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Tottenham Hotspur crashed out of the League Cup on Wednesday night when they were beaten 2-0 by Newcastle United at St. James’ Park.

Although it was a difficult away match against the defending champions of the competition, there was an opportunity for Thomas Frank to provide some young players with an opportunity to impress.

The Danish tactician had the likes of James Roswell, Luca Gunter, and Dane Scarlett on the bench, but did not hand a single minute to an academy graduate on the night.

Meanwhile, their local rivals, Arsenal, started four academy graduates in their 2-0 win over Brighton, with Max Dowman starting on the wing at the age of 15.

Tottenham's most valuable former academy players

Bringing through academy talent can save the club millions of pounds, as a young star emerging from the U21s prevents any need to buy a player in their position.

How much would it have cost to sign Kane, who scored 280 goals for Spurs, in his prime? Transfermarkt suggests his value peaked at £132m, which illustrates how beneficial it can be to provide young players with an opportunity to shine.

Harry Kane

£66m

Noni Madueke

£44m

Troy Parrott

£14m

Mikey Moore

£14m

Kyle Walker-Peters

£13m

As you can see in the table above, there are not too many valuable players who have come through the Spurs academy and gone on to establish themselves at the elite level.

Madueke is the other most notable example, other than Kane, and he did not play a single game for Tottenham at first-team level before his moves to Chelsea and Arsenal.

Frank, now, can help Spurs to find their next big academy graduate by making Luca Williams-Barnett his own Max Dowman this season.

Why Williams-Barnett can be Tottenham's own Dowman

The Tottenham youngster is not quite as young as the Arsenal forward, as he turned 17 at the start of October, but he is still an incredibly young and promising talent.

In The Pipeline

Football FanCast’s In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.

Williams-Barnett, who was dubbed “special” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, played eight minutes off the bench against Doncaster in the League Cup earlier this season, but Spurs were already 2-0 up against the League One outfit when he came on.

A real show of faith in academy talent is to put them in difficult situations and positions to see how they fare; 15-year-old Dowman starting against Premier League side Brighton in the League Cup for Arsenal on Wednesday, for example.

Williams-Barnett, per Transfermarkt, has scored eight goals and provided seven assists in 11 games in all competitions for the U21s this season.

Meanwhile, Micky van de Ven and Richarlison are the top goalscorers in the first-team at Premier League level, per Sofascore, with three goals each.

Williams-Barnett, who analyst Ben Mattinson claimed “scores bangers”, also plundered 20 goals and 12 assists in 23 matches in all competitions at academy level in the 2024/25 campaign, per Sofascore.

These statistics show that the 17-year-old attacking midfielder, who can play centrally or out wide, has the potential to deliver goals and assists for the first-team if he can carry his performances over to senior level, which may be needed given that Van de Ven is their joint-top scorer in the Premier League.

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ByEthan Lamb Oct 30, 2025

However, it is down to Frank to unearth his talent by unleashing him in the senior side this season, as Mikel Arteta has done with Dowman, to throw him in at the deep end and see if his ability allows him to swim.

Head coach Ben Sawyer and assistant coach Craig McMillan oversee ten New Zealand players including Jess Kerr, Brooke Halliday and Georgia Plimmer

Deivarayan Muthu10-Aug-2025New Zealand have ramped up their prep for the upcoming Women’s ODI World Cup in India and Sri Lanka with a two-week camp in spin-friendly conditions at the Chennai Super Kings Academy in Chennai.While a number of Black Caps, including Rachin Ravindra, have frequented the high-performance facility in the recent past, this is the White Ferns’ first specialised overseas camp and the timing of it has been “perfect,” according to head coach Ben Sawyer, who is overseeing ten New Zealand players in Chennai along with assistant coach Craig McMillan.”Yeah, 100% correct. It’s currently winter in New Zealand, there’s no cricket and we’re nearly two months out of the World Cup,” Sawyer told ESPNcricinfo. “So, to have that prep time in India, we’ve been able to bring seven contracted players and then three of our players of interest along. So, the girls that we think will play lots of cricket in India in the future as well. So yeah, it’s been an amazing experience so far.”Related

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Devine to retire from ODIs after the World Cup

Seam-bowling allrounder Jess Kerr, opening batter Georgia Plimmer and Brooke Halliday, who had scored 38 off 28 balls in the T20 World Cup final last year, which New Zealand won, are among the seven contracted players on tour while Izzy Sharp, Flora Devonshire and Emma McLeod have been included as emerging players.After the Chennai camp, New Zealand’s players and staff will return home and will likely head to Dubai to play one-dayers against England in the lead-up to the ODI World Cup, which will kick off on September 30. Sawyer believes that exposure to stifling conditions in Chennai and Dubai will tune up New Zealand’s players for similar conditions that may face during the ODI World Cup.”Yeah, it’s hugely beneficial and even more so this year because just with the FTP cycle, we’ve had no official matches since February,” Sawyer said. “So to get these three one-day games in Chennai, to get two or three games in Dubai against England, a really strong opposition, will be great and then we also get the two World Cup warm-up games. So that’s seven or eight games we’re going to get in similar conditions. Yeah, that’s just huge for us.”Jess Kerr runs in to bowl during New Zealand’s time at the Super Kings Academy•Super Kings AcademyNew Zealand’s team management is also leaning on inputs from High Performance Sport New Zealand and Dr Kirsty Fairbairn, an experienced dietitian who has worked with both the White Ferns and Black Ferns (the women’s rugby team), to look after their players in subcontinent conditions.”We’ve actually tried to train really hard the last five days and I guess in a way not to recover, try to just do it naturally and let your bodies adapt to the conditions,” Sawyer said. “And now we’re playing the three games, we’ll try and recover really well.”But yeah, we’ve actually tried to expose ourselves as much to the heat as we can. So, we’ve had some really good help from High Performance Sport New Zealand and a guy that helped with the Tokyo Olympics and how they dealt with the heat. He’s basically told us that the week here and then the week in Dubai are probably perfect timings for the World Cup.”The presence of India internationals such as Asha Sobhana and D Hemalatha, Tamil Nadu’s teenage prodigy G Kamalini, who had won WPL 2025 with Mumbai Indians, and Swiss international Meghna Rajan has added a competitive edge to the camp. Asha castled Polly Inglis on Saturday and tested other New Zealand batters with her loopy legbreaks and wrong’uns on a sluggish surface.”Getting balls to face in New Zealand during the winter is really difficult,” Sawyer said. “We’ve had WPL players come down to bowl to us and Asha from RCB is with us here in the camp and it’s been great for our girls to chat to her and learn about these conditions.”

“It’s hugely beneficial and even more so this year because just with the FTP cycle, we’ve had no official matches since February. So to get these three one-day games in Chennai, to get two or three games in Dubai against England, a really strong opposition, will be great and then we also get the two World Cup warm-up games.”Head coach Ben Sawyer outlines New Zealand’s roadmap to the World Cup

Just a few days into the camp, Sawyer is impressed with the positive approach of the New Zealand batters against spin.”I think Izzy Sharp is a great example today,” Sawyer said. “She made 80. She played a lot off the back foot, but then was able to get really close into the pitch of the ball. And Sri (Sriram Krishnamurthy, former NZC pathway coach who is now CSK academy’s head coach) was great the other day, gave us a bit of a masterclass in playing spin.”And it was great to see Izzy use her feet today and get down the wicket really quickly. Maddy Green’s a great player. She did it her way [with sweeps and reverse-sweeps], she did it in a different way to Izzy, but both were successful and that’s what we’ve spoken about.”While this group is sweating it out in Chennai, Suzie Bates had posted a career-best 163 for Durham last month and Sophie Devine and Amelia Kerr are currently playing in the Hundred. It’s still winter in New Zealand, but the team management has ensured that their players won’t rock up cold at the World Cup.”You can see we brought a lot of younger players because the likes of Sophie, Suzie and Lea Tahuhu have been here before and Sophie is at the Hundred,” Sawyer said. “Paul Wiseman is with our spinners in Lincoln and a few of our quicks are working with Graeme [Alridge] in various locations. So, everyone’s getting what they need. Some players are actually doing a few sessions in heat chambers back home. I think we’re doing as much as we can to prepare for the conditions [at the World Cup].”

Vote for the best individual Border-Gavaskar Trophy performance by an Indian in Australia since 2000

Shashank Kishore21-Oct-2024Update: This poll has ended. Sachin Tendulkar’s performance goes into the quarter-finals. Check the other polls here.ESPNcricinfo LtdSachin Tendulkar celebrates his double-century at the SCG in 2004•William West/AFP via Getty ImagesSachin Tendulkar – 241* & 60* in Sydney, 2004Match drawn, series drawn 1-1Sachin Tendulkar’s form with the series level 1-1 hadn’t been reassuring. His cover driving had caused three dismissals in the first three Tests, and he was determined not to fall for the bait at the SCG. His 241* in the first innings – his highest Test score at the time – was a remarkable example of his discipline and ability to find a way.Tendulkar did not play the cover drive, even when the Australian bowlers offered easy temptation, and entirely cut out a faulty part of his game. He batted for more than ten hours and helped India amass 705, shutting down Australia’s hopes of a series win. His unbeaten 60 off 89 balls in the second innings was compiled with more freedom, as India pushed towards a declaration. However, a setting a target of 443 left them with too little time to take ten wickets and achieve what would have been a historic series win.Watch the highlights of these performances on the Star Sports network at 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm IST, from October 22 onwards.Virender Sehwag saved the Adelaide Test for India in 2008•AFPVirender Sehwag – 63 & 151 in Adelaide, 2008 Match drawn, India lost the series 2-1After winning in Perth, India began the final Test in Adelaide 2-1 down and Virender Sehwag gave them a cracking start, his 63 off 90 balls laying the platform for a first-innings total of 526. But Australia responded with 563 and the visitors were under fire to save the game.Sehwag was in Australia only on his captain Anil Kumble’s insistence, and he wasn’t known to be a second-innings performer. He ended up batting for nearly six hours, doing un-Sehwag things like going an entire session without a boundary, and scored his 13th century – his first in the second innings of a Test. He went through his gears, ensuring runs came despite wickets falling, to put India’s lead well out of Australia’s reach. Sehwag finished on 151; the next highest score in India’s total of 269 for 7 declared was MS Dhoni’s 20.

Wayne Rooney has sought to bring an end to his supposed feud with Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk. The Manchester United legend has found himself caught up in a war of words with the Netherlands international, with the pair coming face-to-face during an awkward television exchange after Van Dijk helped Liverpool to a Champions League win over Real Madrid.

Van Dijk's reaction to 'lazy criticism' from Rooney

Ahead of that game, with the Reds having endured a testing run in the 2025-26 campaign, Rooney suggested that Van Dijk is among those to have allowed lofty standards to slip in a Premier League title defence. He is not the only prominent figure at Anfield to fall into that category.

The commanding centre-half is, however, club captain on Merseyside and is expected to lead by example – calling in-house meetings if required in a bid to get to the bottom of why a run of six defeats in seven was allowed to happen.

Van Dijk responded to comments from ex-England captain Rooney by saying: "I didn't hear him last year. It doesn't hurt me. Just to come back to this particular player, obviously a legend, a big player of the game who inspired so many, I can say only positive things but I feel that comment is just I would say it's a bit of a lazy criticism."

AdvertisementAFPLiverpool captain sent out for post-match press duty

Rooney doubled down on his claims, only to then be confronted by Van Dijk after the Dutchman was sent out for post-match press duty with after Liverpool battled to a 1-0 victory over Real Madrid in European competition. He said when picking up a microphone next to Rooney, with team gatherings at Anfield being addressed: "It is easy to say now because we won twice in a row that it helped pretty well but in a world of chaos you have to try and stay calm and take perspective of things. In that meeting the time was October, so much football to be played, so many twists and turns that can happen and I think at times the noise was a lot (said with a small smile on his face). I think it is very important to put things in perspective, keep your head down and work and get out the situation because the quality we have, that is not the issue. It is about keep working and keep going."

Rooney responds to awkward exchange with Van Dijk

Rooney looked slightly uncomfortable when being faced with Van Dijk, but told his podcast for : "I thought he was good that night, and I had loads of people say, 'Oh, when he came up to you,' I think fair play to him for coming out. We didn’t know he was coming out. It was meant to be [Dominik] Szoboszlai, I think, to come to the table. But I think fair play to him, he came out and he put his point across.

"Listen, Virgil van Dijk over the last five, four years has been one of, if not, the best centre-backs in the world, and his performances have dipped over the last few weeks.

"I’ve had my opinion on that; he has his own, which you have to respect. But when you’re the Premier League champions, teams are coming for you, and when you don’t win one game, people ask questions. So, when you don’t win four games in a row, of course, there are questions of the captain. I think I said it a few weeks ago on here, what he should be and he will be doing is getting the players together.

"I think he said that he got the players together and took them for a meal or something, trying to bring that chemistry back, and that’s what I was saying he should be doing as a captain, and he’s done that. It certainly seemed to help in the Madrid game. He’s a fantastic player, but he hasn’t started the season great. You want to see good players playing well, and he performed well [against Real Madrid]. So, for him, I’m sure for Liverpool, he hopes that continues."

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AFPLiverpool fixtures: Man City clash next up for the Reds

Rooney added after being asked when it became apparent that Van Dijk would be joining him for an on-air discussion: "When he was there, and I think it's great. No disrespect to Szoboszlai, but I'd rather speak to Van Dijk."

He went on to say: "I think the issue is, when you don't play well and you're not winning games, as Premier League champions, everyone's going to have an opinion. And, of course, when you're not playing well or you're not winning games that opinion, they're going to look at why and give their thoughts why. Liverpool can use this in two different ways: they can let it affect them or they can use it to spur them on.

"You look at Man United over the last few years, the criticism that they've had. I played the game, I was captain of England, captain of Man United. I got criticised for for all kinds. That's part of being a top player. You have to deal with that. You have to accept it at times. Listen, I was unfair with my comments, I'd be the first to hold my hands up. Same way I did with Man United when I had a rant about them and then they won games, and I come back on that. If I was unfair, I'd be fair to hold my hands up."

Rooney maintains that his comments were fair, with it the role of a pundit to offer opinions that may not be universally well received, and he will be an interested observer on Sunday when Van Dijk and Liverpool head to the Etihad Stadium for a heavyweight showdown with old adversaries Manchester City.

Dylan Cease could be on the move before the 2025 MLB trade deadline.

That shocking news hit on Wednesday, as ESPN's Buster Olney reported the San Diego Padres might try to get creative as they attempt to compete down the stretch. The Padres have a number of pressing needs as the deadline approaches, with left field and catcher at the top of the list. Given their financial situation, moving some salary while making additions makes a lot of sense.

Cease has ace-level stuff, but has struggled this season. After finishing fourth in NL Cy Young voting in 2024, he has been a different pitcher in 2025. Through 21 starts, the 29-year-old is 3-10 with a 4.59 ERA, a 1.30 WHIP and 144 strikeouts against 42 walks in 113 2/3 innings. The one thing to note here is that Cease's xFIP is 3.30, meaning he's gotten pretty unlucky this year.

The Padres are set to lose Cease at the end of the season as he'll hit free agency. They could, instead, leverage his value given the lack of available starting pitching at this year's deadline and hope a team will bank on Cease's bad luck turning around, or their staff making minor tweaks. San Diego could then use assets acquired to help improve their roster for the stretch run.

What follows is a look at the best fits for Cease as we approach the trade deadline.

Chicago Cubs

Shota Imanaga and Matthew Boyd have been excellent for the Cubs this season, but there remains a Justin Steele-sized hole in the rotation. As a group, the team's starters rank 13th leaguewide in ERA (3.93) and have allowed the third-most home runs (87). Chicago needs to add juice to the starting rotation, and the organization knows Cease intimately. The Cubs selected him in the sixth round of the 2014 MLB draft and Cease wound up being a top prospect before the club dealt him to the Chicago White Sox as part of the ill-fated Jose Quintana trade.

This would be a chance for the Cubs to land Cease back on the North Side to help the team's starting pitching depth as they make a push for an NL Central crown.

New York Yankees

The Yankees' focus is sure to be finding a third baseman, but the pitching also needs help. Max Fried and Carlos Rodon have carried the starting rotation this season with Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt out after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Luis Gil is close to a return, but the rest of the team's starters have been shaky at best and awful at worst. As a group, New York's starters rank seventh in ERA (3.74) but they don't have the rotation depth to win a World Series.

Cease has the kind of elite stuff that can show up in October. While he struggled in the 2024 postseason, his average fastball velocity (97.1 mph) ranks fifth in MLB among starting pitchers and his slider was one of the best pitches in baseball in 2024. A few tweaks could have him dominating hitters again.

New York Mets

The Mets have a really good rotation, led by Kadai Sengal and David Peterson with Sean Manaea healthy again to back them up. But they also have a ticking time bomb on their hands. Converted reliever Clay Holmes has already thrown 108 2/3 innings, which is 38 2/3 more than his previous career high of 70. He has been really good this season, posting an 8-5 record with a 3.48 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. But so far in July he has an ERA of 5.66, and has surrendered 13 earned runs on 21 hits in 20 2/3 innings. He could be hitting a wall.

If Holmes continues to struggle, New York needs to find another option for the stretch run. Frankie Montas is back, but he has a 4.62 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP this season through five starts. His last two starts have been better but he's risky. Adding another starter feels like a must for the Mets.

Toronto Blue Jays

Like the Mets, the Blue Jays look solid on the surface, with Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt and Kevin Gausman leading the rotation. But if you look under the hood, the team's starters rank 24th in ERA (4.53). Max Scherzer (5.14 ERA) was sidelined for months thanks to a thumb injury and has yet to look ready for primetime, and Eric Lauer (2.80 ERA) is a low-ceiling lefty who has had some success this season but his 3.82 xFIP says he's getting incredibly lucky.

Cease would be a high-ceiling arm that could add the depth to the rotation Toronto has struggled to find a year.