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Fulham have now submitted an opening bid of £1m for an “outstanding” EFL defender who has a “wonder of a left foot”, according to a report.

Silva set to stay on as Fulham boss

In what will no doubt come as welcome news to Fulham fans, Marco Silva has now made it clear he expects to remain at Craven Cottage beyond the summer, saying: “I am under contract with the club and of course I’ve been in planning with the board (for) next season.

“Everything on track and the plan is there. We have the next two months to prepare for the season as best we can. If I’m under contract with the club and if I’m planning with the club the next season, of course I expect to be here.”

As such, the Cottagers can now continue to plan for the summer transfer window with Silva in mind, despite recent suggestions they could make a move for Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Vitor Pereira or Sheffield Wednesday’s Danny Rohl to replace the 47-year-old.

With their manager looking likely to stay, a new transfer target has also now entered the frame for Fulham, with a report from Football League World revealing they have submitted an opening offer of £1m for Peterborough United defender Harley Mills.

The Posh are currently considering the bid for the left-back, who scored a free-kick in the Vertu Cup final last month, which attracted the attention of a whole host of scouts.

Peterborough do not want to sell the 19-year-old, having offered the youngster a new contract in the hopes of retaining his services beyond the summer, but they will be well-aware that a move to the Premier League is likely to be a tempting proposition.

"Outstanding" Mills has a "wonder of a left foot"

Peterborough U18s manager Jamal Campbell-Ryce was full of praise for the starlet upon signing a professional development contract with the Posh, lauding him as “outstanding”, while also adding: “Harley has shown how much he values defending now and has real quality when in possession of the ball and has a wonder of a left foot.”

The Peterborough defender’s ball-striking ability was particularly on show during his side’s 2-0 triumph over League One title winners in the Vertu Cup, scoring a stunning free-kick to open the scoring in the first half.

Fulham are well-stocked at left-back, with Antonee Robinson and Ryan Sessegnon at their disposal, but with the former being linked with a move elsewhere this summer, it could make sense to bring in a new option.

Mills is yet to prove himself above League One level, but the teenager’s performance in the Vertu Cup final indicated he is ready to make the step-up to a higher level, and at a fee of just £1m, the young Englishman would be a low-risk addition for the Cottagers.

A fresh report claims that Newcastle United have “as good a chance as anybody” of completing the signing of a player with a big future in the game.

Champions League vital to Newcastle's business

Eddie Howe’s men host Everton on the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday afternoon, looking to make sure they secure a return to the Champions League after failing to qualify last time around.

It would be the icing on the cake on a fantastic season for Newcastle, and while the EFL Cup triumph was an incredible moment in the club’s history, getting back into Europe’s top club competition is even more important in a financial sense, also allowing top-quality players to be signed.

Howe is likely to want to add more firepower to his squad, and Brentford star Bryan Mbeumo has been continually mentioned as a leading option on the right wing. The Cameroonian would come in as an upgrade on Jacob Murphy, who has been excellent all season long, but still has a limited ceiling.

Gabri Veiga is another attacking talent who has been linked with joining Newcastle at the end of the season, with the Spaniard potentially eyeing a return to European football instead of playing for Saudi Pro League side Al Ahli. Now, a fresh update has emerged regarding another impressive player in the final third.

Newcastle in great position to sign Dortmund star

According to a new update from Football Insider‘s Pete O’Rourke, Newcastle “have as good a chance as anyone” of signing Borussia Dortmund star Jamie Gittens this summer. The Magpies are described as “strong contenders” to snap up the 20-year-old, who is valued at around £50m, as they look to pip Chelsea and Arsenal to his services.

This is a hugely exciting update, considering Gittens is one of the most gifted young players in the Bundesliga currently, scoring a combined 12 goals in the league and Champions League this season.

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ByHenry Jackson May 23, 2025

The Englishman has been lauded as a “difference-maker” by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, and he has shone for England at youth level, representing the Three Lions across five different age groups, winning 25 caps in total.

Gittens is at his best on the left wing, meaning he could come in as a direct replacement if one of Anthony Gordon or Harvey Barnes leaves, as Howe looks to have as much competition for places as possible next season.

His versatility also allows him to shine both in the middle and on the right, too, even though he has only been used there sparingly, and Newcastle could see him as a statement signing for many years to come.

All of sudden, Manchester City’s season doesn’t look quite as cursed.

Indeed, Pep Guardiola’s men might not be picking up a Premier League title, but the bruised Citizens have at least managed to dress up their wounds somewhat, with an FA Cup final against Crystal Palace now on the horizon after a comfortable 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest at Wembley.

In the end, City’s class and know-how won them the high-stakes affair, with a whole host of players sticking out on the big occasion.

Man City's top performers vs Forest

City were in control of the game from the moment Rico Lewis broke the deadlock after just two minutes, with Forest’s counter-attacking game disrupted by Lewis’ early opener.

Overall, the City academy product stood out at Wembley, away from just this crucial contribution, with the 20-year-old showing off his coolness throughout when only giving up possession six times from 36 accurate passes.

Likewise, the second goalscorer on the day in Josko Gvardiol was a calm performer throughout, with his header on the 51st minute mark amazingly his sixth strike of a mightily impressive individual campaign.

Away from the Croat and the Englishman stealing most of the headlines, the likes of Nico O’Reilly also impressed once more at Wembley, with one solo effort from the versatile number 75 nearly sending the City masses into raptures in the first half, as well as successfully winning eight duels.

But, there was another star performer who arguably put in his greatest performance of the season to send City to the FA Cup final…

Man City star put in his best performance of the season

Away from faces such as O’Reilly breaking into the first team picture recently, the City lineup to face Nuno Espirito Santo’s challengers was comprised of some well-known Etihad figures.

Mateo Kovacic certainly fits into this category, with the 30-year-old up to 85 appearances and counting for Guardiola’s men after dictating play centrally versus Forest.

Whilst the 110-time Croatia international had chipped in with seven goals and one assist in all competitions this season prior to this showdown, he hasn’t quite been as influential over one isolated contest like he was on Sunday, with City immediately in the driving seat in the game after the ex-Chelsea man teed up Lewis for the opener.

Away from picking up that assist, Kovacic amassed his aforementioned 109 touches as a busy body in the middle of the pitch, alongside also registering five successful dribbles to constantly push his team forward to unsettle their opponents.

Kovacic’s performance in numbers

Stat

Kovacic

Minutes played

89

Goals scored

0

Assists

1

Touches

109

Accurate passes

88/94 (94%)

Key passes

2

Successful dribbles

5/6

Total duels won

7/13

Stats by Sofascore

Whilst Kovacic would strut his stuff throughout as a confident performer, he would also roll up his sleeves when needed to battle against Forest, with seven total duels won in total proving his well-rounded game.

Subsequently, Manchester Evening journalist Simon Bajkowski would wax lyrical about the 30-year-old come the full-time whistle, stating that Kovacic was “barely a step out of place” across his 89 minutes on the Wembley turf, resulting in a high 9/10 rating being handed his way.

City will be gunning for another Wembley success when the FA Cup final occurs next month, knowing full well that another trophy being added to their glittering cabinet makes this campaign worthy of remembering for the positives, rather than any lingering blunders.

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Posts ByRoss Kilvington Apr 26, 2025

Pakistan had gone to great lengths to take pace and seam movement out of the picture but Seales still found a way

Danyal Rasool17-Jan-2025Jayden Seales knew the deck, quite literally, was stacked against him. Pakistan had spent the last few days working on that deck to make it so, erecting a protective greenhouse and attempting to warm up the Multan surface in frigid conditions using wedding-style heaters. The idea was to dry the pitch out and help the spinners get turn early on. With the 23-year-old the only opposition fast bowler, it would have felt, to him, as if the whole move was simply Operation Stop Jayden Seales.Well, it failed. There’s only so much that can be done when the temperature drops into single digits, and fog encircled the stadium, forcing the game to start four hours late. Seales knew his window to strike was narrow, and he had little time to waste.”We saw from the training sessions that the ball did a little bit when it was new,” he told a press conference after the end of day’s play. “For me, I needed to try and get the best out of the new ball and put the ball in the right areas. And with the cooler conditions this afternoon, it did a bit and it worked out for us.”Related

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Seales had more of an active role in making sure it worked out than he takes credit for. With spin operating right from the outset at the other end, he landed the ball on hard lengths, his height and pace making sure to extract enough bounce. But it was also his guile with the wrists that guaranteed seam movement, particularly in the dismissals of Kamran Ghulam and Babar Azam.Having already dispatched the debutant Mohammad Hurraira, he was shaping it away from Ghulam when he was driven through the off side for four, and when the next one landed around a similar line, Ghulam felt secure enough to shoulder arms. But this one seamed back in and smashed into Ghulam’s thigh, with HawkEye confirming it would have clipped the bails.”I just wanted to build pressure,” he said. “As a fast bowler in Asian countries, you tend to want to make a big impact and you want to do well for the team. Spin obviously dominates in these conditions. So as a fast bowler, I always wanted to get a wicket or be in the game and it so happened that I got the wickets for the team today.”But the dismissal to remove Babar required a delivery to match the quality of the batter, and Seales rose to the challenge. Babar came into this innings, with three successive Test half-centuries amid murmurs he may be returning to form. But before his spell ended, Seales ensured he bowled the delivery to give Pakistan one more bloody punch and leave them staggering.

“As a fast bowler, I always wanted to get a wicket or be in the game and it so happened that I got the wickets for the team today.”Seales after the opening day

He landed it on a length as Babar prepared to get in line and defend. Ball-tracking showed the trajectory was sending it right to the middle of his bat, but he got it to land perfectly on the seam to nip away ever so slightly, and take the outside edge.”I figured that he was watching my hand a bit, so I just tried to deceive him and it so happened that paid off. I think as a bowling unit, we did really well and we’ve just got to back it up again tomorrow. I think going forward in the game the spinners will come into the game a lot more. It may reverse-swing at some point, but I still think that the spinners may dominate in this game moving forward.”But Seales has happy memories against Pakistan, and having long odds against him doesn’t faze him much. It was against this opposition four years ago as a teenager playing his third Test that he secured his breakout performance in Jamaica, taking eight wickets before holding his nerve in a thrilling tenth-wicket stand to secure his side a one-wicket win. He was named the Player of the Match.While he knows his tactics may need to change here, his mentality evidently has not. “I don’t really think of it as pressure or anything like that [being the sole seamer]. For me as a player, [it’s] coming into the game a lot more and lifting my hand up for the team and just trying to do our job every time I’m called upon.”In international cricket, you expect the players to be good and you have to back yourself and match up with players skill for skill and who is the better man on the day will win. And it so happened that today I was the man for the team.”Seales may undersell himself, but, more importantly for West Indies, he finds a way to over-deliver. And in conditions tailor-made to shut him out, few could argue he has not done exactly that.

Six England players pick up deals while sealing the deal against Ireland in Paarl

Valkerie Baynes13-Feb-2023England and Ireland entered their World Cup contest on Monday in the most bizarre circumstances of any side at the tournament, with many of its participants walking onto the field with virtual price tags hanging over their heads like thought bubbles – some stamped “sold” and others not.The WPL auction had been the “elephant in the room”, according to Sophie Devine, the New Zealand captain who was eventually sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for her base price of 50 lakh (£50,000). But all of a sudden it was adding weight to every shot, every wicket, and every catch at the picturesque Boland Park in Paarl, even while playing out 8,000km away in Mumbai.Sophie Ecclestone duly wore her price tag as a badge of honour, striding onto the pitch as a marquee spinner for UP Warriorz after being picked up for the equivalent of £180,000, before taking two wickets in two balls among her 3 for 13. Leg-spinner Sarah Glenn’s 3 for 19, however, couldn’t sway the buyers, as she went unsold for her asking price of 30 lakh.What about the six Alice Capsey heaved onto the grass banks beyond backward square leg to bring up a 21-ball fifty, the equal fastest at a World Cup and equal third-highest in all Women’s T20Is? Delhi Capitals would like more of that please – for 75 lakh (£75,000), thank you – although Capsey herself might have earned a fair bit more had she been able to produce that innings before the hammer went down.Then there was Nat Sciver-Brunt, who took the field knowing that she had fetched a cool £320,000 from Mumbai Indians, the equal second-highest price alongside Australian allrounder Ashleigh Gardner (Gujarat Giants), and behind only Smriti Mandhana, who went to Royal Challengers Bangalore for about £20,000 more.Heather Knight, England’s captain, could not deny that the auction had been on the players’ minds. She had even had to move a team meeting because the India squad are staying at the same hotel in Stellenbosch and, because they aren’t due to play until Tuesday, were able to enjoy the occasion accordingly.And such was the game-face that England had to wear – particularly in light of Ireland’s remarkable victory over Australia in last week’s warm-ups – Knight herself was given no inkling that she’d picked up a deal with RCB midway through the run-chase, not even when she was greeted by her coach, Jon Lewis, at the top of the pavilion steps after the match.”No not at all. It’s probably a good thing the way I batted,” Knight said, after an uncharacteristically scratchy 14 from 22 balls. “If they’d seen that I don’t think I would have got picked up at all, it made it a little bit hard work out there, but no, when we were at the ground it was all about just focusing on the game, and I just got told afterwards and obviously who’d been picked up and who’s missed out.”The England camp left it up to individuals to decide when they wanted to find out the results of the auction, with 10 of their playing XI having put their names forward. Six of them, plus reserve Issy Wong, secured deals worth nearly £800,000 combined.Sophie Ecclestone was one of England’s big winners at the WPL auction•AFP/Getty Images”It was strange, it’s something we’ve never experienced and you don’t often get it in the men’s game, I don’t think, when it’s on match day,” Knight said. “It was all about trying to manage it as best we could, trying to do what individuals wanted and also trying to, when we got here, our main focus obviously was on the game.”Some of the girls would have known going into it, the ones picked up early. I think Soph knew and she’s someone that really thrives on that pressure. A few of the girls would have known arriving but, during the game, our self-focus was on trying to obviously get the two points.”Knight wasn’t the least bit surprised that Sciver-Brunt had fetched such a high price, and she was conscious of ensuring that her vice-captain was as comfortable as possible with being in the limelight again, after taking a mental health break last year.”I think she’s one of the best, if not the best, cricketer in the world and Nat probably won’t like all the attention,” Knight said. “She’s very humble and she’s just very, very good at cricket. I’m super glad she’s on our team.”I think also it’s about making sure that Nat’s able to deal with that, because it’s not potentially just a positive, the pressure that comes with that. But also I think hopefully it’ll be something that she thrives on and she’s at the top of her game at the moment, so yeah, it’s not a surprise at all.”Sciver-Brunt’s wife, veteran seamer Katherine, went unsold, as did wicketkeeper Amy Jones and Danni Wyatt, while fellow opener Sophia Dunkley was a bargain for Giants at £60,000, given her recent form. Quicks Lauren Bell and Wong went to Warriorz and Mumbai Indians respectively for £37,000 each, while Knight’s 40 lakh (£40,000) base-price deal came after being overlooked in the initial draw.Related

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Knight said it was also important to make sure those who hadn’t secured a place in the competition, beginning on March 4, were doing okay too.”I think the whole team will make sure individuals are looked after, that’s really important and what we’re about as a side,” she said. “The value of players to the England team doesn’t change because they haven’t been picked up, they’re still very valuable, everyone in the squad is hugely valuable to us trying to win a World Cup, so that doesn’t change.”They’ll certainly be looked after and given space if needed, to deal with anything and try and refocus and get back on it. Every individual will be given that support and ultimately we want to get the best out of every player, however we do that. The main thing is making sure they’re okay and then trying to refocus on cricket and get the best out of all the individuals in our team.”In the end, England managed to retain their focus to secure a comfortable win, after bowling Ireland out for 105 with 1.5 overs to spare, even if they made their run-chase a little harder than it might have been, with only Capsey passing 16 thanks to Cara Murray’s 3 for 15 on a golden day for spinners. Auction-wise, no Ireland players were chosen, despite expectations that Gaby Lewis – their top-scorer with 36 off 37 – might spark some interest.For 18-year-old Capsey, a fine (pay)day was made sweeter by the fact that she only recently returned from a broken collarbone suffered in December.”We were expecting to not have her available, so to see her come back and overcome that sort of injury – and mentally it can be quite tricky as well – so the fact that she’s worked her way through that and come back is brilliant,” Knight said. “She fits with exactly how I want to play the game, that fearlessness, she goes out and plays in one way and really takes on the powerplay, which is what we want from our top three players.”At least by the time South Africa and New Zealand lined up for a crunch match in the evening, with both sides looking to avoid a second straight – and potentially tournament-ending – defeat, there was no auction hanging over them, just a stunning Paarl sunset.

Also: which players have scored the most runs and taken the most wickets in England-Australia ODIs?

Steven Lynch15-Sep-2020Stuart Law scored 54 not out in his only Test innings. Does he hold the record for most runs in Tests without being dismissed? asked Keith McKenzie from Australia
Stuart Law made 54 not out in his only Test innings, against Sri Lanka in Perth in 1995-96. The unfortunate Law never won another cap, while Australia’s other debutant in that match, who scored 96, went on to play 168 Tests – Ricky Ponting.However, there is one man who made more runs in Tests than Law without being dismissed: offspinner Afaq Hussain played twice for Pakistan in the early 1960s, and scored 10, 35, 8 and 13 – all not out – for a total of 66 runs. The only man to have five innings in Tests and not be dismissed in any of them is another Pakistani, the recent seamer Aizaz Cheema, who actually won seven caps – but managed only a single run.Aaron Finch has a highest score of 172 in T20Is, 153 not out in ODIs, and 62 in Tests. Does anyone else have this back-to-front sequence? asked Aiden Holt from Australia
My first thought was that Australia’s Aaron Finch might be the only batsman with such a lopsided arrangement. He made 172 – the highest score in all T20Is – against Zimbabwe in Harare in July 2018, 153 not out in a one-day international against Pakistan in Sharjah in March 2019, and 62 on his Test debut, against Pakistan in Dubai in 2018-19.However, there is someone else, from among the ranks of batsmen who have scored at least one international century. New Zealand’s Colin Munro has a highest score of 109 not out – one of his three centuries in T20Is – against India in Rajkot in 2017-18. In ODIs he has twice scored 87 – against Bangladesh in Christchurch on Boxing Day 2016, and against Sri Lanka in Mount Maunganui in January 2019. Munro has played only one Test, against his native South Africa in Port Elizabeth in 2012-13, and scored 15 and 0.Whose international career amounted to ten Tests and 25 one-day internationals – all in the same calendar year? asked David Howe from New Zealand
The man with this brief but busy international career was the tall Indian fast bowler Abey Kuruvilla, who played 35 separate international matches in 1997, ten of them Tests, starting on March 6 and finishing on December 14. He took 50 wickets in all, 25 in each format. However, the rise of Ajit Agarkar meant Kuruvilla was jettisoned, never to return. For a recent article which explored Kuruvilla’s strange experience, click here.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team has unearthed some other players with single-year careers but several international appearances: The old Australian fast bowler Ted McDonald played all his 11 Tests in 1921 (no ODIs back then). The flame-haired Kevin Wright kept wicket for Australia in ten Tests and five ODIs, all in 1979. And two England wicketkeepers had concentrated one-day careers: Ian Gould played 18 ODIs in 1983, including several in that year’s World Cup, while Paul Nixon played 19 (and one T20 international), all in just four months in 2007, a spell that also included a World Cup.Eoin Morgan is the leading run scorer in England-Australia ODIs with 1887 runs, ahead of Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke•Getty ImagesWith England currently playing Australia, I wondered who had scored the most runs and taken the most wickets in “Ashes” ODIs? I’m not sure such stats are regularly talked about, asked Michael Keenan from England
You’re probably right that figures from bilateral series are not widely known. It was therefore a slight surprise to me to discover that the leading scorer in England-Australia one-day internationals is none other than Eoin Morgan, who had 1887 runs after the first match of the current series. He’s well clear of Ricky Ponting (1598) and Michael Clarke (1430), the leading Australians. Six others, including Morgan’s current opposite number, Aaron Finch (1269), have scored more than 1000 runs in ODIs between England and Australia. Finch leads the way for centuries (seven), while Morgan has hit the most sixes (48, well clear of Shane Watson with 27).Turning to the bowlers, Brett Lee leads the way with 65 wickets, with Glenn McGrath second on 53. Next, with 40 wickets after the recent opening game, is Adil Rashid.Which great West Indian fast bowler played first-class cricket for Queensland in Australia? asked Jamie Stewart from Canada
This was the legendary Barbadian speedster Wes Hall, one of the stars of the 1960-61 Australia-West Indies series that started with the historic tied Test in Brisbane, in which he bowled the nerve-shredding final over. Hall, who ended up with 192 wickets in 48 Tests, returned to Queensland the following season, taking 43 wickets, and added 33 in 1962-63.Hall shook up a fair few batsmen – and Queensland’s Test wicketkeeper, Wally Grout, whose jaw he broke with a wayward delivery in the match against the MCC tourists at the Gabba which preceded the first Test of the 1962-63 season. Richie Benaud wrote: “Hall bowled a head-high full-toss at tremendous pace… The batsman ducked but Grout did not pick up the flight of the ball till fairly late. He moved to it on the leg side but the ball, having passed the batsman on the full, struck the ground immediately in front of Grout and flew straight at his face. Wally’s jaw was fractured in two places.” The unlucky Grout missed the first three matches of that Ashes series, being replaced by South Australia’s Barry Jarman.Use our feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions