Aston Villa are in the race to sign a new central player in January, but they aren’t the only club hoping to bring him to the Premier League.

Aston Villa transfer news

Ahead of 2024, NSWE, Monchi and Unai Emery will be assessing their options in the market and have most recently been linked with moves for Palmeiras defender Joaquin Piquerez and Sporting CP forward Pedro Goncalves, but they are also looking to bolster their ranks in the centre of the park.

The Midlands outfit already have Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey, John McGinn, Youri Tielemans and Tim Iroegbunam as their options in central midfield, but that hasn’t stopped the boss from wanting to increase his numbers in that position during the upcoming window.

Over in Germany, Bayer Leverkusen’s Exequiel Palacios has firmly established himself as Xabi Alonso’s second best-performing defensive player so far this season (WhoScored – Bayer Leverkusen statistics), and the 25-year-old’s impressive form seems to have caught the eye of the hierarchy at Villa Park.

Aston Villa interested in Exequiel Palacios

According to TEAMtalk, Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Exequiel Palacios is of interest to Aston Villa in January, and his club are "fearing" possible bids from England's top flight.

“Bayer Leverkusen are fearing bids in January for their midfield star Exequiel Palacios, with a host of Premier League clubs checking on the Argentina international, according to TEAMtalk sources.

"Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain are amongst the sides looking at the 25-year-old, but TEAMtalk can reveal there is also interest from England. We understand that Manchester City, Newcastle United and Aston Villa have all watched him in recent months and have been hugely impressed.

"Bayer, though, are insistent that they don’t want to lose any of their star men in January as they are making a real push for the Bundesliga title.”

Whilst Palacios is naturally a central midfielder, Bayer’s star is much stronger in the defensive aspect of his game where he currently ranks in the 97th percentile for interceptions and the 96th percentile for tackles, highlighting his desire to get stuck in and win back possession for his team (FBRef – Palacios statistics).

When Argentina’s international does retain the ball, he’s extremely calm and composed, recording a 91.9% pass success rate (WhoScored – Palacios statistics), form which has seen him described as a “fantastic” player by talent scout Jacek Kulig.

Likes to tackle

Likes to play short passes

Gets fouled often (Data via WhoScored)

The BayArena’s £28k-per-week earner (Bayer Leverkusen salaries), is also capable of making a positive impact at the opposite end of the pitch having posted 28 contributions in the final third, 20 goals and 18 assists, in 184 appearances since the start of his career (Transfermarkt – Palacios statistics).

Palacios already knows what it takes to compete and be successful at the highest level having secured seven trophies throughout his professional career, the most notable being winning last year’s World Cup with Argentina, so he would be able to match and even improve the winning mentality of the current squad who are already at Aston Villa.

Manchester City shared a bizarre clip of Erling Haaland taking a video call from a 'secret superfan' – who turned out to be WWE legend John Cena.

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• Man City use John Cena in tour promotion
• WWE legend video calls Erling Haaland
• Cityzens to play four matches in United States

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  City opted for cringe comedy in announcing their 2024 summer tour of the United States, with Haaland taking a video call from Cena, who initially refused to turn on his camera for the striker but was wearing a long blonde wig as if to impersonate him. Haaland's wooden acting skills were thoroughly put to the test when Cena's new look was 'accidentally' revealed to him.

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• WATCH THE CLIP

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  City were last in America in the summer of 2022 and this time are scheduled to play four friendlies against a variety of opponents. They will face Celtic in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on July 23, followed by AC Milan and USMNT star Christian Pulisic at the iconic Yankee Stadium in New York four days later. It's then onto Orlando, Florida for a clash with Barcelona on July 30 and, finally, an all-Premier League meeting with Chelsea at the 102,000-capacity Ohio Stadium on August 3. Ultimately, City are keen to grow their brand presence in the highly lucrative North American market to rival the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR MAN CITY?

  The dream for City is to retain the treble they won in 2023, which is very much still on. Equally, however, they could still finish the season with none of the three trophies. Only one points separates the Cityzens from Premier League leaders Arsenal after 28 games, while a semi-final against Chelsea and either Manchester United or Coventry stands between them and FA Cup glory.

  Pep Guardiola's side also remain favourites to win the Champions League, which would them the first English club to be crowned European champions in back-to-back seasons sine Nottingham Forest in 1980, but must first overcome real Madrid in the quarter-finals next month. All of that will go a lot smoother if early injury fears over Erling Haaland prove to be unnecessary after he was spotted limping during Norway training.

Andre Russell also returns for West Indies, and is expected to make his first ODI appearance since 2015

The Preview by Mohammad Isam21-Jul-2018

Mashrafe Mortaza celebrates a wicket•AFP

Big Picture ODIs haven’t been much on the menu for Bangladesh and West Indies off late, as the impending series is only their second assignment in the format in 2018. The hosts’ successful qualification into next year’s World Cup means that their summit climb starts here at home, against a Bangladesh side that is eager to find a footing after the terrible Test series.The visitors have the inspirational Mashrafe Mortaza back in their ranks. It was a touch-and-go thing for him to come to the West Indies after he stayed back with his ill wife for much of the last four weeks. But he will be pleased to find that his squad has extra cover for batting and pace bowling.Apart from the big four – Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah – in their batting line-up, Mashrafe has Anamul Haque, Liton Das, Sabbir Rahman, Mosaddek Hossain and Nazmul Hossain Shanto to try different combinations. Among them, Liton is likely to have won the openers’ battle against Anamul Haque while Sabbir and Mosaddek have to fight for the lower-order finisher’s role.Mashrafe will lead the pace attack alongside the returning Mustafizur Rahman who has much to prove after he missed the Afghanistan T20s and the West Indies Tests due to injury. Rubel Hossain will be enlivened by a format in which he is better at, than Tests or T20s, while Abu Jayed would also be buoyed by his Test showing. Abu Hider, who has played couple of T20s, provides variety with his left-arm pace. In the spin department, Shakib and Mehidy Hasan Miraz are joined by Nazmul Islam who has impressed in recent T20s.The home side meanwhile has made several changes to the side that played in Zimbabwe in March. Gone are Carlos Brathwaite, Sheldon Cottrell, Nikita Miller, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuel and Kesrick Williams; Alzarri Joseph and Kieran Powell have been brought in while Andre Russell makes a comeback to the ODI side after three years.West Indies will feel more confident than Bangladesh given how the Test series went. Now, Jason Holder has Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis and Russell for the batting firepower, though they will surely miss the services of Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roach. Holder, however, can depend on his own bowling form, with help from Joseph and Keemo Paul, who impressed on Test debut a week ago, and spinners Devendra Bishoo and Ashley Nurse.Form GuideWest Indies: LWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Bangladesh: LLWWWIn the spotlightJason Holder’s 11-wicket haul in the second Test has put him front and centre on Bangladesh’s radar. Holder has also been West Indies’ most successful bowler in the last 12 months, picking up 22 wickets. His batting can be dangerous in the late overs too, especially now that Andre Russell has returned to the ODI squad.Surprisingly, Bangladesh’s highest wicket-taker in the last 12 months has been Rubel Hossain. The 14 wickets at 20.14 is a far cry from his Test average of 157.00 during the same period. Bangladesh will depend on him with the middle and slog overs, with the hope that he finds his rhythm.Jason Holder celebrates a wicket•Getty Images

Team newsWest Indies will have three automatic changes as Samuels, Carlos Brathwaite and Kemar Roach are not in the current ODI squad. Powell may get the nod ahead of Jason Mohammed while Russell will certainly take Brathwaite’s place as one of the pace-bowling allrounders. Joseph may play in place of Roach, which would leave Nurse out.West Indies (probable): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Shai Hope (wk), 4 Kieran Powell, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Jason Holder (capt), 7 Rovman Powell, 8 Andre Russell, 9 Devendra Bishoo, 10 Keemo Paul 11 Alzarri JosephBangladesh will be making two changes from their previous ODI, which was all the way back in January 27. Mohammad Mithun and Mohammad Saifuddin are out, with Liton likely to open with Tamim. Jayed and Hider have to wait for their turn to be part of the pace attack.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Liton Das, 3 Sabbir Rahman, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Mosaddek Hossain , 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Mustafizur RahmanPitch and conditionsThe Providence Stadium’s pitches were unpredictable when ODIs were last played here in 2017, but more recently in CPL and first-class matches, sides batting first couldn’t really kick on. There is a forecast of showers in the morning, so there could be a delayed start.Stats and trivia Chris Gayle and Mushfiqur Rahim have 500-plus runs in West Indies-Bangladesh ODIs, with both close to overtaking Marlon Samuels’ 523 runs, the top-scorer in this particular contest. Evin Lewis is 32 runs short of completing 1,000 ODI runs, and if he does it in the first ODI, he will become the fourth West Indies batsman to have done it in 30 innings or less. Sir Vivian Richards still holds the world record for fastest to 1,000 ODI runs, having done it in 21 innings.

Jose Mourinho blamed his grey hairs on a former Chelsea and Real Madrid star who went on to play for a club which no longer exists.

During the special one’s first spell at Stamford Bridge, during which he won the Premier League twice, Mourinho signed a young nimble midfielder from French club Le Havre, who have produced talents such as Paul Pogba and Dimitri Payet down the years.

That man was Lassana Diarra, who would later go on to play for the likes of Arsenal, Real Madrid and PSG, also earning 34 caps for the Franch national team.

Diarra’s list of admirers includes Mourinho, who called him “amazing” during their time at Chelsea, and France manager Didier Deschamps, who brought him back into the national team set-up in 2015.

“He has intelligence, he has everything and in such an important strategical position,” Deschamps told TF1.

“It’s so good to have the choices I have. Lass is a top player, a top-class performer who has experience.”

Despite his talent, Diarra only made 13 Premier League appearances for Chelsea, many of which were out of position at right-back, before he was sold to Arsenal as he sought more playing time.

And Mourinho has since revealed in a chat on John Obi Mikel’s podcast that both Diarra and his agent were a nightmare to deal with.

And leave he did, with one year left on his contract, Diarra left for Arsenal, where again he would make just seven top flight appearances before swapping North London for Portsmouth.

After a successful 12 months at Portsmouth, the midfielder earned his big money move – €20 million – to Real Madrid, where he would win La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup between 2009 and 2012.

Lassana Diarra’s clubs	Year
Le Havre	2004-05
Chelsea	2005-07
Arsenal	2007-08
Portsmouth	2008-09
Real Madrid	2009-12
Anzhi Makhachkala	2012-13
Lokomotiv Moscow	2013-14
Marseille	2015-17
Al Jazira	2017
PSG	2018-19

He later joined a string of high profile players, including the likes of Samuel Eto’o and Roberto Carlos, in signing for Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala. Their quest to dominate Russian football was short-lived however, as the club struggled to maintain the high wages on offer and sold the likes of Diarra shortly after, eventually losing their license to operate as a professional club in Russia in 2022.

Glasgow Rangers gave Philippe Clement the perfect start to life at Ibrox as they secured a routine 4-0 win at home in the Scottish Premiership on the weekend.

Hibernian were put to the sword and after just one match, it already looks as though the Belgian is trying to imprint his own tactical style and identity on the pitch, something which Michael Beale failed to do during his final few months in charge.

The victory has certainly begun a new era at the Light Blues and several of the current players will now have clean slates as to impress the 49-year-old tactician and put their teething problems behind them.

This includes the likes of Sam Lammers and Cyriel Dessers, who have both struggled under the weight of expectations since joining the club in the summer.

They have scored a combined total of five goals and this is not good enough for a club the size of Rangers, especially with the vast sums of money Beale shelled out for them.

With the January transfer window just around the corner, Clement could potentially bulk up his squad by making a few signings and much will depend on the situation the team finds itself in at the current time.

The former Club Brugge manager should consider reigniting a swoop for summer target Michael Olunga, who was linked with a move to Glasgow during the early stages of the window, and he could certainly add some extra firepower to the first team.

Who could Rangers sign in January?

Having lost players such as Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos, and Scott Arfield at the end of last season as their contracts expired, Beale had a major rebuilding job to do ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.

Back in May, Olunga was attracting attention from Galatasaray as they were looking for a new striker according to reports and his agent had even contacted the Turkish side.

Rangers were also mentioned as being keen on the player and on the surface, it looked like a perfect move. With Morelos leaving, there was a clear need for another centre-forward who could lead the line by himself, while also being clinical in front of goal and the Kenyan ace certainly fitted the bill.

Whether or not Clement revives any interest remains to be seen, yet with Lammers and Dessers failing to show their true talents in the final third, Olunga could be a reliable option.

How good is Michael Olunga?

The 29-year-old marksman has accumulated a wealth of experience over the course of his career across stints in Japan, Sweden, and now in Qatar for Al-Duhail.

His scoring rate for the Qatari side is exceptional, netting 88 goals across just 89 games and this is the type of player who could thrive at Ibrox, especially as he knows where the goal is.

He was heavily praised by his manager, Sabri Lamouchi, back in 2021 for a performance in the AFC Champions League where he netted a hattrick, saying: “Olunga deserves, of course, to be the man of the match.

“He’s a special player and his presence has helped us have a lot of attacking options.”

His ability to perform on the highest stage was evidenced by his displays in the AFC Champions League during 2022. He played eight games and managed to find the back of the net on six occasions, scoring every 117 minutes.

The 6 foot 2 goal machine took 3.9 shots per game and showed an eagerness to score as much as possible. With the Gers having to go a season without the goals and aggressiveness of Morelos for the first time since 2016/17, the Kenyan international could be an ideal replacement for the Colombian.

What happened to Alfredo Morelos?

Once a key figure at Ibrox, Morelos’ influence had waned by the time he left following the conclusion of last term, yet his presence is still missed, no doubt about it.

Over the course of his Gers career, the striker ended up scoring 124 goals across just 269 appearances for the Glasgow side and was a thorn in the side of many a team in Scotland and on the continent.

Indeed, his legacy perhaps stretches to that of becoming a cult hero for the club and his tally of 29 European goals is the best in their history.

He eclipsed Ally McCoist’s tally of 21 goals back in November 2020 and there is no doubt that when in his prime, Morelos was a striker capable of doing everything.

His final season was rather inconsistent, however, as he started only 23 matches as the forward was recovering from an injury which ruled him out of the final few weeks of 2022/23 – meaning he missed the Europa League and Scottish Cup finals.

269

124

62

46

23

5

2

0

Subsequently, Morelos scored only 12 times across all competitions due to the stop-start nature of his final season in Scotland, and it appeared that parting ways was the best move for all parties.

The striker is currently at Brazilian side Santos and none of the new arrivals look like they have the capabilities to be an ideal heir for the 27-year-old it must be said.

There is still time of course and once Danilo gets a solid run in the starting XI, he could go on a scoring run, but much will depend on the system Clement uses.

Taking another look at Olunga could be extremely beneficial and give Rangers another attacking option. He has similar strengths to Morelos, most notably being able to hold up the ball well while also being strong in the air, and these qualities could endear him to the supporters as a perfect heir to the former Gers star.

The Belgian coach may not get much of a budget during January due to the Ibrox side failing to qualify for the Champions League along with their major expenditure during the summer, yet there is no harm in potentially making a move for the 29-year-old gem in the coming months to bolster their attacking options.

Securing wins over his next few games will give Clement plenty of credit in the bank and this could spur on a new era in Glasgow, and if Olunga manages to replace the goals and presence of Morelos, the Colombian could be a thing of the past.

The country’s sports minister is considering a request to issue a moratorium on the board, preventing it from making any further announcements about the tournament

Firdose Moonda20-Aug-2018Cricket South Africa has run into more trouble in their efforts to get a T20 league up and running.The country’s minster for sports, Tokozile Xasa, has been asked to consider issuing a moratorium on the board, preventing them from making any announcements regarding the tournament until they appear before the parliamentary committee for sports and recreation.This request, delivered by letter on Monday morning, was made by Darren Bergman, the deputy shadow minister of sports and recreation and has been seen by ESPNcricinfo. Bergman asserts that the damage CSA have already suffered and the risks of greater financial losses are sufficient for parliament to demand assurances from the board that they can get a T20 competition up and running without any further hiccups.”While I do not believe that politicians should interfere in the running of sports and that we are best placed to play a supportive role, I am concerned that Cricket SA has the potential to risk major reputational and financial loss both to the sports as well as to the players and sponsors. This could have a negative impact locally and internationally,” Bergman’s letter reads. His comments were in reference to the legal action CSA is facing over the postponed GLT20.At least four owners have threatened CSA with legal action and reserved their rights to a team in the new T20 competition, despite the board announcing a new equity deal with broadcaster SuperSport. That deal is now believed to have fallen through, with SuperSport reportedly happy to telecast matches but averse to holding a 49% stake in the tournament.CSA’s board met in the weekend, planning to make an announcement on the future of their 20-over competition in the next two weeks, but if Bergaman’s request is successful, they will need to appear before parliament first. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Bergman said forcing to CSA to delay any further announcement would be “responsible rather than reckless.”CSA were due to address the parliamentary committee on Tuesday but asked for an extension while it prepares for next month’s AGM. If a moratorium comes in place – and Bergman hopes to hear back in the next few days – CSA may hasten their appearance in parliament. Then they need to satisfy the committee that they can conduct the 20-over tournament smoothly, despite the legal battles looming, the lack of a sponsor and the uncertainty over SuperSport’s role. All of this points to a likelihood that this new T20 league might be postponed as well, with the current six-team franchise competition continuing as usual.

In the first ODI, it had been Sri Lanka’s top-order batting that failed most dramatically, with five wickets falling before the ninth over. In the second ODI, Sri Lanka’s poor catching had helped decide the match, with captain Angelo Mathews later describing his team’s fielding as a “joke” and stating that they had been like “schoolkids” in the field.On Sunday, Sri Lanka lost their 11th straight ODI to South Africa, as well as the ongoing series. This time, it was the bowlers who let the team down. They leaked 114 runs in the last 10 overs, having also conceded 64 in the first 10. These were the defining passages of the game, for batting coach Thilan Samaraweera.”We are very disappointed about the 3-0 series loss. Everyone is quite disappointed. We didn’t bowl as well as we wanted. Our expectation was to get two wickets in the first 10 overs. We got one wicket, but we gave them a lot of boundary balls in that first 10, just as we did in the last 10 overs. That hurt us.”We thought that this pitch would settle down after 2pm. But unfortunately we gave away 363, and that’s a lot. There were about three or four overs in the last 10 overs, in which they scored 18 or 20 runs. And when a team gets to 360, you have to play your shots in the chase. Unfortunately, a few of the shots our top order played went straight to fielders.”Although Samaraweera did not blame the batsmen for this loss, he did concede that Sri Lanka’s top order is nowhere near finalised, as they look ahead to the World Cup. In this match, they had promoted Thisara Perera to No. 5, because he was “batting well” according to Samaraweera, and could have “energised the innings a bit by hitting 70 or 80 quickly”. In terms of a long-term top order, though, Dhananjaya de Silva suggested he could be an option, hitting 84 off 66 balls at No. 7 to give Sri Lanka a glimmer of hope after they had been reduced to 155 for 6. This was de Silva’s first match of the series, and if he continues to perform, he could become an option in the top three, as he opens the innings for his domestic team. It does not hurt his chances that he bowls offspin as well.”There are a little more than 20 matches until the World Cup, and so far we don’t know what positions our top order batsmen will take up,” Samaraweera said. “We don’t even know who the top three are yet. But Dhananjaya did bat very well, and we saw that he made the best of the opportunity that he got. You need someone in the top six to bowl, other than Thisara Perera. Dhananjaya is a better bowler than a part-timer, I believe. He batted in a new position and he did really well. I think that’s a positive for Sri Lankan cricket.”

Stefan Savic has laughed off Marcus Thuram’s bizarre ball game during Atletico Madrid’s thrilling Champions League triumph over Inter.

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Spanish giants prevailed on penaltiesThrilling contest at Civitas MetropolitanoPlenty of clashes caught the eye in MadridWHAT HAPPENED?

The Liga giants are through to the quarter-finals of continental competition after prevailing in a last-16 penalty shootout with rivals from Serie A. Diego Simeone’s side held their nerve after the contest ended 2-2 on aggregate.

AdvertisementWHAT SAVIC SAID ABOUT THURAM

Former Manchester City defender Savic had plenty to celebrate afterwards and was able to make light of a “strange situation” in extra-time that saw him grabbed in a rather sensitive area by Inter forward Thuram. The Montenegro international told of Thuram’s hit below the belt: “It was a strange situation because I’m not used to it! But it’s okay, it can happen in the game. It’s okay. We laughed after that and I don’t know… It’s a strange situation but it’s not so important.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Savic preferred to focus on Atletico’s progress into the last eight, adding: “It’s amazing. It’s a dream night for us. If I wasn’t today on the pitch today, I would like to be in the stands to watch a game like this. It was an incredible game, like a final of the Champions League. It was amazing. I’m very happy that we won this game because we were in a very difficult situation. Nobody believed in us except our amazing fans and the team. We knew that we needed to fight until the end, we knew it would be a long game. The boss said before the game, ‘Prepare everybody, be ready, because it’s going to be a long night’, and it was a long night and all the guys that entered showed the same spirit, the same bravery. We are very happy for the boys.”

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GettyWHAT NEXT?

Atletico will discover their quarter-final opponents when the next Champions League draw takes place on Friday, with a star-studded line-up also seeing Manchester City, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund make it to that stage.

واصل منتخب مصر الأوليمبي تدريباته القوية اليوم تحت قيادة مديره الفني البرازيلي ميكالي باستاد الدفاع الجوي.

ويأتي ذلك ضمن استعدادات منتخب مصر الأولمبي للمشاركة فى دورة الألعاب الأولمبية “أولمبياد” باريس 2024 من 24 يوليو الجاري إلى 9 أغسطس المقبل.

منتخب مصر الأولمبي ينهي إجراءات السفر إلى فرنسا استعدادا لـ أولمبياد باريس

وخاض منتخب مصر مرانه كامل العدد لليوم الثاني على التوالي بعد انضمام محمد النني وأحمد سيد زيزو إلى المعسكر.

وشهد المران سرعة انسجام النني وزيزو مع اللاعبين في التدريبات، وهو الأمر الذي زاد من الأجواء الإيجابية في معسكر المنتخب الذي تسيطر عليه روح المحبة والإصرار من الجميع للدفاع بقوة عن أحلام مصر الأولمبية في باريس.

وحرص على التواجد في التدريب جمال علام رئيس اتحاد الكرة وعدد من أعضاء المجلس، حلمي مشهور ومحمد بركات المشرف على المنتخب.

ويختتم منتخب مصر الأولمبي اليوم الأربعاء معسكره، قبل مغادرته إلى مدينة بوردو الفرنسية لأداء وديتين مع أوكرانيا والعراق يومي 14 و17 يوليو الجاري ثم السفر إلى مدينة نانت الفرنسية استعدادا لأول لقاء رسمي بـ الأولمبياد مع الدومينيكان والمقرر له يوم 24 يوليو.

MatériaMais Notícias

O São Paulo vive seu melhor momento na temporada e muito disto deve-se ao crescimento dos garotos das categorias de base sob o comando de Fernando Diniz. Depois do LANCE! mostrar que quase um terço dos gols anotados na temporada foram feitos pelos atletas ‘Made in Cotia’, os números seguem em constante melhora. De lá para cá, os jogadores formados do clube marcaram em praticamente todos os jogos do Tricolor.

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Dona do melhor ataque do São Paulo desde a temporada 2006, a atual equipe marcou 80 gols em 43 jogos em 2020. Os garotos da base representam mais de 36% desse número, com 29 gols marcados. As boas fases de Igor Gomes, Gabriel Sara e – sobretudo – Brenner são determinantes a marca positiva.

Na última entrevista coletiva do clube, o técnico Fernando Diniz chegou a falar sobre a importância de se acreditar nos jogadores – sobretudo aqueles recém-chegados das categorias de base. O comandante do São Paulo utilizou o meia Igor Gomes como exemplo para falar sobre seu ponto de vista e explicar o porquê de sua equipe estar vivendo um bom momento.

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-O que a gente precisa é saber que as pessoas oscilam mesmo. Todo mundo oscila. Queremos valorizar só quem acerta o tempo todo e ninguém acerta o tempo todo. É assim que perdemos muito jogadores aqui no Brasil. A pressão é cruel. Quando não consegue responder a gente vai jogando muito jogadores em segundo plano. Falo isso constantemente e temos que mudar isso. Todo mundo vive um momento ruim – afirmou Diniz ao exemplificar a questão.

Atualmente, o São Paulo tem cinco jogadores das categorias de base em sua equipe titular (Diego Costa, Luan, Igor Gomes, Gabriel Sara e Brenner) e cada vez mais dá espaços para os garotos. Importante ressaltar que desde que chegou ao clube do Morumbi, Diniz trouxe apenas um jogador – o atacante Luciano, envolvido em uma troca com o Grêmio pelo também atacante Everton.