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West Ham star Vladimir Coufal has been sent home in disgrace after reportedly visiting a nightclub while on international duty.

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Coufal sent home from Czech Republic dutyWest Ham star went clubbingCzechs could secure Euro 2024 qualificationWHAT HAPPENED?

Coufal and his Czech Republic teammates Jakub Brabec and Jan Kuchta were sent home on Sunday. Czech newspaper iSport reported that the trio visited a nightclub in Olomouc on Saturday night along with Czech FA chief Tomas Neumann. The Czech FA said the players broke national team rules.

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The incident happened a day after the Czech Republic drew 1-1 with Poland in Warsaw. The result means that the Czechs need only to avoid defeat to Moldova in Olomouc on Monday to qualify for Euro 2024. The trio were reportedly partying with local league players whose season had finished on Saturday.

WHAT THE CZECH FA SAID

A statement published by the Czech FA read: "Three players fundamentally violated the internal rules of the national team on Saturday night. Jakub Brabec, Vladimir Coufal and Jan Kuchta have left the national team meeting with immediate effect by the decision of the management."

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR COUFAL AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC?

Coufal will return to London ahead of West Ham's trip to Burnley next weekend. Should the Czech Republic secure a place at Euro 2024, it's likely the defender will need to do some serious apologising in order to win back his place in the squad.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:22

Chappell: Umesh Yadav has been a hero this season

Australia’s batsmen froze in the spotlight of the opportunity to press for a series-sealing victory over India, leaving the hosts needing a mere 87 to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on day four in Dharamsala. The surprise for the hosts and source of regret for the visitors was that wickets to pace, not spin, dictated the course of the day.Starting their second innings 32 runs behind, Australia lost David Warner, Steven Smith and Matt Renshaw while still in deficit and were ultimately rounded up for a measly 137. Only Glenn Maxwell offered any prolonged resistance, the rest stuck in quicksand against Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.Umesh and Bhuvneshwar in particular made a mighty impact, making the new ball kick, jump and jag in such a way that Warner and Renshaw were utterly spooked, while Smith’s series ended with an attempt to assert himself that ended with a misjudged pull shot and scattered stumps. Ashwin and Jadeja were then left to separate Maxwell and Peter Handscomb before mopping up the rest.Jadeja and Wriddhiman Saha had earlier put together a priceless partnership to push India into the lead before Australia struck in the minutes before lunch. As had been the case in Ranchi, India’s seventh-wicket stand was a thorn in Australian sides, lifting the hosts from an overnight deficit of 52 to an advantage of 18 before the visitors were able to find a wicket. Jadeja’s innings maintained his up surge not only as the world’s No. 1 ranked bowler, but also as a batting talent.He had solid support from Saha, who was fortunate to still be at the crease given Matt Renshaw’s drop off the bowling of Cummins on the second evening. It was ultimately Cummins who ended the stand by coaxing Jadeja to drag onto the stumps, before also claiming Saha with a spiteful bouncer that the wicketkeeper gloved into the outstretched right hand of Steven Smith at second slip.These wickets feel either side of O’Keefe finding some turn in his first over of the session to defeat Bhuvneshwar Kumar, with Smith claiming the catch. He had refrained from using O’Keefe while Jadeja was at the crease, a measure of the respect Australia had for the left-hander’s potential to score quickly.Australia thought they had a wicket with the first ball of the morning, when Cummins angled across Jadeja and there was a noise as the ball passed the bat. The umpire Marais Erasmus raised his finger instantly, but Jadeja reviewed just as fast. Replays showed the bat had brushed his back pad rather than the ball, the decision reversed.With the ball still new, it swung and bounced disconcertingly at times, requiring all of Jadeja’s skill to keep down. Saha proved an effective partner, and the scoring rate rose dangerously for an Australian side conscious of not giving up too much of a lead. At the same time, Smith and his bowlers were straining for wickets, as evidenced by an ambitious referral for lbw against Saha by Josh Hazlewood off an inside edge, and also a preponderance of niggling chatter between bowlers and batsmen.Not for the first time, Cummins took it upon himself to generate something, and did so by going around the wicket to Jadeja after he had hooked a pair of short balls in his previous over. Jadeja’s middle stump was knocked back, and he was soon to be joined by Bhuvneshwar and then Saha.Steven Smith’s sensational series with the bat ended at 499 runs•Associated Press

Kuldeep Yadav added a pesky few runs with the last man Umesh before Nathan Lyon returned to the bowling crease. He had Kuldeep caught at deep backward square leg on the sweep with his first ball. That gave Lyon a deserved five-wicket haul, and left the touring batsmen to contemplate the best way to build a lead.They would have expected a few difficult overs from the pacemen but not the fusillade fired down by Bhuvneshwar and Umesh that did for Warner, Smith and Renshaw. Warner was struck one stinging blow on the shoulder by a Bhuvneshwar short ball that climbed sharply, was dropped for a second time in the match by Karun Nair, and did not get far enough across his crease to avoid edging Umesh the following over.Smith seemed intent on domination, sending his first ball to the boundary behind square leg then lining up Bhuvneshwar’s short and full deliveries. But his attempt to carry on brought a miscalculation and an ugly drag onto the stumps – Smith finished the series with a laudable 499 runs but the sense of an unfinished last innings.Renshaw’s dropped catches and cheap first-innings dismissal had conveyed something of fatigue on his first overseas tour having played so maturely earlier in the series. Now he fiddled at an Umesh delivery he may have left at another time. Australia were three down and still a run in deficit.For a time, Handscomb and Maxwell appeared capable of forging a major stand. Maxwell was the aggressor and Handscomb the accumulator, and the left-arm wristspin of Kuldeep was withdrawn by Ajinkya Rahane after being effectively neutralised. However in the final few minutes of the session, Ashwin found Handscomb’s outside edge with an offbreak that jumped without turning, then Shaun Marsh – beset by a back injury – bunted lamely to short leg.Maxwell loomed as the key to Australia’s chances when the evening session began, and after Wade evaded an early lbw appeal and referral, Maxwell was given out to Ashwin when he tucked his bat behind his pad. The review showed umpire’s call for both impact with the pad and projected path towards the stumps.Cummins and Wade then tried to steady the innings, but became trapped into scorelessness in a way that meant the Australian lead did not appreciably grow relative to the time they spent at the crease. So when Cummins fell to Jadeja, the lead was still well short of 100, and it remained there through the swift dismissals of O’Keefe and Lyon.Finally Wade showed more intent in Hazlewood’s company, until the paceman was deceived twice by Ashwin. The first occasion seemingly to a catch at second slip, but replays showed M Vijay had grounded the ball and so the players returned to the middle for another two balls, this time to see the umpire Ian Gould’s finger raised for an lbw.Vijay and KL Rahul were left with six overs to the close. They negotiated them with a level of comfort that underlined not only how well Umesh and Bhuvneshwar had bowled, but also how Smith’s Australians had squandered the sort of chance they had been fighting to have all series.

A round-up of the Group D matches of the 2016-17 Vijay Hazare trophy held on February 26, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Feb-2017A century from MS Dhoni and his 151-run stand for the seventh wicket with Shahbaz Nadeem helped Jharkhand overcome a collapse to beat Chhattisgarh by 78 runs at the Eden Gardens. His 107-ball 129 came after Chhattisgarh had reduced Jharkhand to 57 for 6 in the 20th over. Opening bowlers Pankaj Rao (3-27) and Kant Singh (4-33) shared the first six wickets. But Dhoni, coming in at No. 6, combined with Nadeem (53 off 90) to steady their innings with a stand that lasted 27.4 overs, helping Jharkhand to 243 for 9. Dhoni fell off the last ball of the innings after hitting ten fours and six sixes. In response, Chhattisgarh failed to put on substantial partnerships before folding for 165 in an innings where only three batsmen got past 20 – Kant top-scored with 24, to add to a memorable List A debut. Fast bowler Varun Aaron (3-26) and Nadeem (3-36) were the top performers for Jharkhand with the ball.Akshath Reddy’s third List A century powered Hyderabad to 312 before Chama Milind’s four-wicket haul restricted Saurasthra to 199, for a 113-run victory in Kalyani. Reddy lost opening partner Tanmay Agarwal in the fifth over but added 191 with Kolla Sumanth, who retired hurt on 91. Reddy put up a career-best 154 off 132 balls before being run-out in a 48th over that accounted for three wickets. Medium-pacer Kushang Patel (3-54) took three wickets in four balls in that over. In reply, Saurashtra lost their openers within the fourth over. A third-wicket stand of 46 steadied the innings briefly before a collapse saw them fall from 57 for 2 to 96 for 7. All of Hyderabad’s bowlers chipped in with wickets, but Milind and Mehdi Hasan (2-44) were at the forefront. Prerak Mankad, the lone resistance for Saurashtra, hit his maiden century – 104 off 88 balls – before falling to Ravi Kiran (2-46).Pavan Deshpande’s maiden fifty anchored Karnataka‘s chase against Services, helping them to a four-wicket win at the Jadavpur University ground in Kolkata. After Services were put in, they lost quick wickets on either side of a third-wicket stand of 54 to slump to 114 for 6. Suraj Yadav (44*) and Diwesh Pathania (49) added 82 before for the seventh wicket, before Poonam Poonia’s unbeaten 13-ball 20 lifted Services to 231 for 7. Medium-pacer Prasidh Krishna (3-39) and offspinner Aniruddha Joshi (2-32) led the charge for Karnataka. Robin Uthappa, who effected three catches and a stumping behind the wickets, hit 51 off 43 after Karnataka were reduced to 3 for 2. His fifty came in a 76-run partnership with Manish Pandey (23) before the pair fell off consecutive overs to leave Karnataka at 81 for 4 in the 18th over. Deshpande’s 73 brought them to within 44 runs of victory, before Joshi (50* off 37) and J Suchith (24* off 18) sealed the win.

Rangpur Division sealed a well-earned promotion to next season’s Tier 1 with a drawn game in Bogra against Rajshahi Division. Rangpur finished on 72 points, seven ahead of Rajshahi who will remain in Tier-2.Put in to bat, Rajshahi were bowled out for 191 with Mohammad Saddam taking five wickets. Rangpur took a 160-run lead after Liton Das and Nasir Hossain made half-centuries while Dhiman Ghosh fell three short of a hundred. Mamun Hossain took five wickets.Myshukur Rahaman’s 160 helped Rajshahi perform better int he second innings, as they declared on 403 for 7. Rangpur showed intent in their chase of 244 but play was called off on the fourth day with their score at 196 for 2. Jahid Javed made 70 while Mahmudul Hasan chipped in with an unbeaten 54.Sylhet Division and Chittagong Division also drew their last game in Chittagong. Both sides will remain in Tier-2 for next season.Alok Kapali’s third first-class double-hundred, an unbeaten 200, was the cornerstone of Sylhet’s 555 for 7 declared in the first innings. Imtiaz Hossain also made a century, hitting 11 fours and a six in his 211-ball 134. Kapali struck 10 sixes and 12 fours in his 266-ball essay.Chittagong were bowled out for 320 runs with Nafees Iqbal dismissed on 99 while Yasir Ali and Mohammad Saifuddin also struck fifties. Abu Jayed took a five-for.Sylhet blazed to 165 for 7 in 25 overs in the second innings to set Chittagong a target of 401 but Chittagong batted out the final day, making 261 for 7 in 88 overs, with contributions from the middle order.Rajshahi, Sylhet and Chittagong will be joined by Dhaka Metropolis in Tier-2 next season.

The full fixture lists for South Africa’s and West Indies’ tours of England next summer have been confirmed by the ECB, with ten different counties hosting tour matches in the course of the season

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Sep-2016The full fixture lists for South Africa’s and West Indies’ tours of England next summer have been confirmed by the ECB, with ten different counties hosting tour matches in the course of the season, as well as an expanded programme of matches for England Lions in both red- and white-ball cricket.Sussex and Northamptonshire will each host South Africa in one-day warm-up games ahead of the three-match ODI series in May, with Leicestershire scheduled to host a T20 tour match if South Africa fail to reach the final of the Champions Trophy in June.South Africa’s preparations for their four-match Test series will include a three-day game against England Lions at Worcester, while the Lions are also due to take on South Africa A in three one-day games, one at Trent Bridge and two at Northampton, before a four-day unofficial Test at Canterbury.South Africa A’s month-long tour will also include a four-day game at Arundel – a ground with a long tradition of hosting international sides.Later in the season, Essex, Kent and Derbyshire will each stage three-day tour matches against West Indies as part of the tourists’ build-up to their three-match Test series. Leicestershire will also host the tourists in a two-day tour match, if they are not involved in the NatWest Blast T20 Finals’ Day.Tom Harrison, the ECB’s chief executive, said: “We’re very pleased to have agreed such a comprehensive touring programme for 2017 – a schedule which will provide fans with even more opportunities to see two international teams in action at county grounds; and help our Lions players test themselves against high quality opposition in both red and white-ball cricket.”With this country also hosting the ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC Women’s World Cup next season, 2017 promises to be a hugely exciting summer of cricket – and a strong platform to promote our sport to an even wider and more diverse audience.”

Pakistan have recalled fast bowler Umar Gul to their ODI squad. The 32-year-old last played 50-over cricket for his country in April 2015. Gul is one of four fast bowlers – including the uncapped Hasan Ali – chosen to play against England and Ireland from August 18.Legspinner Yasir Shah has also made a return to limited-overs cricket for the first time since November 2015. He had been suspended for a doping offence and was unavailable for selection when Pakistan had toured New Zealand in January 2016. Seven out of the 16 men from that squad have been sidelined.

Changes to Pakistan’s ODI squad

In: Sami Aslam, Sharjeel Khan, Umar Gul, Yasir Shah, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Nawaz
Out: Ahmed Shehzad, Anwar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali, Sohaib Maqsood, Zafar Gohar

Fast bowler Mohammad Irfan was one of those to be left out. In the past, Pakistan have handled him with great care, mindful of his injury-prone nature. His pace and bounce have been seen as assets, but with only 12 wickets in nine ODIs over the past 12 months, he has been overlooked by the new selection panel led by Inzamam-ul-Haq.Others who haven’t made the cut include Ahmed Shehzad, Sohaib Maqsood and Anwar Ali. While Shehzad has fallen out of favour due to issues with indiscipline and inconsistency, Maqsood and Anwar have struggled with their recent form. Maqsood has not done much since starting his career with back-to-back fifties, while Anwar has gone wicketless in four of his last six matches.Sami Aslam, who made two high-quality half-centuries in the Edgbaston Test against England, was drafted in, as was Mohammad Nawaz, who made his Pakistan debut in the Asia Cup in February. Nawaz is yet to take an international wicket, but had a productive time in the Pakistan Super League where he finished with 13 wickets at an average of 18. He was also part of the A team tour to England this July.Meanwhile Hasan, a 22-year-old right-arm seamer, is the only squad member without any experience in international cricket. He made his List A debut in 2013 and has taken 40 wickets in 21 matches at an average of 22.87. Like Nawaz, he has recent experience of English conditions thanks to his inclusion in Pakistan’s A team tour last month.”While picking the squad, the team management and skipper were consulted and all concerned gave their consent in this regard,” chief selector Inzamam said in a statement issued by PCB. “The team has been selected keeping in mind the conditions and the recent performances of some players in domestic and A Team tours. The team is a fine blend of experience and youth and the selectors believe that this team will do well.”Gul’s return to the Pakistan team has come two months after he had accused the selectors of “double standards”. Though he has had problems with fitness, missing large chunks of cricket in 2013 and 2014 due to a knee injury, he said he had been overlooked for the 2015 World Cup despite meeting the minimum fitness requirements. After he was left out of the Test squad for England and even the national camps in Abbottabad and Lahore, Gul said he felt the selectors had lost faith in him.Pakistan’s ODI squad: Azhar Ali (capt), Sharjeel Khan, Sami Aslam, Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Nawaz

Wrexham have enjoyed an unbelievable campaign under the stewardship of Phil Parkinson.

The Red Dragons have lost just three times in the National League are now only one win away from securing promotion to the Football League for the first time in over a decade.

They have played a part in the biggest game in the division's history, a 3-2 win over Notts County, and now they have also broken the record for the highest number of points (107) amassed at this level of the game in a single season.

Many will frown upon their achievements for the money spent along the way, but it's hard not to be amazed by what's happening in the Welsh town.

Since Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took on ownership of the club just over two years ago, Wrexham have gone from strength to strength and a spot in League 2 would be the icing on the cake.

Few would bet against back to back promotions given their financial muscle, but will the likes of top-scorer Paul Mullin and Ben Foster still be there?

Mullin is likely to play a part but Foster's future at The Racecourse Ground is less then certain, with the veteran goalkeeper having initially signed just a six-week deal with the club.

What did Ben Foster ask for in his Wrexham contract?

Whether or not the 40-year-old decides to stick around for one last go at it next year remains to be seen, but it's hard to argue against the fact that he's been a wonderful signing.

After all, it was his moment of magic late in that game against Notts County that may well have proven key in the title race.

Deep into injury time, the visitors were given a spot kick but Foster was on hand to make a remarkable save to his right-hand side in order to keep Wrexham ahead.

Parkinson's men are now likely to achieve promotion and they will owe a great deal of gratitude to the footballer turned YouTuber for stepping in and helping the club amid a season ending injury to first choice stopper Rob Lainton.

It doesn't appear as though the affectionately known Fozzy is earning much either, having revealed exactly what he asked for during his contract negotiations. Foster was speaking in the video below about how the deal came about.

Indeed, the 'keeper was quoted as saying:

"When it gets to the point of negotiating a contract. Obviously, you’ve got to expect that being non-league, it’s not going to be anywhere near Premier League money or anything like that.

“To be honest, I don’t really need much anyway so the negotiations honestly took about five minutes. It was the easiest conversation in the world.

“With regards to wages and kind of stuff. It’s a short-term deal, a six-week deal. Wages wise it’s literally peanuts. I said I don’t want much.

“Like pay for my travel, pay for when I need to stay in a hotel. That’s all I really want from it. The part of it for me is to try and help the team, get them over the line, get promoted.”

It appears as though Foster has well and truly lived up that final line after playing just a matter of games at the non-league side.

Time will tell whether this stint back in the game will be a mere six week swansong, but he's certainly proven he can still perform at an extremely high level.

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Nottingham Forest star Brennan Johnson and have recently scouted the forward.

Will Brennan Johnson stay at Nottingham Forest this summer?

Journalist Dean Jones has claimed that Forest "will do everything" to keep Johnson for at least another year, however, it may be difficult to hold onto the forward, given that interest is growing from a number of Premier League clubs.

Transfer expert Steve Kay has reported Manchester City are eyeing a move for the 21-year-old, sending scouts to watch him on multiple occasions, as Pep Guardiola views him as a long-term replacement for Riyad Mahrez.

Newcastle United have also been named as potential suitors for the youngster, so Forest have a real battle on their hands trying to tempt him to stay, with numerous clubs that are likely to be playing in Europe next season making their interest clear.

Tottenham have now joined the race for the Wales international, according to a report from Football Insider, with a senior scout said to have watched him score in an impressive display against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the weekend.

The north London club are monitoring the availability of the attacker as they weigh up a potential move, but seeing as his contract with Forest is not set to expire until 2026, they may have to shell out a sizeable fee to secure his signature.

Should Tottenham sign Brennan Johnson?

Former Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi previously lauded the Welshman as "unbelievable" back in 2019, and he has come on leaps and bounds since then, proving himself as a top-quality Premier League player.

The versatile forward added to his impressive goal tally at the weekend, scoring against Wolves to reach eight league goals for the season, while he has also weighed in with two assists.

Spurs aready have a plethora of attacking options to choose from, with Dejan Kulusevski still set to sign permanently despite Antonio Conte's exit, and Heung-min Son is still contracted until 2025.

As such, a new defender could be a better priority for the Lilywhites this summer, particularly because of their very poor record at the back, conceding 40 goals prior to the trip to Merseyside, the same amount as relegation-threatened Everton and Crystal Palace.

That said, Johnson is a fantastic prospect who may only get better, and his ability to play out wide and through the middle could make him a very good option for whoever takes over as manager.

Manchester United are believed to be interested in Atalanta striker Rasmus Hojlund who is set to change his agent ahead of the summer transfer window.

Have United for the striker for the future?

Going into the summer transfer window, it is believed the Red Devils will be setting their focus on finding themselves a new number nine.

And one of the players who could potentially be an option over the coming months is the young Danish striker, Hojlund, according to reports in Denmark (via SportWitness).

The striker only made the move to the Serie A side in the previous summer transfer window but it seems as if they may come under pressure to sell him.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Fabrizio Romano has claimed the 20-year-old could be putting plans in place to potentially aid a possible move away from Atalanta in the summer:

(1:20) "From what I understand, many clubs around Europe are following him with Atalanta, with the Danish national team, clubs from England clubs from Germany. So there is a lot of movement around Rasmus Hojlund."

"I'm told and this is important information, that Rasmus Hojlund is set to pick a new agent in the next days/weeks ahead of the summer transfer window and we know how important are agents to decide about the next move."

Should Hojlund be a target this summer?

United's biggest issue this season has been their lack of goals coming from an out-and-out striker with a heavy reliance put on the shoulders of Marcus Rashford.

This has led to reports suggesting the club are going into the summer with an interest in the likes of Harry Kane who has shown consistent returns in the Premier League over his career.

Given United have been linked to players of Kane's calibre, it would be interesting to see whether Hojlund may be seen as too big of a risk to take at this stage in his career.

The 20-year-old has not even completed one season yet in one of Europe's big five leagues, but he is showing a lot of promise.

Hojlund has made 23 appearances in Serie A this season with 14 of those coming from the starting XI and his returns have been on the up since the turn of the year (via Transfermarkt).

The Danish striker has returned seven goals in the league thus far but six of those have come since the turn of the year in the space of 12 games.

Reports suggest his recent form in Italy has garnered him interest from other Premier League sides with both Arsenal and Newcastle United also believed to have him on their radars.

Hojlund has also carried his impressive form into the international break where he has netted five goals in their two games against Finland and Kazakhstan.

And this has seen the Danish press grow increasingly excited for the potential player their national side could have for the future with the outlet B.T. hailing him as "magic".

Chelsea have not taken flight since the arrival of Todd Boehly in the ownership role last year, and despite spending in excess of £550m on the transfer front since his arrival, the west London giants languish in tenth place in the Premier League and face a woeful end to woeful season.

What’s the latest on Chelsea’s manager situation?

Some are calling for manager Graham Potter to be dismissed from duty, having replaced Thomas Tuchel at the head of the table weeks into the start of the season, with the German manager sacked after Chelsea’s struggling start to the campaign.

While the mess the Blues are engulfed in cannot be solely attributed to Potter, he is the man at the helm and it is inexcusable that, given the rate of new arrivals, the club have won just one of their past ten matches across all competitions and are 11 points adrift of top-four.

And according to Football Insider, illustrious former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has been distinguished by the Chelsea board, who held an emergency meeting earlier this week to combat the situation; out of work since resigning from Los Blancos in 2021, Zidane would bring a wealth of experience and a supreme winning mentality.

Imagine Marc Cucurella under Zidane

Despite Real Madrid being Zidane’s sole senior managerial role, the 50-year-old has won three Champions League and two La Liga titles, with only Carlo Ancelotti winning Europe’s premier continental tournament on more occasions.

And having been named the World’s Best Club Coach in consecutive years, it is undeniable that he possesses the apt mentality to instil confidence and swagger back across the Chelsea squad.

Across his two spells at the helm of the Madrid ship, Zidane has recorded a points-per-match average of 2.30 and 2.04, highly impressive given Ancelotti’s current record in his second spell with the outfit stands at 2.29.

The World Cup winner’s tactical ingenuity is one of his most salient strengths, and among Chelsea’s expansive but beleaguered crop, he would only enhance their fortunes, with £60m summer signing Marc Cucurella perhaps cashing in.

Cucurella, despite a remarkable debut Premier League term with Brighton & Hove Albion last year, has not replicated the feats at Stamford Bridge, branded a “defensive liability” by journalist Okon Nya for his woes.

However, given the semblance between the £175k-per-week gem’s own game and Madrid legend Marcelo’s, there is no reason why Zidane – who was hailed as a “real luxury” by ex-midfielder Marcos Llorente – can’t nurture him into the force many expected him to be.

As per WhoScored, Marcelo completed 83.2% of his passes over his career, also averaging 2.1 tackles and 1.7 interceptions; Cucurella, comparatively, has recorded a 76.6% pass success rate, while averaging two tackles and 0.8 interceptions, and while he hasn’t quite exhibited the offensive side he would have liked, an area Marcelo was renowned in, Zidane’s fluid philosophy could break this aspect of his game out of hibernation.

Pulling off a deal for a manager of Zidane’s calibre would be nothing short of a major coup, and one that reflects onto the squad that boasts a collective skill set, on paper, that can rival any top aspiring outfit across Europe.

And should the Frenchman indeed take to the dugout in west London, the likes of Cucurella, who was hailed a “class act” by former Seagulls team-mate Lewis Dunk, might finally start exuding the quality that earned him the extravagant move last summer.