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Rob Yates makes 86 as new-look Surrey attack toil in the sunshine

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay 09-May-2025

Tom Latham scored a debut century as Warwickshire reached 364 for four against Surrey on the opening day of their Rothesay County Championship Division One match at Edgbaston.New Zealand batter Latham struck an unbeaten 139 (244 balls) after Surrey chose to bowl on another belter of a batting pitch at Edgbaston. Rob Yates scored 86 (151) against the champions’ much-changed team with Ollie Pope, Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson having departed on England duty.Surrey are also without Dan Worrall whom they decided to spare the hard labour on a pitch which appears so good for batting that the best chance of victory lies in a fourth day run-chase. Warwickshire, meanwhile, are without young seamer Michael Booth who will be sidelined for two to three months by a stress fracture of the fibula. Barbados-born Che Simmons has come into the team for his home championship debut.Against a Surrey attack including debutant Nathan Smith. Warwickshire started serenely in the Second City sunshine as Yates and Alex Davies (45, 58) gathered an untroubled 70 in 19 overs. Davies twice hoisted Jordan Clark for six over the short Hollies Stand boundary but departed in angst after swinging and missing at a full toss from Dan Lawrence.Yates and Latham added 112 before the former departed in a different type of angst to this captain. With a century beckoning, he tickled an unthreatening leg-side delivery from Tom Lawes to the wicketkeeper.A Latham century looked likely from the moment he took guard. He moved sweetly into the 40s, took a breather and spent 35 balls there, then pulled Clark for six to reach his half-century and galloped from 50 to 80 in another 18 balls. It was batting of simple, solid, unhurried class.Surrey’s rejigged bowling attack, with Smith on his debut and Lawes and Cameron Steel each playing their first game of the season, persevered nobly. Sam Hain flicked Clark straight to backward square leg and Lawrence bowled Beau Webster with a beauty through the gate.But Ed Barnard (38, 63) joined the implacable Latham to add an unbroken 83 in the last 24 overs of the day. Latham reached his 27th first class century from 161 balls to emulate his countryman Jeetan Patel in making a ton on his Warwickshire debut. Whether Latham matches Patel’s subsequent haul of 742 wickets for the club remains to be seen, but he has immediately provided the top order ballast they badly need.It was a gruelling day in the field for Surrey but they will expect similar plunder from their batters, including Jason Roy who will be looking to make it back-to-back championship centuries spanning six years eight months, having scored 128 against Essex at The Oval in his last Championship game, in September 2018.

Leicestershire 65 for 1 trail Glamorgan 229 (Cooke 55, Holland 3-40, Mike 3-54) by 164 runs Leicestershire took control on the opening day of the 2025 Rothesay County Championship against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens, bowling the hosts out for 229. Ian Holland and Ben Mike took three wickets apiece for the visitors after putting Glamorgan into bat while Chris Cooke’s half-century was in vain after a series of starts in the top order.Three-match loanee and debutant, Shoaib Bashir participated in a 53-run partnership for the ninth wicket with Cooke as the pitch became easier to bat on, although the England international went wicketless from his solitary over bowled.Despite the success with the ball, concerns were for Rishi Patel who left the field and didn’t return after just 16 balls with a dislocated finger fielding a ball in the slips. As a result, Holland came and went at opener as the Foxes ended the day strongly, returning for day two on 64 for 1 with Sol Budinger and makeshift No. 3 Mike at the crease.After winning the toss and putting Glamorgan into bat on a green-topped Sophia Gardens wicket, the bowlers soon reaped the rewards, led by Leicestershire’s new-ball pair of Holland and Chris Wright with a combined age of 73.Zain Ul Hassan was the first to fall, with full credit deserved for the 34-year-old Holland who troubled the Glamorgan left-handers throughout the day.Eddie Byrom and captain Sam Northeast worked hard to see off Holland’s opening spell combining for a 57-run partnership. Just when the gruelling first hour in bowling-friendly conditions appeared done, the pair fell. Northeast, lbw squared up by Tom Scriven in a mode of dismissal that had been threatened by earlier appeals, and Byrom prodding outside his eyeline for a well-made 41, a familiar story from 2024.Another rebuild for Glamorgan, and more signs of promise. Both Kiran Carlson and last year’s County Championship top run-scorer, Colin Ingram, battled past Ben Green and Scriven bowling consistently, taking advantage of loose Mike deliveries to keep the scoreboard going along into lunch at 90 for 3.Ingram came out after lunch firing, cover-driving his way past 9000 career first-class runs, making light of his early signs of discomfort. In similar fashion to earlier dismissals, however, wickets came in a group: Carlson and Ingram both falling to the second spell from Holland and an uncomfortable 18-ball knock from Ben Kellaway, bowled by Scriven, leaving Glamorgan at 132 for 6.Leicestershire continued to dominate the second session as the hosts bided their time, scoring at two-an-over heading into tea with the wickets of Timm van der Gugten and Andy Gorvin falling to Mike, bowling a better spell the second time around.As the ball began to wear and the sun shone down on Sophia Gardens, the pitch appeared to flatten and life became easier for Cooke and Bashir who added 53 for the ninth wicket, 48 of those in less than 10 overs after tea – before falling to Mike, claiming his third, and Rehan Ahmed picking up a first wicket, respectively.As expected, Patel couldn’t bat for Leicestershire with his return unknown, and Holland faced up before falling to van der Gugten for a third time in as many innings. Mike continued to have his day as he and Budinger negotiated Glamorgan’s bowlers until the end of play with an unbeaten partnership of 47 despite a dropped catch from Ingram and a couple tight lbw appeals denied.

Abbott, Johnson, Dwarshuis, Sangha, Connolly and Fraser-McGurk, who have been added to the ODI squad in Sri Lanka, are in the mix for the final Champions Trophy squad

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Feb-2025Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood have both been officially ruled out of the Champions Trophy. The two of them “are managing some ongoing injuries and haven’t come up in time for the Champions Trophy,” selection chair George Bailey said on Thursday.Australia have until February 12 to finalise their Champions Trophy squad, and they will have to make at least four changes to the initial 15-man squad they had named on January 13. Apart from Cummins and Hazlewood, they are also without Mitchell Marsh, who is grappling with a back injury and was ruled out of the tournament on January 31, and Marcus Stoinis, who announced on Thursday that he would be retiring from ODI cricket, removing himself from the Champions Trophy squad as a result after being selected in the original 15.February 12 is also the day when Australia play the first of two ODIs against Sri Lanka in Colombo. They have added three quicks, Sean Abbott, Spencer Johnson and Ben Dwarshuis for those two games as well as legspinner Tanveer Sangha, spin-bowling allrounder Cooper Connolly and batter Jake Fraser-McGurk.Related

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It’s possible that two of the three quick bowlers could get into the Champions Trophy squad while Fraser-McGurk appears to be the like-for-like replacement for Marsh given he has not been bowling much recently in ODI cricket and was locked in to bat at No. 3. Connolly could be the replacement for Stoinis but there is now only one seam-bowling allrounder, Aaron Hardie, left in the current squad. Test allrounder Beau Webster has not been included among the additions to the Sri Lanka ODI squad.”While disappointing, it does present a great opportunity for other players to perform for Australia in a world event,” Bailey said.Cricket Australia said Cummins and Hazlewood would begin an “extended period of rehabilitation”. They are missing the ongoing Test series in Sri Lanka too. Both have IPL contracts with Cummins set to lead Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) again while Hazlewood is returning to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Whether they can play any part in the IPL ahead of the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s in June remains to be seen.Australia are likely to pick between Steven Smith and Travis Head to lead Australia in the two Sri Lanka ODIs and then the Champions Trophy.Prior to Thursday’s confirmation, Australia coach Andrew McDonald told SEN radio on Wednesday that Cummins was “heavily unlikely” to make the Champions Trophy which meant Australia would need a new captain with the ODI vice-captain Marsh also unavailable.ESPNcricinfo Ltd”Steve Smith and Travis Head are the two that we’ve been having conversations with while we’ve been building out that Champions Trophy team along with Pat back home,” McDonald said.”They’ll be the two that we look at for that leadership post. They’re the two obvious ones. Steve has done a great job here in the [first] Test match. He’s done some good work in one-day international cricket across the journey as well. So it’s between those two.”Cummins skipped the Sri Lanka Tests to be at home for the birth of his second child, but he has also been nursing the ankle issue that had flared up after a heavy workload in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India. Hazlewood is understood to be dealing with a hip issue after recovering from the side and calf injuries that made him miss three of the five Tests against India and the Test tour of Sri Lanka.The selectors might also have a challenge cobbling an XI together for the first ODI against Sri Lanka given that, apart from the missing players, there is only one travel day scheduled between the fifth day of the second Test and the first ODI, with ODI squad members Head, Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc all playing the Test match that is currently on in Galle. Starc would seem very unlikely to play in those two ODIs.

Manchester United could now beat Manchester City to the signature of a “world-class” player, who could be essential to their top six push, according to a reporter.

Man Utd in line for successful season if Amorim fixes one issue

Despite suffering a 1-0 defeat against title-hopefuls Arsenal in their Premier League opening match, there were plenty of positives to take for Man United, with a number of their attackers looking threatening, including new arrivals Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha.

However, it was an error at the opposite end of the pitch that ultimately ended up costing the Red Devils, with goalkeeper Altay Bayindir failing to deal with Declan Rice’s corner, which led to Riccardo Calafiori’s goal.

With Andre Onana injured, Bayindir was given the nod between the sticks against the Gunners, however, after failing to deliver, Ruben Amorim may now be even more determined to bring in a new goalkeeper before the September 1st deadline.

Taking to X, Jan Aage Fjortoft has now revealed that Man United could still win the race for Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who is also being targeted by rivals Manchester City.

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However, in order to make a deal for Donnarumma a possibility, the Red Devils will have to take swift action first and ship out at least one of their goalkeepers, which could prove to be challenging. The reporter describes the PSG shot-stopper as “world-class”, while also insisting Amorim needs to sign a new goalkeeper if his side are to stand any chance of finishing in the top six this season.

However, United may have to move swiftly, given that Man City recently opened club-to-club talks over a deal for the £212k-a-week goalkeeper.

Donnarumma could be major upgrade on Onana

It would be a real coup if Man United were able to sign the 2024-25 Champions League-winning goalkeeper, and there is every indication that he would be a major upgrade on Onana, having outperformed the Cameroonian on several key metrics over the past year.

Despite being willing to sanction a departure this summer, PSG boss Luis Enrique also holds the Italian in very high regard, saying: “Donnarumma is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, no doubt, and even better as a person.”

As such, it is exciting news that Man United could still beat their rivals to the 26-year-old’s signature, and a deal may not break the bank, with a potential transfer fee of £22m recently being touted.

Still seeking reinforcements as the Premier League campaign gets underway, West Ham United are now reportedly ready to step up their move to sign a Championship star.

Latest West Ham transfer news

It’s not been a summer full of headlines at the London Stadium, but the Hammers have still welcomed a number of solid additions. El Hadji Malick Diouf, Kyle-Walker Peters, Mads Hermansen and Callum Wilson have all arrived to hand Graham Potter a much-needed boost across the squad as he looks to turn what has been a difficult start at West Ham around.

With just two weeks left until the transfer window slams shut, though, there’s still work to be done. Potter’s side are arguably still short in a number of areas and, as such, targets like Aleix Garcia and Lorenzo Pellegrini could still arrive.

Garcia is a particularly interesting target. The Bayer Leverkusen midfielder spent time at Manchester City in the early stages of his career, before eventually working his way back to the top level to join Leverkusen last summer. Now, just one year on from that move, the midfielder has done enough to attract the interest of West Ham.

Of course, however, he’s not the only one on the Hammers’ reported radar. Harvey Elliott has been linked with a move away from Liverpool all summer long, and he remains without a move. Among those interested in the England U21 international, West Ham could yet look to complete a late swoop.

The same can be said for another impressive talent, with those at the London Stadium now reportedly ready to increase their efforts in pursuit of his signature.

West Ham ready to step up El Khannouss move

According to GiveMeSport, West Ham are now ready to step up their move to sign Bilal El Khannouss this summer. The Leicester City star, who can leave for the value of his £22.5m release clause, has attracted interest from Leeds United, Crystal Palace and the Hammers in recent months, with the London club now seemingly prepared to battle their rivals for his signature.

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That said, it won’t be an easy deal to pull off. There are already reportedly concerns at West Ham that they won’t be in a strong enough position to turn El Khannouss’ head away from other clubs this month and there are reservations over their ability to even afford the deal.

Alas, what they should not be concerned about is the midfielder’s ability, given that Aaron Wan-Bissaka saw it first-hand when El-Khannouss scored and assisted in a 3-1 victory over West Ham last season. In a one-on-one battle against the Leicester man, Wan-Bissaka suffered a rare defeat.

Praised for that “great performance” by then-manager Ruud van Nistelrooy, El Khannouss left Wan-Bissaka guessing all game long in a decisive display which proved his Premier League quality.

There are plenty of reservations over their ability to get the deal done, but West Ham should push as far as they can to sign the Leicester star before the end of the month.

For the first time this transfer window, the transfer activity in through the door at Birmingham City seems to have slowed down.

After all, in the space of just a week recently, Birmingham had managed to welcome in the likes of Demarai Gray, Tommy Doyle, Kyogo Furuhashi, and many other star names to the camp, with some calm perhaps now needed to balance the books appropriately.

Still, when it comes to Chris Davies and Co., there might well be another sublime addition just waiting around the corner at any moment, with Birmingham not giving up all hope just yet that they can resign this midfield ace very soon, among other targets being chased after.

Birmingham still pursuing move for EFL ace

Reports do seem to suggest that the Blues will have to move on some bodies to be able to finance some more high-profile captures, especially if they want to be successful in landing Hwang Hee-Chan up top.

It was recently revealed that Birmingham had their eye on the Wolverhampton Wanderers attacker, but the £14m fee required to win his services – on top of his potential steep wage costs – has rendered this a deal that will be difficult to get over the line right now.

There are more unwelcome obstacles in Birmingham’s way with other targets, too, with Kieran Dowell, who was expected to be surplus to requirements on his return to Rangers, now being utilised in pre-season under a fresh set of managerial ideas from Russell Martin.

A recent updated report from Birmingham Live does suggest that a permanent move could still be on the cards, with Davies once stating it would be “something we will have to look into” over arranging for the £16k-per-week star to come back to St. Andrew’s for good.

Whilst this has gone cold for the moment, Birmingham do have plenty of time on their hands to try and work out a deal, with Dowell perhaps a dream teammate for Kyogo to bounce off of as he grows accustomed to leading the line in the Championship.

Why Dowell could be a dream for Kyogo

Whilst the Japanese ace has proven himself to be a reliable goal machine in Scotland – as seen in his ridiculous tally of 85 strikes leading the line with venom for Celtic – he has never tested himself before in the challenging terrain of the EFL’s elite league.

Therefore, he could well be daunted by the prospect of having to be the Blues’ leading man here, particularly as he’s coming into Davies’ camp off the back of a barren spell in France with Rennes and the fact that he’s been purchased for a fee around the excessive £10m mark.

Those nerves would surely be quelled knowing he has the likes of such a reliable Championship playmaker in the form of Dowell by his side, with the second-tier veteran notching up a hefty 26 goals and 12 assists across his last 123 outings in the division. On top of that, 25 big chances have also been created, which will be music to the ears of a poacher-like forward in Kyogo.

At the height of his goalscoring powers at Celtic during the 2022/23 season, which saw him net a blistering 27 Scottish Premiership strikes, the potent 30-year-old would only need to average a mere 13.3 touches per league game to cause said widespread damage, meaning he should become even more prolific if he latches onto plenty of Dowell’s defence-splitting passes to come.

Whilst they used to be divided across enemy lines in Glasgow, both Dowell and Kyogo might well form a dream partnership in the West Midlands very soon, with Davies even going as far as to describe the 27-year-old as “high quality” last campaign when he popped up with four assists from just 17 League One starts.

He might well have only scratched the surface of what he’s capable of at St. Andrew’s with his promising loan stint, with the Championship more his bread and butter, as Birmingham aim to potentially bring him back to take their new division by storm.

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Jul 15, 2025

تحدث قائد ليفربول، فيرجيل فان دايك، بعدما قاد فريقه لفوز مثير على أتلتيكو مدريد في الدقائق الأخيرة، ببطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا، ليلة الأربعاء.

والتقى ليفربول وأتلتيكو مدريد على ملعب “آنفيلد” في الجولة الأولى لمرحلة الدوري ببطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا.

وكانت نتيجة المباراة تشير إلى تعادل إيجابي 2-2، وسجل فان دايك هدف فوز ليفربول في الدقيقة الثانية من الوقت المحتسب بدلاً من الضائع.

وقال فان دايك متحدثًا على قناة “TNT Sports”:”حاولنا وواصلنا الضغط من أجل تسجيل الهدف الثالث، لكننا استقبلنا هدف التعادل بعد كرة غيرت اتجاهها بشكل كبير وهذا لم يكن جيدًا”.

وأضاف: “ومع ذلك وجدنا طريقة للعودة، وكنا خطرين دائماً في الكرات الثابتة، يجب أن أقول إنهم كانوا عدوانيين للغاية، وأنا سعيد لأنني سجلت هدف الفوز”.

وأكد فان دايك: “إنهم فريق لا يستسلم أبدًا، ولديهم لاعبون أكفاء قادرون على معاقبتك إذا لم تكن حاضرًا في لحظة، وإذا تأخرت قليلًا، وهذا ما فعلوه عندما عاقبونا قبل نهاية الشوط الأول”.

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وأكمل: “بعد الاستراحة حاولنا تسجيل الهدف الثالث، لكنهم اكتسبوا بعض الثقة من هدفهم أيضًا، علينا أن نواصل القتال ونُظهر الصلابة التي اعتدنا إظهارها لسنوات، وكانت ليلة أوروبية رائعة أخرى هنا”.

وسُئل فان دايك هل يؤمن الفريق دائمًا بأنه سيجد طريقة، وأجاب: “أعتقد أننا أظهرنا مرارًا وتكرارًا أننا قادرون على تحقيق ذلك، كنت محظوظًا اليوم بتسجيل هدف الفوز، وسنمضي قدمًا”.

وبشأن أهداف ليفربول في الدقائق الأخيرة، علّق: “الأمر يتعلق بالإصرار، نحن لا نحب أن يحدث هذا كثيراً، نحن نفضل أن نسيطر على المباريات، لكننا نعمل على هذا الجانب، إنه عملية تحتاج إلى وقت، الهدف الأول كان من الممكن تفاديه، أما الهدف الثاني فكان فيه بعض الحظ لصالحهم”.

كشفت تقارير صحفية عالمية أن ليفربول لا ينوي إضاعة أي وقت في التعاقد مع خليفة النجم المصري الدولي محمد صلاح لحل محله في المستقبل.

ويستهدف آرني سلوت مدرب ليفربول وريتشارد هيوز المدير الرياضي للنادي، التعاقد مع صفقة في الخط الهجومي خلال سوق الانتقالات الشتوية في يناير.

وبحسب “فوتبول ترانسفيرز” فإن محمد صلاح أصبح على وشك الرحيل عن ليفربول الصيف المقبل على الرغم من توقيعه على عقد لمدة عامين مع الريدز مؤخراً.

ويبلغ الدولي المصري حالياً 33 عاماً ويأتي بعد موسم يمكن القول إنه الأفضل له في تاريخ الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز كما ساهم في تسجيل هدف وصنع تمريرة حاسمة حتى الآن.

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ومع ذلك فإن هناك إجماعاً في ليفربول أن النادي سيتخلى عن أسطورته محمد صلاح في المستقبل القريب وقد تم بالفعل اختيار خليفته في ملعب آنفيلد.

وقد تم تحديد ماليك فوفانا جناح ليون الفرنسي حيث يعد اللاعب الذي يمكنه تعويض رحيل النجم المصري محمد صلاح على المدى الطويل.

ويبدو أن ليفربول حريص على الضغط على الدولي البلجيكي في يناير، ويريد مسؤولو الريدز إتمام الصفقة الآن للاستفادة من إمكانيات اللاعب.

ويدرك ليفربول أن المنافسة على خدمات فوفانا صاحب الـ20 عاماً ستكون قوية، وقد ترددت شائعات عن اهتمام تشيلسي وآرسنال بخدماته خلال الصيف الماضي.

وكان فوفانا قد رفض في وقت سابق إمكانية اللعب في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز حيث قال: “فكرت في الانتقال لكني أعتقد أن اللعب كثيراً الآن أهم وهذا يجب أن يحدث في ليون”.

Newcastle United are active in the hunt for reinforcements and internal discussions are ongoing at St James’ Park over a potential move for an exciting attacker, according to a report.

Newcastle United discover opening Premier League fixtures

The Premier League fixture schedule has landed ahead of the new campaign, and it is fair to say Magpies fans will be salivating over the prospect of their side being back in competitive action.

Facing Aston Villa, Arsenal, and Liverpool within their first few matches won’t be easy, but there will be plenty of confidence within the camp that a strong platform can be built ahead of another enthralling season.

With a trip to Villa Park first up, intrigue will start to grow over potential activity in the North East over the next couple of months. Simon Jordan believes Newcastle’s position of relative strength should be more of a talking point as they gear up to go to battle in the top-flight.

He stated: “I think the answer to the question is where is there not an intriguing story? Look around the league. Look at all the teams that are in there. Look at Newcastle.

“Newcastle are now in the Champions League. They have got the spending restrictions probably back into play now and they can go again hard.”

Joao Pedro has emerged as a key target for Newcastle in their mission to juggle domestic football and Champions League participation, with talks open over a move for the Brazil international.

Roma’s Evan Ndicka could join Howe’s revolution, but it appears that extending their pool of depth across the front four position has become the main priority for the Geordies if recent reports are anything to go by.

Newcastle discuss West Ham United man Mohammed Kudus

According to The Athletic, Newcastle have internally discussed a move for West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus amid uncertainty over his future at the London Stadium.

Previously, reports came to light detailing that Magpies owners PIF feel they can afford a swoop for Kudus as a cheaper alternative to Brentford star Bryan Mbuemo.

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The Ghana international has a release clause of around £75 million. However, it is widely acknowledged that he won’t move for as high a fee, and Newcastle appear to have taken encouragement due to the fact his name has been mentioned in the corridors of power.

Labelled “brilliant” by Graham Potter, Kudus registered five goals and four assists last campaign in 35 appearances across all competitions, which isn’t bad going given the Hammers endured a disappointing season.

Making his presence known in attack, the 24-year-old created 31 chances in the Premier League and fits the bill as a versatile attack-minded addition for Howe due to his ability to function on either flank or through the middle.

Newcastle’s targets are beginning to evolve this window and Kudus is now near the front of their mind amid his potential availability.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have now submitted an opening bid for a defender who “never puts a foot wrong”, but there could be competition from their Premier League rivals, according to a report.

Wolves looking to kick on under Pereira

Vitor Pereira’s arrival last season marked a change in fortunes for Wolves, with the manager overseeing a major improvement in results, which meant relegation fears were quashed way before the business end of the season.

Pereira has stated he wants to “do better” next season, however, which means some new arrivals may be needed this summer, particularly with Matheus Cunha on his way to Manchester United, and there have been suggestions Nelson Semedo could follow the forward to Old Trafford.

Quite rightly, the manager may also be keen to strengthen his backline this summer, given that the Old Gold conceded the most goals of any side not to be relegated from the Premier League last season.

Club

Final position

Goals conceded

Tottenham Hotspur

17th

65

Wolves

16th

69

Manchester United

15th

54

West Ham United

14th

62

According to a report from Italy (via Sport Witness), Wolves have now made an offer for Lazio defender Mario Gila, but there could be competition for his signature from their Premier League rivals, with Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion also keen.

Lazio’s failure to qualify for Europe could have a big impact on their summer transfer window, and there is now growing interest in Gila, with the Italian club looking to hold out for a fee of €50m (£42m) for his services.

However, the Old Gold only appear to be willing to fork out €35m (£29m) for the centre-back’s signature, so the two clubs remain some way apart at the moment, and he is thought to be keen on playing for a top club next season.

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ByRoss Kilvington May 25, 2025 Gila "never puts a foot wrong" in defence

Former Lazio sporting director Igli Tare was full of praise for the Spanish defender upon signing him from Real Madrid, saying: “He is fast, intelligent and never puts a foot wrong. He can become one of the top 3-4 defenders in the world and it wouldn’t surprise me if Real wanted him back.”

The Barcelona-born defender has since emerged as a key player for Lazio, making 32 Serie A appearances during the 2024/25 campaign, and CBS’ Matteo Bonetti believes he could be in line for a move to a top club due to his “unique” profile.

As such, Gila could be a real coup for Wolves, but given that European football will not be on offer next season, it would be a surprise to see him move to Molineux.