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Aston Villa are now seriously considering a January move for an “incredible” striker, who has been in fantastic form this season.

Villa looking to sign new striker this winter

It is becoming increasingly clear that Villa want to bring in a new centre-forward in the upcoming transfer window, having identified a number of targets over the past week or so, namely Brentford’s Igor Thiago, Manchester United’s Joshua Zirkzee and Bologna’s Santiago Castro.

On the face of it, pursuing a move for Thiago would appear to make the most sense, given that the Brazilian has emerged as one of the best strikers in the Premier League this season, with only Manchester City star Erling Haaland scoring more goals.

However, Aston Villa have now joined the race for another striker who has been prolific in front of goal so far this season, according to a report from Spain, which states they are seriously considering a January move for Strasbourg star Joaquin Panichelli.

Unai Emery’s side are said to be closely monitoring the striker, and hold a genuine interest, off the back of Panichelli impressing in the first half of the Ligue 1 season, with Chelsea and West Ham United also joining the race for his signature.

With the Argentinian’s contract not due to expire until 2027, the French club should be in a strong negotiating position, which complicates a deal, and finalising a move in the January transfer window could be difficult.

Panichelli has made "incredible" start in Ligue 1

Given that Ollie Watkins has just three Premier League goals to his name this season, Emery could do with bringing in a more prolific striker next month, and the Cordoba-born marksman has regularly been amongst the goals for Strasbourg, scoring ten times in all competitions.

Scout Jacek Kulig has also praised the former CD Mirandes man for the start he’s made to life at the Ligue 1 side, having only arrived at Strasbourg from the Spanish side in the summer.

The one-time Argentina international is the second-highest scorer in Ligue 1, behind only Mason Greenwood, and at 23-years-old, he is at the right age to be a long-term replacement for Watkins.

Aston Villa could launch attack to sign £44m striker who's outscoring Watkins

The Villans are looking to bring in a new centre-forward.

By
Dominic Lund

4 days ago

That said, with Panichelli tied down to a long-term contract and yet to prove himself in one of Europe’s top leagues over a sustained time period, it may be worth Villa continuing to monitor him, ahead of potentially launching a move next summer.

Real Madrid came from behind but were unable to get over the line in a frustrating 1-1 draw with a well-drilled Girona. Kylian Mbappe's second half penalty cancelled out a well-worked opener from the La Liga strugglers, yet Madrid couldn't find a second – and stay one point off the top in La Liga in another twist to the title race.

Madrid probed for opportunities early on, but were left rather exposed on the break. Thibaut Courtois responded, though, producing a couple of good saves to keep the visitors level. Los Blancos thought they had taken the lead when Mbappe slotted home, but his goal was correctly chalked off when VAR determined there was a handball in the build-up. The visitors were then made to pay for a major defensive lapse. Girona were allowed to work the ball down the right, before Azzedine Ounahi swept one past Courtois from the top of the box after a well-timed feed from Viktor Tsigankov. 

Los Blancos had their chances to start the second half. They had the ball in the net again on the hour mark, but saw it ruled out again after Vinicius Junior was in an offside position when he poked home. Madrid got their equalizer from the spot after 65 minutes. Vinicius scampered around his man and was brought down inside the box. Mbappe coolly tucked the penalty into the bottom corner to ease Xabi Alonso's nerves on the touchline. Madrid came close numerous times after. Vinicius missed a couple narrowly. Mbappe was denied from close range. 

But there was never a second. Girona were resilient at the back, and Madrid lacked a crucial bit of quality needed to put the game away. This can be considered nothing other than a chance to go top wasted, with Barcelona holding the initiative at the La Liga summit. 

GOAL rates Real Madrid's players from Estadio Montivili…

GettyGoalkeeper & Defence

Thibaut Courtois (7/10):

Made a few silly saves. Could do nothing about the goal. Denied a second. 

Trent Alexander-Arnold (6/10):

A very Trent performance. Did some ridiculous things with the ball but failed to track his man on the goal.  

Eder Militao (7/10):

A composed performance on his return to the side. Good on the ball and effective in the air. 

Antonio Rudiger (6/10):

First appearance since late August, and he was a little mixed. Solid on the ball but a little slow to react – and handed Girona a good chance as a result. 

Fran Garcia (6/10):

A surprise to see him start at left back. Scampered up and down the left but his final ball was lacking. 

AdvertisementGettyMidfield

Aurelien Tchouameni (5/10):

Offered plenty of control at the base of midfield, but didn't get across to track the runner on Girona's opener. 

Jude Bellingham (8/10):

Dropped a little deeper and did plenty of dirty work in the first half. Pushed up more in the second. Madrid's most consistent performer throughout. 

Federico Valverde(6/10):

Full of legs and industry, clean on the ball, but rather stripped of his attacking nous in this role. 

Arda Guler (5/10):

Used in a No.10 role in the opening exchanges, but saw his influence wane. Removed at the break. It's been a tough few games.

GettyAttack

Kylian Mbappe (7/10):

Unfortunate to have a goal ruled out for an unlucky handball. Buried his penalty with ease. Not his most involved game, but got on the scoresheet, regardless. 

Vinicius Jr (8/10):

Won the penalty thanks to a lovely bit of skill. Put a couple of others narrowly wide. Very good without being at his scintillating best. 

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GettySubs & Manager

Eduardo Camavinga (7/10):

Introduced at the break and gave Madrid some much-needed energy and balance in midfield. Seriously impressive thus far this year. 

Rodrygo (6/10):

A late introduction as Madrid chased a winner. Barely involved. 

Alvaro Carreras (N/A):

No time to make an impact. 

Gonzalo Garcia (N/A):

No time to make an impact. 

Xabi Alonso (5/10):

Rotated a bit, making changes at left back and centre-back. His side were a bit lacklustre, though, and unconvincing at both ends. 

GT have assembled a squad of neatly interlocking parts, with a bowling attack that allows their top order to play to their strengths and maximise them

Karthik Krishnaswamy18-May-20251:21

Moody: Gill, Sai Sudharsan now have five gears

On Saturday night, Bengaluru’s cricket fans paid tribute to Virat Kohli’s Test career when they poured into the M Chinnaswamy Stadium for a T20 game that never happened. On Sunday night, another man from Bengaluru paid his own tribute to Kohli – in Kohli’s hometown, no less – though this was a T20 tribute in a T20 game.It came in the 19th over of Delhi Capitals’ (DC) innings against Gujarat Titans (GT), and it came off a ball that pitched 8.7m from the stumps. That’s solidly back of a length, a length that’s incredibly hard to hit down the ground for six, especially off a rapid, hit-the-deck bowler, with a bat not quite vertical but certainly more vertical than horizontal.Kohli famously hit a 19th-over six like that, off Haris Rauf at the MCG. Sunday’s effort at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, from KL Rahul off Prasidh Krishna, was similar in conception and mechanics, even if it went over long-off rather than back over the bowler’s head.Related

Gill and Sai Sudharsan 'have learnt how to move through the gears'

Moody: KL Rahul 'a lot better player than a lot of people give him credit for'

Race to IPL 2025 playoffs: three teams battle for one spot

Sai Sudharsan: 'I have expanded my batting; mentally I'm a bit more free and expressive'

Stats – GT second team to pull off double-century chase without losing a wicket

Rahul hit GT’s fast bowlers for three sixes over long-off during his unbeaten 112 on Sunday, and none of them was straightforward. The one off Prasidh took the prize for difficulty level, but the two off Kagiso Rabada didn’t come off slot balls either. In the sixth over, he used his reach to extend his arms through a lofted front-foot drive off a 6.75m ball – 6-8m is the fast bowler’s good-length band. In the 11th over, Rabada followed his movement away from leg stump with a 6.99m ball, seemingly cramping him for room, only for Rahul to manufacture a straight-bat jab down the ground.There were only four sixes in Rahul’s innings – that’s the joint-fewest he’s hit in his seven T20 hundreds. That he hit only four sixes, and that three of them came off genuinely hard-to-hit balls, told a tale – an important tale in the context of this match and of IPL 2025 on the whole, but one that won’t immediately leap out of the scorecard.That scorecard is dominated by three big innings from opening batters – Rahul’s 65-ball 112, B Sai Sudharsan’s 61-ball 108, and Shubman Gill’s 53-ball 93, all three unbeaten, all three scored at strike rates between 172 and 178.GT won by ten wickets, with an over to spare, and they romped home in a manner so clinical that the target they were chasing, 200, seemed inadequate. It probably was, but the story of this match wasn’t the usual story of matches like this, of the team batting first showing too little ambition and ending with a below-par total, of the first-innings centurion ending up with question marks over his intent or lack thereof.1:13

‘DC got it wrong with their bowling match-ups’

Those questions have been asked of Rahul numerous times in his career, but Sunday’s innings wasn’t that sort of innings. If DC only made 199 despite losing just three wickets, they did so not because they didn’t take enough risks with the bat but because GT tied them down with the quality of their bowling.And that quality, though apparent if you watched closely, only really began to stand out when it had something to stand out against. And that something was the opposition’s bowling.Sai Sudharsan and Gill batted brilliantly, in a manner we have come to watch with open jaws, putting on an unbroken 205, their highest partnership in a season that has so far brought them 839 runs as a pair, at an average of 76.27, with seven 50-plus stands of which three have gone past the century mark. It’s almost unheard of for an opening pair to score so consistently, with such control, while seeming to take so few risks, without leaving you wondering if they left ten or 15 runs out in the middle.It’s a neat trick, and it’s partly explained by the quality of batsmanship: you only need to watch Sai Sudharsan’s no-look flicked six off T Natarajan, or Gill’s flicked six off the same bowler, hit nonchalantly against the angle, to know that these are hugely gifted strokemakers.But that’s not the whole story. The other thing that makes this trick possible is GT’s bowling attack, which gives Sai Sudharsan and Gill the luxury of taking chances less frequently than opening pairs who play for teams with inferior attacks.Watch the highlights of Rahul’s innings and count the boundaries off hit-me balls. Do the same with the highlights of GT’s chase. Compare.1:07

Moody: ‘Rahul has managed to adjust again to a different role’

Sai Sudharsan hit four fours and a six off the first nine balls he faced, and four of them came off hit-me balls: two hip-high balls angling down the leg side, two short balls offering room to free the arms.There were periods when DC managed to string together sequences of quiet overs – they only conceded 27 from the fifth to the eighth overs, for instance – and neither Sai Sudharsan nor Gill tried to break free by manufacturing a boundary. But DC simply couldn’t sustain that pressure for long enough, and this is how most IPL attacks operate.And GT, at all times, were only chasing 200, because their attack hadn’t operated like most IPL attacks. They operated, instead, like an attack that had Ashish Nehra’s eyes on them at all times.As GT’s head coach, Nehra’s bowling philosophy is simple: bowl good lengths, bowl to your field, and keep at it; if the batter still manages to find the boundary, say “well done, let’s see you try that again”. A lot of coaches talk the same game, but few keep their bowlers on as tight a leash as Nehra does, screaming instructions from the edge of the playing area.And it helps when those instructions are carried out by fast bowlers as good as Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh – both of whom have benefited immensely from the simplicity of Nehra’s stick-to-your-strengths philosophy – and spinners as good as Rashid Khan and R Sai Kishore. All four have featured in all of GT’s matches this season.2:40

What could DC have done differently?

The moment that best illustrated GT’s bowling quality on Sunday came from their one questionable tactical call, giving Sai Kishore the 16th over when Axar Patel was at the crease. That over, pitting a left-arm fingerspinner against a left-hand batter known for his prowess against spin, brought DC 15 runs, but Sai Kishore really made Axar earn his runs. Both the four and the six he hit in that over came off quick, good-length balls angled away from his hitting arc; both times, Sai Kishore forced Axar to use all of his immense reach to find a way to hit down the ground.The contrast between that over and the big overs that littered GT’s innings was stark, the latter invariably chock-full of slot balls or balls offering width.And this wasn’t just the story of this match. It’s been the story of IPL 2025. GT have assembled a squad of neatly interlocking parts, with a bowling attack that allows their top order to play to their strengths and maximise them. DC have never quite found that sort of structure or coherence – they didn’t have it even during their run of four straight wins at the start of the season.It’s why the two teams are where they are right now. GT are into the playoffs, and DC need other results to go their way to have a chance of joining them. And while the top order will take a lot of credit for how GT’s season has gone, they will know that their bowlers have made things a lot easier for them.

عاد كيفن برينس بواتينج، نجم الكرة الغانية السابق، لتذكر كواليس انتقاله إلى صفوف برشلونة، موضحًا أن أحد اللاعبين كان بإمكانه إيقاف صفقة انضمامه إلى البلوجرانا.

برشلونة تعاقد مع بواتينج خلال شهر يناير من عام 2019، وذلك على سبيل الإعارة قادمًا من صفوف نادي ساسولو حتى نهاية الموسم، قبل أن تنتهي الإعارة ويعود اللاعب إلى النادي الإيطالي.

وكانت فترة بواتينج مع برشلونة فاشلة بكل المقاييس، حيث شارك الدولي الغاني السابق مع البلوجرانا في أربع مباريات فقط ولم يسجل أو يصنع أي هدف.

أقرأ أيضًا.. فيديو | فليك يثير قلق جماهير برشلونة بسبب حالته بعد مباراة ألافيس

واعترف بواتينج في بودكاست ”Unscripted”، أن الأسطورة ليونيل ميسي كان بإمكانه منع انتقاله إلى برشلونة، موضحًا أن توقيعه مع البلوجرانا لم يتم إلا بعد موافقة الدولي الأرجنتيني.

وقال بواتينج: “في ذلك الوقت كان هناك مديران رياضيان في برشلونة، أحدهما كان إريك أبيدال وقال لي نعم نريدك، وقال المدير الرياضي الآخر نريدك”.

وأضاف: ”أرادني الرئيس بارتوميو والمدرب فالفيردي أيضًا، فقلت ممتاز، لنوقع غدًا، فأجابا لا، علينا التحدث إلى ليو أولًا، كان يمتلك تلك القوة، نمت على أمل أن يوافق ميسي على انضمامي، لو رفض لما وقعت لبرشلونة”.

ويمتلك بواتينج مسيرة مميزة في أوروبا لعب خلالها للعديد من الأندية، لكن التجربة الأبرز للاعب كانت اللعب في صفوف إي سي ميلان والذي قدم معه بواتينج مستويات كبيرة.

To say it has been a topsy-turvy season for West Ham United would be an understatement.

For the first couple of months, the Hammers couldn’t buy a win and looked almost certain to be relegated from the Premier League come May.

However, over the last month or so, Nuno Espírito Santo has steadied the ship and, as things stand, has led the club out of the drop zone.

He’ll be looking to continue the side’s unbeaten run against Liverpool this afternoon, but to ensure West Ham collects at least a point, if not all three, he’ll need to make at least one change and drop someone who was once compared to Mohammed Kudus.

West Ham's record against Liverpool

West Ham’s game against Liverpool this afternoon will be the 153rd competitive meeting between the sides in all competitions.

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The two historic clubs first met back in January 1901, in an FA Cup game that the Hammers sadly lost 1-0 courtesy of a Sam Raybould goal, which the hosts argued should have been ruled offside.

Unfortunately, that match served as a warning for how this fixture would go over the following 124 years, with the East Londoners winning just 29 games, drawing 38 and losing 86.

Somehow, things have been even worse for the Hammers in recent years. Across their last ten meetings, they have won just a single game, drawn another and then lost the other eight.

With a history like this, you’d be forgiven for thinking Nuno’s side have no chance this afternoon, but based on the last month or so of football, that may not be the case.

For example, Arne Slot’s side have lost their last three games by a staggering 10-1 scoreline and currently look as bad, if not worse, than the Irons did at the start of the campaign.

In stark contrast, West Ham have won two of their last three games and drawn one, so they should be going into this game confident of keeping their good form up and dumping more misery on the Merseysiders.

With that said, to ensure his side do come out the victors, or at the very least, with a point, Nuno needs to make at least one change to the team and drop someone compared to Kudus.

The West Ham player Nuno has to drop vs Liverpool

There may well be arguments for dropping more than one player from the side that drew at Bournemouth last week, but when it comes to the player most in need of being removed, it has to be Luis Guilherme.

The Brazilian was given the go-ahead in place of the injured Crysencio Summerville, but instead of the dynamism, directness and trickery the Dutchman brings to the team, he looked weak, out of place and simply not ready.

Now, that doesn’t mean the teenager shouldn’t get another chance to make his mark on the team.

After all, he remains a highly-rated prospect who respected analyst Ben Mattinson claims “still has the world at his feet” and someone who has “similarities to Kudus” in terms of the attacking traits he possesses.

However, after a 45-minute performance in which he registered an expected assists figure of 0.01, failed to take a single shot, took just 21 touches, failed in 66% of his dribbles, lost the ball nine times, completed ten passes and lost seven of eight duels, he should be dropped.

Guilherme’s v Bournemouth

Minutes

45′

Expected Goals

0.00

Expected Assists

0.01

Shots

0

Passes

10

Touches

21

Lost Possession

9

Dribbles (Successful)

3 (1)

Ground Duels (Won)

8 (1)

Dribbled Past

1

All Stats via Sofascore

Moreover, there is someone available for selection again who will give far more than that: Lucas Paqueta.

Yes, after serving his one-match ban, the Brazilian can play again, and given his incredible ability and recent form, there is no reason he shouldn’t be right back in the team, either out wide or in the middle.

So far this season, the former Lyon star has scored four goals in 12 appearances and, according to FBref, ranks in the top 11% of attacking midfielders and wingers in the league for successful take-ons and in the top 13% for progressive passes, all per 90.

In other words, on top of the goals, he is helping to create chances both through his immense close control and brilliant passing range.

Ultimately, if Nuno wants to ensure West Ham collect all three points against Liverpool this afternoon, he should drop Guilherme for Paqueta.

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Posts ByJack Salveson Holmes Nov 27, 2025