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Liverpool have held back in recent transfer markets, opting against springing into the scramble for new players and instead relying on their existing stars.

It’s paid off, and handsomely at that. Aside from Federico Chiesa, who joined from Juventus for £12.5m last summer but only started once in the Premier League and is being touted for a move back to Italy, no first-teamers have arrived since August 2023, when Jurgen Klopp applied the finishing strokes to his midfield remodel.

Well, that was the case, at least, until FSG activated Jeremie Frimpong’s £29.5m release clause last month, and welcomed the right-sider from Bayer Leverkusen.

Frimpong, electric-paced and positionally flexible, replaces Trent Alexander-Arnold. Elsewhere, Milos Kerkez is in talks to leave Bournemouth and shore up the left flank, while Florian Wirtz is on the verge of following Frimpong from the BayArena to Anfield.

Negotiations have maybe been a tad protracted, but this is a potential British-record signing, and still, his announcement is but a formality at this stage (famous last words).

Fans got a chance to see their potential new superstar in action last night. Germany might have lost in their Nations League semi-final tie to Portugal, but the 22-year-old proved his talent.

Florian Wirtz's performance vs Portugal

Beady-eyed detractors watched on in hopes of Wirtz struggling to make an impression on the international stage, but he scored the opener and was firmly involved in much of the contest.

Clever shimmies, well-worked one-twos and indeed a desire to get at the heart of the affair, on both sides of the field, all highlighted the calibre of player Liverpool could welcome into their fold, even if he trudged home as one of the defeated.

It wasn’t a display that left nothing to be desired, however. Pitted against opposite counterparts Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva, the Werkself icon was always going to be up against it.

Minutes played

90′

Goals

1

Assists

0

Shots (on target)

2 (2)

Accurate passes

32/42 (76%)

Key passes

0

Dribbles

3/5

Tackles

3

Duels won

9/16

Still, he scored, showcased his technical range and indeed a defensive persistence that will serve him well under Slot’s wing. The Liverpool head coach, remember, withdrew Jarell Quansah at half-time on his debut last season following concerns over his side’s success in the duel (or, more correctly, lack thereof).

Wirtz could almost complete the puzzle, ensure Slot has the means to win more gold next year. However, Liverpool also need a striker, and may well be planning a hijack for a new nine.

Liverpool plan hijack for new Striker

RB Leipzig failed to qualify for Europe this year, and thus are resigned to selling Benjamin Sesko and Xavi Simons, their two most profitable players.

And according to transfer insider Ben Jacobs, Liverpool could be ready to compete with Arsenal for centre-forward Sesko, potentially seeking to hijack Mikel Arteta’s move.

“The biggest question mark will be over the number nine and if they can genuinely go for Alexander Isak,” Jacobs said.

“Will they drop the £100m that Frankfurt are asking for Hugo Ekitike, they could even enter the race for Benjamin Sesko even though it feels like Arsenal are more advanced on that one at the moment.”

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The Gunners are “more advanced” in their pursuit, but the striker market is rather slim and Sesko, 22, has a €80m (about £67m) release clause.

That’s more affordable than the likes of Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike.

Liverpool would strike gold with Benjamin Sesko

Liverpool are undergoing a series of changes this summer, and Darwin Nunez is expected to be a part of the exodus, making way for a new striker.

Sesko’s a raw talent, his potential yet untapped, but he’s undoubtedly a star in the making, having scored 39 goals and laid on eight assists across 87 appearances for Leipzig.

The Slovenia international has even been declared “the new Erling Haaland” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, with his incredible power, rangy frame and pace (he’s “one of the fastest players on the planet”) aligning with the Manchester City superstar, who has scored 121 goals from 142 appearances in Pep Guardiola’s team, notably winning the treble. There’s the exemplar, right there.

It would be a fool’s notion to expect a similar pathway for Sesko, but then there’s no denying he’s got all the pieces to become a top talent in the Premier League, especially so if he’s been sourced by a creative phenom in Wirtz.

Wirtz, indeed, will depart Leverkusen having won the 2023/24 Bundesliga as an invincible, winning the Player of the Season. In total, he’s notched 122 goal contributions from 197 total matches for the Werkself.

Taking a closer look at the German playmaker’s extraordinary skill set, we see his passing and line-breaking qualities could serve chance upon chance on a silver platter for Sesko.

As per FBref, Wirtz ranked among the top 7% of attacking midfielders and wingers this season for goal contributions, shot-creating actions and progressive passes, the top 2% for passes attempted and the top 4% for successful take-ons per 90.

When not threading surgical passes through to Sesko, Wirtz would be charging forward himself, left skip, right, left, right. His slaloming style, expertly weaving past hopeless opponents, would take the heat off the central striker, allow him to get into space.

Then, the pass is played, and Liverpool are ahead once again.

Slot's own Huijsen: Liverpool submit concrete bid to sign "complete" star

Liverpool could be set to make a move to land a star who could become their own Dean Huijsen.

ByEthan Lamb Jun 5, 2025

Arsenal have now made contact with the entourage of an “incredible” striker, who they are now seriously considering making a move for in the summer, according to a report.

Gunners stepping up striker pursuit

Mikel Arteta’s side have been heavily criticised for not signing a striker last summer or during the January transfer window, with Gary Neville describing the decision as a “mystery” earlier in the campaign.

Since then, the Gunners’ hopes of winning any silverware this season have gone up in smoke, with Paris Saint-Germain’s 3-1 aggregate victory in the Champions League semi-final sealing their fate.

As such, you would think that Arteta will finally bite the bullet and sign a top striker this summer, and recent developments indicate the Spaniard is going to do exactly that, with the north Londoners now advancing in talks to sign Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyokeres.

There has since been another update on the pursuit of more of a left-field target, with a report from Spain revealing Arsenal are now seriously considering a move for Botafogo striker Igor Jesus, who is also being targeted by West Ham United and Aston Villa.

Jesus is protected by a €100m (£84m) release clause in his contract, but the Brazilian side are believed to be willing to sanction a departure for a lower fee, and such is the Gunners’ level of interest, they have now made contact with his entourage.

The Brazilian is now among the north Londoners’ priority targets, despite the deal for Gyokeres edging closer to completion, with the striker’s performances since signing for Botafogo putting him in the shop window.

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Posts ByEmilio Galantini May 17, 2025 Jesus could be "incredible" signing for Arsenal

Journalist Zach Lowy branded the Botafogo forward as “incredible” back in December, having started 2024 with some impressive performances in the UAE, before forcing his way into the set-up of the Brazil national side after catching the eye in his home country.

The Cuiaba-born marksman led Botafogo to a league title triumph in 2024, and he has since started the new season in solid fashion, picking up three goals and one assist in eight Brazilian Serie A outings.

Competition

Appearances

Goals

Assists

Liga Portugal

33

39

8

Champions League

8

6

0

Taca de Portugal

6

4

3

Allianz Cup

3

4

0

Supertaca

1

0

2

That said, Jesus’ lack of experience in Europe means it would be a risk for Arsenal to sign the South American this summer, and a move for Gyokeres could make more sense, especially considering the Swede’s fantastic record in front of goal this season, netting 53 goals across all competitions.

A “magnificent” manager is now on the “final shortlist” to replace Ivan Juric at Southampton this summer, according to transfer expert Graeme Bailey.

Saints pursuing new manager after Juric sacking

In truth, the writing was on the wall for Juric for quite some time, given that he failed to make any improvements to the Saints’ Premier League position after replacing Russell Martin, and the Croatian was dismissed after relegation to the Championship was confirmed.

After parting ways with Juric earlier this month, the board have now started to identify potential replacements for the summer, and chief among them could be Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl, who has been named as the top target.

Sporting director Johannes Spors is a big fan of Rohl, but the Wednesday manager is not the only option being considered, with Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior also of interest, given the fantastic job the Englishman has done in Ligue 1 this season.

"One of the best coaches ever" front-runner to replace Juric at Southampton

The Saints could appoint an impressive young manager as a replacement for Ivan Juric.

ByDominic Lund Apr 8, 2025

In an interview with EFL Analysis, Bailey has now revealed Southampton have started to trim down their list of manager targets, and former Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has made the cut.

Bailey said: “Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are both on Southampton’s final shortlist to be their new manager. The two England legends have been on Southampton’s radar for the last few weeks and both are in their sights.”

“Gerrard, who is on Rangers’ list to return to Ibrox, is out of work following his stint in Saudi Arabia and is ready to return to the UK – we understand.”

Former Norwich City boss David Wagner is also named as a potential target for the Saints, who are certainly not short on options to replace Juric this summer.

Southampton move could suit "magnificent" Gerrard

Gerrard’s last stint in England didn’t exactly go to plan, being sacked by Aston Villa with the club just outside the relegation zone, but there are signs the Liverpool legend could be a success at St. Mary’s.

Southampton are expected to be one of the dominant forces in the Championship next season, and the 44-year-old has previously proven he has what it takes to win league titles as a manager, securing the 2020-21 Scottish Premiership title with Rangers.

Not only did the Englishman win the title, but he did so in emphatic fashion, with the Gers amassing a colossal 102 points and remaining undefeated across the entire league campaign.

Former adversary Sir Alex Ferguson even lauded Gerrard for his “magnificent” achievement, which indicates he still could have a lot left to give as a manager, despite questionable spells with Villa and Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq.

With conditions in Guwahati nowhere near as bowler-friendly as Kolkata, India were skilful enough to keep South Africa in check on day one

Karthik Krishnaswamy22-Nov-20252:46

Did umpires stretch play despite fading light?

There are 20s, 30s and 40s, and there are 20s, 30s and 40s. On a pitch like in Kolkata last week, getting that far felt like a triumph. Not so on an entirely different surface in Guwahati, where South Africa’s batters kept getting out for similar scores.This was the classic first-day Indian pitch. A small window of help for the seamers at the start, and bits of encouragement for the spinners to keep coming back for another ball, another over, another spell. But the batters could trust their defence, and feel fairly secure if they had spent a bit of time at the crease.This was a pitch where converting starts felt like, A: a meaningful phrase, and B: a reasonable expectation. And yet, six South African batters fell for scores between 13 and 49.Related

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It’s natural temptation, while looking at such a scorecard and watching some of the dismissals — two batters caught at mid-off while looking to clear that fielder — to conclude that the batters threw away promising starts and only had themselves to blame.That scorecard and those dismissals, however, were also products of relentless excellence from an India attack of high quality and depth. For over after over, hour after hour, they gave South Africa only so much, and as avoidable as some of the dismissals looked, they didn’t come about from rash shots as much as errors committed by humans under pressure.This wasn’t the pressure of survival that batters faced in Kolkata. It wasn’t the pressure of slow, low pitches that cut off scoring options. It was the incremental pressure of spending time in the middle, surviving good bowling, getting through good spells, and even scoring runs, but somehow not feeling like you’re getting ahead in the game.India have done this many times to visiting teams over many years, but not so much in recent months. For at least a year now, India have not bowled in these sorts of conditions at home, against strong opposition.And finally, here it was, at 1-0 down in a two-Test series, with the toss lost and the opposition probably getting the best batting conditions of the match. This was India’s attack reminding viewers of its greatest strength: not just high levels of skill, but the ability to execute skills at a high level, with exacting control over long periods, as a collective.2:45

ten Doeschate: ‘These sorts of wickets suit us better’

On days like this, reward doesn’t always come in explicable ways. Jasprit Bumrah had bowled as good a new-ball spell as you can hope to see in these conditions, inducing nine false shots and conceding just seven runs in six overs, without reward and with one chance dropped in the slips. When he finally broke South Africa’s opening stand at 82, he did it with a ball that didn’t seem to do much at all; Aiden Markram seemed to play ever so slightly down the wrong line, and inside-edged his drive onto the stumps.For most of the second session, India bowled with a grim sense of purpose, looking to make the most of a little bit of help. The spinners extracted bounce from the red-soil surface, and the seamers were beginning to get a vague hint of reverse swing. But the bounce also encouraged the batters to use their feet and hit over the top, and the ball was coming on nicely enough for them to find the boundary by transferring their weight into checked drives and pushes and placing them into gaps.And yet, India went at under three an over through the session despite taking just one wicket, despite Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs going to lunch having put on 74.Hard Test cricket involving deep, skillful attacks can be like this. Batters can get in and build partnerships without moving the game through any great distance or at any great speed. This is the long game.And if you’re batting on 41 in these circumstances, and you see a ball that looks vaguely hittable, when mid-off is up saving the single, you can end up doing what Bavuma did in the third over after lunch, off Ravindra Jadeja. This was a bowler who had conceded just 21 in his first nine overs, and here was a ball that seemed to be right in the slot. Why wouldn’t you go after it?”I think we kept pressure on for long periods of time,” India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said after the day’s play. “And when scoring’s not that easy, when you can only really score off bad balls, it sort of adds pressure onto the batting units. And maybe that’s the reason for guys getting in and no one getting a big score yet.”The other reason was that India have at least two bowlers who don’t need a lot of help from the conditions to be a constant threat. Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav.Kuldeep Yadav took three wickets on a flat first-day surface•BCCIKuldeep’s dismissal of Stubbs was probably the highlight of the day, coming off a brilliantly conceived delivery, the first of a new spell. On Indian pitches with lower bounce, Kuldeep attacks the stumps relentlessly. On this surface, though, Kuldeep often hit the sticker of the bat when batters defended him off the front foot. This bounce broadened the possibilities of dismissal, bringing the right-hand batters’ outside edge into play.Stubbs tends to stride forward down the line of leg stump regardless of the line of the ball, with his front leg seldom going across to the off side. From this position, he relies on his reach, hands and head position to do a lot of work.So Kuldeep dangled the ball wide of off stump, well outside Stubbs’ eyeline, and drew his hands fatally towards the ball. It turned a little less than Stubbs probably expected, and KL Rahul caught it at slip. Stubbs was on 49; did the possibility of a pushed single to get to fifty play a role in the dismissal?”No, not at all,” Stubbs said. “To be honest, I’ve faced him quite a few times on his first ball [of a spell], and that was I think the best one he’s bowled. From my angle, it sort of beat me in the drift.”That’s why my hands got away … On a day-one wicket, that’s probably how he’s trying to get you out, but for him to bowl that first ball of his, coming back, I thought it was quite impressive.”A spinner needs to be able to beat batters in the air, as Kuldeep did with his drift away from Stubbs, to be able to threaten wickets constantly on normal day-one pitches. It helps if he can get the ball to turn sharply too, as Kuldeep did with the one that dismissed Ryan Rickelton at the start of the second session, inviting the drive, beating the batter with dip and turn, and finding the edge to the keeper.And Kuldeep has done these things many times when he has bowled on flat or flat-ish surfaces, whether it be his four-for on debut in Dharamsala in 2017, the first-day five-for against England at the same venue last year, or his eight-wicket match haul against West Indies on a slow, low Delhi pitch last month.Ravindra Jadeja drew a false shot from a vigilant Temba Bavuma•Associated Press”We know Kuldeep’s strike rate is phenomenal as it is,” ten Doeschate said. “He’s a wicket-taker and that’s why we’re picking him … But maybe the fact that he sort of gets overspin, and with the red soil and a little bit more pace in the wicket, maybe it was slightly more effective in the conditions today.”I think later on the fingerspinners are going to come into it. But certainly in terms of strategy and how we wanted to set up the first day, it’s a real bonus for him to pick up three wickets and get us a foothold in the game.”A foothold, but there is a long way to go, though India must count themselves in a good position with South Africa 247 for 6. Their anxiety about toss advantage, which has often led them to be suspicious of traditional home pitches, isn’t entirely unfounded; if this pitch begins breaking up early on day two, India will start their first innings in very different conditions.”I don’t think there was any evidence to suggest that it’s deteriorating quite yet,” ten Doeschate said, when asked how the pitch evolved through day one, and what they expect over the next couple of days. “I thought it played really nicely, particularly with the seam bowlers, it didn’t look like they could extract much from length or back of a length. So hopefully it stays in this sort of shape for at least an even amount of period for both teams to sort of cash in on the first-innings scores.”There’s some footmarks and some tiny ball marks, but nothing to suggest it’s dry or cracking at the top. So fingers crossed that it lasts and plays well for the next few days.”India’s efforts with the ball on day one could be making their team management wonder if these pitches may not, after all, suit them better than surfaces like Kolkata’s that weaponise the opposition’s bowlers too.”It’s a really tough one,” ten Doeschate said. “And my personal point of view is that the wicket very rarely determines who wins the game. If we’d played better in Kolkata, I feel we could have won the Test on that surface.”But having said that, you’ve got to introspect and look at recent results. I think these sort of wickets maybe suit us a little bit better. You’ve got to be prepared to fight really hard and this game is going to go deep. And the only thing I would say is maybe the toss becomes even more important in these conditions.”So if you are going to be prepared to lose the toss, you have to put on a display like that today and really fight for every run. Make sure you stay in the game. And at some point the pressure is going to come. It’s just going to come later in this game.”But that’s a very fair question. And yeah, the template for us is probably closer to this than, you know, playing on some of the wickets we have played on.”As big an achievement as it was, then, for India’s bowlers to keep South Africa to 247 for 6 on this pitch, it was perhaps an even bigger one to get a member of their coaching staff to make this statement.

Much like in the semi-final, he found himself walking out to the middle when his team was in trouble, but this time, Mumbai were batting first

Hemant Brar10-Mar-2024Shardul Thakur would have been forgiven if he thought he was living in a simulation and the semi-final between Mumbai and Tamil Nadu was being played all over again. Because when he walked out to bat in the final against Vidarbha, Mumbai found themselves in a similar position they were in against Tamil Nadu.In that game, Mumbai were 106 for 7 before Shardul’s blazing hundred changed their fortunes. On Sunday, the scoreboard displayed 111 for 6 when Shardul came to the crease.There was a key difference in the match situations, though. In the semi-final, Mumbai were batting second, after having bundled out Tamil Nadu for 146. They knew another 40 runs would put the pressure back on the opposition.Related

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That was not the case here. They were batting first, and Vidarbha were dictating the terms without any worry of conceding a first-innings lead.After winning the toss, Vidarbha had no hesitation in opting to bowl – the thought process being to take advantage of the early moisture in a grass-covered pitch. But Prithvi Shaw and Bhupen Lalwani not only survived the first hour but also put on 81 in just 20 overs.Vidarbha persevered, which seems to have become a part of their DNA now. Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey got the ball to turn and bounce, and the seamers induced edges, and in the next 30 runs Mumbai lost six wickets. Suddenly, the run-scoring was not as easy; by the time Shardul walked in, it had been 77 balls since the last boundary.But Shardul did what he does best: counterattack. Facing his third ball, he jumped out of his crease and hit Dubey wide of long-off for four.That shot was as much a reminder of what had happened in the semi-final as it was a harbinger of what was to follow.Shardul had attacked the Tamil Nadu spinners in a similar manner, smashing them for 99 runs off 80 balls. And he continued meting out the same treatment to Vidarbha’s spinners.In Dubey’s next over, he slog-swept him to the square-leg boundary before taking two more boundaries off seamer Yash Thakur.Shardul had hit his maiden first-class hundred during the semi-final against Tamil Nadu•PTI Vidarbha knew how quickly Shardul could change the complexion of the game. So Akshay Wadkar turned to veteran spinner Sarwate to try to control the proceedings.Shardul did not let him settle down. On the spinner’s second ball, he went down the pitch and launched him into the sightscreen. He and Shams Mulani added 43 for the seventh wicket, in which the latter’s contribution was only 13.Yash got rid of Mulani and Tanush Kotian to leave Mumbai on 176 for 8, but Shardul kept steering Mumbai singlehandedly. Another straight six off Sarwate took him to 49, and a single immediately after that brought up his fifty off 37 balls. In the company of Tushar Deshpande, he guided Mumbai past 200 at the stroke of tea.Vidarbha tried a different tactic after the break. Until then, Dubey had bowled all his 19 overs from around the wicket. Now he changed the angle, probably to attack Shardul’s pads. It made no difference. Shardul once again used his feet and sent the ball over the long-on boundary.That was the main feature of Shardul’s innings: shots down the ground. He hit 32 runs in the V, including all three sixes. In fact, twice he was guilty of playing too straight, when the ball smashed the stumps at the non-striker’s end. The first of those looked a certain four, while the second resulted in Deshpande being run out as the ball brushed Umesh Yadav’s shoe on its way.Deshpande might consider himself unlucky but Shardul can have no such complaint. He survived a run-out chance on 29. Soon after, Yash could have had him three times in the same over. On the first two occasions, the outside edge evaded the gully fielder. On the third, a leading edge fell just out of the reach of mid-off.He was eventually dismissed for 75 off 69 balls but not before steering his side to 224.And he was not done for the day yet.In his second over with the ball, he got one to nip back just enough to beat Dhruv Shorey’s inside edge and ping him above the knee roll. The on-field umpire ruled the lbw decision in the batter’s favour but Mumbai got it overturned on review, as the Hawk-Eye showed the ball would have hit the top of leg stump.Shardul could have had the other Vidarbha opener as well. Bowling around the stumps, he got Atharva Taide to chip one back at him but the ball did not stick in his outstretched right hand. Dhawal Kulkarni’s two wickets, though, meant Vidarbha were 31 for 3 at stumps.In a way, the final has so far lived up to its billing of being a contest of contrasts, between Vidarbha’s workhorses and Mumbai’s superstars. Vidarbha’s bowlers put in a collective effort but Shardul’s all-round performance has kept Mumbai afloat.

An ability to turn the ball both ways and to smack it big has taken this allrounder all the way from Punjab’s small-town tennis-ball circuit to the IPL

Hemant Brar14-Feb-2022Who is Ramesh Kumar?
Ramesh Kumar is a 23-year-old spin-bowling allrounder from Punjab’s Jalalabad city. Ramesh is yet to play any representative cricket, so when Kolkata Knight Riders picked him at the IPL 2022 auction for INR 20 lakh, numerous viewers must have wondered who he was.Ramesh was listed as a batter on the auction list, but his stronger suit is his bowling. A left-arm spinner, he has the ability to turn the ball both ways. On the internet, he goes by the moniker Narine Jalalabadiya because, according to Ramesh, his action resembles that of the West Indies and Knight Riders mystery spinner Sunil Narine.

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