Borussia Dortmund head coach Niko Kovac hinted that Jobe Bellingham will require some time to break into his starting XI after moving from Sunderland.

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• Dortmund signed Bellingham from Sunderland
• Youngster part of BVB's squad for Club World Cup
• Kovac reveals whether he'll start in CWC opener

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Dortmund head coach has explained his plans for Bellingham following the 19-year-old's high-profile move from Sunderland earlier this month. Kovac conceded that Bellingham will require time to adapt to the team, while also acknowledging that it would be unfair to drop other midfielders who ended the 2024-25 season on a high.

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  WHAT NIKO KOVAC SAID

  Speaking at a press conference, Kovac claimed that Bellingham will not be a starter from the outset. He said: "To anticipate this: He will not play from the start because the one week since he joined us is not enough to internalize all our processes and all our principles. In addition, priority is given to those who have played so successfully in the last few Bundesliga games."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Dortmund signed Bellingham for €33 million (£28m/$38m), a club-record fee received by Sunderland. The teenager is set to follow in the footsteps of his elder brother, Jude, who spent three seasons at the Signal Iduna Park. Following the completion of his move, Bellingham linked up with his new team-mates in the United States and has been training ahead of the club's Club World Cup opener. According to reports, Kovac plans to use Bellingham two different midfield roles: as a number eight in a deeper role, as well as in a more advanced and offensive role.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR JOBE BELLINGHAM?

  While Bellingham may not start in Dortmund's opening game at the Club World Cup against Brazilian outfit Fluminense on Tuesday, he will be expected to brought on a substitute from the bench in what will be his debut for his new employers.

Ivan Perisic has been given ultimatum by PSV over a contract extension as the winger considers an offer to reunite with Hansi Flick at Barcelona.

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Ivan Perisic wants to join BarcelonaHad earlier played under Flick at BayernWinger given ultimatum by PSVFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Barcelona head coach Flick wants the club to sign Perisic on a free transfer, but PSV have offered him an extension after his impressive spell in the Eredivisie. As per , the Croatian winger is delaying his answer for the Eindhoven side in hopes of getting an offer from Spain. The Dutch club has issued an ultimatum, demanding Perisic provide an update on his situation and notify them of his future plans.

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Perisic and Flick worked together during their time at Allianz Arena in the 2019-20 season, during which the duo won the treble-winning DFB-Pokal, Bundesliga, and the Champions League. Flick considers Perisic an exceptional player given his versatility, competitiveness, and experience. The Croatian also wants to move to Spain and is stalling PSV for the same reason, but he will have to make a call on his future soon as Peter Bosz wants to confirm the team for the upcoming campaign before the preseason begins.

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It will require effort from Barcelona to bring in Perisic from PSV, considering the club already has issues with La Liga in registering Joan Garcia. The club also plan on bringing Nico Williams from Athletic Bilbao but will have to adhere to the 1:1 policy, which dictates they can only sign a player after selling one. Perisic is willing to take a pay cut for the Barcelona move in order to play in the upcoming World Cup in 2026.

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AFPWHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA?

Barcelona are almost on the verge of completing Garcia's move from Espanyol. The Spanish keeper has recently posted a farewell message for the Espanyol supporters, further solidifying the move. Their next target is to sign Williams, while the club also have their sights set on Marcus Rashford should a move for the Spaniard fail. However, with the league president's warning to Barcelona, the transfer window can turn into a registration nightmare for the Blaugrana.

When it comes to the modern icons of Tottenham Hotspur, they don’t come much grander than Harry Kane.

The England captain might not have won any trophies during his time in North London, but he made an enormous impact on the club.

For example, in 435 first-team appearances, the club legend amassed a staggering tally of 280 goals and 61 assists, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.27 games.

It’s impossible to imagine Spurs’ modern history without Kane, yet before his breakthrough, there was another promising striker in the academy who was ahead of him, a striker who Mauricio Pochettino eventually sold for a pittance.

Kane's early Spurs career

As everyone knows, Kane’s football journey started in North London, but on the red side, with Spurs’ bitter rivals Arsenal.

However, the Gunners released the future superstar when he was just 12 years old, with then-academy manager Roy Massey later revealing that the club didn’t believe the youngster had what was needed to make it in the game.

After a few years without a professional club, the teenager joined the Lilywhites and, after spending some time in the youth system, went on several loan moves all over the country.

In between his loan moves, the Walthamstow-born ace still made 13 appearances for the U21s between the 12/13 and 13/14 seasons, scoring nine goals and providing nine assists.

Finally, after going out on numerous loan spells, playing in the academy and making the odd first-team appearance here and there, the Englishman was given his first proper chance to establish himself as the club’s starting number nine in the 14/15 season, under new boss Pochettino.

This was an opportunity he grabbed with both hands.

In 51 appearances, he scored 31 goals and provided five assists, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Appearances

51

Minutes

3682′

Goals

31

Assists

5

Goal Involvements per Match

0.70

Minutes per Goal Involvement

102.27

However, a few years before Kane finally made his mark on the team, there was another up-and-coming striker ahead of him in the pecking order, a striker who thrived in the academy and looked promising, but eventually moved on for next to nothing.

The Spurs striker who was ahead of Kane

So, if we were to travel back to the distant year of 2009, we might be talking about a certain Spurs youngster turning heads in the club’s academy by the name of Jonathan Obika.

It was at the end of the 2008/09 season that the fans awarded the teenager the club’s Breakthrough Award, as even though he was just 18 at the time, he made his debut for the club in November 2008, in a UEFA Cup game against NEC Nijmegen.

The next six years or so would see the youngster spend time on loan with various clubs, including Yeovil Town, Peterborough, Millwall, Swindon Town, Brighton & Hove Albion, Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace.

Swindon

108

28

9

St. Mirren

77

20

6

Yeovil Town

74

18

8

Oxford United

57

8

7

Motherwell

24

4

1

Charlton

22

3

3

Morecambe FC

21

2

0

Millwall

12

2

0

Crystal Palace

8

0

0

Brighton

8

1

0

Tottenham

4

0

1

Peterborough

2

1

0

However, there were also spells in which he returned to play for the Lilywhites U21s, and he looked excellent doing so.

For example, in just 17 appearances in the 12/13 season – when Kane was struggling on loan with Norwich and Leicester City – the Enfield-born poacher racked up a tally of 18 goals and four assists, which comes out to an average of 1.29 goal involvements per game.

Unfortunately, Pochettino did not see a future for the striker, who at one point looked destined to reach the top when he took charge in 2014, and just two years on from his barnstorming performances for the U21s, Obika was sold to Swindon for just £208k.

He might not have reached the heights that people thought he would’ve when he was making his way through Tottenham’s academy, but in the 11 years since his sale, the 34-year-old has carved out an impressive career for himself.

Following his time with Swindon, he played for Oxford United, St Mirren, Morecambe and Motherwell before retiring in July of last year, with a career that might not match up to the likes of Kane but is still something most could only dream of.

Imagine him & Gray: Spurs are brewing "Dembele-esque" star in teen gem

The Spurs prospect could be a real star in the future.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Mar 28, 2025

“Our T20 games have been getting longer and longer each year, and we want to do what we can to arrest this trend”

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Aug-2023

CPL T20 via Getty Images

The 2023 Caribbean Premier League – men’s and women’s – has announced severe penalties for teams going through their overs slowly, even putting in place a red card-like system of removing a player if the fielding side is behind schedule at the start of the 20th over of an innings, a first in the game.”We have been disappointed that our T20 games have been getting longer and longer each year, and we want to do what we can to arrest this trend,” Michael Hall, the CPL’s tournament operations director, said in a statement on the subject. “It is the duty of those involved in cricket to ensure that the game keeps moving and we have sensitised both the franchises and our match officials to this duty ahead of the tournament. Our hope is that these in-game penalties are not needed, but we believe they are proportionate and necessary.”The slow over-rate penalties If behind the required over rate at the start of the 18th over, one additional player must enter the fielding circle – for a total of five players inside the circle If behind the rate at the start of the 19th over, two additional fielders must enter the fielding circle – for a total of six inside the circle If behind the rate at the start of the final over, teams will lose a player from the field – selected by the captain – and have six inside the fielding circle There will also be an onus on batting teams to keep the game moving. After a first and final warning from the umpires, the batting team will be slapped with a five-run penalty for each instance of time wastingUsing the 85-minutes-per-innings rule for T20 cricket, a CPL statement said that the issue “will be monitored more closely” in the 2023 edition of the tournament. The 17th over of the innings must be completed by 72 minutes and 15 seconds, the 18th by 76 minutes and 30 seconds, and the 19th by 80 minutes and 45 seconds, before the last over ends within 85 minutes.”Over rates will be monitored by the third umpire and communicated to the captains via on-field umpires at the end of every over, as well as to the crowd and TV audience, with graphics showing how far they are behind (or ahead of) the over rate,” the statement said. “Dispensations will be given for injuries, DRS and time-wasting by batting side where appropriate.”The men’s CPL 2023 starts on August 17 with Jamaica Tallawahs taking on St Lucia Kings in Gros Islet, and the women’s event will start on August 31 with a game between Barbados Royals and Guyana Amazon Warriors in Barbados.

Jurgen Klopp has blasted FIFA for its failure to protect player's health in the newly revamped Club World Cup format.

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Klopp: Club World Cup is 'worst idea ever'Ex-Liverpool boss believes injuries will followEuropean stars have one month off before next seasonFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

The former Liverpool manager took aim at the sport's governing body, lamenting decisions that are made by people with no experience in the "day-to-day business" of club football. When presented with comments of Bayern Munich executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge praising the tournament and Gianni Infantino, Klopp admitted some will be won over by the "insane" money involved, but he still worries over the stress on the athletes themselves.

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Klopp suggested elite players will experience more and more injuries unless their burden is lessened. Ultimately, that will make the product less appealing to fans, as players' ability to perform diminishes, creating less "value" in the long run. He has a point. If Manchester City or Chelsea make the final of the new format, they will have just one month between their last game in the States and the new season.

Watch every FIFA Club World Cup game free on DAZNStream nowAFPWHAT KLOPP SAID

Klopp was speaking of the great job Julian Nagelsmann has done as Germany boss, before launching into his criticisms in a conversation with . He said : "Julian touched on a few topics at one of his recent press conferences, saying that we need to develop more specifically. He was talking about full-backs and wingers. In the end, it's all about the game and not the surrounding aspects—and that's why the Club World Cup is the worst idea ever implemented in football in this regard. People who have never had anything to do with day-to-day business or who no longer have anything to do with it come up with something."

When presented with Rummennige's positive comments on the Club World Cup he said: "I understand those who say: 'But the money you get for participating is insane.' But it's not for every club.

"Last year it was the Copa and the European Championship, this year the Club World Cup, and next year the World Cup. That means no real recovery for the players involved, neither physically nor mentally. Of course, they all earn a lot of money. But let's leave that aside for a moment. An NBA player who also earns really good money has four months off every year. Virgil van Dijk hasn't even had that in his entire career. Tournaments like the Club World Cup cannot be held on the backs of the players. I don't wish that on anyone, but I have a big fear.

"[I have a fear that] That players will suffer injuries they've never had before next season. If not in the next season, then it will happen at the World Cup or afterward. We constantly expect the lads to go into every game as if it were their last. We tell them that 70 or 75 times a year. But it can't go on like this. We have to make sure they have breaks, because if they don't get them, they won't be able to deliver top performances in the long run – and if they can't do that anymore, the entire product loses value for the sellers. I once had a pre-season of two and a half weeks in which all my players were at my disposal. Two and a half weeks – and then we played practically every three days for a year afterwards. That's brutal."

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WHAT NEXT FOR KLOPP?

Klopp has never been afraid to express his opinions, and now he is away from the touchline running global football operations for Red Bull Group, he might have even more freedom to spray takes on the game.

حقق فريق النصر السعودي، الفوز على نظيره يوهان النمساوي في المباراة التي جمعتهما اليوم وديًا بخماسية مقابل هدفين.

وينتظم النصر، في معسكر تحضيري استعدادًا للموسم الرياضي الجديد تحت قيادة مدربه الجديد البرتغالي خورخي جيسوس.

وغاب كريستيانو رونالدو، عن المباراة بعد حصوله على فترة راحة إضافية بعد المشاركة مع البرتغال في دوري الأمم الأوروبية والتتويج باللقب.

وسجل أهداف النصر، كل من ساديو ماني، عبد الرحمن غريب، محمد سيماكان، عبد المجيد الصليهم، إلى جانب هدف عكسي من الفريق النمساوي.

طالع..  بالأسماء.. جيسوس يطيح بـ رباعي النصر السعودي

ومن المنتظر أن ينتقل النصر إلى البرتغال في 4 أغسطس المقبل لاستكمال برنامج الإعداد، والذي يتضمن مواجهات ودية أمام تولوز الفرنسي، وشباب الأهلي الإماراتي، وشيفيلد يونايتد الإنجليزي، وألميريا الإسباني، قبل العودة إلى الرياض يوم 11 أغسطس لبدء الاستعدادات النهائية لانطلاق موسم 2025-2026

Bess claims four wickets as Madsen, Came resist in vain for Derbyshire

ECB Reporters Network06-Sep-2023A quick-fire burst of four wickets for only three runs in 24 balls during the final 20 minutes of the fourth morning set Yorkshire up for a deserved LV= Insurance County Championship 277-run victory over Derbyshire at sunny Scarborough.Jordan Thompson and Dom Bess struck twice apiece in that spell as Derbyshire, in the face of a 571 target, slipped from health at 198 for two to peril at 201 for six.Thompson trapped opener Harry Came lbw for 58 before Bess did the same to Wayne Madsen, who made a superb 93 off 71 balls. Shortly afterwards, off-spinner Bess also had Derbyshire captain Leus du Plooy lbw for nought, and the visitors failed to recover.They were bowled out for 293 just before 2.20pm and lost for the second time this season to Yorkshire after a defeat at Chesterfield in June. They are the only two matches bottom side Yorkshire have won this season. But they still remain rooted to the foot of Division Two despite gaining 18 points to three for the visitors.Bess finished with four for 79 from 24.2 overs, while Matthew Revis added three afternoon wickets to Thompson’s two. Yorkshire did gain 20 points but were docked two because of a slow over-rate.Derbyshire started the day on 65 for one, and they were facing a home attack minus the services of fringe England Test quick Matthew Fisher due to a mild side strain.Ben Coad had Brooke Guest caught at second slip three overs into the day – 71 for two – but Derbyshire hit back.Such was the aggression shown by Madsen, their 39-year-old legend making his 200th first-class appearance for the county, you did wonder whether they were eyeing up that mountainous target.He hit three leg-side sixes, reached his fifty off 48 balls and hit Bess for 22 in an over shortly before falling for his second 93 of the fixture.He shared 127 inside 21 overs for the third wicket with the more circumspect Came, who started the day on 33 and went on to reach his fifty in 116 balls.Yorkshire being a bowler down in Fisher was a concern at this stage on a pitch offering bounce for the seamers and turn for the spinners – but not the usual North Marine Road pace.They needn’t have worried.Thompson trapped Came lbw with a full ball which he looked to play to leg before Bess also trapped a sweeping Madsen in front in the next over, leaving the score at 198 for four in the 50th.Bess’s previous over was the one which had been taken for 22 by Madsen, including four fours and a six. But revenge came quickly.He also trapped du Plooy lbw in his next over after Madsen’s departure before Thompson had Matt Lamb caught behind off the inside edge in the next, leaving the score at 201 for six in the 53rd over.Yorkshire’s position at the bottom of Division Two owes more to their off-field issues than it does on.Promotion will be a definite aim for captain Shan Masood and company in 2024. So a good final month of the summer, in which three games remain, will set them up perfectly.While Yorkshire won for the second time in 11 games, Derbyshire suffered their fourth defeat.After lunch, Yorkshire’s second-innings centurion Matthew Revis had Alex Thomson caught behind five balls into the session – 211 for seven – before some respite for the visitors.Anuj Dal and Zak Chappell shared 78 in entertaining fashion, the latter clubbing three sixes in 33 which saw Yorkshire employ the short ball tactic.And it worked when he miscued Revis to Bess, who took a smart catch at square-leg tumbling backwards, leaving the score at 289 for eight in the 69th over of the innings.Revis got Sam Conners caught at long-leg with the same tactics in his next over before Dal was stumped by Bess for 33 to wrap up Yorkshire’s large margin of victory by runs in first-class matches for them against Derbyshire.

You thought it was a dream night out with the ball for Mitchell Santner. He picked up only his second ODI five-for to floor Netherlands, his spell of 5 for 59 along with his cameo 17-ball 36 at No. 8 earned him the Player of the Match.But in all honestly, Santner revealed he’d bowled much better against England in Ahmedabad for lesser reward. It told you why numbers can’t sometimes be a reflection of a performance. It wasn’t in Santner’s case.Related

• Mitchell Santner keeps opponents guessing with control and guile

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• Ackermann: Netherlands 'need to put together all three phases'

• Five-star Santner and batters make it two in two for New Zealand

“Yeah, it was obviously nice to get the rewards,” he said after New Zealand made it two wins in two. “I don’t think I bowled as well as I did in Ahmedabad. Probably missed a little bit more, but it was nice to keep trying to be aggressive and get wickets. I guess that’s the only way we can kind of slow the batters down in the middle of the ODI innings, by taking wickets.”And I thought, as a bowling unit, we did that very well. Guys coming back, still being aggressive, trying to take wickets, and managed to chip them out along we went. And it was nice to get the win in the end.”Santner prides himself on reading situations and surfaces, and puts into practice his early assessment, even if it may be from watching the opponent bowl. On Monday, Santner took a cue from watching Aryan Dutt and Roelof van der Merwe, the Netherlands spin pair, operate in the middle overs.”Yeah, I think it was, slightly on the slower side,” he assessed. “I thought they bowled, especially their spinners, bowled extremely well. Yeah, it looked like we were kind of setting up a bigger score and they managed to pull it back and get a couple of wickets. So, I guess when I went in, it was still that kind of ‘take it as deep as we can’ and then try have a couple of big overs at the end, which luckily enough we did, to get up to 322.”Santner had a studious demeanor to him as he answered questions but allowed himself a slight chuckle when reminded of New Zealand’s next venue, Chennai, where he’s spent a few seasons at the IPL. He’s had to mostly warm the bench because the dynamics of the Chennai Super Kings haven’t always allowed him and Ravindra Jadeja to feature in the same XI. He was nonetheless excited going to his IPL home ground where New Zealand play Bangladesh on October 13.Mitchell Santner picked up his second ODI five-for•ICC/Getty Images

“We knew that going into the tournament that Chennai has that nature of being a bit spinny and it did, especially first innings the other night [India v Australia],” he said. “And they’re [Bangladesh] obviously good players of spin so it’s going to be a challenge just like every other game is going to be in this World Cup.”I think we’re going to see teams beat teams and have upsets. We’ve got to be prepared for both those next coming games. Obviously first is Bangladesh and if it is something similar to the other night, it could be spinning a little bit in the daytime and then start to skid on a little bit and get a little bit dewy second innings so we’ve got to be prepared for both.”On the topic of spinning wickets, Santner also underlined the bowling adjustments he’s had to make. From playing a holding role on grassy surfaces that leaves little bowling time back home, he is now an aggressor looking for wickets in the subcontinent.”It’s obviously nice to come over here and see some spinning wickets because they’re few and far between back in New Zealand,” he said. “I guess the role in New Zealand is slightly different to here. You want to be a little bit more aggressive. You keep your slips in for longer. I try to operate with that mid-on up most of the time, only having three back, trying to make them play big shots.”And if it is spinning, yeah, the role is kind of more aggressive. And then I think we’ll see at times throughout this tournament if it’s pretty flat, it might be that defensive role for a little bit, try to get wickets through pressure. And then if it is, like tonight, if there is a little bit of spin, it might be, all right, let’s be more aggressive. let’s throw it up, leave the slip in. And so that was nice. I think Rachin [Ravindra] bowled extremely well as well, that kind of same mentality of always trying to get wickets through the middle.”So two wins, and a couple of days off in a long tournament. They should be flying high, right?”Yes, obviously a nice start. We knew that turning up today after the highs of beating England, we couldn’t get too complacent. We know the Netherlands are a good team and they almost touched up Pakistan the other day, so it was obviously nice to get the W tonight. It’s another two points, but you got to move on pretty quickly in this tournament.”

The fast bowler said in a social media post that he will continue to make himself available in T20Is

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Sep-2023

Naveen-ul-Haq has not played an ODI since 2021•Getty Images

Afghanistan fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq has announced that he will retire from ODIs following the conclusion of the upcoming World Cup in India.Naveen, who made his international debut in 2016, has represented Afghanistan in seven ODIs, and taken 14 wickets at an average of 25.42.While he continues to be a key player for the country in T20Is – he has played 27 matches in the format – Naveen has not played an ODI since 2021. That also prompted him to take a break from the 50-over format in 2022, so he could prepare “mentally and physically” for last year’s T20 World Cup.