Carlo Ancelotti has praised the ever-improving Arda Guler and said that he is going to be a "very important player" for Real Madrid in the future.
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Guler struggled for game time Ancelotti praises Real Madrid aceWill be "very important player"Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Despite struggling for regular game time, Madrid boss Ancelotti has talked up the Turkish international's quality and claimed that one day he will be a "fantastic" central player. The Italian added that the 20-year-old has a huge amount of potential.
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He told reporters: "He has progressed very well. He has become more important. In the future he will have even more prominence. He is showing quality and he is having more continuity in the game. I think he’s going to be a fantastic central player, and not just a winger. For the future of Real Madrid he is going to be a very important player, because there are not many players of this profile in midfield."
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Guler has played 37 times for Madrid this season, scoring four goals and bagging eight assists. But just 13 of those have been starts, leading to speculation over a move this summer. But it seems Los Blancos want to keep the youngster, despite the mounting interest.
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Guler, whose contract at Santiago Bernabeu runs until 2029, will hope to feature for Madrid at home to Celta Vigo in La Liga on Sunday.
Celtic could still look to sign an “amazing” player who they made an offer for in the January transfer window, according to the individual himself.
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Things continue to go extremely smoothly for the Hoops this season, with Saturday’s 5-0 win over Raith Rovers at Parkhead seeing them cruise into the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup.
Celtic ended up having a quiet time of things in the January window, even though Brendan Rodgers was pushing hard to complete the signing of Brondby striker Mathias Kvistgaarden, following the surprise exit of star attacker Kyogo Furuhashi.
Celtic managerBrendanRodgerscelebrates after winning the League Cup
In the end, the 22-year-old stayed put at his current club for the time being, but it remains to be seen if the Hoops will go back in for him at the end of the season.
While Rodgers has built a squad capable of fighting on all fronts this season, there is no question that new faces could be needed in the summer, in order to bring a freshness to the squad. Now, a potential target has emerged – one who may even have arrived at Celtic by now if his situation was different.
Celtic made offer for 23 y/o forward in January
Speaking Gazet van Antwerpen [via Sport Witness], Michel-Ange Balikwisha claimed that Celtic attempted to sign him in January, while also not ruling out a summer move:
“Celtic’s offer this winter was concrete, but I didn’t want to leave injured. Celtic’s interest was specific, but I chose to stay. I didn’t think leaving with an injury was ideal. Then I’d rather take good care of myself, to be ready for the play-offs. We will see further in the summer window.”
It makes complete sense why Balikwisha didn’t want to leave in January, given his injury situation, but it is encouraging that he hints at a move still coming to fruition in the near future.
The 23-year-old is a young winger who should only improve in the coming years, and analyst Ben Mattinson has spoken highly of the Royal Antwerp ace, describing him as “amazing”.
Primarily a left winger, Balikwisha can also excel on the right and in a central attacking role, with the Antwerp man capped for Belgium across five different age groups.
Belgium Under-21s
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Belgium Under-19s
3
0
Belgium Under-18s
1
0
Belgium Under-17s
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Belgium Under-16s
4
1
A tally of 25 goals in 128 appearances for his current club is a solid return, and Celtic should be eyeing him up as a primary target when the summer window opens.
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Celtic hit the jackpot by selling the star who is now worth more than Daizen Maeda.
Seamer says aggressive gameplans can give her a second wind at back end of career
Valkerie Baynes02-Dec-2022Kate Cross says England Women are ready to embrace a more aggressive approach under the guidance of new head coach Jon Lewis.Upon linking up with his charges at their training base in Loughborough last week, Lewis revealed he wanted them to play less safe and “walk towards the danger” just as he had seen the England Men’s sides do across formats in his previous role as their elite pace bowling coach.It’s an approach that may come naturally to the younger members of the squad, with the likes of Alice Capsey, Freya Kemp, Issy Wong and Lauren Bell all fearlessly grabbing the international opportunities given to them over the summer during the final months of Lisa Keightley’s three-year tenure as head coach.And while Kate Cross, the 31-year-old seamer, believes it will require a “mindset shift” for the team as a whole, she’s all in.”If you’re not willing to move with the times, then you’re going to get stuck behind anyway,” Cross said from Antigua, where the ODI squad is preparing for the first of three matches against West Indies on Sunday.”I’m not daft, I know that people are going to work out how to face me and how to attack me and that’s ultimately going to put pressure on me. So if I can get ahead of that curve now, then that’s pretty handy for me as a player.”How it looks for me might look very different to how it looks for Freya Kemp or Katherine Brunt. That’s where I think Lewy is going to come in and be really clear with our roles in the team, and what that looks like and what is needed from us.”From a bowling point of view, we’ve got such a big unit now and a really exciting unit, that it will be more how we approach the game as a unit, because it’ll be up to the five or six bowlers that are out there to try and bowl teams out. It’s going to be interesting, but I’m really looking forward to it.”Related
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Jon Lewis: 'You don't coach gender, you coach people'
Shemaine Campbelle and Kycia Knight back in West Indies squad for ODIs against England
Cross is an admirer of how England Men’s red- and white-ball teams have executed the positive ethos promoted by their respective head coaches, Brendon McCullum and Matthew Mott, reacting on her Instagram stories to an ECB post about the Test team’s feats on the opening day in Pakistan, saying: “Changing the game, this team”. And she said the concept wasn’t completely alien to the Women’s group, who had talked about adopting a similar approach under Keightley and captain Heather Knight over the summer.”Personally for me, it’s a really nice time for this to come in,” she added. “It’s getting that second wind in your career. You don’t want to be the old senior pro that is stuck in their ways and just does what they always do. It feels like a really nice time for me personally as well, to be getting that messaging.”The thing that I’ve noticed with the youngsters is just the lack of fear that they have when they play. That’s probably an element of coming in and making debuts in the Hundred and playing in front of big crowds, and having the opportunity to impress people. Sometimes I think players from my generation could have been doing that, but it was a bit behind the scenes, you weren’t on TV, it wasn’t even live-streamed back then.”Those youngsters are just used to that environment. For me, what is exciting is they don’t really care who’s bowling at them or who they’re bowling at, they just go and do their thing. That’s the making of a really exciting team.”The ODIs in Antigua will form part of the ICC Women’s Championship, in which England are yet to get off the mark following their 3-0 defeat by India in September.Cross is not part of the T20I squad staying on – with Brunt, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Sarah Glenn and Wong joining them – for five matches from December 11. She will return home along with Emma Lamb, Alice Davidson-Richards and Tammy Beaumont after the third ODI in a week’s time but for now she is relishing being back in the Caribbean, where she made her international debut in 2013 and where she came as a youngster herself to watch the men play on the 2004 Test tour.”I remember coming out here as a young kid watching [Steve] Harmison and [Matthew] Hoggard bowling on pitches like this and making West Indian players look silly,” she said. “I also did see Brian Lara get 400, so maybe I shouldn’t say that. But I’m a huge cricket fan, I’ve been lucky to come out here and watch England men play, so it’s great to be back here… it’s a special place for me.”
Openers Shanto and Zakir saw off the day and left Bangladesh with 471 to get in two days
Hemant Brar16-Dec-2022Shubman Gill scored his first Test hundred, and Cheteshwar Pujara his first in 52 innings and the fastest of his career as India declared on 258 for 2, setting Bangladesh a target of 513 in the first Test in Chattogram. More realistically, they gave themselves two days and a bit to pick up ten wickets.In response, Bangladesh openers Najmul Hossain Shanto and Zakir Hasan saw off the 12 overs left in the day’s play.This was after Kuldeep Yadav, playing his first Test in 22 months and eighth overall, picked up his third five-wicket haul to skittle out the hosts for 150 in the first innings.Resuming the day on 133 for 8, Bangladesh could add only 17 more as Kuldeep had Ebadot Hossain caught down the leg side in the fifth over of the day to complete his five-for. Mehidy Hasan Miraz, the other overnight batter, then tried to farm the strike even more but was stumped off Axar Patel soon after while going for a big hit. That gave India a lead of 254 but they decided against enforcing the follow-on.In the second innings, Khaled Ahmed and Taijul Islam opened the bowling for Bangladesh as Ebadot didn’t step onto the field. On Thursday too, after dismissing Shreyas Iyer, he was off the field for the rest of India’s first innings. With Shakib Al Hasan also not bowling, probably because of the rib injury he sustained during the ODI series, the hosts were left with just three frontline bowlers.KL Rahul and Gill, though, started slowly, accumulating only 16 runs in the first eight overs. Gill upped the scoring rate after lunch but Khaled broke their 70-run stand. Using the short-ball play, he first hurried Rahul and then had him pulling one to fine leg for 23.Khaled also hit Pujara on the body twice, but the plan didn’t work against Gill, who took the short ball on and hit the seamer for a four and a six. Later, as Khaled seemed to be tiring at the end of his seven-over spell, Pujara too pulled him for four.Shubman Gill got to his maiden Test hundred off 147 balls•AFP/Getty ImagesAgainst spinners, Gill used the sweep shot to good effect, picking up three boundaries with it. He, though, had a scare on 70 when Yasir Ali pinged him on the pads. The on-field umpire ignored the vociferous appeal, and when Bangladesh opted to review it, they were told the DRS technology was down.Post tea, Gill and Pujara batted with even more intent. Gill moved to 99 with a reverse-swept four off Mehidy and two balls later hit him over mid-on for a one-bounce four to get to his hundred. He fell for 110 while attempting another big shot, but Pujara took over after that.Having reached his fifty off 87 deliveries, Pujara took only 43 balls more to get to his hundred. On the way, he used his feet against spinners to loft them over mid-off and mid-on, deployed the lap sweep on more than one occasion, and even brought out the reverse sweep as India eyed declaration.From the other end, Virat Kohli almost exclusively dealt in singles. He and Pujara added 75 off 73 balls in an unbroken stand for the fifth wicket, Kohli’s share in that being 19 off 29 balls.A misfield at mid-on took Pujara to the three-figure mark off 130 balls, and with that, India declared their innings as well.
Ruben Amorim will pay out of his own pocket for 30 members of his background staff and their families to attend the Europa League final.
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United won't provide free tickets to staffAmorim offers to pay for support team and familiesRed Devils face Tottenham in next week's finalFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
United's coaches, physios and support team were told they would have to pay for their own tickets for the clash in Bilbao, but reports that the manager has pledged to pay for his team and their families to attend the game to reward their contribution to the campaign. The report says the Portuguese told the club he would cover the costs so that each member, including low-paid staff, could take up to two guests.
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It was revealed this week that United will not offer free tickets to the final to staff and will instead offer a screening of the match along with two free drinks. United and Tottenham have been allocated 15,000 match tickets each, but Spurs will offer one free ticket to all of their 700 employees.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Red Devils have also opted against holding a bus parade of Manchester if they win the clash with their Premier League rivals and are reportedly set to host a barbecue instead.
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AFPWHAT NEXT FOR MAN UTD?
Amorim's men take on Chelsea in the Premier League on Friday while Tottenham face Aston Villa on the same evening before the pair travel to Bilbao for the final on May 21.
In recent times, Celtic have been renowned for their business model at Parkhead of buying young players and selling them on for profit, a strategy that chief executive Michael Nicholson described as “successful on and off the field”.
This leads to plenty of players passing through the club, often for a very short period, sometimes making a ginormous impact, and other times leaving having made very little impression at all.
The latter is certainly true of a highly-rated youngster, once labelled “the Scottish Gareth Bale”, whose stint at Parkhead was, at best, unmemorable, and has certainly not lived up to his potential.
Celtic's best and worst loanees
According to Transfermarkt, since 2017, Celtic have taken 16 senior players on loan, not including players such as Daizen Maeda, Jota, Paulo Bernardo, Adam Idah nor Cameron Carter-Vickers, who initially arrived on loan, before making the move permanent.
Former Celtic winger Jota.
So, here they all are in all their glory. We bet there are some names on this list you’d completely forgotten about…
Jeffrey Schlupp
2025-present
7
0
0
Álex Valle
2024
10
0
1
Nat Phillips
2023
8
0
1
Moritz Jenz
2022
19
2
2
Shane Duffy
2020/21
27
3
1
Diego Laxalt
2020/21
28
1
1
Jonjoe Kenny
2021
16
0
0
Mohamed Elyounoussi
2019/21
67
25
3
Moritz Bauer
2019/20
13
0
1
Daniel Arzani
2018/20
2
0
2
Filip Benković
2018/19
27
2
3
Oliver Burke
2019
19
4
2
Tim Weah
2019
17
4
2
Jeremy Toljan
2019
14
0
2
Patrick Roberts
2016-2018
78
18
7
Charly Musonda
2018
8
0
2
Fair to say, looking at this list, it’s a real mixed bag, with Mohamed Elyounoussi and Patrick Roberts, almost unquestionably, the two best, both in terms of longevity and output.
On the flip side, the trio that arrived during the behind-closed-doors 2020/21 season, namely Shane Duffy, Jonjoe Kenny and Diego Laxalt, were not great were they, making it very little surprise that campaign was such a catastrophe.
Where Are They Now
Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast’s Where Are They Now series.
One player on that list, who made fewer than 20 appearances in hoops, managed by both Brendan Rodgers and Neil Lennon during his brief time at the club, had massive potential, but never fulfilled that hype.
Celtic once had the 'Scottish Gareth Bale'
Oliver Burke was once described, as noted by analyst Kai Watson, as the ‘Scottish Gareth Bale’, with sky-high expectations placed upon his shoulders, hence why RB Leipzig paid a reported £13m for his services, signing him from Nottingham Forest in 2016 when he was still a teenager.
However, as outlined by Mark Walker of the Herald, Burke has had a ‘peculiar career’ since then, viewed as an ‘unpolished diamond’ when he first broke into Forest’s first team, with Steve Madeley of the Athletic describing him as ‘rampaging’ and ‘speedy’.
However, his manager at Leipzig, Ralf Rangnick, essentially intimated that Burke was unable to take on tactical instructions, so his time in Saxony did not go as planned.
The Scotland international, still only 27-years-old, was sold to West Bromwich Albion for £15m in 2017, but made just 24 appearances for the Baggies, loaned out to Celtic, for whom he scored four goals, including this brace against St Mirren.
Since departing Parkhead, Burke has represented Depotivo Alavés, Sheffield United, Millwall twice and Birmingham City, with Joseph Chapman of Birmingham Live describing his loan spell at St Andrew’s as ‘miserable’.
So, where is he in 2025 and how is he doing? Well, the Scot is back in the Bundesliga with Werder Bremen, joining die Grün-Weißen in 2022, but making only 36 appearances for them so far, albeit he was on target during Tuesday’s DFB-Pokal defeat at the hands of 3.Liga side Arminia Bielefeld.
At this peak, Burke was bought for £15m, but is now valued at less than £1m by Transfermarkt, merely a footnote in Celtic’s treble success of 2018/19.
Celtic's best striker since Larsson is now playing in Australia's 3rd-tier
Celtic have had plenty of top-class strikers in the 20 years since Henrik Larsson’s departure, but one is now plying his trade in the wilderness.
Manchester United have been put on alert as Brentford captain Christian Norgaard believes Bryan Mbeumo is "likely to leave" this summer.
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Mbeumo on radar of top PL clubsHas 18 league goals this seasonCaptain Norgaard expects forward to leaveFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
The Cameroonian forward has been in stellar form, netting 18 Premier League goals this season, which has naturally drawn interest from elite sides within the division. However, the club's ability to replace attacking talent with relative ease provides hope to Norgaard.
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In an interview with, Norgaard said: "I think Bryan is likely to go [this summer]."
Norgaard also weighed in on the situation of fellow Brentford forward Yoane Wissa, who has matched Mbeumo’s goal tally this term. Though interest in Wissa is also growing – Nottingham Forest even made a bid for him in January – Norgaard suggested he might still remain with the west London club.
"I don't know about Wissa yet," he added. "Everyone hopes that he might stay. Either way, I'm happy for the season and am happy for both of them. They deserve it so much."
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Despite the possibility of losing two of his side’s most influential forwards, Norgaard expressed little anxiety about the club’s ability to manage the transition.
"I'm pretty calm about what will happen with Bryan and Wissa," said Norgaard. "A lot of questions are asked about them and you can almost feel the worries around the players, when you talk about them maybe leaving us.
"I was one [of them] when we were losing Ollie Watkins and Said Benrahma, Ivan Toney. So it continues. But the club has already brought in Igor Thiago, who is another fantastic character and he will also take the league by storm at some point. When that is, I don't know but I'm sure he will be ready if Wissa gets his dream move, or Bryan leaves and there will be a change of the offensive players. I think the club is so talented in recruiting and always being two or three steps ahead."
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While United were beaten 4-3 by Brentford on Sunday – extending their winless streak in the competition to six matches – they are now turning their attention to European action. Amorim’s side are preparing for a decisive Europa League semi-final second leg against Athletic Club on Thursday, with a place in the final at stake. They lead 3-0 on aggregate.
Bumrah has been out of action because of a stress reaction in his back but his recovery has gone satisfactorily, according to the BCCI
ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jan-2023Jasprit Bumrah has been added to India’s ODI squad for the three-match series against Sri Lanka after three months away from the national side.Bumrah has been out of action since September last year because of a stress reaction in his back, and had been rehabilitating at the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru since. ESPNcricinfo understands that the national selectors have deemed his recovery as satisfactory.He is understood to have amped up his training routine and bowling over the past week, resulting in his inclusion in the squad. “The pacer has undergone rehabilitation and has been declared fit by the NCA,” the BCCI said in a statement. “He will be joining the Team India ODI squad soon.”‘Related
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Was Bumrah rushed back from injury ahead of T20 World Cup?
When India’s squads for the T20I and ODI series against Sri Lanka were announced on December 27, ESPNcricinfo had reported that Bumrah was fit, but the selectors were being cautious about rushing him back because of the way his back injury had resurfaced during the home T20Is against Australia last year. Bumrah was subsequently ruled out of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, where India lost to England in the semi-finals.Bumrah’s rehab and recovery report is believed to have been discussed at the BCCI’s performance review meeting on Monday, leading to a change in stance regarding selection. The team management is reportedly keen on Bumrah building his way back to full rhythm in a match environment ahead of the four-Test series against Australia in February.Watch on ESPN Player in the UK
WATCH the first India vs Sri Lanka T20I LIVE
His return comes at a time when India are getting their preparations underway for the 2023 ODI World Cup, which will be held in India this October-November. India could also have a World Test Championship final to play in June, soon after the IPL, depending on the result of the home Test series against Australia.Bumrah’s inclusion in the ODI squad means India have a near full-strength pace attack for the series against Sri Lanka, with Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik, in addition to seam-bowling allrounder Hardik Pandya, all in the mix.India play three ODIs against Sri Lanka on January 10, 12 and 15, after the three-T20I series that begins on January 3.India’s squad for Sri Lanka ODIs: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vice-capt), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh.
Liverpool are firing on all cylinders, and wrapping up the Premier League title is beginning to look like a formality after Arsenal’s depleted ranks have seen them drop away from the summit.
The Gunners will no doubt feel aggrieved over the incessant injury blows that have disrupted their campaign, but Liverpool have always looked like the best team in this league, right from the offing.
With just one loss all season, the top-flight table-toppers are thriving under Arne Slot, having kept more clean sheets (12) than any other team, taking control through their robust and dynamic midfield and indeed putting teams to the sword with a frightening frontline, headed by Mohamed Salah.
Salah is taking all the individual accolades and will have one eye on the Ballon d’Or ceremony later this year, but winning titles is the main thing for this incredible forward.
It’s unthinkable that he might be playing elsewhere after the summer.
Potential Salah replacements at Liverpool
Like Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, Salah is out of contract at the end of the season. The consensus is that the elder stars will pen new deals, as per David Ornstein, though Trent’s situation is more nebulous with Real Madrid desperate to reel him in.
Mo Salah
Internally, Liverpool have some fitting Salah replacements from a positional standpoint. Federico Chiesa typically plays off the right, while Ben Doak has been making headway on loan with Middlesbrough in the Championship this season.
However, both are dwarfed when up against the 32-year-old’s giddy level.
Spanish sources have long claimed that Real Madrid’s Rodrygo is on the shortlist to replace the 32-year-old, while Brentford bagman Bryan Mbeumo has more recently been touted as a suitable like-for-like successor.
Bryan Mbeumo celebrates for Brentford
Liverpool were understood to have placed Jarrod Bowen at the top of the shopping list when Saudi Arabian suitors wanted to sign Salah for £150m in August 2023.
Indeed, the West Ham United skipper is valued in the £100m ballpark as West Ham view him in the same bracket as Declan Rice, who joined Arsenal for £105m in 2023.
Bowen’s a good player, but £100m is no small haul. In fact, FSG must kick themselves for selling their own version of the Three Lions star, who was cheap as chips and capable from a utility role before being sold by Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool sold their own Jarrod Bowen Where Are They Now
Those of a Liverpool persuasion are waiting with bated breath as Salah’s future remains undetermined – in four months, he will be a free agent – but it does feel like the £350k-per-week sensation will extend and see out his final prime years on Merseyside.
Forking out £100m for the 28-year-old Bowen doesn’t feel very FSG, and plans will instead be mapped out for a success plan while Salah still plies his art at the club, in all likelihood.
Jarrod Bowen celebrates for West Ham
Given that Liverpool had their own lite version in Takumi Minamino, such intrigue could have been parked long ago, with the Japan international joining Liverpool from RB Salzburg in January 2020 after Klopp was impressed by his display against the Reds in the Champions League.
With a £7m release clause, it was a no-brainer, an astute piece of business to shore up the frontline and provide cover for Salah. Chiesa’s arrival last summer echoed this former package, and you have to wonder whether there was ever any need for the £150k-per-week Italian at all, for Minamino’s versatile qualities could have seen him play a longer-standing role.
In fairness, the 30-year-old detailed frustrations over his bit-part role, but he could have been sated with further opportunities, having proved his worth through crucial Carabao Cup and FA Cup in 2021/22, notching eight goal contributions in total as the Merseysiders won both titles.
Make no mistake, Minamino is not good enough to succeed or even rival Salah, who has recently been described as the “best player in the world” by Sky Sports’ Melissa Reddy.
However, he does have the kind of profile that Liverpool have enjoyed over recent years, not least because FSG signed him and won titles with him.
Indeed, Minamino’s inclination toward cutting inside and striking on goal has seen FBref record West Ham’s Bowen as one of his most statistically similar players, for the Three Lions star is regarded as a constant danger for defenders with crisp dribbling and passing and an innate striker’s instinct.
At Monaco, the Japan winger has enjoyed a nice resurgence, scoring 16 goals and adding 15 assists across 85 appearances, starting 67 of those fixtures. His balanced output offers further similarities to Bowen’s clinical yet creative game.
24/25
23 (23)
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4
23/24
34 (34)
16
6
22/23
38 (36)
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21/22
36 (34)
12
10
20/21
38 (30)
8
5
19/20
13 (11)
1
4
He hasn’t always achieved the most emphatic clinical success, but Bowen has proved himself to be one of the Premier League’s most able forwards, so often a beacon of hope for a West Ham team who have lifted a European title and enjoyed several seasons up against the biggest hitters but have struggled in the bottom half of the division both this season and last.
Liverpool’s frontline, so replete with quality, doesn’t require Bowen’s services, but Minamino’s retained presence could have saved money for FSG while providing a flexible threat to supplement the likes of Salah.
Jarrod Bowen scores for West Ham
After all, Minamino has scored six goals and five assists from 32 matches for Monaco this season. For context, Darwin Nunez has identical numbers from 36 appearances across all competitions at Liverpool. Might Minamino be a more capable asset in Slot’s squad?
Liverpool sold him to Monaco for £15m in 2022, turning a tidy profit, so there can’t be too heavy grievances, but the fact remains he would have been a worthy asset who fit that Bowen-like profile Liverpool admire and avoided needless signings such as that of Chiesa.
Minamino was “undervalued” at Liverpool, so says journalist Josh Bunting, and his likeness to Bowen shows he could have been more of an asset.
Slot is creating his own Gordon in Liverpool's "special" 17-year-old
Liverpool are gearing up for a long and successful chapter under Arne Slot’s leadership.
When fans talk about the stars from Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur tenure, the same names always tend to pop up.
The first two will almost always be Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, as, individually, they were some of the very best attackers in Europe, and together, it could be argued that they were the best partnership in the Premier League.
Then, moving into midfield, people often point to the incredibly hard-working Mousa Dembélé or the technically brilliant Cristian Eriksen.
However, one player who perhaps does not get the recognition he deserves from the general public is Jan Vertonghen, who, alongside Toby Alderweireld, created an incredibly formidable defence, and now it looks like Ange Postecoglou may have uncovered his own version of the Belgian.
Vertonghen's Spurs career
After spending six years with Ajax – where he started his career – Vertonghen joined Spurs in the summer of 2012 for a fee of around £9.5m.
Former Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen.
Under then-manager Andre Villas-Boas, the Belgian made his competitive debut for the club in late August against West Bromwich Albion, making 49 appearances across all competitions that year.
Interestingly, while the incredibly experienced professional is so heavily associated with his defensive partner Alderweireld, who he also played with at Ajax, their partnership did not come about at Spurs until the start of the 15/16 season, following his arrival from the Amsterdam outfit.
Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen
However, once the former teammates were reunited in the capital, they helped to get the best out of one another and, in turn, helped to create one of the best defences in the entire league.
For example, the Lilywhites conceded the fewest goals in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 campaigns, just 35 and 26, respectively.
Appearances
315
Starts
307
Minutes
27315′
Goal
14
Assists
7
Goal Involvements per Match
0.06
Minutes per Goal Involvement
1300′
On top of that, the Sint-Niklaas-born titan was also a key figure in the team that reached the Champions League final in 2019, playing in and starting ten games, including the final.
By the time he left to join Benfica in the summer of 2020, Vertonghen had made 315 appearances for the club – 40 of which were at left-back – scoring 14 goals, providing seven assists and averaging 1.84 points per game.
The former Ajax star is undoubtedly a modern great for Tottenham, and now it looks like Postecoglou could have found his own version of the unreal defender.
Spurs' new Vertonghen
One of the most significant reasons for Spurs’ dire form this season has been the absurd amount of injuries they have had to contend with.
Tottenham Hotspur manager AngePostecogloucelebrates after the match
Moreover, while the attack has seen its fair share of enforced absences, the defence has been most impacted, with one of last season’s stars, Micky van de Ven, missing 30 games so far.
The Dutch international, who joined the club from VfL Wolfsburg for around £43m in Postecoglou’s first summer, has the potential to be the club’s new Vertonghen, and there are a few reasons why.
The first is that, like the former Lilywhites star, the 23-year-old is more than just a centre-back and can play at left-back when needed.
In fact, the Wormer-born star has already played there three times for the North Londoners, and we would not be surprised to see him start there again in the future to make the most of his explosive speed.
Appearances
42
Starts
41
Minutes
3491′
Goals
3
Assists
2
Goal Involvements per Match
0.11
Minutes per Goal Involvement
698.2′
The second reason is that while he has battled with injury problems, it’s abundantly clear to all who watch him that the former Volendam star is not your ordinary defender.
On top of his aforementioned speed – which saw him set a Premier League record last season – the 6 foot 4 monster has demonstrated countless times that he has a brilliant understanding of where he needs to be on the pitch and when he should make a tackle or block.
That ability to read the game, combined with his incredible physical attributes, is exactly why respected talent scout Jacek Kulig described the ten-capped international as a “complete & dominant” defender.
Lastly, should the club be able to keep hold of Cristian Romero in the summer, Van de Ven may have his own long-term defensive partner to create a supreme defence with.
Ultimately, Vertonghen was an utterly brilliant defender for Spurs, and while he still has some way to go, it looks as if Postecoglou may have his own version of the Belgian in the Flying Dutchman.
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