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It looks set to be a massive summer of transfer activity for Arsenal this year; Mikel Arteta even said as much.

Based on fan sentiment and the number of reports in recent weeks, it’s no surprise that the club’s focus is on rejuvenating the attack, but the midfield also looks like it will be addressed.

Thomas Partey might now be getting a new deal, and perhaps most excitingly, the deal to sign Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi looks increasingly certain.

However, if recent reports are to be believed, the club could also be looking at a potential alternative to the Spaniard, someone who could also replace Partey.

Arsenal transfer news

Before getting to the player in question, it’s worth reviewing the situation with both Partey and Zubimendi.

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Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

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Regarding the latter, news initially came out back in January that Arsenal were close to agreeing a deal to sign him in the summer, and while there have since been reports from Spain claiming that he could go to Real Madrid, other stories have reaffirmed the original news that he should be on his way to the Emirates for £51m.

Partey, on the other hand, looked like he was set to depart the club upon the expiration of his current contract in the summer, but that changed last week.

Ahead of the game against Crystal Palace, The Athletic’s David Ornstein revealed that the club now wanted the midfielder to remain and were set to enter negotiations over a new contract with him.

However, with reports now linking the team to Hugo Larsson, re-signing the Ghanaian might not be necessary.

Yes, according to a recent report from the print edition of SportBild in Germany, Arsenal are one of several sides interested in signing the Eintracht Frankfurt star.

Alongside the Gunners, the report has revealed that Manchester City and Liverpool are also keen on the young midfielder, who’s valued at £51m by his team.

It could be a complicated and costly transfer to get done, but given Larsson’s ability and potential, it’s one worth pursuing, especially as he could be an ideal Partey replacement.

Why Larsson could replace Partey

So, the first argument for why Larsson could prove to be a good Partey replacement is also one that could be used to argue for him being an alternative to Zubimendi: his age.

At just 20 years old, the Swedish international is 11 years younger than the Gunners’ number five and six younger than the Sociedad star. Now, while that’s not a massive advantage compared to the Spaniard, who is still in his prime years, it is against the Ghanaian .

For example, research conducted by The Athletic revealed that central midfielders tend to peak at around 25 years old, so while the Frankfurt gem has years to keep getting better, the former Atlético Madrid ace is undoubtedly approaching the end of his career, and considering his usually dire injury record, this might make handing him a new deal particularly foolish.

Furthermore, besides being substantially younger, the “transitional monster,” as dubbed by analyst Ben Mattinson, also looks just as good when we look under the hood at their underlying numbers.

For example, according to FBref, he comes out ahead in plenty of relevant metrics, including, but not limited to, non-penalty expected goals plus assists, key passes, shots on target, shot-creating actions, blocked shots and passes, errors leading to goal, ball recoveries and more, all per 90.

Larsson vs Partey

Statistics

Larsson

Partey

Non-Penalty Expected G+As

0.19

0.15

Progressive Passes

4.70

6.09

Progressive Carries

0.64

1.14

Shots on Target

0.38

0.26

Key Passes

0.85

0.63

Shot-Creating Actions

2.33

2.07

Goal-Creating Actions

0.13

0.48

Tackles Won

1.06

1.77

Blocked Shots

0.42

0.26

Blocked Passes

1.19

0.59

Interceptions

1.06

1.18

Errors Leading to a Goal

0.04

0.15

Dispossessed

0.42

0.52

Ball Recoveries

4.58

4.43

All Stats via FBref for 24/25

Ultimately, while he might not be the most exciting name out there, Larsson looks like he could be an incredible player in the future, so instead of a Zubimendi alternative, Arsenal might be wise to sign him as well and then not offer Partey a new deal.

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Posts ByJack Salveson Holmes May 1, 2025

Nolan Arenado has blocked a trade to the Houston Astros.

The St. Louis Cardinals third baseman has invoked the no-trade clause in his contract to prevent a move that would have sent him to Houston, according to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand.

Feinsand is reporting the Cardinals were willing to include $15 to $20 million along with Arenado to help the Astros pay for his massive contract. The eight-time All-Star is set to make $74 million over the next three seasons. Arenado's former team, the Colorado Rockies, owe $10 million of that, while an additional $12 million is deferred. The $15 to $20 million St. Louis would have taken on would have reduced Houston's burden to around $40 to $45 million over the final three years of the deal.

There has been no reason given why Arenado blocked a potential deal.

The Astros are preparing for life without free agent Alex Bregman and likely saw Arenado as a plug-and-play replacement. The 10-time Gold Glove winner has struggled over the past two seasons. In 2022, he had his best year in a Cardinals uniform, slashing .293/.358/.533 with 30 home runs, 103 RBIs, an OPS of .891, and a career-best 7.9 WAR. He has fallen off a cliff since.

After limping to a .774 OPS and 2.4 WAR in 144 games during the 2023 campaign, Arenado had the worst season of his career in 2024. The 33-year-old slashed .272/.325/.394 with 16 home runs, 71 RBIs, an OPS of .719, and 2.5 WAR in 152 games. A change of scenery might be just what he needs.

Arenado is almost certain to have a new home in 2025, but it doesn't look like he'll be ending up in Houston.

UPDATE: The Athletic's Katie Woo reports part of Arenado's decision to block the trade was a desire not to commit this early in the offseason.

Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma ran down the target of 167 with 62 balls to spare and ten wickets in hand

Sampath Bandarupalli08-May-20242:24

Deep Dasgupta: Quite a statement from SRH

62 Balls remaining when Sunrisers Hyderabad achieved their target of 166 in 9.4 overs against Lucknow Super Giants – the biggest such margin in chases of 150-plus in T20 cricket. The previous biggest win was when Brisbane Heat chased down 157 against Melbourne Stars with 60 balls to spare in the 2018-19 BBL.167 SRH’s total in 9.4 overs against LSG is the highest by any team by the end of the tenth over in men’s T20s (where ball-by-ball data is available). The previous highest was Worcestershire’s 162 against Northamptonshire in 2018.107 SRH’s score at the end of the powerplay against LSG is the second highest in men’s T20s (where ball-by-ball data is available). The highest also belongs to SRH, when they smashed 125 for 0 against Delhi Capitals last month.146 Sixes hit by SRH in 12 matches in IPL 2024, the most sixes hit by a team in any T20 tournament. The previous highest was 145 sixes by Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2018.Related

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80 Difference between the powerplay scores of SRH (107 for 0) and LSG (27 for 2) in Hyderabad – it’s the largest in the IPL, surpassing the 69-run difference in last Saturday’s game between RCB (92 for 1) and GT (23 for 3).3 Fifties for Travis Head in fewer than 20 balls in the IPL. Jake Fraser-McGurk is the only other batter with three sub-20-ball fifties. Head has two 16-ball fifties, the joint fastest for Sunrisers in the IPL.17.27 Run rate of the 167-run partnership between Abhishek Sharma and Head in 9.4 overs against LSG – the highest for a 150-plus partnership in the IPL, and the second highest in all T20s.2 Number of ten-wicket wins for SRH while chasing a target of 150-plus in the IPL. Their first effort was chasing 150 against Mumbai Indians in 2020. Only Pakistan have more than one ten-wicket win (2) in chases of 150-plus in T20 cricket.30 Boundaries scored in 58 balls faced by SRH’s openers against LSG – 16 fours and 14 sixes -the most in the first ten overs of a men’s T20 match (where ball-by-ball data is available). For the record, Head and Abhishek ran only 12 singles and 2 twos.

Daniel Vettori, Ian Bishop analyse after Knight Riders’ latest failure against Lucknow Super Giants

Karthik Krishnaswamy08-May-20225:16

How can Shreyas overcome his limitations against the short ball?

ESPNcricinfo experts Daniel Vettori and Ian Bishop have raised questions over the ability of Kolkata Knight Riders’ batters to counter the short ball, after Lucknow Super Giants’ fast bowlers used that weapon to telling effect against them on Saturday night.The pace quartet of Mohsin Khan, Dushmantha Chameera, Avesh Khan and Jason Holder shared eight wickets during Super Giants’ 75-run win in Pune, and of those eight wickets, six came off short or short-of-good-length balls, according to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data. The pitch at the MCA Stadium made the short ball particularly tricky to counter, with the ball sitting up steeply but also losing pace off the surface, and Super Giants’ quicks exploited the conditions expertly.It wasn’t the first time this season that a team had exposed Knight Riders’ vulnerability against the short ball. Gujarat Titans, for instance, had executed a similar gameplan to perfection while defending 156. In all, Knight Riders have lost 29 wickets against short or short-of-good-length balls from fast bowlers this season, which is by far the most of any team.Knight Riders’ average (13.00) and scoring rate (6.71 per over) against the shorter lengths, meanwhile, are both the worst of any team this season.Vettori suggested that those numbers would look even worse if the record of Andre Russell – who top-scored for Knight Riders on Saturday with 45 off 19 balls – was taken out.”If you took [Russell’s numbers] out – because he still has the ability to hit sixes and fours from the short balls – it looks like the rest of the batsmen actually don’t have any scoring shots at all when they get short,” Vettori said during his post-match analysis on the show T20 Time Out.”[…] Obviously it’s a concern, because when other teams just have a simple gameplan of bowling short to you, and it can be as effective as those numbers suggest, then it is difficult to come back from that.”ESPNcricinfo LtdAnd knowing those numbers, Vettori said, would only give bowlers the confidence to stick to their gameplan even if it doesn’t immediately come off.”When you know those numbers and you have a gameplan, you’re prepared to keep going back to it and you’re confident in it, and therefore if you do get it wrong, you still have the confidence to go again,” he said. “Because sometimes, when you have a short-ball plan and a couple get away on you and they go top-edge for six or four, then you retreat, but I think with a team like KKR, when those numbers are presented the way they are, you’ve just got to keep coming and coming, so it’s a confidence, it’s an encouragement, and it’s an overall gameplan and a style of bowling that suited LSG, but I think, more than anything, it’s the fact that they can just keep coming because they know KKR are susceptible.”Related

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Bishop, harking back to his fast-bowling days, put it more simply.”You go hunting, you just go hunting,” he said. “You smell blood, it’s like you smell blood and you just feel that you’re in a zone, you see a target in front of you, that you’re very confident about, and you’ll probably get one or two too short, one or two too wide, but as a fast bowler, this sort of target is what you live for.”Shreyas Iyer, Knight Riders’ captain, was a high-profile victim of the short ball, caught at square leg after getting cramped by a ball from Chameera that climbed towards his helmet. It was the fourth time a short or short-of-length ball had dismissed him this season, and those dismissals do not include Knight Riders’ match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 15, when Umran Malik discomfited him with a series of short balls before bowling him with a searing yorker.On Saturday, Avesh dismissed Nitish Rana in much the same manner. Bishop picked out both Iyer and Rana as batters who needed to work on their game against the short ball.”Yeah, the doubts [about Iyer’s game against the short ball] are there, and the doubts are legitimate, to be quite honest with you,” he said. “His discomfort against the short ball – he went up against Umran Malik and he looked uncomfortable when they played Sunrisers Hyderabad – but he’s not the only one.”Nitish Rana is someone as well that the questions, in my mind, have been there for a while as well. There’s a certain level of bowling that they both are comfortable against, and there is no disgrace, I suppose, to put it that way, there’s a weakness there against fast bowling, and it’s being exploited, and they just have to be better, but that is a high-quality LSG bowling attack.”Both Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana have a lot of work to do against the short ball•BCCIIyer, Vettori warned, would have to prepare to face more of this gameplan against other teams with strong pace attacks.”Well, there’s no respite against a team like Lucknow, that’s the thing,” he said. “If you think of other sides within the IPL who may be more spin-dominant, then you do get the opportunity for those batsmen to flourish in those certain conditions, so how do they get their way out of it?”It’s incredibly tricky in the middle of a season. I think someone like Shreyas Iyer, who obviously has international aspirations, will work incredibly hard on it. I think that will be the focal point of his training going forward, because we’ve seen it from players before, and they’ve managed to get themselves out of it, and you get yourself out of it with a couple of confident strokes, it’s as simple as that.”Once you do that, then teams retreat a little bit and look for other avenues, but at this stage they don’t look confident against the short ball, so it just keeps coming.”Asked what methods Iyer could potentially employ to counter the short ball in the future, Vettori said evading it could be one option.”I think he can leave it alone,” Vettori said. “In a lot of ways, I think if he gets under the short ball a couple of times comfortably or sways it, then that’s just as off-putting for a bowler as him hitting it for four or six, because they realise there’s a comfort level as a batter.”At the moment, he looks like he’s being wildly aggressive to it to take it on, and he may top-edge one, or he may actually get hold of one, but I still think that gives the bowler the confidence to keep coming back. It’s the look of a batsman, but if someone gets under a short ball well or evades it well, then you look for other tactics to try and get him out rather than continually going to that.”Bishop, however, felt the demands of T20 would not allow batters to keep leaving the short ball, even with just one bouncer allowed per over.”This particular format has a few more challenges because, let’s say I’m bowling to a Daniel Vettori. I’ve got my target, I’m going maybe just into the chest or the shoulder – I’m not getting it too high where I utilise my one [bouncer] for the over, so I’m getting it right, so there’s only so much you can leave in a T20 match, so at some point, Shreyas [will have to find attacking responses too] – because look at Andre Russell.”Once Andre Russell started playing that [pull] shot it became a little harder [to bowl short at him…] At some point in a T20 game you’re going to have to do that, or sway away and ramp, or maybe just allow one or two to go past – it’s a little bit more complicated in the shortest format, but Shreyas has to find a way to look more competent against it, be able to score off it, but in a sensible manner, or a low-risk manner, if such a thing exists.”He was confident, though, that Iyer possesses the quality to come up with such a response. “Shreyas has got to find a way, he’s good enough to find a way, and he’ll find a way in time, because everyone will keep coming at him. They’ve already started doing it.”

From contenders in the early years to bottom feeders in recent seasons – a look at how things have gone wrong for the team

Varun Shetty09-Sep-2020As the Royal Challengers Bangalore look to arrest their slump over the last three years, they have assembled a team that looks more balanced than the one from last season – when they finished eighth. But what came before? Here’s a look at some miscalculations they have made over the years.The first season squad
RCB’s first ever IPL squad was the last time they came close to being a truly representative team for Bangalore and Karnataka, complete with a local captain and coach. That happened to be the only positive for anyone in their fan base; because, while RCB had several big cricketing names in that squad, with experience and success in ODI cricket, you could have counted the T20 specialists on your fingers. Though T20 cricket itself hadn’t fully evolved by 2008, one must wonder what the plan was with Rahul Dravid, Wasim Jaffer, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Jacques Kallis as the top order. Dravid and Kallis did grow into important IPL players over the next few years, but all of them together as Plan A? It was never going to work.Corey Anderson at the death…
…was a good idea. If it was a batting innings. In 2014.In 2008, RCB packed their side with players best known for their Test match skills, and got plenty of snark for it•Tom Shaw/Getty ImagesYet in 2018, the New Zealand allrounder – who had battled a few injuries since his 36-ball ODI hundred – found himself with the task of bowling overs 16, 18 and 20 to MS Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu and Dwayne Bravo. Chennai Super Kings had needed 71 off 30 and won with two balls to spare.The miscalculation wasn’t that particular choice by itself. Anderson had been brought in to replace Nathan Coulter-Nile, who had been withdrawn, and would ostensibly have been the strike bowler and death-overs specialist for them that season. Replacing him with an allrounder who hadn’t bowled in over a year before the season began was an error that led to many imbalances, and many painful slog-overs experiences that season.Before 2018, there was…2017
The year after they were runners-up, RCB spent Rs 12 crore (about US$1,650,000) to acquire English fast bowler Tymal Mills, who was rising quickly as a T20 freelancer at the time. While the choice itself wasn’t too bad, the money spent on him turned out to be an extravagance. This wasn’t entirely RCB’s fault – a new pitch at the Chinnaswamy Stadium proved so spinner-friendly that even Virat Kohli managed only 308 runs all season, after having made 973 in 2016. He was the only one to breach 300 runs in the season in a line-up that included Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson and Kedar Jadhav. Mills played only five games all season.RCB’s auction strategy hasn’t quite been the best over the years•Ritam Banerjee/Getty ImagesBut while circumstances that year might have been out of their control, the auction that followed was. And in that auction, RCB ended up losing KL Rahul, Jadhav, Watson and Chris Gayle.Kohli’s batting position
In the 2016 season, Kohli made a record four centuries and opened the batting during each of those innings. It was, arguably, RCB’s strongest batting line-up ever and showed that Kohli’s best batting position in the IPL is as an opener. All five of his centuries for RCB have come when he opened, and his average and strike rate when opening are vastly superior to his good returns at No. 3.Yet, because of all the different auction strategies that RCB have used in recent years, the middle order has ended up needing bolstering. This has meant that Kohli is not always a lock-in as opener, which he would have been in a balanced team. Subsequently, de Villiers is also never quite a lock-in at any of three, four or five in the order. To their credit, both players have still managed to be mainstays, regardless of batting positions. But the team’s recruitment strategies have not allowed them to be entirely at their best recently.