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Midlands journalist Josh Holland has claimed at least three first-team Aston Villa stars could all leave this summer. 

The lowdown: Swift operators

Villa have already shown their hand in a big way this summer having completed deals for Diego Carlos, Boubacar Kamara, Robin Olsen and Philippe Coutinho, all following the eye-catching January signing of Lucas Digne from Premier League rivals Everton.

More incomings are expected at Villa Park as Steven Gerrard attempts to build his own squad having taken over from Dean Smith midway through the 2021/22 campaign.

However, one journalist has shed some fresh light on the other side of the coin as the club potentially look to balance the books with some outgoings…

The latest: Trio named

Speaking to Give Me Sport, Holland suggested that Douglas Luiz, Danny Ings and Morgan Sanson could all be facing uncertain futures as Villans.

He explained: “I think they could be in trouble. Douglas Luiz, Sanson and Ings, they are my three that I think we could see moving away from Villa Park.”

The verdict: One out two in

Valued at a combined £63.9million (Transfermarkt), ownership group NSWE could feasibly recoup a vast proportion of their expenditure and in turn, further furnish the budget by selling the aforementioned trio.

However, only signed last summer for £25million and under contract until 2024 (Sky Sports), the departure of Ings seems highly unlikely at this juncture as Gerrard will be looking to the proven goalscorers in the squad to drive a charge up the table next season.

Keeping hold of Luiz meanwhile could prove a difficult task however as the Brazilian has been the subject of interest from Arsenal previously having made great strides since joining Villa.

Despite being under terms until 2025, Sanson could well be free to leave the club in the summer after the French midfielder made just ten outings under Gerrard, starting on three occasions.

In other news, Aston Villa are eyeing a Champions League star Gerrard saw up close on a scouting trip. 

Manchester City have one of England’s most exciting young prospects in their ranks in the shape of Phil Foden.

As a product of City’s youth system, the 21-year-old has made 210 appearances for the club across their under-18, under-23 and senior teams. In that time, the midfielder has scored 66 goals and delivered 46 assists along the way.

Even though the club have made a big statement by securing a deal for one of Europe’s top young players in Erling Haaland, the Citizens now have the chance to sign another top talent who could go on to form a deadly pairing with Foden.

Earlier this season, the Premier League champions were linked with a move for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham.

Imagine Bellingham and Foden

After working his way through Birmingham City’s youth ranks and making it into their senior side, the Englishman joined the German giants two yeas ago in a deal worth an initial £25m.

Since then, the 18-year-old has gone on to make 89 appearances for the Bundesliga club across all competitions, scoring 10 goals and delivering 17 assists along the way. This shows how much of an attacking and creative threat he can offer from midfield in a similar way to Foden.

With four more league games under his belt this season than the City star, the former Birmingham prospect has racked up a higher pass completion percentage, as well as more shot-creating and goal-creating actions.

From a defensive point of view, Bellingham has made more tackles, blocks, pressures, clearances and interceptions than his fellow countryman, showing that he is perhaps a more well-rounded midfield option than Foden.

This also highlights how much of a balance the duo can have for Pep Guardiola in City’s midfield and what a scary prospect they could be if paired together in an attacking sense.

City’s new signing Haaland even claimed that it is “crazy” how good Bellingham is at such a young age, with the two having played together at Dortmund.

With Fabrizio Romano claiming that the Manchester giants will be looking to sign a midfielder this summer, it could be worth a shot for the Citizens to try and negotiate with Dortmund again to see if they would be willing to allow their English midfield talent return to his homeland and reunite with Haaland.

In other news: David Ornstein drops behind-the-scenes MCFC development, Guardiola will be sweating

Championship-winning coach returns to Chelmsford after eventful eight years on international circuit

Andrew Miller18-Feb-2025Chris Silverwood has been on a journey. “Just a little one!” he admits, as he sits – appropriately enough – on board a cruise ship in the Thames, to discuss the circumstances of his return to Essex after eight eventful years on the international circuit.They say never go back. And yet, despite his high-profile stints with England and Sri Lanka in the interim, in many ways it is as if “Spoons” never entirely left the club at which he made his name as a head coach.When he relinquished his role at the end of 2017, having in the space of two seasons guided Essex back to the top flight and then to their first County Championship title in 25 years, Silverwood bequeathed to his then-deputy Anthony McGrath a self-sustaining squad that would land a memorable double in 2019, then the Bob Willis Trophy in the Covid summer of 2020.Even now, with Surrey having flexed their muscles on the way to three Championships in a row, Essex remain one of the country’s pre-eminent red-ball outfits, with top-four finishes in each of their last three campaigns. Certain key figures have moved on, notably the retired Alastair Cook and the golden child of that first stint, Dan Lawrence. But Jamie Porter and Sam Cook, whom Silverwood blooded in that 2017 title run-in, remain as stalwarts of an ever-potent seam attack, alongside other key senior pros such as Tom Westley, Nick Browne and Simon Harmer.Related

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“I’m really proud,” Silverwood says, as he reflects on the extent to which the structures he put in place have held up for the best part of a decade. “Ever since I left, I’ve never stopped following, but I think I’ve been away long enough to come back and see things with fresh eyes.”Mags continued to drive what we put in place, and we have punched above our weight. What we have to do now is make sure we can continue to do that for many years to come. There’s still that senior core there, which is great, but equally, there’s a lot of fresh faces for me to work alongside as well and help bring through. So I think from that perspective, it’s very exciting.”For all the familiarity he brings, it’s an older and wiser Silverwood who will be taking guard for his second innings at the club. It was a “no-brainer” to come back – “You say I’m a proud Yorkshireman but Essex is home” – and with two of his boys already in the player pathway, he has an additional investment in the club’s coaching structures.But he’s seen some sights in his time away. His stint with England was famously ill-starred, and collapsed in ignominy on the Covid-blighted 2021-22 Ashes tour, where his own ten-day isolation during the Sydney Test epitomised the helplessness that engulfed his regime. And though he leapt almost immediately into the vacant Sri Lanka role for a two-year tenure, his fortunes in that role were similarly mixed. Though he was credited for a welcome uptick in the country’s fast-bowling stocks, two poor World Cup campaigns, including a group-stage exit at the 2024 T20 version last June, sealed his fate.”There’s always things you’re going to look back on and say, we could have done that differently,” Silverwood says. “But at the time, you do things for what you think are the right reasons, and you learn from them. So I don’t hold any animosity or any grudges, or anything like that. You put it down to experience. Has it helped me grow as a person? Yes. Has it helped me grow as a coach? Definitely.”It’s easily forgotten now, given how it all ended, quite how much optimism had abounded in the early months of Silverwood’s tenure. “It all started so well, didn’t it?” he acknowledges, looking back on an upbeat tour of South Africa in 2019-20, in which many of the seeds of the subsequent Bazball revolution were sown.

“It’s not just a case of supplying cricketers for Essex, it’s about over-supplying. We don’t have the money to compete with the big Test grounds but what we can do is match them from a development point of view. That’s something that Essex is historically very good at”

England bounced back from a first-Test defeat at Centurion to win three on the bounce, with Ben Stokes’ command performance at Cape Town leading the way, and a host of young players – Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley and the now-forgotten Dom Sibley among them – all thriving in a nurturing environment that, within months, would be wrecked by the bio-secure strictures of Covid.”You could sit there and say, ‘what if?’ until the cows come home,” Silverwood adds. “At the end of the day, it’s pointless. But there were some good times in there as well. The South Africa trip was superb, some of the youngsters did really well and have obviously gone on and achieved what they have. I’ve still got friends in that dressing-room and I enjoy seeing them do well personally as well. I’m still an England fan.”Silverwood also acknowledges that he took on too much in his England role, specifically the national selector duties during Covid which, he admits, he would now avoid if he had his time again. Such over-reach wasn’t a problem in his Sri Lanka stint, however, which he says made him a more versatile coach, and more accepting of short-term wins when wholesale change was hard to come by.”I was a resident of Colombo for two-and-a-bit years, learning how to survive, operate and be successful in a different culture, which was a whole new big adventure for me,” he says. “I know how things work in England, but out there I was on my own, which was a bit of a blessing, because it forced me to dive into their culture and live it.”He credits his assistant coach, Naveed Nawaz, for getting many of his messages across – “at least until they got used to my accent!” – but despite some notable highs, including an innings win over Australia in Galle, and a gratifying victory over England at the 2023 World Cup, Silverwood accepts that his personal development during his Sri Lanka stint was perhaps more profound than that of the overall team.”Off the back of England, to get straight back on the horse again, so to speak, did me a world of good,” he says. “It was about learning that there’s many ways of doing things. We all love structure, but sometimes it’s all right to operate on the outside of that as well, because you can still get things done.Silverwood led Essex to the 2017 Championship title in his first spell at the club•Getty Images”It’s about knowing which battles to fight, and learning how to navigate someone else’s landscape,” he adds. “It’s always been part of my philosophy to find solutions – it’s what I started encouraging these guys to do when I first came into Essex – but I suppose it taught me to look in different areas, because you accept that some things are just not going to happen, or some things will happen slowly. So I suppose I worry about that a lot less now.”And now he’s bringing all that learning back to Essex, in time for a 2025 season that promises to be fascinating for all manner of different reasons.The recent Hundred sale has consolidated the sense that county cricket is now permanently split between the “have” and “have not” clubs, and seeing as London rivals Surrey and MCC, landlords at Lord’s, emerged as the biggest winners in that process, Essex have – on the face of it – many more reasons to question how their humble Chelmsford base can possibly keep them level-pegging with their noisy neighbours.And yet, Essex’s relevance in the grander scheme of English cricket received a huge boost last April, when they were unveiled as one of the eight inaugural Tier 1 clubs in the reconvened women’s professional set-up. Quite apart from the merits of the club’s well-tailored bid, which includes a commitment to hosting women’s home games at Chelmsford and a groundbreaking tie-in with the sports science department at the University of Essex, it was a vote of confidence in the club’s proven ability to harness and cultivate local talent – a trait that Silverwood’s original tenure set in stone.”It’s not just a head coach role now,” he adds. “It’s a DOC [director of cricket], so you’re making decisions for what’s best for the club, and how do we build a legacy that will keep them successful for a long time coming?”It’s not just a case of supplying cricketers for Essex, it’s about over-supplying. We don’t have the money to compete with the big Test grounds like Surrey, but what we can do is match them from a development point of view, and that’s something that Essex is historically very good at.”I want to see Essex boys and girls playing for Essex and going on to play for England. That is ultimately the dream, but if some of them go on and play for other counties, that’s great as well. It’s just making sure that we are tapping into our footprint within the community, whether it be into East Anglia or the Essex area, into East London, or wherever it may be, that we spread far and wide.”

The opener’s unbeaten 81 propelled New Zealand to the tournament’s highest score so far

Firdose Moonda18-Feb-2023From carding the two lowest totals at this T20 World Cup – and their own second and fourth lowest score overall – New Zealand went on to post the tournament’s highest score in their resounding comeback win over Bangladesh.They were a batting line-up transformed from the one that was shot out for 76 and then 67 thanks largely to their experienced opener, Suzie Bates, who was dismissed for two ducks in the first two matches but scored an unbeaten 81 against Bangladesh. Truth be told, she was pleased to just get one run.Related

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“I joked in the bus today about having one goal in the game and that was getting off the mark,” Bates said, laughing after the game. “So when I got off the mark on the first ball I looked up to the dugout and it was a nice feeling.”Bates spent a significant amount of time in the nets on Thursday’s optional training session, working more on the feeling of being out in the middle than her technique. “As soon as I hit the first ball, I was like ‘oh these are nice nets’. It was good pace and bounce, so that helped after two low scores,” she said. “I just wanted to bat and bat and we had lots of young bowlers running in. I was just getting in the zone of just batting in the nets, knowing that I wanted to spend time out in the middle.”Bates batted through New Zealand’s innings and found her timing early on when she drove Marufa Akter wide of mid-on and also beat the deep midwicket fielder. She went on to tease fielders at long-on, deep midwicket again and fine leg as she found gaps and drilled the ball through them. Importantly, she also stayed away from the cross-batted shots that had been her undoing in the previous games and concentrated on “playing straight for longer”, which worked well on a pitch with more pace and bounce than New Zealand got in Paarl.”It felt like you got value for shots, so it allowed me to just stand still and play my natural game,” Bates said. “A lesson is that that’s probably when I’m at my best. [In] the first two games, I was taking the high risk early or playing across the line. That’s not when I’m at my best. It was nice to talk about that as a batting group and me leading from the front after a tough start.”Suzie Bates was just happy to get off the mark after two consecutive ducks•Getty ImagesThe conversations came after both Bates and captain Sophie Devine were left “pretty distraught” with their back-to-back defeats and “sort of tried to get together to work out how we were going to move forward as leaders of this team”.While they knew “some of our young girls just take it all in their stride”, Bates admitted that she and Devine are among those who “take it a bit harder” because they know how much is expected of them given their experience. It’s also that experience that led them to formulate a plan to go back to their own game ahead of this match against Bangladesh.”Yesterday, Dean Brownlie, the batting coach, showed us some footage of the Bangladesh bowlers but then we kind of stopped that and said ‘okay how do we want to play? And when are we at our best?’ And that was almost that bully mentality that we’re strong girls and hitting hard and straight down the ground, early in our innings, is how we all play at our best. So we just talked about what we were going to do,” Bates said.It worked for Bernadine Bezuidenhout, who opened the batting with Bates and was outscoring her in the initial phase, and for Maddy Green, who finished unbeaten on 44 off 20 balls but Devine, batting at No.4, went scoreless for the second time. Still, Bates credited her with being the fulcrum of the turnaround.”It’s been really hard for her but it’s amazing that she’s actually playing. She had a stress fracture in her foot, so for her to do the hard work to get here is kind of unbelievable but then she’s not been able to perform. She’s had such limited cricket so it’s sort of understandable,” Bates said. “She picked herself back up as a leader. The energy around the group when we started training was brilliant.”Suzie Bates and Maddy Green propelled New Zealand•ICC/Getty ImagesDevine’s dry sense of humour may also have helped New Zealand not take themselves too seriously as they entered their third group match, even with the knowledge that anything less than a big win would guarantee them an early flight home. After New Zealand’s second defeat, Devine joked that they would have to score around 8,000 runs and skittle Bangladesh and Sri Lanka out for 20 to stand a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals, but the situation is not that dire. Their 71-run win has improved their net run rate from -4.3 to -.1.5, which is still worse than Sri Lanka’s -0.19 but not by all that much.If South Africa lose to Australia and beat Bangladesh, and New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by a big enough margin, they may be able to sneak into the knockouts and back to the ground that Bates said is in her “top three” in the world – Cape Town.”Coming here to train and just looking up at the mountains, it’s absolutely stunning and gives you perspective. You sort of take a moment. And you’re like, how lucky are we that we get to play in these beautiful places,” she said. “We’d love to play again here but unfortunately the schedule doesn’t allow.”Then she realised that it could. “Oh yeah, the semi-final, sorry! Yeah we’re still in it.”

No batsman has made as many 50-plus scores after 99 Tests as Root has, while his average in Asia is among the best for an England batsman

S Rajesh03-Feb-2021Any mention of Joe Root invariably, and quite unfairly, draws up comparisons with Steven Smith, Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson, the other members of the group which, most pundits agree, represents the cream of the batting talent over the last 10 years. The comparisons are, invariably again, not flattering towards Root – “very good player, but not in the league of the other three.”In the process, we might tend to forget how good Root actually is: 8249 runs in 99 Tests at an average of 49.39 aren’t numbers to be taken lightly. They are a tad below those of Smith, Kohli and Williamson, but by any other yardstick, they are terrific. Not many batsmen from England have achieved the longevity success that Root has.ESPNcricinfo LtdAmong the seven England batsmen who have topped 8000 runs, Root’s average is the highest; Geoff Boycott’s 47.72 is second. Even with a 5000-run cut-off, only five batsmen have a higher average, and the most recent of those batsmen, Ken Barrington, retired in 1968. (The other four are Jack Hobbs, Wally Hammond, Len Hutton, and Denis Compton.)ESPNcricinfo LtdThat means Root is easily one of England’s best batsmen in the last 50 years. Among those who scored 4000 or more runs since January 1970 – 23 batsmen make this list – only one, Boycott, has a higher average. And among the England players who have played 100-plus Tests, none had scored as many runs after 99 matches as Root has; the next-best is Kevin Pietersen’s 7887. Root belongs in the pantheon of all-time great England batsmen, and he will further consolidate that position by the time he is finished with Test cricket.ESPNcricinfo LtdConquering Asia
Root’s phenomenal series in Sri Lanka last month, which fetched him 426 runs in four innings, lifted his average in Asia by more than eight runs – from an already-impressive 46.07 to 54.13. His 1624 runs is next only to Alastair Cook’s 2710 for England batsmen in Asia, while David Gower (1138 runs at 56.90) is the only England batsman to score 1000-plus runs in Asia at a higher average.ESPNcricinfo LtdIn the series in Sri Lanka, Root scored 426 out of the 960 runs scored by all the England batsmen; the percentage of 44.4 is the fifth-highest for any batsman in a series of two or more Tests. The feature of his batting in the series was his excellence against spin: he scored 381 of his 426 runs against them and was dismissed just twice, for an average of 190.5 and a strike rate of 69.9; all the other England batsmen collectively scored 451 runs against Sri Lanka’s spinners and were dismissed 20 times – average 22.55, strike rate 45.4.In fact, Root scored 200 runs off Lasith Embuldeniya, Sri Lanka’s premier spinner in the series, without being dismissed, which was only the second instance in the last 20 years of a batsman scoring 200-plus runs off a bowler in a series without being dismissed. The first was Rahul Dravid against Stuart MacGill in the 2003-04 series in Australia.ESPNcricinfo LtdBefore this series, Root averaged 44.52 against spin in Asia; his stunning returns in Sri Lanka have boosted that average to 57.21. He is one of only nine batsmen to score 1000-plus runs against spin in Asia since the start of 2002, and his average is second to Jacques Kallis’ 59.10, among these nine.Piling on the fifties
Root has made 68 scores of 50 or more, the most by any batsman after 99 Tests. Sunil Gavaskar had 66 such scores at the same stage in his career, which is the next best. Brian Lara had 64, Sachin Tendulkar and Dravid had 63 each, and Kallis had 62. In terms of innings per hundred, Root’s rate of 2.66 is fifth, ahead of such luminaries like Kallis, Lara, Kumar Sangakkara and Ricky Ponting.ESPNcricinfo LtdEven when compared with his contemporaries, Root is up there in terms of getting half-centuries frequently: among the 14 batsmen with 4000-plus runs since his debut, Root’s rate of 2.7 innings per 50-plus score is next only to Smith and Williamson (2.3), and marginally better than Kohli (2.9).ESPNcricinfo LtdScoring fifties has never been an issue for Root; his problem has always been converting those starts into hundreds. While no batsman has made more 50-plus after 99 Tests, 29 have made more centuries than Root’s 19. Gavaskar had two fewer 50-plus innings after 99 Tests, but he had piled up 30 hundreds, 11 more than Root’s tally.ESPNcricinfo LtdAmong the seven elite batsmen with 5000 or more runs since his debut, Root is at No. 3 in terms of frequency of going past 50, but in terms of the ratio of centuries to fifties, his ratio of 0.39 is poor, especially when compared to the top names in this list: Kohli has an incredible ratio of 1.39 (25 hundreds, 18 fifties), while for Smith and Williamson the ratios are 0.93 and 0.78.The importance of Root’s hundreds to England’s cause is further gleaned from the fact that England have never lost a Test when he has scored a century: in those 19 matches, England have won 15 and drawn four. In matches when he has scored merely a half-century and not a hundred, England have won 18, lost 18, and drawn seven.Troubles at home, but solid abroad
Apart from the recent series against Sri Lanka, the last three years have been tough for Root – he has averaged only 44.08 in this period in 35 Tests. This prolonged lean run has seen him fall to the periphery in discussions around the best current batsmen, especially because the other three protagonists in this debate have had wonderful runs: Williamson averages 67.89 in this period, Smith 55.92 and Kohli 52.56. That Root has still scored 639 more Test runs than any other batsman during this period shows just how skewed the Test schedules have been in this period.ESPNcricinfo LtdEven in these three lean years, Root’s stats away from home are terrific: he averages 53.90, with five centuries in 17 Tests (before the Sri Lanka series, he averaged 46.11 in 15 matches). At home, though, the numbers have fallen away drastically: in 18 Tests he has scored one century, and the average is 20 fewer than his away average. He has played the same number of innings home and away during this period – 32 each – but has scored 653 more runs in away games. These numbers contrast sharply with his home form before 2018: in 35 home Tests from 2013 to 2017, he scored 10 hundreds and averaged 59.46.Consequently, compared to the other members of the Fab Four, it is in the home stats component that Root suffers in a big way. His average of 50.55 is about 15 to 18 fewer than the home averages of Williamson, Smith and Kohli. In away Tests (including those in neutral venues), Root’s average of 48.16 is better than those of Williamson and Kohli.ESPNcricinfo LtdIn fact, Root has scored 500-plus runs at 50-plus averages in four continents – Asia, Africa, Americas (the Caribbean) and Europe (England). Only two other batsmen – Kallis and Barrington – have achieved this feat in Test history.Scoring them young
Just past his 30th birthday, which fell on December 30 last year, Root has already racked up 8249 Test runs. Only Cook and Tendulkar have higher aggregates before their 31st birthday.ESPNcricinfo LtdGiven the amount of Test cricket England play and Root’s general fitness – it has taken him only a little over eight years to play 100 Tests, and he has missed just two Tests since his debut – there is a fair chance that he will have a shot at Tendulkar’s Test aggregate of 15,921. It will help, obviously, if he can get over his recent slump in home Tests.

West Ham chiefs are apparently convinced that one Man United player is the ideal signing for new manager Nuno Espírito Santo, coming amid reports that David Sullivan and the hierarchy are set to back him in January.

West Ham make January recruitment plans after Nuno arrival

The Portuguese oversaw his second Premier League game in charge of the East Londoners last Saturday, culminating in a 2-0 defeat away to title-chasing Arsenal.

Goals from ex-West Ham captain Declan Rice, who was the best player on the pitch, and Bukayo Saka handed Nuno his first loss since taking over from Graham Potter over a fortnight ago.

Rice’s man of the match performance was only overshadowed by Saka reaching impressive milestones, with the England international marking his 200th Premier League appearance by reaching a century of goal involvements for the Gunners.

The 90 minutes went exactly how on-lookers would expect, as Arsenal enjoyed a whopping 68 per cent possession and dominated the overall play.

Despite West Ham winning two of their previous two league games at the Emirates, it was always going to be a very tough ask for Nuno to secure his first win there, but the tactician will already be getting a good idea of the areas that West Ham need to improve in.

As Nuno attempts to galvanise his new side, away from the pitch, it is believed that West Ham want to sign a new attacking player in January to inject some needed creativity in the forward areas.

AC Milan star Christian Pulisic, Roma’s Lorenzo Pellegrini and Galatasaray forward Baris Yilmaz have all been mentioned as potential West Ham targets for the winter window, and they’ve also got a keen interest in £105,000-per-week Man United striker Joshua Zirkzee.

West Ham think Joshua Zirkzee is perfect for Nuno

According to reports in Spain, West Ham believe that Zirkzee would “fit perfectly” into Nuno’s system, with the London Stadium now seen as a realistic destination for the Dutchman who’s had admirers at the club “for months”.

Zirkzee is yet to get off the mark for Ruben Amorim’s side after being in and out of the Portuguese’s starting elevens so far, playing just 74 top flight minutes so far, and West Ham could offer him an escape route from Old Trafford.

Since joining from Bologna, the 24-year-old has racked up 10 goal contributions (seven goals, three assists) in just over half a century of appearances for the Red Devils, but the arrivals of summer signings Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha now threaten his place long-term.

By contrast, Nuno could seriously use an alternative to injury-prone striking duo Callum Wilson and Niclas Füllkrug, with Zirkzee’s previous Serie A exploits highlighting how he would really upgrade West Ham’s options.

This is echoed by United legend Lee Sharpe, who backed Zirkzee to become a “superstar” this season.

Some at Old Trafford are now reportedly pushing Manchester United to sign a young midfield star who’s been likened to Tijjani Reijnders.

Paul Scholes urges Mainoo to leave Man Utd

The biggest headlines surrounding Man United this week have been stolen by Ruben Amorim’s decision to overlook Kobbie Mainoo once against West Ham United.

The Red Devils dropped points yet again in a game that they should be winning with their European ambitions in mind and Mainoo was forced to watch on from the bench.

What is certainly not a good sign for the young midfielder is that Amorim simply laughed off suggestions that he could turn to Mainoo following a frustrating result against West Ham. And that reaction sparked another from club legend Paul Scholes, who urged the academy graduate to leave on social media.

He took to Instagram to say: “Bulls**t. The kid is being ruined, not being played in a team that can’t control a game of football. Hate seeing home grown players leave but it’s probably best for him now. Enough is enough.”

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Historically speaking, Man United have always been able to turn towards an academy graduate even in their most difficult moments. Amorim, however, is at risk of bringing such an impressive record to an end unless he hands Mainoo some much-needed opportunities.

The manager stood in the way of his exit in the summer, telling him to fight for his place, but Mainoo hasn’t received the chance to do exactly that ever since.

Now, Old Trafford chiefs are reportedly pushing Man United to sign Ayyoub Bouaddi which could all but spell the end for Mainoo’s time at his boyhood club.

Old Trafford chiefs push Man Utd to sign Bouaddi

According to Foot Mercato, as relayed by Caught Offside, Man Utd’s recruitment chiefs are now pushing them to sign Bouaddi in 2026, making their interest in the Frenchman concrete.

The LOSC Lille star is one of the best young midfielders around and could offer Amorim the quality that he is yet to personally see from Mainoo.

The Red Devils aren’t alone in the race to sign the 18-year-old, however, with Premier League rivals Arsenal among the other clubs chasing his signature ahead of next year.

According to Como scout Ben Mattinson, Bouaddi is “like Reijnders” and has the press resistance of an “elite” player despite still being just 18 years old. If Man United are looking for a permanent midfield solution, then the French teenager may well be their answer.

Better signing than Anderson: INEOS make £65m star Man Utd's top target

Manchester United are now in pole position to complete the signing of Ajax youngster Jorthy Mokio, as they look to find a long-term replacement for the ageing Casemiro and exiled Kobbie Mainoo.

The futures of both Casemiro and Mainoo are key talking points at Old Trafford currently, with the Brazilian’s current contract expiring at the end of this season, at which point he will be 34 years of age.

In fairness, the Real Madrid legend has shown improved form this season, but Fabrizio Romano has claimed that a new deal is unlikely, especially on his current £350,000 wages, which make him United’s highest-paid player.

“Casemiro is working hard and is becoming once again in his career a crucial player for the manager. So, in this moment, he is really important for Ruben Amorim, but there will be a conversation about his contract because at the moment, the numbers of his contract, salary is way too high for Manchester United to extend that.

“Or they find a solution on the contract, and this is Casemiro and for Harry Maguire, or the player could leave on a free.

It looks increasingly likely that a replacement for Casemiro will need to be found next summer, especially with Ruben Amorim seemingly not fancying Mainoo in the role.

Man Utd "leading the chase" for Mokio

According to Caught Offside‘s Mark Brus, Manchester United are the front-runners to sign Mokio from Ajax, with the 17-year-old considered a prodigious talent at the heart of midfield.

“Manchester United are leading the chase for Jorthy Mokio. They are already working on a project that could offer Mokio guaranteed minutes and a clear development path.”

Mokio is a huge talent with so much to offer in the coming years, proving to be the latest great youngster to emerge from Ajax’s famous academy recently, and he should be the type of profile United are looking for in a player.

The defensive midfielder has already made 29 appearances for the Eredivisie giants, highlighting his maturity at such a young age, while scout Jacek Kulig has described him as a “special” player.

Mokio has also now been capped once at senior level by Belgium, and will hope to see his star rise further at next summer’s World Cup, but United should be looking to seal a deal for him before them, before the competition increases further for his signature.

Antoine Semenyo chooses between Man Utd and Liverpool

What a signing this could be…

1 ByHenry Jackson Nov 22, 2025 Wildcard Casemiro replacement: Man Utd star can "become a world class DM"

It is very early in the season, but New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. has already hit six home runs which has him on pace to easily eclipse his career-high of 24 from last year. This is very bad news for Yankees assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler.

Why? Because whenever Chisholm hits a homer this year, he bites the coach.

According to the , no one seems to know why aside from Chisholm who simply says he does it to show love.

From the report:

Just five days after the transfer window slammed shut the shock news emerged from Tottenham Hotspur that Daniel Levy would be leaving the club.

It’s the end of an era and whatever you say about the former chairman’s stint at Spurs, he did deliver success. Under his watch, a remarkably impressive new stadium was built, they reached a Champions League final and won the Europa League. Not bad, really, eh?

Sadly, the Lilywhites have largely always been the bridesmaid rather than the bride. They’ve failed to soar to the next level but under Thomas Frank they will hope things change.

Perhaps a big £100m investment could help? Last week, it was announced that ENIC, which, before this transaction, owned nearly 86.91% of Spurs, have provided £100m in new funding to Spurs. The sum has been provided to ENIC via the Lewis family trust which did own 70% of ENIC and 61% of Spurs.

Essentially, ENIC have provided the cash in exchange for shares, increasing its ownership stake in the club, increasing its percentage in Tottenham Hotspur to 87.62%.

The Athletic understand that the £100m may not be added to a transfer war chest, but extra investment can’t he a hindrance. Perhaps there will be some extra room for manoeuvre in the transfer window anyway.

Will a Harry Kane return come about as a result?

Could Harry Kane return to Spurs?

When Kane left north London behind in August 2023, he did so with the blessing of the fanbase.

The club could not provide him with the silverware he craved and so he departed for Bayern Munich having scored 280 times in 435 outings, making him the club’s all-time record goalscorer.

Spurs

435

280

England

107

74

Bayern

106

103

Millwall

27

9

Orient

18

5

Leicester

15

2

Norwich

5

0

Since heading to Germany, he has taken his game to a whole new level and is now in the conversation to win the Ballon d’Or next year, currently ranking as the fourth favourite to take home the award.

Why? Well, the England skipper has been in remarkable form during 2025/26. He has scored a mind-boggling 18 goals in just ten fixtures, cementing himself as the most prolific forward on the planet.

Despite that, there is a hope that one day he will return to Spurs. Reports in recent months have suggested that they were ready to launch a bid to re-sign their former striker if given encouragement by the player.

Kane’s currrent deal in Germany ends in 2027 and there is a release clause of £56.7m that could reportedly be activated next summer.

Sadly for Spurs supporters, the player could look to extend his terms. Speaking to the press last week, the centre forward commented: “In terms of staying longer I could definitely see that. I have not had those conversations with Bayern yet but if they were to arise I would be willing to talk and have an honest conversation.”

It’s safe to say Frank could certainly do with Kane. While the former Brentford boss has made Spurs look like a more organised and defensively sound outfit, they are struggling to score goals.

Four players hold the honour of being the club’s top scorer this term, with Joao Palhinha, Brennan Johnson, Richarlison and Micky van de Ven all level on three. That rather says it all, really.

That being said, by the time Kane’s deal at Bayern ends, he will be 34. Younger legs will be required.

The Harry Kane alternative Spurs must sign

Bringing back their record scorer to the club would be an incredible way for ENIC to begin the post-Levy era but it’s perhaps not the smartest use of their funds.

A striker will likely be signed within the next year but they must not neglect the flanks either. That’s where Bournemouth talisman, Antoine Semenyo, comes in.

Transfer Focus

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Far-fetched? Quite possibly, but reports emerged last week indicating that Spurs were preparing a move to sign the winger in January, with Frank allegedly making it clear that he is “the perfect fit” for his team.

Few would find a reason not to sign Semenyo in 2026. Erling Haaland aside, he has been the best player in the Premier League this season, scoring six goals and registering three assists in his seven outings to date.

The wide forward has taken his game to a whole new level. In 2024/25, he exited the campaign having scored 13, 11 of which came in the league. He’s currently on course to obliterate that record, rubberstamping precisely why every top side in the division, Spurs included, should be looking to sign him next year.

In the words of former Spurs and England star, Chris Waddle, Semenyo is now “definitely the best winger in England right now”.

Predominantly preferred off the right flank, Mohammed Kudus may not be too pleased about this signing but the summer arrival has the skillset to play off the left and through the middle too.

One has to say; the thought of Kudus, Spurs’ “player of the season” in the words of reporter Alasdair Gold, linking up with Semenyo is a scary thought indeed.

It would, of course, be scary to see him linking up with Kane but that feels like a pipe dream right now. Semenyo is certainly more realistic and he could use Kudus’ marvellous creativity to take him to even greater heights.

Both representing Ghana at international level, there is a pre-existing relationship there both on and off the field.

Kane is every supporter’s dream but Semenyo would be an incredible signing. There is a reason both Liverpool and Arsenal are reportedly interested in his services.

Biggest star since Kane: Spurs are brewing "one of England's best talents"

Tottenham Hotspur already have their next biggest England star on Thomas Frank’s books.

1 ByEthan Lamb Oct 11, 2025