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Despite concerns that they may lose their Europa League spot, Crystal Palace are pushing ahead with their transfer business and have now reportedly joined the race to sign a £150,000-a-week midfielder.

Latest on Crystal Palace's Europa League status

Crystal Palace not only sealed history by defeating Manchester City in the FA Cup final, they also sealed their place in next season’s Europa League. Or so they thought. The Eagles could yet have their bubble burst by UEFA, whose rules state that owners cannot have multiple clubs in the same competition.

John Textor is the majority owner of Lyon, who qualified for the Europa League in France, and the solution to the matter is a complicated one. The South London club are also unable to drop into the Europa Conference League after David Blitzer, who owns a stake in both Palace and Danish side Brondby, saw the latter qualify for UEFA’s third competition.

UEFA has reportedly rejected Crystal Palace’s offer to place Textor and Blitzer’s shares into a blind trust – following the route that Manchester City and Manchester United took to avoid the same situation – after those at Selhurst Park missed the deadline to register the trust.

Whether a solution comes to the fore remains to be seen. Chairman Steve Parish and Textor reportedly held a meeting with UEFA on Tuesday in an attempt to reach a resolution but, as things stand, Crystal Palace’s European place is at serious risk.

Crystal Palace hold strong interest in £30m defender also wanted by Bayern

The Eagles have now identified a defensive “phenomenon” as a priority target.

By
Dominic Lund

Jun 5, 2025

The part that UEFA’s verdict could play both on and off the pitch for Palace is undoubtedly important. Without their Europa League place, the Eagles will undoubtedly struggle to welcome the same calibre of stars and may even lose some of Oliver Glasner’s key men. Whilst the situation rumbles on, however, so is their transfer business.

Crystal Palace battling to sign Kalvin Phillips

According to Caught Offside, Crystal Palace are now battling to sign Kalvin Phillips from Manchester City this summer. The midfielder is once again on the move – this time potentially permanently – and could finally revive his career following mixed fortunes on loan at West Ham United and Ipswich Town.

Selhurst Park could make perfect sense too. Rumours have been coming thick and fast regarding Adam Wharton’s Crystal Palace future and they’re only likely to intensify if the Eagles lose their Europa League place. The South London club must, therefore, prepare for the worst and that’s where Phillips could prove to be a top candidate to arrive, especially since he reportedly wants to leave The Etihad this summer.

An experienced midfielder who even has two Premier League medals to his name, the main stumbling block for Phillips this summer could be his reported £150,000-a-week salary. What may make those negotiations easier, however, is the fact that Phillips is represented by the same agency as Palace shot-stopper Dean Henderson.

A worrying injury update has now emerged on a Sunderland star ahead of this weekend’s trip to Coventry City in the first leg of the Championship play-offs.

Black Cats gearing up for play-off clash

The Black Cats have earned the opportunity to end their eight-year absence from the Premier League, courtesy of a fourth-placed finish in the second tier, but they could have their work cut out, given their form heading into the play-offs.

Regis Le Bris’ side are winless in their last six Championship games, losing their last five games on the spin, while upcoming opponents Coventry have fought valiantly in the second half of the season to secure a play-off finish under the helm of Frank Lampard.

While it could be difficult to re-gather momentum heading into the play-offs, Le Bris has insisted that a lack of a prize to play for may have affected his team towards the tail end of the season, saying: “We had nothing to chase and in that situation, it’s very difficult for all the teams in the world.

Worry for Le Bris as Newcastle eye possible move for £25m Sunderland star

This would be a massive blow for the Black Cats.

ByHenry Jackson Apr 13, 2025

“Look at Paris St Germain, for example. They won the title and went unbeaten all season. But as they started to prepare the (Champions League) semi-final, they lost two games in a row.”

The Sunderland boss had been hoping Romaine Mundle would return to selection for play-offs, which could have given his side a much-needed boost, but there has now been a worrying update ahead of Friday’s trip to Coventry.

Le Bris said: “I don’t know exactly who will be available but I don’t think we will quite have a full squad,”

“I think it will be a little bit soon for Romaine and also for Aji to be involved in the first leg. Most of the squad will be available. Romaine and Aji can hopefully be involved on Tuesday night.”

"Brilliant" Mundle could be huge miss for Sunderland

It looks very unlikely that Mundle will be involved this weekend, with Le Bris indicating he may not even be able to be involved in the second leg, and the winger could be a huge miss for the Black Cats.

The 22-year-old has been a key player when fit this season, picking up five goals and two assists in the Championship, and his absence coincides with the major drop-off in form, underlining his importance to the side.

Sunderland’s last five fixtures

Result

Queens Park Rangers (h)

0-1

Oxford United (a)

2-0

Blackburn Rovers (h)

0-1

Bristol City (a)

2-1

Swansea City (h)

0-1

Captain Dan Neil will also be disappointed by the news that the forward is unlikely to play a part in Saturday’s game, having lauded his teammate as “brilliant” in the past.

The news that Mundle is set to be unavailable will be a major concern for Sunderland ahead of the play-offs, especially considering their very poor form heading into the tie against Coventry.

Birmingham City haven’t always enjoyed Championship life in recent memory, with the Blues last finishing inside the top half of the notoriously difficult division way back in 2016.

Since then, it’s always been a drab finish served up by Birmingham in the lower reaches of the EFL’s elite league, with their ongoing downward trajectory seeing a painful relegation finally occur at the end of the 2023/24 season.

Now, however, the sleeping giants seem to be back on the rise after clinching the League One title with ease, with the Tom Wagner-backed Blues ready to spend big again this summer to try and take the second tier by storm.

How Birmingham could sign their answer to Vardy

With Phil Neumann’s signature already wrapped up from Hannover 96 improving Birmingham at the back, the newly promoted side’s focus could now switch to enhancing their already potent attack.

Peterborough United sensation Kwame Poku has been linked with a move on a free transfer, which would more than boost the ambitious Championship club in this department, having registered 21 goal involvements this season.

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However, there’s one statement signing in the offing that could really take Chris Davies’ men to the next level.

Amazingly, reports at the back end of last month suggested that Davies and Co may well attempt to lure former striker Che Adams back to St. Andrew’s this summer, with the former Blues centre-forward currently enjoying life out in Italy with Serie A titans Torino.

But, the allure of coming back to the Championship and being the club’s top dog could be very tempting for the goal-hungry 28-year-old.

How Adams can be Birmingham's own Vardy

If a statement reunion does get over the line, Birmingham might be about to win their very own version of Leicester City legend Jamie Vardy.

Why? Well, in the words of the Daily Mail’s Mark Wilson, ‘Adams is Scotland’s answer to Jamie Vardy’, having traded non-league football for Premier League riches, like his former Fleetwood Town counterpart.

Obviously, Adams hasn't quite reached the dizzy heights of Vardy's glory days yet, with the Foxes legend managing to lift a Premier League title across the course of his 199-goal spell at the King Power Stadium.

But, in a similar fashion to the 26-time England international, the 28-year-old Adams has never looked back since being given his first opportunities to impress in the EFL.

Indeed, the former Ilkeston youngster first settled into life as a goalscoring menace in the Championship and beyond on the books of the Blues.

Premier League

144 goals

25 goals

Championship

38 goals

49 goals

League One

0 goals

11 goals

FA Cup

7 goals

3 goals

EFL Cup

8 goals

11 goals

Sourced by Transfermarkt

The table above really reinforces how much of a clinical finisher the Scotland international has been over the years, up and down the relentless divisions, with Adams amazingly boasting more career goals in the Championship than Vardy, even if he has had struggles in the Premier League.

Therefore, bringing the Torino attacker back to Birmingham next season could work wonders for Davies’ men, especially as they aim to consolidate themselves as a second-tier outfit again.

Much like Vardy too, it seems as if Adams is gradually just getting the better the more his varied career chugs along, with the 28-year-old actually firing home ten goals for Torino this season so far, which is one more strike than Vardy’s own total leading the line for Leicester.

Moreover, the last time he was regularly performing at Birmingham’s level, the “fantastic” striker – as he has been previously lauded by ex-boss Ralph Hassenhuttl – managed to fire home a blistering tally of 15 league strikes for Southampton.

Therefore, Davies will be hopeful that Adams can just pick up from where he last left off if he does seal a return.

Birmingham would really show they mean business back in the Championship by winning Adams’ signature, with second-tier defences no doubt scared stiff by the prospect of the 28-year-old causing chaos again.

Birmingham can make Stansfield better by signing "outstanding" EFL star

Birmingham City would look immediately more confident in attack in the Championship if they signed this outstanding forward.

ByKelan Sarson May 14, 2025

Nottingham Forest are now eyeing a move to sign a “special” Manchester City player this summer, according to Sky Sports.

Forest's summer transfer plans underway

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side got back to winning ways in the Premier League on Monday against Tottenham Hotspur, and the hope will be that they can now keep that run going until the end of the season, where it will give them a great chance of securing Champions League football for next season.

Nottingham Forest now advance in contact to sign £135k-p/w Serie A "star"

He was wanted in January.

ByCharlie Smith Apr 26, 2025

Playing in that competition could see Forest’s summer transfer plans significantly change, as the money they will get from entering it could be used to bring new players to the club. Signing a new striker seems to be a high priority for the Reds this summer, as they have been heavily reliant on Chris Wood for much of this campaign.

Forest have been linked with a move for Wolves’ Matheus Cunha in recent weeks and months, but it looks as though Manchester United are set to win that race. Meaning Forest now have to turn to alternative targets and strikers such as Anis Hadj Moussa from Feyenoord and Dominic Calvert-Lewin of Everton have been mentioned and added to their shortlist. But they may all be backup options, as it’s been claimed that the Reds are eyeing a move to sign Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford as an alternative to Cunha, who will likely cost £50 million.

Nottingham Forest keen on signing £25m James McAtee

As well as looking for a new number nine, the Reds are also in the market to strengthen their midfield options. According to Sky Sports, Nottingham Forest are interested in signing James McAtee from Manchester City.

Sky Sports state that McAtee is of interest to the Reds, irrelevant of what happens to Antony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odi, who have both been linked with a move away from the City Ground. It goes on to state that it isn’t clear if City would be looking to sell McAtee this summer, despite the fact that he is out of contract in 2026.

Forest are not alone in showing interest in McAtee, as it’s been reported that Man United are also keeping an eye on the Englishman, and they could make a shock move to sign a player from their bitter rivals.

Apps

32

Goals

7

Assists

0

The 22-year-old, who has been dubbed “special” by Man City boss Pep Guardiola, has played 25 times for the Blues this season but has struggled to nail down a regular starting spot. He has started just eight games overall, two of which have come in the league.

Despite the lack of regular minutes, it’s been reported earlier this year that if McAtee were to leave the Etihad Stadium, City would want to receive around £25 million for his services. Forest may see McAtee as a player who can help take some of the burden off midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, who has been so important this season and will be once again, especially if they secure Champions League football.

Boult’s success – wickets and the economy rate – in the death overs this season has transformed a side that looked down and out not even a month ago

Sidharth Monga23-Apr-20251:43

Is Rohit Sharma well and truly back?

We know Trent Boult is the all-time leading wicket-taker in the first over in IPL history. He is now also only 11 behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 77 wickets in IPL powerplays, getting to 66 with the wickets of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma in Mumbai Indians’ (MI) fourth straight win, which made it only four powerplay wickets for him in IPL 2025.However, there is another development that MI will be pleased about. Boult has never taken more than nine wickets at the death in a single IPL season. He already has six this year. Then again, wickets should not ideally be the yardstick at the death because batters are just swinging, as we saw with his dismissals of Abhinav Manohar and Pat Cummins in the last over. The real yardstick should be the economy. Boult has never finished an IPL with a better economy at the death than his 9.37 this year so far.It is all the more striking because in his years at Rajasthan Royals (RR), Boult was hardly ever seen as an option to bowl at the death. In his three years with RR, Boult bowled at the death in only 20 matches out of 41. And never more than an over. This year, he has bowled an over at the death in eight out of the nine matches he has played. It makes him a bit of a specialist in the slog overs.Related

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Fourteen bowlers have bowled more than six overs at the death this IPL. Four have a better economy than Boult’s. One of them is Jasprit Bumrah, who usually bowls two per game at the death unless MI desperately need a wicket earlier. Bumrah is going at 7.75 an over at the death this IPL. MI are not anywhere near the best bowling team at the death this IPL but that’s because Bumrah was not available sooner. Since Bumrah’s return, they are bowling three death overs for 25 on an average.”You just need to be prepared for any role anytime,” Boult said in the press conference after the match. “At Rajasthan, I was prepared to bowl at any stage of the match. I’ve been lucky enough to play ten IPL seasons where it hasn’t always been the same recipe every time.”The first thing is you have to always want the ball. This tournament’s such a big tournament, you’re coming up against the best players, and it’s always a big desire for me to take on the best players. Having that mindset of wanting the ball, and wanting to take on the big players, is always a good start.”With complete bowlers such as Bumrah and Boult, it is not about being more suited for one phase over the other. They will find ways to be effective in any phase. Of course, you want Boult to be there when the swing has to be maximised – which is perhaps why RR used him more at the top – but if you ask him to bowl at the death, he is good enough to bowl well there too. And since MI have Deepak Chahar to use the new ball, they can afford to keep Boult back for one quality over at the death as well.Boult and Bumrah also happen to be the two bowlers on whom MI’s last IPL triumph was built, back in 2020. Since the two have come together this year, MI have won four out of five matches. Is this the sauce they have been looking for?

Another title for Australia, but what next for India?

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jun-2023Is a one-off final enough to decide the winner of a World Test Championship cycle? Did India really blunder it at The Oval? What’s up with the India-A programme, and how should the BCCI look at structuring Indian cricket going forward?Sidharth Monga joins Kaustubh Kumar and Vishal Dikshit to discuss all the burning questions.