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This time last week, Chelsea looked like they would be the ones to rival Arsenal for the Premier League title.

Unfortunately, a humbling loss away to Leeds United, quickly followed by a drab one-all draw away to Bournemouth, has put such ideas to bed, for now anyway.

While Enzo Maresca’s squad is undeniably talented, some areas could be improved upon, such as the number nine position.

Fortunately, Chelsea are now being linked with someone who could do just that, someone who could be an upgrade on Liam Delap.

Chelsea target Delap upgrade

The transfer window is now less than a month away from reopening, and in a surprise to absolutely nobody, Chelsea are already being linked with a host of players.

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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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For example, the Blues have been one of a number of sides linked with Nottingham Forest’s Murillo.

Likewise, RB Leipzig’s incredibly exciting Castello Lukeba has been touted for a £53m move to Stamford Bridge.

However, while the two defenders would certainly bolster Maresca’s squad, neither one could or would displace Delap or Joao Pedro up top, unlike Joaquín Panichelli.

Yes, according to a recent report from Spain, Chelsea are one of a few Premier League clubs interested in the RC Strasbourg striker.

Alongside the West Londoners, the report has revealed that West Ham United and Aston Villa have set their sights on the Argentine striker.

The report does not reveal how much the £28k-per-week star might cost, but considering his contract runs until the summer of 2030, he’s unlikely to be cheap.

Even so, Chelsea should do what they can to sign Panichelli, as he could be the striker to really take them forward, even if that’s bad news for Delap.

How Panichelli compares to Delap

Now it might sound simplistic, and that’s because it is, but the first and most important metric to compare when looking at two strikers is output.

Unfortunately for Delap, this is an area that Panichelli has him beat, and comfortably at that.

For example, so far this season, the Argentine, whom U23 scout Antonio Mango has dubbed “one of the most in-form Strikers in Europe,” has scored ten goals in 19 appearances, totalling 1367 minutes.

In other words, the Córdoba-born gem is averaging a goal involvement every 1.9 games, or every 136.7 minutes.

In stark contrast, the Blues’ summer signing has scored just a single goal in 11 appearances, totalling 453 minutes.

Panichelli vs Delap in 25/26

Player

Panichelli

Delap

Appearances

19

11

Minutes

1367′

453′

Goals

10

1

Assists

0

0

Goal Involvements per Match

0.52

0.09

Minutes per Goal Involvement

136.7′

453

All Stats via Transfermarkt

The next advantage that the former Deportivo Alavés star has over the Englishman is the fact that he seems to be less injury-prone.

For example, while he did suffer a significant ACL injury in the 23/24 season, which kept him out for 24 games, he only missed one game in the entirety of last season, and so far this year, he’s missed just one.

On the other hand, the former Ipswich Town star suffered a knee injury that kept him out for 18 games in 23/24

Furthermore, so far this year, he has already missed 12 matches due to a hamstring problem, and now his current shoulder injury.

Finally, the Winchester-born ace doesn’t even have the advantage of being significantly younger and therefore possessing a higher ceiling, as he’s currently 22 years old and the Strasbourg star only turned 23 two months ago.

Ultimately, Panichelli is clearly a more dangerous forward and, on top of that, seems to be injured less often. Therefore, Chelsea should do what they can to sign him in 2026, even if that spells the end of Delap’s time at Stamford Bridge.

Related Chelsea flop has fast become their biggest liability since Bakayoko

Chelsea and Maresca need to move on from the walking disaster as soon as possible.

Posts 1 ByJack Salveson Holmes 3 days ago

Pakistan thundered to victory in the final of the tri-series, their attack blazing through the last nine Sri Lanka wickets for 30 runs, before their batters carried them without major drama to a target of 115. The victory came in the 19th over.Earlier, it had been three-wicket hauls for Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Nawaz, and two wickets for Abrar Ahmed, that had seen Pakistan produce the definitive passage of the game – the second half of Sri Lanka’s innings.Sri Lanka had been 84 for 1 in the 11th over when Nawaz had Kusal Mendis caught athletically by Babar Azam, on the boundary. They would nosedive spectacularly from there, losing wickets to spin mainly, but pace too, until they were all out for 114 in 19.1 overs.The chase was low-tempo, but mostly smooth. Openers Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub put on 46 together. Babar then produced a steady 37 not out to guide the team home in plenty of time. They never hit a high gear. But they didn’t need to.Shaheen Shah Afridi picked up 3 for 18 as Sri Lanka collapsed in a heap•Associated Press

Sri Lanka’s epic plunge

How do you go from a 64-run second-wicket partnership to 114 all out? Let Sri Lanka show you how.The spinners drove the collapse. After Nawaz dismissed Mendis, Abrar and Ayub ran riot, Abrar having Kusal Perera and Pavan Rathnayake caught attempting big shots within three balls of each other. Ayub had Sri Lanka’s top-scorer Kamil Mishara caught, before Nawaz came back to rattle the stumps of Janith Liyanage and Wanindu Hasaranga.To give you an idea of how quickly wickets were falling, Sri Lanka had seven consecutive partnerships worth six runs or fewer.

Babar keeps coming back

A score of 37 not out off 34 isn’t exactly stellar T20I material, but in the context of having to guide the team to a low target, Babar’s innings was sensibly-paced. It may not deter his critics exactly, but it might hold them off.In a stretch in which Babar has been suggesting that the best version of himself might be back, it was also significant that he had such a good outing in the field in this match. The catch to dismiss Mendis was a nicely-judged overhead take, balancing to keep himself inside the boundary. The catch to dismiss Mishara was taken on the run, coming in from the straight boundary, diving forward. To get Rathnayake, he leapt up inside the circle to hold the catch with outstretched fingers.Kamil Mishara struck a quick half-century to keep Sri Lanka going•Getty Images

Mishara sets a foundation

Although Sri Lanka would fail spectacularly to build on it, their young opener Mishara had set a launching pad with his 59 off 47 balls. He had a powerful aerial game inside the powerplay, his three sixes in that phase coming in the arc between long off and deep midwicket. After the field went back, he settled into a rhythm of singles. With this being his second successive half-century, Sri Lanka are likely to persist with him.

Former Inter and Belgium defender Zinho Vanheusden has announced his retirement from professional football aged just 26, with the centre-back releasing a heartbreaking statement confirming his surprise decision. Vanheusden plied his trade in Italy, Belgium and Netherlands before heading to Spain this summer as he signed for third-tier club Marbella, but has now called time on his career.

• A promising talent in Inter's youth system

  After spending seven years in Standard Liege's youth academy, Vanheusden was scouted by Inter youth coaches and was brought to the club's academy in 2015. At 16, the defender was considered as one of the brightest prospects in Europe and was expected to shine for the Serie A giants' senior side in the future.

  However, his progress halted at Inter due to a series of injuries as he never got to play for their senior side. He was on Inter's book, though, until 2025 as he played for clubs like Standard Liege, Genoa and AZ on a series of loan spells. Finally, in the summer of 2025, he exited Inter to join third-tier Spanish club Marbella to revive his career. 

  At the start of the season, he made seven appearances for the club before a third anterior cruciate ligament tear of his career forced him to announce his retirement at the tender age of 26. Vanheusden also represented Belgium at the youth level and made his senior professional debut in 2020 against Ivory Coast in an international friendly which ended in a 1-1 draw. It was his first and only international cap.

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• AFP
  

  Vanheusden released heartbreaking statement

  On Instagram, the 26-year-old wrote: "Today I am making a decision I never thought I would have to make at this age. After 22 years of soccer — from my fourth year until now — my life as a professional soccer player is coming to an end. Football made me who I am today. It gave me a life I never dared to dream of as a child. From supporting my favourite club for years as a child with my dad at Sclessin, to then playing a hundred games for it myself, to scoring for the Ultras and even getting the honour of being a captain here. It didn’t stop there… I got the opportunity to make my national debut and to play in Serie A. All things that seemed unreal when I started.

  "Besides all that beautiful, the last few years were tough. Much heavier than I ever seemed. Injuries, operations, injections, medication… I gave everything to go back, but it got harder every time. I was constantly searching for my level, overplayed through pain too often and lived after every workout or game uncertain about how my body would react the next day. I kept fighting to be the player I wanted to be, but every time a new fight came. In my heart I will always want to be a footballer, but my body has been saying enough for a while now. And that’s why — out of respect for myself, for my health and for my responsibility as a father — I am making this decision. As surreal as it feels writing this. But I want to be able to walk in my life without pain, play with my son and enjoy life with my family… I don’t know what it will be like to get up without football, but I’m going to find out now."

• Ex-Inter star named after famous Brazilian footballer

  Zinho's father Johan Vanheusden, in 2017, revealed that he had named his son after famous Brazilian footballer Zinho, who starred for the Selecao in their 1994 World Cup win.

  Speaking to , Johan had said: "The 'h' in Zinho is actually pronounced like a 'j,'" said Johan Vanheusden. "Like in Portuguese. Our son is named after the Brazilian footballer Zinho. I thought he was fantastic at the '94 World Cup'. Five years later, in 1999, the name for a son was quickly chosen."

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• AFP
  

  What will Vanheusden do next?

  The 26-year-old will now work hard to regain full fitness and recover from the fresh setback. The former defender does not have clarity at the moment about his future, but like other retired footballers, he might try and get into management to remain in touch with the game, which he dearly loves.

The New York Yankees placed outfielder Aaron Judge on the 10-day injured list over the weekend with a flexor strain in his right elbow. Though Judge will have to miss some time, he did avoid a more serious injury or any damage to his ulnar collateral ligament, and his elbow will not require surgery.

"I think we in the big picture dodged something pretty good," Yankees manager Aaron Boone told on Tuesday. "Hopefully this little bit of downtime does the trick and also serves as a little bit of a physical reset for him in a long season where you're playing every day."

Boone added that he thinks Judge will begin hitting off the tee on Tuesday or Wednesday, and will resume throwing 10-15 days after the injury. Boone remains unsure of how long it will take Judge to be ready to go in the outfield after he starts throwing again.

Per Bryan Hoch of , Boone said the "hope" is that Judge will play as the designated hitter when he's eligible to return from the IL on Aug. 5.

The Yankees have talked to designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton about playing outfield with Judge out and for depth down the stretch. Though Stanton is "eager" about the opportunity and will do some drills in the outfield this week, Boone is unsure if he will actually use Stanton in that role.

Fast bowler heads for Bristol for first six fixtures of County Championship season

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2025
Gabe Bell, the Tasmanian fast bowler, has signed for Gloucestershire for the first six matches of the 2026 Rothesay County Championship.Bell, 30, has taken 192 wickets across 51 Sheffield Shield appearances, 41 of which came in the 2023-24 season. He is currently ninth on this season’s wicket-taking list with 16 wickets in five matches.Standing at 195cm, Bell bowls with pace and steep bounce, and though he has yet to be capped by Australia, he represented their Under-19s in 2013, taking five wickets in three Youth ODIs at an average of 20.60.His stint with Gloucestershire will include away fixtures against Middlesex at Lord’s and Derbyshire, plus home games against Durham, Lancashire, Kent and Northants, and is set to get underway at the start of their campaign on April 10.”Obviously thrilled to get the opportunity to come over and play some county cricket with Gloucestershire,” Bell said. “I can’t wait to get over to Bristol to meet everyone, and get started in the new year.”Jon Lewis, Gloucestershire’s director of cricket, said: “We are really excited about Gabe joining our championship squad at Gloucestershire. We looked hard at what it takes to win in our own conditions in April and May, and Gabe comes highly recommended from our network of contacts across Australia.”He’s been very successful over recent Sheffield Shield seasons and is exactly the type of bowler we feel will thrive in the early part of the season in England. Gabe has played and performed consistently and has an excellent record in Australia. He’s a hardworking individual, which is exactly what we need at the start of the season.”We’re really excited to welcome Gabe and his family to Bristol in early April.”

The right combination, troubles against left-arm spin, fielding lapses, and quiet starts and collapses with the bat are concerns

Vishal Dikshit07-Oct-20254:10

Two wins in two, but scratchy start for India?

Hosts India would have been thrilled that they were on top of the eight-team table in the Women’s World Cup after getting two wins out of two to start their campaign. But their captain Harmanpreet Kaur admitted at the presentation after the 88-run victory against Pakistan that “there are a lot of areas” they still need to work on.India’s next three games are against South Africa, Australia and England – all serious semi-finalist contenders – so let’s have a look at what these concerns could be, which they would want to work on to bring out their A game, starting with the South Africa match on Thursday in Visakhapatnam.Playing five bowlers, and getting team combination rightHarmanpreet seemed pleased that India would now head back home from Colombo for their remaining five games, to figure out “what is the best combination for us”. In the two matches so far, India went with only five bowling options, including two allrounders, which could be a much bigger risk against the higher-ranked sides going forward. Such has been the rise of Kranti Goud, and the spin strangle from Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana and Shree Charani, that both Sri Lanka and Pakistan hardly got close to their targets. But if Visakhapatnam offers flatter conditions, India might feel the need to have a sixth bowling option in their ranks.Related

Goud times roll for India's newest new-ball star

Ghosh puts finishing touches to another middle-order rescue act

Pause and effect – Amanjot, Deepti change script for India

This exact scenario arose in the recent bilateral ODIs against Australia just before the World Cup, when India played six bowlers in the last two ODIs. That, however, was a result of their No. 5 Jemimah Rodrigues falling sick after the first game. India then took the call of replacing Rodrigues with a bowler, which worked as India bowled the world champions out for just 190 in the second ODI. With Rodrigues fit again and having scored two ODI hundreds this year, India now face the challenge of trying to fit in a sixth bowler without disturbing the team balance.To add to India’s headaches, allrounder Amanjot Kaur missed the Pakistan game with a fever, and her replacement Renuka Singh swung the ball nicely in Colombo, finishing with frugal figures of 10-1-29-0. That makes Renuka hard to drop even if Amanjot regains fitness. Amanjot bowled for an hour in the Visakhapatnam nets on Tuesday evening before batting for another half an hour, which bodes well for India’s squad depth.Even if Amanjot Kaur regains fitness, Renuka Singh might be hard to drop•ICC via Getty ImagesThe left-arm spinner’s threatThe ripping delivery from left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera to dismiss Rodrigues for a golden duck in Guwahati could already be among the balls of the tournament. Ranaweera triggered an India collapse on the night, with the big wickets of Harleen Deol, Rodrigues and Harmanpreet in just five balls to reduce the hosts to 121 for 5 before the lower-order rescue came about.It didn’t look as bad against Pakistan, but when their left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal bowled her second spell after the field had spread out, she sent down six tight overs for just 14 runs to tie down the right-hand batters Pratika Rawal, Deol and Harmanpreet. Only Rawal was able to hit Iqbal for a boundary, but she lost her off stump the very next ball after failing to pick Iqbal’s arm ball. In her next over, Iqbal nearly had Harmanpreet as well with another arm ball, and soon induced an edge from the India captain while also beating her a few times with turn and bounce on a pitch that was aiding the bowlers.Come Thursday, India’s batters will be up against South Africa’s left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba, bowling fresh on the back of her 4 for 40 on a batter-friendly surface against New Zealand in Indore. Like Ranaweera did to India, Mlaba scripted a New Zealand collapse with four quick wickets – including that of the dangerous Sophie Devine – with deceptive pace variations, and her angle from around the wicket. How India’s right-hand batters tackle Mlaba on Thursday could be one of the deciding factors for who wins the match.Smriti Mandhana has been dismissed early with the bat, and also been sloppy in the field•Associated PressFumbles and tumbles in the fieldIt seems like a distant dream now that India had scripted their historic series win – even if in T20Is – on English soil barely three months ago with major contributions coming from their fielding. They were taking catches in the deep, the fielders in the circle were cutting downs ones and twos with quick work, and sharp throws were sending batters back after finding them short.But come the World Cup, the hosts have started with a fairly average show in their two games so far. The bowlers have created chances but the fielders have put down regulation catches. It has not cost them a game yet, but India wouldn’t want that to happen as the league stage picks up pace. The most worrying thing about this has been that a lot of the misfields – there were at least three in the first 25 overs against Pakistan – have come from senior players like Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana, and it has not been a result of dew yet.India’s quiet starts and collapsesEven though India haven’t had the luxury of batting on the flattest tracks of in this World Cup yet, their slow starts and the collapses which have followed have come under scrutiny. India’s powerplay scores have read 43 and 54 so far. Mandhana’s low scores – she has only got 8 and 23 in the two matches so far – result in India slowing down considerably more often than not. Mandhana had recently smashed the second-fastest women’s ODI century – that too against Australia – and has had to take the onus of being the quicker scorer in the opening stand after the attacking Shafali Verma was replaced by Rawal at the top. Rawal is a lot more consistent, but has a strike rate of 83.65 compared to Mandhana’s 109.49 in the last 19 ODIs.When Pratika Rawal and Harleen Deol cannot find boundaries, they struggle with strike rotation•Getty ImagesDeol, India’s No. 3, has an even poorer strike rate of 81.82 in those 19 games, and of 77.18 in 16 ODIs this year. So India’s scoring rate inevitably takes a further dip when Deol and Rawal bat together. The pair has been India’s slowest since the start of 2024 for any pair to have tallied at least 200 runs.When Rawal and Deol cannot find the boundaries, they struggle to keep the run rate ticking with regular strike rotation. Against Pakistan, their partnership read 19 off 35 balls, which saw 27 dots (77%) because 14 of those runs came through boundaries. Opposite Sri Lanka, their stand faced 96 balls, of which 56 were dots (58.3%), for 67 runs. The stand featured only two fours and a six after the powerplay.The most evident concern in India’s batting so far has undoubtedly been their collapses – being reduced to 124 for 6, and 159 for 5 – which left a lot of work to be done for the lower order. Come a team like South Africa, Australia or England, India would want more runs from their experienced trio of Mandhana, Harmanpreet and Rodrigues, who have a collective highest score of 32 among them so far.

Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber was on the doorstep of 40 home runs for just three innings.

He mashed his 39th long ball of the year in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles Monday night on a massive shot to the third deck at Citizens Bank Park. The homer gave him the National League lead, moving one past Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani.

Then, as the Phillies batted around the order in the sixth, he hit another blast to right field—this time for a grand slam.

The 390-foot shot was Schwarber's 40th homer of the season, now two past Ohtani for the most in the NL. The next closest NL player is Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs with 27, although Eugenio Suárez and his 36 homers moved to the American League at last week's trade deadline.

Schwarber's career-best total is 47 home runs, which he notched in 2023. The season before, he had 46. Now, he has reached 40 with 50 games to go.

With the massive Monday, he moves into the MLB lead in RBIs with 94, surpassing Seattle Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh (88). Raleigh currently leads baseball with 42 home runs, but Schwarber is right on his heels with three homers in two games.

Jess Jonassen’s 4 for 10 is in vain as Welsh Fire remain winless

ECB Media20-Aug-2025Top-of-the-table Southern Brave continued their unbeaten start to this year’s women’s competition in the Hundred and guaranteed themselves a top-three finish with a nervy penultimate-ball victory over a spirited Welsh Fire.Needing six runs from the final five, Mady Villiers was run out coming back for two from the first delivery of the set before Georgia Adams was almost brilliantly caught in the deep as she and Rhianna Southby scampered back for two and got Brave over the line with a ball to spare.Put into bat, Welsh Fire lost the big wicket of Hayley Matthews early, lbw to Sophie Devine for a first-ball duck.Sophia Dunkley looked to be continuing her form from The Kia Oval on Saturday, starting brightly and hitting four commanding boundaries.Brave made another important strike when Lauren Bell had Tammy Beaumont (7) brilliantly caught by Maia Bouchier at mid-on as the Fire reached 32 for 2 at the end of the powerplay.The impressive Tilly Corteen-Coleman returned to the attack to see the back of Dunkley (31), the spinner inducing a false cut shot to have the England batter caught behind by Southby.Georgia Elwiss reached a run-a-ball 36 not out as the Fire closed their innings on 111 for 6. Bell changed her pace and length expertly to finish with figures of 2 for 21.Bouchier and Danni Wyatt-Hodge played positively and untroubled, taking the score to 32 without loss after the powerplay and reducing the runs required to just 80.Fire then struck back to stay in the game. Wyatt-Hodge (18) was caught fantastically by Jess Jonassen at mid-off off Georgia Davis and Jonassen then came into the attack and removed Bouchier (35) and Laura Wolvaardt (3).Devine countered with a huge slog-swept six off Davis to relieve some pressure and Freya Kemp then deposited Freya Davies into the stands to take Brave closer to their target, but Kemp (17) fell soon after, caught by Shabnim Ismail at long-off off Jonassen.Chloe Tryon then went for a duck as Jonassen finished with exceptional figures of 4 for 10 before Devine (25) skied Matthews to Davies to leave her side needing 10 from the last 10 and then six from the final five.Meerkat Match Hero Devine said: “Credit has to go to the Welsh Fire there. We were probably cruising at the halfway stage and the way that they were able to fight back and take it to the last set, full credit to them.”It wasn’t our best day today, we’ll be the first ones to admit that. To get over the line is really pleasing and now we move forward.”I’m really pleased we were able to restrict them to what we did and finally get over the line there with the bat. We wanted to get ahead of the run rate and Dan and Bouch were outstanding and put the pressure back onto the Welsh Fire.”Then we probably got a little bit of the wobbles unfortunately but to be able to get over the line and people to keep their heads there at the end was really pleasing.”

Manchester United have identified their top target to reinforce their midfield in 2026, and INEOS are confident they can complete a deal in the new year.

The Red Devils continued their rollercoaster form under Ruben Amorim on Sunday, following defeat against Everton with an extremely professional display to come from behind against a Crystal Palace side who had not tasted defeat in the Premier League since October.

After an abysmal display against the Toffees, the second half performance at Selhurst Park was a real show of what United are capable of, as they nullified Palace’s attacking threat and tested Dean Henderson on several occasions.

Not just Zirkzee: Man Utd star who was a "waste of time" is now undroppable

This Man Utd player starred in their 2-1 win away to Crystal Palace

1

By
Joe Nuttall

Nov 30, 2025

Amorim revealed he had told his players the Eagles would struggle to maintain their first half intensity after their trip to France to face Strasbourg in Conference League on Thursday.

“I said to the players we need to be more alive and you could feel that. If you are more alive, you are in more places, near the ball more often and everyone did that, but we also need to understand that the opponent is tired,” the Portuguese said as United moved up into the top seven.

“If you see the last plays of the game, they were struggling so much to take the ball out of the box and you could feel it in the way they move that they were getting tired for the second half and we talked about that.

“And again, our pace and intensity in the first half, we cannot play like that in Premier League, so we increased that. I had the feeling and we had the feeling that if we scored one goal, this would change completely.”

Perhaps the only standout performance for the hosts was that of Adam Wharton, and reports after the game revealed United are confident of securing a deal for the Crystal Palace midfielder in the new year.

Gary Lineker heaps praise on Man Utd target Adam Wharton

Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast on Monday morning, Gary Lineker and Micah Richards discussed the England international’s performance against United, as he set up the chance that led to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s penalty with a stunning pass.

“I’ll tell you, Adam Wharton, oh my, boy, he can play,” said the former Match of the Day Host.

Richards added: “I was doing all my analysis on Adam Wharton and then United go and score and you got to give United a little bit of credit.”

Wharton struggled with injuries last season, and was praised for putting in “world class” displays while awaiting surgery on a groin problem, but has proven his durability this season, starting 11 times in the league and twice in Europe.

Amorim believes the 21-year-old fits what he is looking for at Old Trafford, and despite links to fellow Premier League riser Elliot Anderson, INEOS are confident they can win the race for Wharton if they achieve their goal of European football.

Manchester United’s struggles in recent years have been difficult for the fans to process, especially given the success previously endured in previous generations.

The Red Devils ended last season in a record-low 15th place in the Premier League, with Ruben Amorim unable to have a positive impact during his first season in the role.

As a result, the club have now failed to win a single league title since the 2012/13 season campaign, with Sir Alex Ferguson the last manager to finish top of the table.

Their inability to secure top-flight glory hasn’t been through a lack of trying, especially as seen by their spending in the transfer market, which has seen over £800m spent in the last four years.

One player has remained ever-present despite the heavy spending in the market, arguably still being Amorim’s key man in the club’s hunt for sustained success.

The stats behind Bruno’s success in 2025/26

Bruno Fernandes is a player who has constantly impressed during his near six-year spell at United, with the midfielder being the shining light throughout last campaign.

Despite the struggles, the Portuguese international notched a total of 37 combined goals and assists, which no doubt saved the club from a relegation battle.

In 2025/26, the 31-year-old has been forced to operate in a deeper midfield role, but it hasn’t stopped the fan-favourite from producing some incredible numbers in the Premier League.

Bruno has created 3.1 chances per 90 in England’s top-flight to date, with such a tally higher than any other player in the division after the first 15 games of the season.

He’s also registered 2.8 shots per 90 and made 6.1 recoveries per 90, highlighting his efforts at both ends – subsequently placing him in the top 10% of midfielders in the league.

United’s latest showing against Wolves further showcases how impressive he’s been in 2025/26, with the club captain notching two goals and an assist in the 4-1 triumph.

Bruno also completed 55 passes, whilst creating five chances for his teammates, with both of the aforementioned tallies the highest of any player on the pitch at Molineux.

The United star who’s showing shades of Park

Ji-Sung Park was just one player who was a key part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad over a sustained period, with the South Korean star a massively underrated player at Old Trafford.

During his seven years in Manchester, the midfielder racked up a total of 205 appearances in all competitions, often featuring in a variety of different positions.

He often started out wide, in the number ten or even a number eight position, often handing Ferguson a versatile option across numerous key areas of the pitch.

Park registered 55 combined goals and assists during such a time, with his best strike arguably being against Wolves at Old Trafford back in the 2010/11 campaign.

During his time managing Park, Sir Alex often paid the South Korean countless compliments, even once labelling him as the “ultimate professional” due to his attitude and reliability.

However, since his departure in 2012, the club have lacked a player of his stature, but Amorim does currently have a similar player in the form of Mason Mount.

The Englishman has struggled to nail down his place in the United first-team since his £60m move from Chelsea in 2023, with injuries often plaguing the 26-year-old.

However, the 2025/26 season has given him a new lease of life, with the midfielder already racking up 12 Premier League appearances this season and catching the eye with his displays.

He’s already netted three goals to date, including one against Wolves on Monday, subsequently repaying the faith shown in him by Amorim in recent months.

Like Park, he’s often featured in countless positions at Old Trafford, including a number eight role and a number ten – with the midfielder now looking like a crucial part of the squad.

Amorim has also sung his praises in recent times, dubbing him a “proper footballer” and saying that he “believes in him a lot” – highlighting the faith he has in the Englishman to succeed.

His recent showing against Wolves, in which he scored, has showcased why he’s as important as Bruno, with Mount completing 90% of the passes he attempted at Molineux.

He also completed 100% of the long balls he attempted, whilst also making five recoveries and being fouled three times – often providing a constant nuisance to the opposition.

Minutes played

85

Touches

46

Pass accuracy

90%

Long balls completed

100%

Goals scored

1

Recoveries made

5

Fouls won

3

Touches in opposition box

2

Mount’s ability in front of goal over recent weeks has certainly given the manager food for thought, which could see the former Chelsea star now be a key member of the side once again.

He and Bruno have clearly struck up a superb partnership at the heart of the side, which could be crucial in any success achieved during the Amorim tenure.

Mount’s similarities to Park are there for all to see, with the midfielder now having the chance to back up the manager’s faith, just as the South Korean did at Old Trafford in years gone by.

100% pass success & 100% duels won: Man Utd star is as undroppable as Bruno

Manchester United have unearthed another star after yesterday’s win over Wolves at Molineux.

ByEthan Lamb 3 days ago