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The trio's recent dealings have raised eyebrows as June 30 approaches, but is there really a problem?

After a painfully slow January window, the summer is shaping up to be busy on the transfer front. We've already had Kylian Mbappe's blockbuster Real Madrid move confirmed and even with two international tournaments on, several Premier League clubs have already entered the fray.

It's hardly household names being exchanged, though. On a strangely busy few days last week, Aston Villa, Everton and Chelsea were involved in a string of inter-club dealings that have caused quite a stir.

It started with Tim Iroegbunam, a 20-year-old midfielder with just a handful of senior Villa appearances under his belt, being snapped up by the Toffees for a reported fee of around £9 million ($11m). The following day, young Everton striker Lewis Dobbin went in the opposite direction for almost exactly the same price.

Villa then agreed to sell teenager Omari Kellyman to Chelsea for £19m ($24m) – a pretty remarkable amount for a player with just 148 minutes of first-team football under his belt. Soon after, it was reported that Ian Maatsen would be doing the reverse, albeit for around £37.5m ($47m) instead.

We might have seen another inter-club deal, too. Last week Everton were touted to sign Yankuba Minteh from Newcastle – with the Magpies subsequently being linked with Toffees striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin. However, talks eventually broke down.

Each of these deals were technically separate transactions, but the timing of the transfers has raised eyebrows. Some rival supporters have even accused the clubs involved of trying to game the Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), with the phrase 'player laundering' gathering traction on social media.

Are these accusations accurate or wide of the mark? GOAL explains the complicated situation below…

GettyWhat is PSR?

To begin, it's worth setting the scene slightly. PSR were introduced by Premier League clubs back in 2013, two years after UEFA made waves by finally introducing Financial Fair Play to its own competitions. The motion only narrowly passed, with six clubs voting against the proposals and Reading abstaining, but the system remains in place today.

On the most basic level, the rules state that clubs are not permitted to make losses greater than £105 million ($133m) over three years. It's not quite as simple as that, though. Of this £35m ($44m) per year loss, just £5m ($6m) can be the club's own money. The additional £30m ($38m) allowance can be boosted by secure funding, which is defined by as: "either an equity contribution or an irrevocable commitment to make a payment for shares." Loans from owners do not count as 'secure funding'.

There are also adjustments made for clubs who have spent time outside the Premier League during the three-year PSR accounting period. In these cases, the percentage of the losses that can be made up via 'secure funding' are less.

AdvertisementGettyWhy isn't PSR popular with some clubs?

PSR has always been a contentious issue, as evidenced by the sizable cartel of clubs who voted against its implementation a decade ago. Financial control has become an even more fiercely debated topic in recent years, though.

There are two sides to the coin. Firstly, there is the argument that the financial controls discourage ambition. Most Newcastle fans would likely subscribe to this idea. Following their Saudi-backed takeover in 2021, the club were swiftly linked with all manner of expensive signings. And while there has been investment in the playing squad, with the Magpies returning to the Champions League last season, their rate of progress has been far slower than when Chelsea and Manchester City were purchased by well-monied owners, with both of those takeovers happened before the introduction of PSR controls.

By contrast, Newcastle are likely to have to sell at least one key player this summer in order to balance the books, with Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes both linked with moves away. Aston Villa, who have also spent heavily to orchestrate a return to European football's top table, are likely to do the same. Douglas Luiz is already on his way to Juventus in a complex player-plus-cash deal, and they may be forced to sell another key asset, too.

GettyPoints deductions

The other side to PSR criticism stems from the punishments that have been handed out to Premier League clubs this past season for breaking the rules. In November last year, Everton were initially docked 10 points for PSR breaches for the period ending in 2022, though on appeal this was reduced to six.

A few months later, the Toffees received another two-point penalty, while Nottingham Forest have also fallen foul of the rules. The Trees had four points taken off them, with their own attempts at appeal proving unsuccessful.

Leicester are in similarly hot water. In March, the Championship winners were charged by the Premier League for PSR breaches. While they avoided any points deduction last season which might have derailed their promotion charge, the issue is still being considered, with experts suggesting that some sort of punishment is inevitable.

The timing of some of these decisions have been criticised, with the various points deductions creating unnecessary uncertainty in the relegation battle, while the severity of Everton's punishment in particular raised eyebrows. Supporters organised a string of protests last season, while Jamie Carragher was critical of the initial points deduction.

"The 10-point deduction for Everton is excessive and not right, considering they have been working with the Premier League about this for the last couple of years," he wrote on social media the time. "Would it have been better to be evasive and try and drag it out like other clubs? No doubt relegated clubs will have put big pressure on the Premier League to deal with Everton, but when you consider six clubs tried to leave the Premier League [and join the Super League] and there was no sanction at all, it doesn’t feel right."

It doesn't take a genius to work out that the "other clubs" Carragher was referring to were Manchester City and Chelsea. The former are currently facing 115 similar financial charges, while the Blues were forced to sell two hotels to a sister company to ease their financial concerns following a string of transfer splurges. These two issues hanging over the entire PSR debate have only made it more difficult for the Premier League's smaller clubs to stomach the regulations.

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Getty ImagesWhy are homegrown sales so lucrative?

For as long as PSR has been in place, clubs have sought ways to bend the regulations. Chelsea raised public consciousness of this following their Clearlake Capital takeover, signing players to startlingly long contracts to ensure they had the smallest impact on their on-the-books spending.

This process is known as amortisation, whereby a player's transfer fee is gradually written off over the course of his contract. For instance, although Mykhailo Mudryk cost the club an eye-watering £89m ($112m), this figure will be evenly spread out over the course of his eight-and-a-half year deal for accounting purposes.

Another way that clubs have been able to fast track their way to PSR compliance is by selling players produced by their academies. These exits count as pure profit in the accounts as clubs have not paid a transfer fee to acquire their services. Their values are not amortised either.

So, if Chelsea were to sell Conor Gallagher for £50m ($63m) this summer, every penny of that fee could be used to help the club become PSR compliant. The Blues have sold a host of Cobham graduates in recent years, but they are far from the only club to flip their youngsters for huge profits.

Year out has given Smith perspective to see the bigger picture

Daniel Brettig28-Aug-2019How did a year out of international cricket change Steven Smith? Most obviously there is the guitar he carts around with him these days, a way of building more to his life away from the game that consumed him to the point that he could not see beyond it at the most critical moment in South Africa last year.You get the sense, too, that the Smith of early 2018 might not have been so fast to tell Nathan Lyon not to worry too much over the wrenching sequence of the Test’s conclusion, in which Australia’s No. 1 spin bowler fumbled a certain run out and then was denied an lbw shout that would also have brought victory. Equally, he might not have taken anywhere near as much pleasure in watching Ben Stokes conjure his Headingley miracle, coming as it did at the expense of Australia’s chances of a quick kill to this Ashes series.”A year out from the game – I sent Nathan Lyon a message the other night,” Smith said. “He was a bit down after the game, I just said my year out has given me a lot of perspective that that’s all it is, it’s just a game. And whilst it’s important on many levels to win and to play the right way and to do all those kind of things, ultimately it’s just a game. I think that helped him a little bit.”I’m still a cricket nut, no doubt. But yeah, I do have other interests: playing guitar, you probably saw my singing the other day. Copped a bit about that. The wife [Danni] stitched me up there. That’s pretty much it. That and cricket, a bit of reading, Netflix, pretty chilled…”Smith was anything but chilled as he watched the final day of the Leeds Test, having been ruled out of it due to his recovery from a concussion sustained at Lord’s. Pat Cummins had revealed how animated Smith had got watching the closing passages of the Lord’s Test from his London hotel room, and he joked that it might have been easier to watch Stokes hammer out a one-wicket victory for England from a similar vantage point.But there was also a level of admiration for Stokes’ skill and guts that demonstrated Smith’s deep love of the game, something that he was not always able to articulate when holding the office of captaincy. “I wish they’d put me in a dark room. I’m not a great watcher of cricket, never really have been so didn’t quite enjoy that,” Smith said. “But what an advertisement for Test cricket, it was a pretty amazing innings from Stokesy.”He completely turned the series on its head, we had an opportunity to wrap it up but he was incredible. Even if you go back to two nights before, when he bowled 14 overs straight. I rocked up to the ground next day and someone said that on average he bowled the quickest for the day as well, over those 14 overs. So that’s a pretty amazing effort. He’s a tough competitor, wants to be in the pressure moments, thrives under pressure as we’ve seen the last couple of months. He really turned the game at the end.”Unmistakably there is a sense in Smith that, having been missing from Headingley, he has now been inspired to raise his own game once more in the wake of Stokes. “You could just see the passion that he showed and the fight. He never gave up,” Smith said. “You look at him, and I really admire this about him, when he scored a hundred he didn’t even celebrate, didn’t care. He had one thing on his mind and that was getting England over the line, and you’ve really go to admire that.”When you’re in those pressure moments you’ve got to want to be the one to deliver and do what you can for your team. He did that exceptionally well, and hopefully some of our boys can learn from that and when we’re faced with similar situations, dig as deep as we can and do whatever we can to get our team over the line.”Telling also is the fact that Smith now sees Stokes’ innings less as a spoiler for Australia than as setting-up the makings of a genuinely great Ashes series, of the kind that Smith himself has yet to experience: 2010-11, 2013, 2013-14, 2015 and 2017-18 all being knockouts or thrashings, one way or the other.”That’s really opened the series up,” he said. “We had our chance to retain the Ashes but now we’re going to have to work even harder and it just makes the series all that more exciting. We don’t want to look behind, we want to keep looking forward and focus on what we can control now and that’s Manchester.”We’ve got a bit of time between now and then with a tour match in Derby, where I think a few guys will have a pretty chilled out week. It’s been a long summer for guys that have been here for the World Cup or A-cricket before that, and this series. So everyone’s got to do what they need to do to be ready for that next Test match in Manchester.”Doubtless Smith will be yearning to return to the comfortable batting cocoon he occupied at Edgbaston, and then got close to emulating at Lord’s before Jofra Archer and the uneven nature of the pitch saw him struck the blow that pushed him out of Leeds. “Edgbaston was just first game back, fresh and I just wanted to bat, I didn’t want to stop batting,” he said. “So that worked out really well.”Lord’s I felt like probably more the first morning when I was doing all my eccentric stuff I was kind of in a good place then and maybe not as good a place mentally the next day. I think I was 13 overnight. All my movement patterns and the way I feel was really good so I’m comfortable with that and hopefully I can ramp up my training over the next few days and get in a position again where I’m comfortable and can go out and score some big runs again.”Little by little, Smith ramped up his training during the Headingley match, initially 15 minutes of throwdowns, then 25 minutes against Mitchell Marsh and Michael Neser, and he will doubtless face the likes of Mitchell Starc in the Derby nets before the tour game. But one thing that has not changed, even after his year out of cricket, is the way Smith will spend hours searching for a familiar comfortable feel of the bat in his hands and stance, a process that can take minutes, hours, or days.”It’s not a certain amount of balls,” Smith said. “Believe it or not, I actually forget how I hold the bat. So I actually try and find that. Sometimes it takes me 10 balls, sometimes I go in straight away and it’s fine, sometimes it takes me a couple of hundred balls.”But when I get that feel, it’s a look thing for me – when it looks right behind my foot that’s when I know I’m good to go and I usually say it straight away to Hicky [batting coach Graeme Hick], I’ll say ‘I’m good. I’m on fire here. That’s good, we’re ready to play’.”I want to get that back and then try and freshen up for the Test match and be in a frame of mind where I can bat for a long time again.”

Leeds United will go into tonight's huge clash with Leicester City pumped up and ready to go, the Whites aiming to dent the table-topping side's confidence on their travels to Elland Road.

Leeds' unbelievable home record – which stands at 16 games unbeaten in total this season – could swing the contest in their favour.

Although, Enzo Maresca's side won't just give in to a confident Whites outfit owing to their obvious strengths which sees them nine points clear of Leeds at the top of the Championship table.

The Whites beating Plymouth Argyle 2-0 last time out shouldn't see Daniel Farke make significant changes for this bumper face-off, but Joel Piroe could face his manager's axe still after an average display at Home Park.

Joel Piroe's game vs Plymouth Argyle in numbers

Despite picking up an assist for Georginio Rutter to score a decisive second goal last time out, Piroe wasn't at his electric best in front of goal against Ian Foster's leaky Pilgrims.

The sub-par Leeds number seven would only muster up one shot on goal in the lunchtime kick-off, with the ex-Swansea City man bailed out by the likes of Rutter and Wilfried Gnonto who were ice-cold finishers when their team needed them to step up.

Piroe was just flat at Home Park, in truth, when it came to fulfilling his duties as a dangerous striker, with the 24-year-old attacker excelling more as a creative force in the 2-0 win.

The 6 foot 1 striker would end notching up two key passes and two successful dribbles in the game – with one of those key passes finding Rutter to strike home – but floundered when it came to taking the game by the scruff of its neck as a potent centre-forward himself.

Minutes played

89

Assists

1

Shots on goal

1

Touches

38

Possession lost

8x

Only amassing 38 touches too across his 89 minutes on the pitch, which saw Illan Meslier even come in with a greater total of 54, Piroe's solid spot in Farke's XI could no longer be secure if Leeds want to play with a gung-ho approach up next to catch Leicester cold.

Football journalist Graham Smyth did hand out a solid 6/10 match rating to Piroe despite the Dutchman going quiet for large portions of the game, but did state that Piroe 'struggled' in his role up top.

The German manager could well have a selection headache to resolve if he was to drop the skilful attacker, with the potential for Daniel James to return to the lineup in a reshuffled attacking quartet.

The player that could replace Joel Piroe

The most logical switch would see Rutter pushed into a striker spot for the huge game tonight against Leicester, freeing up the attacking midfield spot for someone else to shine.

With James touted for a return to the lineup after a promising cameo against the Pilgrims back from injury – hitting the cross-bar from a free-kick effort with the game all but over – Wilfried Gnonto could be moved centrally to accommodate his brilliance still even with the dynamic Welshman being back.

Leicester could well be taken by surprise to see Gnonto occupy this unfamiliar spot, the Italian attacker only starting in this position three times in total for the West Yorkshire titans to date, but it could be a bold call that pays off if the Foxes cannot deal with the attacking might on offer from Farke's men.

Leeds will see tonight's game against Leicester as a further opportunity to stamp their authority in the automatic promotion race, cutting the gap potentially between themselves and Maresca's first-placed side to six points.

Therefore, out-there selection calls such as these could see the over-confident Foxes unprepared for the task of overcoming Leeds with the Whites then picking up yet another win in 2024 to continue their march towards promotion.

Lionel Messi has declared Emiliano Martinez 'the best goalkeeper in the world' after the Aston Villa star's latest heroics for Argentina.

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Martinez the hero in shootout victoryMessi missed Argentina's first penaltyThrough to semi finals of Copa America Getty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

Martinez saved two penalties as Argentina overcame Ecuador to reach the semi-finals of the Copa America. After Messi's chipped effort struck the crossbar, Martinez denied Angel Mena and Alan Minda to give La Albiceleste an early advantage, and Nicolas Otamendi tucked home the winning penalty to send them through.

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Messi steals the headlines for his country but Martinez has proved his worth on more than one occasion, most notably in the 2022 World Cup final. Messi's declaration shows how much Argentina's captain values having a world-class goalkeeper between the sticks as the pair go in search of another international trophy.

WHAT MESSI SAID

Messi wrote on Instagram: "One more step… We suffered a lot against a tough opponent. We passed to the semis thanks to the work of everyone and on top of that we have the best goalkeeper in the world @emi_martinez26. Go Argentina!"

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR ARGENTINA?

Argentina will take on either Canada or Venezuela in the semi-finals. They have already won the Copa America 15 times in their history, including in 2021, and few would bet against Lionel Scaloni's current crop making it 16.

Abide by the directives of the CoA or forfeit your right to vote in the AGM is not an acceptable stance, says the former BCCI president

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Sep-2019Former BCCI president N Srinivasan has challenged Committee of Administrators’ chairman Vinod Rai’s assertion that the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) stands to be disqualified from attending the BCCI elections, scheduled for October 23, if its constitution is not amended in line with that of the board.Srinivasan, also a former ICC chairman but not an official in either the TNCA or the BCCI anymore, argued that the CoA was attempting to force state associations to comply with the BCCI constitution as a “pressure ploy”, but that would only mean members losing their legal rights.”I, for one, am not able to connect the eligibility to vote as a Full Member in the AGM and amendments to the members’ constitution unless the BCCI elections are being held as a pressure ploy to get the members to give up their legal rights and adopt a servient attitude,” Srinivasan was quoted as saying by Sportstar on Sunday. “I’m reminded of a quote by Robert A. Heinlein: ‘There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him’.”Srinivasan, who was TNCA president for more than a decade, had to step down after the Supreme Court approved the RM Lodha Committee recommendations on structural reforms. However, last week, Rupa Gurunath, Srinivasan’s daughter, became the first-ever woman to head an Indian state cricket association when she was unanimously elected as the new TNCA president.

Abide by the directives of the CoA, or forfeit your right to vote in the AGM is not a stand which Mr Vinod Rai can take. He nor the CoA can substitute their wisdom for that of the Supreme CourtN Srinivasan

Rupa also happens to be the wife of Gurunath Meiyappan, a former official at Chennai Super Kings – owned by Srinivasan’s India Cements – who was banned for life by the BCCI after it was established that he had breached the anti-corruption code.On the same day the new TNCA administration took charge, the CoA told the TNCA that its constitution was not compliant with the BCCI’s, with several eligibility criteria flouted. This was followed by an email by BCCI electoral officer N Gopalaswami sending out an email to all state associations stating that non-compliant members would not be allowed to attend the BCCI elections and the annual general meeting, and disqualified state representatives would not be able to participate in the board’s polls. Rai reiterated the same.According to Srinivasan, the final say on the matter can only be taken by the court, which had passed an order on September 20 allowing TNCA to conduct its polls, but said the results would be held in abeyance until its final order.Srinivasan also said that P Narsimha, the amicus curiae who had been asked by the court to act as a mediator to facilitate the states to comply with its original order, had been “receptive” to the TNCA argument. “I’m told that the learned amicus curiae was receptive to many of the requests of the TNCA and has filed an interim report in court which is yet to be seen by the Supreme Court,” Srinivasan said. “Therefore, abide by the directives of the CoA, or forfeit your right to vote in the AGM is not a stand which Mr Vinod Rai can take. He nor the CoA can substitute their wisdom for that of the Supreme Court.”Srinivasan said the court was yet to hear the TNCA case as well as the pleas of other states at length, so the CoA could not pass any diktat right away. “The CoA was told elections would go on and all matters would be decided later, including the outcome of the elections,” Srinivasan said. “Earlier, the TNCA had made clear its stand on three basic issues: having at least two vice-presidents, one representing the 150 city club members and another from the 30 district associations, opposition to the applicability of eligibility criteria for committee members and the stipulation that for any amendment in future, the Supreme Court’s approval was necessary.”

With departures expected this summer, it appears that Everton are already making preparations for when their star players leave Goodison.

Branthwaite linked with Goodison exit

With Everton's FFP problems well documented, it is clear that balancing the books this summer will mean the departures of some of the Premier League side's top talents. The most likely candidate to be sold during the window will be young defender Jarrad Branthwaite.

The 21-year-old has reportedly got a price tag of £75million with Spurs and Real Madrid interested as well as suggestions that city rivals Liverpool could make an offer. Whilst no club has emerged as a front runner so far, it is clear that Branthwaite's future lies beyond Goodison.

Everton star sold in 2018 is close to being the PL's Player of the Season

He’s impressed in his first Premier League campaign since 2021.

ByEthan Lamb Mar 6, 2024

In anticipation of Branthwaite's departure, the Toffee's have already started drawing up a list of targets with Hull City's Jacob Greaves and Sunderland's Dan Ballard both on the club's radar.

With the Championship looking like Everton's market of choice for a new centre back, fresh reports now suggest that they could be one of many Premier League teams eyeing up one of the league's most promising talents.

Middlesbrough man on Toffees' radar

As first reported by HITC, Everton are one of many Premier League clubs interested in Rav van den Berg. The Middlesbrough man only arrived at the Riverside this summer, but his appearances in the Championship have now caught the attention of topflight sides.

A centre back by trade, the teenager's best asset is his versatility. Able to also play as either a left or right back, van den Berg is the kind of player every manager wants in their side. With the Premier League fixture schedule appearing to get more congested each season, a player who can play in a variety of areas is a godsend for any coach.

Striking up a partnership with Dael Fry, the pair have shone in a Middlesbrough side that have struggled for consistency this season. Despite hitting a patch of poor form, van den Berg has still excelled, earning plaudits for his comfort with the ball at his feet.

Recently handed the captain's armband by manager Michael Carrick, it is clear that Boro are not eager to let the 19-year-old leave anytime soon. Speaking on van den Beg's progression, the ex-United legend said that he's "been hugely impressed," by the youngster.

Boasting a boot deal with Adidas, van den Berg is clearly a star in the making, having already represented his country at Under 21's level. If the youngster is to make the move to Everton this summer, it could cause a few interesting moments with his brother Sepp van den Berg too, who is currently on the books at Liverpool.

Overall, if Everton are to win the race for van den Berg they will be acquiring a high potential player who is not far off Premier League quality, even if there could be a few awkward derby days somewhere down the line.

Arsenal are flying this year, and while the double might have sounded like a pipe dream just a couple of years ago, it is very much still on.

Mikel Arteta has moulded a young and promising side into one of the best teams in the country, although Edu Gaspar deserves just as much praise for his transfer dealings.

The north Londoners now have the second most valuable squad in England, and while much of that value comes from the starting XI, those on the bench have also seen their value soar in recent years, notably Eddie Nketiah.

Eddie Nketiah's rise

While Nketiah broke through into senior football with the Gunners and is viewed by many as a product of the north London side, he hasn't always been an Arsenal player.

In fact, the Lewisham-born poacher started his youth career with cross-city rivals Chelsea, although the Blues released him at 14 years old after they deemed him to be too diminutive to make it as a top-flight footballer.

Appearances

164

Goals

38

Assists

10

Goal Involvements per Match

0.29

It was a moment in the youngster's journey that might've discouraged many others from continuing to play, but the 5 foot 11 forward used it as motivation, later claiming, "It gives you that extra motivation and resilience when times are hard. I'm able to dig a level deeper than maybe some people can or don't want to go into. It's all part of the experience."

He made his full debut for the team in a Europa League clash against Vorskla Poltava in November 2018, and while almost the entirety of that team have been moved on, the determined marksman has remained.

The latter half of the 2021/22 season, after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had been moved on, presented the right-footed ace with his first genuine chance in the first team, and considering he finished the campaign with ten goals and one assist in 27 games, it would be fair to say he took it.

Last year was a similar story. Once again, he was called into action to replace an absent striker, only this time, it was an injured Gabriel Jesus. He finished the campaign with nine goals and three assists in 39 appearances, including a brilliant brace against his old team, Chelsea.

In all, the Englishman's stock has been steadily rising over the last few years, although with his game time remaining limited at the Emirates, it might be time for him to move on.

Luckily for Arsenal, they might be able to make a significant sum of money in the process.

Eddie Nketiah's transfer value in 2024

So far this season, the 24-year-old "monster", as he was dubbed by The Athletic's Aaron Catterson-Reid, has made 33 appearances for the Londoners across all competitions, but only 13 have been starts.

However, while the once-capped international has seemingly lost his role as the backup striker to summer signing Kai Havertz, he has still scored six goals and provided five assists in his limited game time, proving there is still a talented player there.

This is clearly what several other teams, including West Ham United, believe anyway, as it has been reported that they are one of a few sides interested in signing the 24-year-old this summer for a cool £43m.

1

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

£40m

Liverpool

August 2017

2

Alex Iwobi

£35m

Everton

August 2019

3

Folarin Balogun

£34m

AS Monaco

August 2023

4

Cesc Fàbregas

£29.6m

Barcelona

August 2011

5

Marc Overmars

£25m

Barcelona

July 2000

If Edu and Co can negotiate a deal to sell their number 14 for that price, he would become the club's most expensive sale of all time, surpassing the £40m Liverpool paid for Alex Oxlade Chamberlain in August 2017.

Ultimately, while Nketiah has been a loyal and, most importantly, useful player for Arsenal over the last few years, if they can sell him for £43m, they absolutely should. Considering he didn't cost a single penny, that wouldn't be bad business would it?

Market Movers

Football FanCast's Market Movers series explores the changing landscape of the modern transfer market. How much is your club's star player or biggest flop worth today?

Mason Greenwood stars in the video put together by partner Harriet Robson to celebrate their daughter’s first birthday.

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Transfer talk swirling around forwardExpected to be on the move this summerCurrently enjoying time with familyGettyWHAT HAPPENED?

One-cap England international Greenwood became a father in the summer of 2023, shortly before seeing Manchester United sanction a loan move to Getafe. He impressed in Spain, with his young family embracing life outside of a Premier League comfort zone.

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Greenwood was named Getafe’s Player of the Season in 2023-24, and he is now celebrating in his personal life. Robson has shared a rare update on social media, which features images and video clips of her pregnancy and the first 12 months of being a mother.

WHAT ROBSON SAID

Greenwood figures prominently in the video, as he is seen interacting with his daughter, with Robson saying: “One year of amazing memories, happy birthday to our girl.” Her boyfriend has reacted to that post with Earth and heart emojis.

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WHAT NEXT?

It remains to be seen where Greenwood will be heading next, with another transfer on the cards. He has been linked with clubs across Europe, but no deal has been done as yet – with fans of Ligue 1 side Marseille protesting against talk of their team leaping to the front of a recruitment queue.

Doolan joins a group of Tasmania greats with scores 170* and 116 as Tasmania hold off South Australia on a thrilling final day

Alex Malcolm14-Nov-2019Alex Doolan became just the seventh Tasmania batsman to score twin centuries in a Sheffield Shield match to deny South Australia victory on the final day in Adelaide.The Redbacks haven’t won in two seasons and came within two wickets of breaking their drought. However, Doolan’s 116, following on from 170 not out in the first innings, combined with stubborn resistance from Ben McDermott and George Bailey helped Tasmania force a draw although for a long time they were in with a good chance of victory.Doolan joined an elite group of Tasmanians which includes Test greats Ricky Ponting and David Boon to produce twin hundreds in a match. He also achieved the rare feat of facing more than 600 deliveries in a Shield game, something only a handful of players including Steve Waugh and Bob Simpson have achieved.Tasmania were set 337 in 90 overs on the final day after South Australia declared for the second time in the game. Callum Ferguson fell for 82 in the morning having added only 10 to his overnight total.They appeared well on track to chase the target down having reached 3 for 240 with 25 overs remaining. Beau Webster, Matthew Wade, and McDermott all featured in significant partnerships with Doolan but when he finally fell to Wes Agar the chase stalled.Nick Winter clean bowled McDermott and Tim Paine in consecutive overs then Agar returned to knock over Jackson Bird before Joe Mennie struck with the second new ball to leave Tasmania eight down.George Bailey had to shepherd Lawrence Neil-Smith through the last 41 balls and the pair did so successfully to extend South Australia’s drought.

The new U.S. coach immediately makes an impact, which suddenly puts this team in the conversation for gold

If you had any doubts about Emma Hayes, go ahead and admit right now that you were wrong. If you were worried about the wait, the fit or the style, then you haven't been paying attention.

We're just 180 minutes into these Olympic games, but it's already abundantly clear that Hayes has put this USWNT back on the precipice of the world's elite.

What a difference a coach can make, huh?

The Hayes Era is still very, very new, but it already feels entirely different from those sad final months of Vlatko Andonovski's tenure. The confidence and swagger have returned. So too have the goals. And perhaps those go hand-in-hand. Hayes' tactics have the USWNT running over and through opponents, and right now, they look as if they will be tough to stop.

Germany are the latest team to be pinned down to the tracks, unable to get out of the way of the U.S. freight train. Zambia felt it, too, in their 3-1 defeat, but Germany got it even worse as the USWNT ran away with a 4-1 win in Sunday's group stage.

With the win, the U.S. joined Spain as the first teams to secure a spot in the quarterfinals. The USWNT has now made it out of the group in all eight trips to the Olympics and has medaled in six of its seven previous Olympic appearances.

Much of the credit should go to the players, of course. Sophia Smith, coming off an opening-match injury, balled out this time around. Mal Swanson got another goal, too. And what else is there to say about Trinity Rodman, who looks like a new player this summer compared to last?

But give Hayes her flowers, too. It's her tactics and her belief that has the U.S. in this position. Her tweaks have made all the difference. Her willingness to unleash this attack has led to goals in bunches. In just a few games, she's found the balance that the U.S. so often lacked at the 2023 World Cup.

Hayes was complimentary of the attack, saying "I think we were absolutely devastating when we needed to be." But she added that this team still a work in progress, noting that "there's still things that irritate me about us, but that's for me to fix. … There's things I'm learning about the team tonight from a character perspective that I want to see, from a resilience perspective I wanted to see. When you play a top-level opponent, you get to see all sides and I saw all sides of us tonight, which was pleasing."

Don't underestimate Hayes and, given what we've seen, don't underestimate the USWNT. This team still has a lot of work to do but, with Hayes at the helm, the hope has returned.

GOAL takes a look at the winners and losers of the USWNT's win over Germany.

WINNER: Sophia Smith

Last summer at the World Cup, Sophia Smith scored twice in the opener and that was that. She never found the back of the net again. It was a disappointing run during what should have been a breakout tournament.

Smith won't be denied this summer, though. Two teams have tried and, so far, two teams have failed. The confidence is there and, when Smith is feeling that, the goals will flow.

She scored twice on Sunday. One was a great backpost finish while the other, to be fair, required a little bit of luck. You make your own luck, though, and Smith continues to make things happen whenever she gets on the ball.

The Portland Thorns star just looks so comfortable and confident. She interchanges with Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman in ways that make her impossible to track. And, the more goals go in, the harder it will be to stop her.

This could be her tournament, which will only propel the USWNT.

AdvertisementGettyLOSER: Tierna Davidson

Injuries are never ideal, but in the case of Davidson, it could prove to be truly problematic for the U.S.

The USWNT centerback left the game just before halftime, hobbling off the field just as Smith scored her second goal. Emily Sonnett was thrown into the match in her place and the U.S. survived, but this could be a long-term issue.

Sonnett is the only other central defender in the squad and, even so, she's meant to be a swiss-army-knife sub at several other positions. If Davidson can't go, that leaves the U.S. extremely thin at centerback while also taking away a key supersub for Hayes.

Davidson was playing well before her injury and her partnership with Naomi Girma has truly improved. Now, though, the U.S. will be left sweating on her fitness as they approach the group stage finale against Australia on Wednesday and, more important, the knockout stage.

GettyWINNER: Emma Hayes

U.S. Soccer was content to wait for Hayes. It was a tough choice but, in their eyes, it was a necessary one. The federation was willing to give up valuable Olympic preparation to make sure that this team had the right coach, as Hayes wrapped up her season at Chelsea. Those are the choices you have to make.

As it turns out, perhaps US Soccer didn't compromise as much as we thought they did.

Just a few months into her tenure, Hayes' fingerprints are all over this team. From tactics to personality, you can see her influence. This team plays a certain way, and that way is Hayes' way.

We saw it during her tenure at Chelsea, where she established herself as an elite tactician. She's brought those ideas to the U.S., too. In just a few games, Hayes has rebalanced the midfield and rebuilt the attack, fixing the two biggest problems the U.S. had last summer. It hasn't been static, either. Hayes has different ideas for different moments and, right now, they're all working.

In the first half against Germany, the U.S. looked to run. The team looked to unleash the attack and put Germany on the back foot. The game was a bit of a track meet as a result, and that was just fine.

The second half was totally different. As they did against Zambia, the U.S. cruised. They possessed, moved and made Germany chase. It's the luxury of a lead. In that scenario, you can dictate how the game is played.

Hayes is dictating just about everything right now. She's the puppet-master ensuring this show plays out to her liking. Right now, it's a hell of a show, too, with Hayes proving her worth every single game.

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GettyLOSER: The goalkeepers

It was a rough day for goalkeepers overall and, while this wasn't as bad as the chaos that happened in the 6-5 Olympic instant classic between Australia and Zambia, this wasn't very good form from either shot-stopper.

Alyssa Naeher was directly responsible for Germany's goal. She gave the ball initially, putting Sam Coffey in danger with a bad pass. She then couldn't quite get the lift to stop Giulia Gwinn's long-range shot, despite it looking very saveable.

It was a tough day for Naeher, who has had her ups and downs over the last year. But It wasn't nearly as bad as Ann-Katrin Berger's outing, as Germany's No. 1 struggled herself.

Berger is familiar with Hayes, having played for her at Chelsea. Eventually, Hayes opted to move on. Sunday's performance at least partly showed why as Berger had several rough moments while conceding four. Her parry back into the path of Swanson was her worst moment, but it wasn't the only one.

Neither goalkeeper covered themselves in glory. In Naeher's case, her team played well enough to overcome it. For Berger? Not nearly enough.