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Scott Parker will hope he’s in it for the long haul at Burnley as they step back up to the Premier League, after finding his last venture in the top-flight to be short-lived with AFC Bournemouth.

The 44-year-old would only last four top-flight contests with the Cherries during the 2022/23 season before being handed his abrupt marching orders, with a horrific 9-0 loss suffered at the hands of Liverpool during his final game not helping his cause whatsoever.

He returns to the elite division with a point to prove, therefore, having just successfully guided the Clarets up to the big time by collecting 100 points, with a defensive solidity on show that was nowhere to be found at Anfield.

However, bit by bit, the defence that only leaked 16 league goals last season is being picked off, with Maxime Esteve perhaps the next to leave Turf Moor behind after CJ Egan-Riley’s distressing contract situation.

The latest on Esteve's Burnley future

Annoyingly, Egan-Riley – who shone brightly next to Esteve last season – looks set to exit Lancashire for good, amidst interest in his services from RC Strasbourg and West Ham United.

The imposing Frenchman, meanwhile, also has his fair share of Premier League admirers, with Crystal Palace and Everton recently named as onlookers keen on adding the 23-year-old to their rosters, alongside ex-Clarets boss Vincent Kompany also keeping tabs on him from the Bayern Munich dug-out.

This would be a huge blow to Burnley’s confidence if they were to lose their in-demand number five, considering Esteve is just fresh off a campaign that saw him average an unerring 91% pass accuracy per Championship clash, alongside also showing off his brute strength with 3.6 duels won per match too.

But, the Clarets might now have a dream replacement for the ex-Montpellier titan up their sleeve, with the target in question already well-versed in how to battle and fight amid a Premier League relegation scrap.

The £12m "warrior" who'd be the dream Esteve replacement

After all, Esteve has struggled in the demanding top-flight in the past, away from his name currently generating a buzz, with zero clean sheets coming his way for Burnley from 16 league appearances during their relegation season.

On the contrary, the Clarets’ new defensive target – as has been reported by the Irish Sun – in Dara O’Shea at least exited this campaign just gone with his head held high, with the Republic of Ireland international even winning Ipswich Town’s Player of the Season accolade for his valiant efforts at the back, despite the Tractor Boys slipping straight back down to the second-tier.

On top of that, O’Shea was also a popular figure when he last donned claret and blue – away from deserting the Clarets after relegation – with the Dublin-born titan even amassing three goals and four assists in league action during the 2023/24 season at Turf Moor, alongside averaging an imposing 5.5 duels won on average.

Again, however, all of his heroic efforts were for nothing as relegation was ultimately served up. But, the £12m defender will hope to buck that ongoing trend if he does relocate back to Lancashire shortly, amidst interest also coming in for his services from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leeds United.

O’Shea’s league numbers (24/25) vs Esteve’s (24/25)

Stat – per 90 mins*

O’Shea

Esteve

Games played

35

46

Goals scored

0

1

Assists

2

0

Touches*

58.9

78.0

Accurate passes*

34.0 (79%)

60.5 (91%)

Ball recoveries*

3.1

3.7

Clearances*

6.2

5.0

Total duels won*

5.4

3.6

Stats by Sofascore

His most recent stint with Ipswich shows off how he could be a dream Esteve replacement, with the table above displaying his similarities to the Bundesliga-linked defender, as seen in both centre-backs being unfazed by having the ball at their feet, away from completing their gritty defensive basics.

Parker will just pray that he can land O’Shea over other rivals, especially if Esteve does heartbreakingly seek out pastures new, with the Irishman also being labelled as a “warrior” by former West Bromwich Albion manager Valerien Ismael for his full-blooded displays.

The under pressure 44-year-old will need everyone singing off the same hymn sheet defensively if his team stands any chance at survival, with a familiar face in O’Shea rejoining potentially working wonders.

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Posts ByKelan Sarson Jun 5, 2025

Arsenal have moved in to make one highly-rated player an offer to join them, sensing an opportunity, with La Liga giants Real Madrid stalling on a potential deal.

Arsenal go trophyless after Champions League semi-final defeat to PSG

Mikel Arteta was cut a frustrated figure after PSG knocked his side out of the Champions League semi-finals.

Arsenal make offer to £30m star after Berta successfully convinced Arteta

The Italian and Arsenal’s manager are already working on the club’s transfer plans this summer.

9 ByEmilio Galantini May 9, 2025

PSG’s 3-1 win on aggregate means Arsenal are set to go trophyless for yet another campaign, with attention now turning to the summer window again as the Gunners seek to mount a more successful push for silverware next term.

Liverpool (away)

May 11th

Newcastle United (home)

May 18th

Southampton (away)

May 25th

While injuries to key players arguably crippled Arsenal’s chances this season, it is becoming a real worry for Arteta that the club have precious little to show for their £500 million net spend on transfers since the Spaniard took charge.

“It depends,” said Arteta on whether Arsenal can win a trophy soon.

“This squad, two years ago, nobody believed that we could even qualify for the Champions League, or even think that we could finish second or compete in the league. Or have the amount of points that we had that in any other year you are a champion. Or have the run and the results and the performances that we had in the Champions League. But the reality at the end is that you need something to lose, and that trophy with all the work that we do, and disappointment is that it’s not going to happen.”

New sporting director Andrea Berta’s arrival at the Emirates Stadium is a major boost for Arteta ahead of next season, as the astute transfer operator is expected to seriously back him in the transfer market this summer.

According to widespread reports, Bournemouth defender Dean Huijsen is a top target for them after his very impressive debut season in the Premier League with Bournemouth.

As per the reliable David Ornstein, Arsenal have already held talks with Huijsen’s representatives and are ready to pay his £50 million release clause, but competition for his signature is fierce to say the least.

Arsenal make "formal" offer to Bournemouth defender Dean Huijsen

As per Cadena SER, Arteta’s side will have to contend with Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool for the 20-year-old, not to mention Real Madrid.

However, in a bid to get ahead of Los Blancos, it is believed Arsenal have presented a “formal” offer to Huijsen and his representatives, while Real are forced to delay their proposal due to complications.

They’re waiting on the potential appointment of Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso before making any approaches, as they need to gauge what the Spaniard would want in terms of players to improve his Real squad for next season.

This gives Premier League sides like Arsenal a chance to swoop in and tempt the player first, but Huijsen has every intention of giving Real a chance to present their offer, as his team have hired a law firm to negotiate with the Spanish heavyweights on the “sensational” defender’s behalf.

Everton picked up an important point at home against Arsenal on Saturday lunchtime, drawing 1-1 with Mikel Arteta’s side. In the final clash between the two English heavyweights at Goodison Park, the Gunners took a first-half lead thanks to a goal from Leandro Trossard.

However, a second-half penalty from attacking midfielder Iliman Ndiaye equalised for the Toffees. It was a controversial decision, too. Myles Lewis-Skelly tumbled into Jack Harrison and brought him down in the box, which was deemed a foul. Ndiaye stepped up and coolly slotted home into the bottom right corner.

It was not a game in which centre-forwards thrived, with Beto not registering a shot and Trossard just three, as per Sofascore. Indeed, a former striker of both clubs, Francis Jeffers, might not have fared better.

Jeffers’ time at Everton

Everton manager David Moyes is now into his second spell as Everton manager, after an 11-year stint between 2002 and 2013. In that time, he worked with some talented attacking players, including the likes of Wayne Rooney, to whom he gave his first team debut.

However, none may be as polarising as Jeffers. The Liverpool-born striker turned into something of a journeyman throughout his career after breaking through at Goodison Park. He impressed in his first few seasons for the club, scoring 18 goals, prompting Arsenal to buy him in 2001 for £10m, including add-ons.

However, for an Arsenal side looking to compete on all fronts, Jeffers struggled, scoring eight times in 39 appearances across two full seasons. Everton brought him back to the club on loan in 2003/04 under Moyes, but it didn’t quite work out.

The former England international played 22 times under the legendary Scottish boss but only managed to score twice, neither of which came in the Premier League. In fact, Jeffers’ two goals both came against Fulham, in the FA Cup fourth round and the resulting replay, which the Toffees lost.

Sadly, Jeffers’ move back to Goodison Park did not go to plan, and he never regained the form he showed in his early career. There is certainly an argument to be made that Moyes is seeing a repeat of that loan move in his current Everton side.

The Everton star who is Moyes’ new Jeffers

Everton signed Armando Broja on loan from Chelsea on deadline day last summer. It was a last-gasp deal for the Albanian striker, who seemed destined to join Ipswich Town before the Toffees snapped him up. However, just as Jeffers struggled on loan at Everton from a ‘big six’ club, Broja has also not had an easy time of things.

In truth, things have not really worked out for the exciting youngster at Goodison Park. He has unfortunately struggled with injuries as an Everton player, suffering from an Achilles tendon issue and an ankle problem.

During his time at the club so far, the 23-year-old has managed just nine appearances, with just two of those coming from the start. He has also played just three games under Moyes so far, but with his return to fitness, he could well be in line for his first start under the Scot before too long.

In top-flight football, Broja has shown that he can be clinical in front of goal. Described as a “complete forward” by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, the Albania international has scored eight goals in the Premier League and ten strikes for Vitesse in the Eredivisie during a loan spell four years ago.

Broja record per season in top-flight football

Club

Competition (season)

Games

Goals

Minutes

Chelsea

Premier League (2019/20)

1

0

4

Vitesse

Eredivise (2020/21)

30

10

1875

Southampton

Premier League (2021/22)

32

6

1981

Chelsea

Premier League (2022/23)

12

1

287

Chelsea

Premier League (2023/24)

13

1

453

Fulham

Premier League (2023/24)

8

0

81

Everton

Premier League (2024/25)

8

0

205

Stats from Transfermarkt

As the video below from his time at Southampton shows, the 23-year-old is a composed finisher in the penalty box, capable of scoring from all different angles. He is also a true goal-poacher and is able to sniff out chances from nowhere.

It has not worked out for Broja at Everton yet due to the injuries from which he has suffered. However, if he can rediscover his best form towards the end of the season, they could have a deadly striker on their hands.

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Posts ByAngus Sinclair Apr 5, 2025

CSK have won five of the seven matches in which the allrounder has bowled his allotment of overs

Sidharth Monga05-May-20242:15

Jaffer: Jadeja kept piling up pressure from an end

A barometer of how Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are doing in IPL 2024 is Ravindra Jadeja’s performance. More specifically, his bowling. Even more specifically, if he has bowled four overs. Or, rather, if the conditions are suited enough for him to bowl four overs. Jadeja has bowled his allotment seven times out of 12 this IPL. CSK have won five of those matches.With the depth in their squad and with the Impact Player rules, CSK have the luxury of not bowling Jadeja out should the pitch be not helpful or should there be too much dew. Or if there are two left-hand batters around or if he is being attacked. There are always options for such times, but this is also true: CSK have won only one match out of five in which Jadeja hasn’t been able to bowl his four overs.Jadeja is a critical player in this CSK squad. He is not the perfect T20 player, but he does more than enough things right to warrant some protection. CSK don’t bowl him in the powerplay, for example. Then he almost always gets done before the death overs. Similarly, with the bat, if you protect him from spin, he can be brutal against pace at the death. That is a lesson CSK have hopefully learnt after the brief experiment with sending him up at No. 4.Related

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It is with the ball, though, that Jadeja indicates CSK’s health the best, especially from the time the Impact Player came in and bowling Jadeja out stopped being mandatory. ESPNcricinfo’s Shiva Jayaraman has worked out the link between Jadeja’s bowling and CSK’s fortunes even better: since the start of IPL 2023, CSK have won 68.42% of full 20-over matches in which Jadeja has at least started his fourth over; no other bowler bowling out has coincided with such a high percentage of wins.And it is not like Jadeja is called upon to bowl only on turners. He has bowled out in 70.37% of the matches, which is a decent ratio. It is not quite Rashid Khan-R Ashwin territory – they bowl out in 90% of their teams’ matches – but Jadeja still does so more often than Ravi Bishnoi, Piyush Chawla and Mohit Sharma, to name a few frontline bowlers.Take one look at Jadeja’s figures, and you will know why he is so central to CSK’s plans. It is not in taking wickets that Jadeja’s importance lies – he has taken only eight of them this year, but has gone at just 7.26 an over. On four separate occasions this IPL, he has bowled his four overs for less than a run a ball. You can adjust that economy rate for the absence of powerplay and death overs, but at a time when even the middle overs are being targeted, a banker of a bowler in seven out of ten matches is a luxury.1:32

Jaffer: Punjab’s batters messed up big time

To not let Jadeja bowl is precisely why Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh took risks against him early on. They had staged a comeback from the two early wickets, were going at a decent rate, were not chasing a huge total; they could have taken a moment once the field spread, but they knew the pitfalls of letting Jadeja settle. Shashank took a massive swipe at the first ball Jadeja bowled, and was lucky to survive. At the end of the over, Prabhsimran gave away his stumps and took a risk to score a boundary.Jadeja, though, kept plugging away: turn the ball hard, attack the stumps, don’t bowl half-volleys or long hops. When Prabhsimran tried the inside-out drive the second time, he ended up hitting Jadeja straight to long-on. By now, Jadeja was hurrying the batters and the asking rate was jumping big time with every dot and single. Wickets are incidental in this format, but they came today, to go with his runs and earning him the Player-of-the-Match award.With the bat, Jadeja is back in the lower-middle order, which is more suited to him. He had to come in early thanks to a Rahul Chahar double-strike, but Punjab Kings (PBKS) perhaps missed a trick there by not bowling an extra over of spin at Jadeja. They were perhaps looking to save Chahar for later when MS Dhoni would be batting, but as a result, Jadeja faced only three balls of spin early on in his innings. By the time Chahar came back, Jadeja was set.If you are a CSK opponent and there is no dew, try to keep a left-hand batter in the middle overs if you can. Try to take Jadeja down early but it might not always come off. But do just try to push CSK to try other bowlers in the middle overs because if you let Jadeja run through the middle overs, he ends up creating enough impact to help CSK win.

Mohammad Amir emerges as the most impactful bowler despite finishing behind Alzarri Joseph on the wicket-takers’ chart

ESPNcricinfo stats team03-Oct-2022Jamaica Tallawahs won the CPL 2022 final against Barbados Royals against expectations, considering how dominant Royals had been through the league stage, losing just two games. So it is not a surprise that the Smart Stats honours at the end of the tournament were completely dominated by Royals players.Royals allrounder Kyle Mayers was the MVP of the tournament. He put together stellar performances with bat and ball, scoring 366 runs and taking eight wickets.ESPNcricinfo LtdAccording to ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats, which takes into account not just the runs scored and wickets taken, but also the match context and quality of those runs and wickets, Mayers had a total impact score of 669. He was comfortably in first place, ahead of his opening partner Rahkeem Cornwall, who scored 242 runs and took seven wickets.Mayers started the tournament exceptionally well. In the first game, against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, Mayers scored 73 runs from 46 balls.His best performance came against St Lucia Kings in a rain interrupted game. On that occasion, Mayers took all four wickets of the Kings innings in just two overs, conceding just four runs.Cornwall had the second-highest impact in the tournament after contributing with bat and ball in critical junctures. His 91 from 54 balls with 11 sixes in Qualifier 1 helped Royals go past the Guyana Amazon Warriors comfortably.There is little to separate the rest in the list. Faf du Plessis struck at 168.52, while Sunil Narine continued his outstanding run with the ball going at just 4.8 runs per over. Shakib Al Hasan and Jason Holder complete the top six on the Smart Stats list.ESPNcricinfo LtdSmart Wickets
While the batters were impactful at various times, some bowlers stood out with match-winning performances and key wickets at crucial stages of the game.Mohammad Amir, who missed the final for Tallawahs, did well in their journey to the title round. He picked up 16 wickets and was the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the tournament. Although Alzarri Joseph picked up 18 wickets to be the highest wicket-taker, ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats placed Amir ahead of him.Ten of Amir’s 16 wickets were those of top-three batters. His economy in the powerplay was just 4.99, and he picked up nine wickets in that phase. Amir bowled in the tough phases and delivered almost each time. In contrast, Joseph took just five wickets of top-three batters and averaged 29.25 in the powerplay. In terms of Smart Wickets, Amir was the standout bowler in the CPL, where his 16 wickets were valued at 21 Smart Wickets.ESPNcricinfo LtdBest performances
Mayers and Cornwall also took the top two positions in the list of best individual performances.The match-wise top impact positions was dominated by top-order batters. Mayers’ all-round show against Kings took the top spot. Mayers scored 36 runs in 23 balls and picked up four wickets in just two overs to win the match for Royals then. Cornwall’s incredible hitting in Qualifier 1 against Guyana was the second most impactful performance in the tournament.