Bryan Mbeumo was effusive in his praise for his former boss Thomas Frank amid an ongoing transfer tug-of-war over his signature.

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• Mbeumo heaps praise on former boss Frank
• Credits him for his footballing development
• Winger currently pursued by Man Utd & Spurs

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Mbeumo reserved high words of praise for his former Brentford boss Frank and showed immense appreciation for the new Spurs manager, crediting him for playing a big role in his overall development.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Frank showed incredible faith in Mbeumo since he was signed by Brentford in 2019. The France-born Cameroorian international was one of the best attackers in the Premier League last season, scoring 20 goals and registering seven assists as the Bees finished 10th on the table. His devastating impact in the final third has caught the attention of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, with the latter launching a massive £70 million (€59m/$68m) to snatch him from under the noses of the Red Devils.

• WHAT MBEUMO SAID

  Speaking to , Mbeumo said: "He's done so much for me. He literally trusted me from the start [at Brentford] and he developed the team so well. He developed me as a human and a player so much as well. I can only wish him all the best and I'm sure he's going to do well.

  "He knows everything; he's really smart and knows what he wants to bring the team, how he wants them to play. He's been fantastic for Brentford."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR MBEUMO?

  With both Man Utd and Spurs heavily pursuing the 25-year-old, it is unlikely that Mbeumo will stay at the Gtech Community Stadium for another season. With the Lilywhites offering a huge transfer fee, and given the fact that Mbeumo's former manager Frank will be at the helm for the Europa League winners next season, he could well be headed to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

To put it diplomatically, there have been some real negatives to this season for Tottenham Hotspur, but at least a few positives.

You can take your pick when it comes to the former, from lacklustre form to persistent injuries and a souring atmosphere at home and away.

However, when it comes to the latter, it really boils down to how well a number of the club’s young talents have adapted to first-team football, from summer signings Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray to academy gem Mikey Moore.

The good news is that another batch of talented youngsters could make their competitive first-team debuts next season, including one academy star who might just be the club’s own Cole Palmer.

The Spurs youngsters who could breakthrough next season

So, before getting to the player in question, it’s worth looking at a couple of other talented prospects who could finally make their competitive debut for the club next season, starting with Ashley Phillips.

The 19-year-old centre-back has spent the season on loan with Championship side Stoke City this year, and despite it being his first full campaign in the second tier, he’s been an essential member of the first team.

Across all competitions, the former Blackburn Rovers gem, whom Tony Mowbray said was “going to be a mega footballer” one day, has made 31 appearances for the Potters, and, most impressively, each one has been a start.

From defence to midfield now, and the next prospect who could play some games under Ange Postecoglou next season is Tyrese Hall.

The 19-year-old ace, who “has a really big future at Tottenham” according to Spurs expert John Wenham, has been enjoying a great season in the club’s U21 side this year.

In just 20 appearances, in which he’s played all over the place, the London-born dynamo has scored six goals and provided four assists, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every other game.

On top of that, he’s now a part of the England U19 camp, but even so, he is not the most exciting player in the club’s academy; that title belongs to someone even younger, someone who could be the Lilywhites’ own Palmer.

In The Pipeline

Football FanCast’s In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.

Spurs' own Palmer

He may be out of form at the moment, but Palmer is unquestionably one of the most exciting English talents around, and that’s what people could be saying about Luca Williams-Barnett in a few years.

The 16-year-old might still be a relative unknown to the wider footballing public, but he most certainly is not for those who follow academy football.

The incredible youngster, whom analyst Ben Mattinson described as “a name to keep an eye on,” has the potential to be the club’s version of the Chelsea ace for a few reasons.

The first is that, like the England international, he’s a lean-mean-goalscoring-machine.

In just 24 appearances for the U18s, totalling 1887 minutes, the unreal talent has scored 20 goals and provided ten assists.

Appearances

24

Minutes

1887′

Goals

20

Assists

10

Goal Involvements per Match

1.25

Minutes per Goal Involvement

62.9′

In other words, he’s averaging 1.25 goal involvements every game, or one every 62.9 minutes, and while he’s still young, that is the sort of form that could force Postecoglou to hand him some first-team minutes next season.

The second reason he could become the club’s version of the former Manchester City prospect is that he, too, is positionally versatile.

For example, while his primary position is attacking midfield, he’s played in left-midfield, left and right-wing and even up top, which helps to explain Wenham’s description of him as a “cheat-code.”

Ultimately, Spurs might be having a terrible season this year, but the future is looking incredibly bright, and Williams-Barnett could make it even more so next season.

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ByJack Salveson Holmes Mar 26, 2025

Opener believes 2-2 would be just, welcomes prospect to take on the quicks at The Oval

Vithushan Ehantharajah24-Jul-2023By the time Monday came around, the rains had ceased in Manchester. The clouds were finally empty after a weekend of showers. And just to rub it in, the sun dipped in and out of view as a reminder it was still up there on this, the first morning in which the 2023 Ashes were no longer live.An abandoned match and a draw in the fourth Test has Australia taking the urn back with them, boasting an unassailable 2-1 lead heading into the fifth Test at the Kia Oval. The great decider that was supposed to send English cricket into the stratosphere is now signposted as the tourists’ chance to win their first overseas Ashes series since 2001.Nevertheless, mimicking the two-all scoreline of 2019 is a huge motivation for this England side. Unlike then, when the fifth Test had a very end-of-term feel, with the only thing missing being both sides playing out the match in jeans, Ben Stokes’ charges have the opportunity to affix an asterisk to Australia’s retention.They believe they have been the most assertive across the series so far, despite the fact they were 2-0 down after two. And while it may only be an asterisk that those in the dressing-room can see, the fact that the weather stopped them from going into the final match on Thursday with it all to play for has England feeling robbed. A squared series at the end, to them, would represent some form of justice.”I think 2-2 would be fair,” said Crawley, whose stunning 189 from 182 deliveries drove England to 592 for a 275-run first-innings lead that they could not cash in. “They had the better of us at Lord’s, Edgbaston could have gone either way. We probably deserved this one and Headingley could have gone either way. So I think two-all would be right. We’ll see, hopefully we can get it.”We’ll play the same way and to know we can make a big score. It suits us to have a little in the wicket – we’ll see what happens. That’s the beauty of a five-Test series; you get a look at them, work out tactics and nuances. I’ve never played a five-match series before this one.”We’re massively up for it. And as Stokesy says, we’re building as a team, this isn’t the end just because it’s the Ashes. It’s very much the start, hopefully.”Even amid the positivity, Crawley admitted the Old Trafford dressing-room was flat when the match was eventually abandoned on day five, at around 5.24pm. A consistent downpour across days four and five meant England were only able to bowl 30 out of a possible 180 overs to push for victory.Up until Friday evening, England had played more or less the perfect game; reducing Australia to 113 for 4 in their second innings, trailing by 162, by stumps on day three. Alas, it was all in vain.”It’s pretty flat,” said Crawley of the mood among the squad. “We’re disappointed we’ve played a lot of good cricket in this game. We wanted to win, we were in a good position to win, and two days of rain cost us. But that’s how it is.”Related

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As for Crawley personally, his innings took him to the top of the run-scorers charts this series – comfort for a player derided as a weak link throughout Stokes’ and Brendon McCullum’s time in charge. He arrived into the fixture with handy starts, including 61 in his first knock of the series, which he marked by striking the first ball of the first Test at Edgbaston for four off Pat Cummins.He continued on in a similar vein and, as such, his 385 runs so far – at an average of 55.00 – have come from just 428 deliveries. Number two on the list, Australian opener Usman Khawaja, has scored his 377 from more than twice as many (961).”I feel I’m as good a player as I have ever been,” Crawley said, having now passed 2,000 career runs and lifted his 38-cap average to 31.01. “I feel good about my game, I’m pleased with how I’m playing – I’ve just got to build on it. I have a bit more experience now, things to fall back on in different conditions, so yes, I feel I can kick on now.”Crawley agreed that Australia’s extra pace throughout their attack has been a contributing factor to his upturn in performance. And on what should be an Oval pitch favouring batters, the Kent batter hopes to cash in once more before the Test summer concludes.”I think so, I certainly feel quicker attacks do. Fast bowling suits my game. The Australian attack is a quick attack and I think a bit less when they’re faster. I think that just suits my game a bit more. They are unbelievable bowlers, they present different challenges.”I love batting at The Oval for Kent, and I have played one Test match there and did okay (five and 69 not out against South Africa last summer). Hopefully it’s a decent wicket and a good game.”

استطاع الأوروجواني داروين نوينز، إحراز الهدف الثاني لصالح ليفربول أمام نظيره بريستون، في المباراة التي تجمعهما اليوم، الأحد.

ويواجه الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي ليفربول، نظيره بريستون، عصر اليوم، الأحد، في مباراة ودية ضمن تحضيرات الريدز للموسم الجديد 2025/2026.

وشهد اللقاء الوقوف دقيقة حداد من كل المتواجدين بالملعب على روح ديوجو جوتا، الذي فارق الحياة بسبب حادث سير، بأحد شوارع إسبانيا رفقة شقيقه.

وسجل نونيز، الهدف الثاني لليفربول في مرمى بريستون بالدقيقة 54 من المباراة، كما تمكن برادلي، الظهير الأيمن للريدز من إحراز الهدف الأول في الدقيقة 33.

ويرتدي محمد صلاح، جناح ليفربول وقائد منتخب مصر، شارة قيادة الفريق خلال مباراة اليوم أمام بريستون بعدما تواجد أساسيًا في اللقاء. هدف نونيز في مباراة ليفربول وبريستون اليوم

Former first-class cricketer and chair of the NZCPA Scott Weenink takes over from David White

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Aug-2023

Prioritising Test cricket and ensuring that New Zealand’s best players want to keep playing for the country are on top of the agenda for NZC’s new chief executive Scott Weenink, who took over from David White on August 30.Weenink, 50, is a businessman and a former first-class cricketer from Wellington, and he was the chair of the New Zealand Cricket Players Association (NCPA), a position from which he will now step down.”It was a great honour to be offered the position,” he said. “I love sport and cricket in particular, and I also love the business of sport – so this seemed like an ideal role. There’s a finely balanced, symbiotic relationship between community and high performance cricket in New Zealand and one of my key responsibilities is to ensure that’s maintained and sustained into the future.”Weenink will formally begin duties on Friday and said at a press conference in Auckland that he recognised the need to strike a balance between Test cricket and the increasingly-crowded T20 calendar.”I’m a Test cricket romantic but also I see Test cricket as being key to keeping players playing for New Zealand,” Weenink said. “I think if we didn’t have Test cricket, it’d be much harder to keep them interested in that. They’d simply, you know, come back and play an ICC [event]. So absolutely, I’ll be looking to try and promote Test cricket while balancing the fact that we do need to play the higher revenue parts of the game as well.”It is that difficult balance of recognising that Test Cricket doesn’t make money, but it’s very important for the fans and very important for the players. I think the Test Championship has been a great addition. And that’s certainly going to keep the interest. It’s really just trying to balance out that revenue generation part of it while, you know, generally trying to play as much Test cricket as possible.”Weenink takes over at a time when players all around the world are being made to choose between prioritising playing for their country, or pursing lucrative T20 league contracts. New Zealand have had Trent Boult, Jimmy Neesham and Colin de Grandhomme go down the freelance route over the last year. Weenink said that the key to keeping players in the New Zealand cricket ecosystem is flexibility.”I think one of the strengths of New Zealand cricket is the flexibility it has around the contracting,” he said. “We need to recognise that players want to generate as much earnings for themselves during what is a short term contract, while also wanting to play cricket for New Zealand. And it’s all evolving, so we need to try and keep on top of that, make sure that we’re giving players flexibility, but also really encouraging them to stay and play for New Zealand.”New Zealand Cricket Board chair Martin Snedden said that to retain players, sometimes they needed to be allowed to “chase the money.””We are in a battle for the retention of players and therefore we have to ensure that the players see real value in staying available for New Zealand for as often as possible … If it’s important to players that they’re regarded as great players, players that have succeeded, they have to play at the international level to get that reputation. So we’ve just got to be able to continue offering them an environment they want to be part of, whilst demonstrating to them we understand that from time to time they need the flexibility to chase the money.”Snedden said that the new NZC chief executive Weenink has “a great deal to offer in all the key areas, plus some special experiences that specifically suited the skillset needed in this position”.”He understands the relationship between community and high performance sport; he’s very familiar with world cricket affairs and current issues, and he’s spent a significant time running organisations and projects within Asia, obviously a major region of importance for NZC,” Snedden said. “Scott understands cricket. He understands its context in New Zealand; where it’s come from, where it is now, and where it should be going.”

Manchester United outcast Marcus Rashford says he would like to play with Lamine Yamal one day in an apparent come-and-get-me plea to Barcelona.

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Rashford likely to leave Man UtdWants to play with Barca's YamalBacks teenager for Ballon d'OrFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

The England international has reportedly been eyeing a Barcelona transfer for some time, and now the former Aston Villa loanee has, arguably, dropped a not-so-subtle hint that he wants a Blaugrana move. He also backed the 17-year-old Yamal to win this year's Ballon d'Or.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportWHAT RASHFORD SAID

When asked if he wanted to play with Yamal one day, he told Spanish YouTube channel XBuyer in Marbella: "Yeah for sure, everyone in the world wants to play with the best. Hopefully, we will see." And on Yamal's Ballon d'Or chances, he added: "If you look at it just off football ability, he has to win."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Rashford likely has no future at United after falling out with head coach Ruben Amorim. It does not seem certain that Villa will take up the £40 million ($53.8m) option to sign the 27-year-old this summer, and with Barca reportedly set to sign Athletic Club's Nico Williams, he is facing an uncertain future.

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Red Devils academy product Rashford, who has just returned from a hamstring injury that ended his season early, will continue his summer break before potentially returning to United next month for pre-season. That is, unless, another team opts to sign him.

Nicolas Jackson has released a statement on social media apologising to Chelsea fans after the striker was sent off against Flamengo.

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• Jackson dismissed just four minutes after coming on
• Striker showed remorse in Instagram statement
• Chelsea lost 3-1 after second-half implosion

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Jackson saw red against the Brazilian side for a reckless studs-up challenge on Ayrton Lucas just minutes after being introduced as a substitute during Chelsea's 3-1 defeat. The Senegalese striker took to social media to apologise for his actions after the final whistle, stating he is "angry" with himself and taking full responsibility for his actions.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Jackson entered the field on his 24th birthday to replace Liam Delap, who completed a move to Stamford Bridge to compete with the Senegalese for the Blues' number nine spot earlier in June. Jackson's actions have done little to help his case, as Delap may look to stake a claim for the role in his absence – not only in Chelsea's upcoming Club World Cup matches, but also on the opening day of the new Premier League season in August. Jackson was sent off for violent conduct at Newcastle United in May, and is yet to complete his league suspension.

• WHAT JACKSON SAID

  Jackson said: "I want to say sorry. To the club, the staff, my teammates, and all the fans watching, I let you down. Another red card and honestly, I'm so angry at myself. I work hard every day to help the team not to put us in this kind of situation. I still don't fully understand how it happened. But one thing is clear: it wasn't intentional. Just a football moment that went the wrong way. No excuses. I take full responsibility. I'll reflect, I'll grow, and I'll come back stronger for the badge and for everyone who believes in me. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR JACKSON AND CHELSEA?

  Jackson will have to sit out Chelsea's final group game against ES Tunis on Wednesday, and he will have time for more soul searching during what now looks set to be a must-win game. After two red cards in just four appearances, the 24-year-old is right to ask himself how this happened and will hope to learn from this and avoid similar costly mistakes in the future.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Friday announced that it was suspending all board-run domestic tournaments in the country, a move understood to have stemmed from a dispute surrounding the restructuring of these tournaments.”Sri Lanka Cricket has decided to immediately halt all board-conducted domestic tournaments,” SLC stated in a media release. “This includes the ongoing Major Club 3-Day Tournament and also the Invitational Club Tier ‘B’ 3-Day Tournament.”The situation goes back to 2021 when SLC had sought to revamp its domestic structure that critics had long viewed as bloated. The plan, which was recommended by the now-defunct Technical Advisory Committee headed by Aravinda de Silva, had seen a two-tier structure done away with and replaced by two groups of 13 teams.Related

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The idea was that these 26 teams would compete in three-day matches over the course of a season, with the bottom two sides from each group (four in total) relegated for the first two years, with three teams being relegated in the third. This would then leave 15 teams playing in Sri Lanka’s premier domestic tournament, thus addressing complaints over its bloated nature as well as presumably cultivating a culture of higher calibre cricket.However, a byproduct of the relegation system was that the relegated teams would no longer have a three-day tournament to compete in, instead contesting in the Governor’s Trophy, a limited-overs tournament. This in turn led to several relegated clubs complaining about a lack of cricket both in quantity and quality.On June 17, following these complaints, SLC, at an Emergency General Meeting, held a vote among its members to reinstate the two-tier system that had been in place prior to 2021. The move was ratified by SLC membership and thus the Major Club three-day Tournament and the Invitational Club Tier B three-day tournament began in June and July 2023 respectively.In terms of deciding which sides would compete in the new Tier B tournament, SLC decided to include the four relegated teams from 2022, as well as the top six teams from the Governor’s Trophy tournament.This move however was protested by Gesto Cricket Club (GCC), a team competing and hovering near the bottom of the Governor’s Trophy tournament. While the exact reasoning is unclear, they would take the matter to Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeals, which in August ruled to take up the hearing at a future date until which time the tournaments would be allowed to continue as planned.GCC, unhappy with this outcome, appealed the decision to Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Sports. This appeal would be ratified by Sri Lanka’s sports minister, Roshan Ranasinghe, following which the Director General of Sports wrote to SLC on August 25 stating that any move to change a tournament’s structure could only happen through a change in the SLC’s constitution. As per Sri Lanka’s Sports Law, any change to SLC’s constitution requires the approval of the sports minister.SLC for their part claim to have written to the sports minister seeking approval but says they had not received a response. However, as the change was simply a shift back to the previous format, an SLC official confirmed that they had gone ahead with it regardless following the approval of their membership. An SLC official told ESPNcricinfo that this was a reasonable assumption to make as this was a change back to the structure that had been in place for several years prior, as well as one voted for by its members. That, though, now seems to be the sticking point.”Accordingly, Sri Lanka Cricket is compelled to suspend all SLC-organised domestic cricket tournaments until clarification is obtained on the same,” concluded the media release.As to when that clarification might be forthcoming is unclear, with the only certainty at present being that the continuation of Sri Lanka’s domestic cricket season is firmly in the hands of the country’s sports minister.

Kate Coppack, Jodi Grewcock claim three wickets each to lift hosts off foot of table

ECB Reporters Network05-Sep-2023Sunrisers’ ruthless bowling paved the way for them to climb off the foot of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy table after overcoming Western Storm by four wickets at Radlett.Kate Coppack’s early three-wicket burst reduced Storm to 18 for 4 after seven overs and, although Emma Corney’s 34 improved their fortunes, Sunrisers’ trio of spinners restricted them to just 143 all out.Jodi Grewcock finished with 3 for 24, while Mady Villiers and Grace Scrivens bowled a full allocation of overs for 2 for 31 and 1 for 19 respectively.Villiers then top-scored with 29 from 24 balls as Sunrisers passed their target with 16.1 overs to spare, avenging their six-run defeat to Storm at Cheltenham in July as well as leapfrogging their opponents in the standings.Having won the toss and unsurprisingly chosen to bat in hot, dry conditions, Storm were left reeling as Coppack and Eva Gray blew away their top order – despite missed opportunities to remove both openers even earlier.Stand-in captain Scrivens was unable to cling onto a sharp slip catch offered by Alex Griffiths to the first delivery of the match, while Corney was yet to get off the mark when she was put down behind the stumps.However, Gray had Griffiths taken at point and Coppack sent Storm skipper Sophie Luff’s middle and off stumps flying before dismissing both Fran Wilson and Niamh Holland in her fourth over, a double-wicket maiden.Corney stuck around to launch a mini-recovery with Nat Wraith, who dispatched both Coppack and Gray for boundaries before being tempted into a slog sweep that was neatly pouched by Jo Gardner, running in from deep midwicket.Sophia Smale helped Corney to add 42 for the sixth wicket, but Sunrisers again struck twice in an over, with Grewcock’s floaty leg-spinners trapping Smale in front, then piercing the opener’s defences.Nicole Harvey batted sensibly for an innings of 25 that, coupled with Sunrisers’ curious reluctance to bring back their frontline seamers, enabled the visitors to edge up to 143 before they were bowled out with almost five overs unused.That total looked unlikely to be enough and debutant Ariana Dowse helped to construct a solid platform for Sunrisers’ reply, steering Mollie Robbins for two elegant cover boundaries as she and Scrivens put on 33.However, Robbins broke the opening partnership by winning an lbw decision against Dowse and left-arm spinner Smale, who was introduced as soon as the eighth over, built pressure on the batters as Scrivens was persuaded to hole out to long off.Grewcock and Amara Carr displayed patience, waiting for the bad balls to come as they steadied the ship with a stand of 43 – only for both to be washed overboard in successive deliveries. Grewcock was lbw after missing a full toss from Chloe Skelton and Carr came up short trying to beat Smale’s throw from long leg for a second run as Storm, with 62 still needed, sensed an opening.Their hopes were dashed by Villiers and Gardner, who batted confidently in a partnership of 48 from 52 and, although Griffiths collected two late wickets, Gardner sealed victory with a single off Smale to finish unbeaten on 24.

Already preparing for the summer transfer window, Aston Villa sporting director Monchi reportedly sent scouts to watch one of his attacking targets in action last weekend.

Aston Villa's Turkish recruitment mission revealed

The Villans rarely seem to get things wrong in the transfer market these days, for the large part, they’ve got Monchi to thank for that. Their sporting director particularly excelled in the January window, welcoming both Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford online whilst also signing Donyell Malen on a permanent deal from Borussia Dortmund.

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They could land an absolute bargain…

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Unai Emery’s side have only benefitted from that recruitment ever since too. As things stand, they’ve still got both the Champions League and FA Cup to play for and are set to battle until the very last to secure qualification for Europe’s elite competition next season. But Monchi isn’t resting there.

The likes of Dusan Vlahovic have already made the headlines regarding a potential summer switch to Villa Park and those in the Midlands certainly have the ambition to make such a move happen. Given that the Juventus star is also worth just £33m this summer, it wouldn’t be absurd to suggest that Monchi could land a bargain deal, either.

Away from the Serie A star, meanwhile, the Villans have reportedly set their sights on another attacking target. According to The Boot Room, Monchi sent fresh scouts to watch Baris Alper Yilmaz last weekend as his Galatasaray side squared off against Besiktas in one of the biggest games that Turkish football has to offer.

Ultimately, Yilmaz ended the day on the losing side as Besiktas handed Galatasaray their first league defeat of the season, but that may not be enough to dissuade Villa from making their move this summer.

Despite a game to forget, the 24-year-old has still managed 11 goals in all competitions this season to attract the interest of Villa, Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United.

"Special" Yilmaz could replace Rashford

Whilst Rashford’s loan spell has so far been a great success, it still remains just that and it remains to be seen whether Villa will trigger their option to secure his signature on a permanent basis this summer. Instead, they could turn their attention towards the younger Yilmaz, who could prove to be just as successful under Emery.

Praised throughout his time in Turkey’s top flight, former coach Ilker Puren told reporters when asked about Yilmaz: “I think Baris Alper Yılmaz can play very comfortably for many teams in the Premier League at the moment. He’s a very special player.

“We worked a lot together. If Barıs Alper improves himself with his final ball, he can easily play for the best clubs in the world such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool and Arsenal.”

In the last eight of the Champions League, Villa have been among those top clubs this season and could now make a statement by signing Yilmaz when the summer arrives.

He wasn’t at his best as Galatasaray lost last weekend – recording just 0.10 expected goals and 0.06 expected assists – but Yilmaz is undoubtedly a player to watch in the coming months as Villa prepare their move.