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When it comes to England in India, it’s all too clear who the poor relation is now

Suresh Menon28-Feb-2006

From the India hater of old, Geoff Boycott has turned into an India-lover on television © Getty Images
The last time England won a Test series in India, under David Gower in 1984-85, the past was still ruling the present. Superpowers England and Australia had the right of veto in the ICC, which was administered by the MCC, a venerable private club whose members hadn’t yet recovered from an attack of modernity in 1965 when the ICC ceased to be the Imperial Cricket Conference.Today, a combination of world-class players, business-savvy officials, a cricket-hungry market and a huge fan base has made India the game’s sole superpower. The media explosion has contributed too. Seven of the 11 who played in the final Test against Gower’s England have turned television commentators, some adding lustre to the profession, others letting the fusion between cricket and language end in confusion.India generates over 60% of the money in the game. That they are attempting to do with money power what England did with colonial arrogance may be a case of bullying by other means, but both England and the ICC have succumbed to the blandishments of the rupee and cannot complain now. You can view at it either as payback, or as the progression of a sport that leaped from the dark ages of colonialism to the modern age of globalisation without a necessary period of enlightenment in between.Gower’s tour is a good starting point. India had won the previous World Cup, and a group of marketing managers had emerged to convert the popular appeal of the game into big money. Colour television had arrived in India only a couple of years earlier, and Indian cricket was at the take-off stage.England lost the first Test after a traumatic introduction to India. Within hours of their arrival, the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated and the capital was in flames. The England team then accepted an invitation from Sri Lanka to practise there. When they returned, they had dinner with the British Deputy High Commissioner, who was shot dead a day later, on the eve of the first Test. As Gower said, “It’s all pretty grim isn’t it?”Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, the legspinner, claimed 12 wickets in the Bombay Test and the visitors were quickly one-down. They then came back to win two Tests and take the series. Madras prepared a “turner” but it was the medium-pacer Neil Foster who took 11 wickets there to settle the issue. Mike Gatting and Graeme Fowler became the first pair of English batsmen to make double-centuries in the same Test. By then the Sivaramakrishnan bogey had been laid to rest by batsmen willing to play the sweep. The new spin twins Pat Pocock and Phil Edmonds had harried India to defeat in the second Test at Delhi. Pocock was 38 at the time, and Edmonds had a reputation for being “difficult”; he was in the team only because Gower said he could handle him.By the time England next came to India, in 1993, their hold on the game, supported by the mindset of their former colonies, was beginning to slip. First there was the 3-0 clean sweep that Mohammad Azharuddin’s men dealt them thanks to the spinners, particularly Anil Kumble, who claimed 21 wickets. This after a spying mission by Keith Fletcher, and his immortal conclusion that Kumble was no bowler, and that England “had nothing to fear”.India won in Calcutta thanks to some judicious help from the fog, in Madras because the prawns at a Chinese restaurant turned the English stomachs more than Kumble turned the ball, and in Bombay because skipper Graham Gooch didn’t shave. England’s chairman of selectors Ted Dexter then kindly volunteered to set up a commission to study the pollution in Calcutta. He didn’t delve into the eating habits of his players, particularly Mike Gatting who, as on the previous tour, swept all before him. In the end Gooch’s face was left bloody but unmowed. In those days it was still possible to make India feel apologetic about thrashing England.Mike Atherton saw it differently in his book, Opening Up. “For the dusty turners of India we prepared on the hard rock surfaces of Lilleshall. We knew we would be facing a phalanx of spinners, so we left out our best player of spin, David Gower. In Kolkata the pitch looked dry and cracked, so we played four seamers. We knew that the food could be dodgy so we ate prawns in Chennai and got food poisoning,” he wrote. Not surprisingly, Atherton was made England captain soon after.Some weeks after the end of the tour, there was a divorce; the ICC became an independent body, with its own chief executive and its headquarters at Lord’s. Significantly, the veto rights were abolished. Eight decades after the founding of the governing body, there was some measure of equality. The two men chiefly responsible for this, IS Bindra and Jagmohan Dalmiya, have since had a falling out.The manner in which India “stole the World Cup” from under England’s nose in 1987 because the Indian board president four years earlier, NKP Salve, was denied extra passes for Lord’s, is part of folklore. The anointment of Dalmiya as the president of the ICC in 1997 did not go down well with the old order in England. Made to feel like an outsider, Dalmiya decided to hit back every opportunity he got. He scheduled matches in Agartala and Jamshedpur on the current tour. The message was clear – India ruled, and England had better realise that. Some months before the tour, however, Dalmiya was voted out of office, and the new dispensation, which had no personal vendetta, agreed to change the venues.There is no telling just how often Dalmiya would have taken world cricket to the brink with his desire to appear a patriotic Indian who wouldn’t kowtow to the former colonial masters. The media lapped up the posturing, and it was fun, if a bit childish, while it lasted. In the new millennium, though, Dalmiya was already an anachronism, as Lalit Modi, the present vice-president of the board has shown.In the decade during which England did not come to India for a Test series, India’s accent shifted from post-colonial angst to global chic. Personal vendetta is passé. It is not the colour of skin that matters, but the colour of money, and India has been telling the leading cricketing nations something along the lines of, “Behave yourselves, listen to us, and there is enough money for all. Rock the boat, and you go down.”It is to this new India that Michael Vaughan leads the 11th English Test squad (if you don’t count the one-off Jubilee Test which England won). England have won only three of those series – the first in 1933-34, and the second under Tony Greig in 1976-77 when Derek Underwood took 29 wickets and made rather better use of the Indian turners than the famous quartet of Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar and Venkataraghavan. Greig was all praise for the Indian spinners and named the first three as the best of their type in the world. But except in Bangalore, where everything clicked for India, including a brand new fielder at short leg, Yajurvindra Singh, who clung on to a world-record seven catches, England had the upper hand, having won the first three Tests.When India recently threw the ICC’s Future Tours Programme out of the window, most Englishmen asked why Australia are generally given preferential treatment with regard to venues and dates. There is a simple answer: Australia have usually come to India with their best team, led by their reigning captain.Englishmen pulling out of tours on flimsy grounds have always irritated Indians. Geoff Boycott didn’t tour India until the world-record aggregate was within his grasp. In 1981-82 he played three Tests, went past Garry Sobers’s record of 8032 runs, played one more Test in Kolkata (during which he disappeared to play golf in the middle of the match), and was gently asked to go back home. He wasn’t particularly fussed since that was what he had in mind once the record was his anyway. From such an India-hater Boycott has metamorphosed into the India-lover of television. He loves Indian players, Indian actresses, and even Indian food. Such is the pull of television money. The delicate walls of Boycott’s stomach are now lined with Indian rupees.Douglas Jardine’s only tour following the Bodyline series was to India, the country of his birth, in 1933-34; in 1951-52 England were led by a debutant, Nigel Howard. Howard only ever played four Tests, all as captain on that tour. Freddie Brown, captain in England’s previous series against South Africa wasn’t in the team. Nor were Len Hutton, Denis Compton, Godfrey Evans, Alec Bedser, Jim Laker or Peter May. In the next series, in 1961-62, there was no Colin Cowdrey, Brian Statham or Fred Trueman in Dexter’s side. Mike Smith’s 1963-64 squad did not have Cowdrey originally. A decade later another debutant, Tony Lewis, captained England. When Fletcher came to India as captain, he had been in retirement for four years. Such condescension was not guaranteed to endear English cricket to the average Indian fan who was treated to the Benauds and Borders from Australia leading teams while at the top of their games.Vaughan’s team is not the first that will begin the series as underdogs. India have won five series to England’s three, 12 Tests to England’s 10. From here on, the two teams will play each other home and away in four-year cycles. If India get their math right they could host the 2011 World Cup too.England are not just cricketing underdogs vis a vis India (14-1, in the eyes of some London bookmakers), but in other senses too, with a softer voice in international cricket than their rivals. This is a new situation for both, even if India have been heading for superpowerdom for some time now.The new officials will try to divorce India’s performance on the field from their influence off it – the reverse of the West Indies situation in the 1980s, when they were the best team in the world but had no voice in the ICC. India’s current position may have been built on the successes of their teams, but they have known failure too and their administrators, so full of beans and ideas today, will not want to go around with a begging bowl tomorrow. It is not just the Future Tours Programme that comes in cycles. After the first flush of triumph and triumphalism, the Bindras and the Modis will have to look beyond the market, and that is where the relationships they carve out today will be important. If Gower arrived when the past was ruling, Vaughan arrives when the future is set to rule the present.

سجل فريق برشلونة هدفه الأول في شباك أتلتيكو مدريد، في مباراتهما الجارية حاليًا، في إطار منافسات بطولة الدوري الإسباني.

ويستضيف ملعب “مونتجويك” مباراة الفريقين في الجولة الثامنة عشر من الليجا، 2024/25 (لمتابعة اللقاء من هنا).

ونجح برشلونة في تسجيل هدفه الأول في شباك الضيوف، أتلتيكو مدريد، في الدقيقة 30 من عمر الشوط الأول.

الهدف جاء عن طريق بيدري، بعد سلسلة من التمريرات المتبادلة بين لاعبي برشلونة، انتهت بتمريرة من جافي إلى بيدري، ليسددها الأخير وتسكن الشباك تحت يد الحارس يان أوبلاك. هدف بيدري في مباراة برشلونة وأتلتيكو مدريد

Journalist Mitch Fretton has hailed the sky-high potential of Tottenham Hotspur youngster Alfie Devine, currently on loan at Port Vale, after some recent news this week.

Tottenham Hotspur youth academy

As new Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou oversees a truly excellent start to the new Premier League season with his senior squad, there are currently a crop of very exciting youngsters honing their skills in the background.

Indeed, perhaps the most exciting potential starlet to emerge in recent years is striker Dane Scarlett, who was once compared to Man United star Marcus Rashford by ex-Lilywhites head coach Jose Mourinho.

“He is a diamond, a kid with incredible potential,” Mourinho told BT Sport in 2021 (via talkSPORT).

“He has worked many times with the first team and that gives him a different personality. He is still 16, 17 soon [in March] and I believe next season he will be a first-team squad player because he has a lot of talent.

“He is going to be a fantasic player and I hope everything around him goes well. He is a striker, a number nine, I have been playing him from the sides similar to Marcus Rashford and he is very clever."

Scarlett is currently on a temporary spell at Ipswich Town in the Championship, and it will be very interesting to see how he fairs in a tough, tough division.

Meanwhile, young striker Troy Parrott, who was once tipped as a potential heir to Harry Kane, is also out on loan at Eredivisie side Excelsior as the Republic of Ireland international looks to kick his career on the right path.

The aforementioned two are just some examples of the talent N17 can produce, and another one who has been tipped for stardom is midfielder Devine.

How good is Alfie Devine?

The 19-year-old, who is currently on his own temporary stint at League One side Port Vale, has been praised by Sky Sports pundit and Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher in the past.

Devine received quite the accolade this week, having been given the opportunity to train with England's senior side as they gear up for a UEFA Euro qualifying match against Ukraine on Saturday.

The teenage talent was praised by sections of the media as a result of this news, including reliable football.london journalist Alasdair Gold.

"Big week for Alfie Devine," said Gold on X.

"First that terrific performance for Port Vale, with a goal and assist, and now drafted in from the England U20s to train with the senior side under the watchful eye of Gareth Southgate."

Another reporter in Fretton, who works as an editorial content executive for LiveScore, added fuel to the fire with his own assessment of Devine; explaining how he can become "huge" for Spurs.

"I know he’s a long way off yet, but I’m so happy for Alfie Devine to be training with the senior England squad," wrote Fretton on X.

"He has huge potential and I can’t wait to see him get regular minutes for Spurs, absolutely incredible talent!"

Following his stint at Vale, it appears Postecoglou may have a future prodigy on his hands once Devine returns to his parent club.

Sky Sports reporter Michael Bridge has made an exciting Tottenham Hotspur transfer claim on how many incomings there could be before the deadline.

What’s the latest Spurs transfer news?

Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou and chairman Daniel Levy have been busy so far this summer with eight new players signed so far.

James Maddison, Pedro Porro, Micky van de Ven, Dejan Kulusevski, Guglielmo Vicario, Alejo Veliz, Ashley Phillips and Manor Solomon have all made permanent moves to north London at a combined cost of £165m.

The club have managed to bring in around £94m in player sales, with Harry Kane’s move to Bayern Munich one of the biggest moves of the summer, with Harry Winks also leaving on a permanent basis.

As a result, Spurs appear to be after a new forward of their own, with the likes of Gent’s Gift Orban, Nottingham Forest’s Brennan Johnson and Arsenal’s Folarin Balogun all linked as potential targets.

However, alongside a new attacker, it appears as if Spurs are also interested in strengthening another area of the pitch.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Bridge was asked if he feels Spurs could be active in the final week of the window. The reporter believes the club could still make two more signings, one in attack and one in defence, admitting he knows they are two areas the club want to add to in an exciting transfer claim.

“Yeah, I think Spurs could have a busy final week. I still think maybe two – I think three is probably pushing it.

“So we’ll see what the forward options will be, but as I say for now, outgoings are very important.”

Who could Tottenham sign?

As mentioned, Orban, Johnson and Balogun are just some of the attackers to be linked with a move to Tottenham, with Postecoglou only having Richarlison when it comes to senior centre-forwards.

However, plenty of other names have also been mooted in the final days of the window. Recent reports have claimed that Lille star Jonathan David is of interest, as is Brentford’s Ivan Toney.

Read the latest Tottenham transfer news HERE…

Meanwhile, at the back, a move to re-sign defender Clement Lenglet appears to be a possibility, with Fabrizio Romano saying that a deal is one to watch.

“Clement Lenglet could return to Tottenham.

“At the moment it’s not concrete or advanced, but in the final days of the window, in case Barcelona can’t find another solution for Lenglet, it could be one to watch.”

Therefore, should Spurs add to both areas, the club would have ended up bringing in 10 players over the course of the window, and with Postecoglou getting off to a solid start on the pitch in charge in north London against Brentford and Manchester United, it feels like the start of a new beginning.

The Red Devils have made their first significant hire of the Sir Jim Ratcliffe era, who will be a major upgrade on Richard Arnold

"A common theme of my career has been to take risks and try things. To be part of a journey which can go well or go badly, but you learn," Omar Berrada said in a sit down with the EU Business School back in 2021. In swapping near-guaranteed success at Manchester City for an ambitious new project just 5.6 miles down the road at Old Trafford, Berrada has taken on his greatest challenge yet.

Manchester United appointed the 46-year-old as their new chief executive officer on Saturday, sending shockwaves through boardrooms across English football. Berrada, who is set to start his new role in the summer, has spent the last 13 years pulling the strings behind the scenes at City, and without him, they wouldn't have conquered the Premier League and Champions League.

"The club is determined to put football and performance on the pitch back at the heart of everything we do," United said in an official statement. "Omar’s appointment represents the first step on this journey."

INEOS have shown they mean business by luring Berrada away from City. Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his team are already laying the foundations for future success after purchasing a 25 percent stake at United, with the much-maligned Glazer family finally stepping back from footballing operations.

Berrada's expertise in all areas of the game will be invaluable, and his arrival is exactly what is needed to stamp out the toxic, player-power culture that has been allowed to breed at Old Trafford over the past decade. United's new minority owners have made their ambition to turn the Red Devils back into a title-winning club clear, which means mediocrity will no longer be accepted, and the capture of Berrada represents their first move for a best-in-class operator.

Who is Omar Berrada?

Berrada was born in Paris to Moroccan parents, but went through the schooling system in the United States, and eventually got into a university in Massachusetts to study engineering. He dropped out of the degree after just six months, though, and took the brave decision to move to Barcelona as an 18-year-old.

After getting a job at Tiscali – a Spanish telecommunication company – Berrada met his wife and found an unlikely route into football. Barca drafted in Tiscali's CEO as their new chief marketing officer, and he managed to convince the club to give Berrada a job, too, which would lead him to start working with Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano for the first time.

Berrada eventually earned the position as Barca's head of sponsorship, and also struck up a relationship with Pep Guardiola before leaving Camp Nou in 2011. He then accepted a role as City's head of international business development, with Begiristain and Soriano joining him at the Etihad Stadium one year later.

Director of partnership sales and senior vice-president group commercial director roles followed for Berrada, who became City's chief operating officer in 2016 – the same year Guardiola's reign as head coach began. Since then, he has been Soriano's right-hand man.

As the managing director of the entire City Football Group (CFG), which now owns a grand total of 13 clubs, Soriano was not always able to cover all of the day-to-day activities at the Etihad, and so Berrada stepped in to lead on marketing, commercial and media matters. He was also asked to assist Begiristain in his sporting director duties, most crucially having a say on transfers.

According to , Berrada "helped close" City's £57 million ($73m) deal for Aymeric Laporte in January 2018, and his influence grew rapidly from there until he was promoted again, this time to chief football operations officer. On the surface, only one word had been added to his job title, but the appointment marked his first foray into a senior role for the CFG.

Advertisement(C)Getty ImagesThoughtful approach to transfers

Over the past four years, Berrada has been key to City's transfer strategy, with one particular move standing out above all the rest. That, of course, was the £50m ($64m) capture of Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund, who re-wrote the record books during his first season in England.

Berrada and Begiristain initially opened talks with the late 'super-agent' Mino Raiola over a potential deal for Haaland in February 2022, and managed to secure his signature by early June, reportedly seeing off competition from La Liga giants Real Madrid. Haaland proved to be the last piece in the puzzle for Guardiola as he finally delivered elusive European silverware at City last season, and he had Berrada to thank for tapping into what really drives the Norwegian striker.

"A player like Haaland really could have chosen any top team in Europe. Almost all the top teams were interested in his signature," Berrada said on the Sky documentary titled . "For us, it was about understanding what motivates him. When you boil it down to its essence, he wanted a football project. We spent a lot of time explaining the football project. He's a strong character and the decision was taken by him, but clearly the fact that his father had played for Man City, there was an affinity."

He added: "The transfer market has almost become a competition in itself. What you don't realise is the sheer amount of pressure you deal with. Yes, there's an element of the transaction – the salary, the fee, the commission. But you're dealing with people, people who have dreams, fears and who may have influences within their own entourage. You have to really try and understand who you are speaking to. When you understand that, you have a better sense of how to negotiate."

That thoughtful approach to signing new players is exactly what has been missing at United in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. The Glazers have invested billions in the squad, but a lack of proper planning and questionable scouting has led to the club's poor recruitment record – something Berrada has all the qualities to reverse.

GettyBreaking the cycle

According to , Berrada was in charge of finalising contract terms for new players, which required him to be acutely aware of the salary scales in the squad. His work has helped ensure that City never overpay for their top targets, with a clear wage structure ensuring that harmony is always maintained in the dressing room.

In stark contrast, United have handed out staggering financial packages to new signings, with the likes of Harry Maguire, Jadon Sancho and Antony all penning life-changing deals before proving themselves at Old Trafford. Big names like Casemiro and Raphael Varane have also flopped, which has left the Red Devils paying out £500,000 every month since September to players that have fallen out of favour, been sidelined through injury, or in the case of Sancho, been left out due to disciplinary reasons – as per .

That unstable financial model has caused certain players to rebel against current manager Erik ten Hag, just as they did with his predecessors, while adopting the mindset that they are bigger than the club. The passion and insatiable hunger to win that Ferguson instilled in several different squads across his 27-year reign is long gone, with too many now looking out only for their own interests.

City were in the market for some of the same players, most notably Fred, Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo, but on each of those occasions they were happy to let their neighbours come out on top instead of breaking their carefully built structure.

“In terms of Harry Maguire, we have shown very clearly over the last few seasons that we will only go for a transfer if we feel it is the right valuation," Berrada said in an interview with in 2020. "So we look at the player’s quality, age, experience, what he can bring to the team, and then decide the correct valuation."

United's new CEO will immediately set about overhauling the club's transfer policy when he officially starts work at Old Trafford. The days of reckless spending will soon be over, with Ratcliffe's dream team already falling into place as he awaits final ratification from the Premier League for INEOS' investment in the club.

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Getty ImagesRatcliffe isn't wasting any time

Back in November, Richard Arnold announced his resignation as United's chief executive to spark the boardroom shake-up that supporters are hoping can bring about a swift turnaround in fortunes on the pitch, with head of legal Patrick Stewart stepping in on an interim basis. Arnold always seemed like an odd fit for the role due to his non-existent football experience, and handed responsibility on sporting matters to John Murtough.

Arnold was head of commercial under United's former executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, and so he naturally focused on the bottom line from an economic standpoint, instead of having any input on how best to improve the team. That won't be the case with Berrada, who will be expected to make signings, appoint managers and effectively reshape the entire football department at Old Trafford.

Ratcliffe, alongside Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean Claude-Blanc – the two other members of the INEOS senior team tasked with overseeing operations at United – have already identified where the club have been failing, and firmly believe that Berrada is the right man to affect significant change.

Joel and Avram Glazer signed off on the appointment of Berrada, but the has reported Ratcliffe led talks with the City chief right from the off. United's days of drawing out hires, and transfers, appear to be over with the British billionaire methodically picking his staff and generally getting everything done in a swift and efficient manner.

Matt Prior, the former England wicketkeeper, has stepped up his war of words with Australia’s Nathan Lyon, warning the offspinner that it could be his own career that is ended if England repeat their Ashes triumph of 2010-11.Prior, an integral part of the side that won the Ashes Down Under in 2010-11, was one of the most prominent England failures on their return trip three years later, making 107 runs in six innings before being dropped for the fourth Test of the series.However, having already hit back at Lyon’s claim that he had been “scared” of the extreme pace generated by Mitchell Johnson in that series, Prior went one step further in a pair of Twitter posts, as he addressed Lyon’s desire to “end some more careers” when the 2017-18 series gets underway on Thursday.”I sincerely hope you’re not part of a losing @CricketAus team on home soil @NathLyon421,” Prior wrote. “I still remember being sat on the outfield at the SCG after winning 3-1 while your press&fans were tearing into the Oz players. You want to end careers? Just make sure its not yours that ends.”Prior is no stranger to wars of words, having been the subject of a vitriolic attack from his former team-mate, Kevin Pietersen, who labelled him the “big cheese” in his autobiography in 2014.By and large, Prior kept his counsel on that occasion, but he has been less willing to take Lyon’s comments lying down.”Last time someone spouted a whole load of BS about me I stayed quiet not this time,” he wrote. “To be clear I may have been playing badly fair enough but there was no way I was getting on a plane home. You’ve embarrassed yourself @NathLyon421 & this game has a funny way of biting back.”

Not one of the six teams has yet registered a win after three rounds of the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-2017Three rounds into the Sunfoil Series, the tournament is yet to see a win. All three matches ended in draws and all were rain-affected. Titans gained the most in terms of points and moved up to the top of the table but they were denied an outright win over Warriors by the weather and a fighting half-century from Yaseen Vallie.Having piled up 321 in the first innings, Titans claimed a first-innings lead of 60 and they rapidly scored 220 for 6 in the second innings to set Warriors a target of 281 on the final day. Pace-bowler Migael Pretorius struck with wickets off successive deliveries in the second over of Warriors’ chase and the batting side soon found themselves 91 for 6. Vallie and Sisanda Magala kept Titans at bay with a half-century stand for the seventh wicket before bad light forced players off the field.Drizzle, bad light and wet outfield all meant that only a little more than two days of play were possible in the match between Lions and Dolphins. Lions batted first and posted 277 for 7 declared with half-centuries from Willem Mulder (70*) and Rassie van der Dussen (75). In response, Dolphins lost six wickets for 185 runs, with Aaron Phangiso taking 3 for 59.Knights, who had a slender lead at the top of the table at the start of this round, saw the final day of their match against Cape Cobras washed away. Both teams, however, had impressive batting innings. Knights’ first-innings score of 489 for 5 declared was set up by wicketkeeper Rudi Second’s unbeaten 203, and Cape Cobras almost matched that with a string of fifties from their middle-order batsmen.National radarPrior to turning out for Knights in this round, AB de Villiers’ last first-class match was the home Test against England in January last year. His long-awaited return to the first-class format began with a run-a-ball 5 Titans’ first innings but in the second, he scored a rapid 32 – off 27 deliveries with five fors – to help Titans rack up runs quickly in a bid to push for a result. David Miller, playing his third match of the tournament, contributed to Knights’ hefty score with a measured 67 off 137 deliveries.Mulder, the 19-year-old allrounder, has been one of the more consistent performers after three rounds in the tournament. He made his third successive fifty-plus score, his 70 against Dolphins following scores of 79 and 127 not out in the first two rounds.Top performersAfter three matches, Knights’ wicketkeeper Second averages a whopping 387 runs. His three innings so far: 101 not out, 83 and 203 not out. The double-century against Cape Cobras came off just 231 balls and the innings puts him ahead of Titans’ Heinrich Klaasen in the race for the back-up wicketkeeper’s spot in the national side. Klaasen ended this round with scores of 133 and 23 against Warriors.On his return to Warriors after a county stint, Simon Harmer ended with match returns of 8 for 183 against Titans. The haul seemed an extension of the stunning summer he had with Essex: he took 72 wickets to finish as the second-highest wicket-taker for the side, and in the tournament, to help the county claim the Championship Trophy for the first time in 25 years.

Manchester United are simultaneously lining up moves for both Randal Kolo Muani and Rasmus Hojlund, according to a fresh transfer update on Saturday morning.

Which striker are Man United signing?

The Red Devils’ need for a centre-forward has been well documented ever since Cristiano Ronaldo departed the club in unceremonious fashion last November. The club goalscoring charts made for pretty grim reading during Erik ten Hag’s first campaign at the helm, with only Marcus Rashford, primarily a winger, reaching double digits in the Premier League.

Anthony Martial struggled with fitness once again, starting only 11 matches in the top flight and scoring six times, while Wout Weghorst failed to find the score-sheet at all after arriving on loan in January, despite starting ten matches in the league and coming on an additional seven times as a substitute (Whoscored).

Unsurprisingly, the club have been linked with virtually every striker on the planet this summer, from Victor Osimhen to Harry Kane, but it appears they have narrowed the search down to two targets in recent weeks.

Atalanta’s Hojlund is the primary target, with the Old Trafford outfit in pole position for his signature and expected to formalise a bid in the coming days, but talks are also being held for Eintracht Frankfurt striker Kolo Muani, according to a recent report from Football Insider.

The Bundesliga club value their France international at £80m, claims the update, which United see as excessive, meaning they are still leaning towards a deal for Hojlund, but have nonetheless held negotiations for both signings.

Other sources have put Hojlund’s price tag at €90m (£78m), so it appears the Red Devils are prepared to splash massive cash on at least one marquee arrival up front, which is sure to be music to the ears of fans who suffered so much from their centre-forward play last season.

Who is better – Kolo Muani or Hojlund?

It feels unlikely both players will arrive this summer, even though Kolo Muani can play out wide on the wing as well as his natural position up front, so Ten Hag and the scouting team will likely have to pick one or the other.

And even though they are seemingly pressing ahead with Hojlund as the main man, it is the Frenchman who has the better record at first glance.

Indeed, Hojlund has just 27 senior club goals to his name, while Kolo Muani, four years his senior, has racked up 49 goals across spells with US Boulogne, FC Nantes and now Frankfurt.

While Hojlund’s potential looks sky-high – he’s been likened to Erling Haaland for his incredible mixture of pace and size, while members of the media have called him a “phenomenal talent” – he looks like more of a signing for future potential, rather than the here and now.

Given their aforementioned struggles in front of goal last season, United need a player who can waltz straight into their first XI and start hitting the back of the net immediately, and Kolo Muani’s superior experience in a top league and goalscoring prowess implies he should be the target they are prioritising for now.

Chelsea are planning to accept any bids for Raheem Sterling in the summer transfer window, according to a new update regarding the Englishman's future.

Has Raheem Sterling flopped at Chelsea?

The 28-year-old joined the Blues from Manchester City last summer, having no longer necessarily been seen as a key figure at the Etihad.

Sterling was seen as an exciting signing for Chelsea, given his pedigree as an 82-cap England international and four-time Premier League champion. He would seemingly add another attacking dimension to the team, as well as a wealth of experience and end product, but it's fair to say that his first season at Stamford Bridge was an underwhelming one.

In fairness to the winger, he was part of a Blues team that struggled hugely throughout the campaign, eventually finishing 12th in the league, but his performances were too often lacking in both quality and all-round influence.

Sterling only scored six goals in 28 league appearances – a disappointing return, considering his reputation as a relentless provider of end product – and he failed to stand up while others around him also flattered to deceive.

While the former City and Liverpool attacker is contracted with Chelsea until the summer of 2027, it looks as though a quickfire exit from West London is now seemingly likely.

Are Chelsea selling Raheem Sterling?

According to Football Insider, the Blues plan to accept an offer for Sterling this summer if a sizeable bid arrives, suggesting that Mauricio Pochettino sees him as an expendable figure:

"Chelsea are very open to selling Raheem Sterling this summer, sources have told Football Insider. Sterling is attracting interest from clubs in Europe, the UK and Saudi Arabia. Back in January, Football Insider revealed that the Blues were willing to listen to offers for the 28-year-old in the winter window after hijacking Arsenal’s move for Mykhaylo Mudryk.

"Sources have told Football Insider that his future is now even more up in the air and the club are in favour of recouping his wages for new talent."

This would be a surprise decision by Chelsea, considering Sterling only arrived at the club 12 months ago, not to mention the fact that he has been hailed as "world-class" by Frank Lampard in the past, despite his somewhat limited impact both under the Blues legend and his predecessors.

The £325,000-a-week attacker has proven himself over such an extended period, scoring 20 times for England, but ultimately, if Pochettino doesn't see him as a key man, the Blues should try and move him on.

It remains to be seen if that is definitely the case, but if he does end up staying put beyond the end of the window, he must go up a gear next season. Sterling turns 29 later this year, so the clock is ticking in terms of selling him at his highest possible value, which could be a reason for this latest update, with Todd Boehly and the club's hierarchy perhaps keen to create an almost entirely new squad for the new boss to work with.

Fiorentina defender Igor Julio has "already spoken to Marco Silva" about joining Fulham, but his potential transfer has now "seems to have vanished".

Will Fulham sign anyone?

The Whites enjoyed a successful first full campaign back in the Premier League following 2022 promotion from the Championship, having finished mid-table and above the likes of west London rivals Chelsea.

Fulham also briefly pushed for a European qualification spot but fell just short of Brentford, Aston Villa and Liverpool in that regard.

The foundations are certainly there but Silva may face a fight to keep his best players, with both Joao Palhinha and Antonee Robinson attracting interest.

In terms of incomings, Fulham could strengthen in a variety of key areas, with Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse, Japan international Ao Tanaka, Coventry City's Viktor Gyokeres, Fenerbache defender Ferdi Kadioglu and Roma centre-back Roger Ibanez all being targeted.

It is claimed Fulham may also make a move for Chelsea forward Callum Hudson-Odoi, as Mauricio Pochettino's side are prepared to sell for just £15 million this summer (The Guardian).

Another player to have been linked with a move to Craven Cottage is Igor, but according to a new report out of Italy, it appears he won't be joining the club despite behind-scenes discussions.

Vocegiallorossa.it, in collaboration with Firenzeviola.it, claims Fulham have been chasing a deal for Igor and he has even "already spoken" to Silva about joining.

However, as the Whites move on to alternative defensive targets who could sign on more "favourable terms", a transfer for Igor now "seems to have vanished".

He was initially the Cottagers' main target, according to this report, but it appears Fulham could swoop for a rival Serie A defender instead.

Who is Igor Julio?

The Brazilian ranked in Firoentina's top three for tackles made, interceptions and clearances completed per 90 in the Italian top flight – standing out as one of La Viola's key defensive assets (WhoScored).

Igor also has just 12 months remaining on his Fiorentina deal, and as he enters the final year of his contract, it is reasonable to believe the defender could be available for a fairly cheap fee.

The 25-year-old was one of Fiorentina's most selected players last season – even sitting sixth in their squad listing for most Serie A minutes played over 2022/23.

Igor, who has been described as a "crazy" asset for Fiorentina, may well have been an astute signing for Fulham based on these stats, but this latest report from Italy indicates he won't be signing any time soon.