تحدث اللاعب البرتغالي روبن دياز، مدافع الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي مانشستر سيتي عن خسارة فريقه أمام توتنهام هوتسبير اليوم، السبت، في المباراة التي جمعتهما ضمن منافسات الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.
وواجه مانشستر سيتي نظيره توتنهام هوتسبير ظهر اليوم، السبت، في إطار منافسات الجولة الثانية من بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز “بريميرليج”، على ملعب “الاتحاد” في تمام الساعة 2:30 ظهرًا.
وتعرض سيتي للخسارة الأولى له هذا الموسم بثنائية نظيفة أمام نظيره توتنهام بقيادة توماس فرانك، بعد أداء مخيب للآمال جعل مشجعو مانشستر قلقون بسبب تكرار سيناريو الموسم الماضي.
وشارك عمر مرموش، أساسيًا في المباراة وخرج في الدقيقة 53 من عمر اللقاء وقدم أداءً مميزًا وأهدر فرصة محققة من انفراد تام بالمرمى بالشوط الأول لكن فيكاريو حارس توتنهام تألق وتصدى لها ببراعة.
اقرأ أيضًا | بي بي سي تمنح امتيازًا لـ عمر مرموش بعد خسارة مانشستر سيتي أمام توتنهام
وقال روبن دياز، لقناة تي إن تي سبورتس: “توتنهام فريق خطير للغاية، وقد بدأوا المباراة بشكل ممتاز، لم نكن على أتم الاستعداد للمباراة، الهدف الثاني مؤسف لا يُمكن أن يحدث، طاردنا المنافس لكن كان هناك الكثير من الأمور التي يجب تحسينها، لم تكن كل الأمور جيدة في مباراتنا الأولى، وليست سيئة الآن، لذلك علينا العودة إلى العمل”.
وأكمل: “هزيمة مخيبة للآمال أمام جماهيرنا؟ محبطة بالطبع، نريد تحقيق المزيد من الانتصارات على أرضنا أمام جماهيرنا في مباراتنا الأولى على أرضنا، هذا هو الواقع إنها كرة القدم التي نتطلع إليها”.
وعن تجديد عقده مع النادي أتم: “هذا يعبر عن طموحنا ورغبتنا في البقاء هنا والفوز بالألقاب، وهذه هي عقلية النادي، لم يتغير شيء”.
The top-order batter has been carrying a long-term foot injury and will now aim to be fit for the Australia Test series
ESPNcricinfo staff07-Feb-20242:15
Stead: Williamson unlikely for Australia T20Is, Boult is available
Daryl Mitchell has been ruled out of the second Test against South Africa and the T20I series against Australia in an attempt to recover from a long-standing foot injury.Mitchell, who averages 53.46 in Tests, has been carrying the problem for around six or seven months and was rested from the final T20I against Pakistan in January, but it has been decided he needs a longer period on the sidelines to give himself the best chance of being fit for the two-Test series against Australia.Related
Uncapped O'Rourke likely to play ahead of Wagner in Hamilton Test
Santner goes 'the other way' to rediscover his Test bowling
Jamieson, Santner bowl NZ to victory after Williamson's twin centuries and Ravindra's 240
“We took the opportunity to rest him a little earlier but after seeking medical advice on this as well it’s likely that he needs a longer period of time,” New Zealand coach Gary Stead said. “It’s really tough, because there’s not a lot breaks coming up in the next wee while so thought this gives us nearly three weeks to try and give him the chance of the best recuperation from it.”There’s no guarantees this will still work in that period of time but we are very hopeful that it will improve his chances of getting through a longer stint with us.”New Zealand have not called up a replacement for Mitchell with Will Young the spare batter in the squad and he could come in as a like-for-like swap. However, there remains a chance the side may be rebalanced with Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santner moving up the order and another pace bowler brought in with Stead confirming the uncapped Will O’Rourke remained in contention for a debut.”[Will Young] is definitely one of the options,” Stead said. “Will’s there as back up [and] Glenn Phillips has shown he’s more than useful and it could be shaped differently. We are very happy with the squad we have. Daryl’s obviously a huge loss, though, he’s been instrumental in a number of outstanding batting performances but it’s important for him and us that we get this right long term.”Meanwhile, Kane Williamson is unlikely to be available for the T20Is against Australia – a format where he is captain – as his wife is expecting their third child. However, Trent Boult could come into consideration for those matches with the left-arm quick not having any franchise commitments at that time.”Trent’s available if we want to select him,” Stead said. “Him and I are still having conversations…hopefully in the next couple of days to nail down what that looks like.”
Things are going from bad to worse for the Nerazzurri, who now have to deal with an internal dispute after some very public humiliations
When it came time to speak to reporters after Inter's epic Champions League clash with Barcelona at San Siro, Davide Frattesi was still struggling to catch his breath, still struggling to find the right words.
"It's just incredible," the match-winner said, "I don't know what to say." But then it came to him: "This is the beauty of football." And it really was.
Inter's 4-3 victory at San Siro really was the stuff dreams are made of, the kind of surreal spectacle in which nothing much makes sense. Not even Simone Inzaghi had any idea what Francesco Acerbi was doing up front when the 37-year-old centre-back coolly converted a near-post cross from Denzel Dumfries in the 93rd minute to force extra-time.
Frattesi, meanwhile, probably shouldn't have even been on the pitch but, just like his captain Lautaro Martinez, the midfielder fought through the pain in order to play a pivotal role in Inter's stunning success. "I have to thank the physios, because yesterday I had an abdominal strain, so they did incredible work getting me fit for this match," Frattesi told .
Then, when he slotted home Inter's extra-time winner, he "nearly had a blackout" during the raucous celebrations that ensued. "I was fortunate to see out the game!" he admitted. "But this has been my career, really. I wasn't blessed with incredible talent, but I am the last to give up and the first to believe, so this is a reward for effort and dedication."
In that sense, Frattesi kind of personified Inter, a team not lacking in gifted footballers, but nonetheless renowned for their tactical discipline and togetherness. It's, therefore, shocking that two months after beating Barcelona in the greatest Champions League semi-final ever player, Inter are not only divided – but in total disarray….
Getty Images Sport
Throwing away the title
Inter followed up their shock defeat of a brilliant Barca side by beating Torino on May 11 to keep alive their hopes of a second-consecutive Scudetto. The very next weekend – the penultimate of the 2024-25 season – the Serie A title race appeared to have turned in the Nerazzurri's favour.
With leaders Napoli being held to a scoreless draw in Parma, Inter were heading top of the table thanks to Dumfries' 79th-minute header at San Siro. However, in the dying seconds of normal time, Lazio were awarded a contentious penalty for a handball by Yann Bisseck, and Pedro slotted home the spot-kick to earn the visitors a 2-2 draw that effectively gifted the scudetto to Napoli.
Clearly believing themselves to have been the victims of some terrible injustice, Inter refused to fulfil any of their media obligations after the game. However, Inzaghi – who had been sent off for reacting furiously to the award of the Lazio penalty – and his players only had themselves to blame for throwing away the title, which Napoli sealed the following Friday with a Scott McTominay-inspired victory over Cagliari.
"We didn't deserve to win it because we're not top after 38 games," centre-back Stefan de Vrij told. "But there's a feeling that we could have done more in the league this year."
However, as the Dutch defender pointed out, Inter still had one game to play – the most important of their season: "We've worked really hard this year and done very well in the Champions League, so we'll now do everything we can to finish on a high. There's a huge desire to play a great final next week."
Unfortunately, what Inter produced against Paris Saint-Germain was a historically-bad performance on one of the most humiliating nights in the club's history.
Advertisement
Getty Images Sport
Humiliated
Ahead of their May 31 showdown with PSG in Munich, Inter's players insisted that they had learned a lot from their previous Champions League final appearance in Istanbul in 2023. On that occasion, they had lost 1-0 to Manchester City, but played far better than anyone had expected. At the Allianz Arena, though, they were worse than anyone could have imagined.
The game was essentially over after 20 minutes, with PSG 2-0 up thanks to Achraf Hakimi and Desire Doue. A clearly exhausted Inter offered absolutely nothing by way of a response. Alessandro Bastoni was among those left utterly shell-shocked by a "painful" 5-0 defeat that left "a deep sense of bitterness and will take time to fully understand."
From the outside looking in, it felt as if time had simply caught up with Inter. An exuberant PSG showed them to be exactly what they were: an old team in need of rejuvenation. What they definitely did not need, though, was Inzaghi stepping down as coach just three days later to take charge of Al-Hilal.
Getty Images Sport
From Inzaghi to Chivu – via Fabregas
Inzaghi's exit upset the majority of Inter fans. The Nerazzurri's financial constraints are well-documented, and a source of frustration to many connected with the club, but Inzaghi looked like a captain leaving a sinking ship.
The backlash only intensified after Al-Hilal revealed that Inzaghi had agreed to join the Saudi Pro League side before the Champions League final, which inevitably prompted questions over whether his imminent exit had played a part in the Munich debacle. The even suggested that Inzaghi had been trying to convince Nicolo Barella and Bastoni to follow him to Jeddah, which only intensified the feeling of betrayal at San Siro.
Aside from the manner of Inzaghi exit, which Inter had not been anticipating even in spite of the pre-existing uncertainty surrounding his future, the act itself created a problem for Beppe Marotta & Co. They suddenly had a massive hole to fill, and finding a worthy replacement before the start of their Club World Cup campaign was never going to be easy.
Cesc Fabregas was Inter's top target, as the Spaniard had done an excellent job securing a top-10 finish with Como in their first season in Serie A for 21 years. However, Como refused to allow the former Arsenal midfield to leave, meaning Inter had to turn to Christian Chivu, the former Nerazzurri defender who had earned praise for keeping Parma up after taking over at Ennio Tardini in mid-February, when the Gialloblu were 19th in the table.
ENJOYED THIS STORY?
Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting
Getty Images Sport
Underwhelming Club World Cup campaign
Chivu's tenure didn't get off to the most encouraging of starts, with Inter held to a 1-1 draw by Monterrey in their Club World Cup opener. They were also staring an embarrassing loss to Urawa Red Diamonds in the face when captain Lautaro Martinez sparked a crucial, come-from-behind win with a 78th-minute equaliser in Seattle.
Inter then beat River Plate at the same venue to seal top spot in Group E and raise hopes that the cash-strapped Nerazzurri could not only finish a draining campaign with a flourish, but also earn some serious prize money in the process. However, while Inter did reasonably well out of the Club World Cup financially , they still suffered a humiliatingly early exit at the hands of Fluminense that exposed a massive divide in the dressing room.
Former Lancashire spinner played once for England before making comeback with Northamptonshire
ESPNcricinfo staff28-Sep-2023Simon Kerrigan, Northamptonshire’s former England spinner, has announced his retirement from the game. Kerrigan, 34, made a comeback at Wantage Road in 2020 but has only played once in the County Championship this season.Slow left-armer Kerrigan was prolific in the early part of his career at Lancashire and played one Test, against Australia at The Oval in 2013. But after a suffering a chastening debut, he faded from contention and stepped away from playing in 2018.He subsequently made a return with Northants after three years out of first-class cricket, having previously played for the club on loan.”I would like to thank all the players and staff for my time at Northamptonshire, especially David Ripley for allowing me the opportunity to get back into the professional game and also John Sadler for showing faith in me and giving me a long term contract,” Kerrigan said.”The goal when I signed with David Ripley was to strive for the fairytale ending to the second part of my career, disappointingly though over the last couple of seasons that dream has moved further and further out of reach and it feels like the right time for me to move on.””I’m proud throughout my career to have given 100% and fought back from each setback along the way.”Kerrigan shot to prominence in 2011 when he helped bowl Lancashire to their first outright County Championship in 77 years and was soon involved with England Lions. For a few years he was the leading young spinner in the country, but his confidence appeared to be dented by his one appearance at Test level, when he bowled a single spell of 0 for 53 from eight overs.In all, Kerrigan took more than 300 wickets for Lancashire across formats before being released in 2018. Having briefly decided to focus on coaching, he made a playing comeback with Northants, claiming 54 first-class wickets and 11 in List A across four seasons at Wantage Road.
Home side trails by 148 with five wickets down after Will Rhodes 82, Dan Mousley 45*
ECB Reporters Network20-Jul-2023Warwickshire 197 for 5 (Rhodes 82, Mousley 45*) trail Lancashire 327 (Balderson 116, Bailey 75) by 148 runsGeorge Balderson’s maiden first-class century illuminated a grey second day as Warwickshire and Lancashire grind towards a draw in their LV=Insurance County Championship match at Edgbaston.On a cloudy morning, Lancashire all-rounder Balderson extended his overnight 94 to 116 out of his side’s 327 all out before the home side replied with 179 for 5.On a slow pitch, diligence has been required throughout from batters and Balderson showed plenty of it, spending 44 balls in the nineties before reaching his richly-deserved ton. Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes then showed similar resolve to compile 82 from 168 balls.With time lost to the weather on day two and a forecast suggesting little or no play on the fourth day, this match appears doomed to a draw already with batters forced on to the defensive by capable seam bowling on a slow pitch.After resuming on 295 for 7 on the second morning, Lancashire lost Tom Bailey for 75 to the second ball, lbw to a big inswinger from Hamza Mir. That concluded a partnership of 145 in 45 overs between Bailey and Balderson and when Will Williams quickly fell the same way, Balderson still required five runs for his maiden ton with just last man Jack Morley for company.Unlike at Lord’s in 1895, when Sammy Woods generously served up a deliberate leg-side full toss so that WG Grace could reach his hundredth hundred, Balderson was made to earn every run towards his milestone before he edged Olly Hannon-Dalby to the boundary at third.Morley stuck around while 30 were added and doubled his previous first-class run tally of nine before nicking a slog at Danny Briggs.In reply, Warwickshire’s openers fell in the first seven overs, both deciding too late to leave the ball as Alex Davies played on to Williams and Rob Yates edged Bailey behind. Rhodes and Sam Hain then added 68 in 28 overs either side of a rain break, Hain arriving into double-figures after 69 balls before falling, strangled down the leg side off Balderson, for 15 off 79.At 82 for 3, further quick wickets would have moved Lancashire into a strong position, but Rhodes and Dan Mousley batted watchfully to add 77 in 22 overs. Bailey continued his impressive match by trapping Rhodes lbw and Ed Barnard tickled Balderson down the leg side to the keeper but Mousley, after a skittish start, settled to play with authority and reach the close unbeaten on 45.
تحدث محمد شريف العائد حديثًا إلى صفوف الأهلي، عن المنافسة بينه وبين الثنائي وسام أبو علي وجراديشار، في الفترة المقبلة، موضحًا تلقيه عروضًا عديدة خلال الفترة الماضية.
وقال محمد شريف في تصريحات تلفزيونية عبر قناة “الأهلي”: “تلقيت عروضًا عديدة ورفضت الإفصاح عن أسمائها احترامًا للأندية، فأنا أحترم كل نادٍ تواصل معي”.
وأكمل: “كانت هناك عروض من أندية في مصر وتركيا وقطر، وعرض تركيا جاء في الفترة الأخيرة، وكنت بنسبة كبيرة سأنتقل إلى هناك، لكنني فضلت تأخير خطواتي قليلًا”.
واستطرد: “لكنني كنت مصممًا على الانضمام إلى النادي الأهلي، وكل شيء قد يتغير في يوم وليلة، وانتهى أمر انتقالي إلى الأهلي في أقل من خمس ساعات وبشكل سريع جدًا”.
طالع | محمد شريف يعود إلى الأهلي رسميًا.. ويكشف التفاصيل
وبسؤاله عن المنافسة مع وسام أبو علي وجراديشار؟، أوضح: “النادي الأهلي دائمًا ما يمتلك في كل مركز أكثر من لاعب مميز، وهذا ما يجعله في مكانة مرموقة”.
وزاد: “أعلم أن هناك منافسة قوية مع زملائي، وأعد الجماهير بأنكم سترون لاعبًا مختلفًا”.
وأردف محمد شريف: “سجلت سبعة أهداف في مرمى الزمالك، وكلها أهداف مميزة، في أول مباراة قمة لي، أحرزت هدفًا في مرمى الزمالك، وقبل أن أرحل، كنت أرتدي القميص رقم 10، ولا أعرف بعدُ رقم القميص الذي سأرتديه، ولكني أفضل رقم 10، لكن إن لم يتوفر فلن يسبب ذلك أي مشكلة بالنسبة لي”.
وأضاف: “كان محمد يوسف يعلم برغبتي، ويعرف أنني جئت دون التحدث عن الأموال، ولو كنت أنظر إلى المال، كان بإمكاني التوقيع لأي نادٍ منذ وقت طويل، فلماذا أنتظر كل هذا الوقت؟ كان بإمكاني إنهاء الأمر مع أي نادٍ خلال شهر أو أسبوعين”.
وأشار: “أنا لاعب حر منذ نهاية يناير الماضي، ومن حقي التوقيع لأي نادٍ، وتلقيت عروضًا من أندية وأنا متواجد في الدوري السعودي”.
واستطرد: “كنت أتمنى أن أشارك في كأس العالم للأندية، أكون متواجدًا في حدث كبير وأجواء مختلفة وبطولة كبيرة وتواجه فرقًا كبيرة، كنت أتمنى استمرار الأهلي في البطولة”.
واختتم: “وسام أبو علي المهاجم رقم واحد في الفترة الأخيرة، يسير بشكل جيد، لدي دوافع كبيرة لأن قبل رحيلي كنت حزينًا جدًا، لأنني كنت أحقق أرقامًا جيدة، لدي دوافع أن أزيد من هذه الأرقام”.
Bowled out for just 99, England Women’s Under-19s clawed their way back into their bout with Australia for a place in the T20 World Cup final. Now, with their opponents 96 for 9 in reply, they needed the clutch moment to go their way, and it did, thanks to captain Grace Scrivens. She floated up a full delivery from around the stumps, beat Maggie Clark’s attempted flick and struck the pad dead in front for the final wicket and victory to England by three runs with eight balls to spare.It was the sort of pressure moment Scrivens revels in and an experience she hopes will help her Sunrisers team as they seek their first win in the history of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy when they open their 2023 campaign against two-time champions Southern Vipers on Saturday.Without overstating the importance of pre-season form, the signs are positive. Sunrisers won all three matches they played on their winter trip to Desert Springs in Spain, comprising 50-overs fixtures against South East Stars and Northern Diamonds and a T20 with Stars. Then, in 50-over friendlies back on home soil last week, they beat The Blaze and Stars with Scrivens scoring twin centuries. Having faced 110 balls for her 106 against The Blaze, she contributed 101 of her side’s 168 against Stars in a match where none of her team-mates reached double-figures.That’s not to suggest Sunrisers are shaping up as a one-woman team. Just as in that World Cup match immediately before England finished as runners-up to India, there were other valuable contributions. Against The Blaze, Amara Carr scored an unbeaten half-century, while Mady Villiers took 3 for 38 having also claimed 3 for 21 off just two overs against Stars. But Scrivens is emerging as a vital cog in the Sunrisers’ set-up, as she was for her country at the World Cup, where she was named Player of the Tournament for her 293 runs and nine wickets.An opening batter and off-spinner, Scrivens has been with Sunrisers since the beginning. In 2020, aged just 16, she scored 137 runs in six RHFT matches at an average of 22.83 with a strike rate of 58.54 and took three wickets. After small improvements to those figures the following season, Scrivens ended 2022 as the competition’s leading wicket-taker with 13 at 14.69 and an economy rate of 3.23 and third-highest run-scorer with 297 at 49.50 and a strike rate of 77.54.”I’ve learned so much about playing overseas, so much about leading a team,” Scrivens tells ESPNcricinfo. “My cricket is only going to improve for that experience. It was the never-give-up attitude. That semi-final was one that I’ve never experienced before and the ups and downs of that really shows that you can never really be out of a cricket match. I can take that into the Sunrisers, that fight to the end.”The way we’ve been playing in Desert Springs has been really positive, winning three from three against two really strong teams in Diamonds and Stars, we can take confidence from in that. I don’t think we were far away the last few seasons, it was just that learning how to win and getting over the line.”Sheer relief: Grace Scrivens celebrates England’s semi-final victory over Australia with team-mate Lizzie Scott•ICC via Getty Images
Danni Warren, Sunrisers Regional Director of Women’s Cricket, says there is a sense of belief now permeating the group and she credits Andy Tennant, the former Scotland international who took over as head coach in the off-season, with giving the team “clarity”.”Winning three games on a preseason tour probably meant more to us than it might have done to another team, just from where we’ve been,” Warren says. “To win one breeds a bit of belief, to win two breeds a bit of confidence, to back it up again just shows you that from any position you’re able to get yourself into a game and to be competitive. It’s hopefully given us something to really build our season on.”We haven’t really looked at it as turning it around… it’s more unlocking what their potential is. Andy Tennant has come in as head coach. He’s been able to give the clarity that the girls wanted in how we want to play as a team and how we want to play as individuals. That’s, in a way, just helped people to find that freedom and that belief, let go of some of the baggage that we’ve taken from previous years.”She believes Scrivens has a big role to play too as vice-captain alongside Villers to skipper Kelly Castle, especially off the back of her experience leading the U19s.Related
Grace Scrivens, England's natural-born leader, prepares to take on the world
Players to watch from the Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup
Charlotte Taylor earns first professional contract with Southern Vipers
“It’s one of those where you burst on the scene to the public and we’re sitting there knowing how much work she’s put into getting there over the last few years,” Warren says of Scrivens. “She’s still only 19. She’s opened the batting for three years at this level and that’s not an easy thing to do. She’s bowled in difficult situations and again never shirked responsibility.”She’s been the kind of person that wants to be in the battle and we knew that all being well she’d be able to go out there and show what she can do. Obviously we now want to be part of helping her take that to the next level and go on and perform for Sunrisers over the summer and hopefully that takes her to even further accolades as and when the time is right.”Scrivens’ performances over the English winter can only have enhanced her positioning for a senior call-up at some stage, but it’s not her primary goal heading into this weekend. “It’s hard to look that far ahead,” she says. “I need to work hard and play well in the games for Sunrisers coming up. If that happens, that happens, it’s not something I’m really focusing on.”Scrivens is also looking forward to learning from Dane van Niekerk, the former South Africa captain who retired from international cricket after failing a fitness test for her home T20 World Cup in February and joined Sunrisers in a signing Warren describes as a “no brainer” from the team’s perspective. She is available for Sunrisers until the end of July, when she will link up with Oval Invincibles for the Hundred.”That’s a really exciting signing and she’s obviously an unbelievable leader,” Scrivens says. “She’s been so successful in international cricket so I want to be around her and learn as much as I can from her. I hope she comes in and just takes the game on and plays in that attacking way that she does, because that’d be really exciting for us.”
Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian believes Chelsea can, following his £20 million ($27m) investment, become a "billion-dollar franchise".
Article continues below
Article continues below
Article continues below
Acquired 10 per cent stake in the trophy-winning Blues
Watched them complete domestic treble at Wembley
Sees interest building in America and around the world
Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱
WHAT HAPPENED?
Ohanian, the husband of tennis icon Serena Williams, has acquired a 10 per cent stake in the Blues’ women’s team. He has seen them complete a domestic treble in 2024-25 with WSL, League Cup and FA Cup honours.
Advertisement
Getty Images Sport
THE BIGGER PICTURE
The last of those trophies was captured at Wembley Stadium when seeing off Manchester United 3-0, with Ohanian and Williams among those in attendance. The dominant west London-based outfit are being told that "the sky is the limit".
WHAT ALEXIS OHANIAN SAID
Ohanian told of his ambitious plans for the future: "Chelsea is very unique. These are the queens of global soccer and they’ve got the trophy case to prove it. I feel so humbled. This is a very special club.
"The sky is the limit. You heard our president say this club is unapologetically ambitious – I want to get that tattooed on me. That is what we’re trying to build here. Not just to be the best team, but the best team in the world and at the forefront of women’s sport.
"This will be a billion-dollar franchise one day and I hope my dollars, my pounds, can go towards that and especially back home in America, this is going to be America’s team."
ENJOYED THIS STORY?
Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting
Getty Images
DID YOU KNOW?
Ohanian had already stated his desire to build Chelsea’s fanbase in the States when saying on social media in the wake of his stake purchase: "I’ve bet big on women’s sports before – and I’m doing it again. I’m proud to announce that I’m joining Chelsea FCW as an investor and board member.
"I’m honoured for the chance to help this iconic club become America’s favourite Barclays WSL team and much, much more."
Crystal Palace are now scouting a striker who was last season’s “top-scoring teenager” in Europe, but they may face competition for his signature from Premier League rivals Leicester City, according to a report.
Palace planning for the summer
After a difficult start to the campaign, Palace have found their feet as the season has gone on, and they look set to secure yet another mid-table finish in the Premier League, despite there still being a third of the season left to play.
Oliver Glasner will no doubt be looking to take a step forward and push for Europe next season, but it could be a difficult task, with doubt lingering over the futures of Marc Guehi and Jean-Philippe Mateta, who have both been attracting attention.
In truth, it looks likely Guehi will move on in the summer, given that the defender will have just one year remaining on his contract by that point, but Steve Parish is determined to keep hold of Mateta, with a big pay rise potentially on the cards.
Crystal Palace scouts keeping a close eye on £20m gem ahead of the summer
Crystal Palace are among the teams interested in signing a rising star in the second tier.
ByBrett Worthington Feb 17, 2025
That said, it is by no means a guarantee the striker will remain at Selhurst Park, and the Eagles are now looking at new options ahead of the summer transfer window.
According to a report from Bold (via Sport Witness), Crystal Palace have been keeping a close eye on FC Midtjylland striker Franculino Dju, having sent scouts to watch the Danish Superliga star in recent weeks.
Leicester are also named as potential suitors for Dju, and there is a feeling the Foxes are particularly keen on getting a deal done, given that they have watched him in action on several occasions.
FC Midtjylland's DjuFranculinoin action with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim's Valentin Gendrey and Kevin Akpoguma Bo Amstrup
Bayer Leverkusen and Besiktas have also been named as potential suitors in the past, so there is unlikely to be a shortage of interest this summer, particularly considering how impressive the now 20-year-old has been in Denmark this season.
Dju among Europe's most prolific young strikers
Amid links to Leverkusen and Torino in the winter, reporter Farzam Abolhosseini said the Midtjylland star was the “top-scoring teenager” in Europe last season, having enjoyed an impressive breakout campaign in Denmark.
After leaving behind Benfica in search of first-team minutes, the centre-forward bagged 17 goals in all competitions for Midtjylland last term, while also picking up six assists.
The Guinea-Bissau international seems to have been vindicated for his decision to move to Denmark, given that he is now a key player for the Danish side, and he is gaining experience at a high level, making five Europa League appearances this season.
However, the move to Midtjylland seems like it could be a stepping stone for the former Benfica man, who has now proven he is ready to take the next step in his career, and his goal record indicates he could be a success for Palace in the Premier League.
Arsenal icon Arsene Wenger believes the prize of allowing the Europa League winner to qualify for the Champions League should be "reviewed".
Article continues below
Article continues below
Article continues below
Europa League winner qualifies for Champions LeagueWenger says this should be "reviewed"Man Utd & Tottenham in semi-finals of competitionFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Manchester United and Tottenham are on the cusp of the Europa League final as they hold 3-0 and 3-1 semi-final first-leg leads over Athletic Club and Bodo/Glimt, respectively. Now, Wenger, who is FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development, believes it would be more appropriate if the Europa League winner is guaranteed a spot in the same competition for next season rather than ascending to the Champions League.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportWHAT WENGER SAID
When asked if it is right that the Europa League winner qualifies for the Champions League, Wenger told beIN Sports: "No. Well, it is right if you make the decision [for the Europa League winner to get Champions League qualification]. They should qualify automatically for the Europa League again, not necessarily for the Champions League. Especially when you're in a league where you already have too many teams, five teams, qualify. So, if we looked at it, maybe it is something to think about to review that. On the other hand, people will tell you that to keep the Europa League focused, interesting and motivated, you need that prize."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
United and Tottenham are having dire seasons by their lofty standards, with Ruben Amorim's team sitting 15th in the Premier League and Ange Postecoglou's side are a place behind them. The thought of clubs finishing that low in their domestic league and then qualifying for the Champions League seems bizarre, so maybe this will be up for review.
ENJOYED THIS STORY?
Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting
Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT?
United host Athletic Club in the second-leg of this Europa League semi-final on Thursday, whereas Tottenham travel to Bodo/Glimt on the same day.