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Scotland have beaten Netherlands and Namibia recently, and take on Bangladesh, PNG and Oman in the first round of the T20 World Cup

Mohammad Isam16-Oct-2021

Shane Burger: “We can only focus on the Scotland way, and back each and every individual to bring out the best performance on the day”•Getty Images

Scotland coach Shane Burger believes the side’s experience with the bat and depth in bowling will allow it to go toe-to-toe against Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea and Oman in the first round of the T20 World Cup.”We know we can catch any team off guard if we play our best cricket, it is as simple as that,” Burger told ESPNcricinfo. “The shortest format does bring every team closer together. We know what we have in the tank. If we deliver our best cricket, we can beat any team, whether that’s Bangladesh, Oman or Papua New Guinea.”Bangladesh are the top-rated team in that group – B – and Scotland start their campaign against them on Sunday, but Burger is confident. “We don’t see Bangladesh being anywhere higher than PNG or Oman in terms of these group games. We know every single team is going to come at us. We will be their biggest game. We are prepped and ready.”Burger’s confidence also comes from Scotland’s wins over Netherlands and Namibia in the warm-up games last week, and while they haven’t played a lot of T20Is this year, Burger is hoping that they are peaking at the right time.”The matches against Netherlands and Namibia would give us fantastic momentum going into our first World Cup game against a quality team like Bangladesh,” he said. “It has allowed us to feel pressure. It has allowed us to win big moments. We have made mistakes but we also played some really good cricket over the past month.”In a nutshell, come Sunday, those performances in the past won’t really make a huge difference. It depends what we do on the day. We have to make sure we are in the present, and put in our best performance. We can only focus on the Scotland way, and back each and every individual to bring out the best performance on the day.”Related

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For Scotland, the senior batters like Richie Berrington, Kyle Coetzer and George Munsey bring runs, confidence and stability, and that could well be the key for them. “Our strength is finding boundaries. We pride ourselves in this, and train to do this very often,” Burger said. “It is great to have Berrington, Coetzer and Munsey in your batting line-up. It provides the rest of the batting line-up with the confidence that these experienced players are in good form.”They also help the others know what a World Cup might feel like. We rely on every single individual who have the skills and all the assets to win the game for their country.”Having a wristspinner, especially in the UAE and Oman, should be useful, and Scotland have one in 31-year-old Chris Greaves, who made his T20I debut last week, and took a four-wicket haul against Netherlands. “I am incredibly happy with what Chris Greaves have shown in the past while,” Burger said. “His ability to take wickets in the middle period, and turn the ball both ways is an asset that any wristspinner needs to have nowadays in the shorter formats.”You only have to see how many wristspinners are among the top-ten-ranked bowlers in the world, to know that they make a huge impact. Greaves certainly has put his name up to be selected, but we will not be revealing the team as yet.”

أوضح مدافع الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي ليفربول، فيرجيل فان دايك، مستقبله مع الريدز مع اقتراب عقده على الانتهاء في نهاية الموسم الحالي.

وينتهي عقد فان دايك في 30 يونيو 2025، مثل محمد صلاح وترينت ألكسندر أرنولد، وهناك غموض كبير للغاية حول مستقبلهم في الموسم المقبل.

وظهر فان دايك بعد نهاية المباراة وهو يتحدث مع رئيس باريس سان جيرمان، ناصر الخليفي، والمدير الرياضي، لويس كامبوس، مما أثار الجدل حول مستقبله.

اقرأ أيضًا | الصحافة البريطانية بعد خروج ليفربول: حظ سلوت نفد.. وحلم الثلاثية تبخر

وتحدث فان دايك عن الأمر خلال حواره مع شبكة “سكاي سبورتس”، وقال: “ملتزم تمامًا مع ليفربول، أحب الجماهير وأحب النادي، لقد قضيت وقتًا رائعًا في أنفيلد”.

وعن مفاوضات التمديد والاستمرار في الموسم المقبل: “ليس لدي أي فكرة في الوقت الحالي، هناك محادثات تجرى في الكواليس، لكن لا شيء محسوم بعد”.

وعن الإقصاء من دوري أبطال أوروبا: “ركلات الترجيح مسألة حظ، قدمنا مباراة قوية وكان أداؤنا أفضل في أنفيلد من الذهاب، خلقنا العديد من الفرص، لكنهم دافعوا جيدًا واستغلوا فرصهم”.

واستمر: “الإرهاق كان سببًا أيضًا في المستوى الذي ظهر عليه اللاعبين في ركلات الترجيح بعد 120 دقيقة وخسارة لاعب مهم مثل ألكسندر أرنولد، لكن نأمل أن تكون إصابة بسيطة”.

وواصل تصريحاته: “علينا التركيز على إنهاء الموسم بأفضل شكل ممكن والمنافسة على الألقاب المتبقية، يمكننا الفوز بلقب الدوري الإنجليزي لا يزال لدينا 10 مباريات، كذلك لقب كأس الرابطة يوم الأحد”.

وأتم: “جماهير الفريق تريد أن تحتفل، هذا أمر طبيعي ولكن مباراة نيوكاسل لن تكون سهلة، أي نهائي دائمًا ما يكون صعب للغاية ولكننا نحتاج لدعمهم في ملعب ويمبلي”.

Tottenham Hotspur are a club that have been blessed with a number of seriously talented players over the years.

The likes of Luka Modrić and Gareth Bale wowed fans in the early 2010s, Harry Kane broke through just a few years later, and Son Heung-min is now captaining the side and can still look incredibly dangerous at times.

However, the Lilywhites have also had their fair share of less successful signings over the years, and while there is still time to turn it around, Richarlison looks like he might be the club’s latest big-money flop.

What makes it worse is that just a few months before they signed the Brazilian, Antonio Conte was pushing the club to secure the services of a player who’s been on fire this season.

Richarlison's Spurs career

In June 2022, Tottenham spent a whopping £60m on Everton forward Richarlison, who had looked like a sensational talent for the Toffees over the last few years.

In all, the Brazilian attacker scored 53 goals and provided 13 assists in 152 appearances for the Merseysiders before moving down south, but unfortunately for the Lilywhites, his form did not follow him.

The 27-year-old’s first campaign in the capital saw him score just three goals and provide four assists in 25 appearances. While he did improve last year, racking up 12 goals and four assists in 31 games, it would be fair to say he has flattered to deceive so far.

However, while there is still time for him to improve, it does look like Postecoglou and Co have given up on him ever becoming the club’s starting number nine, as they splashed £65m on Dominic Solanke in the summer.

So, it’s hard to deny that when his fee and impact are taken into account, Richarlison’s move to Tottenham has been a failure, one made worse by the fact that a player the club tried to sign first is now tearing it up for a rival.

Spurs' failed pursuit of Luis Diaz

Yes, in the January transfer window, about six months before they signed Richarlison, Spurs were gunning to secure the services of Colombian international Luis Diaz.

According to an article from the Guardian at the time, Conte wanted to strengthen his team, and the then Porto star was one of the club’s key targets, so much so, in fact, that they made a £37.6m offer, which the club rejected.

Unfortunately for the North Londoners, this forced Liverpool into action, and just a few days later, they signed the tricky winger for an initial fee of £37.5m with £12.5m in further add-ons.

Since then, the 27-year-old dynamo has been through an awful lot on and off the pitch, and while there were some questions over his ability at points last season, he has started this year like a house on fire.

So far, the Barrancas-born star has scored five goals and provided one assist in just six games.

Appearances

26

21

51

6

Goals

6

5

13

5

Assists

5

3

5

1

Goal Involvements per Match

0.42

0.38

0.35

1

Unsurprisingly, such incredible form has seen his valuation soar as well, with Transfermarkt now valuing him at around €75m, which is about £62m.

Ultimately, while all clubs miss out on transfer targets, Diaz would have been sensational under Postecoglou, and while Richarlison could eventually prove to be worth his £60m fee, it feels like that ship has well and truly sailed now.

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Derby County have received a worrying injury update regarding an “amazing” player, with manager Paul Warne delivering the news.

Latest Derby County news

The Rams won 1-0 at home to Cardiff City in the Championship last weekend, in a result that left them sitting in eighth place in the table, and they have had all week to prepare for their next outing this Saturday.

Warne’s side make the trip to a Sheffield United team who are sixth currently, having won three and drawn two of their five league matches to date, highlighting what a tough task it will be for Derby.

There are injury problems for Warne to contend with going into the match, though, with loan signing David Ozoh expected to be out for the foreseeable future, missing up to six weeks of action after having a scan on a hamstring injury.

Ozoh is far from the only Derby player struggling with a fitness issue at the moment, however, and a key update has now emerged regarding another Rams ace.

Derby suffer injury blow to "amazing" ace

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s trip to Sheffield United, Warne confirmed that Liam Thompson is expected to be out injured until after next month’s international break due to a groin problem, missing four games in the process.

“Thommo will be out and I think he won’t be back before international break. We’ve got a bit of a dearth in the middle of the park, obviously, and Tom Barkhuizen has got a grade one injury.”

This isn’t ideal news for Derby, with Thompson proving to be a regular since breaking through from the club’s youth system. Granted, he is yet to start a Championship game this season, but he has come off the substitutes’ bench four times, showing that he is an important squad figure, not to mention making 81 appearances in total for the Rams.

Meanwhile, Warne has shown his appreciation for the 22-year-old as a footballer, saying of his attitude amid a possible move away: “In fairness to him, he’s trained really well and his attitude has been amazing. We had a similar conversation back in January and I just asked him to be patient and that he would get time and all that.”

Given the relentless nature of the Championship, it is imperative to have as many players available as possible week in, week out, with rotation essential to avoid legs tiring during the latter months of the season.

This is why players of Thompson’s ilk are so priceless, not always proving to be one of the first names on the team sheet, but often filling in when required and doing what is asked of them.

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For that reason, the hope is that the Englishman is back as soon as possible after the internationals take place next month, kicking on his career at that point and showing that he is worth persevering with by Warne, ahead of his contract expiring at the end of this season.

After rediscovering some fine form with the bat, Nat Sciver is targeting more in Taunton, where she expects India to show some fight as England hunt an unassailable lead in the ODI leg of their multi-format series.England lead the series by four points to two after drawing the Test and then winning the first of three ODIs resoundingly in Bristol on Sunday, when Sciver and Tammy Beaumont combined for an unbroken third-wicket stand worth 119.Sciver had spoken in the lead-up to the Test, also in Bristol, of her hunger for more runs after scores of 7, 10 and 9* in the opening rounds of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and 2 for England against England A in a warm-up for the India series.After contributing a valuable 42 in the Test, Sciver kicked on with 74 not out as England’s batting depth was scarcely tested in an eight-wicket victory secured with 15.1 overs to spare.Related

• Sciver: England wary of 'fearless' India as they approach Test learning curve

• 1st ODI: England thrash India by eight wickets with all-round display

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• Raj bemoans lack of strike rotation after India slip to heavy defeat

Turning her attention to Taunton, where England can go 2-0 up in the three-match 50-over series on Wednesday, Sciver was hopeful that her latest knock is a sign of more to come.”I’m really happy that I managed to put a partnership together with Tammy because in the games leading up to the series I’d been a bit frustrated in not being able to get a score,” Sciver said. “We’d spoken about having a partnership over 100 and just making sure that we were clinical so I was very happy to be out there at the end with her and I felt like I was in a good spot to push on.”Beaumont has been in scintillating touch, her unbeaten 87 marking the fourth time in as many ODIs that she has passed fifty and coming after another half-century in the Test. Most encouraging for Sciver, the England vice-captain, was that her return to form required no changes to technique or mindset.”I haven’t done anything different, just being patient,” Sciver added. “I was quite easily frustrated in the domestic games we had before the series, wanting to get a score just to feel good, but I was patient and just played my natural game, hit straight and made use of the bad ball.”It felt good to be out there in the middle with Tammy in the other game so hopefully it can be more of the same.”But where patience proved to be a virtue for Sciver, it was India’s undoing, their overall run rate of 4.02 ultimately taking them to a below-par 201 for 8 from their 50 overs, which included 181 dot balls. India posted 27 for 2 in the first powerplay and they took until the 32nd over to reach the 100 mark, captain Mithali Raj’s 72 holding the innings together but coming off 108 deliveries.Sciver expects to see a different approach from India in the day-night match in Taunton.Sciver’s partnership with Tammy Beaumont in Bristol was match-winning•PA Photos/Getty Images

“If we were in that position, we’d want to certainly punch back a bit harder and make sure that we don’t do the same things again,” she said. “So we’re expecting India to come out with a bit of fight tomorrow.”But hopefully with our skill that we’ve got with the ball and ruthlessness with the bat we can put on a good performance again.”England, whose victory in the first ODI was set up by a strong all-round bowling display led by Sophie Ecclestone’s 3 for 40, could be well-served targeting India’s dangerous openers again.Having removed destructive hitter Shafali Verma, making her ODI debut after twin half-centuries in her maiden Test the week before, and fellow Smriti Mandhana cheaply thanks to seamers Katherine Brunt and Anya Shrubsole – who claimed two wickets each – the hosts were in a strong position to keep a lid on India’s scoring and put pressure on the middle order.”Their line-up is obviously very powerful at the top,” Sciver said. “The importance of the first 10 from our bowlers was massive and Anya and Katherine showed their class and really put the pressure on, made it hard for them to score, and then they had to go for a big shot.”

Declan Rice would be a "statement" signing for Manchester United, according to Teddy Sheringham, but they don't need Sporting CP star Viktor Gyokeres.

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• United told to sign Rice from Arsenal
• Midfielder joined Gunners for £105m
• Amorim linked with Gyokeres reunion

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Rubem Amorim's rebuild at Old Trafford should include the arrival of Rice from Arsenal, according to former Red Devils striker Sheringham. The 25-year-old signed for the Gunners last year in a deal worth £105 million ($137.5m), and quickly established himself as a key player under Mikel Arteta.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  It's hard to imagine Arsenal even entertaining the idea of selling Rice, least of all to a rival. But Sheringham would love to see the England international at Old Trafford and believes he possesses the characteristics that Amorim should be bringing in.

• WHAT SHERINGHAM SAID

  "I said a couple of years ago, Manchester United should have got Declan Rice. If they went out and bought Declan Rice off of Arsenal, that'd make me laugh, because that'd obviously make Arsenal weaker and make Man United even stronger," Sheringham told .

  "He's a proper player that leads by example. That's the type of player that you need in your football club. When you're making a statement about a new manager coming in and buying new players, that is the type of player you buy. Declan Rice all day."

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• DID YOU KNOW?

  A more realistic target for United is Gyokeres, who played for Amorim at Sporting CP and has been linked with a reunion in England. But Sheringham doesn't believe his old club should splash the cash on the Sweden international.

  "I don't think it's imperative for United to move for Viktor Gyokeres at the moment when you've got [Rasmus] Hojlund. I think there's other areas he would prefer to nail down," the 58-year-old added. "I think the club need a left-back. Shaw's struggling with his injuries. He seems to get one after another, and you can’t pin your hopes on someone like that.

  "Another really good midfield player would be great, so I think there are other players and other areas to strengthen that are more important to him than buying another centre forward. As I say, Hojlund is showing good stuff."

Leeds United have been linked with a late move to sign a new defender this summer as they look to bolster their ranks this summer.

Farke wants four new faces

With just 11 days until the transfer window slams shut, there is still plenty for Daniel Farke and co to do at Elland Road. Yet to win a game this season despite a sparkling pre-season, they sit 16th in the Championship and have already been knocked out of the EFL Cup at the first hurdle.

They are also losing Georginio Rutter to Brighton after the Seagulls triggered his £40m release clause, with the Frenchman becoming the third high-profile exit from the Yorkshire side this summer following the departures of Archie Gray and Crysencio Summerville to Tottenham and West Ham United respectively.

Leeds United permanent departures summer 2024

Player

Club joined

Archie Gray

Tottenham

Crysencio Summerville

West Ham United

Glen Kamara

Rennes

Charlie Cresswell

Toulouse

Jamie Shackleton

Sheffield United

Cody Drameh

Hull City

Robin Koch

Eintracht Frankfurt

Ian Poveda

Sunderland

Luke Ayling

Middlesbrough

Marc Roca

Real Betis

Diego Llorente

Real Betis

Georginio Rutter

Brighton (TBC)

It means that there is something of a sour mood around Elland Road even early in the season, and Farke has already outlined the amount of work his side still have to do in the transfer window.

"We would need cover at full-back, in midfield and two offensive positions. Cannot guarantee we will get all of these, but four is roughly what I would like to see," he explained after his side struggled to a goalless draw with West Brom at The Hawthorns on Saturday.

The club have been linked with both Jack Clarke and Jonathan Rowe this summer, and it remains unclear whether either the Sunderland or Norwich stars will end up at Elland Road to fill one of those attacking positions targeted.

Now, reports suggest that Leeds have identified a potential new addition to solve another one of those issues.

Leeds United express interest in free-agent

That comes with The Daily Mail, relayed by MOT Leeds News, reporting that Leeds and the 49ers Enterprises are eyeing up a move for veteran defender Michael Lang and have expressed their interest.

The Swiss fullback has appeared 31 times for his national side and has racked up over 200 appearances for Basel across two separate spells. Now a free agent, the 33-year-old could be an option to provide cover at right back to Jayden Bogle, who joined the Elland Road outfit this summer.

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Given he would cost nothing in terms of a transfer fee, Lang could well be a savvy option to add more depth to the squad, with Bogle currently one of two recognised right-backs among Farke's ranks following the departure of Connor Roberts and Gray this summer.

Having failed to make an appearance for Basel in the last 12 months of his contract though, there will be serious reservations over his ability should he arrive, with the veteran arguably well past his peak, though having scored a Champions League winner against Manchester United back in 2017 might lend him some credit with the Leeds supporters.

Nottingham Forest have been tipped to table a massive bid to land a new forward ahead of the upcoming Premier League season.

Forest enjoying South American success

Since their promotion to the Premier League in 2022, Nuno Espírito Santo's side have had plenty of success by raiding the south American market. Their headline success has been centre-back Murillo, who arrived at the City Ground from Corinthians 12 months ago in a £10m move.

He promptly cemented himself as one of the best defenders outside the top six and drew admiring glances from across Europe on his way to helping Forest avoid relegation on the final day of last season.

Quizzed on his future, the Brazilian defender admitted he may look to leave Forest in the future to play Champions League football, but committed himself to the Garibaldi for at least another season.

“I need regular game-time and really feel that with Forest I’m in the best place for my career,” he said. “Staying here for another season will enable me to mature as a player and eventually become better prepared if the chance ever comes to play at another level one day."

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But the 22-year-old is not the only player plucked from Brazil, with young midfielder Danilo also having been signed from Palmeiras, while Forest have already explored this avenue this summer by bringing Carlos Miguel to the City Ground from Corinthians in a move worth £3.3m. Now, they could be set to return to Corinthians to snap up a highly rated talent for their frontline.

Nottingham Forest readying move for teenager

That comes with Forest ready to table a £20m+ bid for forward Wesley Gassova, who has also been on the radar of West Ham United.

The forward, who doesn't turn 20 until March next year, is much more experienced than Murillo was when Forest signed him, having made 79 appearances for Corinthians. Largely deployed on the left of attack, he can also play in central areas.

Wesley's career to date

Appearances

79

Starts

43

Goals

7

Assists

6

However, he is another player whose career seems primed to take off when he moves to Europe. Football Analyst Ben Mattinson dubbed him a "dribbling monster" who "is going to break ankles all around Europe" when he eventually moves across the Atlantic.

As per Brazilian reporter Bruno Andrade, Al Nassr have seen a deal worth 25m euros (£21.3m) fall through as a result of intermediaries failing to come to an agreement, but Forest are "on track to offer similar" to try and get an agreement over the line.

It is added that "the club's board of directors still hopes to sell the player in the coming days" amid Forest interest, suggesting that there is confidence a deal could be completed with the Midlands outfit.

Should a move for Wesley prove even half as successful as the deal that brought Murillo to the City Ground, Forest will grab a bargain.

Chelsea have been approached over signing a £150,000-per-week forward as his agent offers him out to clubs, and he's a player who former Blues boss Thomas Tuchel once told the Stamford Bridge hierarchy to strike a deal for.

Stewart and Winstanley targeting new forward for Chelsea

The west Londoners have been one of the Premier League's busiest sides in terms of total summer arrivals, with Chelsea potentially about to take their tally of new signings into double figures for the window.

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Teenage KRC Genk goalkeeper Mike Penders is reportedly on the verge of joining Chelsea after agreeing to join Enzo Maresca's side. Reports claim a £16.8 million Chelsea deal is agreed for Penders, who will remain at Genk on loan for the rest of the season to further his development.

If Todd Boehly and co manage to officially get the 19-year-old over the line, he'll be Chelsea's tenth signing of the summer, following deals for Tosin Adarabioyo (Fulham), Omari Kellyman (Aston Villa), Renato Veiga (FC Basel), Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Leicester City), Filip Jorgensen (Villarreal), Marc Guiu (Barcelona), Estevao Willian (Palmeiras), Caleb Wiley (Atlanta United) and Aaron Anselmino (Boca Juniors).

Cole Palmer

7.48

Conor Gallagher

7.13

Nicolas Jackson

7.07

Moises Caicedo

6.85

Noni Madueke

6.84

Co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, who have taken charge of the club's transfer plans over these last few months, have been very active in the market – but only a handful of the aforementioned bunch can be classed as senior upgrades.

Tosin, Jorgensen and Dewsbury-Hall look the most likely to make an immediate impact in Maresca's first team, while the rest appear to be more long-term investments on Chelsea's part, due to their age.

There is also the matter of bringing in a new wide forward or striker, which is what Chelsea are reportedly planning behind-the-scenes. The Blues have been linked with Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams recently, and attempted to strike a deal for Michael Olise, before he joined Bayern Munich.

Chelsea were even considering Raheem Sterling as a makeweight in talks for Olise, but the 22-year-old instead chose to link up with Vincent Kompany in Bavaria.

Chelsea offered Federico Chiesa by agent as they consider approach

It will be interesting to see who they opt to bring in as an alternative, with Juventus star Federico Chiesa emerging as a possibility recently.

He scored 10 goals and assisted three others for Juve last season, and according to journalist Simon Phillips, Chelsea have been offered Chiesa by his agent as they consider taking him up on the proposal.

“The agent of Federico Chiesa has approached Chelsea, SPTC sources understand," wrote Phillips. “Chelsea have not yet given a definitive answer, and have been considering it.

"But sources think it’s unlikely. His agent spoke to Chelsea though because we have had recent interest in Chiesa. Thomas Tuchel suggested him to the board when he was in charge, and the board did seriously look at signing him. It wasn’t possible or viable at that time, but Chiesa does still have some admirers at Chelsea, so let’s see if anything comes of that one."

The £150,000-per-week forward could be available for a cut-price £25 million due to his contract, which is set to expire next year. The winger also boasts over half a century of caps for Italy at international level, and helped the Azzurri clinch a Euro 2020 title at the expense of England.

Tottenham Hotspur had plenty of positives to take from last season, from the emergence of a talent like Destiny Udogie to the scintillating football Ange Postecoglou had the team playing at times.

However, as should be expected in a new manager's debut campaign, there were a few issues ranging from a collapse in form from players like James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski towards the end of the campaign, to a lack of goals throughout, as evidenced by the fact that six teams scored more than them in the league.

So, with this clearly an area of the team that needs improvement, it's unsurprising that the latest player touted for a move to N17 is a Premier League-proven goalscorer who could potentially help Kulusevski reach an entirely new level.

Tottenham Hotspur transfer news

According to a recent report from GIVEMESPORT, Tottenham have maintained their interest in Brentford striker Ivan Toney this summer and are now among the frontrunners to sign him.

Alongside the Lilywhites, the report claims that West Ham United are also near the front of the queue for the Englishman's signature, but it is Spurs who have the edge, as the Hammers are currently looking for alternative options.

The story has also revealed that due to the striker's contract expiring next summer and the lack of interest in him from other clubs, the North Londoners are preparing to make a 'lowball offer' to the Bees, which could be below their new £50m valuation, per the Sun.

If Daniel Levy and Co can get their hands on Toney for £50m or less this summer, they should, as his goalscoring record would surely see the club ascend the table, and he could even help Kulusevski become unplayable.

How Toney could help improve Kulusevski

There may well be several reasons why Toney would be a great teammate for Kulusevski, from the personal to the professional, but when it comes to what he can do on the pitch, it boils down to just one: his output.

Now, last season was certainly disappointing for the Englishman in this regard, but considering he was banned from all footballing activities until the new year due to his betting-related ban, it would be entirely unfair to use this as a stick to beat him with, especially as the two campaigns prior were incredibly impressive.

For example, in his first season following promotion with the West Londoners, he scored 14 goals and provided six assists in 37 games.

Appearances

37

35

17

Goals

14

21

4

Assists

6

5

2

Goal Involvements per Match

0.54

0.74

0.35

The following year, the Northampton-born "monster", as dubbed by manager Thomas Frank, did even better, scoring 21 goals and providing five assists in 35 appearances, equating to an average of a goal involvement every 1.34 games.

It's this ability to put the ball into the back of the net and chip in with the odd assist here and there that would help Spurs' Swedish wideman to become so much more effective next season, as under Postecoglou last year, only Son Heung-min and Richarlison produced over 16 goal involvements.

Moreover, according to Understat, the former Juventus star's tally of three league assists in 23/24 was a massive underperformance from his expected assists figure of 8.62, and while he undoubtedly had a small part to play in that, the failure of his teammates to put away his chances was a more significant reason for the disappointing discrepancy between expectation and reality.

Ultimately, based on how well Toney performed in his first two full seasons of top-flight football, there is no doubt that were he the one getting on the end of Kulusevski's chances, the Swede would have an awful lot more assists to his name, and Spurs could be gearing up for a return to Champions League football in 2024/25.

Bale 2.0: Spurs make approach to sign "explosive" £25m Udogie rival

The incredible youngster is a real “diamond.”

ByJack Salveson Holmes Jul 23, 2024

Therefore, even if Levy and Co can't negotiate his fee to below £50m, they should do what they can to ensure the Brentford poacher makes his way to N17 this summer.