In the context of Chelsea’s recent history, the 2023/24 summer transfer window ended up being extremely important.

In the process of spending around £386m, they brought 12 new players to the club which was funded by a lot of sales, namely bringing in £226m, offloading nine players on permanent transfers, whilst also letting go of five players on a free transfer.

Moises Caicedo

£97m

Roméo Lavia

£52m

Christopher Nkunku

£50m

Cole Palmer

£39m

Axel Disasi

£37.5m

Nicolas Jackson

£31m

Lesley Ugochukwu

£22.5m

Robert Sanchez

£19m

Djordje Petrovic

£13m

Deivid Washington

£13m

Angelo

£12.5m

Diego Moreira

£0

This has been a mixed bag so far, with the likes of Christopher Nkunku, Roméo Lavia, Axel Disasi and Robert Sanchez not turning out as they would have hoped, with the likes of Lesley Ugochukwu, Djordje Petrovic and Deivid Washington are still under the microscope to see how/if they are implemented.

However, there have also been some overwhelming successes from this window already. Take the likes of Moises Caicedo, Nicolas Jackson, and of course, Cole Palmer.

The numbers behind Cole Palmer's rise at Chelsea

It may seem like a long time ago now, but Palmer was signed back in the 2023/24 summer transfer window, and wasn’t a first-team starter right from the off.

His first involvements came from the bench under Mauricio Pochettino, playing 28 minutes against Nottingham Forest, playing 27 minutes against Bournemouth and playing 22 minutes against Aston Villa.

It didn’t take long for Palmer to become the star man at Chelsea, though, going on to make 78 appearances for the club so far, scoring 39 goals and providing 21 assists across 6,319 minutes.

The 22-year-old is unlucky to not have more assists, especially this campaign, having the highest xA (expected assists) numbers in the league with 7.34, which is 0.33 more than Mohamed Salah.

But in those first weeks of Pochettino, we did see a particular Chelsea star trusted in an unfamiliar role, which could have impacted the trajectory of Palmer had he not been injured at the time.

Chelsea's 193-minute man

Carney Chukwuemeka was signed by Chelsea in the 2022/23 summer transfer window, joining from Aston Villa for a fee of around £20m. He arrived at the Bridge to quite a significant amount of hype, notably described by Villa’s CEO, Christian Purslow, as “probably the best 16-year-old in England.”

Well, after moving to London, his first season at the club was hindered by injuries, but he still managed to make 15 first-team appearances, totaling 362 minutes.

The midfielder then started the campaign under Pochettino playing in an attacking midfield/right-wing hybrid role, starting the first two games of the Premier League season, playing well against Liverpool in the opener, before also netting against West Ham in the second game.

Unfortunately, Chukwuemeka suffered a knee injury in that same West Ham match, forcing him off and keeping him out of action until January 2024.

By this point, Palmer was, of course, thriving and therefore the midfielder struggled for consistent minutes for the rest of the campaign, also hindered with more injury issues.

Fast-forward to now, the English midfielder was unable to break into the first team under Enzo Maresca, only playing a total of 130 minutes for Chelsea, 116 of those minutes coming in the UEFA Conference League.

Due to his lack of minutes, Chukwuemeka went on loan in the January window to Borussia Dortmund, where he has again suffered with injuries and only totaled 63 minutes for the German outfit.

If the young attacking midfielder can gather fitness and start to get consistent minutes somewhere, he clearly has the talent to explode, but it would be very interesting to know in an alternate universe, how the careers of both players could have differed had that West Ham injury not occurred.

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ByDan Emery Mar 25, 2025

A season’s best 5 for 73 by fast bowler Matt Salisbury gave Leicestershire the early advantage against Sussex in a LV= Insurance County Championship match they must win to keep up their chances of promotion from Division Two.Fynn Hudson-Prentice’s determined 65 from No. 7 held up Leicestershire for a while at Hove but the visitors were still happy enough, after putting Sussex in, to bowl them out for 262 and then score 68 for 2 in reply in 21 overs’ batting before the close, with opener Rishi Patel finishing unbeaten on 36 – exactly the score he needed to complete 1,000 championship runs for the season.Sol Budinger fell early for a duck, skying a pull at Ari Karvelas high to midwicket, but Patel continued to impress in what has been a breakthrough season for the 25-year-old former Essex player, who is averaging more than 50, and Leicestershire’s only other wicket to fall was that of Lewis Hill, caught off Tom Haines’ medium pace swingers for 11.On a hard-fought day the 30-year-old Salisbury brushed off a disappointing new ball spell, when 28 runs came from his first four overs, to take the prized wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara on his return to the attack before lunch and then, in the afternoon, also remove James Coles for 44.And there was more to come from him at the start of the final session when Salisbury reacted well to hold Hudson-Prentice’s leading edge off his own bowling before dismissing Henry Crocombe lbw for six and Karvelas brilliantly held by a diving Colin Ackermann at second slip for 18.Leicestershire came into the match in third place in Division Two, 24 points behind Worcestershire but with a game in hand on the county currently in the other promotion position behind near-certain second tier champions Durham.There were four wickets for Leicestershire’s seamers in an entertaining morning’s session, after they initially saw Haines and Tom Clark get Sussex’s first innings off to a flying start.Haines, in particular, scored freely and the pair also scampered a number of quick singles to rotate the strike and frustrate the visiting attack, but after the fifty partnership had arrived in the eighth over it was Chris Wright who made the breakthrough an over later.Clark, pushing forward on 15, was beaten off the pitch and edged low to third slip where Budinger scooped up a good low catch and, in the 10th over, Haines’ 29-ball 39 – featuring eight fours – ended when, after driving Scott Currie’s first and third balls to the straight boundary, he edged another attempted forcing shot waist-high to Budinger.It was 80 for 3 when Tom Alsop was brilliantly caught by a diving Umar Amin at midwicket for 10 from a solid clip off his toes against Tom Scriven’s medium pace, and a good-sized crowd then saw Indian Test star Pujara settle in with some excellent strokes as the runs continued to flow despite Leicestershire’s early successes.And the visitors’ decision to bowl first was fully vindicated when Pujara, on 26, was drawn into an indeterminate push at a fine ball from Salisbury and edged low for Ackermann to fall to his left at second slip and take a sharp low catch.Honours were even in the afternoon session, with Leicestershire taking another three wickets but both Hudson-Prentice and Coles looked comfortable in predominantly cloudy, warm and humid conditions.Oli Carter went for 16, steering a rising leg-cutter from Currie – on loan from Hampshire for the last three fixtures of the summer – to second slip, but Sussex’s total had moved steadily from 135 to 179 before Coles, who hit seven fours, clipped Salisbury to mid wicket.Jack Carson also looked disgusted with himself when he too lifted a full delivery on his pads from Scriven to mid wicket to go for five, but Karvelas hoisted Currie into the pavilion for six and Hudson-Prentice completed his half-century just before the tea interval, at which Sussex were 231 for seven.Hudson-Prentice hit eight fours in his 92-ball effort, spanning almost two and a half hours, but it was Salisbury who had the final word to give Leicestershire the edge going into day two.

كشف مصدر داخل النادي الأهلي، موقف الإدارة من توقيع عقوبة على لاعب الفريق إمام عاشور، بسبب تواجده في أحد الحفلات الغنائية.

وظهر إمام عاشور رفقة لاعب الزمالك أحمد فتوح في حفل غنائي، أقيم أمس الجمعة بالساحل الشمالي.

طالع | إمام عاشور يوجه رسالة خاصة بعد مرور عامين على انضمامه لـ الأهلي

وقال المصدر لـ بطولات: “لن يتم توقيع عقوبة على إمام عاشور بسبب الحفلة أمس لأنه في إجازة، ولم يبدأ مرحلة التأهيل حتى الآن”.

ويغيب إمام عاشور عن صفوف الأهلي، في الفترة الحالية، لعدم تعافيه من إصابته التي تعرض لها خلال مباراة إنتر ميامي الأمريكي في كأس العالم للأندية، بكسر في عظمة الترقوة.

ومن جانب آخر، يخوض فريق النادي الأهلي، في الفترة الحالية، معسكرا إعداديا في تونس استعدادًا للموسم الجديد، يلعب خلالها عدد من المباريات الودية.

India captain says players have been given roles but need to be ready to perform different ones should the need arise

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Aug-20232:08

Moody: Flexibility, open mind needed in this day and age

Flexibility in the mind and flexibility in the middle order will be key for India to unlock their batting potential at the ODI World Cup, according to their captain Rohit Sharma.”One thing I want in this team is to make sure everyone is okay to bat anywhere,” Rohit said at a press conference to announce India’s Asia Cup squad in New Delhi. “That’s one thing we need to keep in mind. You need flexibility, guys who can step up at any position. No one should say, ‘I’m good at this position or I’m good at that position’. You want guys to be able to bat anywhere, that’s the message conveyed to every individual. Not now, but over the last three-four years.”In a sense, Rohit was reiterating the views of former India coach Ravi Shastri, who earlier in the week spoke of no player owning any one position and how even someone as senior as Virat Kohli should drop down to No. 4 if the team combination demanded it.Related

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“I know it’s tough for guys on the outside to understand why a guy who bats at six is batting at four, but the message has been given. This is international sport, not club cricket, that you’re talking about. It’s not like we go to sleep giving a position for a certain player and then change it the next morning.”We say, ‘this is what we want’. You don’t want to be handicapped or stuck with one player batting in one position. Having said that, you want to get the best out of players in certain positions. All seven-eight numbers are open to anyone, that’s the message we have sent out for so many years now.”Rohit cited Axar Patel’s example to emphasise what he meant. He felt Axar is better suited to disrupt the opposition as a floater who can take the game on at any position in the batting unit. Rohit felt this skill gave him the edge over, say R Ashwin or Washington Sundar.”Where things boil down to is the batting option at No. 8 and 9,” Rohit said. “Axar, you know he’s had a good run this year, batted well in white-ball cricket. He didn’t get much opportunity in red-ball, but played well in white-ball, especially IPL. He had a few opportunities in the West Indies but couldn’t make it big, but with him being there, it gives us the option of having a left-hander who can go up the order and play spinners if required, and also create batting depth.”Rohit Sharma and Ajit Agarkar address a press conference where India’s squad for the Asia Cup was announced•AFP via Getty Images

Ajit Agarkar, India’s chairman of selectors, further clarified Rohit’s views on flexibility.”Rohit didn’t say anyone can play anywhere,” Agarkar said. “What he said is a player should be flexible in the mind. A player knows his role, where he’s going to play, which over he’s likely to bowl. A new-ball bowler will bowl with the new ball, or whether he can bowl in middle overs – those roles are set. But as the game or tournament evolves, you look at someone’s form or the team’s form, against whom you are playing, players should be flexible in the mind.”Every captain has a plan that this batter will bat here, and we will play in this specific way, but as the tournament progresses, if someone’s form is good, someone is playing well or match-ups dictate playing someone against a certain bowler, we’re talking about that kind of flexibility, which is important. That much talent is there in the team. If there’s talent that flexibility will come. It doesn’t mean role is not specified, roles are specified, you feel comfortable because of that.”At this point, Rohit stepped in to clarify his comments on flexibility and why it shouldn’t be taken literally.”When I said flexibility is important, it’s not like I’m implying send the opener at No. 7 or open the batting with Hardik Pandya,” Rohit said. “Shikhar [Dhawan] and Rohit have only opened in the last seven-eight years, Kohli has batted only at three. Youngsters who come in at four-five, it’s important for them to be flexible, batting up and down.”In the last four-five years if you look, the opener has opened, No. 3 has batted at three, KL [Rahul] has batted five, Hardik six, [Ravindra] Jadeja seven. Four and five, sometimes if they move up and down, there’s no problem. That much flexibility is important. Our position too when we came in, we batted up and down, I’m talking of that flexibility. It’s not like opener bat at eight and eight opens, we don’t do such mad things. Little bit of flexibility up and down is needed in a team.”

Arsenal and England star striker Alessia Russo has been nominated on the six-person shortlist for the Women's PFA Players' Player of the Year award.

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Russo named on shortlist for awardJoined by Arsenal team-mateWSL champions Chelsea also representedFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Russo is shortlisted alongside team-mate Mariona Caldentey after the Gunners won the Women's Champions League in May. WSL champions Chelsea are also represented, while there are two Manchester City players and another from Manchester United.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE NOMINEES

Chelsea star Erin Cuthbert is up for the award, alongside Manchester United's Phallon-Tullis Joyce. Mary Fowler and Yui Hasegawa of Manchester City complete the shortlist of six.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Russo scored 12 WSL goals as well as another eight in the Champions League across a stellar individual campaign, while midfielder Caldentey was also crucial in the Gunners' European triumph. Cuthbert starred as Chelsea won the domestic treble and is named alongside United goalkeeper Tullis-Joyce, who made a big impression in her second season since signing from OL Reign. City finished fourth in the WSL but have two representatives, Hasegawa and Fowler, who is also up for the PFA Young Player of the Year award.

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Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT?

The prestigious prize will be awarded during a ceremony at the Manchester Opera House on Tuesday, August 19. On the same night, the PFA will dish out awards to the best players in the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two, as well as honouring some of the game's most talented youngsters.

MatériaMais Notícias

A Quinta-feira promete ser movimentada no futebol, com o jogo decisivo entre Corinthians e Fluminense pela Copa do Brasil. Mas o dia também tem espaço para outras modalidades como o Mundial de Ginástica Rítmica, que chega ao segundo dia.

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No futebol europeu, então… dia cheio! Depois de uma rodada emocionante da Champions, chegou a hora da Europa League e da Conference League. Veja a lista abaixo:

COPA DO BRASIL
AdChoicesPUBLICIDADE20h00 – Corinthians x Fluminense (semifinal, volta) – sportv, Premiere e Twitch (Casimiro Miguel)

EUROPA LEAGUE
13h45 – Real Sociedad x Omonoia – Espn4
13h45 – Sheriff Tiraspol x Manchester United – Star+ Prod
13h45 – Midtjylland x Lazio – Espn2
13h45 – Feyenoord x Sturm Graz – Star+
13h45 – Olympiacos x Freiburg – Star+
13h45 – Qarabag x Nantes – Star+
13h45 – Trabzonspor x Crvena zvezda – Star+
13h45 – Monaco x Ferencváros – Star+
16h00 – Arsenal x PSV Eindhoven – Espn e TV Cultura
16h00 – Roma x HJK – Espn4
16h00 – Rennes x Fenerbahçe – Star+
16h00 – Dynamo Kyiv x AEK Larnaca – Star+
16h00 – Betis x Ludogorets Razgrad – Star+
16h00 – Braga x Union Berlin – Star+

CONFERENCE LEAGUE
13h45 – CFR Cluj x Sivasspor – Star+
13h45 – Zalgiris x Basel – Star+
16h00 – Hapoel Beer Sheva x Villarreal – Espn2
16h00 – Silkeborg x West Ham United – Star+ Prod
16h00 – Istanbul Başaksehir x Fiorentina – Star+
16h00 – FCSB x Anderlecht – Star+
16h00 – Partizan Belgrade x Nice – Star+
16h00 – Colônia x Slovácko – Star+

Mundial de Ginástica Rítmica
15h00 – (dia 2) – NSports e sportv2

NFL
21h15 – Los Angeles Chargers x Kansas City Chiefs – Espn2

MLB
20h00 – Pittsburgh Pirates x New York Mets – Star+

Captain’s 68 and 2 for 36 ensures another chastening day out for Middlesex

ECB Reporters Network13-Aug-2023Jack Leaning starred with bat and ball as the Kent Spitfires pummelled Middlesex by 133 runs in the Metro Bank Cup at Beckenham. The Kent skipper top-scored with 68 as the hosts posted 288, before claiming two key wickets as the visitors were all out for 154 with 13.2 overs remaining.Ryan Higgins had earlier taken 4 for 33 and Luke Hollman 3 for 53 as Middlesex bowled the Spitfires out in 49.1 overs, but 60 from Ben Compton and 58 from Daniel Bell-Drummond helped the hosts to a total that Middlesex never seriously threatened. Leaning was one of five Kent bowlers to finish with two wickets.Buoyed by Friday’s rout of Surrey at The Oval, Kent abandoned their usual strategy of bowling first after winning the toss, putting faith in their spinners to defend whatever they posted.Progress was solid but ponderous during an opening stand of 109 and when Compton was dropped on seven by Ryan Higgins off Ishaan Kaushal in the ninth over. Some of the less patient home fans wondered if it might have been deliberate.It was an absolute dolly but Higgins then took a far more difficult chance to break the partnership in the 21st, sprinting in from long on to get Bell-Drummond, after he’d skied a delivery from Hollman, who was then denied a second wicket when Leaning was dropped in the slips on six.It took 79 balls for Compton to hit his first boundary, pulling Ethan Bamber for four to reach 50 but when he was then out, chipping Higgins to Bamber, his contribution took on a different perspective as the Spitfires lurched from 188 for one to 222 for six. Hollman returned to take two wickets in two balls, bowling Alex Blake for 10 and then bowling Harry Finch for a golden duck.Jaydn Denly was bowled by Higgins for six and James Bazley went for a duck when he wafted Hollman to Martin Andersson. The hosts urgently needed a counter-attack and the 45th over went for 24, with Grant Stewart hammering Andersson for three successive sixes, the first of which was parried over the boundary by Jack Davies attempting a catch.After a stand of 51, the momentum swung back towards Middlesex. Leaning hit Kaushal to Joe Cracknell and Stewart was bowled by Higgins for 43. Two balls later Higgins bowled Jas Singh for the third duck of the innings. Matt Parkinson and Hamid Qadri added 12 for the final wicket before the former was caught by Kaushal off Bamber with four balls to spare.Any disappointment Kent felt at having failed to bat their overs melted away as their bowlers swept through the Middlesex top order. Cracknell went in the second over, trying to reverse-sweep Leaning and wafting him to Bell-Drummond at point.Bazley then took wickets from successive deliveries. Sam Robson went for 24, caught by Qadri, and Jack Davies edged him behind. Higgins tried to reverse sweep Parkinson and was lbw for 21 and in the next over, the 18th, Mark Leaning bowled Stoneman for 25.With Middlesex in danger of imploding at 79 for 5, Hollman and John Simpson bedded in for the next ten overs, but their stand of 41 ended when the former was bowled by an unplayable delivery from Qadri. Jas Singh had Josh de Caires caught by a diving Bazley for seven and any realistic hope Middlesex had of making a game of it went when Qadri had Simpson caught behind for 39 with the final ball of the 33rd.Andersson swatted the next ball, from Singh, high into the south London sky before he was taken by Parkinson and an emphatic win was sealed when the same bowler had Kaushal caught on the boundary by Denly.The Spitfires have now won three of their five Metro Bank games while Middlesex are yet to get off the mark after four attempts.

كشفت تقارير صحفية سعودية، عن تولي أمير توفيق، الرئيس التنفيذي السابق لشركة الأهلي، منصباً مهماً بأحد الأندية السعودية.

وبحسب صحيفة الميدان السعودية، فإن أمير توفيق سيتولى منصب مدير قطاع التسويق بشركة النادي الأهلي السعودي خلال الفترة المقبلة.

طالع.. رسميًا | سيراميكا كليوباترا يُعلن ضم كريم نيدفيد من الأهلي

وكتبت الصحيفة، عبر منصة إكس: “امير توفيق الرئيس التنفيذي السابق لنادي الأهلي المصري يتولى منصب مدير قطاع التسويق بشركه النادي الأهلي السعودي خلفاً للإيطاليه باربارا بيجي”.

ومنذ أيام أعلن النادي الأهلي، اعتذار أمير توفيق عن عدم استمراره في منصبه كمدير تنفيذي لشركة الكرة بالقلعة الحمراء نظراً لارتباطه بالسفر والعمل خارج القاهرة.

ووجهت الشكر لتوفيق على الفترة التي تولى فيها المسؤولية، مشيدة بما وصفته بإخلاصه وتفانيه في أداء مهامه، وحرصه الدائم على خدمة القلعة الحمراء، مؤكدة أنه كان نموذجًا يُحتذى به في العمل والانتماء.

She admits captaining in the Ashes brought new challenges which she hopes to learn from

AAP11-Sep-2023Declaring herself reinvigorated by captaining Australia in the Ashes, Alyssa Healy has halted any talk of retirement by signing a three-year deal with the Sydney Sixers.Off contract since the end of last summer, AAP can reveal Healy has agreed a contract extension to keep her in the WBBL with Sixers until the end of 2025-26.Leaving the club was never realistically an option for Healy, with the main decision for Australia’s stand-in skipper being how much longer she wanted to commit for.The 33-year-old has spoken in the past about considering her future, with an ongoing joke between her and husband Mitchell Starc that she has changed her mind multiple times.Related

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Players often continue in franchise cricket after the end of their international career, but Healy’s long-term deal is an indication she is not planning to walk away any time soon.After taking the reins with Meg Lanning unavailable for Australia’s retention of the Ashes in England earlier this year, Healy will start the summer captaining the side against West Indies.And the she said her leadership role in England had rejuvenated the way she thought about cricket, with a multi-format tour of India and a T20 World Cup in Bangladesh to come in the next year.”The only thing we pondered was how long we wanted the deal to be,” Healy told AAP of her Sixers contract. “The beauty of the situation is I have had an exciting opportunity to captain the side in the Ashes.”Whether that is something that will happen moving forward or not doesn’t matter. It has reinvigorated the way I think about the game and the way I am enjoying it.”There is an exciting 12 months ahead with World Cups and trips to Bangladesh. I am still loving playing for Australia, but the WBBL is great to be part of.”Elevated to the captaincy a week before the Ashes tour when Lanning was ruled out, Healy had one of the tougher series of her career with 126 runs at 15.75 across all formats.She is desperate to rebound, and be better prepared to juggle the captaincy and her own game at short notice.”It’s made me think about what I need as an individual,” Healy said. “Throughout my whole career it has just been ‘do my job for the team, do what the team needs’.”I have always enjoyed being vice-captain because that is the way you think; you are in the right position to read the game and help the captain out.”But being skipper you don’t have time to think about anything. You are focusing on the game and tactics, and I forgot to think about what I need to make sure I perform. It has made me think about my game and what I can do to be better.”

MatériaMais Notícias

A torcida compareceu em peso e fez uma bonita festa em São Januário, porém o Vasco não correspondeu e ficou apenas no empate por 1 a 1 com o Londrina. Andrey Santos abriu o placar após falha do goleiro Matheus Nogueira, enquanto Caprini deixou tudo igual. Com o resultado, o Cruz-Maltino segue no G4 com 49, a três pontos do Tubarão. Veja os melhores momentos no player acima.

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