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Artilheiro do Grêmio nesta temporada, Luis Suárez lidou com problemas físicos ao longo do ano, tentou forçar uma saída do Imortal e demorou para embalar na atual edição do Campeonato Brasileiro.

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Com apenas quatro gols nas primeiras 19 rodadas, o atacante chegou a negociar nos bastidores a rescisão de seu contrato, em uma tentativa de se juntar a Lionel Messi, que atua no Inter Miami, dos Estados Unidos.

No entanto, a equipe gaúcha fez jogo duro e a quebra do vínculo não se concretizou. Após o atrito, ambas as partes firmaram um acordo para que o uruguaio permanecesse no clube até dezembro de 2023.

Com a situação extracampo resolvida, Suárez elevou sua produção e passou a liderar a arrancada do Grêmio na competição nacional. No segundo turno, ‘El Pistolero’ anotou 10 gols e distribuiu seis assistência, com destaque para o hat-trick contra o líder Botafogo, que garantiu a virada do Grêmio fora de casa.

➡️ Confira a tabela de classificação do Campeonato Brasileiro

Com sua passagem no Imortal chegando ao fim, o atacante espera permanecer na “Zona Suárez” (entenda aqui) para liderar o Grêmio rumo ao título do Brasileirão. Com cincos rodadas para o término do campeonato, o Tricolor Gaúcho ocupa a terceira colocação, com 59 pontos.

Nesta reta final, a equipe encara a seguinte sequência: Corinthians (casa), Atlético-MG (fora), Goiás (casa), Vasco (casa) e Fluminense (fora).

The National Baseball Hall of Fame has announced its inductees for the class of 2025. Three players are set to be enshrined in Cooperstown in this year's class: Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.

Ichiro received 99.7% of the vote, meaning just one Hall of Fame voter left him off their ballot. As such, former New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera remains the only player to ever get the nod from 100% of voters.

A legendary outfielder and one of baseball's most unique hitters, Ichiro was a one-time AL MVP, a 10-time All-Star, 10-time Gold Glove winner and two-time batting champ. He collected 3,089 hits in his 19-year career, despite not debuting in MLB until the age of 27. He becomes the first Asian-born player inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Sabathia, one of the all-time great left-handed pitchers, racked up 251 wins and 3,093 strikeouts in his illustrious career for the New York Yankees, Cleveland and the Milwaukee Brewers. He ends his career as a Cy Young winner, a six-time All-Star and a World Series champion, and now, a Hall of Famer.

Both Sabathia and Ichiro got in on their first year of eligibility.

Wagner was one of the most dominant relief pitchers in history, racking up 422 saves across a 16-year career that saw him make seven All-Star teams. 2025 was his final year on the ballot, but he made it into the Hall of Fame nonetheless.

Just missing out on the 75% requirement this year included Carlos Beltran (70.3%) and Andruw Jones (66.2%). This was Beltran's third year on the ballot and Jones's eighth.

Chelsea could hand Lauren James her first start of the season when they face Barcelona in their Women’s Champions League clash, though Sam Kerr will remain unavailable despite her return to action earlier in the campaign. James, who has been slowly building back towards match readiness after an ankle injury, has been named in contention for Thursday night’s heavyweight contest.

James edges toward full fitness

James suffered the setback during the Euro 2025 final victory over Spain, ruling her out for four months. Since September, she has made two encouraging substitute appearances but has yet to start a fixture under Sonia Bompastor. She was also left out of Sarina Wiegman’s England squad for the upcoming international window, a decision Bompastor insists was mutual and made entirely in the player’s best interests. Both managers agreed that while James is progressing well, her rehabilitation requires careful management.

"We had a really good conversation with Sarina and the staff, we just felt maybe it was not the right timing, or the call up was coming a little bit soon for LJ. She is still in the process of getting fully fit. I think it was a good decision," Bompastor said. "She's available to start the game against Barcelona, probably not fully fit to play 90 minutes, but yeah, she's in a good place to start."

Whereas, Wiegman said: "Of course she's moving forward well, which is really good and really nice, but it's too early. She just needs a little more time to get back to full fitness and to be ready to take on extra loading. I would hope, of course, that we could have made that decision [to select her] but I don't want to take any risks in that."

AdvertisementGetty Images SportKerr to sit out the game

While James edges closer to full match sharpness, Chelsea will again be without Kerr. The Australian forward produced one of the most memorable moments of the season when she ended her 634-day absence from competitive football with a stoppage-time goal against Aston Villa in September. Kerr had torn her ACL during a mid-season training camp in Morocco in January 2024, an injury that wiped out the remainder of that campaign, all of 2024-25, and her chance to compete in the Paris Olympics. 

Chelsea eased her back into full training over the summer, and her brief cameo and late goal upon return felt like a cathartic release for Kerr. She then remarkably completed all 90 minutes against St. Polten in the Champions League. However, Bompastor insists that Kerr’s comeback must be meticulously choreographed.

"Sam is fine, she will probably be going with the national team next week," said Bompastor, "but she's not available for us again. It's just a case of managing her comeback. She got 90 minutes (against St. Polten) and it was part of the plan for her to rest a little bit after that and not be involved in the following two games."

England’s selection headaches continue

Wiegman faces her own challenges as she prepares for England’s upcoming camp. Captain Millie Bright, who stepped away from international football this week, will not return. Bright missed Euro 2025 and has now formally ended a decorated nine-year career with the Lionesses. Her departure adds to England’s growing absentee list. Leah Williamson and James remain unavailable, while Manchester City’s Lauren Hemp is also sidelined after picking up a problem last month. There is some relief, though, as Lucy Bronze and Niamh Charles are back in the fold after overcoming injury issues of their own.

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Getty Images SportRenewed Barcelona battle awaits

Chelsea’s meeting with Barcelona brings back a now-familiar narrative in Europe. The two sides contested the Champions League final in 2021 and have collided in the semi-finals in three of the four seasons since. Barcelona have dominated the head-to-head meetings, losing only one of the seven encounters. The return of James, even in a limited capacity, provides a creative spark that the Blues have often lacked in big European ties. The stage is set for what has become one of the defining fixtures of the modern women’s game.

While many would blame Russell Martin, the primary reason behind Rangers’ catastrophic start to this season is poor recruitment.

In attacking areas, Cyriel Dessers, Hamza Igamane and Václav Černý, who scored 63 goals between them last season, have all departed, replaced by Djeidi Gassama, Bojan Miovski and Youssef Chermiti, who are simply not of the same quality.

Elsewhere, Joe Rothwell has been cast aside since the appointment of Danny Röhl, while defence remains a major issue too, with Max Aarons and Jayden Meghoma appearing out of their depth, while a solid and reliable central partnership is yet to be unearthed.

So, when the Gers return to action against Livingston after the international break, should Röhl ditch an error-prone defender and begin to entrust his “colossus”?

Nasser Djiga's Rangers career so far

Nasser Djiga arrived at Rangers with a pretty decent reputation; a Burkina Faso international joined on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, who had signed him for around £10m from Crvena zvezda as recently as January.

Well, he certainly did not make the ideal start to life in Glasgow, sent off on his home Premiership debut during a dismal 1-1 draw with Dundee at Ibrox.

Just ten days later, Djiga was then at the scene of a catastrophic error.

The centre-back seemingly denounced any responsibility as the ball bobbled through the heart of the Rangers defence, allowing Romeo Vermant to open the scoring, the first of nine goals Club Brugge would bag across the two legs of the harrowing and ignominious Champions League play-off tie.

Djiga thereby found himself out of the team for a few weeks thereafter, albeit he has been reintegrated for recent matches by Röhl, after he switched to a back three, requiring a third member of this back-line alongside Derek Cornelius and John Souttar.

Nevertheless, he has not impressed, with the Scotsman labelling him ‘unconvincing’ following Rangers’ recent Europa League defeat to Roma, having previously outlined that the defender endured a ‘really difficult’ afternoon against Celtic at Hampden in the League Cup semi-finals a few days earlier.

That has sparked suggestions that his season-long loan could be terminated as early as January, a scenario that could well be sped up if Röhl gives one of Rangers’ forgotten summer signings an opportunity to stake a claim.

Rangers' forgotten colossus deserves a chance

Considering Rangers signed 12 players in the summer, a few of these new recruits have been overlooked and forgotten about.

Well, this is certainly the case when it comes to centre-back Emmanuel Fernandez.

The 24-year-old had already bounced around numerous lower league English clubs, Sheppey United and Spalding United to name just two, before making the move north of the border from Peterborough United, following an outstanding campaign in EFL League One.

He cost a reported £3.5m, a not insignificant fee for Rangers, but has barely featured for the Glasgow giants.

Fernandez made his debut against Alloa Athletic in the League Cup, marking the occasion with this towering header in front of the Broomloan Road Stand, starting at St Mirren the following weekend, but seeing a mere one-minute cameo at Easter Road since 24 August, an unused substitute on 12 occasions in total.

Upon his arrival, then-manager Martin labelled Fernandez a “commanding defender” who boasts a “strong physical presence”, while Darragh MacAnthony, Chairman of his former club Peterborough, described him as a “colossus”, adding that the “gentle giant” is a “great organiser and talker”.

So, let’s assess his statistics from EFL League One last season.

Goals

5

2nd

Tackles (per 90)

1.24

63rd

Interceptions (per 90)

0.91

46th

Clearances (per 90)

6.83

19th

Passing accuracy %

85.35%

20th

Passes (per 90)

65.93

5th

Aerial duels won (per 90)

4

27th

Aerial duels won %

62.24%

25th

Ground duels won (per 90)

2.87

35th

Note: rankings are defenders only.

As the table documents, despite only seeing 2,380 minutes of action out of a possible 4,140, Fernandez boasted pretty impressive statistics at Posh last season.

He scored five goals, including this rocket at Exeter City, while also ranking highly when it came to clearances, passing and aerial duels, helped by the fact that he is 194 cms (6 ft 4 in) tall when it comes to the latter.

So, given a chance, Fernandez could really flourish at Ibrox, hoping to replicate the career Calvin Bassey enjoyed in Glasgow.

When Bassey arrived at Rangers from English football in 2020, costing a mere £230k in compensation, he had never previously played senior first-team football, having merely plied his trade in Leicester City’s youth teams.

Initially signed as Borna Barišić’s left-back deputy, Bassey would ultimately become the club’s best central defender, a key figure in Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team that won the Scottish Cup and reached the Europa League Final in 2021/22.

That summer, the Nigerian international was sold to Ajax for around £20m, which remains the club’s biggest sale of all-time.

Fernandez is certainly more experienced now than Bassey was when his Rangers career began five years ago, given that he has a full season in EFL League One under his belt, a division that Global Football Rankings believes is comparable in level to the Scottish Premiership, just eight spots below.

Thus, considering the scarcity of other options, especially with Röhl electing to deploy a back three, Fernandez certainly deserves an opportunity to stake a claim, likely to prove more reliable than Djiga in the long run.

Bassey emerged from obscurity and the periphery to flourish at Ibrox – why can’t Fernandez now do the same?

Not Chermiti: Rangers flop is Ibrox's biggest waste of money since Lammers

This Glasgow Rangers flop is the club’s biggest waste of money since the signing of Sam Lammers.

ByDan Emery Nov 11, 2025

Ex-England seamer takes six wickets before classy century builds healthy overnight lead

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay24-Sep-2025Sussex 228 for 5 (Coles 102, Simpson 62*) lead Worcestershire 123 (Lategan 41, Robinson 6-68, Unadkat 4-43) by 105 runsOllie Robinson produced a reminder of his capabilities with a stunning six-wicket haul as Sussex took charge on day one of their Division One clash against Worcestershire.Taking two wickets in the first over of the match, Robinson went on to finish with season-best figures of 6 for 68 as he and Jaydev Unadkat combined to skittle Worcestershire for 123.James Coles then registered a measured century during a dominant afternoon session for the visitors, in which skipper John Simpson made 62 not out as Sussex finished the day 228 for 5, leading by 105 runs. Earlier, Dan Lategan (41) top-scored for the home side, with contributions from Matthew Waite and Gareth Roderick the only other scores of note.Returning to action for the first time since Saturday’s One Day Cup final triumph, already relegated Worcestershire were brought back down to earth with a bump, as a searing spell from Robinson saw the former England seamer take four wickets in the first hour of the match.Youngster Rehaan Edavalath was caught behind with the third ball of the match, before Pears skipper Jake Libby’s off stump was sent cartwheeling after facing just one ball as the Pears fell to 1 for 2.19-year-old Lategan provided a classy counter-attacking cameo for the hosts, easing the ball through the vacant offside whenever the opportunity arose, but Robinson continued his unrelenting start to the morning, claiming two further scalps, including that of first-class debutant Isaac Mohammed who was pinned lbw. A sobering opening hour was rounded off with the dismissal of Rob Jones, who suffered the same fate, leaving his side in a heap at 36 for 4.Lategan continued to regroup, but Worcestershire’s woes deepened with Gareth Roderick (22) caught behind after an encouraging start to his innings off the bowling of Unadkat. Robinson then collected his fifth wicket of a superb spell by removing the key man, Lategan, for his resolute 41.Robinson almost secured his sixth wicket in a morning session dominated by the bowlers, but the umpires were not convinced Simpson had held onto a rebound catch behind, as lunch was taken with Worcestershire 91 for 6.Unadkat picked up where he left off after the resumption as Ethan Brookes became his second victim with a regulation catch provided to Coles at slip.Unadkat took his season tally of wickets to 13, after removing Tom Taylor caught behind for nine and trapping Ben Allison in front without scoring as the Pears’ landslide continued.Robinson completed his six-fer with the wicket of Waite, who was the last man out for 33 as Worcestershire were dismissed for 123.Worcestershire hit back in resilient fashion as Ben Allison led the way in an inspired early spell, taking three wickets to help reduce Sussex to 67 for 4.The seamer first trapped Hughes lbw for 24, then took a stunning one-handed caught-and-bowled to remove Carter, before bowling Alsop for just one. At the other end, Taylor took his 51st Championship wicket of the season to drag the hosts back into the contest.Simpson and Coles led the Sussex revival however, dominating an afternoon session that saw the fifth-wicket pair add 90 runs before tea, with Coles reaching a fluent fifty in the process.Both batters moved past 1,000 first-class for the season during the evening session, with Coles reaching his century from 105 balls, before he was bowled by Ben Gibbon as Simpson and bad light closed out a dominant day for the visitors.

Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann was "really proud of the team" after they thumped Slovakia 6-0 in a must-win World Cup qualifying game on Monday. Nagelsmann gave full marks to every single player and praised them for working "like a maniac", as the result ensured Germany's direct passage to next year's World Cup in the United States of America, Canada and Mexico.

• Germany secure direct qualification to the 2026 World Cup

  Germany completed a demolition job on Monday night in their final World Cup qualifying game, as they beat Slovakia 6-0 to secure direct passage to next year's World Cup. 

  The hosts opened the scoring through the in-form Nick Woltemade in the 18th minute, with the Newcastle United frontman continuing his rich vein of goal scoring form for his country. Serge Gnabry doubled the lead in the 29th minute, before Leroy Sane – who had been warned by head coach Nagelsmann about not getting many opportunities to prove himself – silenced his critics by bagging a brace in the space of five minutes shortly before the end of the first half. 

  Substitutes Ridle Baku and Assan Ouedraogo piled further misery on to the Slovaks by grabbing a goal each in the second half. The result was a great demonstration of the potential Germany possess when it comes to inflicting damage on their opponents. It was an important result in the grander scheme of things, with Germany slumping to a shock 2-0 loss to Slovakia in their opening World Cup qualifying game in September.

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• AFP
  

  Nagelsmann and Kimmich 'proud' of the performance

  Speaking to after the game, Nagelsmann was happy to finish the World Cup qualifiers with a thumping victory, acknowledging the "bumpy start" as well as the pressure ahead of the game, having lost to Slovakia in the reverse fixture. 

  "I'm really proud of the team," he said. "We had a bumpy start to the qualifiers, and today the pressure was on. It was a very good game. Every player played extremely well today and worked like a maniac. We got into the game really well defensively, thanks to a huge effort. We also scored some great goals and were very convincing in terms of our footballing ability; the team did a really, really good job."

  Germany captain Joshua Kimmich was also impressed with what he saw from his team-mates. "We knew that if we played close to our top level, we would win," the Bayern Munich star told reporters. "The coach prepared us superbly, set us up perfectly, and gave us some really good words of encouragement. It was a very, very strong game. Everyone wanted to make a statement today; everyone knew exactly what was at stake."

• Other Germany stars react to the win

  Several players from the Germany national team reacted to the win and provided their thoughts on the exquisite performance. Centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck, who has become one of the mainstays in defence under Nagelsmann, had no doubts that Die Mannschaft could go on and win the World Cup if they maintained the level on display on Monday.

  "If we play like we did today, we're a very good team. And if the guys who are still good for us, the ones who are injured, come back, then I believe we'll have a very good World Cup," he said.

  Meanwhile, Woltemade, who has scored four goals in his last three outings for the national team, was relieved after the game, saying: "That was a really good game today. We didn't let anything slip from the first second to the last. We're delighted that we were able to deliver such a performance. It's very, very relieving."

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• Getty
  

  Germany will hope to avoid third straight group stage exit in 2026

  This is the 21st time Germany have qualified for the World Cup – second only to Brazil’s 23 – but they have struggled to reach the heights of their triumphant 2014 campaign. In both 2018 and 2022, they suffered shock eliminations in the group stage. As a result, immense pressure now rests on Nagelsmann and his squad to defy the odds and ensure history does not repeat itself for a third consecutive World Cup.

Ruben Amorim had some strong words for a £120,000-a-week Manchester United star in front of the rest of the squad at their Carrington training ground, it has been revealed.

Amorim says Man Utd “have a lot to do” after Tottenham draw

The Red Devils boss bemoaned United’s inability to kill off Tottenham and insisted they still have “lots of problems” after a dramatic 2-2 Premier League draw.

Matthijs de Ligt struck deep into stoppage time to rescue a point for United, who faced a first loss since a difficult September following Spurs goals from Mathys Tel and Richarlison.

“We have a lot of problems. We are just in the beginning. I know that sometimes the results show to people that we are improving. We are improving but we have a lot to do,” Amorim reflected candidly.

“You can divide the game into the final 10 minutes and also when we have to take out Harry Maguire, then suffer two goals and then losing Ben. To overcome everything and manage to score is a good thing.

“If you look at the rest of the game, I think we were comfortable in the game but we should do better. Be more aggressive, feeling the environment in the stadium that the three points were there, the space was there and I think we felt too comfortable during the game.

“We need to expect that in one play anything can happen and change the mood of the stadium. Today was that. I think we control well the game, but we need to do better because the game was there to take.”

It was the first time United faced Spurs since the Europa League final, and it has now been revealed that Amorim was fuming with one of his players after the defeat in Bilbao.

Man Utd slammed Ugarte in front of teammates during Carrington meeting

The Athletic’s Laurie Whitwell wrote an in-depth story on Amorim’s first year in charge at Old Trafford.

He revealed that Amorim wasn’t happy with Manuel Ugarte following the 1-0 defeat to Tottenham and let him know in front of his Man Utd teammates during a Carrington meeting.

Amorim felt that Ugarte ‘had let his work rate slide from their time together at Sporting’ adding that the midfielder ‘had gotten comfortable and said he did not recognise him as the same player from their first stint together’.

Whitwell added that ‘criticising a former player in front of his team-mates certainly caused a ripple of reaction among those in the squad’ and ‘showed them that Amorim was hard, but broadly fair, when it came to assessing application’.

Ugarte’s Man Utd stats	Total
Games	55
Goals	2
Assists	6
Yellow cards	15
Red cards	0
Minutes played	3,239

The Uruguay international, on £120,000-a-week in Manchester, is yet to be fully trusted by Amorim during the 2025/26 season, considering that he’s started just two Premier League games so far.

Playing under 350 minutes in all competitions, Ugarte has been preferred to Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes in central midfield, so by the looks of things, he still has plenty of work to do to get back in Amorim’s good books.

Casemiro's stance on new contract as Man Utd make U-turn and contact his agent

أعلن تشابي ألونسو، المدير الفني لنادي ريال مدريد، عن قائمة فريقه لمباراة فريقه أمام إلتشي غدًا الأحد، ضمن منافسات بطولة الدوري الإسباني للدرجة الأولى.

ريال مدريد يحل ضيفًا على إلتشي غدًا الأحد في لقاء صعب  ببطولة الدوري الإسباني، وذلك لحساب الجولة الثالثة عشر من المسابقة المحلية.

ويسعى ريال مدريد إلى تحقيق الفوز على إلتشي من أجل الاستمرار في صدارة الدوري الإسباني وتعويض التعثر أمام رايو فاييكانو الأسبوع قبل الماضي بعدما انتهى اللقاء بالتعادل السلبي بدون أهداف.

وجعلت نتيجة التعادل السلبي الفارق يتقلص بين ريال مدريد وبرشلونة إلى ثلاث نقاط فقط، مما زاد الضغوط على المدرب تشابي ألونسو.

وشهدت قائمة ريال مدريد غياب ديفيد ألابا بسبب إصابة تعرض لها خلال الأيام الماضية، في حين تواجد دين هويسن مع الفريق الأبيض بعدما غادر معسكر منتخب إسبانيا مبكرًا متأثرًا بإصابة في العانة.

أقرأ أيضًا .. كالديرون يوجه نصيحة لـ فينيسيوس جونيور بشأن عقده مع ريال مدريد.. ويهاجم فلورنتينو بيريز

كما استمر غياب كلًا من أوريلين تشواميني وفرانكو ماستانتونو، وداني كارفاخال، إلى جانب إيدير ميليتاو الذي أصيب خلال فترة التوقف الدولي الأخير مع منتخب البرازيل. قائمة ريال مدريد لمباراة إلتشي في الدوري الإسباني.

حراسة المرمى: تيبو كورتوا، أندري لونين، سيرجيو ميستري.

خط الدفاع: ترينت ألكسندر أرنولد، دين هويسن، راؤول أسينسيو، ألفارو كاريراس، فيرلاند ميندي، فران جارسيا.

خط الوسط: جود بيلينجهام، إدواردو كامافينجا، فيديريكو فالفيردي، أردا جولر، داني سيبايوس.

خط الهجوم: فينيسيوس جونيور، رودريجو جوس، إندريك، كيليان مبابي، جونزالو جارسيا، إبراهيم دياز.

They have rested Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Sep-2025

Arshdeep Singh is one wicket away from becoming the first India bowler to 100 in T20Is•AFP/Getty Images

Toss India captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and elected to bat against Oman in the last league fixture of the Asia Cup, in Abu Dhabi. With this being a dead rubber – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have qualified for the Super Four – India experimented with their combination, resting their bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy. They handed Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh their first games of the tournament.With Abu Dhabi less conducive to spin than Dubai in recent times, India fielded just two specialist spinners in Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel though Abhishek Sharma can also pitch in with left-arm spin, if needed. Arshdeep, who returned to the XI, is on the brink of a milestone: he is just one strike away from 100 T20I wickets. He is set to become the first Indian to the landmark.Suryakumar explained that India chose to bat to test their depth. “We’ve not batted [first] in this competition and we want to know our depth. having game-time is important going into Super Fours,” he said.Oman also made two changes, with Zikira Islam and Mohammad Nadeem coming in for Wasim Ali and Hassnain Shah.Oman captain Jatinder said his team lacked experience and exposure at this level and were keen to compete against India. This is the first international game between Oman and India.India: 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Sanju Samson (wk), 4 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Harshit Rana, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Kuldeep Yadav.Oman: 1 Aamir Kaleem, 2 Jatinder Singh (capt), 3 Hammad Mirza, 4 Vinayak Shukla (wk), 5 Shah Faisal, 6 Zikria Islam, 7 Aryan Bisht, 8 Mohammad Nadeem, 9 Shakeel Ahmed, 10 Samay Shrivastava, 11 Jiten Ramanandi.

West Ham have now reached out to a striker ahead of the January window with injury-prone flop Niclas Füllkrug vying for the London Stadium exit door, according to a new report.

Fullkrug’s time at West Ham has been marked more by injury woes than by impact on the pitch, as persistent fitness problems have severely limited his ability to deliver the goals West Ham hoped for when they signed him.

Arriving with high expectations as a striker capable of adding much-needed firepower, especially after 16 goals in all competitions during his last season at Borussia Dortmund, Fullkrug’s tenure has been marred by repeated setbacks.

The 32-year-old, who cost West Ham chair David Sullivan and co around £27 million to sign in the summer of 2024, missed a combined 28 games for club and country last term through injury.

Achilles tendon

08/09/2024

02/12/2024

16

Hamstring injury

11/01/2025

01/04/2025

12

It’s led to critics like Gabriel Agbonlahor and many others questioning West Ham’s strange decision to invest that much money in a 30-plus-year-old forward with a history of physical problems.

Luckily for Nuno Espírito Santo, reliable club insider ExWHUemployee has claimed that Fullkrug is due to return after the next international break and is actually ahead of schedule in his recovery.

However, the injuries have come far too frequently for West Ham’s liking, with Nuno left to pick up the pieces recently.

The Portuguese went with Lucas Paqueta as a false nine to cover Fullkrug in West Ham’s Premier League defeats against Brentford and Leeds, but Callum Wilson was given the starting spot for their 3-1 win against Newcastle last weekend.

Insiders suggest that Nuno actually doesn’t fancy Wilson at West Ham, but he’s left with little choice to select him as their only natural striker bar inexperienced youngster Callum Marshall.

West Ham’s shortage of striker options has led to credible reports that they’re in the market for another centre-forward in January, as well as a defender and midfielder (Sky Sports).

West Ham sound out Ivan Toney with Niclas Füllkrug 'determined' to leave

Now, according to TEAMtalk, there’s been an update on their pursuit of Al-Ahli striker Ivan Toney.

Journalist Alan Nixon has previously reported that West Ham have done some work on a deal for Toney ahead of January, with the Hammers still apparently in contention.

The 29-year-old, who’s poised for a tough battle to get into Thomas Tuchel’s England squad ahead of next summer’s World Cup, has been largely excluded from the Three Lions set up since his move to Saudi Arabia.

Toney’s only been called up just once in that time, and with USA 2026 looming, he could well be tempted by the prospect of a return to Britain.

Al-Ahli want around £30 million to part ways permanently in the winter, but it is an asking price nobody is willing to pay right now, so the most likely solution is a loan to buy.

Even then, the Irons would have to find a way around his sky-high wages, with Toney earning north of £400,000-per-week in the Gulf.

Nevertheless, TEAMtalk state that West Ham have sounded out Toney about a potential January move, but they’re not alone, with Tottenham and Everton also circling.

All of this comes with Fullkrug described as ‘determined’ to leave the club mid-season, following what’s been a nightmare one-and-a-half year stay thus far. It is added that Nuno personally sees Toney as a “proven goal threat to ignite their season”.

According to Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, Fullkrug has already informed West Ham of his decision to leave, so the signing of a striker is definitely one to watch in January.