Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has now identified a “special” Real Madrid star as a priority target, joining several other Premier League clubs in the race for his signature.

Man Utd's attacking prowess on show in win at Molineux

Man United returned to winning ways on Monday night, putting in a quality attacking performance to secure a 4-1 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux, with Bruno Fernandes bagging a brace.

Bryan Mbeumo also bagged his sixth goal of the Premier League season in the rout, with Mason Mount getting in on the act too, and Amorim was very impressed by the Englishman’s performance.

After the attacking midfielder scooped up the Player of the Match award, Amorim said: “He can defend, he can attack, the quality when he touches the ball is really good, so it’s not a surprise for me,”

“He’s a different type of leader. It’s not like Licha [Lisandro Martinez], for example. It’s a guy that leads by the example.”

With Matheus Cunha also grabbing an assist in the routine win, which lifted United to sixth in the table, Amorim clearly has plenty of top-quality forward options at his disposal, but a Real Madrid attacker is now of interest.

That is according to a report from Caught Offside, which states Man United are now stepping up their pursuit of Arda Guler, who has been identified as a priority target by Amorim ahead of next summer.

Arsenal and Liverpool are also in the race for Guler’s signature, with Arne Slot’s side believed to be leading the race as things stand, although Madrid aren’t planning to sanction a departure easily.

The Turk is viewed as an important part of the Spanish side’s long-term project, so it remains to be seen whether the Red Devils can tempt them into a sale.

"Special" Guler could be fantastic long-term signing for Man Utd

Just 20-years-old, the attacking midfielder has managed to establish himself as an important player for Real Madrid this season, amassing three goals and seven assists across 21 matches in all competitions.

Former manager Carlo Ancelotti has also waxed lyrical about the starlet, saying: “I think the closer to goal, the better. He is very effective, he scores a lot with little space, he has a special talent. He shows it better closer to the goal.”

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Having already proven himself at a high level, setting up two goals in the Champions League in 2025-26, and scoring six goals in 26 appearances for Turkey, the £87k-a-week youngster could be a fantastic long-term addition to Amorim’s squad.

He’s been described as “the single best midfield prospect in world football” by writer Neal Gardner and the fact he finished second in the 2025 Golden Boys rankings, only behind PSG’s Desire Doue, says a lot.

That said, it is somewhat difficult to envisage Madrid sanctioning a sale, given that Guler remains under contract until 2029, so there is no pressing need to cash-in, and he has been a key player for Xabi Alonso this season.

“Speed is my biggest strength, and I want to continue to maintain that strength,” Umran Malik, who is making his comeback from a hip injury, says

Rajan Raj07-Dec-2025Umran Malik will not compromise on his speed. It’s his “identity” and his “natural ability”, and though he is on a comeback trail after over a year out with injuries – a hip issue the last – he will keep bowling as fast as he can since it’s a point of difference between him and other quicks in the country.”Every fast bowler in the world knows that injuries are going to be a part of his career. But speed is my natural aspect. How can I compromise with that? Speed is my biggest strength, and I want to continue to maintain that strength,” Malik told ESPNcricinfo on the sidelines of Jammu and Kashmir’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match against Hyderabad in Kolkata on December 4.”You can’t bowl at 150(kph) straight away. You reach that speed gradually. I don’t want to show my speed to anyone, but I want to show my wickets. But it is also that after ten years [of bowling at a competitive level], I want to bowl at 140 [from 150] and not come down to a speed of 130 from 150.”Before turning out in the latest edition of the Ranji Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournaments, Malik had last played in in March 2024 in the IPL that year, for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) against Mumbai Indians (MI). He was with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2025 but could not play a single match.

“Money is not a concern. The first and last thing is that my fitness and form should be such that I play every match for the team and take wickets. If I can’t do this, then what will be my value as a player?”Umran Malik

Coming back from a serious injury takes a toll on the body as well as on the mind, and Malik’s focus has changed a bit now.”After spending time at NCA [BCCI’s Centre of Excellence] and talking to many experts, I have started to understand my body better,” he said. “I now know what things need to be managed better if I want to avoid injury.”Though KKR have let go of a number of their players, including some big-ticket stars, Malik has been retained ahead of IPL 2026.”I know that for many Indian fast bowlers, it is not that difficult to be part the IPL. It’s probably easy for me too, but I’m not just thinking of taking part in the tournament,” he said. “Money is not a concern. The first and last thing is that my fitness and form should be such that I play every match for the team and take wickets. If I can’t do this, then what will be my value as a player?”I will work as hard as I have to. I will learn where I make mistakes. I will take care of myself and want to make my comeback memorable.”Those who have watched him bowl this season have found a slightly different Malik, who has maintained his speeds while also appearing to bowl within himself a bit.At present, Malik’s eyes are focused solely on the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, but it is with an eye on the future, starting with the IPL.

Australia and New Zealand are in town as the city ends a 28-year wait

Vishal Dikshit30-Sep-2025A lanky girl in her late teens wraps her batting gloves around her bat handle on the concrete pavement beyond the worn-down fence of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium under overcast skies in Indore. She whacks the under-arm half-volley straight to me and sticks her tongue out instantly, with a cheeky grin, implying that it wasn’t intentional at all.The once-iconic stadium, which started exclusively as a cricket venue under the Indore Municipal Corporation in 1964, now wears a dilapidated look. It hosted nine men’s ODIs and two women’s ODIs but hasn’t hosted competitive cricket matches since 2001. It has since been turned into a multi-sports complex, with patches of overgrown grass covering a majority of the ground, and its corners occupied by aspiring athletes honing their skills in football, cricket, basketball and volleyball.When former India opener Sandhya Agarwal was in her late teens, she used to dabble in kite flying, games of marbles and later on cricket with boys of her age in the gullies outside the same Nehru Stadium, where she grew up watching the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, GR Viswanath, Dilip Vengsarkar, S Venkataraghavan, and others in Ranji Trophy and international matches. Growing up in the vicinity of the ground sparked a fire in her to become an India international herself, and despite retiring in 1995, she is still the leading scorer for India in women’s Tests and holds a storied place as one of only a handful of batters to score hundreds, including a 190 against England in 1986, which was then the highest individual score.The Nehru Stadium is best remembered for witnessing Sachin Tendulkar become the first player to cross 10,000 ODI runs, on his way to 139 against Australia in 2001, and infamously for the three-over farce between India and Sri Lanka in 1997, when the match was called off as the dry and crumbling pitch was judged unsafe for the players to continue. That was the beginning of the end for the ground.Sachin Tendulkar scored his 10,000th ODI run in Indore•ALLSPORTThere was a match here that went largely unnoticed in 1997. It was a World Cup match. Between India women, who weren’t under the wings of the BCCI, and New Zealand women. The ICC wasn’t involved in the tournament either.Agarwal had retired by then and was on commentary for Doordarshan, India’s state-owned and only television broadcaster at the time. She recalls the ground had fairly “nominal” facilities, where New Zealand posted a modest 176 for 9 and India were just six runs away when they lost their ninth wicket, with 15 balls to go.”Until then it felt like India were going to win easily,” Agarwal reminisces while talking to ESPNcricinfo. “It was me and Sushil – Sushil Doshi (journalist and sports commentator from Indore) – and we said to each other, ‘ tak aane lagi hai (we can smell the victory till the commentator’s box now),’ I still remember.”Related

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She estimates there must have been just under a thousand people in the crowd, but they were very vocal in their support for the players who were still miles from becoming household names.Opener Emily Drumm, New Zealand’s top-scorer with 69, was on her first tour of the subcontinent, adjusting to “pretty average” hotels and facilities, and a crowd that was obviously supporting the home team.”It was a tense one,” Drumm says, jogging back her memory, “It ebbed and flowed. It was quite noisy with the crowd, good atmosphere. We didn’t get enough runs, so I knew that was probably going to be really tight.”Wickets fell at good intervals, and then India would get a little bit of parity and then we would break a partnership. It was one of those matches. It was a really funny game. There was a bit of bite between the teams, a little bit of chat. No love lost at all. So I think we got out of there alive just.”Nehru stadium, once an exclusive cricket ground, now a multi-sports complex•ESPNcricinfo LtdNeetu David getting bowled in the last over with the scores level meant New Zealand finished above India in the league stage and ultimately reached the final where they lost to Australia in Kolkata. Three years later the trans-Tasman rivals met each other once again, in Lincoln, and this time Drumm, the captain, lifted New Zealand’s maiden World Cup trophy, edging out Australia by just four runs.Now, another 25 years later, New Zealand return to Indore to kickstart their 2025 World Cup campaign against Australia. Both teams have gone through several transitions since then, the game has gone professional, and Indore also has a new ground – the Holkar Stadium – which started hosting international matches in 2006 but is yet to host a women’s international. This World Cup, it’s the venue for five games, including the India vs England clash – a rematch of the 2017 final – on October 19, which is likely to be the biggest crowd-puller of the lot.Of the four Indian cities that will play host this World Cup, the rapid rise of Indore best mirrors the growth of the women’s game. The city has developed expeditiously – proudly called “Mini-Mumbai” by the locals – just like the dizzying rise of the women’s game, most recently proven by the record prize money this time of US$ 13.88 million, more than what the Australian men received ($10 million) for lifting the 2023 ODI trophy.A number of players who have played pivotal roles in the transformation of the women’s game will take the field in the coming weeks in Indore. If young girls – whether they train at Nehru Stadum or Holkar – want to get inspired, this is their best chance to see them in the flesh and light the fire in themselves.

Bavuma, part of the series defeats in 2015 and 2019, hails South Africa after their 2-0 sweep of India

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Nov-20256:06

Karim: ‘Harmer’s variations upset India batters’

Temba Bavuma hailed South Africa’s “incredible achievement” as they completed a 2-0 clean sweep over India, winning their first series in the country in 25 years. Bavuma, who was part of the squad when South Africa lost 3-0 in India in 2019 – and 3-0 in 2015 – said the victory tasted even “sweeter” as he knows the feeling of being “on the other side of the result.””It’s not every day that you get to think that you can come to India and walk away with a 2-0 series win,” Bavuma said after South Africa trounced India in Guwahati by 408 runs, their second-highest margin of victory ever by runs. “I think what makes it sweeter as well for some of us within the group is the fact that we’ve been on the other side of the result.South Africa, the reigning World Test Champions, have been on an incredible run in Test cricket in the last year and a bit. Since August 2024, they have lost only one out of 15 Tests, with Bavuma winning all of his 12 Tests as captain. According to Bavuma, the positive change in mindset and “guys wanting to be the men for the team” have been the biggest reasons behind South Africa’s recent success.Related

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“There’s a big shift in our mindset in terms of what we want to do when we’re out there on the field of play,” Bavuma said. “We want to play what is in front of us and adapt accordingly. Guys go out there quite clear on their roles and what they’re trying to do. There’s a strong sense in each other that anyone on their day can do it for the team. As a captain, sometimes it’s very hard to take the ball out of the bowler’s hands. Everyone wants to continue bowling and you see it with the batting as well.”We don’t have the guys who go on and score big 150s and all, but we’ll have four or five different guys going on to score 60s and 70s. I can go on forever about the team, but I feel like the team is in a good space.”

‘Struggled to take the ball out of Harmer and Maharaj’s hands’

Bavuma also heaped praise on his two premier spinners, Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj, particularly pointing out the competitiveness between the two, which in turn has boded well for the team. That South Africa won the Test series with Kagiso Rabada out due to injury impressed Bavuma even more.”Simon, as a spinner, as a player, he’s got the wealth of experience,” Bavuma said. “He complements Keshav quite well. A little bit on the taller side, a bit more guile with the ball. What I appreciate is the competitiveness between the two. They are the two guys that I have struggled to take the ball out of their hands.Simon Harmer and Aiden Markram celebrate Rishabh Pant’s wicket•Associated Press

“Simon was the man for us in this series. We’re so used to Kesh being that guy. We’re in a good space from a bowling point of view. A guy like Simon, Kesh as well on his days, them stepping up, having lost a guy like KG [Rabada] who was a big player for us, again speaks about the need for the guys to want to do it for the team.”For Harmer, this was a sweet comeback after ten years. Having toured India back in 2015, with limited returns, he finished the two-match series with 17 wickets in four innings at an incredible average of 8.94 and said he will now go back with “a lot more fond memories”.”It’s been a long road,” Harmer said after winning the Player-of-the-Series award. “Ten years later, back here, completely different feelings. I’m going to leave with a lot more fond memories than I did the last time but I think as a whole, as a team, for us to leave here 2-0, that was always the goal. And for us to get over the line against a very good Indian team, I think it was a hell of an effort.”Despite an incredible series, Harmer is not guaranteed a place in the starting XI, with Maharaj being South Africa’s preferred spinner, particularly at home.”Keshav’s record speaks for itself. He’s an incredible bowler and he deserves to be the number one spinner,” he said. “I’m very happy playing the supporting role and if the opportunity presents itself for me to play, I try and take it with both hands. At the end of the day, I just need to make sure that I’m getting better, keep trying to evolve, keep trying to get better.”

The ICC has finalised Ahmedabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai as the venues in India for the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Sri Lanka as well. It is understood the ICC has shortlisted two venues in Colombo and Kandy as the three venues in Sri Lanka.The T20 World Cup is set to begin on February 7 and will conclude with the final in Ahmedabad on March 8. According to PTI, the ICC is likely to release the schedule next week, with just about three months to go for the start of the tournament. It is understood that the majority of the participating countries have been waiting for the ICC to inform them about the grouping of teams as well as the schedule. The ICC is also yet to release ticketing information for the tournament.Pakistan will play all their games in Sri Lanka as per the agreement reached between the BCCI and PCB for India and Pakistan to play at neutral venues during multi-nation tournaments hosted by the other country. If Pakistan make the final, the fixture will be held in Sri Lanka.The 2026 T20 World Cup will have the same format as the previous edition – 20 teams split into four groups of five each, with every team playing the others once. The top two teams from each group will progress to the Super-eight stage, where they will be placed into two groups of four. The top two sides from each Super-eight group will then qualify for the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-final will meet in the final.Apart from hosts India and Sri Lanka, the other teams with automatic qualification to the tournament were the top seven teams from the 2024 T20 World Cup – Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, United States of America and West Indies. The three teams that qualified on the basis of their T20I rankings were New Zealand, Pakistan and Ireland.Canada took the lone spot from the Americas Qualifier. Italy, first time T20 World Cup participants, and Netherlands qualified from the five-team tournament in Europe. Namibia and Zimbabwe grabbed the two spots from the eight-team Africa qualifier before Nepal, Oman and UAE made it from the Asia-EAP round.India are the defending champions, having beaten South Africa in the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados.

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