As speculation continues to arrive about Sandro Tonali’s future, Newcastle United are reportedly in pole position to sign a midfield star who could replace the impressive Italian.

Juventus interested in Sandro Tonali

When Newcastle were without Tonali at the start of the season, it showed. Eddie Howe’s side struggled in pursuit of Champions League qualification and were lacking that added power in the middle of the park. Ever since the return of the Italian, however, the Magpies have dominated the majority of their midfield battles and formed quite the trio between Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton.

Starts

28

38

29

Progressive Passes

128

271

116

Tackles Won

32

47

35

Ball Recoveries

117

188

149

The perfect blend of combative midfielders and those who have the ability to step onto the front foot, not many can stand in the way of Newcastle’s bulldozing midfield three at their best.

As a result, interest was always likely to arrive with reports in Italy now indicating that Juventus are interested in signing Tonali in this summer’s transfer window. The Italian giants are seemingly looking to bring the midfielder back to the Serie A for the first time since he left AC Milan in what should send alarm bells ringing around St James’ Park.

Jamie Carragher has been among those to praise the Newcastle midfielder this season, even including him in his Monday Night Football Team of the Season. The Sky Sports pundit said when asked why: “I went for Tonali because Newcastle look like they are going to finish third in the Premier League.

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“I don’t think many people would have predicted that. They’ve won a trophy for the first time in 70 years. But they actually made a poor start to the season. I don’t think their season turned around until Eddie Howe put him [Tonali] in the holding role.”

Of course, it remains to be seen whether Tonali will give into the temptation of Italy, but it seems as though Newcastle have a much-needed plan in place nonetheless.

Newcastle now leading race to sign Matteo Guendouzi

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, as relayed by Sport Witness, Newcastle are now leading the race to sign Matteo Guendouzi from Lazio this summer. The former Arsenal midfielder is reportedly valued at just €40m (£34m) and could now be on his way back to the Premier League if Tonali decides to leave St James’ Park.

Starts

28

37

Progressive Passes

128

316

Tackles Won

32

21

Ball Recoveries

117

173

Not only does Guendouzi progress play better than Tonali, he has also outperformed the impressive Guimaraes in that department. Since leaving the Premier League with a whimper, the Frenchman has simply discovered another level to his game.

Earning plenty of praise ever since his time at the Emirates, football talent scout Jacek Kulig dubbed Guendouzi a “fantastic signing” by Marseille in 2021 and the midfielder has only proved to be equally as fantastic at Lazio.

The coming months could be seismically important for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta.

The Spaniard led his side to a third successive second-place finish in the Premier League this season, so it feels like the club must seriously back him and the squad in the transfer window this summer to ensure they can get over the line next year.

Fortunately, that seems to be happening, as the board have already renewed Gabriel Magalhães’ contract, seem close to securing the services of Kepa Arrizabalaga for just £5m, and most exciting of all, appear to have secured the signing of Martin Zubimendi.

The Spanish international will be a brilliant addition to the Gunners’ squad, but if recent reports are to be believed, the club are now looking at another midfield maestro, someone who’s an even bigger talent than the Real Sociedad star.

Arsenal moving to sign midfield monster

It feels like Arsenal have been trying to sign Zubimendi for an eternity, with some of the earliest links to the Spanish international appearing all the way back in January 2023.

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However, in January of this year, Sami Mokbel broke the news that the club had all but sewn up a move for the Real Sociedad star, who rejected Liverpool only last summer.

While the deal hasn’t been officially confirmed by either team, transfers expert Fabrizio Romano revealed just a few days ago that the 26-year-old will cost the Gunners around £55m, which will be paid in installments.

While this is undoubtedly exciting news, it looks as if the North Londoners might not be finished with their midfield revamp, with reports now suggesting that the club want to sign Eduardo Camavinga.

At least that is according to journalist Sebastien Vidal, who, in a recent report, revealed that Arsenal are incredibly interested in the Real Madrid superstar.

In fact, he has claimed that the Gunners have already made contact over the player but that the Spanish giants will not sell unless a big offer is made, which, according to other reports, might be around £50m.

It wouldn’t be a cheap or simple transfer to get over the line, but given Camavinga’s ability, it is one worth fighting for, especially as he’s a bigger talent than Zubimendi.

Why Camavinga is a bigger talent than Zubimendi

Now, it is important to clarify that both midfielders are enormously talented footballers and that Arsenal will benefit massively from signing either one, but when it comes down to raw talent, it looks like the Real Madrid ace has the slight edge, and there are a few things that suggest as much.

The first is that even though the Frenchman is four years the Spaniard’s junior, he has already achieved far more in the club game, winning two La Liga titles, a Club World Cup, and most importantly, two Champions League titles.

Moreover, he wasn’t just a passenger for those triumphs, making ten appearances on the way to Real’s win in the 21/22 season and then 11 appearances, of which nine were starts, during their successful 23/24 campaign.

On top of that, the Cabinda-born maestro has also won more senior caps for France than the Basque star has for Spain, and while he’s not got a European Championship to his name, he did start in the 2022 World Cup Final, and there probably isn’t a bigger game in world sports than that.

Finally, away from tangible achievements, the “world-class” Los Blancos star, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, simply has the better underlying numbers, which, again, suggests he’s a bigger talent.

Camavinga vs Zubimendi

Statistics per 90

Camavinga

Zubimendi

Non-Penalty Expected G+As

0.11

0.10

Non-Penalty G+As

0.20

0.10

Progressive Passes

4.94

5.51

Progressive Carries

1.90

1.09

Shots

1.13

0.78

Shots on Target

0.36

0.25

Passing Accuracy

89.8%

84.0%

Key Passes

0.86

0.56

Passes into the Final Third

5.34

4.87

Passes into the Penalty Area

0.52

0.61

Live Passes

59.0

52.5

Through Balls

0.29

0.05

Shot-Creating Actions

2.53

1.31

Goal-Creating Actions

0.17

0.18

Tackles Won

2.55

1.12

Blocks

1.90

1.36

Interceptions

1.30

1.26

Clearances

2.36

2.65

Successful Take-Ons

1.03

0.56

Ball Recoveries

6.72

4.32

Aerial Duels Won

1.55

1.64

All Stats via FBref for the 24/25 Season

For example, not only does the former Stade Rennais gem produce a higher non-penalty goals plus assists figure, but he also plays more key passes and wins more tackles all per 90.

In other words, the young Frenchman is a complete midfielder who can help out the backline before bursting forward – look at his progressive carries – and playing a killer pass for one of his teammates or putting the ball in the net himself.

Ultimately, while Zubimendi is going to be a great signing, Arsenal would do well to pick up Camavinga as well, as he appears to be an even bigger talent.

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If Rohit Sharma, the Player of the Match for his 41-ball 92 in India’s 24-run win over Australia in T20 World Cup 2024, had to “open up all sides of the field” to counter the breeze in Gros Islet, Arshdeep Singh said the bowlers had to prevent “the wind to come into play” to not let the Australia batters take advantage of it. Arshdeep finished with 3 for 37, removing David Warner in the first over and then getting the wickets of big-hitters Tim David and Matthew Wade in the death overs.”As a player and as a team, our motto is to adapt as well as we can to the conditions,” Arshdeep said after the match. “As for the wind factor, when we bowled from the end opposite to the pavilion, we got a lot of swing. From the other end, bowling against the wind… the batters were going to use the wind since the ball was travelling. So we had to look for defensive options there and not allow the wind to come into play.”Josh Hazlewood, the most economical bowler of the day with 1 for 14 from four overs, said that 180 or thereabouts would have been a par score in those conditions; India ended with 25 more than that. Rohit was the main reason for that, but Suryakumar Yadav (31 off 16 balls) and later Hardik Pandya (27* off 17) contributed to the cause too.Related

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“From one end, it was very hard for the bowlers to even pitch the ball, and the ball was flying to the boundary,” Arshdeep said. “So having the cushion of extra 15-20 runs always helps, gives you the extra freedom of going for wickets.”With his three wickets, Arshdeep reached the top of the pile for the tournament, joint with Afghanistan’s Fazalhaq Farooqi. But he was quick to accept that a lot of his success was down to Jasprit Bumrah being Jasprit Bumrah at the other end, who dismissed Head in the 17th over to put India ahead.”I guess a lot of credit goes to Jassi because he puts a lot of pressure on the batters – he gives, what, three or four runs in an over – so batters are coming hard against me, and I just have to try and bowl my best ball and there are a lot of chances of getting wickets there,” Arshdeep said. “On the other end they see the runs are not coming and the asking rate is going high, so they take more risks against me. [There’s a] chance always of getting a wicket there. So a lot of credit for my wickets goes to Jassi .”Head took the lead in Australia’a chase by slamming 76 in 43 balls, with a spot in the semi-finals at stake. At the start of the 14th over, when Australia were 128 for 2, Kuldeep Yadav got rid of Glenn Maxwell, and Axar Patel removed Marcus Stoinis in the next over, and Australia were suddenly 135 for 4 with 71 to get in just under six overs.”The thought [process] was clear. Our batters also batted on the same wicket, and early on it was easy to score runs, the ball was coming on nicely. But afterwards, it became tough to hit boundaries,” Arshdeep said. “We knew if we took a couple of wickets, it will be tough for the new batters coming in to hit boundaries at will. That was the plan. A couple of nice overs from the spinners in the middle overs helped us.”

The team is back in action, facing South Africa over the course of three ODIs, one Test and three T20Is starting on Sunday

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2024

Harmanpreet Kaur and Amol Muzumdar will hope India conjure up another successful series against South Africa•PTI

India women’s head coach Amol Muzumdar has emphasised the importance of “fielding and fitness” as India gear up for a busy few months beginning with the first ODI against South Africa on Sunday in Bengaluru.”When I took over last December, we had said that fielding and fitness have been the cornerstone and we have been driving that message to the group. They [the players] have responded really nicely to that,” Muzumdar said. “Fielding is a work in progress and we are working very hard towards it and trust me, you will see some results out of it.”India play three ODIs, one Test match and three T20Is against South Africa over the next four weeks. Following that, they will head to Sri Lanka for the women’s Asia Cup starting July 19 and then travel to Bangladesh for the Women’s T20 World Cup which kicks off on October 3.Related

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Muzumdar highlighted the scheduling of the South Africa series as an advantage to be seized upon. “The continuity is very important in the few months leading up to the World Cup,” he said, “This series, the format that we are playing is ODI format, then the Test match, then the last one is T20. It is a very well-scheduled series and we go into the Asia Cup which again is T20s.”By then I think, we should be ready for the World Cup. Then we have a layoff of about seven and a half weeks before we head off to Bangladesh. It is a very well-thought-out series and [we are] really looking forward to it.”India are coming into the series against South Africa on the back of a series sweep over Bangladesh. They played all five matches in Sylhet, the venue for India’s group games at the Women’s T20 World Cup later this year.”We have had a fantastic preparation in the last eight weeks,” Muzumdar said. “We went to Bangladesh and had a desired result; 5-0 we won the T20 series. We also practiced over there, in the same ground where we would be playing the World Cup. We’ve had a couple of camps before this series. We had a split camp. The bowler’s camp was held at NCA here in Bengaluru and the batter’s camp was held in Navi Mumbai. It was a concentrated camp and we had the fruitful desired results for the camp.”Muzumdar was also effusive in praise of Smriti Mandhana, who led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the Women’s Premier League title earlier in the year.”She is a fantastic leader. We do have a leadership group within the team and Smriti is a big factor in that,” Muzumdar said. “Going forward, she definitely has got a role to play. She has a good camaraderie with the current captain Harmanpreet Kaur and we are all working together. She is definitely a fantastic leader as we’ve seen in the WPL. She has won the title for RCB.”

Kylian Mbappe is one of the best footballers in the world today, but he once revealed it’s a basketball superstar who he looks up to for his status in and out of the game.

Mbappe, currently starring with Real Madrid at the FIFA Club World Cup, is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, winning the FIFA World Cup with France in 2018.

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Following a hat-trick in the 2022 final, in which France were defeated by Argentina on penalties, Lionel Messi heaped praise on Mbappe: “It really was a breathtaking final. It was crazy how the match went. Kylian scored three incredible goals, in a final! Not being able to be champion after that was crazy.”

The Real Madrid superstar has scored 50 goals for his country, meaning he only needs eight more to be his nation’s greatest ever goalscorer at the age of just 26.

Monaco

Ligue 1

2017

PSG

Ligue 1

2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024

Coupe de France

2018, 2020, 2021, 2024

Coupe de la Ligue

2018, 2020

Real Madrid

UEFA Super Cup

2024

FIFA Intercontinental Cup

2024

France

FIFA World Cup

2018

UEFA Nations League

2021

Mbappe has previously refused to pick a ‘Greatest Of All Time’ when it comes to football, revealing he believes Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are both the best, but he hasn’t been quite so diplomatic when it comes to picking his favourite NBA star.

Known as a big basketball fan, previously attending NBA Draft nights and even signing a media partnership with the league, Mbappe has become friends with San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama and is regularly spotted courtside at big games.

Mbappe names LeBron James as the 'GOAT'

Speaking on his own Instagram page after LeBron James broke the all-time NBA scoring record, Mbappe called the Los Angeles Lakers forward the ‘the greatest’, and he previously revealed he idoloses James for his actions on and off the court.

James is a four-time NBA champion and four-time NBA MVP, while he also leads the all time records for most points and sits in the top ten for both assists and steals, but his 4-6 finals record opens the door for debate.

Michael Jordan won the title six times, significantly boasting a 6-0 finals record and being named the finals MVP in all six, while winning the regular season MVP award on five occasions.

27.0

Points per game

30.1

7.5

Assists per game

6.2

7.4

Rebounds per game

5.3

1.5

Steals per game

2.3

0.7

Blocks per game

0.8

Four

NBA Championships

Six

Four

NBA MVPs

Five

ESPN’s Stephen A Smith believes Jordan’s peak puts him above the rest: “I’m putting nobody ahead of Michael Jordan. Nobody. Because my definition of the ‘GOAT’ is you at your best against anybody else at their best.

“There’s nobody who has been as good as long (as LeBron), meaning longevity, a sustained level of pristine excellence – LeBron James is the ‘GOAT’ in that category. But I don’t think LeBron’s best eclipses Jordan’s best.”

Mbappe’s verdict is perhaps symbolic of the generational divide that often defines the debate, while James still has the opportunity to extend his legacy with one more year left on his contract with the Lakers.

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Chelsea want to wrap up even more summer deals in time for their Club World Cup campaign, but BlueCo have just five more days to do so.

Chelsea sign Liam Delap for £30 million with more signings anticipated

On Wednesday, the Blues officially announced their signing of Liam Delap from Ipswich Town, who joins in a £30 million deal after Chelsea triggered his release clause.

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Delap will wear the number 9 shirt at Stamford Bridge and is also eligible to take part in the CWC later this month, giving Enzo Maresca a boost as Chelsea take FIFA’s competition pretty seriously.

Liam Delap’s best Premier League games for Ipswich last season	Match Rating
Ipswich Town 2-0 Chelsea	8.08
Bournemouth 1-2 Ipswich Town	8.05
Ipswich Town 2-2 Aston Villa	8.04
Ipswich Town 1-2 Southampton	7.83
Fulham 2-2 Ipswich Town	7.55
via WhoScored

£97 million worth of prize money is up for grabs if Chelsea go on to win the tournament, so it is believed that the west Londoners want to add one or two more signings to the squad after Delap as they look to take advantage of this mini-window, which is open until June 10.

Chelsea recently opened talks with AC Milan over a deal for goalkeeper Mike Maignan as well, but as things stand, there is a massive gap in valuation between the two clubs, even if the Frenchman has reportedly approved a switch to the Premier League, as per Football Italia.

After missing out on defender Dean Huijsen to Real Madrid, Chelsea remain in the market for alternatives, with versatile Ajax sensation Jorrel Hato said to be high on their agenda.

Jorrel Hato keen to join Chelsea with talks ongoing

The Netherlands international was predominantly a left-back under Francesco Farioli, impressing in that position, but the natural centre-half could also fill in at the heart of Maresca’s backline.

Signing an alternative to Marc Cucurella and an extra body in the middle, all in one go, will undoubtedly appeal to the west Londoners, amid reports that Hato could leave Ajax for just £40 million.

Journalist Simon Phillips, sharing an update on their links to the Dutchman, says that Chelsea are pushing in talks to sign Hato, ideally before the Club World Cup, and the 19-year-old is equally keen on joining.

“Chelsea are in talks to sign Jorrel Hato from Ajax and are working on the fee at the moment,” said Phillips.

“Personal terms not an issue and Hato is interested in the move. New talks were held early this week.

“I don’t have any further details yet on this one but it’s going on behind the scenes and Chelsea are pushing to get him to the Club World Cup if they can.”

No Ajax player featured over more Eredivisie minutes than Hato last season, with ex-Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson previously suggesting the sky is the limit for his career.

“It’s crazy how young he is, but obviously how mature he looks when he’s on the pitch and also off the pitch,” said Henderson about Hato in 2024.

“He’s a very mature person, works hard, fantastic player, and yeah, he has a bright future ahead of him, I’m sure. I think he just needs to continue to do what he’s he’s been doing.”

It’s a quick turnaround for Pakistan who are still licking their wounds after the India defeat

Danyal Rasool10-Jun-2024Match detailsCanada vs Pakistan
New York, 10.30am localBig picture: Can the 2022 finalists stay alive?The nature of the T20 World Cup 2024 scheduling means what cannot be forgotten must at least be shelved temporarily. Pakistan may have time to process their heartache after the defeat against India, which promises to leave scars well after this tournament has been consigned to a distant, unpleasant memory. However, they do not have that time right now. Less than 48 hours after a chase they mucked up, Babar Azam’s side must pick themselves back up off the canvas, staggering, and try to stand up straight once more as Canada come calling.Related

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Pakistan always knew they had these two games in three days, but halfway through the chase on Sunday, that looked like a blessing rather than a curse. A win against India would have allowed them to ride that tidal wave of momentum to undo the damage of the USA defeat in their opening game. Instead, Babar will lead a dispirited, crestfallen group into the game against Canada merely to ensure Pakistan stay alive for a few more days.Canada, meanwhile, find themselves in the somewhat unusual position of looking down the table at their more fancied opponents. If not for an Aaron Jones blitz in the opening game of this tournament, Saad Bin Zafar’s side would have been coming into this contest with two wins in two games. They then also showed impressive composure to shake off that bruising loss by bouncing back to outplay Ireland.Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan need to do the heavy-lifting up top•Sportsfile via Getty ImagesIf in the first game, Canada showed they have the batters right down the order to put on huge scores, they demonstrated in the second the quality of the bowling line-up to squeeze Ireland effectively in defence of 137. Add to that a superb fielding performance, and this is a side that has shown it has both the hunger and the ability to trouble most in group A. And against a Pakistan line-up still licking their wounds, there may never be a better opportunity to send them back to the canvas one final time.Form guidePakistan: LLLLW
Canada: WLLLLIn the spotlight: RizBar and Nicholas KirtonHow Babar and Mohammad Rizwan choose to approach the innings will be a point of interest. After criticism of their placid pacing in pursuit of a low score against India, expect both to try to come out all guns blazing against the Canadians, regardless of whether Pakistan bat first or second. That might mean the game gets one of those trademark RizBar partnerships where the strokeplay sizzles. At the same time, it gives Canada the chance to get an early wicket or two, and stick their teeth into a middle order that is low on confidence.Canada will be thankful for 26-year-old Barbados-born Nicholas Kirton not being scooped up by West Indies, because at this tournament, he has shown the personality and quality to perform on the big stage. He came into the event with a 39-ball 52 in a warm-up game against Nepal, and has followed it up with 51 and 49 against USA and Ireland, which came off a combined 66 balls. The left-hander has an elegance and flair to his shotmaking, and the ability to use his wrists to open up as much of the ground as possible has made him difficult to bowl to. If, on a New York pitch no one seems quite sure of, Kirton can play another one of those innings, he will pose Pakistan problems.Nicholas Kirton has made a very good impression at the T20 World Cup•AFP/Getty ImagesTeam news: Will Pakistan turn to Ayub?There are no fresh injury concerns and limited ways Pakistan can rejig the current 15-man squad. Saim Ayub may have a shout of returning to the side, which leaves one of Usman Khan or Shadab vulnerable to the drop.Pakistan (probable): 1 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Babar Azam (capt), 4 Fakhar Zaman, 5 Shadab Khan/Usman Khan, 6 Iftikhar Ahmed, 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Mohammad AmirCanada are likely to go in unchanged following their win over Ireland.Canada (probable): 1 Aaron Johnson, 2 Navneet Dhaliwal, 3 Pargat Singh, 4 Dilpreet Bajwa, 5 Nicholas Kirton, 6 Shreyas Movva (wk), 7 Dilon Heyliger, 8 Saad Bin Zafar (capt), 9 Kaleem Sana, 10 Junaid Siddiqui, 11 Jeremy GordonPitch and conditions: A fresh surface on the cardsRain delayed the start of the India-Pakistan clash in New York, but no weather interruptions are expected on Tuesday. A fresh pitch is expected to be used for the Canada-Pakistan clash.Stats and trivia: Pakistan need more from the batters Babar’s dry run at T20 World Cups since the start of the 2022 edition continues. In that time he averages 20.11, with a strike rate of 97.31, having scored 181 runs in nine innings The only time Pakistan lost their first two games at a T20 World Cup came in 2022. They have never lost their opening three games Only three players have scored more runs than Kirton’s 100 at this T20 World Cup. Pakistan’s highest scorer is Babar, well behind with 57 Quotes”There is no chance for us to get complacent. If anyone gets complacent after two losses, then whoever it is, does not deserve to be playing for the country. You can’t take any team lightly in T20 cricket. We have to be absolutely ready. The morale of the team is down, but this is the time we show our character. We go and play good cricket.”
Azhar Mahmood does not expect any of the Pakistan players to be complacent against Canada”They [Pakistan] are very skilled players. Most of the guys have been going around the world playing league cricket, not only international cricket, so their skills are there. But if you are looking for an opportunity, you have to relish these moments. I believe that the fact that the wicket is playing some tricks, levels the playing field for us. We are looking to use that to our advantage.”
Aaron Johnson feels the New York pitch makes it a level playing field for Canada