Ireland have been boosted ahead of their one-day series against Pakistan next month by being able to name Niall O’Brien, Craig Young and Boyd Rankin in their squad for the two ODIs

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jul-2016

Ireland have been boosted ahead of their one-day series against Pakistan next month by being able to name Niall O’Brien, Craig Young and Boyd Rankin in their squad for the two ODIs.O’Brien (calf) and Young (elbow) missed the recent series against Afghanistan due to injuries while Rankin was unavailable because of Warwickshire commitments.The return of Rankin and Young will add depth to the pace-bowling department when they take on Pakistan in Dublin on August 18 and 20 but there is no place for left-arm spinner George Dockrell.O’Brien’s presence will bring experience to the top order which continues to rely heavily on Ed Joyce who scored 339 runs at 169.50 in four innings against Afghanistan. The next highest scorer was Kevin O’Brien with 145 runs in four innings.Dockrell, meanwhile, had initially been left out of the squad to face Afghanistan before being recalled as a replacement for the injured Mark Adair. He played one match in the series taking 1 for 52. Andy McBrine and Paul Stirling will provide the spin options in this squad.Ireland squad v Pakistan

William Porterfield (capt), John Anderson, Peter Chase, Ed Joyce, Tim Murtagh, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Stuart Poynter, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Gary Wilson, Craig Young

“It’s great to have an almost full strength squad to choose from,” John Bracewell, Ireland’s head coach, said. “The bowling unit performed superbly against Afghanistan with the younger seamers in particular putting their hands up. The return of Boyd and Craig adds to that department and gives us plenty of options which is exactly what a coach wants.”The return of Niall adds experience to the top order. We tried a few different permutations with the batting order last week – some of which worked and some which didn’t. Ed Joyce was obviously the stand-out performer in his new role as opener, and it was great to see Gary Wilson return to form.”The last time Ireland faced Pakistan was at the 2015 World Cup where William Porterfield hit a century but Sarfraz Ahmed’s unbeaten 101 led Pakistan to victory. In 2013, Pakistan visited for a two-match series with Ireland securing a tie in the first game of the series.Their most famous meeting remains the 2007 World Cup clash in Jamaica which Ireland won by three wickets.

A computerised rankings system has gone where the selectors have been reluctant to tread, by offering Kent’s troubled allrounder, Matt Coles, an opportunity to make his case for England’s one-day squad

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Aug-2016A computerised rankings system has gone where the selectors have been reluctant to tread, by offering Kent’s troubled allrounder, Matt Coles, an opportunity to make his case for England’s one-day squad when the inaugural North v South series takes place in the UAE next March.Coles, who was left out of Kent’s County Championship fixture against Derbyshire in June following a drink-related incident, was suspended by the ECB for two further Championship matches after being found guilty of throwing the ball in a dangerous manner during their victory against Glamorgan in May. In 2013, Coles was also sent home from an England Lions tour of Australia due to excessive drinking (the same punishment also handed to Ben Stokes).However, his recent one-day form has been impressive. He claimed figures of 6 for 56 against Hampshire, his former county, last week, and 4 for 39, with an economy rate of 4.33, against Sussex yesterday, to finish third in the Professional Cricketers’ Association MVP Rankings for the Royal London Cup, the system by which eight of the squad members for the North v South series have been selected.Tim Bresnan, Harry Gurney and Liam Dawson are three previously capped England players to have made the MVP cut, with the England Lions batsman Ben Duckett, the Northamptonshire left-arm spinner Graeme White, and the Somerset pair of Lewis Gregory and Tim Groenewald also in the mix.Duckett has been in prolific form of late, both for Northamptonshire and the Lions, making unbeaten scores of 163 and 220 in the recent triangular series with Sri Lanka A and Pakistan A although it is purely his Royal London Cup form that has earned this selection.”I had been following the MVP for the last few games when I realised I was in the mix and it put a bit more on the games we had left,” said Groenewald, who was born and raised in South Africa but who has lived in England for 12 years. “I’m really happy to be involved in something like this particularly with it being the first one and it should be a really good tournament.The PCA and the ECB’s National Cricket Performance Centre at Loughborough have worked closely to enhance the PCA MVP formula, which was first introduced in 2007.The rankings system identifies the match-winners and key influencers of matches, using a formula that measures each player’s total contribution by taking into account conditions, quality of opposition, captaincy and strike rates, as well as runs scored and wickets taken.The remaining players in the North v South series will be chosen by the England selectors, who will have not only the 2019 World Cup in their thoughts, but also the 2017 Champions Trophy, which will be hosted in England in June, three months after the UAE series.”It’s brilliant how the system has worked giving an incentive from guys outside the England set-up to work for,” said Groenewald. “I am sure there will be some really good players out there, players who will be playing in the next World Cup so it’s brilliant to be involved in this tournament.””The North v South series is something that there has been a lot of banter about in the dressing room since the start of the competition and as we got close to the end of the group stage I knew that I was there or thereabouts,” said Gurney, who made his last international appearance in December 2014.”It’s a good opportunity for someone like me just to remind the selectors that I can still do it and that I believe that I have still got an awful lot to offer the international game. It’s up to me now to persuade them that’s still the case.”

Arsenal have made few blunders under Mikel Arteta, who has endured plenty of trials during his short spell as a head coach. Dealing with various issues born of previous regimes, the Spaniard was calm and calculated in his decision-making, which culminated in the success they hope to achieve.

However, no manager can get every decision right.

Whether it be a tactical blunder to lose a game, or the wrong substitution to surrender control, arguably few mistakes are as frustrating and long-lasting as selling a player and watching them go on to thrive.

That has certainly been the case with Matteo Guendouzi, who admittedly struggled to outline himself as a star central midfielder for the new boss. It seemed like the 24-year-old remained rash and often thoughtless in his displays, which led to his eventual exclusion from the team.

Former Gunners player Jeremie Aliadiere had suggested that his compatriot hadn't "grown and matured" enough to stake his claim. As was the case with Mesut Ozil and Piere-Emerick Aubameyang, if they did not fit the system, Arteta would let them go.

So, for a fee of just £9m, the Frenchman departed – after being banished from the squad by Arteta.

How much is Matteo Guendouzi worth now?

Having featured 82 times for the North London outfit, his 21 yellow cards during that period certainly support the earlier suggestion of a rash play style.

However, as a youngster joining, Guendouzi came with a big reputation and was expected to be the future of the club's midfield. When he made the final shortlist for the Golden Boy award, this was only further cemented.

Featuring heavily in his first full season, the £41k-per-week stopper acted as a steady presence at the base of midfield. This culminated in an unspectacular 6.79 rating, which would improve just slightly the year following to 6.84. Either way, it marked progression.

However, the eventual sale of such a promising talent was deemed a must to continue progressing as a club, even if journalist Aaron West had suggested there was "something special" about the young destroyer.

Since moving to Marseille, as performances have improved, so too has the valuation of the 6 foot 1 star. Boasting a 7.00 rating last campaign, in which the French international seemed to finally be growing into his potential, CIES Football Observatory clearly took note.

They suggested that Guendouzi's value had rocketed, and from that £9m initial sale the midfielder was now worth €35m (£31m).

At the tender age of just 24 too, this is a figure set to only increase with each passing year of improvement.

As aforementioned, Arteta has not made many errors during his reign. But this decision to offload their former star youngster might well be turning into a mistake.

A career-best unbeaten 79 from Harvey Hosein rescued Derbyshire on the opening day of the Division Two match against Leicestershire at Derby

ECB Reporters Network12-Sep-2016
ScorecardCharlie Shreck claimed three wickets on the opening day•Getty Images

A career-best unbeaten 79 from Harvey Hosein rescued Derbyshire on the opening day of the Division Two match against Leicestershire at Derby.The home side had slipped to 151 for 5, despite a half century from Alex Hughes, with Charlie Shreck taking three wickets but Hosein took advantage of a bad miss by Rob Sayer to steer his side to a respectable 282 for 8 when bad light ended play early.Derbyshire were trying to avoid becoming the first team in the county’s history since 1924 to go through a season without winning a Championship game but they started badly after Leicestershire decided to bowl first.There was certainly some early movement for Clint McKay who nipped one back to trap Billy Godleman in front in the seventh over of the morning and he should have had Ben Slater in his next over but Richard Jones spilled a simple catch at point.It was not an expensive miss because Slater completely mistimed a drive at Shreck’s first ball and chipped a gently catch to mid-off but that was Leicestershire’s last success before lunch as Hughes and Wayne Madsen played carefully to put the innings back on track.Madsen had bagged a pair in the previous game but he was looking set when Jones moved one away just enough to draw him into playing and give Ned Eckersley his first of four catches.Hughes was less convinced he got a touch against Shreck three overs later and he had Neil Broom taken at first slip in his next over to leave Derbyshire facing another first innings failure.Tom Wood was stuck on 8 for 40 balls on his first-class debut before Neil Dexter bowled the 22-year-old but Hosein played positively from the start although he should have been dismissed on 32 but Sayer fumbled a straight-forward return catch.With help from Tom Milnes and Tony Palladino, Hosein guided Derbyshire to a second batting point as Leicestershire began to unravel in the closing stages of the day.Hosein was given another life on 78 when he drove at McKay and Harry Dearden on his senior debut dropped the catch at second slip before the umpires decided that even with the floodlights on, the light was not good enough for play to continue shortly before 5pm.

The Centurion Test was a homecoming for South African-born, New Zealand-based Neil Wagner

Firdose Moonda in Centurion27-Aug-2016

“Wagner is my surname now.”It just does not translate in print, does it?Neil Wagner, the South African-born, New Zealand-based Test cricketer, was explaining to local reporters that he prefers his last name to be pronounced in an English-style, rather than an Afrikaans one.Here, in Centurion where he grew up, he would be called “Vaggner”. The W is a V and the G comes from the throat. If you’re sitting in a quiet room try it. There, in Dunedin where he lives now, he is called Wagner, as is wag the tail with a soft G. You don’t need to try this one, just turn on the television tomorrow and you will hear it. If you ever run into Neil Wagner be sure to use the second.”It’s an English country and that’s where my respect is at the moment. I am a fully converted Kiwi now,” he explained, to the giggles of the journalists who tried to bait him into answering questions in Afrikaans. He assured us he still speaks the language to his family, who, for the first time, were all at the ground to see him play.”Some of them have seen me play before but they don’t all travel so this was the first time I’ve had all of my family and friends that I grew up with sit next to a field and watch a Test match,” Wagner said.He could not hide the emotion of his homecoming. “I had a lot of goosebumps when I walked out,” Wagner said. “I remember sitting on that bank and watching Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock bowl and really feeling love for this game. To walk out today and represent the Black Caps in a Test against South Africa was an amazing feeling. I loved every moment of it.”It was poetic that Wagner took the first wicket. He had Quinton de Kock caught off a short ball after South Africa’s top two had put on their first hundred-run opening stand in almost three years. Despite the South Africa batsmen’s success, Wagner supported New Zealand’s decision to bowl first. “I have never seen a wicket this time of the year that had so much grass on it. When we saw the grass on it, 100%, we were keen to bowl and a lot of the time the ball did go around.”Even with the assistance, New Zealand only managed to pluck three South African wickets but Faf du Plessis, Wagner’s former primary-school friend and now the stand-in South Africa captain, is not among them. Wagner and du Plessis played backyard cricket as children and were high-school team-mates with AB de Villiers at the Afrikaans Seuns Hoerskool. But now, there is no one Wagner would rather dismiss.”You run into Faf and you want to have a laugh because there’s a lot of memories from school in your head. You try and put that out of your head and focus on the battle: you want to get him out. That’s the main thing,” Wagner said. “Growing up it was a different story. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing – he knows what’s coming.”If he reads the news, du Plessis will also know how best to address his old mate. Wagner. Like the tail, with a soft G. That’s his name now.

Glasgow Rangers are reportedly set to allow a number of their B team prospects to depart the club at the end of their contracts this summer.

The likes of Tony Weston and Charley Lindsay, among others, are set to be moved on by the Light Blues but they could be on the verge of losing a talent who they wanted to keep hold of.

Robbie Ure's deal is due to expire at the end of the month and Football Insider reported, earlier this year, that the teenager wants to leave the club after being offered new terms for less money than he is currently on.

The 19-year-old prospect has plundered 21 goals and ten assists in 43 appearances for the academy and first-team combined in the 2022/23 campaign and his impressive statistics in front of goal indicate that it would be a blow for the Gers to lose him on a free transfer this summer.

Ure has scored once in two senior outings for Michael Beale's side to date and has shown that he has the potential to be a senior striker at Ibrox in the future, which could save the club from spending millions in the transfer market on a new number nine from elsewhere.

Whilst the possible exit of the prolific teenage marksman could lead some supporters wanting Rangers to invest in another young centre-forward, the Scottish giants may already have a future star who could make the step up to Beale's team further down the line in James Graham.

Who is James Graham?

The 18-year-old gem is another B team striker who has played a backup role to Ure in the academy side this season, having made the step up from the U18s.

He joined from Ross County in the summer of 2020 and then-Head of Academy Craig Mulholland claimed that the teenager was being eyed by clubs in the Premier League and elsewhere in Scotland, which suggested that it was something of a coup to land his signature.

Mulholland also described the ace as a "dynamic, quick and tenacious forward with excellent energy and finishing abilities" and the youngster has showcased some of these qualities in the Lowland League this season.

Graham has racked up five goals and one assist in just 1,066 minutes of action in the division, which works out as a goal contribution every 177 minutes – or once every 1.96 matches.

His form has clearly not gone unnoticed at Ibrox as the club recently rewarded him with a new contract until the end of the 2023/24 campaign, keeping him at the club whilst the likes of Lindsay and Weston are released.

This indicates that they see potential in the teenager and Ure's exit could allow him to flourish as the first-choice option at the top end of the pitch for the B team next term, which could speed up his development and lead to him breaking into the senior squad in the future, thus saving Beale and the club's hierarchy millions in future transfer windows.

by two wickets.
ScorecardPaul Collingwood’s Durham loved a return to cricket’s roots•Getty Images

This game ended with small eruptions of blue and yellow joy in front of the pavilion and on the railway side of Trafalgar Road. They were accompanied a larger and more boisterous outburst of triumph from Durham’s players in the dugout as Chris Rushworth cover-drove a Kyle Jarvis half-volley to the boundary, thus placing a seal on Durham’s two-wicket victory.But, no, the occasion in its proper sense did not end there. For Paul Collingwood and his players later threw their bags on the coach that had arrived to take them home and told the driver they were staying in Southport. They played cricket with some of Southport and Birkdale most junior players on the outfield and one just wished that Colin Graves, the chairman of the ECB, had been there to see it. Look, one could have said, this is what can happen when you take four-day cricket back to its roots. Now, would you like a pint, Colin?Having been invited to Southport the Durham players did not overstay their welcome. They won the match, had a few drinks and regaled the Southport and Birkdale members with “Blaydon Races”, many, many verses of it, and then “American Pie” and “I’m Gonna Be”.On a golden evening when players made common cause with those who watched them, photographs were taken amid the rich choruses. It made a wonderful tuneful conclusion to the sweetest of weeks. Then the Durham players asked if they could come back to Southport next year.Suddenly summer is in full sail and she has a following wind.Of course the eagerness of Durham’s players to return may be something to do with the fact of their victory. Yet Lancashire’s players were also deeply appreciative of everything that this outground experience had offered them and they will certainly return for the county has a three-year staging agreement at Trafalgar Road.All spectators can hope is that the match is as stuffed with delights as the 2016 game managed to be. The final day began with the visitors needing 247 to win and when Collingwood’s side were 170 for 2, it looked that this might be a match to deviate from the pattern of damp-palmed tension which had characterised games between these sides.Even when Jack Burnham was leg before to a full length ball from Simon Kerrigan, few reckoned the match was about to be blown off course. After all, Burnham had made 52 and he had looked increasingly comfortable as he lifted both Steven Croft and Kerrigan for sixes.Lancashire did not look like taking wickets. “Bang, bang, bang,” said the players on the ground as they encouraged each other. But it did not happen. Then Keaton Jennings, after cutting and pulling his way to 82 off 140 balls in this season when even warm-ups are welcome preludes to success, skied a pull off Tom Smith. The wicketkeeper, Tom Moores, tottered under it, shielded his eyes and clung on. In Smith’s next over Michael Richardson perished down the leg side. 175 for 5. Ho hum.Enter Durham’s captain to warm and respectful applause.For all his 40 years, his 68 Tests and his trademark jig-and-squat as he goes out to bat Paul Collingwood still marches to the wicket with the air of a no-nonsense PE teacher on the way to sort out trouble in the playground. You know the sort, the type who announces himself with: “I don’t care who started it but I know who’s going to finish it.”For nigh on two decades Collingwood has been playing this sort of role in Durham cricket, ending collapses, calming mayhem. But not on this occasion. For he was pinned on the back foot by Smith having made only 4, and when the same bowler had Paul Coughlin quite brilliantly caught by Moores diving to his right, Durham were 195 for 7, still 52 short of victory. This glorious match was back in the hazard.Moores’s third catch was his best but in its way hardly better than that mighty skier which he could hardly see but still pouched to remove Jennings. For his part, Smith was in the middle of an eight-over spell in which he took four wickets for 12 runs and would finish with five for 25.But it was another 19-year-old in this game filled with promising young cricketers who then share in the stand which all but decided the match. Until he took a couple of wickets on the third afternoon, Adam Hickey had enjoyed – or not enjoyed – a quiet first-class debut, Now, he walked out to join Ben Stokes, who had already deposited Simon Kerrigan over the railway line and into Dover Road.As Hickey later explained, the two batsmen calmed things down before tea before going on the attack when the players returned. In truth, by this stage, with Durham on 197 for 7, the spectators needed the tea break as much as the players. On the resumption Stokes hit two more sixes over deep midwicket off Kerrigan and Hickey lifted Kyle Jarvis onto the roof of the pavilion with a much mightier blow.Steven Croft rotated his bowlers but the game was gone. Or was it? Suddenly Hickey called Stokes for a quick single and the England all-rounder was run out for 36 at the bowler’s end. Four runs needed. Rushworth dealt with business and another county match at Trafalgar Road was over.And all this drama followed an morning session which was as tense as was expected. Lancashire savoured the first success as early as the sixth ball of the day when Mark Stoneman played across the line to one from Jarvis which pitched middle and leg only to hold its line and take him on the pad. Durham responded by taking 26 off Nathan Buck’s four overs, forcing Croft to call Smith into the attack.Another good fourth-day crowd was held by the cricket and the ground grew in stillness broken only by the action in the middle. The houses on Harrod Drive became such as might be painted by Hopper, the trees as by Pissarro at Osny or Pontoise.Necessity, though, benefited Lancashire as Smith squared up Scott Borthwick, whose previous three innings against Lancashire had been 134, 103 not out and 64. The left-hander was caught in the gully by Alviro Petersen for 28 so that more or less qualified as under-achievement.Failures of any sort have been thin on the ground this extraordinary week. And the thing is that while Southport and Birkdale may be very special, it is not unique. There are many clubs who would welcome first-class counties and all they are looking for is the chance to put on a show.Outground cricket is enjoyed by spectators and appreciated by players. Amid the entirely understandable desire to maximise the revenue from other formats, someone should think a little more about taking the game back to the people who are its lifeblood.

Chelsea star Dujon Sterling is set to join Rangers after agreeing a four-year deal with the Scottish outfit.

The 23-year-old is out of contract next month and is set to leave Stamford Bridge after first joining the club as a seven-year-old in 2007.

Much like many of Chelsea's most promising youngsters, he has been forced out on loan for four of the last five seasons with his most recent spell with Stoke City.

What's the transfer latest on Dujon Sterling?

According to Football Insider, Sterling has already agreed to join Rangers and once he completes a medical with the Scottish outfit, he will put pen to paper on his new deal.

The medical will be completed imminently and having already been given a tour of Rangers' training ground, only the most important details remain.

In his career to date, Sterling has been able to provide 13 goals and 16 assists in 193 appearances across a number of different positions.

The Blues are infamous for their loan policy but Sterling's exit marks a failure in this department. The 23-year-old leaves as a free agent so Chelsea will not recoup a transfer fee from his departure.

Given the financial scrutiny the London outfit is under, any income will help alleviate pressure to generate revenue that can be directed towards transfers and balancing the books.

Who are Chelsea's transfer targets?

The Blues could theoretically complete a double transfer from Napoli given the reported interest in defender Kim Min-Jae and attacker Victor Osimhen.

However, signing them will likely cost a fortune given their success this season in Italy. Osimhen, in particular, will cost a heinous amount of money to bring to the Premier League.

The Nigerian forward could cost as much as £131m although Chelsea are investigating whether they could include the likes of Christian Pulisic and Kepa Arrizabalaga to sweeten the deal for Napoli.

But with the Blues having already spent a huge sum of money under the stewardship of Todd Boehly, perhaps looking to utilise some of their young talents would have been a wise option.

It is believed Mauricio Pochettino has now agreed to become their next manager over the summer and he is a manager who is known for his positive influence on a club's exciting, young prospects.

And given the injury issues which Reece James has suffered from in recent months, perhaps allowing Sterling to leave could be a decision which they are left to rue over coming years.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Gautam Gambhir reached his 61st first-class half-century before rain hit Greater Noida•AFP

A thunderstorm that turned the Greater Noida Sports Complex ground into a swamp washed out close to two sessions of play after Mayank Agarwal and Gautam Gambhir struck half-centuries at the top of the order after Yuvraj Singh’s India Red elected to bowl.Yuvraj, perhaps mindful of his side being bowled out in under two sessions in their Duleep Trophy opener at the same venue last week, was left to wonder what may have been had they converted two opportunities – one each from Gambhir and Agarwal – in the 34.2 overs that were possible. A majority of those were bowled by the pace trio of Nathu Singh, Pradeep Sangwan and Ishwar Pandey in search of seam movement when there was none on a fresh surface that had less grass cover than the one used for the previous game.Gambhir, batting with an open-chested stance, seemingly in a bid to negate the away-going deliveries that have often discomfited him over a period of time, was troubled early on by his Delhi team-mate Sangwan. In the third over of the morning, the left-arm pacer saw an edge fall short of second slip and then had a shout for lbw turned down, but released the pressure in the very next over when he grassed a miscued pull at fine leg off Nathu.Agarwal’s technique outside off stump also came under scrutiny, but unlike Gambhir, he was happy to trust the bounce and hit through the line. After Nathu’s initial burst, he looked increasingly comfortable against the Pandey and the spin of Akshay Wakhare and Kuldeep Yadav.Kuldeep, the left-arm wrist spinner who picked up his maiden five-wicket haul last week, didn’t get the kind of purchase he would have hoped for. He was also guilty of bowling a touch flat and short as Gambhir, who captains him at Kolkata Knight Riders, eased him repeatedly behind square on the off side.Agarwal, who had a lucky reprieve minutes from the tea break when he fended a Nathu bouncer back for a return catch off a no-ball, got to his fifty in the second over after the break when he lofted Kuldeep over the infield. Gambhir then struck Sangwan for successive boundaries to raise his half-century before retiring to the dressing room to see a gentle drizzle turn into a thunderstorm.

Arsenal are planning a 'surprise' move for Wolves winger Pedro Neto as the north Londoners begin to identify summer transfer targets.

Who could Arsenal sign this summer?

The Gunners face what could be a pivotal next window as they look to keep pace with England's elite and cement their status as one of the Premier League's best sides.

Arsenal are still well and truly contending for their first domestic crown in 20 years, despite close rivals Man City having two games in hand on them, with Tuesday night's win against Chelsea going a long, long way.

Thinking beyond this campaign, it is absolutely imperative that the club don't rest on their laurels, and bolstering key positions will be crucial.

Sporting director Edu is reliably thought to be prioritising the signing of a central midfield star, regardless of bringing in Jorginho earlier this year, with Brighton star Moises Caicedo and West Ham's Declan Rice seen as major targets.

Meanwhile, the club are also thought to be interested in a deal for South American sensation Vitor Roque and sporadic links remain to Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic.

Now, as per Football Insider and journalist Pete O'Rourke, Arsenal have another target in their sights and are plotting a 'surprise' move for Neto.

The swoop could be deemed a shock due to his limited impact over the last two seasons, with the 23-year-old currently recovering from yet another long term injury.

Arsenal, though, are in the market for a back-up winger to Bukayo Saka and Neto fits the bill for them. The club, as a result, are considering a return for the former Lazio ace who has been dubbed a long term target.

What could Neto bring to Arsenal?

The Portuguese's injury history will be of great concern with Neto missing a plethora of games from the end of the 2020/2021 season to now.

Neto also only scored one goal all season last year and is yet to register a goal or assist in 17 appearances this campaign, as per WhoScored.

Jamie Carragher said recently that he was once a 'superstar player', but that doesn't appear to be the case at this moment despite some impressive performances in the past.

His best season at Molineux yielded 11 goal contributions in 30 league starts over 20/21, including five Man of the Match awards (WhoScored), and Arsenal will be hoping he can rediscover that form if they opt to make a move for the attacker.