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Southampton fans will hope that, after a rocky start to the season, the newly promoted side's form does pick up after the international break is over.

Only netting one goal so far, with three defeats from three also making for grim reading, Russell Martin now has the lengthy break to try and get more out of his group on the training pitch to try to positively impact their worrying early Premier League form.

He could well even end up experimenting with what he at his disposal to try and get points on the board, but it looks very unlikely that Kamaldeen Sulemana will get a chance to impress in the first-team picture.

Sulemana's time at Southampton

Once costing the Saints a club record £22m, it's fair to say Sulemana has never quite lived up to this bumper price tag when playing on the South Coast.

From 44 appearances to date donning a Saints strip, the ex-Rennes winger has only managed to grab two goals and four assists, with zero strikes coming his way during Southampton's promotion-winning campaign.

Only averaging 39 minutes per clash that same season, it hasn't been a great shock to see Sulemana's standing in the St. Mary's pecking order take a battering moving up a league, with no games being handed to him so far in the Premier League.

A move to Ajax was meant to be the confidence-boosting switch Sulemana needed on deadline day, but that loan adventure was initially put on hold, owing to the fact it was unclear whether or not all of the paperwork involving the move took place before or after the Dutch window slammed shut.

There had even been the potential for him to move permanently to the Eredivisie giants for £17m as part of the temporary deal, although journalist Fabrizio Romano has since confirmed that the deal is now off.

Martin and Co likely wouldn't have been too gutted to see the back of their £22m flop if he had departed, owing to his hefty salary in the Saints camp which sees him earn double the salary that key first-teamer Kyle Walker-Peters finds himself on.

Sulemana's wage at Southampton

As per Capology, Sulemana's wage for the season ahead comes in at an extortionate £40k-per-week, a wild amount for a player who is yet to taste any action for Martin's men in either the league or even the EFL Cup.

On the contrary, Walker-Peters remains a key cog in the Saints machine, with the South Coast outfit relieved that the former Tottenham Hotspur man didn't move to new pastures this window just gone.

Regardless of goals like the one above from the attack-minded defender helping Southampton achieve promotion last season, and Walker-Peters averaging 87 minutes per clash in the Premier League so far, the popular 27-year-old only earns a lesser £20k-per-week pay packet.

Walker-Peters won't be the only aggrieved member of the Saints camp when it comes to Sulemana earning more, with the likes of Will Smallbone and other fixed first-teamers also earning less.

Player

Wage

First-team appearances last season

Kamaldeen Sulemana

£40k-per-week

25

Will Smallbone

£25k-per-week

46

Gavin Bazunu

£20k-per-week

41

Kyle Walker-Peters

£20k-per-week

46

Taylor Harwood-Bellis

£7.5k-per-week

43

Looking at the table above, it's not a shock to see that Southampton do want to balance the books and get rid of their £40k-per-week man, with first-team stalwart at the back from last season in Taylor Harwood-Bellis even earning significantly less at £7.5k-per-week.

Wage Burners

Football FanCast's Wage Burners series explores the salaries of the modern-day game.

Southampton have been prone to many blunders in the transfer market over the years, with Sulemana another one now added to the list.

While Martin and Co will likely now be forced to wait until January to offload the costly forgotten man, the hope will be that a last-gasp deal can be struck with a handful of markets still open across the globe.

Walcott 2.0: Southampton could soon unleash "flamboyant" teenager

Southampton could discover their next Theo Walcott with this young ace.

1 ByKelan Sarson Sep 3, 2024

South Africa fast bowler becomes latest international player to withdraw

George Dobell and Matt Roller15-Jun-2021The Hundred is set to lose more big-name players as the competition battles to compete with international schedules and bubble fatigue. Days after it emerged that David Warner, Marcus Stoinis and Sophie Devine had pulled out, ESPNcricinfo understands that Kagiso Rabada is also withdrawing.Rabada, the South Africa fast bowler who had signed for Manchester Originals, is currently involved in a Test series in the Caribbean. The team is then scheduled to play six limited-overs matches (three T20Is and three ODIs) in Ireland in a tour that finishes on July 25, the same day as Manchester Originals’ first home fixture.Related

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While he would then potentially have a few weeks before his next assignment, it is understood Rabada is opting for a break instead of appearing in the Hundred, for which he had been drafted in the £100,000 (US$140,000) bracket.Lockie Ferguson, the New Zealand fast bowler, is to join Manchester Originals as Rabada’s replacement.An ECB spokesperson said: “We are thrilled to welcome a player of the quality of Lockie Ferguson to The Hundred. It’s sad news that Kagiso will not take part this year but the schedule and challenges around international travel due to Covid remain an issue for some overseas players.”The tournament has had some encouraging news, though. While the new government timetable for the lifting of Covid-related restrictions is a blow to the county game – it means that the T20 Blast programme will not offer its usual financial windfall – it might work to the advantage of the Hundred. The tournament starts on July 21, just two days after the anticipated release of restrictions on July 19.

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire says new boss Ruben Amorim is the "total opposite" of former manager Erik ten Hag.

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Amorim replaces Ten Hag at Man UtdMaguire compares two managersBacks Amorim for success at Old TraffordFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Amorim has taken over from Ten Hag at United but has endured a tough start to life at Old Trafford. The Portuguese coach has already admitted he could be sacked after seeing his team lose their last three matches in a row in all competitions to sit down in 14th place in the Premier League table and with a tough run of fixtures to come.

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Maguire has lifted the lid on life under Amorim and says the new coach is completely different to Ten Hag. Amorim has already brought a fresh approach on the pitch, with his 3-4-2-1 formation, and has also taken a tough stance on Marcus Rashford – leaving the forward out of his last four matchday squads. Maguire says that Amorim knows exactly what he wants but has warned supporters the transition period will be "tough."

WHAT MAGUIRE SAID

He told Sky Sports: "The thing is with the managers and the styles, it is not like they have come in and they have similar styles. They are the total opposite in terms of what they want and what they demand. So the transition period is going to be tough. We all have great belief in the manager and all his coaching staff. I am sure things are going to turn around. He knows exactly what he needs to do to get this club back. He has come in and done everything he needs to do. He is really demanding. He is a winner, so I am sure he will be because he hates losing games. It is frustrating. We want to win football matches and make our fans happy because so far this season it has not been good enough."

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GOALWHAT NEXT FOR MAN UTD

United are in dire need of a result but take on an in-form Newcastle next and will be without captain Bruno Fernandes due to suspension. The Red Devils then head to Anfield in the Premier League to face leaders Liverpool, before an FA Cup third-round clash at Arsenal.

Tottenham legend Ledley King has heaped praise on one member of Ange Postecoglou’s squad who often goes “unrewarded”, whilst also hailing his work ethic at Hotspur Way.

Tottenham 3-1 Brentford – Postecoglou survives early scare

Losing at home to Brentford after narrowly escaping Coventry last week would’ve seriously thrown Postecoglou’s position into question, and supporters were given a brief glimpse of that possibility when Bryan Mbuemo opened the scoring for Thomas Frank’s side just one minute into the game.

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Luckily for the Lilywhites head coach, their lead lasted just seven minutes. £65 million summer signing Dominic Solanke opened his account for Tottenham and equalised with his first-ever Premier League goal for the club, and it wasn’t long before Postecoglou’s side took the lead.

Player

Goals scored

Son Heung-min

17

Richarlison

12

Dejan Kulusevski

8

Brennan Johnson

5

Cristian Romero

5

James Maddison

4

Winger Brennan Johnson, who deactivated all of his social media accounts last week after online abuse, followed up his winner at Coventry with an excellent low finish to gift Spurs a 2-1 advantage – much to the delight of the home crowd.

It took a while before Postecoglou’s side sealed all three points, with James Maddison putting the result beyond doubt on 85 minutes to make it 3-1 and seal a much-needed second win on the trot for Spurs.

“Yeah, it wasn’t an ideal start, obviously, but, to be honest, it was like it never happened,” said Postecoglou on Tottenham’s win over Brentford.

“The boys just sort of went at it. That’s what we wanted to do today. We knew Brentford were going to be pretty aggressive with and without the ball and we love that part of the game. We thought if we really brought our own energy and intensity that we know we can, with and without the ball, we could cause them a lot of problems and we did. We were relentless the whole game and fully deserved the win.”

A host of senior players impressed against The Bees, while youngster Lucas Bergvall was handed a cameo by Postecoglou and is set for further game time over the next week.

Ledley King praises Dominic Solanke at Tottenham

Speaking to The Spurs Web, King has shared his thoughts on Solanke, and what he makes of the Englishman after he scored his first-ever goal for the club.

“Solanke works really hard. Sometimes that goes unrewarded, the hard work they put in, but I’m glad he got off the mark,” said King on Solanke.

“When you get strikers like that, they don’t stop running and they chase everything down, you never have any time on the ball [as a defender]. They’re a bit of a nuisance strikers like that to play against, but they’re good when they’re on your team, they’re very good.”

Postecoglou admitted that Tottenham looked at signing Ivan Toney before deciding on the £90,000-per-week Solanke to replace Harry Kane, so supporters will be hoping his tap-in against Brentford is the first of many more.

“We looked at him,” the Australian said. “But the reality was that Dom is the one that I wanted. It took the whole summer to get him in but he was the one that fitted the profile that we wanted.”

Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav cleared to fly to England directly from Sri Lanka

Nagraj Gollapudi30-Jul-2021Senior legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal and spin-bowling allrounder K Gowtham have both tested positive for Covid-19 while on tour in Sri Lanka. The two were part of the group of eight players who had earlier been identified as immediate contacts of allrounder Krunal Pandya, who had tested positive on July 27.Chahal and Gowtham, along with Krunal, will have to stay back in Colombo for the time being, while four out of the other six players – Krunal’s brother Hardik, Manish Pandey, Deepak Chahar and Ishan Kishan – will be returning home along with the rest of the Indian squad, which is scheduled to fly back to India on Friday afternoon.It is understood that the pair of Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav, who were among Krunal’s eight immediate contacts, will not leave for India with the others but stay back in Colombo and fly out to England soon to join the Indian Test squad.ESPNcricinfo has learned that Chahal and Gowtham tested positive on Friday. Incidentally, they had both tested negative along with the other six players on Thursday, the day of India’s final match of the tour.While Krunal was moved to an isolation facility immediately after he tested positive in both the Rapid Antigen and RT-PCR tests on July 27, the remaining eight players were staying at the team hotel, but separated from the rest of the touring party.Krunal is expected to spend at least another week in the Colombo isolation facility, and fly back to India once he has cleared the mandatory tests, a process that now applies to Chahal and Gowtham too.

Vinicius Junior was sent off for petulantly shoving Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski as Real Madrid played out a wild game against Valencia.

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Vinicius was given marching orders in the 79th minuteBrazilian lost his temper and shoved Valencia's keeper Dimitrievski made the most of the situation as he fell to the groundFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

It was a hard grind away from home for Real Madrid as they found themselves trailing, thanks to a Hugo Duro goal in the 27th minute. Shortly after Jude Bellingham failed to convert from the spot, Kylian Mbappe thought he had equalised after the break but his strike was ruled out due to offside.

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Madrid kept pushing for the leveller but found themselves a man short when Vinicius was flashed a red card for shoving Dimitrievski. It appeared to be a gentle push but the shot-stopper made the most of it as he immediately fell to the ground. There was a brief VAR check and the referee then asked the forward to leave the pitch.

DID YOU KNOW?

Despite losing their talisman in Vinicius, the Spanish champions stole a march on their rivals as they scored through Luka Modric and Bellingham to clinch the three points. The Croatian ignited the comeback in the 85th minute and the unyielding pressure finally paid dividends as a defensive error from Valencia set up Bellingham to score the winner deep inside stoppage time.

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Mestalla has not been a happy hunting ground for Vinicius as he was sent off in the same fixture in May 2023. However, on that occasion, the punishment was rescinded upon a successful appeal by the club. It is likely that Los Blancos will once again take the same route and hope that the decision once again goes in their favour. They will be back in action against Dep Minera in the Copa del Rey on Monday away from home.

Wrexham are set to submit revised plans to extend Stok Racecourse in a move that has been described as a "major milestone" for the club.

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Wrexham to expand stadiumRevised plans to be submittedWork to be completed by summer 2026Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images SportWHAT HAPPENED?

Reynolds and McElhenney are eager to extend Wrexham's famous home ground and will present revised plans for a new 5,500-capacity Kop Stand at the start of February, the club have announced. The club's ultimate aim is for the new Kop Stand to be ready in time to feature in the 2026 UEFA European Under-19 Championship tournament that is being hosted in Wales. The changes to the stadium will also make it eligible to host other international events in the future.

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Wrexham had been hoping to start work on the refurbishments some time ago, with planning permission granted back in 2022, but the project has been hit by delays. The latest update from the club is good news for Wrexham and the club's fans, with Reynolds and McElhenney's ultimate dream to create a home ground bid enough to accommodate "between 45,000 and 55,000" supporters.

WHAT WREXHAM SAID

Wrexham chief executive Michael Williamson told the club's website: "The submission of the revised designs for the new Kop Stand is a major milestone for this hugely important project and an intense period of activity will follow in the coming months to complete the new Stand for summer 2026. Whilst the revised design utilises the original footprint and volume of the earlier approved design, we have strived over these past few months with our partners and design team to masterplan the STōK Cae Ras with the Kop Stand as the first phase. We want to create a stadium which is authentic, organic and in keeping with Wrexham. The design will therefore emphasise materials that reflect the strong heritage and character of Wrexham. By incorporating authentic materials, that are locally sourced wherever possible, we will create a sense of place that resonates with the city’s history and identity, ensuring the building is rooted in its environment, both visually and culturally.”

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In the meantime, Wrexham will continue their promotion push as they sit just two points behind leaders Birmingham, who do have two games in hand. Phil Parkinson's side take on struggling Shrewsbury next on Thursday in League One.

Former Tottenham Hotspur and Netherlands midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has admitted he thinks Ange Postecoglou has made a mistake letting one member of his squad leave permanently this summer.

Tottenham's impressive youth ranks

Tottenham have made a strong start to the Premier League in their second season under Postecoglou, and much of their good work has been from younger talents in the squad.

Brennan Johnson has managed five goals and assists in his last five outings and Destiny Udogie has impressed, while there has also been plenty of fascination around 17-year-old Mikey Moore, who was handed his first Spurs start in their win over Ferencvaros after three previous substitute appearances.

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A winger by trade, the teenager is considered one of the next big things in north London alongside fellow young attacker Will Lankshear, who also started against the Hungarian side, and the two are highly regarded within the north London club.

But now, a former Tottenham star has revealed that he believes despite all the good work Tottenham have done in integrating youth, one young talent may well have got away from them, and it will come to cost them should he continue to impress.

Van der Vaart claims one got away

That comes in the shape of former Tottenham youngster Troy Parrott, who joined AZ Alkmaar in a permanent deal over the summer after several mixed loan spells. The 21-year-old has enjoyed a fantastic start for his new side, scoring five times in seven Eredivisie outings as well as finding the net in the Europa League.

It follows mixed loan spells in the Championship and at Excelsior, which convinced Spurs to cash in on the 21-year-old, something that their former midfielder believes will come back to haunt them.

Troy Parrott by club

Club

Games

Goals

Assists

MK Dons (loan)

47

10

7

Preston North End (loan)

34

4

0

Ipswich Town (loan)

18

2

0

Excelsior (loan)

32

17

5

Tottenham

4

0

0

AZ Alkmaar

9

6

0

“I think he’s going to be a really big player,” Van der Vaart, who represented Tottenham on 77 occasions across three seasons, said in quotes picked up by the Dutch media.

“I don’t know what it is. I saw him at Excelsior, but then he was more on the counter. Now he is a good, footballing striker, who actually has everything. He just needs to develop his killer instinct a bit.

“He can perhaps play football a bit too well to be a killer. Then you start wandering a bit and that costs strength. In the final phase you lack some strength to score. I really think he is a gem.”

With Richarlison, Dominic Solanke and Lankshear at the club already, it is easy to see why Parrott decided to head away from north London. Spurs will just be hoping that they made the right decision on allowing a permanent exit.

Allrounder back in contention after six months out first due to injury and then contracting Covid-19

Firdose Moonda30-Aug-2021Cricket tours in the time of Covid-19 have made players all too familiar with hotel rooms, but South Africa allrounder Dwaine Pretorius has a slightly longer – and more personal – relationship with a high-end accommodation establishment.”Before the 2019 World Cup, they [his wife and son] joined me at the Westin, and the Westin gave my son a little rhino. Now, he puts that in my bag, and that’s the way I chat to him – through the rhino, which we call Westin,” Pretorius said. “When I’m away, he doesn’t want to speak to me because he starts missing me too much. So I chat to him through the rhino.”Pretorius’ son Hanlu is four years old and isn’t keen on video chats. Instead, he prefers little games of make-believe to keep in touch with his dad. “We use Google Duo, where you can have effects in the video. There’s a little man in a spaceship floating in space, and I’m that guy,” Pretorius says. “We call it, ‘ funny faces [Dad, let’s do the funny faces]’. That is how we keep each other busy.”Related

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Like so many sportspersons, Pretorius has had to find ways to keep himself occupied in quarantine even though he would rather be exploring the country he is in. This is his first trip to Sri Lanka, but he won’t have the chance to see anything other than the hotel and the stadium.”The most disappointing thing is that we can’t go see countries like Sri Lanka. I’ve always wanted to come here,” he says. “We had a security officer at the Champions Trophy who was from Sri Lanka. He said, ‘It’s a beautiful country, you’ve got to come see it.’ Obviously, we can’t do that.”Instead, he is dividing his time between calls back home, switching off and engaging in some off-field hobbies. “You have to try and relax, because you can’t be switched on the whole time. At the moment, I am finding games are the way for me to relax and get away from everything. When I want to be a bit more serious, I read some books and do some business stuff on my laptop,” Pretorius said.”If I am not in the mood for thinking too much and [am] just a bit of a zombie in my room instead of watching a movie, I like playing Call of Duty and WarZone with the guys. That’s also a bit social. My switch-on period is as soon as I go through the [room] door, then I know it’s cricket time.”I don’t want to be thinking too much about cricket outside that. Because you are alone so much, and you’ve got so much time with your own thoughts, you need to make sure the other thoughts you are busy with are completely different to cricket; because when I go to cricket practice, I don’t want my mind to be tired – I want it to be fresh.”More so, because Pretorius has been out of the game for almost six months after he broke a rib against Pakistan and then contracted Covid-19, which ruled him out of the tours to the West Indies and Ireland. “It feels like [I’ve been out for] years and years, but it’s only been a few months,” Pretorius said. “I’m very happy to be back.”In his absence, South Africa used Wiaan Mulder and Andile Phehlukwayo in the seam-bowling allrounder’s role and George Linde as a spin-bowling allrounder. All three enjoyed some success, and thus, South Africa go into the series in Sri Lanka with a problem of plenty. Pretorius almost hinted that the seam bowlers would have to take a back seat, but said he will remain ready and hopeful for the opportunity.”The wicket will be slow. It looks like the outfield will be slow as well, and spin will play a massive role,” he said.And if he ends up spending more time on the sidelines – or in his hotel room – Hanlu and his stuffed toys are on hand to provide some entertainment. “He was at McDonald’s the other day, and he got another soft toy. He put that in my bag as well, and that’s the way I talk to him through the phone,” Pretorius said. “Otherwise, I don’t get his attention – he doesn’t necessarily want to chat to me – because I’m far away, but this is how we’re dealing with it.”

Crystal Palace’s recruitment over the past couple of years has seen them sign some excellent talent who have made a huge impact on the first team or even bank the club a huge profit.

Michael Olise is just one example of a player who succeeded at Selhurst Park before leaving for a sizeable profit, with his funds undoubtedly making the club more sustainable.

The Frenchman arrived in a £8m move from Reading back in 2021, before featuring 90 times for the Eagles in all competitions, securing a £50m move to European giants Bayern Munich this summer.

Adam Wharton is another name who has starred for the Eagles in recent times, arriving as an unknown quantity from Blackburn Rovers in a £18m deal back in January.

However, just nine months on from his move to the Premier League, the 20-year-old has taken to the division like a duck to water, earning himself his first-ever England call-up for the Euro 2024 squad over the summer.

Their recent recruitment has been impressive, but they also managed to secure a move for another talent back in January 2017, with the signing enjoying a successful spell at Selhurst Park.

Patrick van Aanholt’s stats for Crystal Palace

Dutch left-back Patrick van Aanholt joined Palace in a £14m deal from Sunderland seven years ago, with the now 34-year-old cementing himself as the club’s first choice in that area over several years.

He amassed a total of 134 appearances for the Eagles over a four-year spell in the capital, scoring 14 times – a reasonable tally for a full-back it has to be said.

Van Aanholt was part of a side that continuously secured the club’s Premier League status, producing some memorable individual moments along the way, including a superb free-kick against Newcastle United back in 2020.

However, he would depart the club in the summer of 2021 at the end of his contract, joining Turkish side Galatasaray on a free transfer – ending his spell with the Eagles.

Whilst he was an excellent servant for the club, he moved to the club during the same period as a youth talent was on the radar of owner Steve Parish, with the club now ruing the failure to secure a deal for the talent.

The player who Crystal Palace missed out on

Alphonso Davies has rapidly emerged as one of the leading left-backs in world football despite his tender age of just 23 – starring on a regular basis for Bayern Munich.

Davies, who’s now teammates with former Palace star Olise, moved to the European giants back in 2018 from MLS Vancouver Whitecaps for a fee in the region of just £16.6m – a bargain given his current market value.

The Canadian international is now valued at £42m as per Transfermarkt, with Palace undoubtedly missing out by not completing a deal for the superstar when he was a youngster.

Josko Gvardiol

£63m

Theo Hernandez

£50m

Nuno Mendes

£46m

Alphonso Davies

£42m

Federico Dimarco

£42m

Current owner Parish admitted that he had the opportunity to sign the left-back as a youngster, claiming that a work permit scuppered a potential move.

In an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung via GOAL a couple of years ago, he said:

“When he was 15, 16 in a football school in Edmonton, where my sister lives, she recommended him to me.

“We flew to Canada especially to see the player. We wanted to sign him, but once again we couldn’t get a work permit in England. True story! I still have all the mails. I’m sure he would have been interested in coming to us – and we were very early!”

It’s really unfortunate that the club were unable to complete a deal for the talent considering the heights he’s gone on to reach since his failed move to the Eagles seven years ago, having been dubbed the “best left-back in the world” by Alexi Lalas.

However, unfortunately for Parish and the supporters, Davies will go down as yet another case of what could’ve been had they completed a move for the elite-level talent.

Crystal Palace wanted to sign £15m PL flop but ended up with Mateta

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