Everton have got off to a terrible start this campaign, only picking up one point in their opening five Premier League games, losing their first four before drawing 1-1 with Leicester City last weekend.

This leaves the Toffees 19th in the Premier League, and therefore, Sean Dyche could find himself in a spot of bother, with incoming owner Dan Friedkin already looking at alternatives. Everton face Crystal Palace at Goodison Park this weekend, and another loss could spell the end for Dyche.

Everton have conceded 14 goals this season, only scoring five in their opening five fixtures, but one name in imparticular on their shortlist has Premier League experience, and could really turn things around for the Toffees.

Everton searching for Dyche alternatives

According to GIVEMESPORT, Graham Potter is one of the main names being ‘discussed’ by Friedkin if Everton are to part ways with Dyche.

Potter has managed Brighton and Chelsea before in the Premier League and could help change and establish a new identity at the Merseyside club.

Praised as being “fantastic” for his job at Brighton by Wolves boss Gary O’Neil in the past, Potter’s success with the Seagulls earned him a big move to Chelsea back in 2022. The Englishman took charge of 31 games for the Blues, winning 12, drawing eight, and losing 11, averaging 1.42 points per match.

Potter suffered from Chelsea going through a big overhaul at the time, with new owners, lots of players both joining and leaving the club and many instances both on and off the field for him to deal with.

However, by stepping back into management at Everton, he could help steer them away from relegation, improving their terrible possession average, and giving them a new identity.

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Potter to revitalise Calvert-Lewin

Everton have struggled to create xG this season, only generating 6.29 over their five games so far this season – the fourth lowest in the league).

Their direct approach under Dyche is not allowing them to create high-value chances, and score enough goals to win games, especially with their leaky defensive record.

Potter has always had teams that generate decent xG values, with his Brighton side creating 49.57 xG in their 2021/22 campaign, and his Chelsea side generating 51.89 xG in 2022/23.

An improvement in xG creation, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s main responsibility being to finish chances in the box, and make life tough for defenders in the penalty area, could see him revive his best numbers, which Everton fans haven’t seen since 2020/21.

In the 2019/20 season, when Calvert-Lewin scored 15 goals – 13 coming in the Premier League – Everton generated 53.71 xG, giving the Toffees’ star forward more chances in and around the box to finish off attack, and put the ball in the back of the net.

In comparison, during the 2021/22 season, Everton only generated 44.47 xG in the league, with Calvert-Lewin only managing five goals.

This then led to his worst season, despite Everton generating better xG numbers with 48.65 xG, his confidence was low, injuries were hampering him, and the striker was missing his clinical nature in the box.

However, as Calvert-Lewin is starting to find his mojo in the penalty area again, and will have confidence in his finishing ability, having scored two goals already this season with only 6.29 xG generated by the team, adding Potter who could help Everton keep more of the ball, and create higher value chances.

In turn, this could allow the attacker to explode again with another 15 + goal term, potentially firing Everton away from the relegation zone.

DCL would love him: Friedkin considering amazing Dyche successor at Everton

He could bring the best out of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

1

By
Joe Nuttall

Sep 25, 2024

Paul Scholes has brutally told Manchester United to put eight players on the market including Marcus Rashford, Matthijs de Ligt & Lisandro Martinez.

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• Scholes wants Man Utd to get rid of deadwood
• Urged them to sell Rashford and seven other players
• Currently 13th in Premier League table

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Scholes' comments come with the Red Devils enduring a dismal campaign, currently sitting in 13th place in the Premier League standings – their lowest position after 22 matches in the competition’s history. Amorim took charge of Manchester United in November following Erik ten Hag’s dismissal. However, the Portuguese has struggled to turn the team’s fortunes around and he recently described the squad as potentially the 'worst team in United’s history', highlighting the need for a significant rebuild to restore the club’s former dominance.

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• WHAT SCHOLES SAID

  Speaking in a video shared on TNT Sports' social media channels, Scholes named the players he believes Manchester United should sell. His list included high-profile names in Rashford, Martinez, De Ligt, Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Casemiro, Antony and Joshua Zirkzee.

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  While advocating for a major clear-out, Scholes did identify a handful of players he believes are worth retaining. These include goalkeeper Andre Onana, young midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, and forward Alejandro Garnacho.

  Speaking on Onana, Scholes said: "I think I'd keep him. There's more to come from him, but I'd keep him."

  Of Mainoo, the former midfielder highlighted his promise, saying, "One of the brightest talents this club has got. Keep."

  Garnacho’s inclusion was less definitive, with Scholes commenting, "Still young. Can still get better. Tough one. Just about keep."

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• DID YOU KNOW?

  Both Mainoo and Garnacho have been the subject of transfer rumours, with Chelsea reportedly interested in the pair. United are said to be open to selling academy graduates to improve their Profit and Sustainability Regulations (PSR) compliance. Additionally, Napoli are monitoring Garnacho’s situation.

Heather Knight believes England may need to rotate players through their five-match ODI series with New Zealand as they look ahead to next year’s World Cup.The hosts will name their squad on Saturday for the five ODIs taking place inside 11 days and starting in Bristol on Thursday. The series caps a busy international summer for the hosts, who played a multi-format series with India before peeling off to play for their Hundred franchises and then reconvening to face New Zealand.Neither side has tried to hide the fact they were already focused on the global 50-over tournament in New Zealand in March during their T20I series which went down to the wire, England winning 2-1 with victory in the decider at Taunton with one ball to spare.England’s win on Thursday was helped by Knight, their captain, who returned from a hamstring injury that had kept her out of the first two T20s to score a crucial 42 off 36 balls chasing down a target of 145.Related

• Sophie Devine: England game was 'more than that for me'

• Tash Farrant has fire in her belly after missing India series

• Sophie Devine: 'We need to normalise the conversation around mental health'

• Devine joins Sciver atop T20I rankings for allrounders; Shafali Verma remains No. 1 batter

• Heather Knight, Sophia Dunkley seal series for England with final-over victory

Rotating players would allow some weary bodies and minds to rest while giving opportunities for others to force their way into the reckoning ahead of the multi-format Ashes series in Australia and the World Cup.”We’re trying to build a squad of players that are going to be really successful for us and, with the games being so close, there’s potential that we’re going to have to rotate players and give people opportunities at certain points with us having [had] a lot of cricket this summer,” Knight said.”Physically and mentally we need to look after the fast bowlers in particular, so it’s finding that balance of wanting to be successful and win the series against a good New Zealand side but also trying to manage players and trying to look to the future a little bit and give opportunities where we can.”Having won the first T20I easily, England lost the second after New Zealand captain Sophie Devine scored a half-century and took two wickets to level the series and then had to fight hard to win the decider, with Sophia Dunkley continuing her breakout summer by keeping her cool under pressure to score the winning runs.”The fact that the last two games we haven’t had easy,” Knight said after the final match when asked to highlight the most pleasing aspects of the T20 series. “That first game was a real stellar performance from us, it was almost the perfect performance.”The last two have tested us a little bit. We were probably off at Hove, we were a little bit not ourselves and not at the standard we want to be at as a side, but the way the girls turned it around was really pleasing.”It was probably not our best today but the way that we won a pressure game, we’re able to punch out wins and different people are standing up.”Despite the series defeat, Devine was pleased with her side’s direction of travel heading into the ODIs and beyond.”We’ve had a lot of 50-over focus leading into this so it’s actually quite nice to get the T20s out of the way now because for the last couple of months all we’ve been focused on is 50-over cricket with a World Cup around the corner,” Devine said.”We’ll take some learnings out that we can take to the 50-over format which will be really exciting for us and give us confidence, but we’re certainly looking forward to being able to build on what we’ve been able to accomplish in this T20 series.”Devine was keen to bring back seamer Lea Tahuhu, who did not play the T20s while managing her workload after undergoing surgery to remove a pre-cancerous mole from her foot.”We haven’t unleashed Lea Tahuhu yet, which I’m excited about,” Devine said. “She’s going to bring a whole different dimension with our bowling attack, having someone with that pace and bounce is going to be really exciting but also the confidence this group can take from what we’ve been able to achieve.Sophie Devine was player of the T20 series•Getty Images

“I know we didn’t win this series but there’s so many positives we can take out of that. That’s been a key thing for us over this last couple of months, we’ve got to keep growing and we’ve got to keep building. We may not always get the results but as long as we’re trending in the right direction we’re certainly very impressed by what’s just happened.”Devine was also keen to test her side against England in the 50-over format.”The opportunity to be over here playing against the current world champions, you don’t get much better opportunity than that so we’re certainly going to take a lot out of this,” she said. “We’ve worked extremely hard over the last couple of months and it’s exciting to see where this group is heading.”

Everton have put their poor start to the season behind them, with a three-match unbeaten run following the dismal four defeats in a row to kick off the year.

As such, the Toffees have clambered out of the drop zone and will be confident that they can put it all behind them, especially with a favourable (on paper) run of fixtures coming up in the Premier League. Sean Dyche will be looking ahead with renewed optimism.

19/10/24

Ipswich Town (A)

17th

26/10/24

Fulham (H)

8th

02/11/24

Southampton (H)

19th

09/11/24

West Ham (A)

12th

23/11/24

Brentford (H)

11th

Let’s not forget that Jarrad Branthwaite has been sidelined for six of the seven fixtures thus far, and with the young titan set to return after the current international break, there’s reason to be sanguine.

The defensive issues of recent months have been concerning, but Branthwaite’s return will go a long way toward fixing that for good. All this fragility at the rear has made us think about what it would have been like to have Yerry Mina at the top of his game in this Everton side – unfortunately, the Colombia international scarcely claimed top fitness across his years at the outfit.

How much Yerry Mina cost Everton

Everton signed Mina from Barcelona in August 2018. The towering defender was only 23 at the time and cost £27m, which was a steep figure but seemed worth it for a player of high-standard quality.

He had just risen to fame after his performances on his nation at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, scoring an equaliser against England in the first knockout phase before the Three Lions surprised the globe with a competitive penalty shootout victory.

However, Mina would fall heavily by the wayside on Merseyside after a lasting series of injuries ravaged his chances of living up to and surpassing that initial price tag.

2022/23

7 (7)

2

0

1

2021/22

13 (11)

0

0

2

2020/21

24 (23)

2

0

5

2019/20

29 (25)

2

1

4

2018/19

13 (10)

1

0

3

Former Everton manager Marco Silva commented on the South American’s “unlucky” track record on the fitness front back in 2019, having been restricted to a bit-part role in his maiden term, but as you can see, he only enjoyed two seasons of comparatively high availability.

And when considering that he earned £120k per week during his time at Goodison Park, more than starting number nine, Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£100k per week), took home both then and now, the misfire is really underscored.

Combining his transfer fee (£27m) with the centre-back’s total earnings across the five-year period he plied his trade in the Premier League, it can be unravelled that Mina cost the club from £58m in total, or, to put it another way, £760k per top-flight start.

It’s poignant, mostly because Mina – like Calvert-Lewin, who has endured his own injury woes in recent years – could have reached such loftier heights.

Yerry Mina's Everton career

Perhaps the most frustrating point of all this is that Mina is actually an excellent defender. When fit, the Colombian showcased his quality and indeed cannot be fully discredited after recovering his fitness levels at the perfect time toward the business end of the 2022/23 term.

Everton were in an imperilled position, and time was running out to craft a purple patch. He scored two goals from just seven Premier League appearances that year, but started all four of Everton’s final matches and indeed had a vital say in this proud club’s future after bundling home against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the penultimate week to salvage a last-gasp point.

It fuelled Goodison for the finale, which saw Bournemouth fended off and Abdoulaye Doucoure volley in a second-half winner to preserve top-flight status. Mina played the full 90 on his final display and kept a clean sheet, winning eight of his 11 contested duels, as per Sofascore.

He encapsulated the phrase short but sweet, putting in some colossal performances to save a club from falling. It’s fair to say that without his efforts, the Toffees wouldn’t have found the verve to avoid the maw of relegation.

Oh, what could have been. Fans will cherish the defender’s best moments, but sadly, they were few and far between for a player who arrived with a weight of expectation and took home a pretty penny besides.

Their own Luis Diaz: Everton plot January move for £8m "absolute beast"

The Toffees could bolster their attacking firepower in 2025…

ByJoe Nuttall Oct 9, 2024

MatériaMais Notícias

Se na prática o Sport conta com três reforços para o seu plantel visando a temporada 2022, no aspecto verbal o clube já tem acerto formatado com outros quatro nomes, podendo chegar a sete o número de contratações que enriquecerão as opções do técnico Gustavo Florentín.

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>Aplicativo de resultados do LANCE! está disponível na versão iOS

Os atletas que precisam passar ainda pelos tradicionais exames médicos antes de suas chegadas poderem ser oficializadas são do zagueiro Fábio Alemão, do lateral-esquerdo uruguaio Lucas Hernandez, o meio-campista Denner e o atacante Jáderson.

Fábio, Denner e Jáderson são nomes em situação mais avançada, pois estão na capital pernambucana e passam pelas devidas avaliações, assinando seus acordos em caso de não haver nenhum tipo de problema capaz de fazer o rubro-negro desistir da negociação.

Por sua vez, o uruguaio que tem direitos ligados ao Atlético-MG, mas que atuou pelo Cuiabá em 2021, está de férias em seu país natal, retornando ainda nesta semana ao Brasil para cumprir com os mesmos procedimentos.

O primeiro jogo oficial do Sport no ano será pela Copa do Nordeste onde irá até Maceió, no próximo dia 22 de janeiro, em visita ao CRB, no Estádio Rei Pelé.

An Arsenal exit for one big-name member of the Gunners squad is said to be a real possibility, with manager Mikel Arteta personally eyeing a possible replacement.

Arsenal maintain unbeaten start with victory over Southampton

The Premier League title hopefuls maintained their unbeaten start to the season in all competitions with a 3-1 win over Southampton on Saturday, despite a brief scare courtesy of Cameron Archer’s surprise opener for the visitors.

Related £240k-per-week Arsenal ace out for "best part of four weeks" through injury

It could even be longer.

Posts 1 ByEmilio Galantini Oct 8, 2024

The Saints forward handed Russell Martin’s men a brief lead just after the second-half restart, but goals from Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka soon after ensured that Arsenal would come away from the Emirates with all three points.

Speaking after the game, Arteta praised his players for their belief, character and discipline to fight back from a goal down and ultimately turn the game around in convincing fashion – despite a sloppy start to the first 45.

Arsenal’s next five Premier League games

Date

Bournemouth (away)

October 19

Liverpool (home)

October 27

Newcastle United (away)

November 2

Chelsea (away)

November 10

Nottingham Forest (home)

November 23

“First half I thought it was exceptional,” said Arteta after Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Southampton.

“The amount of dominance that we had in the areas that we played, the amount of situations and chances we created in open play and set pieces, our counter-press worked really well there. It’s unbelievable that we didn’t score a goal.

“Then we started the second half, we were a bit sloppy, especially in the first 5-10 minutes with the ball and then the game became a little more open. Then the chance they had, they scored the goal, and then again, we’ve thrown everything away that we did in the first half. It was a completely brand-new game in a really difficult context and the team reacted incredibly well with a lot of composure; big belief, very good clarity in what we had to do. The crowd were exceptional, the subs were exceptional and we managed to win again.”

While Bukayo Saka put in another excellent display against Southampton, striker Gabriel Jesus was a cause for concern. The Brazilian, who played just 19 minutes of football across all competitions before being handed the nod on Saturday, was substituted on the hour mark despite the scores being level – with Jesus dropping a “5/10” performance overall.

Jesus could leave Arsenal with Arteta a real fan of Marmoush

There are doubts over the £265,000-per-week star’s suitability to lead the line, with Havertz the preferred option. According to reports out of Spain, Jesus could leave Arsenal with Palmeiras interested in signing him. They add that Arteta is also a real fan of a potential replacement – Eintracht Frankfurt star Omar Marmoush.

The Egyptian has been linked with a move to north London very recently, with some reports claiming that Marmoush “dreams” of a switch to Arsenal or Liverpool. The 25-year-old, as per Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, is also stalling on signing a new contract amid his sensational start to the season.

He already boasts nine goals and six assists over just nine games in all competitions, and if Marmoush continues in this form, it is surely only a matter of time before elite English sides like Arsenal come knocking.

انتقد حسني عبد ربه، قائد الإسماعيلي الأسبق، الأوضاع الإدارية داخل النادي، مؤكدًا أن سوء الاختيارات في إدارة الدراويش تسبب في أزمات متراكمة أثرت على الفريق عبر السنوات الماضية.

وقال عبد ربه في تصريحات عبر بودكاست القلعة الحمراء: “ما يحدث في الإسماعيلي هو تراكمات لسنوات طويلة، اختيار الإدارات دائمًا عليه علامة استفهام، وكل ما يلي ذلك من اختيارات فنية للاعبين أو الأجهزة الفنية يأتي كنتيجة لهذه المشكلة الأساسية”.

وأضاف: “عندما كنت مديرًا للكرة، لم يكن من ضمن صلاحياتي التعاقد مع اللاعبين أو إبرام الصفقات، فكيف يمكن للفريق أن ينهض في ظل إدارة مفككة؟”.

حسني عبد ربه بعد هزيمة الإسماعيلي أمام الزمالك: لماذا لا يوحد القانون؟

وأبدى نجم الدراويش الأسبق أسفه لما وصل إليه حال قطاع الناشئين بالنادي، قائلًا: “الإسماعيلي كان يعتمد تاريخيًا على قطاع ناشئين قوي، حيث يتم تصعيد لاعبين مميزين، مع استقطاب مواهب من الدرجات الأدنى لتشكيل فريق قادر على المنافسة وتحقيق الأرباح، لكن للأسف، هذا لم يعد موجودًا الآن”.

وتابع: “العناصر الأساسية التي كانت تبني الفريق اختفت، وأصبحنا نحرق اللاعبين الشباب مبكرًا بإشراكهم في منافسات قوية دون وجود عناصر الخبرة التي تساعدهم على التطور”.

وشدد عبد ربه على أن المشكلة ليست في الموارد المالية، بل في إدارتها قائلًا: “الإسماعيلي كان يملك الأموال، لكن المشكلة كانت دائمًا في كيفية إدارتها وتوجيهها”.

واختتم حديثه بالتأكيد على أن الإسماعيلي فقد ما لا يقل عن عشر بطولات محلية وقارية بين عامي 1997 و2010، بسبب سوء الإدارة، مؤكدًا: “المجالس المتعاقبة تترك أزمات ثقيلة لمن يأتي بعدها، ولو كان هناك حساب ومساءلة لما استمرت هذه الأخطاء المتكررة”.

Warning of bomb at Leicester hotel deemed to be ‘not credible’ as security is boosted

George Dobell20-Sep-2021

The third ODI of the series between England and New Zealand looks set to go ahead in Leicester after a security threat was deemed by NZC to be “not credible”.ESPNcricinfo understands that a member of the New Zealand team management was contacted and told that a bomb would be placed at the team hotel. It is understood they were also warned of an attempt to place a bomb on their plane when they return to New Zealand.As a result, the team went into lockdown on Monday, and the police and counter-terrorism agencies were called in. It looked for a few hours as if the match would be called off, given that the New Zealand team did not train at Grace Road, although an NZC spokesman subsequently stated that they had not been scheduled to do so in the first place.The spokesman added: “As has been reported, the ECB have received a threatening email relating to NZC. Although this did not specifically reference the White Ferns it was treated seriously, investigated, and deemed not credible.”The White Ferns have now arrived in Leicester and, as a precaution, security around them has been boosted. Reports their training has been cancelled are false. They were not scheduled to train today as it was a travelling day. NZC will not be commenting further on the matter.”Some players are still understood to be apprehensive, however.There may be some raised eyebrows at the news from Pakistan, in particular. England and New Zealand have both called off tours to Pakistan in recent days, with NZC citing a specific security threat, and the ECB conceding that “concerns about travelling to the region” were a factor in their withdrawal on player welfare grounds. The PCB will, no doubt, be asking why this threat in Leicester was not deemed credible but the one in Pakistan was.ESPNcricinfo understands that the British High Commission and the security consultants (ESI Risk) used by the ECB and NZC both considered the security protocols put in place ahead of the trip to Pakistan to be satisfactory.An ECB spokesman said that they would be offering no further comment on the matter.2150 BST – This article was updated to include details of NZC’s statement

Rescheduled Test has to be a one-off match, and not a continuation of the aborted series, says BCCI president

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Sep-2021Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI president, believes the Old Trafford Test between England and India should be “cancelled”, not postponed.Ganguly added that whenever a one-off Test between England and India is eventually scheduled, “it cannot be a continuation of the series” that ended prematurely when India opted against taking the field last Friday.While he chose not to speak on the book launch Ravi Shastri and some other members of the Indian contingent attended prior to the fourth Test as being the possible reason for the Covid-19 outbreak, Ganguly did stand by the head coach and the others, saying that there was no question of blaming anyone in the circumstances.Related

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Official result of fifth Test to have repercussions for ECB

“The Old Trafford Test has been cancelled. They (ECB) have incurred a lot of losses and it’s not going to be easy on [them],” Ganguly said in an interaction with the Kolkata-based . “Let things settle down a bit, then we can discuss and decide. Whenever it’s held next year, it should be a one-off match since it cannot be a continuation of the series any more.”Ganguly is expected to be in London for a personal visit later this month, and while he didn’t say he would meet ECB officials while there, he said the BCCI has “given them the option of taking some more time since it’s just got over”.An event around Shastri’s book – – took place on September 1, a day before the start of the fourth Test at The Oval, which India won to take a 2-1 lead in the series. On September 5, Shastri tested positive for Covid-19. His colleagues in the support staff, Bharat Arun, R Sridhar and Nitin Patel, were identified as his close contacts and put in isolation, and Arun and Sridhar subsequently tested positive too. Then, on September 9, India’s assistant physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar tested positive for the virus as well, and that is understood to have been the tipping point for a group of players, who refused to take part in the fifth and final Test.

“The players were devastated when they came to know that he [Yogesh Parmar] had tested positive for Covid-19. They feared they must have contracted the disease and were dead scared. It’s not easy staying in a bubble. Of course, you have to respect their feelings”Sourav Ganguly

“The players refused to play but you can’t blame them,” Ganguly said. “Physio Yogesh Parmar was such a close contact of the players. Being the only one available after Nitin Patel isolated himself, he mixed freely with the players and even performed their Covid-19 tests. He also used to give them a massage, he was part of their everyday lives.”The players were devastated when they came to know that he had tested positive for Covid-19. They feared they must have contracted the disease and were dead scared. It’s not easy staying in a bubble. Of course, you have to respect their feelings.”8:41

Newsroom: ‘ICC has to adjudicate what the result of the series is’

Speaking about the book launch in a chat with on Sunday, Shastri had defended himself, saying, “The whole country [UK] is open. Anything could have happened from Test One.”While Ganguly said that “No permission was sought,” by Shastri or anyone else to be part of the event, he felt that the coach and others were blameless.”How long can you stay confined to your hotel rooms? Can you stay locked at your home day in and day out? You can’t be restricted to a life where you go from the hotel to the ground and return to the hotel. This is humanly not possible,” Ganguly, who also dismissed suggestions that the players skipped the last Test to be in the UAE early for the resumption of the IPL from September 19, said.”You can’t stay in a bubble forever. Life has to open up. These players and support staff have been in a bubble for more than a year now. It’s no joke. It’s very demanding physically and mentally. They are human beings and it’s unfortunate. From the UK, the players are already in another bubble in the UAE [for the IPL]. Another round of quarantine, another bubble.… Then there will be the bubble for the T20 World Cup. It’s not easy.”

Saudi Pro League officials are reportedly readying a world-record €300m transfer bid for Vinicius Junior that will land the Brazilian a €1bn contract.

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Al-Hilal keen after releasing NeymarHugh transfer package being readiedBlancos have no intention of sellingFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

The Brazil international forward is currently on the books of Real Madrid, where he has savoured La Liga and Champions League title glory. He has become a Ballon d’Or contender and is yet to reach his peak at 24 years of age.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Vinicius is, however, being lined up for a move that could see him join Blancos legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia’s CEO, Omar Mugharbel, has told of recruitment plans for 2025: “In the summer we hope to see some interesting signings. So we'll wait and see what happens with that.”

DID YOU KNOW?

The same news outlet reports that Vinicius sits at the top of the Saudi wish list. Any approach for the South American superstar will see transfer history made as the fee involved in Neymar’s €222m (£186m/$232m) move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 is eclipsed.

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It is claimed that teams such as Al-Hilal – who are ready to replace Neymar after terminating his contract – and Al-Ahli are ready to splash out €300m (£251m/$313m) on Vinicius. He will also be handed a lucrative contract worth €1 billion (£838m/$1bn) over the next five years.