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The offspinner speaks to Rohit Sharma on Dhoni’s future and India’s 2019 World Cup exit

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Apr-2020As far as Harbhajan Singh is concerned, MS Dhoni will never play for India again. Harbhajan, who trained with Dhoni in March at the Chennai Super Kings’ preparatory camp for the IPL, said the former India captain had “played enough” for India.Recently, as soon as the BCCI postponed the IPL indefinitely, the first question that popped up in Indian cricket was: what does this mean for Dhoni, who will turn 39 in July?India head coach Ravi Shastri had said that Dhoni, who has not played any cricket since last July, when India lost in the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup, would need to prove his form in the IPL to be in contention for selection in the T20 World Cup, scheduled in Australia this October-November.Talking to Rohit Sharma, India’s vice-captain in limited-overs cricket, during an Instagram chat on Thursday, Harbhajan said the 2019 World Cup was where Dhoni might have ended his India career even though he would continue playing the IPL.”I was at the Chennai (Super Kings) camp, and a lot of people asked me, “Is Dhoni going to play? Will he be selected at the [T20] World Cup?” I said, “I don’t know, it’s up to him”. Whether he wants to play or not, it’s his decision,” Harbhajan told Sharma.ALSO READ: MS Dhoni hits the CSK nets“He [Dhoni] will 100% play the IPL, but does he want to play for India anymore, that’s the first thing we need to find out,” Harbhajan said. “Does he feel like it or not? As far as I know, he doesn’t want to. (he’s done playing for India), and as far as I know him, I don’t think he would want to wear the blue jersey again. When it comes to playing for India, I think he had decided that whichever was India’s last [2019] World Cup match was – final, semi-final – would be his last match too. That’s what I feel. A couple of people had told me, too, that this is how it will be.”Sharma said he and his India team-mates were not aware of Dhoni’s thought process after last year’s World Cup. “We have not got any news,” he said. “World Cup’s last match was in July, since then until now we have not heard any news. [So we] have no idea [about Dhoni].”Recalling the World Cup exit, Sharma regretted India’s bating in the first ten overs. India were 24 for 4 at the end of the first powerplay. Asked by Sharma to compare the limited-overs teams he was part of to the current one led by Virat Kohli, Harbhajan said India’s current white-ball teams were over-reliant on the top order, lacking consistent support from the middle order.”The current team, what I see from the outside, is too dependent on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. And the team doesn’t have a lot of self-belief. There are very good players for sure, but there’s no belief that if Virat and Rohit get out… 70% of the matches get out of our hands when that happens, it’s very rare for someone to come in lower down the order and win the game for us.Harbhajan Singh and Rohit Sharma celebrate David Warner’s dismissal•BCCI

“But our team had that belief, that Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) will score the runs, if he doesn’t, Rahul Dravid will do it, someone or other will do it, there was that trust on each other. I don’t know… in this team, in matches where you (Sharma) or Virat have not scored runs, or there hasn’t been a partnership upfront, say you and Shikhar, so if three wickets fall at the start, the match is out of our hands. That’s one thing I think this team can improve on.”Harbhajan agreed with Sharma that India have the talent to win at least two of the next three World Cups (two T20 World Cups in 2020, 2021 and the 50-over World Cup in 2023) but wanted the players to carry their IPL success into international cricket and respond to pressure better.”The way the boys play – I see them in the IPL, somehow they don’t play the same way in international cricket,” Harbhajan said. “I don’t know whether that’s because of the pressure to keep their spots, but if they want to be big players, they have to play their natural games, what I see them playing in the IPL. In the IPL, they look like totally different players. They are hitting the same bowlers. Trent Boult plays here, Tim Southee plays here, Dale Steyn plays here, the best in the game play here. But maybe that’s the pressure of international cricket, maybe they are scared that they will lose their spots. That’s why they can’t play their games. So if they get ten games to settle down, at least they have a better chance.”

U.S. Soccer leveraged the relationship between two former Chelsea bosses to secure its highest profile men's team hire in years

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• Pochettino, Hayes both used to coach at Chelsea
• Hayes led USWNT to Olympic Gold glory
• Pochettino announced as new coach Tuesday

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  Mauricio Pochettino now has a new job. The U.S. Soccer Federation confirmed what the wider world had known for almost a month Tuesday, officially announcing the former Tottenham, PSG and Chelsea boss as its head coach. His hiring came after an exhaustive search following the firing of Gregg Berhalter at the end of the Copa America.

  U.S. sporting director Matt Crocker revealed that Hayes, who oversaw Chelsea women to immense success at the same time that Pochettino practiced his trade in London, played a role in bringing the Argentine aboard.

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• WHAT MATT CROCKER SAID

  In an interview on TNT, Crocker explained Hayes' influence on the eventual decision: "Of course, she's an unbelievable coach, and an unbelievable person. During the Olympics, we were joking, everytime we saw her she'd be like "Where's Poch?" From that perspective, she knows him, and we used that as a reference point as well…They've got the highest respect for each other, I guess the dynamic of those two working together is exciting for us."

  Crocker also drew parallels between the two coach's experience working with young players: "Throughout the process, the one thing I think really excited Mauricio was the opportunity not just to coach the team, but to be part of changing soccer in this country, and the opportunities to start to influence this philosophy throughout the ages and stages.

  "We spoke to quite a lot about our ambitions in the U.S. way, which is going to be our culture, our philosophy, from our youngest age groups and our national teams all the way through individual age group … giving those young players more opportunities to have, you know, the toolkits that they need to be successful when they actually play for the senior level."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Although she vouched for his hiring, it might be difficult for Pochettino to immediately replicate Hayes' trophy haul at the helm. The English coach led the USWNT to a Olympic gold in her first major tournament in charge — just weeks after officially joining the team – overseeing a young, talented squad.

  And she backed Pochettino to succeed in a video released on the USMNT Twitter account.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR POCHETTINO?

  The new head coach is expected to be officially unveiled at a news conference in New York this week, and will take charge of the side in a pair of important friendlies – first Panama, then Mexico – in mid-October.

Fresh from the news that their points deduction has been reduced to six from the initial ten, Everton have reportedly turned their attention towards summer targets to reinforce Sean Dyche's side.

Everton transfer news

Everton confirmed the positive outcome of their appeal, saying in an official statement: "Everton can confirm an Appeal Board has concluded that the points deduction imposed by an independent Premier League Commission in November be reduced from ten points to six points, with immediate effect. While the Club is still digesting the Appeal Board’s decision, we are satisfied our appeal has resulted in a reduction in the points sanction.

"We understand the Appeal Board considered the 10-point deduction originally imposed to be inappropriate when assessed against the available benchmarks of which the Club made the Commission aware, including the position under the relevant EFL regulations, and the 9-point deduction that is imposed under the Premier League’s own rules in the event of insolvency."

Whilst the Toffees are still waiting on the outcome of their second Financial Fair Play charge, they're now five points clear of the Premier League relegation zone and, for now, in a position to think about summer targets.

Report drops new Dele Alli Everton contract claim after major step taken

He could yet feature this season.

By
Tom Cunningham

Feb 28, 2024

That said, according to Udinese Blog, Everton are among the clubs eyeing a move to sign Festy Ebosele, who can play anywhere up the right flank. Club chiefs at Goodison Park reportedly rate the Udinese wide man highly and have joined the race for his signature alongside Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds United, Watford and West Ham United.

It remains to be seen just how much Udinese will demand for Ebosele this summer, but with so many clubs interested they are certainly in a strong position. Everton, potentially fresh from Premier League survival, will hope to become the next benefactors to the 21-year-old's talent.

"Strong" Ebosele could make England return

Having previously played for Derby, before joining Udinese on a free deal in the summer of 2022, Ebosele could get his return to English football just two years after departing this summer. The fact that, in the space of just two years, the Irishman could go from Championship action at Pride Park all the way to the Premier League highlights just how impressive he has been in Serie A with Udinese.

Former Derby teammate Craig Forsyth knew all about Ebosele's talents from the very start too, singing his praises via the club's official YouTube channel: "He's been getting better and better and that's the thing. It's good to see him improving with that final ball.

"Still he can get better, there was a lot of opportunities tonight. He's a threat and he's horrible to play against. He's so strong and he's so quick and he can go both ways. He's a nightmare for a defender."

With plenty of time to get even better at just 21-years-old, Ebosele could make an instant impact in the Premier League, whether that be at Everton, Spurs or elsewhere this summer. If the Toffees stay up this season, Dyche will hope to see a number of reinforcements arrive, including the Udinese starlet.

New Zealand captain keen to lead by example in new format she says is ‘right up my alley’

Valkerie Baynes13-Mar-2020For Sophie Devine, the lesson of how a team’s success or failure in short-form cricket can hang on a single instant is still raw.So the New Zealand captain fully expects her nation’s group-stage exit at the recent Women’s T20 World Cup, shaped by narrow defeats to India and Australia, to influence her leadership of Birmingham Phoenix in the inaugural Hundred competition.”Cricket can be a pretty cruel game,” Devine told ESPNcricinfo after being named Phoenix skipper on Friday. “I’m obviously really disappointed that we couldn’t get out of the group stages at the recent T20 World Cup, but if you look back on it, we missed out by three runs and four runs to the eventual finalists, which makes it more obvious how close T20 cricket can be.”It could be one boundary, it could be a wide, it could be a catch dropped. Certainly for me it’s knowing that cricket can ebb and flow so quickly in the shorter format. So taking that forward to the Hundred format, it certainly will be about riding the waves and about how we can stay in the game and stay in the fight for as long as possible because you know it can only take a couple of balls for momentum to swing back your way.”ALSO READ: Devine, Sciver, Gregory confirmed as Hundred captainsThe world’s No.1-ranked allrounder and most recent WBBL Player of the Tournament, Devine is looking forward to teaming up with the likes of Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner and England players Amy Jones, Georgia Elwiss and Kirstie Gordon in the new hundred-ball format, scheduled to begin in July.”The really exciting thing for me is that everyone’s in the same boat, it’s not as though I’m the only player that hasn’t played this format before,” Devine said. “At the end of the day it’s still cricket, it’s still bat and ball, it’s still bat v ball.”From a captaincy point of view it will be, especially in the field, about when you give the bowler another five balls, that is something that I’m going to have to play around with and put my head together with Ben [Sawyer], the coach, and other senior players around how we see that. With 20 less balls than a normal T20, having strategies around batting order and tactics around that is something that you’re not going to get right straight away.”However, it is the 20 fewer balls per innings that could play into Devine’s hands as a batter with 2,384 career runs from 91 T20 internationals at a strike rate of 126.4 to add to her 87 wickets.”It’s right up my alley,” she said. “It gives me a bit more of a free licence to go even earlier. I always want to be an aggressive cricketer, whether it’s with bat or with ball, so for me it gives that licence a bit earlier in the innings knowing that you’ve only got the hundred balls to make your impact.”Especially with the recent announcement that Ash Gardner is going to be joining the side – and we’ve got players like Amy Jones, Georgia Elwiss as well, who I know can take the game head on – it’s something that I’m really excited about with this format.”Having only assumed the New Zealand captaincy in January as Amy Satterthwaite took maternity leave, Devine comes across as a natural leader, eager to set the example and boost her players’ belief in themselves.”The most important thing for me to remember is that I’m a player as well and making sure that I’m doing my role with the bat and the ball and making sure I’m doing that and leading from the front,” Devine said.”It can be sometimes interesting if people are bossing you around and they’re not exactly backing it up, so that’s something I certainly want to do, is lead from the front on the field. Off it, it’s about building trust and relationships with the players and giving them confidence because we all know how tough cricket can be.”I think probably most important for me, it’s having a bit of fun as well. If we can go out there and have a smile on our face and enjoy what we’re doing, because we’re in a pretty special position, it’s certainly something that hopefully comes across in my captaincy.”

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Nicolas Jackson will sign a new contract with the Blues.

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• Maresca reveals Jackson will sign new contract
• Discusses failed move for Victor Osimhen
• Trusts Jackson to be the team's main striker

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  Maresca's start to his Chelsea career has been inconsistent as the Blues have won, drawn and lost one game each in the Premier League. However, Jackson has been performing much better under the Italian, and scored in the 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace on Sunday. After the game, Maresca confirmed that the striker is set to sign a contract extension at Stamford Bridge.

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  WHAT MARESCA SAID

  Speaking to the media, Maresca said: "The only thing I know is he's signing a new contract – I don't know how many years.

  "I'm very happy. Nicolas is doing a fantastic job with us. He scored again. He had more chances but we're happy with him."

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Chelsea were very active in the transfer window and had been looking to sign a striker over the summer. The Blues had been linked heavily with a move for Napoli's Victor Osimhen and Brentford's Ivan Toney. However, they failed to sign either player, with Toney moving to Napoli and Osimhen left in limbo at Napoli. Maresca added: "I had faith, and the club also, even before [in Jackson]. We trust Nicolas. When the transfer window was open, I said he was doing fantastic with us."

  When asked about Osimhen's failed deadline day move, Maresca said: "We want players but we wanted a player that we decide. It has to be on our conditions. If a player is not here then it was not.

  "We will see in January."

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• WHAT NEXT FOR JACKSON?

  The striker will now have some time away from Chelsea as he joins the Senegalese national team for their Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Burkina Faso and Burundi.

Liverpool approached the recent victory over Luton Town in the Premier League with the knowledge that ceding ground in the title race could be detrimental, Arsenal and Manchester City snapping at the first-placed side's heels.

Firing on all cylinders, normally Anfield would have welcomed the relegation-threatened Hatters with unwavering confidence, but Jurgen Klopp's side were threadbare, a spate of injuries ravaging the squad.

Key talisman Mohamed Salah had aggravated an injury after an emphatic return at the weekend against Brentford, with Darwin Nunez also tweaking his hamstring.

Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones, more seriously, suffered injuries that will keep them out of action for a longer period, compounding an already-bloated list of absentees.

And despite a dour opening, Liverpool prevailed to keep their title challenge churning, thanks in no small part to the talented youth fold that is stretching their influence into the senior set-up.

The likes of Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah and Harvey Elliott started, while 18-year-old forward Jayden Danns made a big contribution on his professional debut off the bench.

Liverpool's "special" £4m star is now worth 1175% more

Jurgen Klopp has shaped this rising talent into one of the Premier League’s most exciting prospects.

By
Angus Sinclair

Feb 23, 2024

All talented players, immensely so, but possibly the brightest star from the Reds' academy ranks wasn't in on the action. Indeed, Stefan Bajcetic, scarcely involved this season, might just be the cream of the crop.

The fee Liverpool paid for Stefan Bajcetic

Spain U21 international Bajcetic has actually been on Liverpool's books since December 2020, when he was snapped up from his homeland club Celta Vigo for just £224k as a 16-year-old, beating fiery rivals Manchester United to his signature.

Alex Otero, youth coordinator at Celta Vigo, detailed the midfielder's skill set to The Athletic back in 2021, revealing that Liverpool indeed held one of Europe's most talented teenagers in their grasp.

He said: “He has amazing physical characteristics. He is extremely quick, makes good recoveries, has a great spring, is really impressive in the air and carries the ball cleanly out of defence.”

Most Liverpool supporters were unaware at this stage, but after 33 appearances for the club's respective development sides, he was unleashed last season as Klopp sought to manage a shocking collapse, Liverpool's midfield sapped and defence bereft of confidence.

He exceeded expectations.

Stefan Bajcetic's 2022/23 season in numbers

Bajcetic was handed his Premier League debut before his 18th birthday back in August 2022, coming off the bench as Anfield swallowed Bournemouth up and spat the Cherries out on the back of a chastening 9-0 defeat.

His maiden outing at such a young age spoke of the exciting innate ability and evident glowing praise that had been fed to Klopp as he went from strength to strength at youth level, but it wasn't until the festive period that he was handed a second chance to impress – and boy did he take it.

Liverpool were struggling and desperately needed to defeat Aston Villa at Villa Park in the first league match following the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with a refreshing 3-1 victory cherry-topped by Bajcetic's surge and finish in the late stage.

Thus paved the way for a brilliant run in the first-team, shining as his senior peers surrounding him toiled, completing the season with 11 appearances in the Premier League, notably completing 79% of his passes and succeeding with 64% of his dribbles, as per Sofascore.

Unfortunately, Bajcetic, now aged 19, picked up an adductor injury in his thigh last March and missed the remainder of the campaign, though his contribution in stabilising the midfield was vital to the late-season revival that salvaged something from a wretched year.

He returned fleetingly in the early stage of the current campaign to make two displays, starting Liverpool's Europa League opener and coming off the bench against Leicester City in the Carabao Cup, but he has missed the majority of the season due to fitness issues, believed to be on an individual program as his body continues to grow.

Stefan Bajcetic's current market value

Described as a "special" talent by journalist Zubin Daver, the young Spaniard continues to recuperate but will be back soon, endowed with the talent and physical development to become a key figure in Klopp's system.

As such, despite injury, his current market value now stands at €10m (£9m), according to CIES Football Observatory, which marks a staggering 3917% increase from that initial bargain fee.

While he's not the main attraction at Anfield right now as far as the youth is concerned – that tag lies with Bradley, who posted a goal and five assists from right-back in January and was crowned the PFA Fan's Premier League Player of the Month – his brilliant efforts last season highlighted his calibre.

He is also still younger than his 20-year-old teammate, who is also valued at just €5m (£4m), as per CIES.

It is disappointing that Bajcetic has not been able to strut his stuff this season, but taking this prudent approach to his nurturement and development is the perfect way to go about it.

This time last year, Liverpool were struggling. At present, Klopp has revived Anfield in all its glory, and while he is draping the curtain on his illustrious tenure, the bodywork for a golden new chapter is intact, firmly so.

The stones are in place, and Bajcetic will soon be performing at the beating heart of Liverpool's team, surpassing the myriad prospects peppering Merseyside in red.

Rodri has reportedly emerged as Real Madrid's priority transfer target for 2025, with the Manchester City star stalling on a contract extension.

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• Real Madrid already planning for next summer
• Want to sign Rodri from Manchester City
• Rodri would leave City only for Real

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  According to Spanish outlet Real Madrid are confident of wrapping up a deal for Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies already for next summer, and are now setting their sights on Rodri as part of their long-term strategic planning. With the retirement of Toni Kroos, a player whose influence on Madrid’s midfield has been unparalleled, the club is seeking a player of similar calibre to fill the void. Rodri, who is considered one of the best in his position, has emerged as a "priority transfer target" to take on this role.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  At 28 years old, Rodri is at the peak of his powers, and by the time the 2025 transfer window opens, he will be 29 – the same age Zinedine Zidane was when he joined Real Madrid in 2001. His current contract with City runs until 2027, but the club has been eager to secure his future by offering him a new deal. However, the Spanish midfielder has yet to commit to an extension, fuelling rumours of a potential departure. His agent, Pablo Barquero, who also represents Real Madrid legend Raúl Gonzalez, has been in communication with City regarding a renewal, but no agreement has been reached so far. City are reportedly willing to place Rodri among the club's highest earners, potentially matching the salary of star striker Erling Haaland but the allure of returning to Madrid, his hometown, and playing a crucial role in Real Madrid’s sporting project is something that could tempt Rodri to make the move.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Real Madrid are aware that Rodri will either renew with City or join them, hence the club will not be drawn into a bidding war. Madrid plans to wait until the end of the current season before making any decisive moves. With only two years remaining on his contract by that time, and with the possibility of Pep Guardiola leaving Manchester City in 2025, Rodri might see this as the perfect moment to embark on a new chapter in his career. However, Los Blancos might have to shell out a hefty fee of over €100 million (£85m/$111m), to lure him to the Santiago Bernabeu or a similar amount that they paid to get the services of Jude Bellingham.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Rodri would want the No. 16 at Real Madrid which is temporarily worn by Endrick. However, the Brazilian teenager could get the No. 9 shirt from Kylian Mbappe, who in turn might pick up the No.10 after Luka Modric leaves the club next summer. This would leave the number 16 available for Rodri, should he make the move to Madrid. Moreover, the signing would also help Real Madrid swell the number of Spaniards in the squad which has gone down after losing Nacho Fernandez and Joselu to the Middle East.

Says it is the best way to protect a fragile middle order, which has been prone to collapses

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2020From the outside, it looks like India’s women’s team has a problem with its middle order. The team is gearing up for the T20 World Cup – the preparation included playing the favourites Australia and England recently, and a theme that emerged from that tri-series is that they are prone to collapses.Playing on one of the grounds which will host those World Cup matches in a few days’ time, India were on course for victory in the final, until they lost seven wickets for 29 runs. The collapse began with Smriti Mandhana’s wicket in the 15th over and led to a stinging critique from former India captain Diana Edulji, who called the players “lazy”.On Saturday, Mandhana admitted the collapses – there was one against England as well, when India went from 78 for 3 to 99 for 9 – were a cause for concern but that there was a way around it.”The middle order could definitely improve,” she said. “There are some things we still have to figure out with our batting and we are trying hard to do that.”The best way to support the middle order is for the top order to bat 20 overs. I think we need to try and bat long as a top four. We must try not to get out in the 16th or 17th over and the problem will be sorted if we can stay until the 20th over.”India do contain players capable of pulling this off. Mandhana herself is a prime candidate alongside the captain Harmanpreet Kaur and the two teenagers Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma. This too was readily apparent in the tri-series when India chased down a target of 174 against Australia.ALSO READ: ‘Even if the top order is firing, the winning runs will be the 20-odd from the lower order’ – India women’s coach WV RamanAustralia had put up what seemed like a winning total riding on Ash Gardner’s 93 off 57 balls but India were able to cruise the chase, losing only three of their wickets. Mandhana held the innings together with a steady half-century while Verma (49 off 28) and Rodrigues (30 off 19) had the liberty to clatter the ball to all parts. That game exemplified why Australia coach Matthew Mott rated India as having the most feared batting line-up in the world.”We can be very unpredictable on our day, but I’d like to agree (with Mott),” Mandhana said in response. “We have some great batters and our order is very balanced. The top four or five are quite settled. We’ve had the same top five for the last year and that’s been a good thing for us.”

Celtic needed two late goals in stoppage time to secure a 3-1 win over Motherwell at Fir Park in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday afternoon.

Brendan Rodgers brought Norwich City loanee Adam Idah on for Kyogo Furuhashi at half-time and the Ireland international scored twice put the Hoops in front, having been 1-0 down.

The 23-year-old marksman has already scored four goals in four league appearances for the club, and appears to be on course to become one of the manager's best signings of the season.

Most of the boss' key players – including Matt O'Riley, Alistair Johnston, Cameron Carter-Vickers, and Kyogo Furuhashi – were brought to the club by his predecessor, Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian tactician rarely missed in the transfer market with some fantastic signings in his two years at the club, with O'Riley, Kyogo, and Jota among the most impressive moves.

However, Postecoglou did not always get it right and Argentine left-back Alexandro Bernabei is one example of that, as the flop has endured a tough time in Glasgow and is worse than current first-choice Greg Taylor.

How much Celtic paid for Alexandro Bernabei

The Scottish giants swooped to sign the defender from Lanus, in his home country, for a fee within the region of £3.75m in the summer of 2022.

Upon signing for the Hoops, Bernabei revealed that the manager had faith in him and his ability to adapt to life in Scotland quickly to make an impact on the pitch.

It was a significant fee to pay for a young left-back, particularly when you consider that the club paid £3m to sign Taylor from Kilmarnock back in 2019, who had yet to reach 100 first-team appearances.

The Argentina U23 international had played 88 senior games for Lanus prior to Celtic deciding that they wanted to bring him over to the Premiership.

He had established himself as a regular starter for his former club in the Liga Profesional during the 2021 campaign, though, with 23 league starts that year.

As you can see in the table above, there were some warning signs for Celtic in his performances in his home country as opposition players found it a little bit too easy to get the better of him at times.

He was dribbled past 1.4 times per game and lost more than half of his physical duels across those 24 league outings throughout the 2021 season.

These statistics did not suggest that Bernabei was set to make a huge impact at the top end of the pitch as an attacking left-back, with a lack of goals and assists, or that he would be able to deal with the physicality of Scottish football.

Of course, the young full-back was signed at the age of 21 and Postecoglou may have viewed him as a long-term signing who could develop his game in and out of possession.

Alexandro Bernabei's Celtic career in numbers

It has not gone to plan for the now-23-year-old defender, though, as he has struggled badly in the Premiership and failed to establish himself as a regular option for either of his managers.

Postecoglou handed him 15 appearances and nine starts in the Scottish top-flight during the 2022/23 campaign as Taylor retained his place as the first-choice at left-back.

The Argentine dynamo did provide an attacking threat down the left flank with one goal and three assists in those nine league outings, which is a return of one assist every three starts on average.

However, Bernabei struggled out of possession as he failed to step up to the level of physicality required of a left-back in the Scottish league.

The 23-year-old dud lost 60% of his duels, including 63% of his battles on the deck, in his 15 Premiership appearances, which shows that opposition players found it far too easy to get the better of him.

He was also dribbled past 14 times and gave away a penalty in those nine starts as the young flop failed to provide a solid defensive presence at the back for Postecoglou.

As you can see in the table above, Bernabei has also struggled to find his top form under Rodgers in the Premiership so far during the 2023/24 campaign.

The Argentine defender, who was recently criticised for his "weak" defensive work by ex-Hoops full-back Mark Wilson, has not offered much in an attacking sense and has still been poor off the ball as the opposition have got the better of him too easily.

Put simply, Postecoglou endured a rare transfer howler by signing him as he cost more than £750k more than Taylor, yet is worse than the Scotland international.

Greg Taylor's season in numbers

The former Kilmarnock star has been the first-choice option for Rodgers in the number three position and been an excellent performer for the Hoops.

Only Luis Palma (12) has created more 'big chances' for their teammates than Taylor (eight) in the Premiership so far this season, which highlights the impressive work the Scottish ace has done at the top end of the pitch.

The 26-year-old whiz, who has scored two goals, has produced 1.9 key passes per game and produced the assist for Idah's equaliser against Motherwell on Sunday with an excellent left-footed cross.

Defensively, Taylor has only been dribbled past 19 times in 24 league starts, which is less than once per start on average. Whereas, Bernabei has been dribbled past 19 times in 12 starts since the start of last season in the top-flight.

He has also won 54% of his duels on the ground in the Premiership this term, which shows that the current first-choice left-back can hold his own on the deck and deal with the physicality of the division.

Therefore, Taylor is a better option for Rodgers than Bernabei as opponents find it harder to dribble past him, win a lower percentage of their duels against him, and the Scottish gem has the quality to offer more in possession.

Therefore, Postecoglou had a howler with the signing of the Argentine dud as he cost more than the Scotland international, despite currently being worse than the ex-Killie ace.

AC Milan and Spain striker Alvaro Morata has explained the reasons for his 'painful' split from wife Alica Campello after seven years of marriage.

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• Couple tied the knot in 2017
• Has spent time in Italy, Spain & England
• Decision taken to go separate ways

• Getty/GOAL
  

  WHAT HAPPENED?

  Despite supporting one another during a triumphant Euro 2024 campaign – which saw Morata lift the trophy as captain of his country – and holiday together at the end of that tournament in Germany, the pair have announced that they have taken the "painful decision" to go their separate ways.

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• THE GOSSIP

  Campello has revealed that post-partum depression, following the birth of their fourth child, was partly responsible for the split. She also admitted that regular uprooting of family life – with Morata taking in spells at Real Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus and Atletico Madrid before joining Milan – was also difficult to handle.

• AFP
  

  WHAT MORATA SAID

  Morata claims that was the main reason for the separation, as his career takes him back to Italy, with the 31-year-old also responding to the infidelity rumours that both he and Campello have been eager to quash. Morata told : “I am devastated, but I swear that I never cheated on her. She’s the most important woman of my life. I am tired of people saying that I was unfaithful to Alice and I didn't even go to the national team party so that this type of rumour wouldn't arise. Since then I haven't spoken to anyone out of respect for her and so that this type of news doesn't arise.”

  He added: “Alice wanted to stay in Spain and didn’t want to move again. Despite different views, we still have an excellent rapport for the well-being of our four children. There won’t be any second thoughts.”

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• WHAT NEXT?

  Morata tied the knot with Italian model Campello in 2017, having started their relationship during his first spell with Juventus in 2014-15. He has now returned to Serie A, but has seen his young family remain in Spain.