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Chelsea are now preparing a huge bid to sign a “world-class” forward, and he would be interested in a move to the Premier League.

Blues eyeing new forward amid managerial uncertainty

With Enzo Maresca leaving his post as manager after 18 months in charge, there is a great deal of uncertainty at Stamford Bridge at the moment, which isn’t ideal, heading into a tricky game against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium this evening.

Callum McFarlane has been named as the interim boss, but a number of more experienced permanent replacements for Maresca have also been identified, including Newcastle United’s Eddie Howe, AFC Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola and Strasbourg’s Liam Rosenior.

Rosenior is among the main targets, with transfer expert Fabrizio Romano making it clear BlueCo are looking to appoint a new manager very soon.

Although it remains unclear who will replace Maresca in the dugout, Chelsea are still working on new additions to the squad, and they have been in persistent contact over the signing of Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr.

That is according to a report from Spain, which states the Blues are now preparing a club-record offer amounting to €150m (£131m) for the Madrid forward, who is interested in a move to the Premier League, and he has offered himself to the west London club.

The Brazilian is yet to put pen to paper on a new contract to extend his stay at the Spanish club, with negotiations now at a standstill, and with his current deal set to expire in 2027, Madrid now have a big decision to make.

"World-class" Vinicius could be statement signing for Chelsea

BlueCo have received heavy criticism for signing youngsters, rather than players with experience at the top level, with Jamie Carragher saying: “Chelsea should be title contenders and considered Champions League challengers this season. Instead, their hierarchy seems content to be praised for being the smartest recruiters in the business – the world’s richest development club.”

As such, the signing of Vinicius would be a major statement of intent, given that he has been one of Real Madrid’s top players for a number of years, finishing as runner-up in the 2024 Ballon d’Or.

Vinicius Jr’s performance by season

La Liga appearances

Goal contributions

2021-22

35

28

2022-23

33

20

2023-24

26

21

2024-25

30

21

2025-26

18

11

Jurgen Klopp has also made it clear he believes the Brazil international is a top-level winger, with the former Liverpool manager describing him as “world-class”.

Related Chelsea set sights on £130m Newcastle star amid 'major' Liam Rosenior concern

The incoming Strasbourg boss has a key issue to solve.

Posts ByEmilio Galantini

Vinicius Jr, who has 56 goal involvements to his name in 74 Champions League outings, is considered one of the best wingers in the world, and it is very exciting that Chelsea could make a huge offer to secure his services.

Mohammad Yousuf, the Pakistan batsman, has climbed to eighth place in the ICC player rankings for ODI batsmen after an excellent performance in the one-day series against South Africa. Yousuf scored a century and three fifties and averaged 71.50 in five innings in the series that Pakistan lost 2-3.Graeme Smith, the South African captain, also moved up two places to fourth on the list of top 10 one-day batsmen. Smith’s tally of 228 runs in five ODIs against Pakistan helped him move past Kevin Pietersen and Michael Hussey.Jacques Kallis, however, slipped in the rankings for both batsmen and allrounders following a poor series against Pakistan. Kallis scored only 27 runs in the first four ODIs before scoring 86 off 130 balls in the final match in Lahore. He took four wickets at an average of 36 apiece and an economy-rate of 6.00 an over. He is currently ranked 16th among ODI batsmen and fifth in the allrounders table.Kenya’s fast bowlers Peter Ongondo and Thomas Odoyo, along with Pakistani medium-pacer Iftikhar Anjum, achieved career-best ratings after impressive showings in their respective home series.Ongondo broke into the top 20 for the first time after claiming five wickets in four ODIs against Canada and Bermuda while Odoyo climbed 11 places to 38th position after taking five wickets against the same opponents. Anjum rose 18 places to 29th spot after finishing as the joint leading wicket-taker in the series along with Makhaya Ntini.

ODI Batsmen

ODI Bowlers

ODI Allrounders

Scorecard

Nilesh Kulkarni’s match haul of ten wickets enabled Mumbai to storm to their first win of the season, steamrolling Gujarat by an innings and 163 runs at the Wankhede Stadium. Kulkarni snared 10 of the Gujarat 15 wickets to fall today, and along with offspinner Ramesh Powar who snapped up five in the second innings, gave Gujarat no chance. Gujarat, who were felled for 147 in the first innings, didn’t do much better in the second, rolling over for 193. Azharuddin Bilakhia stood out with a steady 88, including 11 fours, but Kulkarni and Powar shared nine wickets between them to seal the contest.
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Suresh Raina rediscovered his form with an excellent 124 at Chennai, enabling Uttar Pradesh to gain the first-innings lead against Tamil Nadu. Raina struck 20 fours in his 230-ball knock, one that spanned two minutes less than five-and-a-half hours, and received good support from Ali Murtaza in a 165-run stand. Ravichandran Ashwin was he lone bowling star for Tamil Nadu, toiling hard for 44.3 overs for his six wickets. Tamil Nadu replied with 63 for no loss at the end of the day with Anirudha Srikkanth finishing on a 67-ball 48.
A couple of half-centuries from ASK Varma and Prasad Reddy steered Andhra towards a big win on the third day at Anantpur. Varma followed up his first-innings century with a gritty 81, including nine fours and two sixes, while Reddy continued the good form he’s shown all season with a crucial 52. Syed Sahabuddin’s breezy 46 added to Karnataka’s misery, stretching the lead to beyond 400. Karnataka began their reply in sloppy fashion, losing two wickets for 35 before stumps.
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The Vadodara clash was poised on a knife edge at the end of the third day, with Baroda needing 84 more runs with five wickets in hand. Chasing 213, Baroda got off to a confident start with Connor Williams and Satyajit Parab adding 74 for the opening partnership but a glut of wickets changed the complexion of the contest. Amit Mishra, the legspinner, led Haryana’s fightback with 4 for 45 in 20 overs and set up an exciting finish. Earlier, Joginder Sharma, with a stroke-filled 65-ball 54, boosted Haryana to 210 in their second innings.
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Sourashish Lahiri led a solid middle-order performance as Bengal gained the upper hand against Maharashtra at Kolkata. Resuming on 199 for 5, Bengal extended their total to 325 thanks to Lahiri’s 54, including seven fours. Deep Dasgupta and Rohan Gavaskar chipped in with 49 and 38 respectively as Bengal gained a handy 110-run lead. Maharashtra replied in confident fashion, ending on 78 for 1 before the day was out.
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Pankaj Dharmani’s fantastic 151, along with Uday Kaul’s painstaking 71, rescued Punjab from dire straits at Jaipur. Punjab were reeling at 61 for 4, chasing Rajasthan’s healthy 332, but Dharmani stitched together a vital 51-run stand with Vipul Sharma before seizing the initiative with Kaul. Dharmani, a master of batting with the tail, cracked 16 fours in his unbeaten knock, while Kaul was the more patient partner, consuming 240 deliveries for his 70. Both were undefeated at the end of the day with the Rajasthan’s lead whittled down to just 21.
Scorecard
Delhi were facing the humiliating prospect of an innings defeat, after being forced to follow-on, on the third day against Saurashtra at Rajkot. Resuming on 84 for 4 in their first innings, Delhi rode on half-centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Rajat Bhatia apart from a 74-ball 43 from Ashish Nehra. But no-one went on to a big score, with four batsmen falling to the left-arm spin of Rakesh Dhruv, as Delhi failed to avoid the follow-on. They were in further trouble in the second innings, ending on a precarious 84 for 4 at stumps.

Kenya 214 and 198 (Tikolo 54, Utseya 4-35) beat Zimbabwe A 171 and 198 (Sibanda 58, Ongondo 4-31) by 43 runsKenya completed a three-match clean sweep by defeating Zimbabwe A by 43 runs at Harare Sports Club. By winning both three-day games and Saturday’s one-dayer – the last two matches against virtual full-strength sides – Kenya did themselves a power of good as well as adding to the problems faced by Zimbabwe’s board.The pitch at the country’s premier ground was poor throughout, and Kenya, who resumed on 142 for 4, failed to capitalize on a good start last night and were bowled out before lunch for 198. Prosper Utseya was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 35.Chasing 242 to win, Zimbabwe A made good progress thanks to Vusi Sibanda (58) and Charles Coventry (48), but the pair received scant support, and Peter Ongondo (4 for 31) and Lameck Onyango (3 for 67) were instrumental in them being bowled out for 198.Zimbabwe were without Tatenda Taibu, their captain, who had returned home after his wife gave birth overnight, and he was replaced by Sibanda. The situation was further confused when Allan Mwayenga, who had come in for Andy Blignaut, was himself replaced by Ian Nicolson after leaving for South Africa with the Board XI side.The result means that Kenya now travel to Namibia on Friday for their Intercontinental Cup semi-final with Bermuda in confident mood, although the poor pitches in Zimbabwe have hardly helped the confidence of their batsmen.

Zimbabwe’s World Cup squad are to receive less than half the pay they were originally promised in their contracts, according to a report in today’s edition of . The report claims that Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president and the patron of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU), has decreed that some players will lose as much as US$20,000 (about £12,400) from their original payout. And to make matters worse for players such as Andy Flower and Henry Olonga, who now both live in England, the majority of the money owed to them will be impossible to transfer abroad.First a little-noticed clause in the players’ contracts, stating that their fees would be cut by 19% if the ZCU’s income fell below a certain level, was invoked. This, combined with the horrendous state of inflation in Zimbabwe, and the conversion of their fees from American dollars to Zimbabwean ones at an unfavourable rate, all means that the players will eventually receive a meagre meagre sum. Add tax on top of that, and it’s no surprise that the players apparently feel as if they have been robbed.But where Flower and Olonga lose out even further is that they are no longer allowed to transfer their money out of the country. In order to access their foreign-currency accounts, they would have to fill out a form explaining how they are going to use it.One of the four Zimbabwe players who spoke to said: “We’ve been screwed. It’s daylight robbery.” The players in question asked not to be revealed as a legal battle is now likely, but another said: “It’s like they’re stealing our foreign currency and it’s only worth living in Zimbabwe if you can earn foreign currency.””We signed a contract and they agreed to pay us a certain amount,” said the third player. “Now we’re not going to get what they agreed. We have always been pay-as-you-earn individual employees. We’ve never been companies or corporate entities.”The other added: “This was the big payday for us, that only comes every four years. If your income is in Zimbabwe dollars, you just can’t make out. It’s scary. That’s why so many people are leaving the country.”Retraction: Zimbabwe players’ payments

*Hyderabad openers slaughter KarnatakaDaniel Manohar and A Nand Kishore both notched up centuries asKarnataka bowlers toiled in vain on Day One of their Ranji Trophyleague match against Hyderabad at Secunderabad.South Zone kicked off its Ranji campaign with this match, a fittinginauguration. Both Hyderabad openers looked in little trouble,prepared to take their time and ensure that a large first-inningstotal was not frittered away. Manohar, the slower of the two, madeexactly 100 off 295 balls, striking 11 fours in his knock.Nand Kishore, the more adventurous of the duo, hit 23 fours in hisknock of 136 off 266 balls. Karnataka did not help their cause toomuch by conceding as many as 39 extras in the day, with 21 no-ballsbeing bowled.At stumps, Hyderabad were 275 for no loss, with both Manohar and NandKishore looking hungry for more runs on Day Two.*Services hold on for tame drawBeing set a total of 312 for victory, Services played for safetyrather than victory, reaching a total of 244/6 by the close of play onDay Four of their Ranji Trophy league match against Haryana atFaridabad.Haryana’s overnight unbeaten batsmen added valuable runs with theremaining tailenders, and their innings closed at 220 all out.Services started shakily, losing two wickets for the addition of 32runs. PMS Reddy and Yashpal Singh, however, stabilised the innings.Reddy departed with the score on 128, having made 53. His partner wasdismissed less than 30 runs later, caught by Shafiq Khan off AmitMishra for 64. CD Thomson made a fine unbeaten 44 lower down theorder, ensuring, along with skipper Sanjay Verma, that Services didnot lose the match.Haryana, by virtue of their first-innings total, pick up five pointsfrom this match, while Services get three.*Jammu opt for cautionPunjab, looking to bowl out Jammy and Kashmir for less than 293, wereunsuccessful in their bid on Day Four of their Ranji Trophy leaguematch at Jammu.The home side, losing two wickets for 37 runs, shut shop and refusedto be tempted into trying for the target. Kavaljit Singh, playing atone-down, made a painstaking 89 off 263 balls, giving clear indicationof the plans of his team.He was ably supported by Dhruv Mahajan (46), but Punjab must havesniffed some chance of victory when Kavaljit Singh, the fifth wicketto fall, departed with the score on 187. The lower middle-order,however, kept out the bowling long enough to take the home side to211/6 at stumps.Jammu and Kashmir pick up five points by virtue of their first-inningslead, while Punjab pick up three.*Delhi draw with Himachal PradeshDelhi, by virtue of a first-innings lead, gained five points fromtheir drawn Ranji Trophy league match against Himachal Pradesh atBilaspur.Himachal Pradesh, staring the day at a strong 327/4, proceeded to add94 runs before declaring at 421/7. Rajiv Nayyar, who remained unbeatenon 84, was a figure of patience, grinding the Delhi attack for almost6 hours and 225 balls, hitting only four fours in his knock.Set a nigh-impossible total of 361 for victory, Delhi opted forbatting practice. Gautam Gambhir made 42 and Akash Chopra an unbeaten86 off 168 balls. Delhi reached 219/3 at stumps, with none of theHimachal Pradesh bowlers able to dent the batting line-up further.

South Africa will not sink into their shells against spin despite their aggression resulting in a third sub-par batting performance in the series. After limping to 184 and 109 in Mohali, South Africa managed to creep up to 214 in Bangalore but Hashim Amla said the team’s approach will not change in the next two matches.

Steyn uncertain for Nagpur

South Africa are still sweating over the availability of their premier pacer Dale Steyn, who sat out his first Test in six years after suffering a groin strain in Mohali.
Hashim Amla could not provide clarity on the severity of the injury or how soon Steyn could be back in action, but indicated South Africa would give the matter their full attention in the coming days.
“I’m not 100% sure what the exact prognosis is. But it would be great if he is ready for the next Test. It would be great to have the world’s No.1 bowler back in our team,” Amla said.
“If he was fully fit he would have played this Test. So I don’t think he is fully fit at the moment. I don’t know, I’m not sure, I haven’t touched base with the physio as yet. I didn’t want to until this game is done, which it is now. In the coming days, we will probably have a better idea. “

“You’ve got to be positive in everything you do. If the guys got out playing a positive shot, I am happy because at least he tried to take the game forward and tried to score runs. That’s the name of the game,” Amla saidDean Elgar, Faf du Plessis, Dane Vilas, JP Duminy and even AB de Villiers have all got out attacking this series instead of protecting their positions. Had they shown a bit more staying power, Amla believes South Africa could have made better use of conditions which had nothing sinister about them.”If I had won the toss, I would have batted first anyway. I think it was a good wicket,” he said. “We just didn’t get any partnerships going. AB was exceptional as always. Unfortunately no one stuck around with him long enough to post a big total.”In South Africa’s haste to get runs before getting out, they did not realise that the turn they were trying to get away from was not really there. They were playing for imagined conditions instead of the actual ones, and have already had four days to assess why they let mind get over matter.Now, they have a week to reverse that thought process, but Amla has cautioned against too much thinking before South Africa get to Nagpur. “We’ve had a lot of time to reflect but we don’t want to over-reflect,” he said.”It’s pretty simple: you try and be as positive as possible and sometimes it was the lack of turn that outdid us. You don’t overdo it, you try and keep the game as simple as possible. We’ve had three innings that haven’t gone to our plan and I am sure in the Nagpur Test, hopefully we come good. We have talked about it but you can’t over talk about something and complicate it more than it is.”An obvious complication is the composition of South Africa’s XI. For the first time since the retirements of Graeme Smith and JacquesKallis, it seems to lack something, especially as du Plessis and Amla himself are not firing. That leaves the top four shaky, but Amla dismissed any thoughts of change, especially in the top two, just yet.”I’ve always felt opening batting is probably the most difficult job in Test cricket. Sometimes you’ve got to field for 150 overs and thenyou’ve got 10 minutes to put your pads on. It is quite a demanding position to be in but Dean and Stiaan are our best openers and they will do a great job for us,” Amla said. “The fact that myself and Faf in this game haven’t got going, we only have ourselves to blame. No one else.”Still, Amla was careful not to condemn his team too much. He even left open the possibility that South Africa could have come back into the Bangalore Test. “Although we got bowled out for 220 odd and India were in a good position at the end for the day, Test matches are not always won on the first day. There was a lot of time left for us to claw our way back into the game. You never know what could have happened.”

Chris Rogers’ hopes of replacing Justin Langer in the first Test have ended after he had his appendix removed in Perth on Thursday night. The unfortunate timing of the illness leaves Phil Jaques in an almost untouchable position to join Matthew Hayden when Australia face Sri Lanka at the Gabba from November 8.Jaques (13 and 167) and Rogers (9 and 17) went head-to-head in the first Pura Cup match of the season but now only Jaques, Brad Hodge and maybe Michael Hussey are contenders. Rogers was admitted to the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and had his appendix taken out using a laparoscopic technique.A WACA spokesman said Rogers would stay in hospital for another night and would look to resume playing in two weeks. The recovery will prevent Rogers from appearing in the Pura Cup match against Victoria in Melbourne from next Friday, which is the last chance to impress ahead of the Sri Lanka series.The Willetton allrounder Matt Johnston has been included in the 13-man squad for Western Australia’s FR Cup match against Tasmania in Perth on Sunday. He has started well in the Perth grade competition, scoring 179 runs at 89.50 and taking 4 for 44 in his only bowl.”Matt has received a reward for displaying outstanding form,” the coach Tom Moody said, “and he now has an opportunity to show his wares once again on the interstate arena.” Ben Edmondson, who injured his hamstring in the Pura Cup contest, was replaced by Daniel McLauchlan while Darren Wates also came into the squad.Western Australia FR Cup squad Justin Langer, Luke Ronchi (wk), Adam Voges (capt), Shaun Marsh, Luke Pomersbach, Matt Johnston, Darren Wates, Sean Ervine, Shawn Gillies, Aaron Heal, Brett Dorey, Steve Magoffin, Daniel McLauchlan.

Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have been acquitted by the tribunal appointed to review their appeals against the drugs ban imposed on them by an earlier committee. The three-man committee, headed by Justice Fakhruddin Ebrahim, voted two to one in favour of the acquittal. Haseeb Ahsan, former Test cricketer, and Ebrahim were in favour of the acquittal while the third member, Danish Zaheer, dissented.”This appeal committee holds that Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif will not be deemed to have committed a doping offence,” Ibrahim told reporters in Karachi. “The ban and punishment imposed by the earlier tribunal is hereby set aside as being contrary to the provision of laws.”A 30-page plus judgement (to read the full text of the judgement click here) for released by the committee detailed the reasons for their decision and though they are extensive, one significant theme that emerges from it is problems with the workings of the previous committee.In particular, concern has been raised over the fact that while the original body was constituted to work within the guidelines of the PCB’s anti-doping policy, the punishment it decreed – and the benchmarks it derived them from – were based on the ICC’s anti-doping regulations.The ruling concludes that both players were able to prove ‘exceptional circumstances’, in that neither was fully aware of the substances they were taking. Crucially, it points out that ‘exceptional circumstances’, as defined by the PCB and the ICC were signficantly different and that while the previous committee used ICC’s definition of the term, it was bound to use the PCB’s.The role of the PCB in ensuring their players were not only fully aware of banned substances but also understood the literature that they had been provided has also been highlighted in the report. “It is plainly evident that neither Shoaib Akhtar nor Mohammad Asif were ever warned or cautioned against taking supplements,” the judgement reads.”Hence, this committee is of the considered view that both players have successfully established that they held an honest and reasonable belief that the supplements ingested by them did not contain any prohibited substances.”The report also includes an 11-page note of dissent from Zaheer, the third member of the committee. He points out flaws in the testing procedures carried out by the PCB and argues, on that basis, that the whole process should be repeated, new samples provided and fresh verdicts given.Bilal Minto, one of the lawyers representing Shoaib, told Cricinfo that the decision was a good one, but highlighted that the PCB had also let down the players. “We are very happy about the judgement obviously. But it is clear that the PCB’s level of educating players about anti-doping legislation is poor. As lawyers, even we struggled to make sense of their anti-doping regulations so expecting players to be able to understand it is not right.”Shoaib, banned for two years, and Asif, for one year, appealed after they were found guilty for testing positive for the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone in dope tests that were internally conducted by the PCB at the end of September.

The ICC did not have any immediate reaction. “Malcolm Speed is currently in Uganda and we can’t comment on the issue unless we have all the details,” said Brian Murgatroyd, the ICC spokesman. “We need to go through the judgement and also get the PCB’s version before making any comment.”The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), in charge of monitoring drugs in sport, said they needed to discuss the matter with the ICC. Frederic Donze, their media relations officer, told Cricinfo: “We will now review the reasons for the decision, liaise with the ICC and consider whether to exercise its right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”The original tribunal which had imposed the ban was chaired by barrister Shahid Hamid and included Intikhab Alam, the former Pakistan captain, and Waqar Ahmed, a doping expert.