Legspinner handed chance for game-time as stand-in for injured Matt Kuhnemann

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Apr-2023

Matt Parkinson has switched to Durham on a short-term loan deal•Getty Images

Matt Parkinson will feature for Durham against Derbyshire in the LV= County Championship on Thursday, after joining the club from Lancashire on a two-week loan.Legspinner Parkinson, 26, has featured in just one of Lancashire’s three Championship fixtures to date, taking 5 for 120 in the second innings against Surrey, and comes into the Durham line-up as a replacement for the injured Australia spinner, Matt Kuhnemann.The extra game-time is opportune for Parkinson, who was surplus to international requirements this winter and was also overlooked in last month’s Hundred draft. He has featured 12 times for England across formats, including a solitary Test appearance against New Zealand at Lord’s last summer, when he was called up as a concussion substitute for Jack Leach.”Following conversations between Matt and the club’s coaching staff, it was agreed that game time in the County Championship would be preferable,” Mark Chilton, Lancashire director of cricket performance, said.”Earlier this week, an opportunity arose for Matt to join Durham on loan and the deal has been agreed between both counties and the player.”This is a great opportunity for him to get some more overs under his belt in a more competitive environment. We are looking forward to seeing how he performs and to welcoming him back into the squad.”Kuhnemann had himself replaced fellow Australian Todd Murphy at Durham, but was unable to take the field on the final day of their drawn match against Durham after suffering a back problem, and will continue to be assessed by the club’s medical staff.Parkinson’s two-week stint covers a solitary Championship game. Durham are one of ten teams in action this week, with Lancashire sitting out the round prior to their match against Nottinghamshire starting at Trent Bridge on May 4, for which he will now be ineligible.

Wolverhampton Wanderers are considering making a bid to sign a 20-year-old Brazilian after sending scouts to watch him live in action, according to a new report.

Wolves eye two new strikers

The Midlands side moved a step closer to Premier League safety over the weekend after claiming a 2-1 win over Southampton, a win that sees them nine points clear of the bottom three. Vitor Pereira is keen for his side to finish the job, but already plans are slowly being put in place ahead of the summer transfer window opening.

Cunha replacement: Wolves considering move to sign £55m star for Pereira

Wolves now have their eyes set on signing a player they are already familiar with.

1 ByBrett Worthington Mar 18, 2025

It’s been recently reported that Wolves are preparing a £5 million bid to sign Riquelme Fillipi from Palmeiras this summer. The 18-year-old has been a regular scorer this season, and Wolves are continuing to secure his long-term future as they turn to the Brazilian market once again.

Fillipi is not the only striker who could arrive at Molineux this summer, as according to a report from TEAMtalk, the Premier League side are considering a move to bring Diogo Jota back to the club.

It is claimed that Jota could be allowed to leave Liverpool at the end of the season should they get a fee of £55 million, and while Wolves are weighing up the situation, they are keeping a close eye on any developments.

Wolves consider bid to sign a 20 y/o target

This summer has the makings to be a busy time for the Midlands side, as according to Brazilian outlet Vozes do Gigante, relayed by Sport Witness, Wolves are monitoring defender Victor Gabriel and have not ruled out making an offer for him.

The report states that the Premier League side have taken notice of Gabriel’s performances for Internacional, where he is currently on loan from Sport Recife. He’s played 12 times this term, and Wolves have sent scouts to take a closer look at the 20-year-old in action.

A Wolves official was in attendance at the Estádio Beira-Rio to watch Gabriel live on Sunday as Internacional took on Gremio. The Brazilian defender lasted 77 minutes before he was taken off due to an injury he picked up.

It is claimed that the Brazilian side want to buy Gabriel on a permanent basis, and Wolves’ emerging interest could now speed up their process to secure a transfer. Despite Internacional wanting to sign him, it is still claimed that offers could arrive from Europe in the summer, and it hasn’t been ruled out that Wolves won’t make an approach.

Apps

12

Goals

1

Clean sheets

0

Balls recovered per game

11.0

Dribbled past per 90

1.1

Clearances per game

3.1

Errors leading to shots

3

Gabriel joining Wolves would see him join a side that are lacking depth in the centre-back area of the team. The Midlands side do have Toti, Emmanuel Agbadou, Nasser Djiga, Santiago Bueno, Bastien Meupiyou, and Craig Dawson. However, the latter’s contract expires at the end of the season, and therefore, Gabriel could be seen as a long-term replacement for the Englishman.

Manchester City are preparing to sell a player Pep Guardiola recently hailed as “important” this summer, with talks over a move to Atletico Madrid already underway, according to a new report.

Manchester City drop points again against Brighton

Manchester City are struggling again, with Guardiola’s men now having won just two of their last six games in the Premier League.

Their most recent setback came at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend, with the two sides playing out a 2-2 draw at The Etihad.

10x ball lost, 50% duels lost: 6/10 Man City man is now Pep's new Zinchenko

Following Man City’s underwhelming 2-2 draw with Brighton on Saturday, Pep faces another conundrum with a full-back compared to Zinchenko.

ByBen Gray Mar 15, 2025

The slip up means City, who are fifth, now just nine games left to try and qualify for next season’s Champions League. Miss out, and it will mark the first time the Sky Blues haven’t qualified for European football’s elite competition for the first time since the 2009/10 season.

“Nine games, nine finals. It looks like it [will go down to the last day],” Guardiola said after his side’s draw with Brighton. “Nine games still until the end of the season. We have tough games.”

Guardiola also expressed his sympathies for a number of his players who were not involved in the game.

“All the managers around the world, they make the decision,” he explained. “They select the XI it’s because they believe it’s going to win the game. I never found a manager, never ever, that selects 11 players and thinks they are going to lose.”

“Next game we will see who will play, the way we are going to play and with who we are going to play. I feel so sorry for all the players that don’t play. What can I say?”

Man City preparing to sell Kovacic

One player who wasn’t involved against Brighton was midfielder Mateo Kovacic.

The Croatian has often been used as a stand-in for the injured Rodri this term, with Guardiola recently hailing his role in the squad as “important,” but has been dropped to the bench in recent weeks, with January signing Nico González taking his place.

According to TEAMtalk, Man City have now cleared the way for Kovacic to leave the club at the end of the season, with talks about a return to Spain already underway.

The publication reports that the former Real Madrid man has been attracting interest from Atletico Madrid, with the club having already established contact with the player and initiated preliminary discussions with City through indirect channels.

Mateo Kovacic Premier League Stats 2024/25

Games

24

Starts

19

Goals

4

Assists

1

Chances Created

26

Pass Accuracy

93.1%

Stats via FotMob. (Correct as of 17/3/25)

The report states that City are open to selling Kovacic, who turns 31 in May, and would be willing to accept a fee of around €30 million (£25.2 million) for his services.

Atletico, meanwhile, are likely to have to part ways with some players of their own to facilitate Kovacic’s arrival in the summer.

Opener scores second hundred of season as teams shake hands on draw

ECB Reporters Network30-Apr-2023An impressive, unbeaten first century on his home ground from Leicestershire’s Rishi Patel brought pleasant compensation to spectators who witnessed their side’s LV=Insurance County Championship match with Glamorgan fizzle out as a draw on the final day.Patel, 24, whose potential has excited the coaching staff at Grace Road since his move from Essex in 2020, seems now to be realising it. This was his second hundred in three matches after breaking his duck by driving his team to an epic victory over Yorkshire at Headingley three weeks ago.He played superbly, rarely making an error let alone offering a chance, hitting 18 fours and three sixes in his career-best 134 not out before Leicestershire declared their second innings on 252 for 3, most of them coming cleanly off the bat as he picked off boundaries all round the wicket.His captain, Lewis Hill, was unlucky not to join him on three figures, dragging one on to his stumps for 82 having never looked in any trouble, the two sharing a 203-run partnership for the second wicket.Earlier, Glamorgan had extended their overnight lead from 39 to 58 in losing their last two first-innings wickets as they were all out for 465, Chris Cooke the final man to depart after hitting 132. Veteran Leicestershire seamer Chris Wright finished with 5 for 89.Bottom of the table last season, Leicestershire are beginning to look like a team with promotion potential this year, having topped 400 first-innings runs in all three Championship matches played so far and compiling seven partnerships of 100 runs or more in those games, compared with nine in total in the 2022 campaign.Cooke’s century for the visitors followed his unbeaten 191 in the corresponding fixture last season, when his contribution was somewhat overshadowed by Sam Northeast’s epic 410 not out in Glamorgan’s record 795 for 5 declared. It was a match that was arguably the nadir of a desperate Leicestershire season as they lost by an innings despite themselves making 584 in their first innings.This time, in the lead rather than supporting role, Cooke lost his middle stump making room to swing hard as Wright completed a five-wicket haul for the first time since September 2021.Two overs earlier, Andrew Salter had departed in unfortunate and uncomfortable circumstances, a ball from Wright jagging back to strike him somewhere around his protective box and rolling on to the stumps as he dropped to his haunches.Having been 155 for 5, Glamorgan will have felt well satisfied that their second five wickets had put on double that runs tally. Doing so had taken so long, however, on top of overs lost earlier to the weather, that there was little prospect of fashioning a positive result.Glamorgan’s only hope was that they could bowl Leicestershire out in around 50 of the 87 overs still to play and give themselves a modest target in such time that remained. Michael Neser gave them an encouraging start, having opener Sol Budinger out for a single when he prodded at one outside off stump and gave David Lloyd the simplest of catches at first slip.Yet such optimism as that wicket might have stirred was tempered in the next over as Patel pounced on a leg-side delivery from Timm van der Gugten with such timing and vigour that the ball sailed out of the ground and into Milligan Road, coming to rest under a parked van. He followed up with a crisp drive through cover for four.It was an indication of what was to come as Patel picked up boundaries all round the ground. He hammered 18 in one over off Salter soon after lunch, back-to-back swept fours taking him to 51 from 74 balls with nine fours and a six, which he celebrated with another six down the ground off the offspinner, followed by a clip for four through midwicket.Salter recovered well and with Neser taking over from van der Gugten at the Bennett End the flow of runs was temporarily stemmed. But Patel got going again when Marnus Labuschagne replaced Salter, reverse sweeping the Australian to the fence to go to 98 before driving Jamie McIlroy’s medium pace through mid-off to complete a hundred off 137 balls, containing 17 fours and two sixties.Hill went past fifty off 91 balls soon afterwards as Leicestershire’s lead topped 100 with very little doing for any of the bowlers under high cloud.The Leicestershire skipper must have had an eye on his second century of the season but missed out, falling just before tea on 82 as his counterpart Lloyd picked up a first wicket in the second innings, to which he added a second when Colin Ackermann holed out to deep midwicket soon after tea, before the teams shook hands on the inevitable draw at 4.50pm.

Simone Inzaghi hinted he could leave Inter this summer after heartbreaking Champions League final loss to Paris Saint-Germain.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Inzaghi could leave Inter
• Al-Hilal have shown interest in the Italian coach
• Spurs and Newcastle are also in the race

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Inzaghi has been managing Inter since 2021 and has won several trophies, including a Serie A title. But losing the Champions League final twice in the last three years has now left the Italian coach devastated as he hinted he could leave Inter this summer, amid interest from Al-Hilal, Newcastle United and Tottenham.

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• WHAT SIMONE INZAGHI SAID

  Speaking to reporters, Inzaghi said: "As I was saying before to your colleague, I cannot answer this question now. I came here out of respect for you, for politeness, because I am hurting from a sporting point of view. It's not the right time to talk about the future. We are extremely disappointed, and since July of last year we've played 58 or 59 games, we got to this final match, so it's awkward to talk about my future now.

  "Again, we are extremely disappointed. We will be talking about the fact that we won no silverware this year, but these players deserve great credit because they gave it their very best shot, and we suffered a lot of injuries. I wouldn't change these players for anyone else."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  According to journalist Tancredi Palmeri, Al-Hilal are currently leading the race over Spurs and the Magpies as the Saudi giants are desperate to find top quality head coach before the Club World Cup next month. Palmeri told : "The situation is that Al Hilal offered him £25 million per season for two seasons. I can tell you that he had advanced contacts with both Newcastle and Tottenham, but at the same time, the priority for him is to stay at Inter. Obviously, if we talk on a financial level, nobody can compete with the salary that Al Hilal are offering. But the Premier League is always a great temptation, and at the same time, I must tell you that Inzaghi already rejected Liverpool last summer and Manchester United in October."

  He added: "The priority for him is Inter, but things are not done because he will have a meeting, probably on Tuesday, with Inter’s management, and he will ask for guarantees about the transfer window. For the whole four years, he hasn’t had a proper transfer window – imagine Inter playing the second Champions League final in three years and after all of this – considering who they signed, they cashed in 180 million. He’s been doing miracles, but he’s been saying, ‘After we lose I’m blamed, I want to be given the proper tools to fight to go forward in every competition, maybe then we’ll lose, but give me a proper transfer window’."

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• Getty Images
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR INTER?

  The Serie A side will be back in action next month in the US as they face Club Monterrey in their Club World Cup opener on June 18.

Newcastle United fans had been here before way back in 2023 when Manchester United ran out 2-0 victors over the Magpies in the EFL Cup final.

Thankfully, history didn’t manage to repeat itself two years on from this sobering defeat at Wembley, as Eddie Howe’s Toon shocked Arne Slot’s Liverpool late on Sunday evening to lift the honours as deserved 2-1 winners.

Alexander Isak showed off his class once more in the forward positions to hand his side a famous Cup win, with the Swedish sharpshooter no doubt topping even more shopping lists this summer off the back of his sensational showing in the final.

The latest on Isak's future after Wembley heroics

If Isak is to depart this approaching summer, popping up with a golden strike to hand his side a 2-1 win at Wembley is quite the parting gift.

There are rumours suggesting that the ex-Real Sociedad striker could attempt to negotiate a new St James’ Park deal too, so it remains up in the air as to whether he will stick it out on Tyneside, but his goalscoring prowess cannot be questioned.

The Toon would race into a two-goal lead on the day courtesy of this thumping finish from Isak, with this priceless strike taking his goal haul for the season all the way up to a bumper 23.

Arsenal might well be viewing his expertise in-front of goal as a major plus to fix their striker issues, but whatever comes will come on the end of Newcastle who will bask in the glory of having Isak around for the time being, as his crucial contribution ensured his side finally picked up some significant silverware.

Newcastle also wouldn’t allow the sharp shooter to leave for a small amount – considering he’s being touted to exit for around the £130m mark – which would obviously be the same for this modern day great on Tyneside who solidified his status as a legend even more when holding the EFL Cup aloft.

Newcastle's £100m sale in the making

So many reliable faces in Howe’s camp have now immortalised themselves in Newcastle folklore, with Joelinton a battler from minute one to help his team get over the line, alongside Dan Burn producing the goods with a bullet header.

But, Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes also stood out throughout as a livewire in the middle of the park, with the Toon number 39 winning himself nine duels among other standout numbers.

Guimaraes’ performance vs Liverpool

Stat

Guimaraes

Minutes played

90

Goals scored

0

Assists

0

Touches

40

Accurate passes

14/22 (64%)

Key passes

2

Shots on goal

2

Successful dribbles

1/2

Tackles

5

Total duels won

9/14

Stats by Sofascore

It was an incredible very well-rounded display from the midfield stalwart at Wembley with a grit present in his game that saw him win five tackles alongside his nine duels, but also an awareness to push forward and help out the likes of Isak bursting through on goal with two key passes registered, on top of tallying up two efforts of his own.

Shields Gazette journalist Dominic Scurr would gift Guimaraes a high 9/10 rating post-match subsequently, with Scurr impressed by how composed the 27-year-old was across the full frantic contest, even when the pressure was ramped up for Newcastle to get over the line.

While Isak has been talked about as the Toon’s next big sale, Guimaraes too could end up banking Howe’s men some serious cash if he can keep up these top-drawer displays, with the Brazilian once rumoured to be valued around the £100m mark, just £30m shy of Isak’s wild price tag.

With an impressive 44 goal contributions next to his name from 144 games at Newcastle, this hefty valuation hasn’t just come out of thin air, with his confidence to dominate up against a star-studded Liverpool midfield further showing off his ability.

But, as can be seen in his emotional post-match celebrations, Guimaraes truly feels connected to the Toon, with many more happy years on the horizon if he manages to stay put.

Related The next Aguero: Newcastle now battling to sign "fantastic" £12m sensation

He’s one to watch…

Posts ByTom Cunningham Mar 15, 2025

Yuzvendra Chahal has surpassed Dwayne Bravo to become the highest wicket-taker in the IPL. The legspinner picked up his 184th wicket in the tournament when he had Kolkata Knight Riders captain Nitish Rana splicing a sweep to deep backward square-leg in his first over in Kolkata on Thursday.”I never even thought about it [becoming the highest wicket-taker] when I started playing the IPL,” Chahal told the broadcaster after breaking the record. “I was with Mumbai Indians for three years [when I started] but my journey actually started from 2014. There have been a lot of ups and downs and I’ve enjoyed a lot too. I’ve learnt from my downs, and what I’m today is because of my downfalls and [support from] my close ones.”Chahal claimed figures of 4 for 25 in his four overs against KKR, taking his tally up to 187 wickets. With successive four-wicket hauls in his last two innings, he has also raced up the wickets charts to claim the Purple Cap this season with 21 wickets, two ahead of Mohammed Shami at the moment.His record-breaking feat came at Eden Gardens, which was also the scene of his IPL debut back in 2013. Chahal played just that one game for Mumbai Indians in the IPL before he moved to Royal Challengers Bangalore and established himself as the premier spinner for the franchise between 2014 and 2021. He often fronted up to bowl the tough overs on an easy-paced hit-through-the-line Chinnaswamy pitch and excelled with his variations. Though Chahal went to Rajasthan Royals in 2022, he is still the highest wicket-taker for RCB with 139 wickets in 113 matches at an economy rate of 7.58.Related

• Stats – All the records that Jaiswal broke during his 13-ball fifty

• Jaiswal and Chahal smash records and KKR

• How Chahal rose to the top of IPL's all-time wickets chart

At Royals, Chahal forged a strong partnership with R Ashwin and then also with fellow legspinner Adam Zampa this season. In the era of quick wristspin and mystery spin, Chahal has showed that there is still a place for old-school legspin in T20 cricket. He has played fewer IPL matches than Piyush Chawla, Amit Mishra, R Ashwin, Sunil Narine, Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja, and he has more wickets than all of them.Chahal is also the top wicket-taker for India in T20I cricket, with 91 strikes in 75 matches at an economy rate of 8.13. Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is just behind Chahal, with 90 wickets in 87 T20Is.

وافق مجلس إدارة النادي المصري برئاسة  كامل أبو علي على تشكيل الجهاز الفني للفريق الأول والمقدم من التونسي نبيل الكوكي المدير الفني الجديد للفريق.

وكان فريق المصري قد تأهل إلى بطولة كأس الكونفدرالية، بعدما احتل المركز الرابع في جدول ترتيب الدوري المصري برصيد 42 نقطة.

ويمتلك التونسي نبيل الكوكي سجلًا كبيرًا من الخبرات، حيث درب أندية الصفاقسي التونسي والملعب التونسي، وأهلي برج بوعريج، وشباب بلوزداد، ووفاق سطيف الجزائري.

طالع | بعيدًا عن النتائج.. الغندور: أتمنى رؤية الزمالك في كأس العالم للأندية مثل الأهلي

وكان نبيل الكوكي، تقدم باستقالته من تدريب وفاق سطيف بنهاية الموسم الماضي في الدوري الجزائري. الجهاز الفني الجديد لـ المصري البورسعيدي

ك/نبيل بن عمر الكوكي، مديرًأ فنيًا

ك/نادر بن عبد العزيز الهبيري، مدربًا عامًا.

ك/قيس بن علي مخلوف،  مدربًا مساعدًا ومحللًا للأداء.

ك/قيس بن عمار الغطاس، معدًا بدنيًا.

ك/وليد بن الهادي بن حسن، مدربًا لحراس المرمى.

ك/سيف داود، مدربًا مساعدًا.

ك/سعيد ابراهيم، مدربًا مساعدًا

ك/محمود جابر،  مديرًا إداريا.

MatériaMais Notícias

A tarde desta sexta-feira (29) foi de homenagens ao goleiro Cássio, que, ao entrar em campo na última quarta-feira (27) contra o Atlético-GO, chegou a 603 partidas pelo Corinthians e se tornou o goleiro com mais jogos pelo clube alvinegro.

+ Com Fausto Vera, Corinthians chega a 16 reforços na gestão de Duílio; relembre as contratações

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O Gigante recebeu do presidente Duílio uma obra do artista plástico Fábio Nakano que foi dada pelo atual mandatário corintiano, que, ao falar sobre Cássio, se emocionou.

– Para nós é um orgulho muito grande poder estar aqui homenageando o Cássio, quase 11 anos depois da sua chegada, eu e o Roberto (de Andrade) estávamos no futebol à época, tivemos o prazer de apresentá-lo na mesma sala 10 anos atrás, quase 11, e hoje, com muito orgulho, a gente vê o que o Gigante fez pelo Corinthians, no Corinthians, na sua carreira e se transformou hoje o terceiro jogador que mais vestiu a camisa do clube e o goleiro que mais vestiu essa camisa. Para mim, o maior goleiro da história do clube e o maior jogador que aqui passou. Tenho muito orgulho de estar aqui nesse momento – disse Duílio, esboçando lágrimas.

+ Confira a tabela do Brasileirão e simule os próximos jogos

Cássio relembrou a chegada ao Timão, em 2012, quando Duílio era diretor-adjunto do clube.

-Uma das coisas que lembro do Duílio é ele correndo lá no Mundial, quando fomos campeões. Na minha primeira vez no Corinthians, ele estava no CT. É um respeito muito grande, um carinho por tudo, em todos os momentos. É uma coisa muito importante: quando as coisas não vão bem, não é um presidente que vira as costas, está sempre presente. São pessoas que estão juntas e não é só da boca para fora: é em todos os momentos e situações, e é muito gratificante trabalhar com pessoas assim, comprometidas, que sempre ajudam a gente. Me dá muita confiança para crescer e fazer do Corinthians sempre protagonista – recordou o Gigante.

Cássio ainda deve chegar a segunda colocação entre os atletas com mais jogos do Timão. Atualmente, o posto é ocupado por Luizinho, ‘O Pequeno Polegar’, com 606 partidas disputados.

With 11 games to go this season, Manchester City face a real fight to get into next season’s Champions League.

Having beaten Tottenham last time out, Erling Braut Håland the only scorer in North London, Pep Guardiola’s team sit fourth, but six clubs, down to Aston Villa in tenth, are five points or fewer behind.

Next up, on Saturday lunchtime, the Sky Blues will face the side one place and one point above them, namely Nottingham Forest, and if the Citizens are going to collect three points at the City Ground, it might be time for Guardiola to unleash his relentless attacking star.

Jack Grealish's continued underwhelming form

Jack Grealish started last weekend’s FA Cup victory over Plymouth Argyle, but has not started a Premier League fixture since before Christmas, and his statistics underline why.

Sam Lee of the Athletic has described his performances this season as ‘underwhelming’, caveating that by adding his campaign has been ‘hampered by injuries’.

Nevertheless, it’s now 448 days, and counting, since the 29-year-old’s most recent Premier League goal, having scored twice so far this season, converting a penalty during the 8-0 demolition of Salford, also on target in defeat at Paris Saint-Germain, both in January.

In total, Grealish has scored just 16 goals in 151 appearances for the Sky Blues, an underwhelming return for someone who cost £100m, at the time a British transfer record.

Grealish has himself admitted this has been the “most difficult year of my life”, with Richard Jolly of the Independent believing he is ‘wasting his talent’, while Oliver Kay in the Athletic labels him ‘beyond disappointing’.

Chalkboard

So, instead of starting Grealish, Guardiola should include Man City’s more recent big-money arrival in attack on Saturday.

Manchester City's perfect Grealish replacement

Manchester City signed Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt for a reported fee of £63m in January, but the Egyptian striker has already, in only eight appearances for the club, started to prove his worth.

The 26-year-old scored the first-ever senior hat-trick of his career against Newcastle last month, after which strike partner Håland labelled him “something special” and “a fantastic player”.

Prior to his move to Manchester, Marmoush had been on fire for Frankfurt this season, scoring 20 goals in just 26 appearances, averaging a goal every 103 minutes, leading to analyst Ben Mattinson describing him as “relentless”.

So, let’s see how his numbers compare to Grealish.

Jack Grealish vs Omar Marmoush 2024/25 comparison
Statistics	Jack Grealish	Omar Marmoush
Appearances	26	34
Minutes	1,319	2,630
Goals	2	23
Assists	5	14
Goals – xG	-0.8	+7.7
Shots on target per 90	1.92	4.31
Shots on target %	30.8%	44.8%
Take on success %	52%	42.9%
Shot-creating actions per 90	5.9	5.21
Touches per 90	64.56	41.73
Statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt and FBref.com

Unsurprisingly, Marmoush comes out on top for most attacking metrics, albeit Grealish ranks higher for creative statistics per 90, namely take-on success percentage, touches per 90 and shot-creating actions per 90.

Nevertheless, the Egyptian is far superior in terms of shots, shot accuracy, assists and goals, with Marmoush massively overperforming his xG this season, racking up a figure of +7.7; for comparison, the player in the Premier League this season with the highest figure is Chris Wood on +7.4, who he’ll be facing on Saturday.

So, up against a Forest team who rank fourth in the Premier League this season for both goals conceded and xG allowed, as well as second for clean sheets, goals will not be easy to come by, hence why Guardiola must start his superstar new attacker.

Sold for just £750k: Man City could regret losing the next Morgan Rogers

Man City may have cashed in on another rising English star on the cheap

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Robbie Walls

Mar 6, 2025