Internacional perde nos pênaltis para o Caxias, que avança para a final do Gauchão contra o Grêmio

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Assim como Grêmio x Ypiranga, Internacional e Caxias precisaram disputar a vaga para a final do Campeonato Gaúcho, neste domingo (26), nos pênaltis, após o empate por 1 a 1 no tempo normal. E, diante de um Beira-Rio com excelente presença de público, quem levou a melhor foi o clube de Caxias do Sul que volta a decisão estadual depois de três anos, após vencer nas penalidades por 5 a 4.

Agora o Caxias decide o Estadual contra o Grêmio. Como teve melhor campanha na primeira fase, o Tricolor gaúcho vai decidir o título em sua Arena.

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>Presidente da CBF afirma que Carlo Ancelotti é o favorito para assumir o Brasil

CADA UM À SUA MANEIRA

É bem verdade que o caráter de pressão com linhas altas e retomada rápida da posse foi o ponto marcante dos primeiros minutos de partida. Algo que, consequentemente, permitiu ao time anfitrião boas finalizações em que Maurício (duas vezes) e Thauan Lara deram trabalho para o goleiro Bruno. A batida bem executada por De Pena, também de fora da área, passou perto da trave.

Por sua vez, tendo bem menos espaço do que no confronto de ida, as chegadas do Caxias se limitavam as puxadas de contra-ataque (Peninha foi travado em cima da hora por Bustos após cruzamento de Eron) ou em algum equívoco da zaga do Colorado. Neste caso, Keiller precisou sair da meta para abafar o chute de Jean Dias, livre de marcação, batendo de pé esquerdo.

JO-GA-DA-ÇA!

Mais ativo no sistema ofensivo, o Inter fez valer o maior volume ao elaborar uma bonita trama na base da troca de passes e abrir a contagem no Beira-Rio para delírio da maioria dos presentes. Luiz Adriano ajeitou de primeira para Alan Patrick que, também com apenas um toque na bola, devolveu para o camisa 9 progredir até a grande área e só rolar para Mauricio. O meia-atacante, de primeira, bateu fugindo do alcance de Bruno e estufou as redes da equipe caxiense.

EMPATE EM CIMA DA HORA

Apesar de ter evidentemente reduzido seu ritmo de intensidade ofensiva pela questão física, o Internacional praticamente não tinha vivenciado situações de risco em sua meta após abrir o marcador. Todavia, no último lance da primeira etapa, a bola no lado esquerdo do ataque do Caxias teve Jean Dias limpando a marcação e, de perna esquerda cruzando na medida para Eron, no meio da zaga do Inter, testar sem chance de defesa para Keiller.

CONTORNO DE TENSÃO

Com o cenário indefinido, o Colorado não só poderia como precisava voltar do intervalo ao menos mantendo o ritmo de marcação mais avançada para aumentar as chances de retomar a liderança no placar. Dessa forma, a necessidade se traduziu em novo domínio ofensivo em que, nas melhores oportunidades, Wanderson mandou uma bomba que explodiu no travessão de Bruno. Além disso, Estevão viu o goleiro do Caxias fazer defesa em que a bola ainda passou muito perto do travessão.

Por sua vez, o clube Grená se mantinha fiel à estratégia de ocupar os espaços e se armar de forma em que, em possíveis erros do Inter, a equipe estaria pronta para usar a velocidade nos contra-ataques. Contexto esse em que, mesmo depois da expulsão do meio-campista De Pena no lado dos anfitriões, só ocorreu em uma situação. No cruzamento de Jean Dias, Pedro Cuiabá testou na busca do lado direito de Keiller e acabou acertando a trave.

NA MARCA DA CAL, DEU CAXIAS

Com a persistência na igualdade do tempo normal até o apito derradeiro de Rafael Rodrigo Klein, a disputa pela segunda vaga na decisão do Campeonato Gaúcho foi determinada através das penalidades máximas.

Enquanto os dois times foram impecáveis até a quarta penalidade, Estevão parou em defesa do goleiro Bruno, que voou no canto esquerdo para fazer a intervenção. Assim, coube a Wesley Pomba (nome que pertence ao Grêmio) bater a penalidade derradeira e colocar o Caxias em sua quinta decisão na história do Gauchão.

FICHA TÉCNICA
​INTERNACIONAL 1 (4) x (5) 1 CAXIAS – CAMPEONATO GAÚCHO

Local: Estádio do Beira-Rio, em Porto Alegre (RS)
Data e hora: 26/03/2023 – 18h (de Brasília)
Árbitro: Rafael Rodrigo Klein
Assistentes: Mateus Olivério Rocha e Otavio Legramanti
VAR:Wagner Reway
​Cartões amarelos: Marcelo Ferreira, Thiago Carvalho, Dudu Mandai, Bruno, Pedro Cuiabá (CAX), De Pena, Mauricio, Mercado, Mano Menezes, Alan Patrick, Alemão, Keiller (INT)
Cartões vermelhos: De Pena, Matheus Dias, (INT)

GOLS: Mauricio (19’/1°T) (1-0), Eron (47’/1°T) (1-1)

INTERNACIONAL (Técnico: Mano Menezes)

Keiller; Bustos, Vitão, Mercado e Thauan Lara; Baralhas (Matheus Dias, aos 47’/2°T), Carlos de Pena, Mauricio (Estevão, aos 28’/2°T) e Alan Patrick; Wanderson (Pedro Henrique, aos 22’/2°T) e Luiz Adriano (Alemão, aos 28’/2°T).

CAXIAS (Técnico: Thiago Carvalho)

Bruno; Marcelo Ferreira, Dirceu, Fernando Fonseca e Dudu Mandai; Marlon (Moacir, aos 27’/2°T), Guedes e Peninha (Wesley Pomba, aos 10’/2°T); Jean Dias, Diego Rosa (Pedro Cuiabá, aos 27’/2°T) e Eron (Marcão, aos 41’/2°T).

Arsenal pre-season 2025: Tour, fixtures, results, tickets & how to watch

Complete guide to the Gunners' pre-season preparations, including friendlies and training camps, ahead of the 2025-26 season.

Mikel Arteta will embark on another big year as Arsenal battle to land every piece of silverware in 2025-26. 

The club finally managed to land a proper striker in Viktor Gyokeres, among other key transfers to adequately revamp of the squad, while the focus remained on addressing all known issues and hitting the reset once more. 

  • All completed Arsenal transfers so far in 2025-26 – listed

 Here, GOAL brings you everything you need to know about Arsenal's pre-season plans ahead of the 2025-26 season.

  • Getty Images Sport

    Arsenal 2025 pre-season tour fixtures & results

    Date Game Kick-off Venue
    July 23, 2025 Arsenal 1-0 (5-6 pen.) AC Milan 7:30 pm SGT (12:30 pm BST) National Stadium, Singapore
    July 27, 2025 Arsenal 3-2 Newcastle United 7:30 pm SGT (12:30 pm BST) National Stadium, Singapore
    July 31, 2025 Arsenal 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur 7:30 pm SGT (12:30 pm BST) Kai Tak Sports Park, Hong Kong
    August 6, 2025 Arsenal 2-3 Villarreal 6 pm BST Emirates Stadium, London
    August 9, 2025 Arsenal 3-0 Athletic Club 5 pm BST Emirates Stadium, London

    Arsenal's pre-season preparations began with a five-day training camp in La Manga, near Murcia, Spain, providing a focused environment for the squad.  

    After a few days at London Colney, Arteta's men kicked off their summer tour with a 1-0 triumph over AC Milan in a tightly-contested friendly held at the National Stadium in Singapore. However, the game still went to a penalty shootout, where the Italian side emerged victorious.

    Arsenal pipped Newcastle to a 3-2 win, with 15-year-old Max Dowman stealing the show, before losing 1-0 to bitter north London rivals Tottenham in Hong Kong.

    Back at home, the club played more warm-up matches, losing 3-2 to Villarreal before finishing their pre-season with a comfortable 3-0 win over Athletic Club to lift the Emirates Cup ahead of their Premier League opener. 

    See Arsenal's full fixture list

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  • Getty Images Sport

    Arsenal 2025 pre-season tour tickets

    Get tickets to Arsenal's 2025 pre-seasonGet tickets

    Fans can buy tickets to see Arsenal's pre-season games through StubHub or the club's official website. 

  • How to watch Arsenal pre-season games on TV & livestream online

    All of the Gunners' pre-season matches will be available to stream live online on Arsenal.com and the club's official app by purchasing a pay-per-view pass. It has to be noted that the pass will be unavailable for viewers in Spain, Italy, Singapore and Hong Kong.  

    Interestingly, the pre-season friendly against Tottenham on July 31 in Hong Kong had a special screening at Emirates Stadium.  

    Useful links

    • Soccer on US TV this week
    • Football on UK TV this week
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  • When does the 2025-26 season start for Arsenal?

    Arteta's men will kick off their Premier League season with a trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on August 16. 

    Although the 2025-26 Carabao Cup first round is set to kick off the week commencing Monday, August 11, due to their participation in the Champions League, the Gunners will enter the third round of the competition. The draw for the Champions League league phase will take place on Thursday, August 28, where Arsenal will find out their eight opponents.  

    Arsenal's FA Cup journey will begin in the third round of the prestigious domestic cup tournament.

Mandhana among icon players in inaugural Women's Maharashtra Premier League

The four-team tournament will be held at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Gahunje from June 24

PTI07-Apr-2024Smriti Mandhana has been named one of the icon players for the inaugural edition of the Women’s Maharashtra Premier League (WMPL). The tournament will be held at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Gahunje from June 24.The MCA announced that the franchise-based T20 tournament featuring four teams will be held under the aegis of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).”MCA will be the first association from the BCCI to start a state league for women,” the MCA said in a release.Related

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Apart from Mandhana, the other icon players are Devika Vaidya, Anuja Patil, Kiran Navgire and Shraddha Pokharkar.The tournament’s opening edition will have a price money of INR 20 lakh for the winning side and INR 10 lakh for the runner-up along with other individual prizes.The auction for teams will be held on April 27 while the auction for the players will be on May 11.Recently, the Cricket Association of Bengal [CAB] also announced the launch of the Bengal Pro T20 tournament, a franchise-based T20 tournament featuring a women’s event, in June this year.

ILT20 becomes first Associate-run franchise league to get 'official' List-A status

It is now a List A tournament, which means all tournament statistics will be given official status

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2023

Gulf Giants won the inaugural edition of the ILT20•ILT20

The UAE-based ILT20, one of the major franchise-run T20 leagues around the world despite being just a season old because of the quality of players it has attracted, has been given List A status by the ICC just over a month off the start of its second season. It’s the first T20 league run by the board of an Associate nation to be given the status.What it means is that the tournament will now be recognised as an official T20 tournament, with all tournament statistics given official status. In a statement, the ILT20 called the update “a major milestone” and a “major boost”.”Earning the List A status is a major milestone for the DP World International League T20. We would like to thank the ICC for the acknowledgment,” David White, chief executive of the league, said. “The recognition is a clear indication of the strength and stature of our league.”The second edition of the tournament will kick off on January 19 and end on February 17.And despite the dates of the tournament overlapping to some extent with a bunch of other T20 leagues, like the BPL, the SA20 league in South Africa, the Australian BBL, the Super Smash in New Zealand, and possibly the PSL, T20 stars like David Warner, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Alex Hales, Shimron Hetmyer, Chris Jordan, Trent Boult, Nicholas Pooran, Chris Woakes, Maheesh Theekshana and others are going to be in action at the ILT20.The ILT20 is currently a six-team league, with three of the teams – Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, Dubai Capitals and MI Emirates – owned by groups that own IPL teams. Gulf Giants, led by James Vince, won the first edition when they beat Desert Vipers in the final.

Rohit Sharma uses his experience to 'do what was necessary for the team'

The India captain says the side were “not great with the bat” in Lucknow, but having hung around to give his bowlers something to work with, he knew they could “do magic”

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-20231:46

Pujara pleased to see Rohit bring out the sweep

For the very first time in this World Cup, India had to set a total. And, coming up against England in Lucknow, they were off to a rocky start at 40 for 3 in the 12th over. From there, as per their captain and Player of the Match Rohit Sharma, it was vital for him to use all his experience on a challenging pitch and “bat to the situation”.”It’s just not about going and playing my shots, when you have that much experience you’ve got to use that experience and do whatever is necessary for the team, and it was at that point in time necessary for me to take the game as deep as possible and create that partnership and get to a decent total,” Rohit said after the game.He had raced away to 17 off 11 in the first two overs after England put India in, but as England repeatedly broke through at the other end, he cut back, easing his way to 29 off 40 before he would hit his next boundary – in the 14th over on his way to 87 off 101, which set India up for a 100-run win.That margin of victory might be as convincing as they come, but Rohit felt India had left a lot of runs out on the field. He had done the initial repair job with KL Rahul, putting on a stand of 91 for the fourth wicket, and then adding 33 more in partnership with Suryakumar Yadav before falling 13 short of a hundred. From there, England chipped away regularly, tying India down to 229 for 9.Related

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“I still felt like we were 20-30 runs short once we finished,” Rohit said. “The new ball was a bit challenging and then obviously as the game went on the ball got softer, it was not easy to rotate strike. But we said in the middle that we’ve got to keep digging in, keep digging in and then, finally, you know we got to a decent partnership there, but like I said we were 20-30 runs short towards the end.”Regardless of the conditions, Rohit said some of India’s issues came down to their batters being loose. Shubman Gill was bowled by a good one from Chris Woakes – albeit driving a touch airily – and then Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer were poor in their shot selection, offering up catches, the former for a duck. After their repair work Rahul and Rohit, and then Suryakumar too, were caught going for the big shots.Rohit Sharma kept India on track despite early losses•ICC via Getty Images”We were not great with the bat today, losing three wickets in the first powerplay isn’t the ideal situation but when you are in a situation like that all you are looking to do is create that long partnership, which we got. But then couple of guys threw it [away] at the end, including myself,” Rohit said. “But at that stage all I was thinking was to be positive and the balls in my areas I wanted to put it away. That’s how you put the pressure back on the bowler and the opposition as well but, yeah, when you look at the overall picture, I thought we were 30 runs short there.”Those lost runs were quickly forgotten as India quickly carved up England’s line-up, pacers Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah doing the early damage. Rohit was all praise for his attack: “With the experience that our seamers have now, you know you can always rely and bank on it that they could come good and get you those crucial breakthroughs and that is exactly what our seamers did. They exploited the conditions well and I thought they put the ball in the right areas to create that doubt in the batsmen’s minds.”

“You know when you have a bowling line up like that, it’s very important that the batters put the runs on the board, give them something to work for and then rely on them to do the magic.”Rohit Sharma

Asked by Michael Atherton at the post-match presentation if India’s is the best-rounded attack in the tournament, Rohit said: “We’ve got a good balance. A couple of good spinners and the seamers have a lot of experience playing in these conditions and, yeah, if I look at the overall options I have in terms of bowling, there is a fair bit and with experience as well.”So you know when you have a bowling line up like that, it’s very important that the batters put the runs on the board, give them something to work for and then rely on them to do the magic.”And magic they did, rolling England over with 15 overs to spare to keep India unbeaten at the top of the table and consign the defending champions to their fifth loss in six games.

Summer move likely: UCL club open talks to sign "powerful" Sunderland star

Despite their place in the play-offs all but secured, Sunderland could still lose one of their best players after RB Leipzig opened talks to secure his signature this summer.

RB Leipzig open talks to sign Sunderland star

Following a campaign to forget last time out, Regis Le Bris came into the hot seat at the Stadium of Light with plenty of work to do. Not many were sure what to expect. After all, the Black Cats had found themselves in the depths of mid-table in the previous campaign and still reeling from Michael Beale’s failed spell.

A season back in the top half with one eye on the top six would have sufficed in the Frenchman’s debut campaign. However, almost a year on, Le Bris has done more than just keep an eye on the play-off places. He has taken Sunderland from mid-table to Championship play-off contention in a debut season which could yet end with a place in the Premier League.

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A concern for the Black Cats…

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But that play-off spot does not come without one major warning. Whilst success would leave them in dreamland, failure to secure a place in the top flight could yet see the Black Cats picked apart by interested parties this summer.

Among those who are reportedly likely to leave is one of Le Bris’ most talented players. According to Sky reporter Florian Plettenberg, RB Leipzig have now opened talks to sign Jobe Bellingham this summer, gathering all the information they need to launch their move. And although his valuation is still reportedly out of their range, the midfielder’s exit remains likely this summer.

Making matters worse, he’s not the only who could leave in the coming months with captain Dan Neil also attracting plenty of attention from the likes of West Ham United and AS Roma in recent weeks. By the time August arrives, Sunderland could have lost two key players.

"Powerful" Bellingham is destined for stardom

The downside of having players as talented as Bellingham at your disposal is that the big clubs will inevitably come calling. And Sunderland are set to learn that the hard way this summer with Leipzig already making their move.

The German club’s interest should come as little shock. After all, it wasn’t so long ago that Borussia Dortmund were benefitting from signing Birmingham City star Jude Bellingham. Now, years on, Leipzig are looking to repeat that genius in the hope that the Real Madrid star’s younger brother is just as talented.

It has also been no surprise that Bellingham has found himself at the centre of Le Bris’ praise this season, with the Sunderland boss describing his midfielder as “powerful” earlier in the campaign. However, whether Sunderland have the chance to see that power in action next season remains to be seen.

Better than Swift: Colossal star just played his best game for West Brom

West Bromwich Albion maintained their place in the top six of the Championship with a 1-1 draw against Burnley at Turf Moor on Tuesday night.

The Baggies are fifth in the division, level on points with Coventry in sixth, and are two points ahead of Bristol City in seventh place, with nine games left to play.

Tony Mowbray’s side took the lead through John Swift but it only took three minutes for the hosts to equalise, as Joe Wildsmith inexplicably dropped the ball in front of Zian Flemming for a tap-in.

It was a well-earned point for the Baggies, whose hosts were given a red card at the final whistle for a cynical trip by CJ Egan-Riley, and that was down to several individual performances – including Swift’s.

John Swift's performance against Burnley

The English central midfielder is a Championship stalwart who knows the league inside and out, and knows how to compete against the best teams.

Performance in Numbers

He also has the individual quality to produce moments of magic for his side, which is exactly what he did against Burnley. His free-kick to open the scoring in the 20th minute was a thing of beauty, as he found the top corner with a strike that left the exceptional James Trafford unable to even react.

Swift also provided a reliable outlet in possession for West Brom, completing 90% of his attempted passes on the night, but was not particularly influential off the ball, winning one tackle and being dribbled past once.

Despite opening the scoring and being efficient with his passes, the 29-year-old maestro was not the best player on the pitch for the Baggies. That acclaim belongs to central defender Torbjorn Heggem.

Torbjorn Heggem's best game for West Brom

The Norwegian central defender enjoyed his best evening in a West Brom shirt on Tuesday night against the Clarets with an exceptional defensive effort to help his team to secure a point at Turf Moor.

Heggem has started all 37 of the club’s matches in the Championship this season and provided a consistent presence at the back for the Baggies, winning 66% of his duels in those games.

The 27-year-old colossus put in his best showing of those 37 appearances against Burnley, though, as he excelled in and out of possession all night.

There was little he could have done to prevent the only goal that West Brom conceded, as his goalkeeper let the team down with his mistake, but he did his best to ensure that the hosts did not find the back of the net multiple times.

Minutes

90

Pass accuracy

96%

Clearances

16

Dribbled past

0x

Duel success rate

100% (3/3)

As you can see in the table above, Heggem completed an even higher percentage of his passes than Swift did, without being dribbled past a single time and winning all of his physical duels.

It was the first time this season that the Norwegian titan made more than nine clearances in a Championship game and the first time that he made nine or more clearances whilst also winning 100% of his duels.

This shows that the West Brom star was consistently in the right place at the right time to make vital interventions to prevent Burnley from creating more chances to trouble Wildsmith.

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He set a new career-high for clearances as a West Brom player, clearing his previous high by seven, whilst also being perfect in his physical battles, which illustrates both why it was his best performance for the club as well as why he was even better than Swift.

Spurs struck gold on unreal "monster" who's worth millions more than Guehi

It’s been a bruising season for Tottenham Hotspur this year.

Ange Postecoglou’s side are in the second half of the Premier League table, out of both domestic cups and are currently a goal down in their Europa League clash with AZ Alkmaar.

The good news is that there are only a couple more months of the campaign left before Daniel Levy and Co can carry on their overhaul of the squad.

Ange Postecoglou and Daniel Levy.

One of the players they are likely to go back in for is Crystal Palace’s incredibly talented Marc Guehi, and while he’d be an excellent addition to the squad, the club already have a key defensive player worth millions more.

Why Spurs want to sign Guehi

On transfer deadline day last month, Spurs made a surprise bid of £70m to sign Guehi, but with no time to bring in a suitable replacement, Palace quickly rejected it.

Crystal Palace's MarcGuehicelebrates after the match

It’s fair to say that had the deal gone through, it would have been somewhat of an overpay, but that doesn’t mean the Englishman would have been a bad signing.

In fact, the former Chelsea man would be an excellent addition to the Lilywhites squad for a couple of reasons, with the first being his experience.

Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi celebrates

Despite still being just 24 years old, the 6 foot titan has already amassed 205 first-team appearances across his career, with 144 of those coming for Palace, 59 with Swansea City and two with the Blues.

Furthermore, he’s won 22 senior England caps, was a key player at the European Championships and is currently the Eagles’ captain.

In addition to his impressive experience, the Abidjan-born star has some great underlying numbers.

For example, FBref places him in the top 3% of centre-backs across Europe’s top five leagues for through balls and passes blocked, the top 4% for goals plus assists, the top 9% for all blocks and more, all per 90.

England's John Stones, Jude Bellingham and MarcGuehi

So, when you consider all of that, plus the fact that his contract is set to expire next year, it’s easy to see why Football Transfers have valued him at up to €53.8m, which is about £45m.

While that is still a sizable chunk of change, it’s significantly less than what one of his potential future teammates is worth.

The Spurs star worth millions more than Guehi

While they have been without most of them for large parts of the campaign, you could make valid arguments for a number of Spurs’ defenders to be counted among the best in the Premier League.

That is certainly the case for Cristian Romero, at least, and it’s reflected in his valuation.

According to Football Transfers, the Argentine superstar is currently worth up to a staggering €79.8m, which is about £67m, or £22m more than Guehi.

That is an enormous sum of money, but based on the last three years or so, it would be hard to dispute it.

For example, the 6 foot 1 “monster,” as dubbed by journalist Charlie Eccleshare, has made 112 appearances for Tottenham, in which he’s scored seven goals and provided one assist.

Romero’s Spurs career

Appearances

112

Goals

7

Assists

1

Yellow Cards

29

Second Yellows

3

Red Cards

1

All Stats via Transfermarkt

On top of that, he’s earned 40 caps for Argentina, in which he’s won the Copa América twice and the World Cup.

Finally, if you’re still not convinced, then maybe Lionel Messi can change your mind, as the footballing god described his compatriot as “the best defender in the world.”

Ultimately, he might be a bit rash sometimes, but Romero is undoubtedly one of the best defenders in the league, and should Spurs sign Guehi in the summer, he’ll have to be near enough perfect to see his valuation ever reach the Argentine’s.

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Wolves must regret losing loan "maestro" who’s worth 202% more than Munetsi

The race for survival is heating up in the Premier League. Wolverhampton Wanderers are currently on 19 points after 24 games, just 21 points away from the magical 40-point total that is thought to all but guarantee a side safety in the top-flight for another season.

The Old Gold will need their big stars to turn up in the final few months of the season. Matheus Cunha will be key, as will Rayan Ait-Nouri. This could be their last few games in a Wolves shirt, given both could leave in the summer. They were linked with a move away in January, too.

Vitor Pereira will also be hoping his January signings can put in some big performances in their fight for survival. New midfielder Marshall Munetsi will be a key player.

Munetsi’s January move to Wolves

The Old Gold signed Zimbabwean midfielder Munetsi on deadline day of the 2025 January transfer window. The 28-year-old signed from French outfit Stade Reims, with the transfer fee reported to be £17m.

His record for the Ligue 1 outfit is impressive. Munetsi pulled on the Reims shirt 159 times in total, scoring 21 goals and grabbing 14 assists. He is a versatile player, able to play all over the midfield, as a number six, a number eight or even a number ten.

So far, the midfielder has played once for the Old Gold, with his debut coming in the FA Cup, a 24-minute cameo against Championship side Blackburn Rovers.

So, although it is early days, the signs that Munetsi might become an excellent player for the Old Gold are certainly positive ones. He could be a huge figure in their battle for Premier League survival.

However, it might have the Wolves fans reminiscing about a former midfielder who has become a brilliant player of his own and is worth far more than the £17m they paid for Munetsi.

The former Wolves midfielder worth more than Munetsi

It has been a rapid rise to the top for former Wolves loanee Vitinha. Now thriving at Paris Saint Germain, the Portugal international made the move to Molineux on a season-long loan in the 2020/21 campaign. The deal had a buy option, but they did not activate it.

It is fair to say that things did not necessarily work out for the Portuguese midfielder. He played 22 times in all competitions for the club, managing just one goal and one assist. His sole strike was a sublime FA Cup fourth-round winning goal way to non-league Chorley.

Since playing for the Old Gold, Vitinha has made a real name for himself at PSG in their midfield. He has played 125 times for the club, managing 16 goals and ten assists including 11 goal involvements in Ligue 1 last term.

He is also a full international with Portugal, and was a key member of their Euro 2024 squad alongside the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo, grabbing three assists in the tournament. He has 25 caps for his country so far.

The “maestro”, as Statman Dave described him, is now worth far more than what Wolves paid for Munetsi. According to Football Transfers, Vitinha is valued at £51.4m, which is 202% more than the fee that their new midfielder cost them.

In fact, if that wasn’t enough, he was also incredibly nominated for the 2024 Ballon d’Or.

The stats on Squawka suggest this is a fair gap in valuation, too. Using data from the 2023/24 Ligue 1 season, the Portugal star ranked above Munetsi in many metrics, including chances created, with 1.5 compared to 0.5 per game.

Vitinha & Munetsi ket stats 2023/24 Ligue 1 season compared

Stat (per 90)

Vitinha

Munetsi

Goals

0.2

0.5

Chances created

0.5

1.5

Forward passes

6.6

17.2

Take-ons completed

0.5

1.4

Ball recoveries

4.6

6.6

Stats from Squawka

On reflection, the Old Gold might be kicking themselves that they didn’t get the most out of Vitinha during his time at Molineux. Given his value now, and how much more he is worth compared to Munetsi, he could have been a key man in Pereira’s midfield.

Wolves might wish they had just activated the buy option in Vitinha’s loan deal because they could have had a superb, and expensive, player on their hands.

Wolves must rue selling big-money star who is now outperforming Ait-Nouri

This former Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder continues to shine away from Molineux.

By
Kelan Sarson

Feb 12, 2025

Man City now want to sign 24 y/o who’s "similar to Paolo Maldini"

Manchester City are still said to be eyeing a move for a highly rated player in the summer transfer window, having held talks over a move back in January.

Man City transfer news

Pep Guardiola’s side is reportedly one of a number of clubs interested in signing Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Hugo Larsson at the end of the season. The 20-year-old is a highly rated prospect who is also thought to be wanted by the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United, so a Premier League move could be on the cards.

Milan left-back Theo Hernandez has also been mentioned as a transfer target for City as they look to pip reigning Champions League holders Real Madrid to his signature. They could hijack a move in what would have the potential to be an exciting piece of business.

Theo Hernandez

Juventus ace Andrea Cambiaso is another player who has been linked with a summer switch to the Etihad, having caught the eye for the Turin giants this season, scoring twice in Serie A and recording a 90.9% pass completion rate.

Sporting CP star Geovany Quenda has also been backed to move to City in the near future, but they will have to wait until at least the summer after failing to snap him up in January.

Man City still eyeing Maldini-esque ace

According to a fresh claim from Football Insider, Manchester City are still eyeing a move for Cambiaso this summer, following talks over a transfer in the January window.

The 24-year-old is believed to be one of two targets alongside Milan favourite Hernandez as Guardiola looks to strengthen in the full-back areas.

It is easy to see why Cambiaso is seemingly a primary target for City moving forward, with the Italian a player with a bright future in the game and his best years still ahead of him.

He has been given about the highest praise imaginable by Mauro Tasotti, with the former Milan defender comparing him to all-time great Paolo Maldini, saying:

“I haven’t yet understood whether he is right or left-footed. In this sense, he is similar to Paolo Maldini, who however was much more powerful from a physical standpoint, had incredible charisma and was also very strong defensively, so much so that he ended his career as a centre-back.”

That says a huge amount about Cambiaso’s qualities as a footballer, so the idea of City signing him this summer is undoubtedly exciting.

Stat

Total

Appearances

21

Starts

17

Minutes played

1,503

Goals

2

Assists

0

Tackles per game

1.6

Key passes per game

1.1

Pass completion rate

90.9%

The Italy international would be considered a younger alternative to Hernandez, who is three years his senior, making the left-back spot his own for the foreseeable future.

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