Latest news with #ChrisWaddle
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former England midfielder encourages Jack Grealish to transfer abroad and change Manchester City position
Manchester City's Jack Grealish has been encouraged to leave the Premier League and change his position in the process, according to one former England midfielder. Grealish has been heavily linked with a departure from the Etihad Stadium this summer and is expected to not be part of Pep Guardiola's travelling squad for Manchester City's upcoming pre-season friendly against Palermo in Italy. The 29-year-old made just seven Premier League starts last season and having been snubbed by England manager Thomas Tuchel in his first two squad selections as Three Lions boss, Grealish has it all to do if he is to salvage his international career ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Everton are in negotiations with City over a proposed season-long loan for Grealish, who joined the Blues from Aston Villa for a club-record £100 million in 2021 and has two years remaining on his contract, which is reportedly worth over £300,000 in weekly wages. Grealish is mulling on his future as he assesses his options in England and abroad, having held an honest conversation with Guardiola over his Manchester City future at an Oasis gig at Heaton Park in July, which is understood to have left the forward wondering if he could benefit from staying put and fighting for his place at the Etihad Stadium. Speaking to Premier League betting site talkSPORTBET, former England international midfielder Chris Waddle has encouraged Grealish to leave the Premier League entirely, change position in the process, and take up a new challenge abroad this summer. 'If Jack Grealish stays at Manchester City, I don't see him playing. But then again, is he priced out of the market? He's on a lot of money, so what would the transfer fee be? I could actually see him going out on loan. I think City may have no alternative,' Waddle said. 'Could they use him in a swap deal with someone who does want him? I've always said, and I'll defend Jack on this, he's not a winger. He's a midfield player in a three, and that's where I think you'd see the best out of Jack Grealish.' The former Tottenham star added: 'If I were buying Jack Grealish or trying to get a deal to get him, I'd be looking to put him in that midfield three as an attacking player. Yes, we know he can do a job on the wing; he keeps the ball well, but he doesn't dribble and he's not got pace. 'If I were Jack Grealish, I'd also be looking to tell whoever wants him, I want to play as a midfield player. But at the minute, I could probably see City saying, Look, we don't really want to sell him in England. 'We could loan you abroad for a year. You could see teams in Italy, maybe Spain, Germany, somebody like that in those top bigger clubs thinking, 'We'll take him on loan'. But he's on unbelievable wages, and so a lot of clubs might be scared off because he's never been guaranteed to start at Man City. 'The market, let's be honest, has been very quiet on Jack Grealish. There have been a lot of people trying to start stories about him, saying Spurs wanted him and Newcastle wanted him. Personally, I think Jack Grealish would be better going abroad and playing as a midfield player.'
The National
21-07-2025
- Sport
- The National
I rate Rangers signing highly and the could make huge profit
That's according to Chris Waddle, who knows plenty about what it takes to be a top winger having starred for England, Spurs and Newcastle. He is also a former Sheffield Wednesday player and watched as the 21-year-old turned on the style for his former club at times in the English Championship last season. Gassama has that trait you find in a lot of wingers - inconsistency. But Waddle insists he also has one you don't always get in a wide man - work rate. And he has backed him to develop at Ibrox and make the club a lot of return on the £2.2milliob bargain fee they spent on him. Read more: Speaking to Flashscore, who offer a list of best betting sites, Waddle said: 'Rangers have got a player with potential in Djeidi Gassama, he works hard. He had a good season last year. He was in and out of the team, but he works ever so hard. 'That's what he's got to keep doing if he wants to succeed with [[Rangers]]. He needs to keep working hard as a young player. You've got to find consistency and I'm sure Russell Martin and [[Rangers]] will be working hard with him. 'He is potentially a very, very good player and they've got him very cheap. Rangers could make a lot of profit in the next two or three years off him if they want to cash in on him. 'But he's going to be exciting in that league. He's going to be a player. The thing he lacked was consistency, if you can put that in his game, then Rangers have found a bargain."
The Sun
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Snooker legends Steve Davis and Jimmy White set for DJ BATTLE at UK festival with England football legend also on bill
STEVE DAVIS and Jimmy White are set to renew their decades-old rivalry - in a DJ battle. The pair's rivalry, which graced the eighties, is still to this day one of the greatest in snooker history. 4 4 4 But the duo, 67 and 63 respectively, will now go head-to-head in a DJ Battle at the Rock N Roll Circus festival in Sheffield on Saturday 30th August. It's unclear what the battle, which is currently the talk of snooker fans worldwide, will look like. But it'll be interesting to see the pair spin the decks several years after they called time on spinning balls into pockets for a living. Davis and White won't be the only former sportsmen performing at Rock N Roll Circus. Former England international turned pundit CHRIS WADDLE is also on the bill. Waddle's slated appearance is equally as surprising as the DJ battle booking of Davis vs White. White, who got the better of Davis in their last meeting at the 2010 World Seniors Championships, has good memories of the "healthy" rivalry. But he recently likened their battles to going to "war". JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS 4 White said: "Neal will tell you, anybody playing in the 80's, Steve Davis was the hardest player I have ever played against. "He had such a great cue action, such great temperament and his scoring ability, he was so consistent, made so few mistakes. Mark Williams attempts new way of potting yellow as snooker referee struggles to contain his laughter "I had a style similar to [John] Higgins, probably even more attacking then Higgins. "I went for my shots, so then the newspapers set up this new rivalry, because Steve Davis kept on winning. "I quite liked it, me and Steve Davis, I was sort of wasting me time partying and he was practicing. "So I never had any problems with Steve Davis, but you knew, if you were playing Steve Davis, you were going to be in a war. "I had a rivalry with him that lasted for five or six years, and I think it was quite healthy for the game."
The Guardian
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Transfer news has lost its sense of wonder and surprise in era of ‘my sources tell me …'
Which transfer fee blew your mind? It was probably Spurs signing Gazza for £2m in the summer of 1988. TWO MILLION. No one is worth that kind of money. The following year, I distinctly remember running into the living room – Spurs had just signed Gary Lineker. I was preparing for the season ahead, invisible football at my feet, commentating to myself: 'Gascoigne, to Waddle, in for LINEKERRRR.' The next moment I switched on the TV and someone (let's say Ray Stubbs) was telling me that Spurs had sold Waddle to Marseille. I was bereft. There was no warning. For me, or for Lineker it turns out. I heard the striker talking about the transfer recently on the excellent What Did You Do Yesterday? podcast hosted by David O'Doherty and generic broadcaster Max Rushden (perhaps the second-best podcast he hosts). I asked Lineker whether he was as sad as I was when Waddle left. 'I imagine I was considerably sadder. I signed for Spurs and then I went on holiday and I got the news; my agent called me and said: 'They've sold Chris Waddle to Marseille.' Honestly it was like someone stealing 15 goals from my back pocket. He was so good, so good …' This may be the most self-indulgent way to illustrate the blind beauty of transfers back then – for fans and teammates. They just appeared out of nowhere like the Dungeon Master (press the red button for other more youth-friendly references). Patrick Bernal, Hugo Lambert and I playing Championship Manager 93 on the Amiga, flicking on the radio to hear Tottenham had signed Jürgen Klinsmann. No warning. No rumours. Just bang. Klinsmann. For Cambridge United signings you had to wait for the Cambridge Evening News to see Steve Claridge's beaming face holding a scarf aloft. I was not allowed, and too square, to ring ClubCall, an 0898 number, 90p a minute, to find out whether we were selling Alan Kimble to Wimbledon. That guy recording messages from a shed on an answerphone must be sitting somewhere now thinking if only he'd been born 30 years later, he'd be earning a fortune writing 'Here We Go' on X to announce Everton's purchase of Thierno Barry. At the lower reaches of the EFL, transfers do still pop up nostalgically from nowhere. A picture of a man's face, straight to Wikipedia to find out who Ben Purrington is, and then finding a mate who supports Charlton to ask whether he's any good. Elis James still hasn't got back to me about whether the former Swansea under-21 keeper Ben Hughes can do a job between the sticks in the Vertu Trophy. At the top of the Premier League, though, with TV and radio shows hosted by professional transfer influencers, and with flight tracking of private jets, almost nothing is unknown. Either that or you just keep linking a player with every possible destination so that eventually you say the right thing. 'My understanding is …' 'I've just exchanged a message from someone close to the club.' 'All my sources tell me the player is determined to push this through.' Maybe some people with more self-control manage to ignore this stuff and watch Chris Woakes moving it perfectly off a length for hours at Edgbaston without reaching for the second screen and typing 'Eze Spurs'. New transfers are fun and exciting. But the hype machine ignores a few basic realities. There is no guarantee of it working out, even if you spend more than anyone's spent before. In fact, a cursory look at the most expensive transfers of all time suggests they are more likely to fail. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion In purely football terms – I'm not checking the shirt sales numbers – Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain for just under £200m (that's a hundred 1988 Gazzas!) didn't deliver the Champions League. Ditto Kylian Mbappé (for about £160m). The rest of the top 10: João Félix to Atleti, Enzo Fernández to Chelsea, Philippe Coutinho to Barça, Antoine Griezmann to Barça, Florian Wirtz to Liverpool, Moisés Caicedo to Chelsea, Declan Rice to Arsenal, Jack Grealish to Manchester City. Perhaps it's a little early to judge Wirtz. But with all the caveats of how you define success, how many of them have been worth the money? Or even taking the money out of it, how many have delivered consistently on the pitch? Maybe Rice is the only one? OK, Mbappé's 256 goals in 308 games seems pretty good, but … look at PSG now, look at Real Madrid now. Taking inflation into account, of course money is sometimes well spent: £80m for Ronaldo in 2009 feels like good business for Real Madrid – a few million less than United spent on Antony 13 years later . Poor Antony, always getting mentioned in these articles; he's taken a lot of the heat off Nicolas Pépé. Is it just the pressure of such a high fee? Or the fact we judge someone who cost a hundred million in a different way to someone who commands half that? Fifty million pounds still seems quite a lot for, say, Richarlison. Out of the most expensive 100 transfers of all time, if generous you could make a case that about 40 have worked out. What a terrible hit rate. Why are so many of us blind to the possibility that a new face won't work out? You've seen a seven-minute heavily edited YouTube video to early 2000s Europop. There's no way they've made Ricky van Wolfswinkel look like Kaká. He simply is just that good. There is actually a chance that someone already at your club will get better at football. Most of them train every day. It remains baffling how often a manager is praised for being able to improve players. Feels like a prerequisite. Of course relentless 24-hour coverage of existing squad players would be even less interesting than the rumour mill. 'My understanding is that Joelinton was good last year and might be good again this year.' Official club accounts making big reveal videos for a centre mid you signed three years ago may not get the numbers. But there's every chance they'll be more important this season than the guy you just signed for £30m from Strasbourg. Nevertheless, in a month or so someone will have won the transfer window. It would be great to have a life option to switch off rumour notifications, reject those cookies and select the 1988 discovery option.
The Guardian
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Transfer news has lost its sense of wonder and surprise in era of ‘my sources tell me …'
Which transfer fee blew your mind? It was probably Spurs signing Gazza for £2m in the summer of 1988. TWO MILLION. No one is worth that kind of money. The following year, I distinctly remember running into the living room – Spurs had just signed Gary Lineker. I was preparing for the season ahead, invisible football at my feet, commentating to myself: 'Gascoigne, to Waddle, in for LINEKERRRR.' The next moment I switched on the TV and someone (let's say Ray Stubbs) was telling me that Spurs had sold Waddle to Marseille. I was bereft. There was no warning. For me, or for Lineker it turns out. I heard the striker talking about the transfer recently on the excellent What Did You Do Yesterday? podcast hosted by David O'Doherty and generic broadcaster Max Rushden (perhaps the second-best podcast he hosts). I asked Lineker whether he was as sad as I was when Waddle left. 'I imagine I was considerably sadder. I signed for Spurs and then I went on holiday and I got the news; my agent called me and said: 'They've sold Chris Waddle to Marseille.' Honestly it was like someone stealing 15 goals from my back pocket. He was so good, so good …' This may be the most self-indulgent way to illustrate the blind beauty of transfers back then – for fans and teammates. They just appeared out of nowhere like the Dungeon Master (press the red button for other more youth-friendly references). Patrick Bernal, Hugo Lambert and I playing Championship Manager 93 on the Amiga, flicking on the radio to hear Tottenham had signed Jürgen Klinsmann. No warning. No rumours. Just bang. Klinsmann. For Cambridge United signings you had to wait for the Cambridge Evening News to see Steve Claridge's beaming face holding a scarf aloft. I was not allowed, and too square, to ring ClubCall, an 0898 number, 90p a minute, to find out whether we were selling Alan Kimble to Wimbledon. That guy recording messages from a shed on an answerphone must be sitting somewhere now thinking if only he'd been born 30 years later, he'd be earning a fortune writing 'Here We Go' on X to announce Everton's purchase of Thierno Barry. At the lower reaches of the EFL, transfers do still pop up nostalgically from nowhere. A picture of a man's face, straight to Wikipedia to find out who Ben Purrington is, and then finding a mate who supports Charlton to ask whether he's any good. Elis James still hasn't got back to me about whether the former Swansea under-21 keeper Ben Hughes can do a job between the sticks in the Vertu Trophy. At the top of the Premier League, though, with TV and radio shows hosted by professional transfer influencers, and with flight tracking of private jets, almost nothing is unknown. Either that or you just keep linking a player with every possible destination so that eventually you say the right thing. 'My understanding is …' 'I've just exchanged a message from someone close to the club.' 'All my sources tell me the player is determined to push this through.' Maybe some people with more self-control manage to ignore this stuff and watch Chris Woakes moving it perfectly off a length for hours at Edgbaston without reaching for the second screen and typing 'Eze Spurs'. New transfers are fun and exciting. But the hype machine ignores a few basic realities. There is no guarantee of it working out, even if you spend more than anyone's spent before. In fact, a cursory look at the most expensive transfers of all time suggests they are more likely to fail. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion In purely football terms – I'm not checking the shirt sales numbers – Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain for just under £200m (that's a hundred 1988 Gazzas!) didn't deliver the Champions League. Ditto Kylian Mbappé (for about £160m). The rest of the top 10: João Félix to Atleti, Enzo Fernández to Chelsea, Philippe Coutinho to Barça, Antoine Griezmann to Barça, Florian Wirtz to Liverpool, Moisés Caicedo to Chelsea, Declan Rice to Arsenal, Jack Grealish to Manchester City. Perhaps it's a little early to judge Wirtz. But with all the caveats of how you define success, how many of them have been worth the money? Or even taking the money out of it, how many have delivered consistently on the pitch? Maybe Rice is the only one? OK, Mbappé's 256 goals in 308 games seems pretty good, but … look at PSG now, look at Real Madrid now. Taking inflation into account, of course money is sometimes well spent: £80m for Ronaldo in 2009 feels like good business for Real Madrid – a few million less than United spent on Antony 13 years later . Poor Antony, always getting mentioned in these articles; he's taken a lot of the heat off Nicolas Pépé. Is it just the pressure of such a high fee? Or the fact we judge someone who cost a hundred million in a different way to someone who commands half that? Fifty million pounds still seems quite a lot for, say, Richarlison. Out of the most expensive 100 transfers of all time, if generous you could make a case that about 40 have worked out. What a terrible hit rate. Why are so many of us blind to the possibility that a new face won't work out? You've seen a seven-minute heavily edited YouTube video to early 2000s Europop. There's no way they've made Ricky van Wolfswinkel look like Kaká. He simply is just that good. There is actually a chance that someone already at your club will get better at football. Most of them train every day. It remains baffling how often a manager is praised for being able to improve players. Feels like a prerequisite. Of course relentless 24-hour coverage of existing squad players would be even less interesting than the rumour mill. 'My understanding is that Joelinton was good last year and might be good again this year.' Official club accounts making big reveal videos for a centre mid you signed three years ago may not get the numbers. But there's every chance they'll be more important this season than the guy you just signed for £30m from Strasbourg. Nevertheless, in a month or so someone will have won the transfer window. It would be great to have a life option to switch off rumour notifications, reject those cookies and select the 1988 discovery option.
