The malaise that had seeped into Anfield after years of success under Jurgen Klopp has been wiped away in the early stages of Liverpool's Premier League campaign, with a promising start the result of impressive work on the transfer front.

The Reds finished fifth in the English top-flight last season – their lowest Premier League finish since coming eighth in the 2015/16 edition – and were a shadow of their former selves, so intense, oiled and incisive under Klopp's illustrious tutelage.

It was clear that change was paramount, and with the mass midfield exodus creating space for fresh faces, the strategy needed to succeed.

Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch were signed to reshape the Anfield centre, and with ten points from a possible 12 thus far, the cohesion and verve looks to have been rekindled – last term, it took Klopp's side nine fixtures to reach as many points.

Shipping 47 goals as opposed to 26 during the 2021/22 campaign, Liverpool's summer pursuit of a centre-back was understandable, and supporters anticipated an exciting addition to the backline.

This wasn't the case. Focus remained on the midfield and the club's German manager retained his belief that his current crop could thrive once more.

While this may yet prove a shrewd move in Klopp's favour, it's hard to shake off the feeling that a first-class star was there for the taking, with Sporting Lisbon's Goncalo Inacio the man touted for a move to Liverpool across much of 2023.

Did Liverpool nearly sign Goncalo Inacio?

In August, Inacio penned a new long-term contract with Sporting Lisbon to end speculation of a summer move, having been at the very centre of interest from a wealth of Europe's top outfits, including Liverpool.

Prior to agreeing to an extension, the 22-year-old held a £40m release clause, raised to €60m (£52m) upon his fresh deal, and many Reds supporters were left perplexed that intrigue was not followed up.

Indeed, according to reports all summer, Liverpool were hot on the Portgual starlet's trail and were mulling over paying the big bucks to secure his services.

He certainly appears to fit the bill; a left-footed central defender, Inacio boasts ball-playing prowess and intelligence in his craft, even hailed as the "complete" package by talent scout Jacek Kulig.

It's clear that the Merseyside outfit will prioritise the signing of a centre-half next, and while Inacio's release clause has not been raised, he surely must remain the number one pick after his superlative early performances in his homeland.

How good is Goncalo Inacio?

Having made 125 appearances for his side, Inacio has scored 11 goals and provided nine assists from the backline, demonstrating a distinctive set of skills that fit the mould of the perfect modern-day central defender.

First-rate in surging forward with the ball at his feet and splitting the lines apart with his precise passing, Inacio would slot into Klopp's Liverpool system seamlessly, with the Reds implementing a transitional game with high pressures and direct, forward-thinking passing.

To emphasise this, the two-cap international ranks among the top 1% of centre-backs across the eight leagues most similar to the Portuguese top-flight over the past year for passes attempted, progressive passes and shot-creating actions, the top 3% for assists, the top 4% for progressive carries and the top 7% for successful take-ons per 90, as per FBref.

Explaining how the gem would be a tailor-made addition for the Anfield side, BBC Sports' Raj Chohan took to Twitter to say: "Gonçalo Inácio is the perfect counter-weight to Konaté. Inacio-VVD-Konaté: Build-up conductor. Leader/aerial dominator/switches of play. Immense recovery speed & coverage of space."

Across the duration of his senior career thus far, the 6 foot 1 titan has recorded a pass success rate of 88.7%, averaging 3.5 long balls and 0.5 dribbles per match.

To put that into context, Liverpool's £75m star centre-back Virgil van Dijk has recorded a career passing accuracy of 87.6%, averaging 4.1 long balls per match.

In the Liga Portugal last season, Inacio completed 90% of his balls, won 59% of his contested duels and succeeded with a remarkable 89% of his dribbles.

He may be young and yet to earn a taste of football on English shores, but Inacio looks a bona fide prodigy and would have been a brilliant signing for the Kop, and while it is entirely possible that interest is revisited next summer – or perhaps even at the season's midpoint – his acquisition this summer would have offered Liverpool an exciting new tool, opening up a new channel of dynamism from the back.

Had Inacio arrived at Anfield and been handed a starting berth, it would have allowed Van Dijk to shift onto his favoured right side and provided the club with a natural presence on the left half of the central defence, potentially sending someone like Joel Matip packing.

Will Liverpool sell Joel Matip?

With Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez and Matip all making up the defensive ranks – and rising academy graduate Jarell Quansah – the Reds have the numbers in defence but, as last season brutally exposed, not quite the same level of overall quality and fluidity that was formerly at Klopp's disposal.

Matip, a stalwart since joining from Schalke on a free transfer in 2015, making 189 appearances and winning all the silverware under Klopp's wing, has now entered the final year of his contract at the club and was among the culprits of a poor season, branded "shaky" and "slow" by The Athletic's James Pearce in February.

Now playing second fiddle to Konate anyway, it is unlikely that Matip will return to the starting line-up with regularity when all options are fit, and it is probable that he is approaching the culmination of his time on Merseyside.

Had Liverpool signed Inacio, that process might have been accelerated, with the Cameroonian even attracting attention from the likes of French side Rennes, who were seeking cover for the possible departee Arthur Theate, who ultimately remained in Ligue 1.

Klopp and co may have missed a trick by not ruthlessly shipping Matip on and replacing him with a prodigious talent in Inacio, and while it will not unravel a campaign that tantalises brighter fortunes, it is undoubtedly an area that needs renovation, and Sporting Lisbon's starring centre-back was the man for the job.

New Zealand were too slow to adjust to the nature of the Sydney pitch according to Ross Taylor who thought a total of 140 would have given them a fighting chance.Three wickets in the first four overs – including two from Billy Stanlake’s opening two deliveries – set back New Zealand’s innings to such an extent that they could only limp to 9 for 117 with Australia cantering to a rain-adjusted target to take the opening points of the Trans-Tasman tri-series.The start of Stanlake’s spell was the most eye-catching period of the match as he pushed the speedgun over 150kph, dismissing Colin Munro first ball then producing an unplayable delivery to take Martin Guptill’s off stump.Munro is given licence to attack at the top of New Zealand’s limited-overs line-ups, but didn’t give himself a sighter against Stanlake when he top-edged a short ball and, while Guptill could do little about his delivery, Tom Bruce then top-edged another short ball to long leg in Stanlake’s second over.”We probably didn’t assess conditions well enough, Australia bowled very well and there was a little in the wicket but we weren’t able to soak that up,” Taylor said. “Don’t know it was 160-170 wicket but if we’d scrapped our way to 140 we might have been a chance.”With New Zealand’s two top-order strikers gone in two deliveries, boundaries were hard to come by to the extent that there was just one in the Powerplay after the opening over – and that was an edge fine of slip by Taylor – as captain David Warner gave Stanlake three of his four overs on the bounce.”I thought he bowled very well and those were two big wickets with his first two balls set the tone for their innings and our batting,” Taylor said. “He’s bowled very well in the Big Bash, it wasn’t a quick wicket here but he bowled well with good pace and will be one to watch in the future for sure.”Kane Williamson soaked up 21 deliveries for his 8 before getting a leading edge into the covers and Taylor was left to hold the innings together. Tom Blundell was promoted up the order to try and ensure the innings went deep to allow Colin de Grandhomme, who finished as the top-scorer with 38 off 24 balls, the freedom to attack later on.Taylor edged Ashton Agar’s final delivery to depart for 24 off 35 balls – New Zealand’s second-slowest 20-plus score in T20Is – while de Grandhomme clubbed three of the four sixes New Zealand managed, but Taylor rejected any suggestion that the difficulty in clearing the rope was because of the transition from the small grounds in New Zealand.”You just have to back yourself that you are doing the right thing at the time, try to eliminate the dot balls. Each time we lost a wicket we had to hold back and take it as deep as possible. I think it was more the wicket than the size of the boundary… the slower balls stuck in the wicket.”

After 12 months of poor ODI results, the Australia coach has conceded the team will need a fresh, more aggressive approach to be able to contend for World Cup 2019 in England

Daniel Brettig12-Feb-2018Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann has conceded the national team will need a fresh, more aggressive approach to be able to contend for next year’s 50-over World Cup in England, following 12 months of poor results for the ODI set-up.As the Twenty20 team shows the benefits of fresh bodies and minds in the current triangular series, Lehmann said discussions about the ODI squad were advancing quickly with little more than 20 games left between now and the global tournament in 2019. Australia’s next 50-over assignment will be in England in mid-year, and Lehmann indicated he wanted to see the national selection panel nail down a squad to keep together from that point until the global tournament begins.Warner given brief respite from T20s

Two nights in your own bed may not sound like much, but Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann is hopeful a “mini-break” for David Warner will rouse the stand-in Twenty20 captain from a run of low scores for both the pointy end of the triangular series and the Test tour of South Africa to follow it.
“We’re going to let him go home after the Allan Border Medal for a couple of days and just arrive the day before the game,” Lehmann said of Warner, who will stay in Sydney for two days before flying to New Zealand on Thursday ahead of Friday’s next match. “Give him a couple days at home really. It’s always a challenge when you’ve got the schedule as it is, but David’s really keen to play as captain, so we’ll give him a couple days off and get him to New Zealand just before the game and he can play.
“You’ve got your leaders in Steven [Smith] and David and you need one of them to captain, so that’s the reason behind it from the selection panel, making sure we’ve got constant messaging through our leaders and David’s been great in this series. Steven’s had his break, David will get a little mini-break, and Steven’s got to do the tour game while we’re playing the [T20] final.
“You can only do so much work. He’s been working so hard it’s almost like give him a couple days away from the game. Ricky Ponting’s been doing some really good work with him. So we expect him to come out of that rut pretty quickly.”

In an admission that the Australian team had fallen behind in terms of batting tempo, Lehmann said that the likely flat pitches and small grounds for the World Cup in England would necessitate a greater level of aggression with the bat, not unlike that used by Eoin Morgan’s team over the past two years. This is a significant shift from Lehmann’s declaration, following Australia’s elimination from the Champions Trophy, also in England last year, that “when they win a World Cup, we can take the way they play”.”The results are more about execution for us. We had to chop and change a lot of the side depending on what’s happening with the Test arena and going from Test to non-Test and obviously Tests are a focus for us,” Lehmann said. “So we haven’t been able to have a settled one day side. I’d like to see us play with a settled side over six months and see what the result is then, see how we play.”[Team approach] will change in the fact you’ve got to be more aggressive in England because of the wickets, but then it can be overcast and swing, so you’ve got to have both ways covered for England as we’ve seen, you can play a certain way but you’ve got to be able to change, depending on what the pitch is and the conditions above.”He also indicated that the physical and mental toll of the preceding Ashes series had underlined how carefully Lehmann, the captain Steven Smith and the selectors would have to be about managing resources over the next 18 months, amid the competing priorities of Tests, the run-in to the 50-over World Cup and also efforts to raise Australia’s international Twenty20 standing ahead of hosting the World T20 in 2020 – after Lehmann’s tenure as coach is set to end in late 2019.”They were pretty tired by the end of it,” Lehmann said of the Test players who backed up the ODI matches. “We certainly didn’t win the crunch moments in that one-day series, we had opportunities in every game and in the past our one day format we’ve scored those extra 30-40 runs and taken earlier wickets. We didn’t do that, guys were a little bit tired and down I suppose, excited by the result of the Ashes, but didn’t perform as well as we’d like in the one-day format. So that’s another area we’ve got to look at and how we go about it.”[The improved T20 performance] gives you food for thought after a long, tough Test series… fresh guys coming in. That’s been exciting for us as a coaching group, the way they’ve gone about it has been pretty special so far. It gives you a lot of thought moving forward and that’s a great thing.”We’ll sit down at the end of the South African series [to review], but we’ve always got to look forward. World Cup’s coming along pretty quickly, I think there’s about 22 games to go before we play our first game. So we’ll have to settle on a group of players, we think we’ve got a really good group, it’s just where we fit in, how we look, the style of play. We know what England’s going to produce in terms of pitches, they’re going to be pretty good, so it’s going to be a pretty high-scoring World Cup, so we’ll have to look at that.”To that end, the power hitting of Chris Lynn looms as a key part of Australia’s plans, more than likely batting at No. 3. Lehmann said he wanted to see Lynn, who rejected a Queensland state contract last year to concentrate on T20 tournaments, play in all forms for his state, particularly once his lengthy rehabilitation from shoulder surgery returns the joint to full strength and health.”You’d love to, yeah,” Lehmann said when asked whether he wanted to see Lynn play the domestic 50-over tournament this year. “It just gets down to fitness with Chris at the moment. His shoulder is getting better, and we hope he plays as much cricket as he can in all formats. He’s exciting as we’ve seen, he missed out in the second game, but first game he came out and took the game on.”This game on Saturday, he took the game on and took it away from England, so he’s an exciting talent. He’s getting there, within three or four months I think he’ll be back with his shoulder and more confident with what he’s doing .It’s getting better each and every day, it’s just a time factor with this shoulder.”Another player who has resumed his central place in Australia’s limited-overs plans is Glenn Maxwell, after a summer in which he has been the centre of much discussion about his role and relationships with Lehmann and Smith in particular. “He’s finished games off for us and won us games, and that’s what we’ve been asking for and he’s delivered on the big stage for us, it’s been excellent the way he’s gone about it,” Lehmann said of Maxwell’s T20 displays.”His preparation has been excellent and the way he has actually played, put more responsibility [on him] batting at No. 4 in the T20s and he’s been exceptional. It seems like he’s taken the knocks really well and come back and proved his point. Now we just want him to continue that and be really consistent, and I’m sure he will be.”Lehmann also indicated that the move of Aaron Finch down the T20 batting order to leave D’Arcy Short as an opener would likely continue, given the older man’s strong recent IPL record in the middle order and the large number of opening batsmen in the team. “His record in the IPL batting Nos. 4 and 5 is unbelievable so we wanted to shape up and see how that looks like,” he said. “D’Arcy’s been very good for us at the top, so I think we’ll continue with that, in the short-term anyway.”Looking overall at the home summer, Lehmann said that the ODI series had been the only disappointment in between a comprehensive Ashes series win and positive steps forward for the T20 squad, which will depart Australia for New Zealand on Tuesday in the same week the bulk of the Test squad will travel to South Africa for next month’s four-Test assignment.”It was an unbelievable summer. Record crowds, record viewership,” Lehmann said. “You’ve got to win the Ashes at home, that’s the biggest thing for us. One-dayers were a little disappointing as we know, T20s have been exciting, but overall you’d be pretty happy with the summer I would’ve thought. I know the fans have enjoyed BBL, the one-dayers, the whole lot. From our point of view, it’s been exciting times and exciting cricket.”

A new era is dawning at Liverpool following the departures of the long-serving James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino this summer.

That midfield trio left a huge void that needed filling and the Red's prime transfer targets were Brighton's Moises Caicedo and Southampton's Romeo Lavia, however, they were beaten to the punch by Chelsea and instead focused their efforts elsewhere.

Despite signing RB Leipzig's Dominik Szoboszlai and Brighton's Alexis Mac Allister to play in their advanced eight positions, Jurgen Klopp still needed a midfield destroyer and their answer to that problem was Stuttgart's Wataru Endo, whose signature underwhelmed in comparison to their former targets.

With that said, Liverpool have put their shortcomings in the transfer market behind them by taking ten points from their opening four matches as victories over Bournemouth, Newcastle United, Aston Villa and a draw against Chelsea extended their unbeaten run to 15 Premier League matches.

Although their strong start can be attributed to the form of Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Darwin Núñez and new signing Szoboszlai, the huge emergence of youth within the club's first-team picture suggests that the future isn't only looking bright on the field.

In their victory over Villa, Klopp named four players on his bench who were aged 20 and under, including Harvey Elliott, Jarell Quansah, Stefan Bajcetic and 17-year-old Ben Doak, with the latter of that quartet receiving high praise for his impressive pre-season form.

Who is Ben Doak?

Liverpool secured the signature of Doak from Celtic for a compensation fee of £600,000 in March 2022, signing his first professional contract with the Reds in November of that year.

A fast and direct winger, who has been branded by Klopp as a "special boy", is highly regarded alongside Bajcetic and Elliott at Anfield, and it is clear to see why.

Doak has dazzled since joining the club, scoring ten times across Liverpool's underage groups in his first season, attracting the attention of those higher up and earning himself multiple call-ups to the first team.

During his first five appearances for the club, the Scottish winger stunned fans with his blistering pace and power, which he showcased in a 2-2 draw against Wolves in the FA Cup last season.

Following his excellent start to his Liverpool career, legend and fellow Scotsman Kenny Daglish lavished praise on the teenage sensation, lauding him as "brilliant" since breaking into the first-team picture.

Although Mohamed Salah's future is closed for now, the Egyptian could still depart in the future and given his age, his contract at Liverpool and the fact that Saudi Arabian clubs are desperate to get him, the possibility of him departing next summer is high.

While replacing Salah – should he depart – would cost upwards of £100m, Liverpool could save themselves a lot of money by dipping into their goldmine of youth prospects. Doak is leading that charge, but fellow golden boy Kaide Gordon can't be forgotten.

How good is Kaide Gordon?

A fleet-footed winger with tremendous ball-striking ability, Gordon's sharp rise onto the scene at Liverpool during the 21/22 was marked by his debut goal against Shrewsbury in the FA Cup, becoming the club's second-youngest scorer at 16-years-old.

Following this debut, Gordon would appear a further three times in that campaign, including a Carabao Cup semi-final clash against Arsenal, as he helped his side advance to the final against Chelsea – a match they would triumph in and lift the trophy.

Lauded as "exceptional" by his manager, Gordon could put recent injury troubles behind him and become a handy addition to Liverpool's first team.

The Reds will be battling across all fronts this season as they attempt to go deep into every competition and Gordon will hope his chance of game time is increased by Klopp's side competing in the Europa League.

Since joining the club from Derby for a fee believed to be around £3m in 2021, Gordon has enjoyed a fruitful period in the youth setup at Liverpool, scoring 11 goals and providing five assists in 24 appearances which are returns that have seen him considered for a place in the first-team.

After making his return to action in Liverpool U21's defeat against Middlesbrough last weekend, the "forgotten" winger – as he was described by RedMen TV's Paul Machin – will hope he can kick on from there and rival Doak for a spot in Klopp's starting XI, returning to the form that saw the German wax-lyrical about his talents.

Speaking after his debut goal for the club, Klopp said: "He is a special kid, everyone knows that. He is really calm, great finisher. But he can improve he needs to get more involved in the game."

Talent doesn't fade overnight and although injuries could have dented his confidence, the 18-year-old sharpshooter is one of many talented youngsters that the Merseyside club have at their disposal. Watch out Doak.

Australia U-19 will feature in a tri-series alongside hosts South Africa and England, this April, for their first overseas tour

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-2018The Australia women’s Under-19 team is set to play for the first time in 15 years when they travel to South Africa for a tri-series, also featuring England, in April. Having last played a match in 2003, against England at home, the tour will also be the maiden overseas foray for the Under-19 side.The Cricket Australia Women’s youth selection panel named a 14-member squad that will take on South Africa’s Emerging Women and England Women’s Academy across four 50-over matches – between April 12 and 18 – and two Twenty20s, on April 24 and 26. The final will be a 50-over match and will be played on April 28. The team will be coached by former Australia batsman and current Cricket Australia high performance coach and Under-19 head coach Leah Poulton, with Ben Sawyer and Luke Williams acting in the assistant roles.The leadership duties will be split across the formats, with 16-year-old allrounder Rachel Trenaman named captain of the 50-over side, with Tasmanian Courtney Webb her deputy. The T20 side will be led by Saskia Horley, with Annabel Sutherland shouldering vice-captaincy responsibilities.”I think it just goes to show how fast the female pathway has moved over the last few years,” Poulton said of the decision to reintroduce the Under-19 team. “It’s an exciting time for women’s cricket and if Australia wants to stay at the top we really need to invest in our pathway, which I believe we’re doing well.”The tour presents a really good opportunity for the players to get a taste of what it’s like to be in an elite touring environment. Putting your skills to the test in a variety of different conditions and situations is an essential part of being an elite cricketer.”England and South Africa are two very good teams who will present some good challenges for the group. We want the players to be tested and to be pushed outside their comfort zones and to have to adapt to the different situations they find themselves in. This is a really exciting group of players who I think all have big futures in the game so I’m looking forward to seeing how they perform.”The re-integration of an Under-19 side comes on the back of structural changes made to the female pathway which brought it in line with the male pathway, with an Australia A side, Cricket Australia XI and National Performance Squad replacing the previous Under-21 Shooting Stars.Australia Under-19 squad: Stella Campbell (NSW), Maddy Darke (NSW), Hannah Darlington (NSW), Josephine Dooley (Queensland), Ellen Falconer (South Australia), Nicole Faltum (Victoria), Saskia Horley (NSW), Hayley Silver-Holmes (NSW), Annabel Sutherland (Victoria), Rachel Trenaman (NSW), Tayla Vlaeminck (Victoria), Georgia Wareham (Victoria), Courtney Webb (Tasmania), Tahlia Wilson (NSW)

MatériaMais Notícias

Fernando Miguel chegou ao Vasco em 2018 para ser a sombra de Martin Silva, titular e ídolo da torcida. Ganhou a posição na reta final do Brasileiro daquele ano e desde então se manteve no posto, apesar de alguns altos e baixos. Em 2020, o goleiro vive talvez um de seus melhores momentos no clube e até na carreira. A atuação diante do Red Bull Bragantino, nesse domingo, é um bom exemplo disso.

Fernando Miguel defendeu um pênalti no 1º tempo, cobrado por Alerrandro, e ainda parou novamente o centroavante na etapa final, em um contra-ataque onde o jogador saiu cara a cara com o arqueiro. As duas defesas ajudaram o Cruzmaltino a conquistar mais um ponto no Brasileirão – terminou 1 a 1.

O camisa 1 vascaíno, que já havia defendido dois pênaltis esse ano contra o Goiás, pela Copa do Brasil, atualmente aparece entre os goleiros que mais realizaram defesas em finalizações de dentro da área no Campeonato Brasileiro. Segundo dados do Sofascore, Fernando é o 4º nesse quesito, com 21 intervenções. Confira o ranking:

GOLEIROS COM MAIS DEFESAS EM FINALIZAÇÕES DE DENTRO DA ÁREA
– Dados do Sofascore

1º – Fernando Prass – Ceará – 27
2º – Wilson – Coritiba – 25
3º – Cássio – Corinthians – 24
4º – Fernando Miguel – Vasco – 21
Tiago Volpi – São Paulo – 21
Felipe Alves – Fortaleza – 21

RelacionadasVascoBlog do Garone: A síndrome de Cosme e DamiãoVasco27/09/2020VascoDe saída? Carlinhos diz: ‘Eu escolhi estar aqui e estarei até o fim’Vasco28/09/2020VascoRetorno de Juninho faz Ramon ganhar em opções táticas no VascoVasco27/09/2020

West Ham United are one of several clubs who have expressed an interest in one of Leeds United’s most promising talents…

What’s the latest West Ham transfer news?

According to The Athletic, Irons boss David Moyes is keeping a 'speculative eye' on Cody Drameh, amid the uncertainty of his contract situation at Elland Road.

Crystal Palace and Brentford are also keeping tabs on the youngster's situation in west Yorkshire.

However, Southampton could arguably be the leading contender for his signature, as boss Russell Martin is described as one of his “biggest admirers” and previously tried to sign him when he was coaching at Swansea City.

Read the latest West Ham transfer news HERE…

Drameh’s current deal expires next summer and there is no offer of an extension on the table.

Leeds manager Daniel Farke is yet to properly utilise the 21-year-old gem, who has been recovering from a hamstring injury he suffered in training a few weeks ago.

Nevertheless, the article underlines that Drameh has been told he is in the club’s plans this season, but he is waiting to see if that chance materialises, knowing if the game time doesn’t arrive, he has a vast array of potential suitors.

Would Cody Drameh be a good signing for West Ham?

The Yorkshire giants signed the £2.5k-per-week man from Fulham in 2020 and would’ve hoped by now he would have progressed as a first-team regular.

However, the defender’s senior development has largely taken place at other clubs, where he has looked to be a consistent and solid asset.

His first loan spell occurred at Cardiff City in the second half of the 2021/22 season.

During this time, he made 22 Championship appearances and averaged the most tackles per game (3.8) and dribbles per game (1.1) in the squad, and won 56% of his ground duels – despite only spending five months at the Welsh outfit, Drameh was named the club’s Young Player of the Season and the Player of the Season.

Bluebirds manager Steve Morrison appreciated the 5 foot 9 dynamo's contribution, lauding him as “excellent.”

Ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, you would have expected to result in a notable first-team breakthrough at Leeds, but he only managed three outings in all competitions and was sent out on another second-tier loan to Luton Town.

In 19 games for the Hatters, he averaged the second-highest number of tackles per game (3.3) and interceptions per game (1.2), as well as the most dribbles per game (1.1), as the club secured promotion to the Premier League.

Despite two exceptional loan spells, Drameh’s future is still murky and complicated, and if moved to the London Stadium, he could form a glowing partnership with Konstantinos Mavropanos.

The former Arsenal defender recently joined the Hammers from Stuttgart for £19m. In three seasons with the German club, he has become established as one of the Bundesliga’s most talented and coveted centre-backs.

The 25-year-old ranks within the best 8% in Europe’s top five leagues among his positional peers for progressive carries per 90, successful take-ons per 90, interceptions per 90, and aerials won per 90.

Therefore, the prospect of these defensively solid and technically astute players appearing together in the West Ham backline is an exciting thought for Moyes.

Sheffield United may not be the biggest club in Yorkshire but they certainly boast a notable number of celebrity supporters. It’s a club that generates local passion, after all – and that’s seen in those who grew up there.

Athletes, actors, musicians, and one Argentinian footballer all feature on a list of those struck by the Blades. Here is our pick of the bunch for Sheffield United’s most famous supporters.

8 Juan Sebastián Verón

Let’s get the strangest one out of the way first. Former Argentina international Juan Sebastián Verón was a Sheffield United fan in childhood and openly admitted wanting to play for them.

There’s a good reason for it, too. Verón’s uncle, Pedro Verde, spent time there at the tail-end of his career and it sparked interest in the young footballer-to-be.

“I was a fan of Sheffield United but I sadly never had the chance to play for them, but I would have wanted to!” Verón went on to say. Oh what could have been…

7 Jessica Ennis-Hill

An Olympic champion and a three-time World champion – Jessica Ennis-Hill is one of the most successful individual athletes to come out of Britain in recent years. She’s also born and raised in Sheffield.

Ennis-Hill is a Blades fan, too, and even had a stand named after her post-Olympic gold. However, that did change in 2015 when it was instead named after a sponsor.

6 Kell Brook

Sticking on the wildly successful athlete theme, Kell Brook is a Sheffield native who went on to hold the IBF Welterweight title for nearly three years between 2014 and 2017.

Brook is a lifelong fan of the Blades, as with just about everyone on this list, and even fought at Bramall Lane back in 2017.

“I’ve imagined this for weeks and I’ve dreamt about this since being a young kid,” he said ahead of that fight.

“I never thought I’d see a boxing ring on the pitch at Bramall Lane, but I’m ready and I’m determined and I’m excited. I’ve got a lot of memories of watching the Blades, my uncle used to throw me up in the air when we scored and at the weekend I want to be throwing my belt above my head once again.”

5 Joe Elliott

Joe Elliott, as the lead singer of Def Leppard, is in the discussion for the most successful person on this list. The band was formed in Sheffield back in 1976. Elliott is from the city and has called United his team all his life.

Sheffield has had more than their fair share of world-renowned music acts and Def Leppard are arguably the biggest. That other group that has an argument are all Wednesday fans, if you’re wondering.

4 Paul Heaton

Paul Heaton was born on the Wirral but moved to Sheffield when he was very young. He and his brothers all struck up an interest in football but while they all went with Wednesday, Paul followed United.

Heaton would go on to form the Housemartins and The Beautiful South, with massive success in the ’80s and early ’90s. And in terms of Blades fans, he might be one of the biggest on this list.

3 Joe Root

Former England Test Cricket captain Joe Root is another from Sheffield and has made no secret of his love for United. In fact, Root has appeared on the club’s social media channels several times, while one of the first interviews he gave after receiving the captaincy was at Bramall Lane.

His support runs through the family, too, it seems. “I’ve always been a Blade,” Root told the Athletic in 2020. “There were three generations of Roots there when I watched my first game. Myself and my brother, dad and grandad.”

Root, of course, will go down as an all-time great Test batsman – yet one more wildly successful name on this list, then.

2 Michael Palin

Michael Palin might be a bit of a controversial one on this list as he’s very openly talked about also wanting Wednesday to do well. The comedy legend is from Sheffield and grew up supporting the Blades – but he’s a little bit more about the city doing well than his club.

Here’s what he told When Saturday Comes back in 2000:

“United were the club I supported when I was growing up, mainly because their ground was the nearest to our house. I used to see Wednesday supp­orters as a different type of person, just… deeply dis­turbed. But then I was always excited when either club was involved in a big game and Wednesday tended to be involved in bigger games. When I first came to London, it was 1966 and Wednesday were in the Cup final, so I couldn’t say I wasn’t interested because they were from my city. Eric Idle was a big Chelsea fan and I used to go there to see either Sheffield team play. I found myself being sucked in as a sort of associate Wednesday fan, though I would have been disem­boweled in Sheffield if they’d known that.”

Fans can make their own minds up whether they’re accepting that one or not.

1 Sean Bean

We thought we’d save the most famous Sheffield United fan until last. Sean Bean isn’t just the most famous person on this list, after all, but he’s also incredibly public with his love for them.

Bean has tattooed his support on his shoulder, while he’s also competed in charity matches and above all, served on the club’s board in the 2000s. He als, chewed-out manager Neil Warnock after the club were relegated from the Premier League back in 2007 – though, Bean claims this wasn’t as aggressive as the manager claimed in his book.

“Yes, I was looking for him after we were relegated – and I wasn’t the only one,” he said, per the Mirror. “We were all devastated. But I didn’t storm into Warnock’s office and confront his wife as he claims in his book. I was outside in the corridor when I told her what I thought of him.

“What I didn’t know was that his kid was behind the door and when someone pointed that out to me, I immediately apologised.”

Abahani Limited romped to their sixth consecutive win in the Dhaka Premier League after crushing Mohammedan Sporting Club by 112 runs.Mashrafe Mortaza and Mehidy Hasan took three wickets each as Mohammedan, who won their last three league matches, were bowled out for 147 runs in 30.4 overs in chase of 260. Earlier, Nasir Hossain (67) and Anamul Haque (63) made match-winning half-centuries.Mohammad Sharif’s six-wicket haul, which included a hat-trick, helped fire Legends of Rupganj to a five-wicket win over Gazi Group Cricketers.Batting first, Gazi Group were bowled out for 190 in 32.4 overs after the match was reduced to 33-overs per side due to a delayed start owing to a wet outfield. Sharif removed Imrul Kayes and India international Manoj Tiwary in his first spell.Off the second ball of his second spell, Mahedi Hasan fell for five before Sharif nipped out Rajibul Islam, Nadif Chowdhury and Ruhel Ahmed off consecutive balls in the following over. It was Sharif’s first six-wicket haul and second hat-trick in List-A cricket.Parvez Rasool and Tushar Imran rescued Rupganj’s chase by adding 102 runs for the fifth wicket after they had slipped to 86 for four in the 15th over. Rasool remained unbeaten on 61 off 57 balls with five fours and two sixes.A century by Fazle Mahmud and Farhad Reza’s four-wicket haul helped Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club to a 56-run win over Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club in Fatullah.Batting first, Doleshwar were propelled to 293 for 6 on the back of Mahmud’s unbeaten 120. He added 82 runs for the second wicket with Liton Das and another 71 runs for the fourth wicket with Zohaib Khan.Nurul Hasan later struck an 86-ball century too but Dhanmondi Club were bowled out for 237 runs in 45 overs. Nurul, who earned a call-up to Bangladesh’s T20 squad on the same day, struck seven fours and a six. He added 99 runs for the seventh wicket with Elias Sunny. Farhad took four for 56 while Arafat Sunny took two wickets.

Manchester City are targeting one of the most talented youngsters in the world and will aim to beat off competition from several clubs for his signature, according to reports.

What's the latest news involving Manchester City?

David Ornstein, who is one of the lead writers for The Athletic, has issued an update involving Manchester City's pursuit of Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Matheus Nunes, stating on X:

"Matheus Nunes has stopped training with Wolves + expressed wish to join Man City. #WWFC rejected €55m #MCFC bid & plan to stand firm unless valuation met. 25yo will face disciplinary action + be reintegrated post-window if no deal struck."

Manchester City are expected to return to the table with a fresh offer for the Portugal international after he downed tools at Molineux; however, Wolves will insist on recouping around £60 million for one of their prize assets, as per Sky Sports.

Pep Guardiola referred to Nunes as "one of the best players in the world today" back in 2022 when he was at Sporting and is known to be a big admirer of his talents.

Belgium international Kevin De Bruyne is currently ruled out with a hamstring injury and could even miss action until next year due to a hamstring issue, signifying the need for Manchester City to bring in an additional body in midfield to replicate his impact, as per The Guardian.

Football Insider claim that Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze has also been identified as an alternative target to Nunes by Manchester City; nevertheless, it is believed that it would take a significant fee for the Eagles to even consider selling their star man.

Who else could Manchester City sign?

According to The Daily Mail, Manchester City are lining up a move for Boca Juniors' 19-year-old left-back Valentin Barco as they continue to expand their reach in the continent of South America.

Nevertheless, they face competition from the likes of Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea and Serie A giants Juventus to bring the Argentina Under-20 international to the Etihad Stadium. The Citizens are also active in pursuing another unnamed target from South America before the window slams shut.

Barco has proved to be a smash hit in his homeland since breaking into the Boca Juniors senior side, registering one goal and two assists in 20 appearances across all competitions, as per Transfermarkt.

As per FBRef, Barco, named among The Guardian’s 60 best young talents in world football, with Juan Carlos Pasman highlighting his ability for a mean free kick, has also become a reliable outlet when breaking forward for Boca Juniors and has successfully carried out 26 shot-creating actions in 2023, combining his exploits in the Primera Division and Copa Libertadores.

Boca Juniors legend Juan Roman Riquelme, who is now vice-president at the club, hasn't been short of praise for the youngster, stating in an interview cited by The Argus:

“He is a cheeky lad. We are here to accompany and take care of the boys.

“Barco is a technically very good player and we are very happy to have him with us.”