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A while before we even get bother about those type of talks. Probably by 2030 they can start those talk lol since his contract expires on June 30, 2033

Then Paqueta steps up for the next pen and misses, laughable

Estevao on the scoresheet again for Brazil. Converted a pen

Said weeks ago, if this kid was at Madrid he would be starting every week, and I don't expect it will be too long before we hear rumours of Madrid wanting him for 200M This kid is a star and I never big many players up, get him starting every week, stop using the word protect and amange and all that shite and play him

Behind the scenes at Real Madrid, there is growing unease that the club did not enter the race for Estêvão when he was still at Palmeiras. The Brazilian gem was analyzed, and the decision to not move forward is now viewed with some regret given his immediate impact at Chelsea and on the national team. ( Bruno Andrade - @ESPNBrasil)

I think it's because of the stats. Remember we are stats driving by the higher ups. This was an article discussing Caicedo vs Rice from Skysport and at the bottom they put this info there: If anything, the stats suggest that it is another Englishman who is closest to challenging Caicedo for the best Premier League midfielder tag. That being Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson. Anderson leads the way in multiple categories at either end of the pitch, including passes completed, duels won, recoveries and possession won. That form is certainly enough for him to deserve a place in Thomas Tuchel's World Cup plans. But enough to be considered the best in the league? Most would argue such a debate would be a little premature. That doesn't apply to Caicedo, though. The impact he continues to have on the world champions certainly puts him at the forefront of those in line for the crown. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/13445937/moises-caicedo-is-there-a-better-midfielder-than-the-Chelsea-star-in-the-premier-league

They Didnt think it was Possible: Infantino Worse than Blatter When Sepp Blatter was thrown from a moving gravy train in 2015 amid an explosive corruption scandal, it would have felt like a genuine feat of sporting excellence to have beaten his record for craven awfulness. And yet here we all are. This year, the Fifa president has been the Forrest Gump of Trump’s administration. Back in May, he attended the US president’s Middle East peace summit, causing him to be so late for Fifa’s own congress that even Uefa accused him of prioritising “private political interests” and staged a delegate walk-out. Last month, Gianni was back on the political trail at Trump’s Gaza peace talks in Egypt, and earlier this month instituted some preposterous Fifa peace prize that he’s going to inaugurate at the final draw for the 2026 World Cup in Washington next month, quite possibly so that the orange organ grinder can be the first winner of it. He spent yesterday grinning along while Trump announced things such as the possible ordering of “strikes” on one of the US’s 2026 World Cup co-host nations, Mexico. Perhaps the writing was on the wall when Gianni kicked off the year of ceaselessly grim politicking by attending Trump’s inauguration, where he was filmed giggling appreciatively during the bit where the US president announced he’d be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Back then, in January, Infantino looked like a competition winner. Now he resembles a fully operational member of Trump’s troupe of winged monkeys. APress

Whispers about us trying to get rid of Lavia getting louder & louder since news that United knocked us back including him as part of that deal for Garnacho…. So much for him, Fernandez & Caicedo being our long term midfield 3/most complete trio in world or Europe (still gets me every time thinking back to it). Not long after the rumours of us being open to selling Enzo Fernandez too if we got offered close to what we paid so yes fair to say that 2/3 have flattered to deceive. Getting rid of Lavia is the right thing to do, you cannot bank on a player who plays 30% of all games each season. Regardless of his potential ability. Will this ownership group ever learn though, signing someone who was already injured only to actively considering moving them on 2 or 2.5 seasons later… will be deemed as another bad move & rightfully so, lessons can be learned. I don’t see us dropping £100m + on either Elliot Anderson or Adam Wharton though & personally neither of them are worth that. It may be the going rate on the market but still we have got Santos & Essugo already on the books so would it not be more like sense to see what they are about before spending on that position again? Particularly given the noise on here about both those lads after loan spells in France & Spain….? I mean Santos in particular was the dogs bollocks last season according to many folk yet can barely get a sniff here 😂

Chelsea Football Club want to sign Nottingham Forest star Elliot Anderson in January. Romeo Lavia could be sold at suitable price Our information direct firom source within Chelsea. (@indykaila) 🧳Next R.Lavia Departure Story⏳️ Does anyone understand this E.Anderson hype? He's good, but not as good as everyone is making him out to be at the moment, or...

Capitalism 2025 Incredible that Zuckerberg has info on almost two thirds of the people on the planet. Much of it mined from other companies. However if anyone tries to obtain this info from META it is 'piracy' punishable with huge fines and prison sentences. How is this info used ? For the benefit of the rich and control -eg nurses in the US are paid different amounts depending on their level of debt and credit score. The lower the credit score and higher the debt the less they are paid. This info is used by a lot of employers to pay people struggling less. UBER charge more if a woman is alone, stranded, and they can also tell if your phone battery level is low, then charge more again.

I remember speaking about Malo Gusto recently and suggesting that his form was not great. At that point,…View the full article

So we were effectively looking at getting rid of him if the chance permitted itself? These co-sporting directors really are thick as fuck, no club is stupid enough to sign injury prone players off of us 🤣

I can't resist a line about Chelsea's winger Estevao, he really is exceptional. Only a tiny number of players can produce this particular special effect. If you get a chance whether at Stamford Bridge, or while watching a game on TV, close your eyes and listen to the sound of the crowd when Estevao gets the ball in the final third. It is the purified sound of expectation, excitement and support from an entire stadium. Very few can make that happen just by getting the ball. ‌It is probably best to shut your eyes when watching it back on record as you might just miss yet another incredibly imaginative piece of brilliance from the wonderkid if you try this approach live. ‌He was at it again for Brazil against Senegal at the weekend. I'd pay to watch him warm up and while he might not be the best player in the Premier League (...yet), he may well already be the most enjoyable to watch. Pat Nevin

Liverpool's hopes of signing Antoine Semenyo, 25, from Bournemouth in the January transfer window have been dealt a blow with the Cherries unwilling to sell the Ghana winger during the season. (Teamtalk), external

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11743/13471813/antoine-semenyo-bournemouth-forwards-lb65m-release-clause-becomes-active-in-january Yep, as predicted, there is the release clause. Was way too random for him to sign a contract extension without a release clause. Will be interesting to see if someone goes for him in January. I hope he stays there till the summer tbh. I think Liverpool right now, would be the best option for him as I don't see us bidding for him.

Mbappé v Haaland v Kane https://scoutedftbl.com/mbappe-haaland-kane-best-striker-in-the-world/ For the first time in Erling Haaland’s lifetime, Norway are going to the men’s World Cup. The man who had not yet been born when Norway reached the knockout stages for the first time in 1998 will, in 2026, be leading the line for his country as the all-time top-scorer. After back-to-back braces in a historic international break, Haaland has now scored 55 goals in 48 caps. Of the 84 men with at least 50 goals at professional senior international level, only one has a better goals-per-game ratio than Haaland; Niels Poul Nielsen scored 52 goals in 38 caps for Denmark. It would be very easy to argue, then, that Haaland will heading to the 2026 FIFA World Cup as the best goalscorer in the world. I have used ‘best goalscorer’ instead of ‘best striker’ intentionally. Not because I disagree, but because 'goalscorer' requires greater nuance. It sounds ridiculous to write, but not every striker should be evaluated on their goal output alone. Kylian Mbappé and Harry Kane also scored a brace of their own during this break, taking their international tallies to 55 in 94 caps and 78 in 112 caps respectively. Combined, Mbappé, Kane and Haaland scored 8 goals and attempted 20 shots between them during this international break. Across league and UEFA Champions League competition this season, they have scored 55 goals in 45 games. They are the three most prolific goalscorers on the planet right now. So, given how well the Rice v Caicedo discussion in the previous international break went down [we see you lot, only clicking when we wade into mainstream drama. Shame - ed] I’ve decided to do something similar. I am going to wander the same profiling path for these three players in attempt to translate their style as a striker into any particular metrics that we can then use to discover similar players. The not-so-groundbreaking theory is that despite all three players scoring a bucket-load of goals, the similarities might end there. Conveniently, Kane (57), Mbappé (55) and Haaland (53) are the only three players that have scored 50 non-penalty goals across Europe’s Big Five Leagues since the start of the 2023/24 season. We'll be comparing that output within a pool of 283 players tagged exclusively as a Forward when exporting the data from Stathead FBRef, each with at least 900 minutes played in that period. I am fully aware that no matter how well this newsletter appears to translate style, we’ll never be able to find players of similar substance. The starting graph provides an immediate and interesting contrast just by looking at the total number of touches. Haaland barely touches the ball, Kane is operating at an average level and Mbappé is funnelled possession constantly. Looking at specific zones, Mbappé is the most extreme of outliers for Touches in the Attacking Penalty Area per 90 while Haaland is the most extreme of outliers for Penalty Box Proximity (the percentage of touches inside the opposition box). Straight away we have an effectiveness versus efficiency contrast. Of course, due to their standing as the most elite forwards in the world, they also rank well for the mirror metric. But it’s clear from the off that Mbappé is the most effective at getting touches inside the box, while Haaland is the most efficient. In fact, Mbappé is a super-effective final third presence overall, not just inside the box. Haaland’s AOE is the penalty area, Mbappé’s is the final third. But what about Kane? Well, he doesn’t profile notably above or below average for any substance or style metrics. As we saw with Declan Rice, the ability to operate at an average level across all thirds is a skill or at least a playing style in itself. It’s just incredibly hard to quantify or spot. And although he ranks above average for the penalty box metrics, he doesn’t camp inside it, unlike Haaland. Perhaps the most striking datapoint for Kane when looking at AOE is Percentage of Passes Received as Progressive Passes. In direct comparison with Haaland and Mbappé specifically, he is very different. Let’s keep exploring. The primary function of pretty much any striker is taking shots and all three of these players are well above average for Shots per 90. However, we once again see that Mbappé is super-effective - he ranks first for volume with 4.7 per 90 - and Haaland is hyper-efficient - he ranks first with 17.3% of his Touches as Shots. Kane is in the middle of these two for both metrics. The same points apply to Shot Involvements when including Key Passes: Mbappé is super-effective, Haaland is super-efficient, Kane is an elite balance of both. We don’t learn too much beyond what we already know through this graph. When it comes to Production, all three players are shooters first, shot-assisters second - although Mbappé is again super-effective at producing both - so let’s take a closer look at Shooting as a skill. Again, these three players are the elite so it shouldn’t be a surprise to see them rank well above average for most metrics. Instead, then, it’s worth focussing on the most extreme differences between them. From top to bottom, the first row that might catch your eye is Non-Penalty Goals - Non-Penalty Expected Goals (NPG-NPxG). Essentially, Mbappé and Kané are performing significantly above the average centre-forward while Haaland is operating just above the expected level. It’s quite obvious that this is linked to Average Shot Distance and Non-Penalty xG per Shot. To use either end of the spectrum again, Mbappé is shooting from 17.8 yards on average compared to Haaland’s 12.1 yards which means that when the Frenchman scores, he’s pretty much always over-performing. Conversely, because of Haaland’s ability to take shots from the most dangerous positions, he’s penalised quite heavily if he does miss one. That’s why it’s so important to consider these efficiency metrics in conjunction with output. Mbappé and Haaland rank first and second for Shots On Target per 90. Mbappé is likely to hit the target due to the sheer volume of efforts - he’s effective. Haaland is likely to score because of the location of his efforts - he’s efficient. Kane, once again, falls in the middle of these two. But now we’re going to take a look at what makes Harry Kane completely unique. As we’ve seen with pretty much every stat so far, Mbappé is ultra-high usage while the extent of Haaland’s passing is a collection of short bounce passes. But I adore Kane’s Passing profile. Relative to other strikers, Kane has absolutely no interest in those Short Passes (between 5 and 15 yards). He plays them, but the majority of his passes are either Medium (34.3) or Long Passes (15.2%). When it comes to Long Passes (>30 yards), Kane not only ranks above average for per 90, but he is a huge outlier for style. This is why his Percentage of Passes Received was below average and I think it makes his goalscoring output even more impressive. This guy is quarter-backing while maintaining a scoring rate of 0.85 Non-Penalty Goals per 90. Kane is also Switching play (0.6 P90) or playing a Through Ball (0.52 P90) once every 90 minutes. This outrageous and ambitious profile becomes even more obvious when looking at Progression and Penetration via Passing. Strikers like Haaland should never be evaluated based on any of this metrics. He ranks below average for every metric and towards the very bottom for a few. But it has no bearing on his game, or at the very least his role for Manchester City. Kane, however, is a phenom. His penchant for Long Passes means he ranks second in the entire dataset for Distance per Pass Completed and 7th for Progressive Distance per Pass Completed. He is spraying it the width and length of the pitch. Similarly to the contrast between Mbappé and Haaland for Shooting, the same relationship emerges between Mbappé and Kane for Passing: Mbappé is super-effective, Kane is hyper-efficient. I’m not convinced 'efficiency' is the right word for every metric here - the average of length of a pass is very much a stylistic trait. However, it’s clear that when Kane decides to pass, it’s extremely likely that he’s going to achieve meaningful Progression or Penetration. Combining these traits with his Shooting effectiveness and efficiency despite the below average Shot Distance helps illustrate that ball-striking ability and vision we know Kane has in abundance; he can effortlessly cover distance with one swing of his boot. The question remains whether it will prove valuable when looking for similar players or is it a purely unique trait? But while Passing helped separate Kane from our other elite picks, Carrying begins to cast a spotlight on Mbappé. In fact, the only Carrying metrics that Haaland and Kane rank above for are the Percentage of Carrying Distance as Progressive Distance (Direct Ratio) and the Percentage of Carries as Carries into the Penalty Area - although the later applies to Haaland only. I think that metric does help highlight Haaland’s Power Forward playstyle. His data makeup is very much that of a Goal Hanger due to the dominance of Manchester City, but this season we are starting to see more of those bulldozing carries through the centre. For Mbappé, however, his wide forward tendencies are blatantly obvious through the ultra-high usage once again. He averages 2.73 CPA per 90, just below Mohamed Salah and just above Rafael Leão while the top-ranking players for this metric are Vinícius Júniior (4.68), Noni Madueke (3.77) and Bradley Barcola (3.47). However, if we take a closer look at the breakdown of Progression and Penetration, Mbappé is not an outlying carry-first forward. Kane’s reliance on his Passing is obvious. He is notably above average for the Percentage of his Progressive Actions as Passes, Final Third Entries as Passes and Penalty Area Entries as Passes. We then see the long-range, heat-seeking style illustrated through his Z-Scores for Distance per Action and Progressive Distance per Action. My theory is that he will index even more into this superpower as he ages, something I briefly touched on in a recent edition of The Shortlist. It turns out that Mbappé is not just super-effective at moving the ball into the final third or penetrating the penalty area, he’s pretty efficient. But he’s not particularly biased when it comes to Passing or Carrying to achieve it. I was quite surprised by that, especially considering how much he dribbles. Just as Passing was Kane’s secondary superpower (or you could even argue his primary one given its uniqueness), Dribbling is certainly Mbappé’s. His volume is once again elite, but he is also above average for the stylistic metric, Percentage of Touches as Take-On Attempts. He also ranks in the top 10 for Shot-Creating Actions via Take-Ons: he uses Dribbling as a means to achieve Production. His dribbling preference becomes even more extreme when looking towards the sky. Mbappé ranks joint-last alongside Lamine Yamal for the Percentage of Touches as Aerial Duels with just 0.47% - they have absolutely no interest, or rather no need, to challenge anything in the air. Kane and Haaland meanwhile are competent in aerial contests but are not asked to engage in them as often as most centre-forwards, a luxury afforded by their team’s dominance. But a high-volume of Aerial Duels does not always reflect aerial ability, especially for strikers. For example, Haaland has attempted the most headed shots across Europe’s Big Five Leagues this season. So, to sum it all up, although Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé are the most prolific goalscorers in the world right now, they have earned that reputation through different means. 👤 Kylian Mbappé is an ultra-high usage, super-effective, dribble-first phenom. Give him the ball in and around the final third and let him cook, as the kids say. He will produce a bucket-load of shots for himself and for his teammates through flashes of flair. 👤 Erling Haaland is a hyper-efficient shot-monster. We can’t quantify this with FBRef metrics, but his combination of stature, speed and intelligent movement grants him the unique ability to generate a tonne of shots from the most dangerous locations. 👤 Harry Kane is an unrelenting forward-first frontman. Whether lining up a max-range pass or striking the ball at goal, his ability to turn the ball into a heat-seeking missile means he can blow open a game at any given moment from any part of the pitch and is always looking to do so. Understanding the master of a craft gives you the tools to discover an apprentice. But we’ll save that for the SCOUTED Squads, coming to an email inbox near you soon.

After back-to-back braces in a historic international break, Erling Håland has now scored 55 goals in 48 caps for Norway, who have now qualified for the 2026 World Cup Finals in North America next summer. Of the 84 men with at least 50 goals at senior international level, only one now has a better goals-per-game ratio than Håland; Niels Poul Nielsen, who scored 52 goals in 38 caps for Denmark from 1910 to 1925.

He'll play plenty of games between now and end of the season Hopefully once Palmer is back, they can start forming a partnership and play some free flowing football!

I dont wanna downplay him for Brazil, cause he has done well. But not like he is secured a starting spot there either. He's a great talent and should play more and more for sure. But also quite clearly not all there tactically yet and imo nowhere near the first players on the team sheet (that should be a player like Caicedo). With both premier league, cup matches and CL, he will get plenty of football and some needed rest as well.

Man United rejected Chelsea's offer of Romeo Lavia as part of the deal that saw Alejandro Garnacho move to Stamford Bridge, ultimately for £40 million, due to concerns over the 21-year-old's fitness record. (@MarkOgden_)

Has to be first name on the team sheet if fit & available, his performances for us & for his NT make it pretty tough to justify leaving him out. I suppose if anyone could find a reason, it would be Enzo fucking Maresca though…..

A sponsor for the front of shirt will generate income though and after 2 seasons without, we could do with a sponsor 🤣

Yes but good squad/team building isn’t achieved by signing 25 x 18-21 year olds. You need to have some guys who are different ages to balance it out. Would get more out of Semenyo than both Gittens & Garnacho over the next 3 seasons probably. He will make an excellent addition to someone else. Our chances sailed the moment we dropped another £100m on 2 young wingers.

Estevao Willian scores again, people. As if anyone would have bet against that, right? The rising star scored…View the full article

He already has 4 goals for Brazil, Vini JR got 8.. Can't wait to have him and Palmer at the same time already.