AB de Villiers played another cameo as the hosts chased down 101 with six wickets in hand

The Report by Brydon Coverdale12-Mar-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe hardest job on day four in Port Elizabeth was not chasing 101 for victory. Through the majesty of AB de Villiers, South Africa did that with ease and levelled the series 1-1. No, the most difficult task was assigned to whoever chose the Man of the Match. Would it be de Villiers, whose unbeaten 126 in the first innings was not only a game-changer but one of the most impressive knocks in recent history, and whose run-a-ball 28 in the second innings helped seal the win? Or would it be Kagiso Rabada, whose 11-wicket haul was irresistible to watch and completely blunted Australia’s batting?Certainly it was Rabada who lit up the morning session at St George’s Park. South Africa began the day clearly in the stronger position, but Australia were 41 runs ahead and still had five wickets in hand. If they let Australia’s lower order off the hook, South Africa could have been faced with a tricky chase of 200-plus. The key seemed to be Mitchell Marsh, the last member of Australia’s top six, who was unbeaten on 39 at the start of play. Rabada didn’t even let Marsh survive an over. He nipped one back in to Marsh, at speed, to find the gap and rattle his stumps.Rabada followed by having Pat Cummins caught by Theunis de Bruyn at gully for 5, and he added Mitchell Starc, who was caught behind for 1. Rabada finished with match figures of 11 for 150, and he became just the third South African to achieve a ten-wicket Test haul on at least four occasions. For perspective, the others are Dale Steyn, whose five ten-wicket hauls have come in 86 Tests, and Makhaya Ntini, whose 101-Test career brought four ten-fors. Rabada has four in just his 28th Test. He is still only 22 years old. This is a young man who could be absolutely anything.Perhaps a caveat is needed to the earlier statement. There was one other task on day four that might have been even harder than determining the Man of the Match. This job fell to match referee Jeff Crowe, who had to decide whether Rabada would be suspended for the remainder of the series for his shoulder bump with Steven Smith during Australia’s first innings. In isolation, the incident would not be worthy of a ban, but Rabada’s bank of demerit points changes that. After a hearing on day three, Crowe chose to defer his verdict for 24 hours.Kagiso Rabada celebrates a wicket with his team-mates•Associated Press

Australia’s innings finished with Nathan Lyon being caught behind off Lungi Ngidi for 5 and Josh Hazlewood caught at deep midwicket off Keshav Maharaj for 17. Tim Paine remained unbeaten on 28 in Australia’s 239, and their lead of 100 was never likely to be truly competitive. One of the major concerns for Australia as they head to the third Test in Cape Town is that not a single Australian batsman has scored a century so far in this series. South Africa, by comparison, have had hundreds in each Test – from Aiden Markram in Durban and de Villiers in Port Elizabeth.Australia had the chance to snap up Markram for 7 in this chase, but his edge off Hazlewood was put down at first slip by Mitchell Marsh, hardly a promising start for a team needing a miracle to avoid defeat. Wickets did fall, but not enough. Dean Elgar was caught and bowled by Lyon off a leading edge for 5, in a near carbon-copy of his dismissal in the first innings in Durban, and Markram was caught at second slip by Smith off Hazlewood for 21, but all that did was bring de Villiers to the crease.Australia’s minor sniff was snuffed out by the aggression of de Villiers, who struck four fours and one six during his 28 off 26 balls, and his 49-run stand with Hashim Amla delivered South Africa to within 20 runs of victory. Both men fell – Amla caught behind off Cummins for 27 and de Villiers caught at short-leg off Lyon – but Faf du Plessis and de Bruyn steered South Africa home with no further loss, a cover-driven boundary from de Bruyn confirming the six-wicket win.The teams will head to Cape Town for the third Test with South Africa looking in the stronger form, but potentially without their strike bowler Rabada, who is far and away on top of the series wicket tally with 15 at 16.80. Whether they are the same threat without him remains to be seen. And, just for the record, in the race to be Man of the Match, Rabada beat de Villiers by a nose.

Aston Villa have seen an abundance of talent grace the club over the years, with some names more memorable than others with reference to the legacy they leave behind.

Unai Emery is in the process of writing his own legacy with the Villans, which he has started strongly by firing the Midlands side back into European competition for the first time in 2010.

The Spaniard joined the club back in October 2022 and hasn’t looked back, with only Pep Guardiola earning more points than him in 2023 in the Premier League.

As well as guiding Villa to make assured improvements on the pitch, the former Arsenal boss has inspired some players in particular to rediscover their form, with the likes of Tyrone Mings and John McGinn shining under his instruction.

While Emery spun the results of Steven Gerrard’s squad to take them from 16th to 7th during his first season, the Spaniard has continued the Englishman’s development of one notable player.

Aston Villa Premier League finishes since promotion

Season

Manager

Rank

2019/20

Dean Smith

17th

2020/21

Dean Smith

11th

2021/22

Steven Gerrard

14th

2022/23

Unai Emery

7th

Academy star Jacob Ramsey was unearthed by Dean Smith and nurtured by Gerrard, to then become a regular starter in the four-time Europa League winner’s system.

At just 22-years-old, the academy graduate has secured 101 senior appearances for his boyhood club, with many more expected to come once he recovers from injury.

The midfielder will hope to follow in the footsteps of other midfielders before him, with the benchmark high in terms of names he could one day aspire to reach, and surpass, the levels of at Villa Park.

How good was Fabian Delph?

With 134 appearances for Aston Villa, one memorable figure in midfield over the years for the club is Fabian Delph, who rewrote his own history from a positive to a negative narrative.

The Englishman was signed from Leeds United in 2009 for £8m on the back of some impressive performances for the Whites as a teen, inspiring Martin O’Neill to chase his services and obtain his signature at Villa Park.

During his time in the Midlands, the Bradford-born ace rose through the seasons of his career, going from a young prospect to an England international and a midfielder with expertise playing in the Premier League.

That wasn’t always the story for the Englishman, who suffered multiple injuries during his time at Villa, including an ACL rupture in 2010 that saw him miss a significant chunk of his development time.

The midfielder was also shipped back to Leeds for a half-season loan spell in the hope that he could rediscover his form and fitness, with the Villans remaining loyal to the player whom they saw so much potential in.

Things began to pick up for Delph from the 2012/13 campaign, where he emerged as a force to be reckoned with in midfield, maintaining his form into the next year that will go down as arguably his best term in the Midlands.

In the 2013/14 season, the former Villa ace showed why O’Neill pushed to bring him to the club, as he secured 34 Premier League appearances, contributing to six goals, scoring three and assisting three.

Such form earned him his first England call-up in September 2014, when Roy Hodgson handed him his debut in an international friendly against Norway.

The midfielder went on to receive 20 caps for his country, with four of them coming in the 2018 World Cup.

Delph owed a lot to Villa for sticking by him during the lows of his frequent injury issues, as well as giving him the space and tools to discover his form and quality in the top-flight, with him even tipped to be a “captain in the making” by Paul Lambert in 2015.

What happened to Fabian Delph?

2015 was a whirlwind year for Delph, who became a hero in the eyes of the Villa faithful as he suppressed interest from Manchester City to commit his future to the club and captain the club going forward.

The Englishman was rumoured to be wanted by City, and dealt with speculation the way that those in the Midlands would’ve wanted, setting “the record straight” to announce “I’m not leaving” via the club’s official site, relayed by the Guardian.

Not even a week later, and the midfielder was unveiled as a City player, as Manuel Pellegrini’s side exercised the £8m release clause in his contract, with the player accepting the move.

Delph didn’t have to “set the record straight” in the same way that Villa didn’t have to hand the player their full support at times when he wasn’t performing or fit, however the 25-year-old went against his word and left the club.

On his day, the Englishman was a superb member of Villa’s squad and an integral figure at the club, however he left a villain, and not the type that is lauded by those at Villa Park.

Could Jacob Ramsey succeed the legacy of Fabian Delph?

Villa fans will always remember Delph with a sense of hostility due to his actions, however the midfielder can be made forgettable with other talent poised to succeed his playing legacy at the club.

A fellow central midfielder, Ramsey is in position to surpass Delph’s legacy with ease, with him already recording more goal contributions to the shunned former player at the age of just 22.

In 101 senior appearances, the fellow Englishman has had a hand in 22 goals, scoring 12 and assisting 10, coming of age under Gerrard and continuing his development under Emery to be seen as a crucial member of the squad.

Born in Birmingham and a product of Villa’s academy, Ramsey is already a fan favourite at the club, as well as him being a “serious talent”, as dubbed by U23 scout Antonio Mango.

Already valued around the £50m mark, the tools are there for the midfielder to not only become one of the most memorable central midfielders in the Premier League era for Villa, but to also block out names such as Delph, who left a bitter taste in mouths in the Midlands.

The now-retired villain could have had a similar path at Villa Park, however his lack of loyalty can easily be replaced by players such as Ramsey, who are committed and thriving at the club, with no limit to just how far their talents can stretch.

Alastair Cook will attempt to restate his England credentials in front of the England captain, Joe Root, in one of the Championship’s most attractive early-season fixtures

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2018Alastair Cook, in need of early-season runs to strengthen his conviction that he still has a Test future, will miss the first two Specsavers Championship games of the season before returning for the defending champions, Essex, against Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl on April 27.Cook’s second match will come against a Yorkshire side also likely to include Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, one of the stand-out fixtures in the first weeks of the county season as Yorkshire attempt to avenge a 376-run thrashing at the end of 2017.Cook has passed 50 only twice in his last 24 Test innings, stretching back to late July, although when he did so he went on to make a double century on each occasion.But Root, his successor as England captain, has already stared down his worrying sequence and predicted that he will be back in an England shirt against Pakistan and India this summer.Six members of the England Test squad who will shortly head home from New Zealand have been made available to get straight back into action on the opening day on April 13.James Vince and Liam Livingstone are due to be the first to enter the fray, with their counties in action in the opening round of Division One fixtures which start on Friday week – Vince for Hampshire against newly-promoted Worcestershire at the Ageas Bowl, and Livingstone in his new role as Lancashire captain at home to Nottinghamshire at Emirates Old Trafford.Then Mark Stoneman and Ben Foakes are set to face Vince’s Hampshire when Surrey begin their Division One campaign at the Kia Oval on Friday April 20 – when the Somerset pair of Craig Overton and Jack Leach will make their first county appearances as England players at home to Worcestershire at the Cooper Associates County Ground.All six players will remain available for the three further rounds of Championship matches that are scheduled before the start of the Royal London One-Day Cup on May 17.The England management have yet to make a decision on the early-season availability of James Anderson for Lancashire.England player early-season availability:Alastair Cook (Essex): Hampshire (April 27-30), Yorkshire (May 4-7), Worcestershire (May 11-14)
James Vince (Hants): All games from April 13
Liam Livingstone (Lancs): All games from April 13
James Anderson (Lancs): TBC
Dawid Malan (Middlesex): Glamorgan (27-30 April), Sussex (4-7 May), Gloucestershire (11-14 May)
Eoin Morgan (Middlesex): All games
Stuart Broad (Notts): Worcestershire (27-30 April), Hampshire (4-7 May), Lancashire (11-14 May)
Mark Stoneman and Ben Foakes (Surrey): All games from April 20
Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow (Yorks): Essex (4-7 May), Surrey (11-14 May)
Liam Plunkett, Gary Ballance, and David Willey (Yorks): All matches.

Four wickets from offspinner Tom Sole helped Scotland to four-wicket win over Hong Kong at the Bulawayo Athletic Club. Sole’s 4 for 15 in ten overs restricted Hong Kong to just 91, and captain Kyle Coetzer then took his side to their second win in two matches with an unbeaten 41, though Scotland made heavy weather of the small target.After Mark Watt and Alasdair Evans made early incisions for Scotland, Sole eviscerated the middle order and apart from the opening stand there was no partnership of substance to steady Hong Kong.The damage started with Sole’s first delivery, which rushed on with the arm from around the wicket to pin Anshuman Rath lbw. In the same over, Scott McKechnie misjudged the line of an off stump delivery, the ball rushing through his defences to hit the stumps. From 46 for 0, Hong Kong had slipped to 52 for 4.Things were about to get worse for Hong Kong. Immediately after the drinks break, their captain Babar Hayat skipped down the track to Sole, but didn’t get close to the pitch of the delivery. The ball spun sharply in to him, taking the inside edge and looping up via the left pad to be easily caught by Craig Wallace at short leg.Hong Kong’s lower middle order appeared incapable of digging them out of the hole. Singles were hard to come by, while every attacking stroke seemed to bring a wicket. With an in-out field, Scotland cut off singles in the inner ring and left a couple of outfielders in place for the lofted stroke.The tactic soon paid dividends when Safyaan Sharif’s pace rushed Shahid Wasif’s pull shot, the ball looping tamely off the splice to be caught by Brad Wheal at midwicket. Hong Kong were 61 for 6 then, and that soon became 67 for 7 when Waqas Barkat charged down the track and swished airily at Sole to give the offspinner his fourth wicket.Tanwir Afzal scratched around for 29 deliveries, and then he too fell to a mistimed pull – his first shot in anger. After Watt bowled Ehsan Nawaz for his second wicket, Evans returned to have Nadeem Ahmed caught at second slip to wrap up the innings for 91.Coetzer led Scotland’s chase with aplomb. Weathering a bristling opening spell from Nawaz that brought the wickets of Matthew Cross and the hero of Scotland’s opening win over Afghanistan, Calum MacLeod, Coetzer attacked Hong Kong’s spinners. Nadeem Ahmed was swatted over long off for six and down the ground for four more.George Munsey pressed Scotland towards their target, pushing his luck with an edged stroke and a couple of reverse sweeps at Ehsan Khan before the offspinner got his revenge with a quicker one that trapped the left hander lbw. Khan bowled a sweeping Craig Wallacefor his third wicket, and Hong Kong then placed a short leg and two slips for the offspinner.Watt laced a cut behind point to get Scotland within touching distance of the win, but he then top-edged an attacking stroke to be caught by Nizakat Khan off Aizaz Khan’s medium pace. Scotland were six down then, but Sharif sealed the result with a flicked boundary off his legs.

Aston Villa are on the road to big things under Unai Emery, with the Spaniard transforming the morale and progression of the club since his arrival in October 2022.

The former Arsenal manager took charge following the dismissal of Steven Gerrard, at a time when the Midlands side were sat in 16th place and short of inspiration and direction.

A strong summer transfer window has maintained the high expectations going into the 2023/24 campaign ahead, with the club transfer record broken in the £51.9m signing of Moussa Diaby.

While the Villans have pulled off some impressive business deals of late, other transfers have proved to be of far less success.

How much did Aston Villa sign Diego Carlos for?

Captured from Sevilla for a reported fee of £26m last summer, Diego Carlos' arrival was highly anticipated due to his performances in Spain.

The move was a positive one for the player, who sealed his move to the Premier League and almost doubled his weekly wages, going from earning £54.5k-per-week to £100k-per-week in the Midlands.

Aston Villa's top ten earners

Rank

Player

Weekly wage

1

Clement Lenglet

£150,000

2

Youri Tielemans

£150,000

3

Boubacar Traore

£150,000

4

Philippe Coutinho

£125,000

5

Lucas Digne

£120,000

6

Emiliano Martinez

£120,000

7

John McGinn

£120,000

8

Diego Carlos

£100,000

9

Tyrone Mings

£100,000

10

Leon Bailey

£100,000

Figures via Capology

This summer the club recruited two further centre-backs in the loan deal for Clement Lenglet and the £31.5m capture of Pau Torres, but why did Villa feel the need to sign two more central defenders the summer after acquiring Carlos?

What has Diego Carlos contributed to Villa?

After spending a total of around £31m on the player since his arrival, taking into consideration his transfer fee plus salary, the Brazilian’s contribution has been significantly lower than anticipated at the time of his arrival.

Sadly for the 30-year-old, his lack of impact has come mainly due to no fault of his own, as he’s missed the majority of his time at the club so far down to injury.

On his second Premier League appearance for his new team last campaign, the defender suffered an Achilles tendon rupture, leaving him needing surgery and not making a return to the side until May.

Following the ACL injury to Tyrone Mings on the opening day this season, Carlos has had more of a role to play, however was forced to withdraw after just 19 minutes last time out, due to a slight injury.

Journalist Jacob Tanswell branded his exit from play as “terrible misfortune” with reference to his injury-stained journey so far at Villa Park, in which he has made just nine appearances in all competitions in just over a year.

At the time of his arrival, former football agent Jimmy McCann slammed his signing as “shocking”, which in hindsight is a fair description of how things have gone so far for the Brazilian in England.

While it being little fault of his, Carlos’ nine appearances have cost Villa a figure of around £577k per game, dividing his yearly earnings of £5.2m by his number of games played.

With three years remaining on his contract, there’s plenty of time for the experienced asset to fight for redemption on the pitch following his dreary opening year at Villa Park, however, the club will hope for better days considering the finances spent to fund his services.

The England fast bowler will be playing in the IPL for the first time

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Apr-2018England fast bowler Liam Plunkett will replace the injured Kagiso Rabada in the Delhi Daredevils squad for the 2018 season of the IPL. Plunkett entry takes the number of England players in the IPL to 11, with Jofra Archer – who is qualifying to play for England – the 12th.Rabada, who was Player of the Test series against Australia for taking 23 wickets, was sidelined by a back-stress reaction and was expected to be out of action for three months. He is expected to make a comeback for South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka in July.Plunkett, 33, had a base price of INR 2 crore (USD 308,000 approx) at the 2018 player auction in January, where he went unsold. Daredevils bought him at that price, having paid INR 4.2 crore (USD 647,000 approx) for Rabada at the auction.This will be Plunkett’s first appearance at the IPL, with England players increasingly attractive after the ECB changed its stance towards the competition, despite the overlap with the county season. Plunkett is unlikely to be involved in England’s Test squad against Pakistan next month, so could theoretically stay with Daredevils for the whole of the tournament.His absence might raise an eyebrow or two in Yorkshire, however. Plunkett injured a hamstring while on duty for England in Australia and New Zealand over the winter and was not expected to be fit for Yorkshire’s Championship opener next week – although the demands of bowling four T20 overs are different to spending four days on the field.Plunkett recently indicated that he wanted to continue playing first-class cricket – rather than pursue a white-ball contract like Yorkshire and England team-mate Adil Rashid – but a spell in the IPL is likely to be both financially and professionally rewarding for a bowler who has become a key part of England’s limited-overs sides.Yorkshire were happy for Plunkett to appear in the Bangladesh Premier League last year and will benefit from a slice of his IPL deal, but the situation for counties is far from ideal. The club’s director of cricket of cricket, Martyn Moxon, is set to chair a meeting between county coaches next week to discuss the issue of players’ involvement in global T20 leagues.”It’s another example of us being between a rock and a hard place,” Moxon told the . “Surrey have had the same thing with Tom Curran [signed this week by Kolkata Knight Riders as a replacement for Mitchell Starc].”What do you do, stop a player going and earning a shed-load of money and have him disappointed around the dressing room for not allowing him to go, etc? It’s a lose-lose really for the counties, and it’s one of the items that we’ll be discussing on Tuesday because, as counties, we feel powerless at the moment.”

كشفت تقارير صحفية أن نادي بايرن ميونخ وضع 6 لاعبين من صفوف الفريق الألماني في حالة تأهب، تحسبًا لإمكانية رحيلهم في موسم الانتقالات الصيفي الحالي.

كان بايرن ميونخ قد تعاقد مؤخرًا مع المدرب فينسنت كومباني من صفوف بيرنلي، لخلافة توماس توخيل.

ورحل توماس توخيل عن بايرن ميونخ، نهاية الموسم الماضي، وارتبط النادي الألماني بأكثر من مرشح قبل أن يستقر على كومباني.

ووفقًا لما ذكره الصحفي الشهير فلوريان بليتنبيرج، من شبكة “سكاي ألمانيا”، فإن بايرن ميونخ بدأ عملية الإعداد للعديد من الانتقالات المحتملة، ولكن هناك حاجة ماسة إلى المبيعات.

اقرأ أيضًا | زميله السابق.. كومباني يستهدف صفقة لـ بايرن ميونخ من الدوري الإنجليزي

وأوضح أنه قد تقرر الآن السماح لستة لاعبين بالرحيل، حال وصول العروض المناسبة في الميركاتو الصيفي.

وأشار إلى أن هؤلاء اللاعبين هم ماتياس دي ليخت، جوشوا كيميش، جوريتسكا، كينجسلي كومان، سيرجي جنابري ونصير مزراوي.

وأفاد أن بايرن ميونخ لم يتلق أي عروض ملموسة بشأن هؤلاء اللاعبين حتى الآن.

MatériaMais Notícias

Destaque do São Paulo na noite desta quarta, na vitória sobre o Atlético-GO, por 3 a 0, o meio-campista Gabriel Sara fez questão de sair em defesa do técnico Fernando Diniz e do elenco do Tricolor após as críticas ouvidas nos últimos dias, sobretudo depois da queda precoce na Copa Libertadores.

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– O técnico não está sozinho, estamos com ele. Quando é eliminado, é eliminado todo mundo. É um reação do grupo para voltar às vitórias – afirmou o jovem jogador na saída do gramado do Morumbi.

RelacionadasFutebol NacionalSão Paulo bate o Atlético-GO com show dos garotos ‘Made in Cotia’Futebol Nacional07/10/2020São PauloVÍDEO: Veja os gols da vitória do São Paulo contra o Atlético-GO pelo BrasileiroSão Paulo07/10/2020

Nesta quarta, Sara marcou um belo gol de fora da área e ainda deu uma assistência para Brenner, seu companheiro desde a categoria de base, no segundo tempo. Os jogadores formados em Cotia, inclusive, foram os destaques da partida. Contudo, apesar do bom rendimento individual, Sara fez questão de exaltar o empenho coletivo diante do Atlético-GO.

– Fez a diferença o espírito do grupo, a união do grupo. Sabemos o momento que estamos vivendo e precisamos nos unir – concluiu.

In the summer of 2023, Tottenham Hotspur finally said goodbye to record goalscorer Harry Kane, who left for Bayern Munich after months of speculation. The bid, worth an initial €100m (£86.4m) according to the BBC, is one of the biggest sales in Premier League history.

But where does it rank for Tottenham themselves? We have taken a look at who Spurs have received the big bucks for over the years.

10

Michael Carrick to Manchester United – £18.6m

This was quite a bit of money back in 2006, but Spurs will almost certainly look back on this with regret. Michael Carrick would go on to be a fixture with United, playing 11 full seasons there and winning absolutely everything.

But perhaps this was the start of an unfortunate trend for Spurs. Here they were with a world-class talent, only to sell him on to another club where he’d be much more successful.

There was little suggestion that Carrick would stay at Tottenham, but it’s a trend they’ve yet to really pull out of.

The £18.6m fee they received just wasn’t worth losing Carrick in the end – and it wouldn’t be for the last time we say that.

9

Robbie Keane to Liverpool – £19m

Here’s a bizarre one. Robbie Keane was Spurs’ star player in 2008, and Liverpool signing him for £19m was a real statement of intent from the Reds – and a serious blow to Tottenham.

He was their captain, after all, and Daniel Levy publicly spoke of their disappointment that Keane wanted a move. But not to worry! He was back within six months.

Liverpool signed Keane on the idea that he’d form a tandem with Fernando Torres, allowing Steven Gerrard to shift back into midfield.

Only, it quickly became apparent that Torres and Keane were nowhere near as good a partnership as Torres and Gerrard were, with the Irishman finding himself on the bench.

The Reds wanted to sell, and Spurs were all too happy to get him back, initially on loan, in the next transfer window.

8

Kieran Trippier to Atletico Madrid – £20m

Kieran Trippier was a very well-regarded right-back at Spurs, but never actually played more than 27 Premier League games in a season. It wasn’t an enormous shock that he moved on to Atletico, then – but again, in hindsight, he’s a player Tottenham would rather have kept.

Trippier enjoyed a fantastic two and a half years in Madrid, even winning La Liga in 2021. He’d bring it to an end in 2022, though, as one of the headline signings of Newcastle United’s new era.

He’s since become one of the best right-backs in the Premier League, winning the Magpies’ Player of the Year award in 2023 as they finished 4th. So again, the £20m that Spurs received doesn’t quite look worth it.

7

Oliver Skipp to Leicester – £25m

After failing to muscle his way into Ange Postecoglou’s first-team plans, Oliver Skipp called time on his stay at Spurs to join newly promoted Leicester City in the summer of 2024.

Skipp also struggled for game time in his first campaign at the King Power, so Tottenham collecting £25m for his services certainly looks a great deal from their point of view.

6

Steven Bergwijn to Ajax – £26m

Tottenham signed Steven Bergwijn in January 2020 and were hoping he’d further boost a very exciting attacking lineup at the club. Here was a player who could back up Son Heung-min, essentially.

It just never really worked out. Bergwijn rarely started and just wasn’t the attacking threat Spurs had hoped for. Scoring just eight goals in 83 appearances wasn’t exactly worth what they paid for him.

Fortunately, Ajax were happy to take him back to the Eredivisie and paid £26.4m for the privilege – essentially what Spurs paid PSV Eindhoven in the first place.

5

Luka Modric to Real Madrid – £30m

This one possibly hurts the most – until Kane’s departure, perhaps. Luka Modric was an outstanding player for Tottenham, running their midfield and becoming one of the most talented midfielders in the Premier League.

His move to Real Madrid, costing around £30m, didn’t go well at first – he was named the worst transfer in La Liga during his first season.

But to say things turned around is an understatement. Modric has since gone on to become one of the greatest and most successful midfielders of all time. That’s really not overselling it.

Spurs sold him for £30m plus ‘an agreement’ with Real that had president Florentino Perez “[looking] forward to working closely with Tottenham in the coming years”. We’ll get to that one soon enough…

But as for Modric, Spurs didn’t have too much choice as he did want to leave the club. Still, to have such a talent on your books and come away with little to show for it – that hurts.

4

Dimitar Berbatov to Man Utd – £30.75m

Dimitar Berbatov – a great player who was the absolute antithesis of the modern-day footballer. He wasn’t quick, he didn’t run about or press, there wasn’t much hard work involved, and he rarely showed any emotion on the pitch. Like the anti-Wayne Rooney.

United, though, saw him as the right player to add to Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo – and would be proven right. Berbatov not only scored goals for Spurs, after all, but was a perfect link-up player and one of the most technically sound players on the planet.

Tottenham really didn’t want to lose him, but after Manchester City also bid at the summer 2008 deadline, they gave in and he joined United for £30.75m – despite having no time to replace him.

Berbatov would, like many others on this list, go on to win the title at his new club and enjoy plenty of success. Same old story, then.

3

Kyle Walker to Man City – £50m

A massive leap in fees here (but get ready for another one) as Spurs made sure City paid exactly what they wanted for Kyle Walker. Honestly, there’s a solid argument that this sale is the best on the list.

Walker has gone on to much success at City, as you’d expect. But with Kieran Trippier already at the club, Spurs got an enormous fee for a player they didn’t even need to properly replace.

It’s just a shame the money wasn’t spent better. Serge Aurier arrived to provide competition for Trippier, while Fernando Llorente was the major signing up top. Juan Foyth arrived, too, with the three of them all coming in for under Walker’s price – but none of them really worked out.

Still, there’s no denying that Spurs got value for Walker, who remains one of the most expensive full-backs of all time at £50m.

2

Gareth Bale to Real Madrid – £85.3m

Remember when Florentino Perez said that he was looking forward to more business with Spurs after the Luka Modric deal? Yeah, that mainly meant he was looking forward to signing Gareth Bale the next year.

This was, at the time, the most expensive move in history as Real paid even more for Bale than they had for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. His €100m (£85.3m) transfer was quite shocking to see in 2013.

For those who didn’t witness it, it’s hard to explain just how incredible Bale was at Spurs. He could seemingly do anything, winning the PFA Player of the Year awards in 2011 and 2013.

Some of his goals were just ridiculous – he’d will the ball in from 25 yards while surrounded by players. Many felt he was going to follow in Ronaldo’s footsteps.

Of course, it didn’t quite work out that way at Real. Bale won absolutely everything there and provided some unreal moments with Los Blancos, but never quite reached that best-in-the-world level before petering out in his final years.

Spurs fans, however, will always believe he could have been everything he promised if he’d stayed. Remarkably few – possibly zero – will look back on this sale, even with a world-record fee, without regret.

1

Harry Kane to Bayern Munich – £86.4m

A summer of rumours surrounding Harry Kane’s future became par for the course during his latter seasons at Tottenham, such was the striker’s quality and the club’s perennial inability to match his talent with the silverware it deserved.

Having staved off major interest from Manchester City two years prior, Kane finally departed Hotspur Way after an eighth-place finish left the club trophyless for a 15th straight campaign and out of Europe for the first time since the 2009/10 season.

Bundesliga juggernauts Bayern Munich would be the fortunate recipient of the England captain, who, after rather typically surrendering the Bundesliga title in 2023/24, did go on to win the German top-flight in 2024/25. That was Kane’s first-ever major trophy. Better late than never, eh?

The fee to sell was by no means a paltry one. Spurs got a fair whack for his services, receiving £86.4m, with only the exchange rate placing this one above Bale’s departure to Real Madrid – though add-ons could increase this sale even further.

It will take some doing for any player to hit the heights of Kane and Bale if they are to threaten their places in this list over the coming years.

It was a moment that left a permanent imprint in the minds of teammates and opponents, not to mention several thousand spectators in the stadium and many, many more watching on TV. It will be on playback in quite a few of those minds, too, when the man at the centre of one of county cricket’s most horrific incidents begins his run-in for the first time since in a competitive match.Luke Fletcher’s doctors told him that he had dodged a bullet when a ball smashed back down the pitch by the Birmingham Bears batsman Sam Hain struck him full on the skull in a T20 match at Edgbaston last July.So horrifying was the impact that had that blow merely ended his career he might have considered himself lucky. In the event, by some good fortune as freakish as the injury itself, all it cost him was a few stitches and the rest of the season off.Yet Fletcher insists that when he next comes to bowl in a competitive match for Nottinghamshire he will do so without even a hint of trepidation. It has never crossed his mind that perhaps, having been lucky once, he should walk away. He has already bowled in pre-season games and would be ready to face the raw aggression of T20 tomorrow.”I’m from a quite down-to-earth, grounded, hard-working background,” he said. “My dad worked down the pit for 30 years and he had some bad injuries but his attitude was dust yourself off, enjoy the break and then get back on to it. So not any stage did anyone say that I shouldn’t do that, nor did I think it.”I just see this as my job, to go out and play cricket, to run in and bowl. It’s either this or go back to frying chicken at Hooters.”It was a freak injury, he says, yet in the same breath he believes there is every chance it will happen again. He imagines a day when protection for bowlers and umpires will be commonplace. For the moment, though, like his colleagues, he will run in bare-headed.”Hopefully it will not be commonplace but to be honest I reckon it will,” he said. “Definitely in T20 and maybe in later overs in one-dayers, or even early on.”Batters come so hard throughout the whole innings now. They are just trying to hit every single ball out of the park. And, if you are in the way, you are copping it.Luke Fletcher is helped from the field after being struck by the ball•Getty Images

“Bowlers and umpires are in a very vulnerable position these days because the ball comes back so fast you don’t have time to react. I can see the day when bowlers and umpires are wearing protective headgear.”Fletcher was discharged from hospital the next day but that was only the start of a long road back to being declared medically safe to resume a normal life.”I could not do anything for two months,” he said. “I had a build-up of pressure in my head and any exercise would have added to the pressure so I pretty much did nothing until the end of the season. I didn’t get into training until I came back with the lads in November and not full training until this year.”I couldn’t drive for six months, which was the killer. It was classed as a traumatic brain injury and you have to report it to the DVLA. You can only drive again when you have a report from your surgeon to say everything is back to normal.”The club got me a bike and I was cycling in every day. It was more dangerous than driving – I came off it a few times on black ice. Seriously, though, they were worried I might have a fit at the wheel and you have to think about other people on the roads.”That inconvenience apart, Fletcher’s biggest concern was boredom. Much as he enjoys the company of his now two-year-old son Freddie, he was not used to being around him quite so much.”I had never had a six-month injury so I didn’t know how I would react to it. The strangest thing was not actually having to be anywhere, not having to see anyone, not having to turn up to anything. I found that quite weird really.”For the first couple of weeks it helped that people kept coming round. Nick Peirce [the ECB’s chief medical officer] came a few times. I got calls asking if I wanted to get involved with some commentary stuff.”It probably stopped me thinking about things too much, although I was never worried because I felt all right. It’s the people around me, my family, my partner Kirsty, who have been more worried.”Now his focus is on picking up where he left off. He had taken 36 Championship wickets at 22.4, reasserting that he was an important component of Nottinghamshire’s attack, when his misfortune struck.Happier times: Luke Fletcher celebrates Notts’ Royal London Cup triumph•Getty Images

“We had just won a Lord’s final the week before and things were going well for me and the team in the Championship,” he said “I had seen the opportunity to have a big season and suddenly it was all over.”I had got myself into pretty good shape before last season, so it was disappointing. But I’m only 29 and I think I’ve got a lot of overs left in me yet.”He is better acquainted with the gym, too, than once might have been the case.”When you are young, there are a lot of distractions,” he said. “You go out and enjoy yourself. But my life is different now and in the last couple of years I’ve worked out what I need to do to give myself the best chance to help the team.”I’ve struggled in the past with my weight and probably will all my life. I’m not the most natural athlete but I’ve got a good engine. I’ve done a lot to get back in shape, a lot of running and sessions on the bike.”There are exciting things happening in the game with the new T20 franchises and I hopefully I’ll be putting my hat in the ring for that. I’m just looking forward to getting started again.”