Archive September 1, 2025

Paris St.Germain striker Randal Kolo Muani has agreed to a season-long loan deal with Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs, Manchester United, Chelsea, and West Ham have all been interested in the 26-year-old, who has been linked with Premier League clubs for a while.

After personal agreements with Thomas Frank’s side, he will join Tottenham on the transfer deadline day.

Kolo Muani scored eight goals in 16 Serie A games while playing for Juventus during the second half of last season on loan.

The former Nantes and Eintracht Frankfurt player, who has two Ligue 1 titles, signed for PSG in September 2023.

As Spurs prepare for a Champions League return, center-forward Kolo Muani could join wingers Kudus and Simons in creating a new-style strikeforce.

The signings come at the end of a difficult window for Tottenham, with failed attempts to sign targets like Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze and Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.

Kolo Muani is perhaps best known for his 120th-minute goal against Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final, which Emiliano Martinez brilliantly saved with his leg.

However, the fact that he was there indicates what kind of player he is and why Spurs made the decision to loan him.

Kolo Muani is 6’1″ tall and has a knack for finding space in the area.

He has scored frequently in all of his games, scoring 10 goals in 22 for Juventus and 26 in 50 for Frankfurt. Although he only managed 11 goals in 54 games for PSG, the majority of those games were substitutes.

Kolo Muani, who started Tottenham’s defeat by Bournemouth on Saturday as the central striker, offers a silkier alternative to Richarlison’s more aggressive style.

Jamie Overton, an England international, has announced that he will not play red-ball cricket for the rest of this winter’s Ashes series.

Overton, 31, did not believe his body would support playing in all formats during his fifth Test against India at The Oval in July.

The Surrey pace-bowling all-rounder has only ever played two Tests because of his history of back stress fractures.

It is no longer possible for me to commit to all formats, both physically and mentally, as my career is currently based on a 12-month calendar, Overton wrote on Instagram.

“I will continue to give everything I can to play white-ball cricket as long as I can,” he said. “Going forward, my focus will be on white-ball cricket.”

Overton won’t have been the first name on an Ashes team’s roster, but his choice is significant because he almost certainly would have been a part of England’s plans for an Australian trip.

Overton is admired by the England hierarchy, particularly coach Brendon McCullum, who was recently recalled for the Oval in place of Matthew Potts or Sam Cook, who both played for England in the past.

In an admirable effort with England a bowler down after Chris Woakes’ injury, he took a 2-98 lead in the second innings and went wicketless in the first.

Overton, who only scored 97 in his final Test against New Zealand in 2022, is included in England’s squad for the three-match one-day international series against South Africa, which kicks off on Tuesday at Headingley.

In addition to England’s three-match ODI tour of Ireland starting on September 17th, he will also be playing for the Proteas in the T20s following that.

England’s white-ball captain Harry Brook admitted to being “a little shocked” by the situation.

“I thought he did well in that very last Test at The Oval.”

He bowled rockets and good gas, according to the legend. You must respect that choice, which is shameful.

He’ll be able to concentrate on bolstering his six ODIs, which he included in England’s squad at the Champions Trophy earlier this year, as well as his T20 franchise leagues.

He will still be playing for the Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League this winter. Last year, he received the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.

Overton has only played five first-class games in the last two years due to injuries and commitments to whiteball.

A break from red-ball cricket is not unexpected in that regard. He can improve his health, lengthen his career, and increase his bank balance on the franchise scene, where he will be in high demand.

On the other hand, it adds another twist to the England Test team’s odd decision-making.

Overton always appeared unworthy for the final Test against India at The Oval despite being a member for the majority of the summer.

His hit-the-deck style did not work with the offered movement. Overton managed just two wickets and ran out nine runs in two innings with the bat, despite admirably assuming his share of the burden when Woakes became injured.

Even if he would have been a long way off the list of options, his bowling style might have been better suited for Australia. One of the four front-row bowlers who didn’t play red-ball cricket in Overton and one of the four that did in England’s final Test before the Ashes was injured, Woakes, is missing.

Despite little evidence to support the suggestion that this should be the case, Overton had surpassed Potts and Cook in the pecking order overall. Potts and Cook likely have a hard time getting past each other.

Later this month, England will announce a squad for the Ashes.

Wood, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson, and Brydon Carse will be the five first-choice fast bowlers, fitness permitting. They will presumably have a strong Ben Stokes to support them. In the main squad, which could be a bolter like Sonny Baker, is likely to be room for one more quick. The Lions will have upgrades available.

It is likely that Overton’s three-year, three-cape career will come to an end, according to him.

Following a significant increase in the prize pool, the women’s world cup winners will receive more money than Australia did when they won the previous men’s version.

The eventual champions of the tournament, which will take place at India and Sri Lanka starting at the end of this month, will receive a prize of £3.3 million, compared to the £2.96 million that Australia received for winning the men’s World Cup in 2023.

The $ 990,000 that Australia won for winning the previous Women’s World Cup in 2022 is an increase on that sum.

The tournament’s overall fund is now worth £10.26 million, which is a significant increase from the previous $ 2.59 million investment. In contrast, the total cost of the 2023 men’s World Cup was £7.3 million.

Co-hosts India and Sri Lanka will meet for the first time on September 30th for the eight-team tournament to begin in Guwahati.

On October 3, England kicks off their campaign against South Africa at the same location.

This increase in prize money is a historic moment for women’s cricket, according to Jay Shah, the chairman of the International Cricket Council.

Women cricketers must know they will be treated equally to men if they choose this profession, our message is simple.

The boost “underlines our ambivalence to produce a world-class World Cup and to inspire the next generation of players and supporters.” Women’s cricket is on a remarkable upward trend, and we are confident that the momentum will pick up with this change.

Troy Parrott has been injured, but Johnny Kenny has been named in the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup qualifying team.

Parrott, an AZ Alkmaar forward, has scored 10 goals in seven games so far this season, but he was sidelined for the international window due to an unspecified injury in training last week.

Kenny, 22, has appeared in under-21 matches for his first time in the senior squad.

After two productive loan spells with Shamrock Rovers, he was dropped from the Celtic squad for their 0-0 draw with Rangers on Sunday, but he was reinstated as a member.

As coach Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side prepares to face Hungary at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, September 6th, all other players from the original squad have arrived for camp.

Matt Doherty (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Jake O’Brien (Everton), Nathan Collins (Brentford), Dara O’Shea (Ipswich Town), Bosun Lawal (Stoke City), Liam Scales (Celtic), and Ryan Manning (Southampton) are the defenders.

Josh Cullen (Burnley), Jason Knight (Bristol City), Jack Taylor (Ipswich Town), and Killian Phillips (St. Mirren) are the midfielders.

Sonny Baker will start for England on Tuesday against South Africa in Headingley, starting with a fast bowling match.

In seven games for Manchester Originals, the 22-year-old regularly bowled around 90 mph while threatening with the new ball in particular.

Baker, who made his first-class debut for England Lions against Australia A in Sydney at the beginning of this year, has just made his latest rapid rise.

England captain Harry Brook attributed the attention to his previous appearances in the Welsh Fire and England Spirit, respectively, and to Kane Williamson and David Warner.

Brook told BBC Sport, “He was all over them and they were all world-class batters.”

He bowled skillfully and with a high level of pace. Everyone was talking about him when he was amazing to watch this year.

Baker attended a light training session in Leeds on Monday morning and again with England on Sunday.

Although the five English squad members who did not attend the Sunday Hundred final travelled from London on Monday morning and were absent, Joe Root and Will Jacks both made the lineup.

Nobody is without cricket, according to Brook, “but in an ideal world we would have liked to meet up yesterday, train yesterday, train today, and play together.”

Everyone is eager to leave and adores playing for England.

After missing the final Test against India in July, Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse are both included. It will be Archer’s first one-day international since the Champions Trophy in March.

Baker has taken two five-wicket hauls in six County Championship games this season and left Somerset at the end of last summer.

However, his breakout event was The Hundred. In addition to his hat-trick against Spirit and Fire, he also performed a hat-trick against Brook’s Northern Superchargers.

After being called into the England white-ball team, Baker revealed to BBC Sport that he drinks “bone broth” every day to help prevent further problems after being previously injured in his career.

He’s previously appeared in The Hundred, Brook continued.

“He can swing it both ways with exceptional death skills, so it’s awesome to have him on the team and great to have him open up tomorrow.”

Brook’s second appearance in a white-ball series since taking over as head coach earlier this year.

Under Brook earlier in the summer, England won all six of their matches against West Indies, including three ODIs and three T20s.

England are just getting started on the preparations for the 2027 50-over World Cup, after three disappointing international competitions in a row. The Ashes are set to be the focus this winter.

In February of next year, India and Sri Lanka will host a T20 World Cup.

“We’re trying to create a climate where we’re working toward something, like Eoin Morgan Morgs did when he took over years ago,” Brook said.

“South Africa’s cricket is a little different from that of West Indies.

We must evaluate situations more quickly when working with a team like this. They have a more traditional side.

Eight days prior to the Proteas’ 2-1 victory in an ODI series against Australia, they have arrived in the UK. At the Champions Trophy in March, they defeated England by seven wickets, which Jos Buttler’s final capitulation.

Kagiso Rabada, who has a workload of his own, is included in their squad, but he won’t play the first ODI.

Only the T20 squad includes Donovan Ferreira and David Miller, who both had a positive impact with The Hundred.