Category Uncategorized

Since the summer of 2023, Manchester United have dished out roughly £174.5m on three new centre-forwards, having plumped for youth by bringing in Rasmus Hojlund, Joshua Zirkzee and Benjamin Sesko in successive summers.

The result? Well, that costly trio have since scored just 20 Premier League goals between them across the last two-and-a-half years, with United seemingly repeating their approach in the market, yet expecting a different result.

Turning to relatively unproven young strikers has been the theme of recent times at Old Trafford, representing a clear shift away from a more short-term approach that saw the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Cristiano Ronaldo parachuted in to lead the line.

That trend also came amid the search for more left-field, stop-gap striker signings in the mould of Wout Weghorst and Odion Ighalo, with it looking as if the INEOS regime could repeat the trick with their own wildcard move in 2026.

Man Utd discussing personal terms for the new Ighalo

For so long has the lack of a consistent, world-class number nine plagued the Red Devils, with Robin van Persie still the last player to have scored 20 league goals for the club in a single season.

Man Utd’s top PL scorers by season

Season

Top scorer

24/25

Fernandes & Amad – 8

23/24

Fernandes & Hojlund – 10

22/23

Marcus Rashford – 17

21/22

Cristiano Ronaldo – 18

20/21

Bruno Fernandes – 18

19/20

Rashford & Martial – 17

18/19

Paul Pogba – 13

17/18

Romelu Lukaku – 16

16/17

Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 17

15/16

Anthony Martial – 11

14/15

Wayne Rooney – 12

13/14

Wayne Rooney – 17

12/13

Robin van Persie – 26

Stats via WhoScored

Things might have been different had Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Erling Haaland recommendation not been ignored, with the treble winner having also chased his compatriot during his first full season at the club in 2019/20.

As it proved, the Norwegian machine joined Borussia Dortmund ahead of the 2020 January window, with United left scrambling on deadline day, acquiring boyhood fan Odion Ighalo on an initial loan deal from Chinese outfit, Shanghai Shenhua.

That was certainly not a deal that would have been anticipated in advance, with the same perhaps true regarding Auxerre marksman, Lassine Sinayoko, amid reports that INEOS are pushing ahead with a move for the Ligue 1 star.

Indeed, as per Africa Foot, United are discussing personal terms with the 26-year-old, with the two parties believed to be coming close to finalising a €3m (£2m) salary agreement.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

Expand Collapse

The suggestion is that Ruben Amorim’s side want to secure a deal next month, prior to Sinayoko joining on a free transfer next summer.

Why United could be targeting their new Ighalo

Whether Sinayoko does arrive in January or at the end of the season, he could represent the wildcard addition that Amorim is in need of, not least with the aforementioned Sesko having scored just twice since his summer switch from RB Leipzig.

The Auxerre hitman may not be a glamour, household name, although the example of Ighalo showcases that a left-field swoop can bear fruit, with the experienced Nigerian making a solid impact in his new surroundings in Manchester.

Indeed, the former Watford star ultimately scored five times in his first six months at Old Trafford, namely netting a stunning juggling effort away at LASK Linz in the Europa League.

His stay was certainly brief, and hardly prolific, but Ighalo proved to be a useful tool under Solskjaer, not least as United went deep in both the FA Cup and Europa League.

Like in the case of the 2020 arrival, there is a real joy in seeing something of an unsung talent begin to blossom at United, with the club having far too often been stung by pursuing the high-profile, expensive deals instead.

Should Sinayoko arrive on a free transfer, he might well fit into the Ighalo category, having been a solid, albeit unspectacular performer during his stint in France.

Subscribe for sharper Manchester United transfer coverage Get the newsletter for deeper coverage of Manchester United transfer strategy, under-the-radar striker scouting and potential wildcard signings — thoughtful analysis, player profiles and context on this topic alongside broader transfer coverage.

---

Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Currently on AFCON duty with Mali, the 6 foot 1 forward has scored six times this season in Ligue 1, after previously registering 14 goals and assists in France’s top-flight last term.

While not prolific himself, he would – like Ighalo – provide United with a real focal point in attack, with his physical prowess seen in how he ranks in the top 2% of strikers in Europe’s top five leagues for interceptions per 90, as per FBref, as well as in the top 8% for tackles made.

Equally, like Ighalo – who scored 16 times in 37 games for Nigeria – Sinayoko has proven his quality on the international stage, with his two recent strikes at this year’s AFCON ensuring he now boasts nine goals in 27 games for his country.

With Sesko struggling and Zirkzee seemingly on his way to Roma, United are certainly in need of at least one striker heading into 2026, ensuring a bargain swoop for a figure like Sinayoko could be just what is needed.

As Ighalo did before him, he might well just surprise a few.

Related Upgrade on Mount: INEOS make “world-class” star Man Utd's “No.1 target”

Manchester United’s current midfield crop could be under threat if new additions arrive in 2026.

Posts ByRobbie Walls

Cricket Kenya will be holding a meeting of leading stakeholders on December 1 and 2 at Nairobi’s Parklands Sports Club.Those invited to attend include representatives of clubs and associations, sponsors, cricketers, and the media. CK has also invited both the African Cricket Association CEO Cassim Sulliman and ICC high performance manager Richard Done to attend.High on the agenda will be discussions about the ongoing crisis affecting the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association, as well as planning the way ahead for Kenyan cricket in general.

5.5 overs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Sanath Jayasuriya launched a stunning attack on New Zealand’s bowlers © Getty Images

Sanath Jayasuriya enjoyed a field day at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium, picking up three key wickets as Sri Lanka derailed New Zealand’s batting onslaught, and then playing a blitzkrieg of an innings to propel his side to an 18-run Duckworth-Lewis victory. Rain forced everyone off the field with one delivery left in the sixth over of Sri Lanka’s chase of 163, just as Jayasuriya slammed Andre Adams for 18 in four balls. With no respite in sight, Sri Lanka were declared winners based on their excellent run rate, despite being 101 runs adrift of their target.Jayasuriya set off in manic fashion, slamming 51 from 23 deliveries. By the time Shane Bond removed Upul Tharanga for six, Jayasuriya had raced away to 27 from 15 deliveries with a brutal attack on Bond and James Franklin. Adams, in his first over in New Zealand colours since October 2005, was welcomed with the following greeting: four over backward point, four through square leg, six over wide long-on, and four more through extra cover. It was just as well that rain intervened, from Adams’s perspective.Led by their spinners, Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka clawed their way back into the first of the two Twenty20s to restrict New Zealand to 162. After taking a solid hammering from Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum – 80 runs were added in just over seven overs – Murali and Jayasuriya turned the game on its head with some controlled bowling and waited for the hosts to hit the self-destruct button.Dressed in 1992 World Cup grey, both openers set the tone of proceedings with scorching shots, and some thick outside edges, as 29 runs came off the first two overs. In the first over, Chaminda Vaas was slammed hard over extra cover for six by McCullum, and in the second Fleming picked up three fours – one sweetly creamed through covers, two edged through the vacant slip region – to make it 17 from the over. Dilhara Fernando, playing his first game on tour, was taken for 16 from his opening over, with McCullum rounding it off with a pulled six over deep backward square leg.Maharoof came back well to bowl Fleming with a well-disguised slower ball, and Muralitharan, though smoked for two huge sixes in his first three deliveries, got McCullum to mistime a slog-sweep out to deep midwicket. From here on, it was Sri Lanka’s turn to dictate terms.While Murali plied away with a great length from one end, Jayasuriya kept it simple yet clever; there was no room offered, he controlled his spin, and kept it flat. Franklin, sent in as pinch-hitter, played some good shots before Jayasuriya trapped him leg before; a great catch at midwicket – Chamara Silva timed his jump to perfection and took the catch on the second attempt – took care of James Marshall; and Nathan Astle was bowled neck and crop by a straight delivery. It was a pretty good effort considering there was rain in the air and that the ball must have been pretty slippery when he bowled.The run rate dropped as the spinners continued with a controlled length, and even Silva, called on for just one over, gave away just four runs and removed the debutant wicketkeeper Peter McGlashan.Where Fleming and McCullum had blazed 80 in no time, the remaining batsmen could only muster 82 in double the overs. Sri Lanka tasted success in their Twenty20 debut, against England at Southampton this summer, defending 163, and today, in pursuit of the identical target, they came up trumps – with a little help from the weather gods.

Mark Butcher has had surgery twice on his injured wrist, but is still aiming to get back into the England side © Getty Images

Mark Butcher has said he hasn’t yet given up on playing for England again, despite not representing his country for over a year.Butcher, 33, has been sidelined since injuring his wrist during England’s successful tour of South Africa during the winter of 2004. He played just five games for Surrey in the summer, missing the Ashes series and England’s tour of Pakistan. Having recently undergone further surgery, he is also out of contention for the upcoming tour to India; England are due to announce their squad on Friday.”It’s been giving me a lot of trouble but hopefully this time it’s sorted it out once and for all,” he told BBC Sport. “I’ll start using the bat again around the middle of February so – fingers crossed – I’ll be ready for the beginning of the season. Obviously the main thing is to get fit first but ultimately (an England place) is always the goal.”In his absence, younger players such as Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen have settled into the middle-order and, with the likes of Alastair Cook and Ed Joyce knocking on the door, Butcher’s chances of a recall appear limited. Butcher, however, is critical of the soft dismissals of some of England’s batsmen during their tour of Pakistan:”We gave away a lot of soft dismissals and didn’t give ourselves a chance to post big scores,” he said. “If they’d just managed to keep their heads a bit better on the last day of the first Test match they probably would have won the series in Pakistan.””As soon as you go a Test down in a three-match series over there it’s difficult because you have to chase the game. It just goes to show that while winning the Ashes was an amazing achievement there’s still a lot of work to be done before you can say we’re the best side in the world.”

Guyana 249 and 274 for 4 (Ramdass 144*, Deonarine 52) beat Barbados 224 and 294 for 8 dec (Campbell 70, Browne 61) by 6 wickets
ScorecardA magnificent unbeaten 144 by Ryan Ramdass propelled Guyana to a memorable victory against Guyana in a Carib Beer match at Bridgetown. Set a fourth-innings target of 270 in 81 overs, Guyana stormed to victory with six wickets and 15.4 overs to spare. The highlight of the run-chase was Ramdass’s 131-run second wicket partnership with Narsingh Deonarine, who scored 52. The 21-year-old Ramdass struck 17 fours and a six in his innings, which came off 194 balls. The win took Guyana’s points tally to 22, while Barbados slumped to the bottom of the table with only four points. In fact, this was their fourth consecutive defeat in the Carib Beer tournament, all of them on home turf, making it the first time in their entire first-class history that they had ever suffered this ignominy.Windward Islands 417 for 9 dec and 121 for 4 (Smith 67) beat Leeward Islands 262 and 274 (Williams 115, Banks 58, Lewis 6-86) by 6 wickets
Scorecard
Leeward Islands fought bravely on the final day, but couldn’t prevent Windward from easing to a six wicket victory at Charlotte Amalie in St Thomas. Resuming their second innings at 87 for 5, Leewards lifted their total to 274, thanks to a superb 115 from Stuart Williams. Williams received fine support from Omari Banks, who made 58, and Ridley Jacobs (36). Rawl Lewis, the Windward captain, did the star turn with the ball, taking 6 for 86. Requiring 120 to win, Windward lost a couple of early wickets, but Devon Smith, who had smashed 142 in the first innings, scored a fine 67 to ensure that the run-chase went off smoothly. The win pushed Windward Islands to second place with 34 points, while Leewards slipped to joint fourth place with 22.

CCA Pub Charity Club Cricket Points 2003/04(As at Wednesday 22 October 2003)Pub Charity 1st Grade Men2-day Trophy Competition:East Shirley 21.04,St.Albans 18.54,Marist 5.83,Old Collegians 5.49,BWU 5.06,LPW 3.69,Sydenham 2.93,HSOB 2.83,Riccarton 0.Pub Charity 2nd Grade Men2-day Trophy Competition:Old Collegians 21.92,East Shirley A 6.97,BWU 6.18,HSOB 6.08,Sydenham 6.02,East Shirley Budgies 5.29,Marist 5.26,LPW 5.13,Riccarton 4.03,St.Albans 3.45.3rd Grade Red Men:2-day Trophy CompetitionCBHS 21.4,Christ College 18.4,STAC 6.5,SBHS 5.0,St Bedes 4.5,St Thom* 2.7,Burnside HS* 0.0,TBHS 0.0.3rd Grade Gold Men:BWU Maroon 10.48,HSOB Cavaliers 9.91,Sydenham 4.3,Old Collegians 3.5,LPW 3,East Shirley Gold 3,BWU Gold 3,St.Albans 3,Riccarton 3,East Shirley Blue 3.3rd Grade Black Men:CC 7.05,SBHS 6.48,CBHS Black 5.66,STAC 5.19,Ricc HS 4.36,St Bedes 4.11,Burn HS* 0,CBHS Red 0,CBHS Blue* 0.4th Grade Men:St Albans B 10,LPW Yabbage 7,OC Cavs 5,Marist 5,ES Hooters 5,BWU 5,St Albans A 2,Syd Muppets 0.5th Grade Men:Ricc Hogs 10,St Albans 7,LPW Yaks 7,Ricc Gold* 5,BWU Gold 5,BWU SNCC 2,BWU Blue 0,BWU Maroon 0,OC Gold* 0,Marist Green 0.6th Grade Men:OC Tan 10,Mar Gold 10,St Albans 7,Syd Blue 5,Syd Red 5,Parklands 5,Marist Fozzie B’s 2,LPW 2,BWU 2,OC SGC 0.President’s:BWU 10,Sumner Misfits 7,Riccarton+ 7,ES Gold 7,HSOB 5,Sydenham 5,LPW Red 5,St Albans Gold 5,OC 5,LPW Gladiators 5,St Albans Blue 2,ES Blue 2,Hospital 2,Marist 0.(+ Indicates G Frampton Challenge Cup holder)Pub Charity 1st Grade Women (2-Day):St.A 4,LPW 2,ES 2,OC-Country 1.Pub Charity 1st Grade Women (1-Day):LPW 5,OC-Country 5,St.A 0,ES 0.1st Reserve Women:St.Albans TBA,Sydenham TBA,Ricc 12,OC-Country 2,BWU 2,ES 0.2nd Grade Women:LPW 10,St Albans 7,Syd 2,OC-Country 0,Hare 0.3rd Grade Women:Ricc 7,St Albans 7,Sydenham 7,BWU 5,LPW 2,Horn 0.4th Grade Primary GirlsSenior Trad:St Albans Gold 10,St Albans Grammar 5,OC-Country 5,LPW 5,Horn 5,ES 0.

Nashua WP selectors have named a fifteen man squad to play the Titans and Boland in Standard Bank matches this week.

MEDIA RELEASE:NASHUA Western Province Squad Vs Northern TitansNewlands 26th December 2001ANDNASHUA Western Province Squad Vs BolandB.O.E. Park 28th December 2001STANDARD BANK CUP:NASHUA Western Province Squad:1) Graeme Smith2) Neil Johnson3) Andrew Puttick4) Hylton Ackerman ( C )5) Ashwell Prince6) Jonathan Trott7) Lloyd Ferreira8) Alan Dawson9) Thami Tsolekile10) Renier Munnik11) Roger Telemachus12) Charl  Willoughby13) Paul Adams14) Quentin Friend15) Paul HarrisCricket Manager:  Vincent Barnes: Eric SimonsARTHUR TURNERCEO – WPCA

Tamil Nadu were holding the upper hand in a keenly fought KSCAUnder-25 Trophy battle against Kerala at Bangalore’s MaharajaJayachamarajendra Wodayar Sports Complex today. Despite a braveunbeaten century by opener C Sanju, Kerala at 169/3 were still 277runs behind Tamil Nadu’s first innings score of 446.Resuming at 297/4, TN lost overnight centurion Lokesh who added justfour more runs before falling for 124 (177 balls, 15 fours). It wasthe start of a streak of four consecutive wickets to opening bowlerPrasanth Chandran. The other overnight batsman Surendra Doss belted alusty 88 off 86 balls inclusive of 13 fours and a six before beingseventh out at 366.Padmaraju and Veeranan propped up the innings with a last wicket standof 58 before the latter was caught and bowled by leg spinner CM Shyamfor a breezy 25 off 27 balls. Padmaraju remained undefeated on 42 (52balls, 7 fours) as TN closed at 446 in the 117th over. Chandran tookthe bowling honours with figures of 5/118.Kerala got off to a bright start as Sanju and N Bijumon added 55 forthe first wicket before off spinner C Dhandapani saw the back of thelatter for 18 with a return catch. Dhandapani, who took all threewickets to fall for 46 runs, continued to torment the batsmen,removing CM Deepak and skipper KPK Nambiar cheaply as Kerala stutteredto 73/3. But Sanju and S Ramakrishnan (25) steadied the ship with anunbroken 96-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson worked hard to improve Gio van Bronckhorst’s Ibrox squad in the January transfer window.

He brought in James Sands, Mateusz Zukowski, Aaron Ramsey and Amad Diallo, but they are all yet to establish themselves as regulars in the first team.

There is still plenty of time for them to prove that they were good signings by the Gers chief, but sometimes transfer windows can be remembered for the players who got away.

This may well be the case for one particular deal during the late Walter Smith’s reign in Glasgow. The club had a major howler over their failure to sign Luka Modric, now of Real Madrid, for £3.5m towards the start of his career during Smith’s tenure in charge.

Ally McCoist has revealed that Smith refused to act on his suggestion to sign the Croatian legend whilst he was still playing in his home country, before the midfielder went on to join Tottenham and then Real Madrid.

The legendary striker explained: “Walter sent me over to Dinamo Zagreb to look at the right back who went to Spurs as well, Vedran Corluka.

“He phoned me after the game and said ‘what do you think?’ and I said ‘I’ll tell you gaffer, they’ve got a wee boy in the middle of the park, he’s absolutely outrageous, see how much money we’ve got’.”I think we could have got him for £3.5million but we didn’t have the money. Aw wow. We didn’t have the money. He asked ‘how much?’ and I said three and a half million and he said we can’t afford it.”

£3.5m for a future Ballon d’Or winner does not seem like a bad deal in hindsight but the Gers were unwilling to push the boat out to bring him in, and they may now look back on that moment and wonder what could have been. To be fair, Smith was just doing what he thought was in the best interests of the club, but it is interesting to think what Modric would have been like at Rangers.

Brazilian icon Kaka previously said that the 36-year-old plays football “like a dance”, and his incredible trophy haul suggests that he has had plenty of experience dancing in celebration throughout his career. He has won 23 trophies at club level – including the Champions League four times – and won the Ballon d’Or, UEFA Best Player in Europe and The Best FIFA Men’s Player in 2018.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

This means that Rangers missed out on signing someone who would go on to be the best player in the world for a fee of £3.5m, which is why they may look back on this now as a huge howler by the club – albeit with a lot of hindsight involved.

File this under “one that got away”…

AND in other news, Forget Tavernier: Rangers machine with 83% duels won was Van Bronckhorst’s unsung hero on Thursday night…

Andrew Caddick: still drawing a crowd © Getty Images

Andrew Caddick’s last Test appearance came at Sydney back in January 2003, but even at the age of 38, he still feels that he would be worthy of a place in the England squad to tour Sri Lanka, which is set to be announced at The Oval on Friday morning.Caddick took 234 wickets in 62 Tests, having made his debut against Australia during the 1993 Ashes. But his form in county cricket for Somerset has remained remarkably consistent, and this year he was shortlisted for the PCA Player of the Year along with three fellow veterans – Mark Ramprakash, Mushtaq Ahmed and the eventual winner Ottis Gibson – after picking up 75 first-class wickets at 23.10.Caddick is not a realistic prospect for an England recall but his former 1990s team-mate Ramprakash is very much in the frame after passing 2000 runs in consecutive seasons for Surrey – rightly so, in Caddick’s opinion. “I don’t care what age you are,” he said. “If you’re getting thousands of runs and taking hundreds of wickets, you should be knocking on the door of these youngsters.””There have to be rewards for players who play to the best of their ability on the county circuit,” he said. “If you’ve got players who are bowling well, batting well, they should be pushing on the door of those who are playing international cricket and not doing well.”Although England’s former coach, Duncan Fletcher, was never a fan of county cricket, his successor Peter Moores has been keen to build bridges between the domestic and international circuits, with the likes of Ryan Sidebottom and Graeme Swann earning their rewards for consistency.Caddick himself was briefly in line for an astonishing comeback in August, when he was put on standby for the decisive third Test against India at The Oval, after Chris Tremlett reported an injury in training. “I spoke with Geoff Miller [England selector] up at Derby and told him what I could bring to the fold,” said Caddick. “It’s still up to the selectors to decide whether Andy Caddick should still be involved in English cricket.”