handful of games remaining.

Next up is a daunting trip to the Etihad Stadium to face City on Tuesday, a fixture that could prove decisive in the push for Champions League qualification. Speaking after the weekend’s win, Emery stressed the importance of maintaining momentum.

“We can’t stop. We are involved in the key moment of the season. Through the Premier League, we are trying to reach our first objective,” he said.

On Watkins – whose goal drew him level with Gabriel Agbonlahor as Villa’s all-time top Premier League scorer – Emery added: “I’m so happy with how he’s performing and progressing under our management. His individual goal is important—for him, for us, for the club, and for our overall development. Hopefully, we can keep helping him to achieve more and more.”

Watkins could leave Villa Park this summer

While Unai Emery is clearly thrilled with Watkins—who has scored 15 Premier League goals this season—his future at Villa Park isn’t entirely secure. According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Watkins could still leave the club this summer if the right offer arrives. Writing in his exclusive GIVEMESPORT newsletter, Romano noted that both Villa and the player are happy with the current situation, but didn’t rule out a move.

“They’re happy with Watkins and he’s happy at the club,” Romano wrote. “Then if a proposal comes, never say never – as it was the case in January.”

Watkins was reportedly the subject of a £40 million bid from Arsenal during the winter transfer window, though Villa ultimately chose to reject the offer.

Having already seen Jhon Durán depart for the Saudi Pro League in January, losing Watkins this summer would represent a major blow for Aston Villa – particularly if they’re unable to secure the permanent signing of Marcus Rashford from Manchester United.

That said, Villa have shown a knack in recent seasons for replacing outgoing talent with even stronger additions, so it wouldn’t be wise to bet against them pulling off something similar again if Watkins does move on.

Good news, Tottenham Hotspur fans, the season will be over in about two months.

It’s not been the campaign the Lilywhites’ faithful would have been hoping for this year, as instead of building on their fifth-place finish in the Premier League last term, Ange Postecoglou’s side look set to finish in the bottom half.

With that said, there are undoubtedly reasons to be optimistic for the North Londoners, as, when fit, the likes of Guglielmo Vicario, Micky Van de Ven, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke make an exciting spine.

Moreover, amid the seemingly endless stream of injuries the club have had to deal with this season, a number of youngsters have stood up and stood out.

As a result, they’ve made it onto Goal’s NXGN 2025, a list that celebrates the 50 best wonderkids in world football.

Where Tottenham's best talents rank on 2025's NXGN list

Starting with the highest-placed Spurs player on the list, who is not out on loan, brings us to the incredible Archie Gray, who is placed at 13th on the list.

The former Leeds United star joined Tottenham for around £30m in the summer, and while he is a midfielder by trade, he’s stepped up in a big way amid the club’s defensive injury crisis, making 38 first-team appearances, 31 of which have come in the backline.

Moreover, while the Durham-born gem has impressed fans and pundits alike with his performances and ability on and off the ball this term, his attitude and mentality have been equally encouraging and suggest he could be a future leader in N17.

Moving up four places to 17th on the list brings us to the brilliant Lucas Bergvall.

The Swedish maestro signed for the club in an £8.5m deal last winter but joined up with the squad in the summer, and so far, he’s looked entirely at home in a top-five league.

Tottenham’s NXGN 2025 ranks
Player	Rank
Yang Min-hyeok	#43
Luka Vuskovic	#26
Mikey Moore	#22
Lucas Bergvall	#17
Archie Gray	#13

The former Djurgården star has made 38 appearances for Postecoglou, in which he’s scored one goal, provided four assists and looked like a bonafide future superstar.

Despite being so young, the Stockholm-born gem looks entirely assured on the ball and, as analyst Ben Mattinson puts it, ‘can change a game through his creativity or goal-scoring ability.’

With that said, another of the North Londoners’ teenage talents made it onto the list, someone whose value has skyrocketed this season.

The Spurs teen whose value has skyrocketed

So, as we’ve already spoken about the incredible Gray and Bergvall, it should come as no surprise that the final Spurs teen – who isn’t on loan – to make it onto the list is Mikey Moore, who sits in 22nd place.

The 17-year-old is one of the most highly rated prospects in English football at the moment, and when you take a look at his record in junior football, it’s not hard to see why.

For example, in 34 appearances for the Lilywhites’ various youth sides, the teenage phenomenon has scored 21 goals and provided 15 assists, resulting in a simply sensational average of 1.05 goal involvement every game.

Moore’s youth record
Team	U18s	U21s	UEFA Youth League
Games	24	5	5
Goals	19	2	0
Assists	13	2	0
Goal Involvements *	1.33	0.80	0.00
All Stats via Transfermarkt (* = per match)

Moreover, while he hasn’t featured as frequently for the first team as some of his young teammates have this term, he’s looked good when he has.

In just 16 appearances, totalling 632 minutes, the “fearless” winger, as dubbed by teammate James Maddison, has scored one goal and provided two assists, coming out to an average of a goal involvement every 210.66 minutes, which isn’t bad going for someone so young.

Moreover, even when he hasn’t produced a goal or assist, he has blown people away, as it was in the first league phase game against AZ Alkmaar that Maddison compared the Hotspur Way talent to Neymar Jr of all people while he’s also received glowing comparisons to Spain’s Lamine Yamal.

Finally, such an incredible record with the youth teams and impressive cameos for the first teams have seen the Englishman’s value explode this season, with Transfermarkt pricing him at just €1m, or about £800k, in October and €15m today, which is about £12.6m, or a staggering 1475% increase within a single campaign.

Ultimately, while things haven’t gone as well as they could have this season, Tottenham have several sensationally talented youngsters in their squad, including the increasingly valuable Moore.

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Jack Salveson Holmes

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Celtic could wrap up the Scottish Premiership title this week as they prepare to travel away from Parkhead to face off against Dundee United on Saturday.

The Hoops head into the game off the back of a thumping 5-0 win over St. Johnstone in the semi-finals of the SFA Cup at Hampden Park on Sunday, securing their place in the final against Aberdeen.

Brendan Rodgers knows that a win against Dundee United this weekend will secure the league title for the second time in as many seasons under his leadership, and for the fourth time in as many seasons as a club.

This means that there is still a chance for Celtic to win the domestic treble this term, after they failed to do so last season, if they can win the title and go on to beat Aberdeen at Hampden Park in the final of the SFA Cup.

Focus will then turn to the summer transfer window and how the Hoops can make changes to their squad in order to continue their success next season.

Celtic are already, reportedly, fighting to keep hold of one of their players ahead of the summer, as they are attempting to tie Greg Taylor down to a new deal.

The latest on Greg Taylor's Celtic future

The Daily Record reported last week that the club are in talks with the Scotland international over the possibility of a contract extension for the full-back.

It was claimed that the Scottish giants want to tie him down to a new three-year contract to extend his stay in Glasgow, with his current deal due to expire at the end of this season.

The outlet added that the three-year deal that has been tabled for the defender would see his wages significantly increased. They currently sit at £15k-per-week, but it is not revealed what they would be increased to if he put pen to paper on this three-year extension.

Despite this, there remains uncertainty over Taylor’s future at Celtic because the report outlined that he would still have to play second-fiddle to the returning Kieran Tierney next season.

Wage Burners

Football FanCast’s Wage Burners series explores the salaries of the modern-day game.

The Daily Record also outlined the level of interest in the left-footed star’s services. He has an offer on the table from Dinamo Zagreb and has interest from unnamed clubs in the MLS, in Italy, and in England, which suggests that he has plenty of options to pick from and would not be left without a club by leaving the Hoops.

It now remains to be seen whether or not Taylor would be happy to remain at the club to be behind Tierney in the pecking order, with the carrot of a wage increase that could see him move further up in the club’s top ten earners.

Celtic's top ten wage earners

The Scottish defender’s £15k-per-week wages at the moment place him tenth in the wage bill, as per Salary Sport, although they are yet to add Jota’s wages to their data since his move from Rennes in January.

Cameron Carter-Vickers and Callum McGregor are supposedly the joint-highest earners in the squad with wages of £37k-per-week, over £20k more per week than Taylor earns.

Cameron Carter-Vickers

£37k

Callum McGregor

£37k

James Forrest

£19k

Daizen Maeda

£18k

Alistair Johnston

£16k

Reo Hatate

£16k

Arne Engels

£16k

Adam Idah

£16k

Luis Palma

£16k

Greg Taylor

£15k

As you can see in the table above, most of the top earners in the team are the regular starters in Rodgers’ team who have earned their place in the top ten earners, including the likes of Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate, and Arne Engels.

Luis Palma, who earns more than Taylor, however, does not fall into that category. In fact, his lack of impact in the first-team led to him joining Olympiacos on loan in the January transfer window.

Why Celtic must finally sell Luis Palma

The Hoops must finally cash in on the Honduras international when the summer transfer window opens for business because he is clearly not a part of the manager’s plans and is, therefore, bleeding the club dry with his high wages.

Olympiacos reportedly have an option to sign him permanently for £3.4m, but it has been claimed that they are not going to exercise that option. This means that Palma is due to return to Parkhead in the summer, as it stands.

Dynamo Kyiv are reportedly interested in a deal to snap up the forward ahead of next season, though, and Celtic must push to do a deal with them in the coming weeks and months, in order to finally part ways with the flop.

Appearances (starts)

28 (18)

8 (1)

Goals

7

0

Big chances created

14

1

Assists

9

0

Key passes per game

2.4

1.5

As you can see in the table above, his game time and his performances regressed from the 2023/24 campaign to the current season, which suggests that Rodgers lost faith in the attacker – culminating in his loan exit to Olympiacos in January.

Palma has had some good moments in a Celtic shirt, including the spectacular goal in the clip above, but his lack of minutes and goal contributions this season suggests that the club are wasting significant wages on him.

Earlier this term, former Hoops striker John Hartson was not afraid to be scathing in his assessment of the winger. The Daily Record quoted him as saying: “For me I am watching him thinking ‘go, make something happen’ and it just comes to nothing. For me as a winger Palma doesn’t do enough. He is just too wasteful.”

Palma has, therefore, not impressed pundits, not impressed Rodgers, and not impressed his loan club enough to seal a permanent move to Olympiacos, with zero goals and zero assists in six Super League matches for his temporary team.

Celtic fumbled the next Dembele when "generational" star left on the cheap

Celtic fumbled another Karamoko Dembele when they lost Ben Doak on the cheap.

ByDan Emery Apr 22, 2025

It is now down to the board to find a suitor, whether that is Dynamo Kyiv or another club, to finally part ways with the £16k-per-week dud ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.

Celtic’s amazing head coach of recent times, Ange Postecoglou, achieved great success during his two years at Parkhead before a move to England.

The Australian boss, who won the domestic treble in his final campaign at Celtic, won the Scottish Premiership title in both of his seasons with the club.

Underpinning his success at Paradise was the excellent work done in the recruitment department, signing the likes of Jota, Kyogo Furuhashi, Joe Hart, and Cameron Carter-Vickers among others.

Jota was, arguably, the greatest signing of Postecoglou’s tenure as he joined the Hoops for a reported fee of £6.5m, after thriving on loan in his first season at the club, as shown in the graphic below.

After his exceptional form in the 2022/23 campaign, Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad swooped in to sign the winger for a reported fee of £25m, representing a huge profit for the club, and the winger has since returned on a permanent deal from Rennes in January for £8m.

Not all of Postecoglou’s signings at Celtic paid off, though, and one of the most infamous, for lack of a better word, moves was the addition of James McCarthy in the summer of 2021.

The curious case of James McCarthy

Ahead of the 2021/22 campaign, the Scottish giants confirmed the double signing of Joe Hart on a permanent deal from Tottenham Hotspur and McCarthy on a free transfer from Crystal Palace.

At the time of that double deal, Postecoglou said: “I’m delighted that we have signed two top-class players in Joe and James. Both of them have a wealth of experience at both club and international level, and that is something which can only benefit the squad, and I’m looking forward to working with both of them.”

Hart went on to live up to that “top-class” tag with 64 clean sheets and only 145 goals conceded in 153 matches – less than a goal conceded per game – in three years at the club.

McCarthy, however, has not had the best of times at Parkhead so far and only played 22 times, racking up 739 minutes of action, in the 2021/22 campaign.

He followed that up with just 62 minutes on the pitch in five appearances in all competitions in the 2022/23 term, missing significant time through an injury picked up midway through the season – per The Scottish Sun.

Since the 2022/23 campaign, McCarthy has not made a single appearance for the first-team – playing two times for the B team in the Lowland League last season – and his current status is incredibly unclear.

24/25

0

£728k

23/24

0

£728k

22/23

5

£728k

21/22

22

£728k

As per The Scottish Sun earlier this year, there is a mystery surrounding the Irish midfielder because he has been removed from the club website, was not in the team picture in pre-season, and has not made a senior appearance since the 2022/23 campaign, yet Celtic have never confirmed his departure.

Per Salary Sport in the table above, the Hoops are still paying McCarthy £728k-per-season and Transfermarkt reports that the Irishman’s current deal does not officially expire until this summer, which means that the club appear to be paying a significant sum of wages for, essentially, nothing in return.

It is a bizarre situation and one that may be officially resolved in the summer if and when they confirm that he has left the club at the end of his deal.

Celtic, however, have another player who is fast becoming the new McCarthy, as another flop on fairly big wages despite rarely being seen on the pitch, in the form of Anthony Ralston.

Why Ralston is becoming the new McCarthy

Per Salary Sport, the Scotland international is on a weekly wage of £14k at Parkhead this season, with McCarthy being the only other player in the squad on the same wage.

Wage Burners

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This means that he is currently on more money per week than Kasper Schmeichel (£13k), Nicolas Kuhn (£12k), Paulo Bernardo (£11k), and Luke McCowan (£8k), among other first-team stars.

That is despite Schmeichel being the number one goalkeeper and Kuhn delivering excellent performances this season, racking up 18 goals and 14 assists from a right wing position for the Scottish giants.

The German winger has, therefore, made a huge impact at the top end of the pitch for the Hoops in all competitions, providing quality as both a scorer and a creator of goals.

Ralston, on the other hand, has only started five matches in the Champions League and the Premiership combined in the 2024/25 campaign, after starting six times in those two competitions last season.

The Scottish defender, who came up through the academy system, did start 61 Premiership matches between the 2019/20 and 22/23 campaigns, but has fallen down the pecking order in recent years.

24/25

5

£728k

23/24

6

£728k

22/23

14

£728k

21/22

25

£442k

20/21

1

£286k

19/20

21

£286k

18/19

3

£234k

17/18

7

£234k

16/17

1

£130k

As you can see in the table above, he has only started 11 league matches – alongside zero in Europe – since the start of the 2023/24 season for the Hoops, earning the best part of £1.5m in wages in that time.

The rarely-seen defender is, therefore, fast becoming the new McCarthy at Celtic as his number of league starts each season has declined year-on-year for the last four campaigns, despite still being a relatively high earner.

Ralston is currently earning more in wages than players, like Kuhn and Schmeichel, who offer far more on the pitch for the Bhoys, which suggests that the Hoops are throwing money down the drain with the reserve defender.

With this in mind, Celtic should consider moving the full-back on in the upcoming summer transfer window before his lack of minutes on the pitch reaches McCarthy’s territory.

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Unless Ralston can find a way to put himself back in Brendan Rodgers’ plans as a regular in the first-team, the 26-year-old flop is well on his way to becoming a forgotten man at Parkhead.

Leeds United seemingly never do things the easy, well-planned out way, with another promotion collapse spectacularly playing out in front of their very eyes.

The Whites are now disastrously out of the automatic promotion spots in the Championship due to yet another late season drop in form, with Daniel Farke’s men only picking up one victory from their last six second-tier outings.

Not all hope will be lost that the West Yorkshire outfit can still get over the line and triumphantly go up automatically, however, with Sheffield United also showing chinks in their armour in second place, having succumbed to a surprise 1-0 loss to Oxford United recently.

Therefore, everything will remain crossed that Farke’s men do return back to the promised land of the Premier League, and if they were to get there, a small clear-out would likely need to take place at Elland Road to prepare for the unforgiving step-up in quality.

Illan Meslier could be out of the side for good in the daunting top-flight, with a whole host of other players – who have a combined wage cost of £150k-per-week including Meslier – needing to be ditched if Leeds want to solidify themselves as a Premier League capable outfit.

1 Illan Meslier

The easiest place to start when it comes to those who could be ditched in the near future is the scapegoated Meslier, with the French goalkeeper already finding himself out of Farke’s starting lineups.

Indeed, the ex-Lorient ‘keeper was dropped for Leeds’ most recent league clash away at Luton Town and for many a valid reason, considering the 6 foot 5 shot-stopper has tallied up three errors this campaign that have resulted in opposition goals.

He has picked up an impressive 72 clean sheets for Leeds away from this growing back catalogue of errors, but Meslier’s future at the promotion chasers looks to be on extremely thin ice, especially with fresh reports that new ‘keepers are being targeted ahead of the Whites’ potential return to the top division.

2 Patrick Bamford

Alongside the £30k-per-week stopper, Patrick Bamford might well find he’s ditched permanently ahead of Leeds voyaging back up to the Premier League.

The £70k-per-week centre-forward wouldn’t be able to grumble for too long if he was let go of for good, considering the veteran attacker has made himself available for just one appearance this year so far for Farke’s men.

Games played

12

Games started

0

Goals scored

0

Assists

0

Wage per week

£70k-per-week

Wage costs over a season

£3.6m

The numbers above do make for some worrying reading – with the highest earner in the Whites camp goalless throughout 2024/25 to date – meaning the plug must be pulled soon.

3 Maximilian Wober

Much like Bamford, Maximilian Wober will surely want his up-and-down spell at Elland Road to end very soon.

The £35k-per-week centre-back has been sparingly utilised this campaign, much like the goal-shy centre-forward, having made just seven league appearances, with the likes of Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk way ahead of the Austrian as defensive stalwarts.

Wober’s miserable Premier League past with the Whites also works against him wanting to prolong his stay in West Yorkshire, with the 27-year-old already notching up a relegation on his Leeds CV when he collected a pitiful two clean sheets during the 2022-23 season.

4 Ilia Gruev

Lastly, Ilia Gruev could be swapped out for some new midfield talent if promotion is reached.

After all, the Whites already boast the likes of Ao Tanaka and Ethan Ampadu in the holding midfield positions away from the conversative number 44, alongside the fact Kalvin Phillips might well be up for a dramatic Elland Road reunion if his ex-employers jump up a league.

Much like Meslier before him, Farke has also been dropping Gruev here and there in recent games, with the German perhaps wanting better reinforcements over the Bulgarian down the line.

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On a pitch with copious amounts of seam movement, two very different batsmen did in large parts what comes naturally to them to lay a platform for India

Sidharth Monga in Johannesburg24-Jan-2018Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara. Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli. Two more different persons, two more different batsmen will be hard to find. You sometimes wonder if they have any common interests that can help them get through the long days spent next to each other in the slips. And then they bat together. With completely different vocabularies and grammar. One man wants to refuse errors, the other wants to refuse to let the bowler settle. One man can wait out 53 balls on nought while not playing a loose shot to a decent ball, the other is usually near a hundred if he faces 53 dot balls in an innings.They watch each other and must surely admire the qualities they don’t have themselves. Surely Kohli watches Pujara and admires the discipline with which he figures out what line he has to play and what line he can leave? “He has lots of shots, and the way he batted today, I don’t think any other batsman could have batted like that,” Pujara said of Kohli after adding 84 for the third wicket with him on day one at the Wanderers, easily worth 150 on a normal pitch. This pitch had copious amounts of generous seam movement available.”This is one of the toughest pitches I’ve played on,” Pujara said. “And as we saw, it was difficult to score some runs, especially in the first session. It was difficult to rotate the strike. It has a lot of bounce, it has seam movement. And there is enough pace now. So we had to work hard to score runs, but the total we have I think it is as good as scoring 300 on any wicket. As we saw, we got a wicket, and if we bowl well, I think we’ll get them out. I would say it was a good day for us.”South Africa will be the first ones to concede they were not at their best with the ball and in the field, but the pitch was still really difficult. You needed to bowl really bad balls or bowl decent ones to really good attacking batsmen to be hit on this pitch. In Pujara and Kohli, South Africa found that combination. Pujara waited and waited and waited, and refused to risk making a mistake for a run until he finally got a ball too straight and too full. Kohli backed his eye, picking the length early, getting into attacking positions every ball, and defending or leaving as a second thought. Neither man was averse to doing what didn’t come naturally to him: when Pujara was in, he threw his bat at every loose ball; Kohli faced 86 dots out of 106.Normally you would perhaps criticise the extreme defence of Pujara or – at moments – the reckless attack of Kohli. Here a defensive batsman needed to dig deep into his reserves of discipline, and an attacking batsman needed to capitalise on every small opportunity before one with his name arrived. You need luck to survive on such a pitch, and they both had it.Too late from the point of view of winning the series, the return to this balance of defence and attack was a step closer to the template that served India’s batting well on their previous overseas cycle. For some reason that balance has gone wonky this time around. While Kohli has maintained his attacking instincts, M Vijay is playing too many shots and half-heartedly so, Pujara until this innings was not sure what game to play, and the batsmen after Kohli have no idea what their game should be because they have no security in the side.Pujara and Kohli did their best to vindicate the bold call to bat first on a spicy pitch. “I think as the game progresses, we are very sure that this wicket will be difficult to bat on,” Pujara said. “As we saw even in the later stages of today, the cracks are opening up and a couple of balls deviated a lot. I mean, I haven’t seen deviation like that before. As the game progresses I think this wicket will have variable bounce and cracks will open up, so it will be difficult to bat on. That’s the reason we chose to bat first.”However, not every bowling innings from South Africa will feature balls too wide or too short, not every day will they have AB de Villiers dropping a catch. The platform set by Pujara and Kohli was a great opportunity for India to post a formidable total. They should be extremely disappointed with the shots played in the lower-middle order and the lower order. They won’t be now but they should be asking themselves if they needed five seamers and to lose the cushion of a sixth batsman. What they have now is competitive but will ask for a repeat of this kind of extreme discipline and attacking skill in the second innings too.Before that, India will need their bowlers to make sure South Africa don’t get ahead on the first innings. “I think we’ll be looking to get them out before 150,” Pujara said. “And, obviously, looking at this total, I think the second innings will be very important. Seeing the weather forecast, I think it will be overcast and there will be more help for the fast bowlers.”

Arne Slot's search for a new assistant coach is stretching on after the agent of a Liverpool legend ruled out an Anfield return.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Slot looking for new assistant coach
• Heitinga left Liverpool for Ajax role
• Club legend return ruled out

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The agent of Liverpool hero Dirk Kuyt says the former striker will not be taking up the role of Slot's vacant assistant manager this summer, following the departure of Johnny Heitinga to Ajax. The Dutchman has been linked with the role at a time when he is expected to leave Belgian side Beerschot.

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• AFP
  

  WHAT KUYT'S AGENT SAID

  His agent, Rob Jansen, said on the KieftJansenEgmondGijp podcast, via Sport Nieuws: “No, it will be a different assistant coach. That would have been great for him. Liverpool’s assistant will be someone else."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Heitinga was very highly thought of by Slot and Liverpool, so it was a blow to lose him to Ajax. Now the club are trying to find his successor as they seek to retain their Premier League title in the 2025/26 campaign. But it seems a fairytale return for Reds favourite Kuyt won't happen.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  WHAT NEXT?

  While Liverpool continue to search for a new assistant coach for Slot, the Dutchman and his players will now enjoy their summer breaks before returning to pre-season training at some point in July.

The PCB is also pushing to permanently move the PSL window into April and May, where it will clash with the IPL

Danyal Rasool17-May-2024The PSL will get two new franchises from 2026, making it an eight-team league. This was officially confirmed in a statement by the PCB on Friday, which called the upcoming season in 2025 – the tenth edition – the “last six-team event”.While this had been likely from the day the PCB and the PSL franchises agreed not to add further teams until after the tenth season, this is the first time the PCB has publicly confirmed the PSL expansion. Multan Sultans’ entry in 2018 has been the only addition to the original five so far. The process for deciding which cities the new teams represent has not begun yet.The year following the tenth season is potentially one of sizeable flux and jeopardy for the PSL, with the ten-year lease ownership agreements the PSL reached with franchise owners expiring in 2025. ESPNcricinfo understands Sultans’ lease is also up for renewal next year, despite them joining the PSL two years after the rest. All six owners have right of first refusal, meaning ownership of a franchise only goes up for sale in the event of a current owner declining to match the franchise’s valuation.What is more contentious, however, is when the PSL will be played from next season onwards. The Champions Trophy will be played in the traditional PSL window in February-March, and with the ILT20 and the SA20 cutting in on PSL territory, the PCB wants a more reliable window. Their current preferred solution is the move the PSL into April and May, carving out a six week window from April 7 to May 20 next year, and clashing directly with the IPL. More contentiously, the PCB aims to make this the PSL’s permanent window rather than an ad hoc solution to a crowded calendar next year.Related

• Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi agree to extend PSL ownership rights for another ten years

• Islamabad United vs Lahore Qalandars to kick off PSL 2025 on April 11; final on May 18

• PSL draft to take place on January 11

• PSL set for IPL clash as PCB proposes move to April-May window

• ILT20 2025 to begin on January 11, set to clash with BBL and SA20

There is by no means universal agreement for this option. Most of the PSL franchises initially opposed the idea because of the implications it would have on player availability and the inevitability of playing second fiddle to the IPL, and at least three of the six franchises remain firmly opposed to it. A PCB official, though, told ESPNcricinfo they remain confident the franchises will come around to it. It is also worth noting that franchise opposition to the idea cannot necessarily stop it happening; those decisions are made by the PSL governing council. De facto, that means the PCB could decide to play the tournament in any window, with or without the support of the franchises.The PCB has offered to tweak player recruitment rules and open up fiscal space to allow franchises to sign one marquee player independently of the draft to alleviate concerns around player availability. With their current broadcast partnership ending in 2025, the next season could effectively become a test case for the future viability of hosting the league at the same time as the IPL. In addition, the league’s expansion to eight teams would have necessitated a larger window anyway, with the three-month window currently carved out for the IPL providing enough time for a slightly extended PSL.However, this also necessarily means the PSL will effectively only have overseas players available to them who go unselected at the IPL, given the large financial disparity between the two leagues. This, for example, effectively rules out Rashid Khan turning out for the Lahore Qalandars – one of the franchises opposed to the window – for the foreseeable future. Qalandars opted to retain him for PSL 2024 despite knowing he would not be fit to ensure they would be able to keep the Afghanistan legspinner the following year. However, it is likely he would turn out for the IPL if the two leagues clash.ESPNcricinfo also understands the PCB is seriously exploring the possibility of hosting the playoffs and final of PSL 2025 in the UK if this April/May window is finalised. Lahore is unseasonably hot in mid-May – temperatures are currently hovering in the mid-40s. The move to the UK, according to the PCB, does more than mitigate against the weather, though; it also globalises the reach of the PSL. The UK is also believed to be a more cost-effective option than the UAE, which has, in the past, hosted every PSL match that did not take place in Pakistan.

Ex-Argentina striker Hernan Crespo has returned to Brazilian club Sao Paolo as coach after a successful stint with Saudi Arabian club Al Ain.

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Crespo returns to Sao Paolo as coachContract until December 2026Returns to Brazil after a successful Al Ain stintFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Crespo has returned to Brazilian club Sao Paolo for his second spell in charge, the club confirmed in an official statement. He has signed a deal keeping him as the manager of the club until December 2026 and replaces Luis Zubeldia.

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After departing Sao Paolo on mutual terms in 2021, Crespo joined Qatari side Al Duhail where he won three titles before joining United Arab Emirates side Al Ain in 2023 with whom he won the Asian Champions League.

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In his first stint, Crespo won 24 matches our of 53. Speaking on the appointment club president Julio Casares said “The relationship that was built between Crespo and São Paulo during the coach’s first stint has laid a solid foundation of mutual respect and admiration. He is a great professional who already knows the club, has won a title here and the time has come for him to return. We are pleased to make this return a reality."

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Crespo's first match in charge will be when Sao Paolo take on Red Bull Bragantino in the Serie A. The club will hope that his second term in charge is as successful as his first.