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It has been a tough few days in the life of Hardik Pandya, and he acknowledges it. But he won’t “run away from it” and will “keep working hard – hard work never goes to waste – and keep smiling”.”Eventually, I believe, you have to stay in the battle. Sometimes life puts you in situations where things are tough, but I believe that if you leave the game or the field, the battle that is, you won’t get what you want from your sport, or the results you are looking for,” Hardik said ahead of the T20 World Cup in an interview with . “So, yeah, it has been difficult, but at the same time, I have been process-driven, I have tried to follow the same routines I used to follow earlier.”At the same time these things happen; there are good times and bad times, these are phases that come and go. That is fine. I have gone through these phases many times and I will come out of it as well.”Related

• Pollard 'sick and fed up' of people picking on Hardik

• The People vs Hardik Pandya – why, what, and the way out

• Hardik Pandya fires up the bowling cylinders

It all looked rosy for Hardik till IPL 2024 started. After that, as the new Mumbai Indians (MI) captain, he oversaw a last-place finish for his team. His returns with bat (216 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 143.04 and average of 18.00) and ball (11 wickets in 12 innings at an economy rate of 10.75) were mediocre. It appeared that he had offended the fans at both MI – where he had replaced a popular and well-loved captain, Rohit Sharma – and Gujarat Titans, his previous team, who he had guided to a title win and a second-place finish in his two years at the helm. For large parts of the IPL, he was booed at stadiums, even at neutral ones.Now he is at the T20 World Cup. As India’s vice-captain, deputy to Rohit. And as India’s premier fast-bowling allrounder.”I don’t take my successes too seriously. Whatever I have done well, I have forgotten about them immediately and moved forward. Same with difficult times,” he said. “I don’t run away from it. I face everything with [my] chin up.”As they say, this too shall pass. So coming out [of these phases] is simple: just play the sport, accept that [you need to] maybe get better at your skillset, keep working hard – hard work never goes to waste – and keep smiling.”Along with the hard work, Hardik stressed on the importance of going back to a point in time when things weren’t as good for him as they are now, when he had to fight for opportunities, a period that perhaps shaped him.”I think it comes down to self-belief,” he said. “I believe a lot in hard work. You can succeed only if you put in the effort for it. I want to give myself the opportunity to… why do I prepare and commit myself every time? The only reason is that while I am not guaranteed success, I am guaranteed an opportunity to be successful. I focus simply on how do I keep getting better. Speak to myself. Try to know my real version.”Hardik Pandya right now at 30 is a much, much easier job compared to what Hardik Pandya was when I was 16. So I go back to the 16-year-old and I ask him how did you do it, why did you do it?”At that point of time, I didn’t have facilities or opportunities. Hard work gave me opportunities and opened doors for me. So I am in that zone right now [where] I am going and asking the 16-year-old – because he is my actual motivator, because if that guy hadn’t set the platform I probably wouldn’t have been here.”India played Bangladesh in their only warm-up game ahead of the T20 World Cup today in New York on Saturday, and Hardik started his time in the USA well, with a 23-ball 40 not out and 1 for 30 in three overs. India’s first match at the main tournament is on June 5, against Ireland, also in New York.

Lucknow Super Giants will take a late call on KL Rahul’s participation – whether in part or more – in Tuesday’s away fixture against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Rahul played as an impact substitute in Saturday’s home game against Punjab Kings, with the LSG management keen on “easing him back” from injury.IPL 2024 is Rahul’s comeback tournament after a quadricep injury ruled him out of the last four Tests of the five-match series at home against England earlier this year. Rahul had pulled up with the same injury – against RCB, incidentally – during IPL 2023, and had to undergo surgery followed by lengthy rehabilitation.”We’ll see how he goes at training,” stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran said when asked about Rahul’s availability on Tuesday.Related

• RCB hope for batters to fire in unison against dangerous LSG

• Ferociously fast and thrillingly direct – Mayank Yadav

• Rahul hands over captaincy to Pooran for game vs Kings

• LSG sign Henry as Willey withdraws from IPL 2024

At training, Rahul did not keep wicket for most of the session. He first underwent a series of timed sprint and mobility drills that were monitored by head coach Justin Langer. Rahul then practiced the full range of his body movements while playing the sweep in particular and felt his left hamstring repeatedly. He then occupied a quiet corner of the field and kept a close eye on the session for more than an hour. Later, he examined at length the slightly unusual M Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch that had more than a smattering of grass right through the 22 yards.Rahul also padded up and went out for a hit against the team’s net bowlers and throwdown specialists. After a 15-minute session, he got back to finishing a few more rounds of mobility drills before walking off to have another long chat with Langer. Only towards the very end of the day did he have a short go with the gloves.”It’s always tough when you have to change combinations,” Pooran said when asked how Rahul’s absence on the field had impacted the team so far. “Obviously, it’s different with KL on the field. But our senior players came together and assisted me in making decisions as well. It’s something that happens. Sometimes when your captain isn’t available, all the senior players stand up, and try and make up for his absence.”KL Rahul scored 58 in 44 balls in LSG’s season-opener against Rajasthan Royals•BCCI

LSG have one win and one loss in two games so far, with Rahul returning scores of 58 (in 44 balls, vs Rajasthan Royals) and 15 (in nine balls, vs Punjab Kings). He kept wicket only in the first game, before handing over the responsibility to Quinton de Kock for the second.Rahul is among the contenders for the wicketkeeper-batter’s slot in India’s T20 World Cup squad.Leading into the IPL 2024 season, there had been debate among observers whether he would bat in the middle order to play a similar role he plays for with the national team. So far, Rahul has opened in both matches.”I am not going lose one second’s sleep over KL Rahul,” Langer had said on his regular captain last week. “He is a beautiful player, he’s an outstanding player. There’s a reason he’s had so much success for India and I’m blessed to have him in our team, not only as an opening batsman or a batsman and wicketkeeper, but also as the captain. He is so calm. He’s a wonderful person.”

Former Barcelona president Joan Gaspart didn't mince his words while speaking about Nico Williams and his agent after the winger stayed put in Bilbao.

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• Gaspart launches attack on Barca
• Criticises the club over failing to secure Williams' deal
• Warned the winger of causing dressing room problems

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Joan Gaspart, who served as Barcelona's president from 2000 to 2003, shared his opinions on the club's failure to secure the signing of Nico Williams. The former chief criticised the Catalans for their handling of the deal, while also warning Athletic Club of falling prey to their own success of extending the winger's contract.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  After being unable to sign him last summer, Barcelona looked primed to sign Williams this summer, with reports claiming that the player made the first move and initiated contact with the Catalans. Despite news of Barca not returning to the 1:1 financial rule just yet, Williams agreed personal terms over a six-year contract. However, late in June, pessimism surrounding the deal started growing, with Williams' agent Felix Tainta demanding the La Liga champions insert a "free release clause" in his contract in case the club failed to register him. Barca, however, did not cave in to their demands, with the 22-year-old eventually signing a mega 10-year contract with the Basque outfit with a much higher release clause.

• WHAT JOAN GASPART SAID

  Speaking on the '' podcast, Gaspart started off by speaking about the repercussions of Williams' mega extension at Athletic Club next season. "Nico is a great player, but now the problem is Bilbao," he said. "When the players realise they're earning half, half, half of what Nico earns, they're not going to like it. And the fans, if this player doesn't score 50 goals, they're going to boo him, right?"

  Then, he proceeded to point fingers at the Barcelona management. "There was no passion, and it's not a criticism of [sporting director] Deco, who is a professional who is at Barcelona today and might be at another team tomorrow that pays him more," Gaspart said. "I wasn't paid for what I did. I did it out of passion. And when you do it with passion, it's very difficult for things to slip away."

  He also compared the Joan Laporta's current stint with his own, when he signed some legendary figures when he was vice-president from 1978 to 2000, and then the president for the next three years.

  "Barcelona is a club of passion. And passion isn't instilled by a professional, it's carried by the one who has it," he said. "The one who doesn't get paid to be a Barca fan. Don't tell me stories! I've signed [Diego] Maradona, Rivaldo, [Andoni] Zubizarreta, [Jose Mari] Bakero… I've signed them and nothing like that has ever happened to me… That intermediary Nico Williams has wouldn't have fooled me."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA?

  Hansi Flick's troops will return to pre-season training mid-July, before taking a tour to South Korea and Japan at the end of the month. They have been linked with Luis Diaz and Marcus Rashford following the rejection from Williams, although it seems the former is inching closer to a move to Bayern Munich.

Temba Bavuma has said South Africa should “feel the emotion of today” and question themselves as to where they are mentally after they suffered a shock 38-run defeat at the hands of Netherlands, their first loss of the 2023 World Cup.”You got to let the emotion kind of seep in,” Bavuma said at the post-match presentation. “Don’t think there is any point in trying to forget what’s happened. It is going to hurt, it should hurt.””But then you come back tomorrow, you wake up and we get back onto the journey. Our campaign is not over by any stretch of the imagination, but you got to feel the emotion of today and come back tomorrow with the head held up.”Related

• Edwards leads from front as Netherlands nail their big moment

• 'That's a massive boost for us' – Edwards pleased to get first big World Cup win out of the way

• Edwards, van der Merwe help Netherlands script famous win against South Africa

• Stats – Netherlands' record-breaking rearguard blitz

• South Africa spooked as Dutch do the World Cup double

Coming into the game running hot on a five-game ODI winning streak, South Africa seemed uncharacteristically lax. They gave away 32 extras – 21 wides, one no-ball and 10 leg byes – as Netherlands recovered from 112 for 6 in the 27th over to post 245 for 8 in the rain-shortened 43-overs-a-side clash.This is the second time in the last 12 months that Netherlands have got the better of South Africa at an ICC event. They had earlier eliminated the South Africans from the 2022 T20 World Cup with a 13-run win. Bavuma said that it was not just with the ball that South Africa were off the boil, but also in the field.”The extras that’s something you can control. Getting 30 (32) extras, that is an extra five overs is always going to hurt you. That is a conversation for us to have – whether it is skill or a complacency thing – but at the end it did count for quite a thing,” he said.”We were clinical against Australia, but the challenge was always to come back and replicate that performance. The fielding wasn’t up to standard. Again if you look at the way we fielded against Australia compared to today, definitely not the same standard.”Those are conversations we need to have. The guys need to answer the questions themselves where mentally they were. That’s definitely not the standard we’d like to show from a fielding point of view.”Bavuma was effusive in praise of the Netherlands unit, who first came back in the game with half-centuries from Scott Edwards and useful cameos from Roelof van der Merwe and Aryan Dutt before picking wickets at regular intervals in the chase.”I think we got them to 112 for 6. From that point, you are probably not looking at anything more than 200. We definitely dropped the ball there letting them get to 240-plus,” Bavuma said. “With the batting, we were still confident in chasing down that score but we didn’t get any partnerships. Them with their double-spin in the powerplay, was something we did not adapt to. Kudos to them, the way they were able to exploit certain weaknesses within our game.”

England on receiving end of 74-run hammering to keep series alive going into fourth T20I

Alan Gardner03-Sep-2023New Zealand produced a vastly improved team performance to claim a thumping victory at Edgbaston and maintain interest in the series with one match to play. Finn Allen slammed 83 off 58, Glenn Phillips added a 27-ball half-century and then the bowlers all chipped in as England’s chase fell apart on a wearing surface.Set a target of 203 to secure their third win on the bounce, England fell to 55 for 4 in the ninth over and never really looked like making a contest of it. Jos Buttler struck a few defiant blows before being fifth man out for 40 off 21 and the lower order fell away quickly in the face of a probing New Zealand bowling display, Kyle Jamieson and Ish Sohi sharing six wickets.The margin of 74 runs was among England’s heaviest defeats in T20Is when batting second, and offered a measure of revenge to Tim Southee’s side after going down by 95 runs at Old Trafford in the second T20I, as well as giving New Zealand the chance to claim a share of the series at Trent Bridge on Tuesday.New Zealand adapt, at last
Southee had challenged his side to adapt better to conditions after two sub-par showings, and they were better in all three departments in Birmingham. Allen and Phillips played well-judged innings during an 88-run stand after Southee had opted to put up a score, while the changes made to the bowling attack both bore fruit – Matt Henry, who was Player of the Match in the T20 Blast final on this ground in July, and Jamieson, making only his fourth New Zealand appearance since suffering a back stress injury in 2022, front and centre of a miserly powerplay performance.The spin pair of Sodhi and Mitchell Santner, although presented with a more favourable scenario, produced combined figures of 4 for 53 from seven overs – compared to 1 for 98 from eight overs delivered by Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone (Moeen Ali curiously left unbowled on his home ground). In the field, although Allen couldn’t quite pull off a spectacular relay effort to dismiss Buttler at long-on, Phillips’ flying leap to palm back a Dawid Malan slog-sweep and prevent it going for six epitomised their commitment.Malan’s birthday blues
Such are the blurred lines between white-ball formats in this day and age that every time Malan – who is in England’s 50-over World Cup squad – has batted in this series it has invited scrutiny and comparison with Harry Brook – who isn’t. Malan, it’s worth noting, averages 54.92 in ODIs, but was dropped during the Hundred (officially a T20 competition) after scoring 28 runs in four innings for Trent Rockets; he lost his place, perhaps ironically, to Joe Root, who is in the ODI squad but hasn’t played a T20I since 2019. Keeping up?Whatever the number of balls, sets or overs, the Malan malaise appears to have returned. Having made a typically staunch half-century at Chester-le-Street to anchor a small chase – very much bread-and-butter for England’s No. 3 – he followed up with nought off four balls in the second T20I and an uncomfortable 2 off 11 here. His frustrations were evident as he walked off after hoisting Southee to the one catcher out on the off side, as England reached the six-over mark on 30 for 2 – their third-lowest powerplay score since 2015.Brook’s failure, holing out off the legspin of Sodhi, meant that Malan at least would not have to hear all about his rival’s prodigious abilities for a third time in the series. But nevertheless, this probably wasn’t how Malan would have wanted to celebrate his 36th birthday.Allen provides platform
Allen showed how powerful his hitting can be when taking Luke Wood for three consecutive sixes in the first over the series at the Riverside – but he only managed three singles off the other 12 balls he faced in that game, highlighting how turning over the strike can be more of a struggle for the 24-year-old, now more than two years into his T20 international career.Here, on a dry surface that made timing the ball a challenge, he was occasionally visibly frustrated by his inability to execute shots: on 58 from 42, his groan was audible over the stump mic when mistiming a pull off Gus Atkinson. But he managed to accrue 21 singles and five twos – albeit that encompassed the dismissal Devon Conway run out going for a third – to go with the big shots. It was, he said at the break between innings, part of a conscious effort to bat for as long as possible. “100%, I wanted to take it deep, thought it might not be that easy for the guys coming in,” he said.Nevertheless, he was still keen to flex those boundary-clearing muscles. The first of his six sixes came via a clean strike down the ground off Jordan in the powerplay, and he went to a 35-ball half-century with a hit that just cleared the man, and the rope, at long-on off Livingstone. The piece de resistance, however, was a pointed trident of blows off Rashid, England’s premier legspinner, who was flambéed over long-off, long-on and straight back over his head from consecutive deliveries in the 15th.Phillips turns the screw
The dismissal of Tim Seifert, smartly stumped off a Livingstone legbreak, offered an obvious example of the pitch gripping – Livingstone himself reacted by covering his mouth with his hands – but Phillips was able to bide his time and get accustomed to conditions while Allen did the heavy lifting through the middle of the innings. He was on 27 off 19 at the end of the over in which Allen took on Rashid, before adding a brace of boundaries off Jordan in the next and then striking Wood for six and four as he began to kick up through the gears.Although Allen’s innings came to end, bowled by a Wood cutter, Phillips unleashed another beastly salvo in the following over to keep New Zealand on course for 200. Two into the deep off the first ball of the 18th took him to a 27-ball fifty, before Phillips hammered Livingstone for 6-6-6 off three legitimate deliveries – twice into the crowd at deep midwicket, then over long-off. He was gone in the next over, bowled by Atkinson’s slower-ball yorker for 69 off 34, as the innings threatened to stall at the death – but New Zealand already had plenty.

Celtic have never been a club to shy away from cashing in on their best players and attempting to replace them in the transfer market over the years.

The Hoops have an excellent track record of selling stars for big-money and being able to find excellent replacements for them with bargain deals for young talent.

Matt O’Riley

Brighton

£25m+

Jota

Al-Ittihad

£25m

Kieran Tierney

Arsenal

£25m

Moussa Dembele

Lyon

£19.7m

Odsonne Edouard

Crystal Palace

£18.5m

As you can see in the table above, Celtic have made some significant sales, particularly in recent years with Jota and Matt O’Riley, but they have always managed to find the next star to step up.

Last summer, Brendan Rodgers had to watch on as Brighton & Hove Albion secured a deal to sign O’Riley for more than £25m, but that money allowed the club to go and splash the cash on his replacement.

The Scottish Premiership giants reportedly smashed their club-record transfer fee to sign Belgium international Arne Engels from Augsburg for a fee of £11m.

Celtic have hit the jackpot with Arne Engels

It was a big gamble to spend that kind of money on a player who had yet to enjoy a proper breakthrough season at senior level as a consistent starter.

During his time with Augsburg, Engels never started more than 18 games in a single league season and only started 13 of his 32 appearances in the Bundesliga during the 2023/24 campaign.

This meant that Celtic were gambling on him being able to hit the ground running with the drop from one of Europe’s major leagues to the Premiership, and that gamble has paid off.

Engels has racked up ten goals and 12 assists in 43 appearances for the Scottish giants in all competitions, establishing himself as a regular starter in the middle of the park.

Appearances (starts)

32 (13)

27 (18)

Goals

3

9

Big chances created

1

11

Assists

2

5

Key passes per game

0.6

1.7

Tackles + interceptions per game

1.5

0.9

Dribbled past per game

0.5x

0.3x

As you can see in the table above, playing in the Premiership has allowed Engels to showcase the best of his qualities in possession, providing a far greater threat at the top end of the pitch from a central midfield position.

This shows that the Hoops hit the jackpot by signing the Belgium international for £11m last summer, because their gamble has paid off and they now have a terrific, young, midfield player for years to come.

Celtic could, now, repeat the masterclass they have played with the 21-year-old maestro by swooping to sign one of his former teammates, Elvis Rexhbecaj.

Celtic make contact to sign Bundesliga ace

According to Fussball Transfers, the Scottish Premiership leaders are one of a number of clubs eyeing up a deal to sign the Augsburg central midfielder at the end of the season.

The summer transfer window is only a few months away from officially opening for business and the Hoops have seemingly already put plans in motion to bolster their squad ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.

Fussball Transfers claims that Rexhbecaj is contemplating his options ahead of the summer transfer window, as he is torn between staying at Augsburg and trying a new adventure abroad.

The report states that Celtic, Parma, and Besiktas have all made enquiries about a potential deal to sign the Kosovo international this year, and that they are all ‘knocking on the door’ to land his signature.

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

It also reveals that Augsburg have been trying to extend his contract, which is due to expire in the summer of 2026, but have not been able to reach an agreement with the 27-year-old star.

Valued at £3m by Transfermarkt, Celtic must now continue to pursue a deal for the experienced midfield ace to bolster their squad, as he could be a repeat of Arne Engels at Parkhead.

Why Elvis Rexhbecaj could be Arne Engels 2.0

The Kosovo international could come in and be a quality addition to the group because his performance levels could increase as a result of the drop down to the Premiership from the Bundesliga, as was the case with his former teammate.

He is already, as aforementioned, an international player and Rexhbecaj showcased his tenacity out of possession and his composure and quality on the ball in the space of a few seconds when he scored his first goal for Kosovo against Iceland last week, as shown in the clip below.

The box-to-box midfield star, who has racked up 179 appearances in the Bundesliga throughout his career, is not known for his goalscoring, though, as he is more of a combative operator in the middle of the park.

Unlike Engels last season, the experienced ace has also been a regular starter for Augsburg in the Bundesliga this term – starting all 20 of his appearances in the division.

Appearances (starts)

32 (12)

25 (24)

Goals

3

2

xA

1.75

1.34

Tackles + interceptions per game

1.5

2.0

Ball recoveries per game

1.9

5.4

Ground duel success rate

52%

54%

Aerial duel success rate

36%

51%

As you can see in the table above, they offered a fairly similar threat at the top end of the pitch but the Kosovan maestro was significantly more impressive out of possession.

The Celtic transfer target, who has made 2.0 tackles and interceptions and 3.8 ball recoveries per game in the current Bundesliga campaign, is a midfielder who can offer defensive security whilst also chipping in with the odd goal contribution.

If Engels’ attacking contributions can soar the way they did after his move to Parkhead, Rexhbecaj could enjoy a similar jump in his performances to deliver brilliant box-to-box midfield displays.

Celtic star was sold for £4.5m, now he scores more frequently than Maeda

Brendan Rodgers cashed in on the Celtic attacker last year and he is now more prolific than Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah.

ByDan Emery Mar 25, 2025

Therefore, the Kosovo international could be Engels 2.0 as another Augsburg central midfielder to come over from the Bundesliga to strut their stuff in Glasgow.

Amad Diallo has responded to the criticism he received for showing fans the middle finger after Manchester United lost a post-season friendly.

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• United lost friendly to ASEAN All-Star team
• Players subjected to abuse from supporters
• Amad responds after showing middle finger

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  United suffered more embarrassment after their poor Premier League campaign and defeat in the Europa League final as they were beaten 1-0 by the ASEAN All-Star team in a post-season friendly in Malaysia. Supporters in attendance at the Bukit Jalil Stadium were heard booing the Red Devils and Amad was later seen making a gesture to fans as he made his way to the team bus.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Amad, one of few United players who will escape the 2024-25 season with some credit for his performances, has now revealed he took exception to fans allegedly insulting his mother and claimed he doesn't regret his actions.

• WHAT AMAD SAID

  Writing on X, Amad said: "I have respect for people but not for the one who insults my mom.

  "I shouldn't have reacted like that but I don't regret what I did.

  "We had a great time in Malaysia with good people."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR AMAD AND MAN UTD?

  The 22-year-old scored 11 goals in all competitions for United during the 2024-25 season and is expected to be a key player for manager Ruben Amorim moving forward. The Red Devils have another fixture against Hong Kong to take part in on Friday before the squad enjoys a break from playing duties until July, when their pre-season begins.

Whilst Chris Wilder should be rightly praised for the large array of stars he’s worked with at Sheffield United such as Billy Sharp, John Egan and Jack O’Connell, the much-celebrated Blades boss has also fallen victim to signing some real duds whilst occupying the Bramall Lane hot-seat.

Indeed, notable pick-ups such as Rhian Brewster haven’t exactly gone to plan under his wing, with the one-time £23.5m buy only bagging seven strikes from 107 games in South Yorkshire.

At least Brewster has shown spurts of his quality, however, with two of those goals coming this season.

But, with this other disastrous signing, he never managed to raise his head high concerning his underwhelming displays.

Oliver Burke: Wilder's worst signing at Sheffield United?

Coincidentally, the cursed purchase of Oliver Burke also happened around the same time Brewster arrived through the door from Liverpool, with the Blades going on to taste relegation down to the Championship off the back of their poor recruitment.

Burke joined Wilder’s ranks for £5.8m in September of 2020, with the Scotsman once a £15m purchase by ex-club West Bromwich Albion when the Baggies picked up Burke fresh off his promising exploits at boyhood club Nottingham Forest.

But, that £15m on the end of the West Midlands side would end up being a rash splurge of cash, with Burke only managing to pick up one goal from 24 appearances at the Hawthorns, a worrying trend that would continue on at his next club.

To further pile on the misery, the now 27-year-old’s blunt time at Bramall Lane would culminate in a relegation appearing on his career CV, with the goal-shy attacker picking up just two strikes and one assist from 36 forgettable clashes.

In the end, Burke would leave his ill-fitting surroundings on a free transfer, with the £5.8m move simply going down as a big misfire.

The promotion chasers will just be keeping everything crossed that history isn’t repeating itself at the moment.

Wilder's next Burke at Sheffield United

Wilder would have been aware this January that splashing the cash recklessly could work against his side, with seven new additions entering the building to help with United’s promotion efforts.

Whilst Tom Cannon was fresh off an 11-goal loan stint with Stoke City, coughing up £10m for the hot ticket attacker to join his ever-growing camp might well have raised some eyebrows, considering four of those strikes came in just one game.

But, with his blistering record at youth level also seeing him post 51 goals for former employers Everton, the risk of spending £10m on the Irishman was deemed one worth pursuing.

This is where the similarities to Burke’s unfortunate tale do begin to pop up, considering the now Werder Bremen forward was another face that had so much hype attached to his name when lighting up youth pitches, with the tag of being the ‘Scottish Gareth Bale’ even coming his way.

Games played

7

Games started

4

Goals scored

0

Assists

1

Transfermarkt value

£5m

Looking at the table above, it’s been far from a smooth start to life in South Yorkshire for Cannon, with the lethal centre-forward play typical of his Potters stint now nowhere to be seen.

The 22-year-old has unfortunately drawn regular blanks instead, with Wilder using him sparingly across his promotion-chasing side’s last three league encounters, opting instead to utilise free transfer Tyrese Campbell as his lone marksman.

Labelled as “outstanding” in the past by ex-Hull City boss Liam Rosenior, Cannon is far from being written off yet in his new surroundings.

But, if he continues to be wasteful up top for the Blades after costing such a significant amount of cash to bring in, he could be hurtling down the same rocky road as Burke.

Sheffield United must rue selling £5m ace who's ruining their title bid

Sheffield United must regret signing off on this sale now.

2 ByKelan Sarson Mar 4, 2025

991 players put their names forward, but Dwayne Bravo is not part of it

Nagraj Gollapudi01-Dec-2022

Sam Curran was crucial to England’s triumph at the T20 World Cup•AFP/Getty Images

Sam Curran, who was player of the final and the tournament at the 2022 World Cup, is among 21 men who have listed the maximum reserve price of INR 2 crore (approx US$ 246,000) for the 2023 IPL auction.Not a single Indian player is listed in the 2 crore bracket which includes marquee names like England Test captain Ben Stokes, Australian allrounder Cameron Green, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and Nicholas Pooran who stepped down recently as West Indies white-ball captain.Related

Curran, Stokes and Green to be in second set at IPL 2023 auction

Bravo retires from IPL, takes over as Chennai Super Kings' bowling coach

Pollard, Williamson, Bravo, Mayank released: How the IPL teams stack up ahead of the 2023 player auction

A maximum of 87 players can be bought at the auction (squad strength of 25 each) of which 30 can be overseas names. The auction is scheduled on December 23 in Kochi.A total of 991 players (714 Indian and 277 overseas) are part of the initial long list which the IPL shared with the 10 franchises on Thursday. The IPL will prune this down based on input from the franchises, who have until December 9 to get back to the tournament authorities.A break down of the IPL 2023 auction long list•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Agarwal, Rahane part of Indian group
In what is a first, not one Indian player is listed in the highest reserve price band of 2 crore. The list of 19 capped Indians mainly comprises discarded national players including Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma and Mayank Agarwal.Rahane was released by Kolkata Knight Riders having bought him for 1 crore in the last auction. His base price this time is 50 lakh. Ishant, who had gone unsold in 2022, is asking for 75 lakh.Agarwal was the first player to be retained ahead of the mega auction last year by Punjab Kings and was also handed captaincy of the team. However, a below par season, both for the player and the franchise, forced Kings to release Agarwal, who had been paid 14 crore last season.Agarwal has listed his base price at 1 crore. Left-arm fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat, who has been among the highest-paid players at IPL auctions, has listed his base price at 50 lakh. Unadkat, who has been in stellar form having led Saurashtra to the Vijay Hazare Trophy final, where he is the leading wicket-taker, was released by Mumbai Indians, who had bought him for 1.3 crore in 2022.Focus on Curran, Stokes, Green
The most keenly awaited part of an IPL auction – mega or mini – has been the order in which a player’s name comes out for bidding. And usually franchises pay a lot of attention, and money to the marquee names*. It is fair to assume that Curran, Stokes, Williamson and Pooran will be part of this set along with probably Agarwal.Overseas allrouders have always been a mega hit at mini auctions and the in-form trio of Curran, Stokes and Green will fancy a fat pay cheque as an early Christmas present on December 23. While Green has never featured in IPL, the England duo have significant experience.Currran last played in the tournament in 2021 for Chennai Super Kings before a stress fracture in his lower back forced him to miss a lot of cricket. The Super Kings had bought Curran for 5.5 crore and will once again aim to buy him though rival franchises like Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings, who go in with the two biggest purses, will have a better chance of landing the England allrounder who is a proven match-winner both with ball and bat.The year 2021 was also the last time Stokes played the IPL. Representing Rajastthan Royals, Stokes left the season at the halfway stage due to an injury. Royals had bought Stokes for 12.5. crore in 2018 and had retained him for the next three years. In 2022, Stokes opted out of the IPL.As for Green, he recently said despite the massive workload confronting Australian players leading to, and immediately after, IPL 2023, he was excited to participate in the tournament. Green turned a lot of heads during Australia’s white-ball series in India just before the T20 World Cup where he scored 118 runs at a strike rate of 214.54 while opening the batting. Coupled with his bowling the 23-year old could prove to be a big asset in T20 cricket.Notable misses
Dwayne Bravo looks to have said goodbye to the IPL (at least as a player). Having been released by the Super Kings ahead of the auction, his name was not among the 991 put forward in the long list.Bravo is a three-time IPL winner and the tournament’s highest wicket-taker (183). MS Dhoni’s team had brought him on in 2011 and had kept faith in him through to 2022. But at 39 years of age and battling injuries, it is likely that the West Indian will now shift to a backroom role much like his great friend Kieron Pollard has at Mumbai Indians.Among the 14 overseas countries, Australia with 57 players have the most in the auction. But two of their very best – Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne – are missing from the list. Although given how neither of them had any takers last year, and are likely to be heavily involved in Ashes preparation with the series starting June 16, it may not be too much of a surprise that they’ve chosen to skip the IPL. Australia’s Test and ODI captain Pat Cummins has pulled out as well.The 2 crore band: Nathan Coulter-Nile, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Jamie Overton, Craig Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Kane Williamson, Rilee Rossouw, Rassie van der Dussen, Angelo Mathews, Nicholas Pooran, Jason HolderThe 1.5 crore band: Sean Abbott, Riley Meredith, Jhye Richardson, Adam Zampa, Shakib Al Hasan, Harry Brook, Will Jacks, Dawid Malan, Jason Roy, Sherfane RutherfordThe 1 crore band: Mayank Agarwal, Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Moises Henriques, Andrew Tye, Joe Root, Luke Wood, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Martin Guptill, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Heinrich Klaasen, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kusal Perera, Roston Chase, Rakheem Cornwall, Shai Hope, Akeal Hossein, David Wiese

أكد ياسر إبراهيم، مدافع الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بالنادي الأهلي، أنه لا يرى نفسه في موقع التقييم أو التصنيف بين المدافعين، مشيرًا إلى أن زميله محمد عبد المنعم هو أفضل مدافع مصري حاليًا، كما أشاد بعدد من اللاعبين الذين يتألقون في الدوري المصري الممتاز خلال الموسم الجاري.

وقال ياسر في تصريحات تلفزيونية لقناة “إم بي سي مصر”: “لا يمكنني تقييم نفسي أو تحديد ترتيبي بين المدافعين، لكن من وجهة نظري، أفضل مدافع مصري هو محمد عبد المنعم، فهو مميز للغاية ويستحق الإشادة، وأتمنى عودته للملاعب في أقرب وقت”.

وأضاف: “في الدوري المصري هناك أسماء عديدة تقدم مستويات رائعة مثل رجب نبيل وأحمد بيكهام ومحمود رزق، كما أن حسام عبد المجيد لاعب جيد ويؤدي بثبات، وأتفاهم جيدًا مع مصطفى العش الذي أراه لاعبًا ذكيًا وله مستقبل كبير”.

ياسر إبراهيم: تعلمت المبادئ في الأهلي.. وزيزو سيصنع التاريخ معنا

وعن زميله السابق أيمن أشرف، قال ياسر: “لا أريد أن أهدر حق أيمن أشرف، لعبنا سويًا أربعة نهائيات، لكنه لم يحصل على فرصته مع المدرب كولر، وقد حزنت بشدة للطريقة التي رحل بها عن الأهلي، وكذلك لطريقة رحيل كولر نفسه، كنت أتمنى أن يرحل بطريقة أفضل أو وهو يتوج ببطولة”.

وتحدث مدافع الأهلي عن علاقته بالمدربين الذين مروا على الفريق خلال السنوات الأخيرة، مشيرًا إلى أنه تأثر كثيرًا بفترة السويسري رينيه فايلر، وقال: “مع فايلر غبت عن اللعب بسبب الإصابة، وبعد عودتي لم أكن أدخل قائمة المباريات، ولم أفهم السبب في ذلك حتى الآن”.

وعند سؤاله عن ترتيب المدربين الأفضل من وجهة نظره، أجاب: “إذا كان عليّ ترتيب مدربي الأهلي، فأرى أن بيتسو موسيماني هو الأفضل، يليه فايلر ثم كولر”.

كما علق على التوترات التي شابت العلاقة بين بعض اللاعبين وكولر، موضحًا: “من الطبيعي أن يشعر أي لاعب لا يشارك بالانزعاج، وأن يتساءل عن أسباب غيابه عن التشكيل الأساسي أو حتى عن القائمة”.

وبشأن مستقبله مع الأهلي، كشف ياسر إبراهيم عن تفاصيل تجديد تعاقده قائلًا: “لكل لاعب الحق في وضع طلباته، وللنادي الحق في تحديد أولوياته، وأنا جددت تعاقدي لمدة موسمين أثناء تواجدنا في جنوب إفريقيا من مباراة صن داونز الأولى، بدون إقحام أخي أو أيًا من أقاربي وكان ذلك بالاتفاق مع محمد رمضان ومحمد شوقي”.