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Manchester United have struggled to get going this season, with injuries hindering the progress made last year.

The Red Devils have been dumped out of every cup competition bar the FA Cup, and they sit eighth in the Premier League.

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With that in mind and the fact that United only score 1.1 goals per game on average, Erik ten Hag must look to add a new forward to his side.

Man Utd transfers latest – Nico Williams

According to UtdDistrict, Man United have set their sights on Nico Williams. It's suggested that the club's scouts have identified him as their prime versatile target for the month of January.

As per a report from Spain, the Spaniard has a release clause of £43m in his contract at Athletic Club.

A move is much more likely to take place in the summer due to the large fee and United’s financial fair play situation, which prevents them from spending big in January.

How Nico Williams compares to Antony

Antony’s £82m move to Man United has been a disaster, highlighted by the fact that the Brazilian has failed to even register a goal contribution in 21 appearances for the Red Devils this season.

The United faithful are becoming increasingly frustrated with the 23-year-old's constant underwhelming performances and the signing of a new right winger could see his United career come to an end.

That new attacking star could be Williams, a player who has been labelled “dazzling” by Football Talent Scout Jacek Kulig. The star has been nothing short of electric this season in La Liga, scoring three and assisting five in 16 starts. The 21-year-old has become instrumental in the way his side attacks, showing great maturity and taking on plenty of responsibility despite his age.

Goals

0.00

0.22

Assists

0.00

0.36

Successful take-ons

1.49

3.64

Progressive carries

3.09

5.98

Crosses

1.39

7.00

Key passes

1.59

2.40

Touches (att pen)

3.68

6.12

As you can see, Williams absolutely wipes the floor with Antony. The former is an extremely fast winger who is a master at 1v1 scenarios, constantly taking a direct approach with the aim of getting into the box.

Furthermore, he’s almost unstoppable when dribbling, using his quick feet and agility to glide past defenders with ease, amassing nearly six progressive carries every 90 minutes. Impressively, he has the joint most successful dribbles in La Liga this season. On the other hand, Antony often decides to lay the ball off due to his lack of acceleration and power, making him easy to play against.

Instead, Williams can progress the play via his ball-carrying, and he is a true creative spark. Unlike the Brazilian, he is two-footed and unpredictable which allows him to find space to cross the ball into the box. Antony doesn’t provide that type of service which has ultimately starved Rasmus Hojlund of chances this season, with the number 21 labelled as a “one-trick pony” by United Legend Paul Scholes.

It is clear that Williams would be a huge upgrade on Antony, and United must do all they can to acquire his signature with Ten Hag and his side in dire need of some more creativity in the side if they are to turn the ship around.

Liverpool's owners FSG have the funds available to hijack two big European clubs and sign a "very dangerous" player, according to a new transfer update from abroad.

Liverpool's Janaury signings

The Reds had one of their most important transfer windows in a long time during the summer, with Jurgen Klopp gutting his midfield, having suffered big problems there last season.

Individuals such as Fabinho and Jordan Henderson, among others, were simply incapable of producing the physical dominance they exerted at their peaks, and it made Liverpool painfully easy to bypass in the middle of the park.

James Pearce delivers key Liverpool injury update on duo after Man City

Could the Reds be without two important figures for a while?

ByHenry Jackson Nov 26, 2023

Dominik Szoboszlai has been the standout signing so far, making a world of difference in his right-sided No.8 role, but Alexis Mac Allister has also done well, Ryan Gravenberch is a footballer of huge promise and Wataru Endo looks like a solid squad player.

It could be that Liverpool focus more on different areas of the pitch in January, with a centre-back who can also thrive as a left-back reportedly seen as a key position to focus on. Sporting CP star Goncalo Inacio continues to be linked with a move to Anfield, while Wolves ace Rayan Ait-Nouri is another who has emerged as a potential Reds transfer target.

As mentioned, Klopp's midfield has been transformed, but it still looks as though they could be pursuing another player there, however, following a fresh claim.

Liverpool could hijack Khephren Thuram

According to a new update from Tutto Juve in Italy [via The Boot Room], Liverpool are still interested in signing Nice midfielder Khephren Thuram, as was the case during the summer transfer window.

Serie A pair Juventus and Inter Milan are also keen on acquiring the signature of the Frenchman, but the Reds will be the favourites to snap him up if Nice keep their €40-50 million (£34.7-£43.4m) asking price the same. The two Italian powerhouses seemingly believe they will lose out if that price tag does not drop because the Reds, namely FSG, have more funds available.

For much of the summer window, it really did look as though Thuram was likely to head to Liverpool, but the move never materialised and others came in instead. While the aforementioned new Reds heroes have made a massive impact this season, providing so much energy and guile, and helping Klopp's men sit nicely in the thick of a Premier League title race, they should still look to make a move for the Nice star, either in January or next summer.

Pass completion rate

89.6%

Dribbles per game

1.5

Tackles per game

1.3

Key passes per game

1.3

Clearances per game

1.1

The price tag being discussed is far from high, considering the long-term potential of the 22-year-old, and former Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey has spoken highly of Thuram after being a teammate of his at Nice, calling him "very dangerous" and a "very strong dribbler of the ball". He could make Klopp's midfield options even more fierce.

علق كريم فؤاد، لاعب الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بالنادي الأهلي، على إصابته بقطع في الرباط الصليبي الأمامي خلال مشاركته مع القلعة الحمراء.

وتعرض كريم فؤاد للإصابة خلال مشاركته في مواجهة الأهلي ضد سموحة والتي انتهت بفوز الأحمر بهدف مقابل لا شيء، وحسم التتويج بالدوري المصري، حيث تأكد إصابته بالصليبي عقب خضوعه لأشعة جديدة.

طالع..الأهلي يعلن التشخيص النهائي لإصابة كريم فؤاد

وكتب فؤاد عبر حسابه على “فيس بوك”: “كل خسارة دُونَ الجنة، فهي دُون اللهم لك الحمد كما ينبغي لجلال وجهك وعظيم سلطانك، الدنيا دار ابتلاء وشقاء ودايمًا الإبتلاء بيجي للشخص في الحاجة اللي هو بيحبها ونِفسه فيها وطموحه وسعادته فيها، ودا بيكون إختبار ليك هتعمل إيه في الموقف دا، وان الإختبار والبلاء دا بيكون ليه أجر كبير ورفع درجات في الجنة وتكفير ذنوب وحاجات كتير عظيمة أوي مقابل إني اصبر على الابتلاء دا”.

وتابع: “انا كان مكتوبلي إصابة في الرباط الصليبي للمرة التانية، بس عندي إحساس تاني خالص مع الإختبار دا، إنه انا في نعمة كبيرة أوي وإن الحمد لله ربنا رزقني باختبار سهل وهين أوي مقابل ابتلاءات ناس تانية أصعب من دا بكتير، وكمان اختبار مش جديد عليا بَعيده للمرة التانية في وقت قصير فهعرف أتعامل معاه بشكل كويس ويمكن أحسن”.

وأضاف: “عشان كدا بحمد ربنا إن الابتلاء اللي هاخد عليه أجر كبير وعظيم مش بالصعوبة القاسية اللي توجعني وتهدّني”.

وواصل: “أنا بحمد ربنا وراضي ومؤمن جداً، إن ربنا بيحبنا نقرب منه بالعبادات اللي منها الصبر والدعاء الحمد لله مستعد للاختبار ومتحمس”.

وأتم: “شوية وقت وهنرجع نحارب من تاني أشوفكم على خير قريب”.

Sunderland experienced a nightmare weekend in the Championship, losing 2-0 away at Plymouth Argyle after a lengthy journey down from Durham to Devon on Saturday was already a kick in the teeth.

West Brom then picked up a statement 2-0 win over Ipswich Town later in the day at the expense of Tony Mowbray's downbeat Black Cats, pilling on the misery even more, leapfrogging Sunderland to fifth spot in the league standings consequently.

A lack of clinical finishing cost Sunderland dear on their travels to Home Park, sliding down the Championship table to a disappointing ninth spot with Hull City and Cardiff City now above the Black Cats after the loss.

It could well lead to a number of changes being made by Mowbray for Sunderland's upcoming home match this Wednesday against Huddersfield Town, the 60-year-old wanting to see an immediate response at the Stadium of Light from his players to reclaim some authority back in the playoff race.

One player that could be sacrificed from the line-up mid-week is Nazariy Rusyn, the lone Ukrainian striker still goalless in a red and white strip this season and was anonymous for large spells of the game at Argyle.

Nazariy Rusyn's game vs Plymouth in numbers

When Rusyn signed this summer from FC Zorya Luhansk to join the Sunderland ranks, hype amongst the Black Cats masses suggested he could be the perfect replacement for the out-going Ross Stewart – the agile 5 foot 10 attacker scoring 13 times for Luhansk last season in the league, before relocating to English football.

It's been a bumpy transition to the demands of competitive EFL football for the Ukrainian however, who was poor again versus Plymouth to the dismay of the irritated Sunderland away supporters who had made the colossal journey down to Devon.

Sunderland's misfiring number 15 didn't even register a single shot on target in this contest as per Sofascore, dragging one effort wide whilst his only other half-hearted attempt to score was blocked before being substituted off at the break.

With Rusyn only amassing 12 touches on the ball and three passes in total, the game passed the 25-year-old by whilst Sunderland's star-man Jack Clarke worked doubly hard to work openings for any attacker to hopefully convert from – accurate with four crosses into the area in the full 90 minutes, Rusyn's replacement in Eliezer Mayenda equally as wasteful when a chance came his way.

It's been the tale of Rusyn's time in a Sunderland shirt to date, an underperforming striker continually wilting on the big occasion.

Nazariy Rusyn's season in numbers

Rusyn is still goalless in his new red and white strip from nine total appearances to date, with fellow attacking teammates in Luis Semedo, Mason Burstow and Mayenda all still firing blanks up top for Mowbray's men too.

Nazariy Rusyn

0 goals from 9 games

Luis Semedo

0 goals from 12 games

Mason Burstow

0 goals from 9 games

Eliezer Mayenda

0 goals from 2 games

Sourced by Transfermarkt.

The Ukrainian did show flashes of his quality versus Birmingham City – assisting the opening Jobe Bellingham strike in that match – but he will want to break his goalscoring duck soon for Sunderland or he will risk becoming a similar flop akin to ex-Black Cats striker Leon Dajaku who exited the Stadium of Light as quickly as he joined after failing to settle into his new surroundings.

Mowbray's patience must now be wearing thin with his Ukrainian summer signing, scrambling around his squad to find anyone who could lead the line more effectively than Rusyn in crunch matches to come.

Joao Felix revealed that Bernardo Silva enquires about Barcelona, as he claimed that the Manchester City man would be his number one transfer target.

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Silva has a £50m release clauseCancelo wants Barca to trigger itRevealed that Silva would want Messi's No.10WHAT HAPPENED?

Felix's endorsement of his compatriot comes amidst swirling transfer speculations linking Silva with a potential move to Barcelona. has reported the growing interest from Silva's end to join Barcelona, adding fuel to the already intense transfer rumours surrounding the Portuguese maestro.

Silva's release clause of $63 million (£50 million) at City, which kicks in from this summer, further led Felix to urge his board to bring the Portuguese forward at Camp Nou.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesWHAT FELIX SAID

Speaking to Gerard Romero's show , Felix didn't mince words, stating: "If I were (Sporting Director) Deco for a day, I would sign Bernardo Silva without a doubt."

The endorsement didn't stop there as Felix added: "Let them bring him (to Barca). Have you seen him play? He's even better as a person. He's from (Joao) Cancelo's generation. Now players last until they are 35-36 years old. His sister-in-law is here, (he's asked me) about how things are here, the weather, tax issues… I told him it's all right for him to come. I don't think Manchester City will make it easy. For $63 million (£50 million) I would bring him, even for €60-70 million ($65-76 million)."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Felix also revealed that Silva would want to don the prestigious No.10 shirt at Barcelona once worn by club legend Lionel Messi, should he join.

"He would like to wear the number 10," he said. "It's a very important number at the club, you can't give it to just anyone, you have to be careful. It's my favourite number, but I've never worn it."

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT?

Should Barcelona opt to pursue Silva in the upcoming transfer window, they will have to sell some of their existing assets to comply with La Liga's Financial Fair Play regulations (FFP). President Joan Laporta would undoubtedly face a daunting task in executing this transfer, as he has also vowed to hold on to Felix and Joao Cancelo at the end of their respective respective loan spells.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Santos utilizou um time alternativo na derrota por 1 a 0 diante do Athletico-PR, neste sábado (21), pela 22ª rodada do Campeonato Brasileiro, na Arena da Baixada. Os principais motivos para essa opção foi o retorno de alguns atletas recuperados do novo coronavírus às vésperas do confronto, além do compromisso desta terça-feira (24), contra a LDU (EQU), no estádio Rodrigo Paz Delgado, em Quinto, 2850 metros acima do nível do mar.

-Prejudica muito. Fizemos isso em cima de testes, muitos já não vão pra Quito. Lógico que atrapalha ficar mudando de time, tivemos de adaptar o Jobson na meia, que já fez em outros times. Balieiro foi bem com o Ivonei. Adaptação tem de ser jogo a jogo. Não tivemos tempo de treinar, na quinta não treinamos por causa da chuva, fomos pra sala de vídeo pra conversar. É ter calma, o Santos está passando por momento turbulento, é tirar o chapéu pra essa molecada – afirmou o auxiliar-técnico, que comandou o Peixe nos dois últimos jogos justamente pelo fato do treinador, Cuca, estar contaminado com o vírus.

RelacionadasSantosMesmo com derrota do Santos, Fernandes parabeniza ‘molecada’ e nega ter jogado por empateSantos21/11/2020SantosTrio volta a testar positivo para Covid-19 e desfalcará Santos nas oitavas da LibertadoresSantos21/11/2020SantosLaércio torce o tornozelo e se torna dúvida do Santos para LibertadoresSantos21/11/2020

Nos últimos dias, 11 jogadores do elenco principal do Peixe foram contaminados com a Covid-19, sendo que nove encerraram os seus períodos de isolamento e realizaram exames entre quinta e sexta-feira (19 e 20) – o zagueiro Luan Peres foi diagnosticado na quinta-feira (19) de forma avulsa ao surto coletivo que aconteceu entre os dias 7 e 11 de novembro e o goleiro Vladimir também se recupera de uma lesão no dedo mínimo do pé direito. dos recuperados da doença, apenas o meia Jobson foi titular, já que está suspenso e não enfrenta a LDU, nesta terça-feira (24).

Madson, Alex Nascimento, Sandry e Jean Mota entraram no decorrer da partida, João Paulo ficou apenas no banco de reservas e João Paulo, Diego Pituca e Alison nem foram relacionados. Inclusive, João Paulo, Madson e Sandry, que na testagem da quarta-feira (18) haviam sido negativados para o novo coronavírus, nos exames realizados na sexta-feira (20) resultaram positivo novamente, muito pelas “cicatrizes” deixadas pela doença. Essa condição permite que eles atuem no Brasil, mas os deixam foram das condições de entrada no Equador, e os tiram da partida da Conmebol Libertadores.

– Perdemos três jogadores, esperamos os testes até às 14h, momentos antes de ir pra preleção. É caso de Sandry, João Paulo e Madson. São jogadores que acusaram no testes. Um monte de jogador que saiu junto com eles que testaram negativo – disse o técnico interino.

O Peixe fez a segunda melhor campanha da fase de grupos da competição continental, na qual está invicto, com cinco vitórias e um empate.

Nabi turned the match around with a brilliant display as he struck 86 of the 99 runs needed when he came to the crease

ECB Reporters Network03-Aug-2018
ScorecardA savage and brilliant innings of 86 not out in only 32 balls by Afghan allrounder Mohammad Nabi secured a stunning five-wicket victory for Leicestershire Foxes in their North Group match against Lancashire Lightning at Emirates Old Trafford.Coming to the wicket with his side on 92 for 5 in the eleventh over and needing another 99 runs to win the game, Nabi tore the Lancashire attack apart, hitting eight sixes and four fours as the visitors cruised home with eight balls to spare.Ateeq Javid, Nabi’s partner in an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 102, made only 15 not out but finished the game with a pull for four off Matthew Parkinson in front of a crowd 9525, most of whom were probably stunned by what they had just witnessed.Much earlier in the evening Alex Davies had made a career-best 94 not out in the home side’s 190 for 5 and that total had looked plenty when the home side lost a wicket in each of the first three overs of their innings, left-arm spinner Mark Watt taking a wicket with only his second ball for Lancashire.Colin Ackermann and Ben Raine repaired the innings to some extent with a stand of 77 but both fell to successive balls from Parkinson. That, though, only prepared the stage for Nabi, whose previous highest score in this year’s Vitality Blast was 32.Nabi hit almost all of Lancashire’s bowlers for sixes and some of them cleared the boundary by over thirty yards. It was as astonishing a hitting innings as even this great ground has seen.The centrepiece of Lancashire’s innings was the batting of Davies. The diminutive right-hander scored most of his early runs with ferocious drives as his side levied 77 runs in the six Powerplay overs and he then helped later batsmen consolidate that progress when the Foxes’ skipper, Colin Ackermann opted to take pace off the ball.Lancashire’s early surge was checked when Zak Chappell took two wickets in three balls, first having Karl Brown caught at cover by Harry Swindells for 29 and then bowling Arron Lilley for 4, Indeed, it was not until the 17th over that Lancashire doubled their rich haul from the first six overs.However, T20 debutant Josh Bohannon helped Davies add 58 for the third wicket in 7.3 overs and Steven Croft joined the opener in a 48-run stand for the fifth but most of the burden fell on Davies who batted through the innings, hitting eleven fours and two sixes.Lancashire’s top order was lacking a trio of batsmen either injured or on Test duty and Davies’ innings was certainly needed as the home side certainly struggled against the Foxes’ slower bowlers.Chappell was the only Foxes bowler to take two wickets but the efforts of Ackermann, who took 1 for 23 in three overs, and Neil Dexter were quite as valuable in checking the Lightning’s progress.Left-armer Callum Parkinson also bowled well on his return to Old Trafford and his figures of 0 for 36 in four overs did him little justice.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have enjoyed signing nearly a whole Portuguese diaspora of players in the last several years.

From 2016, 19 Portuguese players have played for the Old Gold. This penchant for Portugal is widely linked to super agent Jorge Mendes.

Within that group, since Wolves went from the Championship to the Premier League – quality has varied. There's been the highs of Diogo Jota and Ruben Neves, but there's also been the lows of Bruno Jordão or João Teixeira.

Unfortunately for this article's focus, this Portuguese winger finds himself edging toward the latter camp.

When did Gonçalo Guedes join Wolves?

Gonçalo Guedes caught Wolves' attention as an electric winger in La Liga with Valencia, working back his reputation after struggling for games at PSG.

With an already developing Portuguese core, Guedes would hopefully fit in. He'd fit in even more, if he could transfer his glimpses of sheer quality (like below) to the Premier League level for Bruno Lage's side.

After 146 La Liga games in a four-year stint at the Mestalla, Guedes scored 28 goals and in a somewhat satisfying fashion got 28 assists. What ultimately twisted Lage's arm was a stellar final season on Spain's east coast. Guedes starred in Los Ches' 2021/22 term that saw them finish ninth, scored 11 of his 28 total goals, and got six of his 28 assists in 36 games.

Wolves signed Guedes – another client of agent Mendes – for an agreed £27.5m in August 2022. A lot was anticipated for the bright spark, who already had a reputable international career charting seven goals in 32 games since making his debut in 2015 when he broke through with Benfica at 18-years-old.

He was the first 18-year-old to make his international debut by the way, since one Cristiano Ronaldo. Unfortunately, that's where the CR7 comparison would stop – as Guedes' Premier League form was far from Ronnie's.

What went wrong for Guedes at Wolves?

Fundamentally, Guedes couldn't adapt to the Premier League. Form was hard to come by on his arrival as he only got 17 Premier League appearances under his belt, reaping just the solitary goal against Brighton on the 5th of November 2022.

While his start to life in England was tough, it was made worse by the fact that Wolves had other players who were more than capable of competing in that position. While Guedes stalled, Pedro Neto, Daniel Podence, Jonny, and Adama Traore could all be deployed on the left wing.

Furthermore, another aspect that weighed the fleet-footed player down – was a comparison to Diogo Jota, a player who helped the Old Gold achieve promotion.

That comparison was noted by Portuguese football expert, Alex Gonçalves, who was speaking to Russell Youll of the Shropshire Star.

Close

He said: "Comparison questions are always tricky but in the Premier League, maybe someone Wolves fans know very well, Diogo Jota, is a good player to look at. Both have something of that explosive nature and tenacity, as well as a clear dribbling prowess and ability to manoeuvre with close control in tight spaces, added to their direct approach and determination.

"He’s also got decent end product, both in terms of goals and assists, and Jota has shown similar for Liverpool."

Of course, admittedly Guedes was nowhere near the level of Jota's 44 goals in 131 all competitions. However, he still has a lot of his career to look ahead to at 26. A return to Benfica this season on loan, where it all started may rejuvenate his career – yet as this deal has the potential to go permanent, a potential Premier League career looks unlikely.

When Mikel Arteta took the manager’s job almost six years ago, Arsenal were in a sorry state.

Since then, he has turned a club that were sliding down the table into consistent Premier League challengers and a serious threat in the Champions League.

While this change has in part been down to his tactical approach and philosophy, it’s also been down to a recruitment strategy that has generally worked out.

However, every manager is going to have their misses in this regard, and Arteta’s signings could end up going down as Arsenal’s worst since Shkodran Mustafi.

Arsenal's worst signings in the Emirates era

Now, an element that has to be considered when discussing a team’s worst signing is how much they cost.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

After all, if a cheap or free player ends up being a flop, it is generally less of a problem than a big-money player flopping.

With this in mind, the first transfer dud who comes to mind is Lucas Perez, who joined the Gunners for around £17m in the summer of 2016.

The Spaniard was a talented striker; his time in La Liga proves as much.

However, he failed to make a mark in England and was loaned back to Deportivo La Coruna in the 17/18 season, then sold to West Ham the year after, with just seven goals and five assists to his name in 21 games.

An attacker who made a greater impact at the club but cost the club much more was Nicolas Pepe.

The Ivorian international joined Unai Emery’s Gunners for a then-club record fee of £72m in the summer of 2019 following a season in which he scored 23 goals and provided 12 assists in 41 games for LOSC Lille.

It would be fair to say that there was an awful lot of expectation on his shoulders then, an expectation he wouldn’t be able to fulfil.

Despite a reasonable enough first season, in which he produced a tally of eight goals and ten assists in 42 appearances, the dynamic winger would end up leaving the club by mutual consent in the summer of 2023 following two loan spells and with a middling tally of 27 goals and 21 assists in 112 games.

Last but not least, the player many fans consider to be one of the worst big-money signings made during the Emirates era: Mustafi.

The German centre-back joined the North Londoners for an astounding £35m in the summer of 2016, and at the time Arsène Wenger described him as a “very focused player who can play with the ball as well.”

Unfortunately, that couldn’t have been much further from the truth, as while he started off well enough, the former Valencia star would soon prove to be something of a liability.

In fact, it got so bad that after a couple of years, he was labelled the “King of the blunders” by former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Emmanuel Petit.

As if that wasn’t enough, Martin Keown slammed him for “schoolboy defending” after a 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace in April 2019.

The 33-year-old was eventually phased out of the team by Arteta and left the club altogether in 2021.

In all, Arsenal have made their fair share of costly transfer blunders in the Emirates era, and the bad news is, they may have done so again in the summer.

Arsenal's worst signing since Mustafi

The good news for Arsenal is that, so far anyway, most of the summer signings have looked pretty good this season.

The bad news is that due to their broad success, one has stood out as being comfortably the most underwhelming and, if he doesn’t improve quickly, could become the club’s worst signing since Mustafi: Viktor Gyokeres.

Now, before the pitchforks and torches come out, there is, of course, every chance that the Swedish marksman will come good for Arteta and Co, but it cannot be denied that, so far this season, he has been poor.

For example, despite ending last season with 67 goal involvements in 52 appearances, the former Sporting CP star has scored just six goals in 19 appearances, totalling 1273 minutes.

That comes out to a poor average of a goal involvement every 3.16 games, or every 212.16 minutes, which just isn’t good enough for someone who cost around £63m.

Moreover, while some might make the argument that his teammates haven’t created enough chances for him, the counter to that was his performance against Wolves on Saturday.

Appearances

19

Minutes

1273′

Goals

6

Assists

0

Goal Involvements per Match

0.31

Minutes per Goal Involvement

212.16′

The 27-year-old was beyond poor against the Premier League’s bottom side, be that due to his total lack of box movement or his lacklustre attempts when he did have a chance.

As content creator and analyst James B put it, the star striker simply “looks way off it.”

Ultimately, the fans and team will rally behind Gyokeres over the next few months, but unless he improves, and significantly at that, the word flop will be impossible to ignore, and he’ll join the likes of Mustafi and Pepe.

£45m star who plays a "bit like Henry" could end Gyokeres' Arsenal career

The incredibly talented Arsenal star could spell trouble for Gyokeres.

ByJack Salveson Holmes 5 days ago

The decision from the BCCI came as news broke that CA was banning the players for 12 months, in the wake of tremendous outrage over the ball-tampering incident at Newlands from back home in Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Mar-20182:54

Sambit Bal: Smith’s unavailability may work out well for Rajasthan

Steven Smith and David Warner will not be allowed to play in IPL 2018 because of their roles in the pre-meditated plan to tamper with the ball on the third day of the Cape Town Test against South Africa.The decision from the BCCI – announced by IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla – came as news broke that Cricket Australia was banning the players for 12 months, in the wake of tremendous outrage over the incident at Newlands from the Australian public, the Australian government and sponsors.Smith and Warner had already stood down as captains of their IPL franchises – Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad – on Monday and Wednesday morning, but their non-participation in this season was only confirmed after they were banned by CA.The IPL will allow both franchises to pick a replacement player. Royals have already named Ajinkya Rahane as their captain for the season, but Sunrisers have not yet announced who will replace Warner.0:36

ESPNcricinfo Quickinfo: David Warner

“The CoA, in consultation with BCCI acting president Mr CK Khanna, IPL chairman Mr Rajeev Shukla and BCCI acting hon. secretary Mr Amitabh Choudhary, has decided to ban Mr Smith and Mr Warner with immediate effect from participation in IPL 2018,” the BCCI said in a statement. “The BCCI hopes that the cricketers participating in the IPL hold the highest regard for the Spirit of Cricket and Code of Conduct for Players and Match Officials.”The ball-tampering incident took place during the afternoon session on day three at Newlands and was picked up on by TV cameras. A small, yellow object was seen in Australian fielder Cameron Bancroft’s hands after he had worked on the ball, which he later revealed was adhesive tape with soil particles on it. He was also captured taking the tape from his pocket and placing it down his trousers.The footage showed Bancroft rubbing the rough side of the ball, the opposite side to which he would usually be trying to shine on his trousers. He put the object down his pants after being spoken to by the substitute Peter Handscomb, who had come on to the field after speaking to Australia coach Darren Lehmann over a walkie talkie. Lehmann seemed to speak to Handscomb after footage of Bancroft working on the ball was shown on the TV screens at the ground.David Warner gets his hands on the IPL trophy•BCCIThe on-field umpires Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth were then seen speaking with Bancroft, though they did not choose to change the ball or penalise the Australians five runs – the statutory on-field penalty for illegally changing the condition of the ball. When Bancroft spoke to the umpires, he was shown holding a bigger, black cloth rather than the small yellow object he had earlier seemed to place down his trousers.Smith and Bancroft owned up to the offence at the press conference after play on the third day, and while Warner was not initially at the forefront of the scandal, a view is emerging that he had hatched the idea to tamper with the ball and delegated it to his opening partner Bancroft, with Smith’s approval. Smith and Warner were stood down as Australia’s captain and vice-captain during the Newlands Test, and both players took the field on the fourth day under wicketkeeper Tim Paine’s leadership.Warner, Smith and Bancroft were later sent home from South Africa by CA, with the board CEO James Sutherland saying the forthcoming sanctions against them were likely to be “significant”. The ICC had already suspended Smith – who was fined 100% of his match fee and given four demerit points – from the fourth Test against South Africa, while Bancroft was given three demerit points and fined 75% of his match fee. There was no ICC sanction against Warner.