Celtic moved back to the top of the Scottish Premiership table on Sunday afternoon with a hard-fought 2-1 win away from Parkhead against Kilmarnock.

The Hoops needed a header from Japan international Daizen Maeda and a last-gasp penalty from Kelechi Iheanacho to claim all three points in the match.

As shown in the clip in the post above, summer signing Marcelo Saracchi was key to the first goal with his sublime cross from the left flank to tee up the Celtic centre-forward to score.

Marcelo Saracchi's performance in numbers

The Uruguay international was selected to play from the start for the Scottish giants to provide first-choice left-back Kieran Tierney with a rest, after he had to pull out of the Scotland squad through injury.

Saracchi played the first 58 minutes of the game, before being replaced by Tierney, and his assist for Maeda was the only chance that he created in that time on the pitch.

The left-footed battler had a few nervous touches early on in the match, and gave possession away 12 times in total, but he steadied himself to put in a solid performance, winning three of his four duels, per Sofascore.

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Whilst Saracchi’s assist for Maeda’s goal could be described as Tierney-esque, there was another player on the pitch who could be the club’s next Tierney in the making, Colby Donovan.

Why Colby Donovan may be the next Kieran Tierney

The Celtic number 67 returned to Glasgow for a second spell at the club after he initially broke through the academy to become a first-team star before his £25m move to Arsenal in 2019.

Tierney, as shown in the graphic above, made 170 appearances and won five titles in the Premiership after emerging from the youth ranks to lock down the left-back spot.

Brendan Rodgers may have unearthed the club’s next cab off the ranks in the form of Donovan, whose performance showed that he is more than capable of starting games at right-back for the Hoops.

Minutes

90

Clearances

7

Blocks

1

Tackles

2

Ground duels won

3/6

Aerial duels won

4/4

As you can see in the table above, the Scotland U21 international was incredibly solid defensively throughout the match, winning seven of his ten duels in total.

Rodgers trusted the youngster, who made two prior appearances off the bench this season, to step in as a starter in place of the injured Alistair Johnston and Anthony Ralston, and the teenage starlet did not let him down.

To go along with his defensive excellence, Donovan also had 101 touches of the ball and completed 82% of his attempted passes, which shows that he was comfortable and reliable on the ball for the most part.

After a couple of nervy touches early on, which were to be expected on his full debut, the 19-year-old talent settled down and showcased his class on and off the ball at right-back to prove that he is a genuine first-team calibre option for the manager to call upon.

With Johnston out for several more weeks with a hamstring injury, Donovan has a real chance to nail down a starting spot in the side for the foreseeable future, which would then put him in position to be the back-up to the Canada international instead of Ralston.

It is now down to the academy graduate to deliver quality performances, like his display against Kilmarnock, whenever he is called upon to make sure that Rodgers has no excuse to drop him.

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If he can do that, Donovan may well go on to be the next Tierney as another academy graduate full-back who could be a real success at Parkhead. One thing is for sure: his performance on Sunday was a terrific first step towards achieving that.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have been breaking records with their ultra-aggressive batting, and their captain Pat Cummins and coach Daniel Vettori said the team wasn’t planning to change the approach. But Cheteshwar Pujara and Ian Bishop believe the side should have a Plan B, with Pujara saying SRH weren’t “smart” with their batting approach in their loss against Delhi Capitals on Sunday.”Firstly I was really surprised they chose to bat first,” Pujara said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show. “When you’re playing an afternoon game, you know that the pitch will be slightly on the slow side, that’s when you normally prefer to bowl and that’s an ideal time to bowl, not an ideal time to bat. I thought they should have bowled first. But talking about their batting, I think they go too hard and they were not smart enough today.”SRH lost their top four in the powerplay and were reeling at 37 for 4 after Mitchell Starc’s menacing spell, but the scoring rate never went down despite that. Aniket Verma slammed a 41-ball 74, hitting five fours and six sixes in his innings, twinning with Heinrich Klaasen during a 77-run stand off just 40 balls to lift the team. With SRH’s lower order put to the test by DC’s spinners, they could only get to 163.Related

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Bishop felt the experienced Klaasen should have batted a ‘bit deeper’ given Aniket was more in flow. He felt SRH could still stick to their approach but have a single player take more time to settle in instead of going hard from the start despite wickets falling rapidly.”… those are experiences that I hope they will be learning, even Pat Cummins who says ‘keep going hard’, as they go through the season,” Bishop said. “I look at Klaasen’s dismissal, I think even Heinrich should know his power and if he was to stay and bat a little bit deeper, he will score at a huge tempo. It’s still early in the season, but they [SRH] have got to start understanding that if Aniket gets going, we can spend some time there with him as deep as we bat and just soak it up just a little bit more.”It’s not to consolidate for five-six overs, but it’s just maybe to manage for about three, four, five bowls, maybe even an over, we’re not talking consolidation for long period.”Pujara questioned the point of the aggressive approach especially if results aren’t going SRH’s way. After starting the season in their typical style by defending a mammoth total of 287, SRH slumped to defeats in the next two games.”What is your success then,” Pujara said. “If you are just winning two out of 10, then it doesn’t make sense. You need to win more number of games. You need to show that consistency again and again. Last season we saw that they played brilliantly throughout the league phase but what if one game goes wrong for you in the knockouts, then you’re not able you are not able to have a plan.”

Are Everton… fun now?

Last time out, the Toffees beat Wolves 3-2 at Molineux, thanks to goals from Beto, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and then Iliman Ndiaye, albeit Jack Grealish was the star of the show, registering two assists.

That’s now three successive victories in league and cup for David Moyes’ men, who will be looking to make that four in a row, achieving this for the first time since December 2023, when Aston Villa visit Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday; the Villans haven’t even scored a goal yet this season.

With Grealish the poster boy, the Blues are playing a brand of free-flowing, attacking football not often associated with Moyes, but just imagine how good this team would be had they not sold an academy prospect for £400k.

Jack Grealish's Everton renaissance

During his final two seasons at Manchester City, Grealish saw just 1,716 minutes of action in the Premier League, during which time he accumulated a miserly four goals and two assists.

Thus, it was hard to forecast if the England international would be able to rediscover his mojo upon moving to Merseyside, but the early evidence suggests he certainly has.

Having registered two assists against both Brighton and Wolves, Grealish leads the way in the Premier League with four assists; no one else has more than two.

This is, as already mentioned, twice as many assists as he mustered across two league seasons with Man City, so, should he continue this form, he’ll surely force his way into Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for games against Wales and Latvia in October.

Grealish is of course only on loan at the Toffees, but they do have a £50m option to buy, which would smash the club’s transfer record which currently stands at £45m.

So, could Everton have saved themselves a potentially enormous outlay by holding onto an academy graduate, rather than selling him for just £400k?

Everton's homegrown talent starring on the international stage

Unless they keep a keen eye on the youth teams, it is possible that Evertonians have never even heard the name Isaac Price before.

He joined the club’s academy at the age of seven, making 64 appearances for the U21s, but featuring just three times for the first team, totalling 45 minutes, debuting against Boreham Wood in the FA Cup, before late substitute cameos against Arsenal and Brighton in the Premier League.

Thus, no one particularly noticed or cared when, still a teenager at the time, he was sold to Standard Liège, the Blues receiving around £400,000 in compensation.

During 18 months in Belgium, Price established himself as a first-team regular, making 64 appearances for les Rouches, his solitary goal for the club coming during a 2-1 victory over Club Brugge at Stade Maurice Dufrasne.

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These performances must’ve caught the eye back home because, back in January, West Bromwich Albion paid £2.5m to bring him to The Hawthorns.

Having been in and out of the side last season, Price began this campaign on fire, bagging the only goal against Blackburn Rovers on the opening weekend, before scoring a brace during a 3-2 victory over Wrexham at the Racecourse the following weekend.

However, it is his displays for Northern Ireland that have propelled the 21-year-old into the limelight.

He opened his international account against Slovenia in Ljubljana soon after leaving Everton before, back in October 2024, netting a hat-trick during a 5-0 Nations League demolition of Bulgaria at Windsor Park.

This makes him only the sixth man to score a treble for the Green and White Army, after Billy McAdams (1960), Johnny Crossan (1965), George Best (1971), Colin Clarke (1991) and David Healy (2006 & 2007).

His international scoring spree has hit new heights this calendar year, on target during friendlies against Switzerland, Sweden and Iceland, before bagging his tenth for his country with a sweetly struck volley during a World Cup qualifier against Germany at RheinEnergieStadion on Sunday night, making it 1-1.

This goal in Köln makes Price the youngest player to reach ten goals for Northern Ireland, joining illustrious company at that milestone. Like Grealish as a youngster, he’s burst onto the scene in quite some style.

David Healy

95

36

Kyle Lafferty

89

20

Billy Gillespie

25

13

Colin Clarke

38

13

Steven Davis

140

13

Joe Bambrick

11

12

Jimmy Quinn

46

12

Iain Dowie

59

12

Gerry Armstrong

63

12

Josh Magennis

82

12

Jimmy McIlroy

55

10

Isaac Price

24

10

Johnny Crossan

24

10

Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout is certainly a fan, labelling Price a “magnificent…box-to-box midfielder”, while his international manager Michael O’Neill, described him as a “brilliant young player”, highlighting his work-rate and pressing. Positionally, he may well be different to Grealish but the same raw, exciting talent is certainly there.

As a result, according to the CIES Football Observatory, he is now West Brom’s most valuable player, with an estimated transfer value of around £16m.

Thus, even with Grealish, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndiaye and the recently signed Tyler Dibling fighting for starting positions in Moyes’ team, Price would surely have improved this Everton squad, had they been able to keep hold of him two years ago.

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Newcastle’s summer spending has shown intent.

The additions of Nico Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw, Anthony Elanga, and Aaron Ramsdale all signify ambition and squad strengthening.

Yet, balancing PSR compliance with retaining homegrown or academy-developed talent still remains a challenge.

Unlike the early days of the PIF takeover, when huge sums were spent without the need to sell players, Newcastle must now closely adhere to the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Regulations (PSR).

Players who might have stayed for development or depth are sold for compliance, while in the Ashley era, sales were primarily profit-driven.

These different approaches mean that Newcastle have let some talented players slip through the net – some of whom have gone on to flourish elsewhere.

This tension between compliance and talent retention was evident with Elliot Anderson, and it’s echoed in the story of another Premier League star.

Both illustrate how Newcastle’s policies can inadvertently push talent towards rival clubs, where they thrive in ways they may not have done at St James’ Park.

One of their own: Elliot Anderson

Anderson’s exit to Nottingham Forest in 2024 was emblematic of Newcastle’s new realities.

The 22-year-old local talent came through the club’s junior ranks and had been earmarked as one for the future.

His transfer, which saw goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos move in the opposite direction, was less about choice and more about balancing the books.

Jankuba Minteh was also reluctantly sold to Brighton, and in a mad dash to comply with regulations, potential moves for Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak were even considered.

Despite the circumstances, Anderson has thrived at Nottingham Forest.

At Forest, he made 37 league appearances last season, contributing two goals and six assists.

According to FBref, his statistical impact is impressive.

He ranked in the 88th percentile for assists per 90 (0.19), 77th for shot-creating actions per 90 (3.07), 89th for successful take-ons per 90 (1.18), 88th for tackles per 90 (3.07), and 87th for clearances per 90 (2.40).

Anderson’s performances were rewarded with his first England call-up, having previously represented Scotland at youth level, and he impressed in midfield against both Andorra and Serbia.

Newcastle may well regret the decision, not because the transfer was financially impractical, but because Anderson’s trajectory shows the club missed out on a homegrown talent that flourished once given first-team opportunities elsewhere.

That said, there’s another cautionary tale elsewhere.

Another cautionary tale for Newcastle

Matz Sels offers another example of Newcastle’s talent management challenges.

The 33-year-old goalkeeper joined Newcastle from Gent in 2016 but only made 14 appearances, sitting behind Karl Darlow in the pecking order.

A loan to Anderlecht followed, before a permanent departure to Strasbourg in 2018.

After years abroad, Sels returned to the Premier League with Nottingham Forest in 2024, in a deal worth approximately £5m.

There, he became one of the standout goalkeepers in England.

Playing every minute of Forest’s 38 Premier League matches, he helped the club secure European qualification.

Sels’ consistency was rewarded with the Premier League Golden Glove – shared with Arsenal’s David Raya – after 13 clean sheets.

He also earned Forest’s Player of the Month award in February and was instrumental in a defensively resolute back four alongside Neco Williams, Nikola Milenković, Murillo, and Ola Aina.

As journalist Louis Wheeldon put it, Sels was the “best in the league” last season – a remarkable turnaround for a goalkeeper once considered peripheral at St James’ Park.

Clean Sheets – 2024/25

Goalkeeper

Clean-sheets

Conceded

Matz Sels

13

46

David Raya

13

34

Jordan Pickford

12

44

Dean Henderson

11

51

Ederson

10

26

Robert Sanchez

10

34

Source: Statmuse

Statistically, Sels’ 2024/25 season was exceptional.

He ranked in the 78th percentile compared to his peers for save percentage (74.6%) and 67th percentile for clean sheet percentage (31.6%).

While traditionally a more classic, less ball-playing keeper, Sels’ shot-stopping and command of his area proved crucial in Forest’s defensive resilience.

Sels’ story, alongside Anderson’s, illustrates how Newcastle’s prior focus on sales for non-footballing reasons has allowed talent to slip through the net.

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Expand Collapse

While PSR regulations now necessitate tough choices, these examples serve as a reminder that careful talent management is crucial.

Players like Anderson and Sels, who might have been peripheral at St James’ Park, have flourished when trusted with regular first-team football.

Anderson’s midfield dynamism and Sels’ goalkeeping excellence are now key to Forest’s resurgence, emphasising that talent retention should not only be measured in financial terms but also in footballing impact.

As Newcastle continues to invest in a youthful, high-potential squad, the club must navigate the fine line between compliance and opportunity.

The lesson for Newcastle is clear: fostering talent within the club may offer rewards that outstrip immediate financial gain.

Failing to do so could mean more players slipping through the net and flourishing elsewhere.

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RCB were sloppy on the field, but the bowlers put in a good shift; only two of the six used went at over nine an over

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Apr-2025

Yashasvi Jaiswal muscles a celebration upon reaching a 35-ball fifty•BCCI

Yashasvi Jaiswal made 75 off 47 balls to carry Rajasthan Royals (RR) to a total of 173 for 4 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the first game of IPL 2025 in Jaipur.Jaiswal was able to score so quickly on a slow pitch because he had shots all around the wicket and didn’t always look for the right ball to play them. His first boundary was a prime example of this when he turned a back of a length delivery into something else by charging at Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He made good of his match-up against spin – he averages 169.5 against it since IPL 2023 with a strike rate of 148 – because he was willing to indulge in shots like the reverse sweep and the lap sweep.Just before he was dismissed, Jaiswal played the shot of the day, a scoop off Josh Hazlewood even though the bowler went wide of off stump to deny the leg side to him. While all this was happening, the batters at the other end – try as they might – could only score 47 runs in 49 balls.Sanju Samson had a difficult return to a ground where he’s had a lot of recent success. Three of his last six innings in Jaipur have been half-centuries. This one though was a struggle. He was on 5 off 11 before falling for 15 off 19.RR’s lack of batting depth might be compelling them to be a little more cautious than ideal in T20 cricket and the innings was fizzling out.Dhruv Jurel was 2 off 8 but he rallied alongside Shimron Hetmyer and Nitish Rana to help his team score 47 runs in the last four overs to take them up to 173, which is just shy of the average first-innings score (180) at Sawai Mansingh stadium over the last two years in the IPL.RCB put in a good shift with the ball, only two of the six they used went at over nine an over. Krunal Pandya got through the day with a wicket and an economy rate of just 7.25.

Adam Wharton revealed Thomas Tuchel's explanation for his latest England omission as the Crystal Palace star was left out of the upcoming Wales and Latvia clashes. After being recalled for the World Cup qualifiers last month, Wharton was forced to pull out due to an adductor injury. Following his recovery and strong performances at Palace, many expected the midfielder to be reinstated for the October internationals. However, Tuchel, had other plans.

Still no England call for Wharton

Despite an impressive start to the season with Palace, the 21-year-old midfielder was omitted from Tuchel's 24-man squad for the upcoming Three Lions fixtures. However, the German manager reached out to him, explaining that he was overlooked since he chose to stick to the same squad that triumphed over Andorra and Serbia. 

AdvertisementGetty Images Sport'Close' but not yet!

In an honest response, Wharton shared the message from the England manager: "He just gave me a message saying I'm playing well, I'm close and I deserve to be there, but he's going to stick with the same team. That's football, I'm not too fussed about that. I can take the time off, go see my grandparents, and it's not the end of the world, as there's another camp next month.

“I'm just focusing on Crystal Palace and playing well, and hopefully, if I play well, I'll get the call. It's nice to hear, but I think my focus is on Palace and if that goes well, then England is just a bonus.”

Not the end of the world for Wharton

While being left out may have stung, Wharton showed remarkable maturity in handling the situation. He didn’t shy away from the harsh realities of competition for places in the England setup, acknowledging the depth of talent available to Tuchel.

“Nothing is expected," he said. "England have some top players and he's got a lot of players to choose from. No matter who he picks, someone is not going to get in, and there will be a fuss about it. I can't sit here and cry about it. This is football, and I'm happy playing for Palace and getting minutes and trying to do as well as I can and improve, and if I get picked, I get picked. If not, I'll carry on playing for Palace and enjoying it – there's nothing else I can do really.

“Obviously, everyone wants to play for their country if they get chosen, but, like I said, this is football and he's got plenty of top players to choose from, and that's what he gets paid to do, pick the team and help England go well. Hopefully, they kick on and get the results they need to qualify for the World Cup. I'll keep knocking on the door, and if I'm in, I'm in, and if not, I'll carry on."

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Getty Images SportWharton ready to make his case for England

Looking ahead, Wharton knows the best way to earn his England recall is by continuing his excellent form for Palace. With seven more games before November's international break, including against Bournemouth on October 18, the midfielder has plenty of opportunities to impress Tuchel before the next squad announcement. The door to the Three Lions may be slightly ajar now, but if Wharton continues his upward trajectory, it's only a matter of time before he bursts through.

Tottenham Hotspur have sealed a deal to sign a versatile teenage forward from Scottish giants Celtic.

Tottenham targeting big attacking signing before deadline

Despite agreeing personal terms with Eberechi Eze, he decided to snub Spurs and sign for rivals Arsenal last week. As a result, Tottenham are on the search for a new marquee attacking addition before Monday’s transfer deadline.

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Daniel Levy has so far spent around £118m for Thomas Frank, who has begun his time in charge of Spurs with back-to-back Premier League wins.

Mohammed Kudus

West Ham

£55m

Mathys Tel

Bayern Munich

£30m

Kevin Danso

Lens

£21m

Luka Vuskovic

Hajduk Split

£12m

Kota Taka

Kawasaki Frontale

£5m

Joao Palhinha

Bayern Munich

Loan

Tottenham haven’t conceded a goal in the victories against Burnley and Manchester City, but with James Maddison sidelined with a serious injury, Frank is after another new face in the final third.

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Talking before the win at the Etihad, Frank, who also missed out on Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White earlier int he summer, said he is “confident” of making a signing before the window shuts.

“In general I don’t want any players that don’t want to come to this club and wear this fantastic badge. We don’t want them here and I’m sure the fans feel the same.

“We are in the market and we will look to strengthen the team. We have a good squad and good players [but] we need to do everything we can to be as competitive as possible. I am confident we will sign a player before the end of the window. Every club wants to sign players as early as possible, but it’s not that easy.”

That player could be RB Leipzig star Xavi Simons, with Spurs looking at hijacking Chelsea’s move for the Netherlands star.

At academy level, though, Spurs have now sealed an attacking signing, with an announcement already made.

Tottenham agree deal to sign teenage forward Conall Glancy from Celtic

Making the move to north London is teenage forward Conall Glancy, who was previously on the books at Celtic.

In an official statement, Spurs revealed that Glancy, 16, has joined the club as a first-year scholar and will play for the U18s.

A versatile youngster who was in the goals last season, Glancy, should he impress, will be able to pen professional terms when he turns 17.

He’ll be a name to keep an eye on in the academy, but at first team level, Spurs continue to work on an attacking addition who will make an instant impact for Frank.

Just four games into IPL 2025, CSK have tried 17 players and all seven overseas options in a bid to find a winning combination

Deivarayan Muthu05-Apr-20252:54

Fleming: CSK still ‘trying to get opening combination right’

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have responded to their early-season defeats – they have now lost three in a row in IPL 2025 – by ringing in the changes, but they are still struggling to find their best combination. It’s a “conundrum”. So says head coach Stephen Fleming, who is concerned by the lack of balance in the squad and the dearth of firepower in the batting line-up.Four games into IPL 2025, CSK have cycled through 17 players, including all seven overseas options, which is a departure from their usual strategy of continuity in selection. No other side has used as many players this season.”Yeah, that [finding the balance] is the conundrum at the moment,” Fleming said at the press conference after CSK’s loss to Delhi Capitals (DC) on Saturday. “To get more solidity at the top we have to remove obviously an overseas player, so we’re grappling just with the combination that we need. When it doesn’t go right, you pore over it and analyse that and see if it was the right call.”Related

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CSK have the worst scoring rate in the powerplay among all ten teams this season at this stage, and in order to remedy that, they brought in Devon Conway and reunited him with Rachin Ravindra at the top at the expense of Rahul Tripathi against DC. They also swapped out allrounder Jamie Overton for an Indian seamer in Mukesh Choudhary. The changes didn’t work out, however, with Conway compounding CSK’s powerplay troubles with another low score and Choudhary leaking 50 runs in his wicketless spell of four overs.”We felt that our batting in the powerplays has been below par and going too hard was probably not the way, particularly on our wicket, which is a little bit tricky,” Fleming said. “So we’re looking just to settle that with guys that have been in good form and have done it before, so that’s the theory behind that and that’s what we’ll possibly continue with.”But it just comes down to run production. You can have all the tactics you like, if you’ve got a couple of players in form they can cover for others. But at the moment we’re just not quite getting the big individual scores we need so that the cameos can do their part; we’re getting starts but not quite enough.”After crashing to their biggest-ever defeat at Chepauk in terms of runs, in late March against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), CSK seemed dreadfully off the pace and out of depth in another chase, this time against DC in a day game on Saturday. They managed only 69 for 4 in ten overs in pursuit of 184, and by the time MS Dhoni walked out to bat in the next over, the asking rate had almost touched 12. Vijay Shankar had a particularly tortured stay in the middle while Dhoni also failed to bring out the big hits in the face of a mounting asking rate.”The attempt was that we went out… a combination of they bowled well, I think the ball started to grip a little bit more,” Fleming said. “Well, we understood it was going to be good for the first half and then gradually get slower, so we were keen to bat and then take pace off the ball and they did it really well. Vijay Shankar struggled to get timing all the way through his innings. But that period from 12 to 16 was difficult for all, it was tough to watch and certainly tough to be out there, so the game was just slipping away and even with intent and different methods to do it, it was just too big a scale.”Noor Ahmad has a chat with MS Dhoni•AFP/Getty ImagesCSK have now failed to chase 180-plus targets in their last ten attempts, dating back to 2020. Fleming admitted that it’s another worry and called for more contributions from the top order.”Yeah, whenever you’re not doing something well, it concerns me,” Fleming said. “That’s the job. So we’re looking to find the formula that will get us over the line. We’re certainly well aware of the [180-plus] chasing stat.”We are focusing hard bowling-wise to restrict teams below that [180], but we do need to be better with the bat. There’s no doubt about it. We need to have one or two players in the form, predominantly the top three or four, and you look at the teams that are going, well, you’ll see that the majority of the runs are getting scored through there, through the top four, so we need a bit more production there, and that then allows the more power-hitters or the players to finish off the coming in the right spots.”We’re having to introduce players, just not quite at the right time, and we’ve got [Shivam] Dube as well, who’s close [to returning to form], but just not quite getting the job done.”

A “fantastic” Liverpool player appears to be edging closer to sealing a move away from the club before the summer transfer window slams shut.

Isak and Guehi getting closer to Liverpool

The Reds’ summer got off to such an exciting start, not least because Florian Wirtz joined in a record-breaking move from Bayer Leverkusen, but there has been a feeling that the Premier League champions need to sign both Alexander Isak and Marc Guehi to make it a truly memorable window.

While there is work to do in that respect, it increasingly looks as though the Premier League pair could both be heading to Anfield, with positive progress made.

Firstly, Newcastle United are signing VfB Stuttgart striker Nick Woltemade, as well as retaining an interest in Brentford’s Yoane Wissa, meaning a second offer for Isak from Liverpool is more likely to be accepted.

Meanwhile, the Reds have reportedly submitted a £40m offer for Guehi, following his appearance for Crystal Palace in the UEFA Europa Conference League on Thursday evening, with the England international considered an ideal centre-back addition.

"Fantastic" Liverpool ace close to leaving

Now, according to various reports, Kostas Tsimikas is now close to sealing a loan move from Liverpool to Roma, with the transfer seemingly in its final stages and “one step away”. This comes after Gazzetta dello Sport [via Sport Witness] reported that the Greek was pushing for a move away from Anfield this summer.

This feels like a good outcome for all parties for now, prior to a likely permanent exit next summer, with Tsimikas unlikely to play much for Liverpool this season.

Kostas Tsimikas’ trophy wins at Liverpool	2025
Premier League	2025
FA Cup	2022
EFL Cup	2024
EFL Cup	2022
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Milos Kerkez’s arrival has pushed him further down the left-back pecking order, so barring injury woes in that position, opportunities will be limited.

Tsimikas has been a good servant for Liverpool, making himself a hero by scoring the winning penalty in the 2022 FA Cup final shootout victory over Chelsea, and being called “fantastic” by journalist Ian Doyle, but he has never quite felt like a genuinely excellent option.

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That’s not to say he hasn’t performed well at times, keeping the pressure on Andy Robertson, but his time at Anfield should be reaching its natural conclusion.

Manchester United legend and pundit Gary Neville savaged Liverpool defender Milos Kerkez for his "naive" performance against Chelsea. Liverpool suffered their third consecutive loss across all competitions as they went down 2-1 against the Blues at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Kerkez featured in Arne Slot's starting lineup but was subbed off in the 55th minute.

• Kerkez' slow start to life at Liverpool

  Kerkez had a tremendous outing with Bournemouth last season, as the Cherries finished ninth in the Premier League. His impressive performance earned him a place in the PFA Team of the Year and subsequently Liverpool signed him for £40 million ($54m) in the summer transfer window. The Hungarian full-back has featured in all of Liverpool's matches this season, but his performance has been below par. Against Chelsea, he featured in the starting lineup but had to be taken off in the 55th minute.   

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  Neville calls Kerkez 'naive'

  Speaking on , after the Reds' loss at Stamford Bridge, Neville said: "The boy Kerkez, to be honest with you, at this point in time, he looks like a youth-team player. I know he’s a good player, but he looks like he’s playing for the youth team, or the Under-21s. He looks so naïve; he looks like a baby out there. He’s losing 50-50s with Neto! He’s had Premier League experience; it’s not like he’s come in from another country.  

  "He’s got a lot of games under his belt, he’s played at these grounds before, so I expected him to slot in. One, he’s playing alongside Virgil Van Dijk, the best centre half in the world, so if you want to play in a back four, you want to play with great defenders and he is doing. And he’s got players who work hard on that side, it’s not like he’s playing on the right with Salah in front of him, which is always a bit more difficult because you always get a little bit more exposed. But I have to say from the first ten minutes of that game against Bournemouth on the first game of the season, he’s struggled."

• Slot defends Kerkez

  Amid all the criticism, Reds boss Slot came to the defender's defence, as he said on : "Milos was more and more tired. He played 90 minutes in two games and now, for the third game in a week, which he’s not used to when he played at Bournemouth. You could feel and see it got more and more difficult to keep going and their wingers are a threat so we decided to make a change over there." 

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  Fresh injury setback for Liverpool

  After new defensive signing Giovanni Leoni picked up an ACL knock last week, Ibrahima Konate is the latest Reds defender to pick up an injury that forced Slot to replace him in the second half against Chelsea.