FEW players have amassed such staggering stats in the Prem so quickly as Cole Palmer.
And now it can be said few have won such a prestigious honour at international level from such little action.
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Cole Palmer took the Three Lions’ individual award for 2023-24Credit: Getty
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Palmer’s peak England moment so far was a goal as sub in the Euro finalCredit: Getty
Chelsea‘s attacking midfielder has been named England player of the year – after just two starts since his Three Lions debut in November 2023.
Many fans found the award jaw-dropping – reckoning runner-up Jude Bellingham or third-placed Bukayo Saka should have won it.
Yet the honour, for 2023-24, was decided BY SUPPORTERS.
Palmer has won nine caps – including five off the bench at the Euros when playing just 145 minutes in Germany as England reached the final.
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His peak moment so far was a spectacular strike off the bench in that showpiece clash, an equaliser that offered brief hope before Mikel Oyarzabal fired a deserved late winner for Spain.
In all, for the Three Lions, Palmer has scored twice in nine matches, albeit seven of those appearances coming as sub.
In contrast, Arsenal winger Saka has been a consistent menace for England, while Real Madrid midfielder Bellingham often reached lofty heights in the past year, despite a mediocre Euro 2024.
However, at Prem level, Palmer has notched 28 goals and 17 assists in 58 matches.
That includes a blistering start to this term, netting six times and teeing up five goals in seven games.
It means Palmer’s England nomination has divided fans – many believing the 22-year-old should have been used more by now-departed England boss Gareth Southgate, but also wondering how their fellow supporters rewarded him above big-name regulars.
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One said: “Bukayo Saka was robbed. What did Cole Palmer do that Saka didn’t?”
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Another wrote: “How is this possible when he didn’t even start in any single match in Euros??? England led by politics and PR games again.”
A third posted: “Weird as he barely played at the Euros. I’m not saying Palmer isn’t a good player but for a year we’ve had the Euros he can’t be the POTY when Southgate rarely played him.”
And a fourth insisted: “Saka did a better job than Cole Palmer, he should be getting the men’s Player of the Year Award for 2023-24. If for any reason Saka wasn’t the right person, the next persons that come to mind are Bellingham & Harry Kane. This is ridiculous.”
But a few fans looked to the Palmer who could be set for a wonderful winter at club and international level – rather than the one who had to rely on England cameos over the last 12 months.
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Such supporters argued he was “the best player in the world!!!!” and a “Generational talent”.
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Peña and Nunes have a longstanding rivalry, with Peña scoring one of the biggest upsets in MMA history by beating Nunes at UFC 269, before promptly losing the title to her in their rematch seven months later. And given their history, on Monday, Nunes appeared to respond to Peña’s callout with a social media post telling Dana White to call her.
And for White, that’s good news.
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“She looks good,” White told reporters following Tuesday’s episode of Contender Series. “She looks great. Looks like she’s still in shape. So you know where her head is at, and I love that about here. There’s a lot of things I love about her, I love that about her. She’s keeping an eye on who wins the title next and I think she’s teasing that she might be interested in coming back.”
Whether or not Nunes is actually interested in returning remains to be seen. “The Lioness” retired from MMA last year after avenging her loss to Peña and then defeating Irene Aldana at UFC 289.
Of course, Nunes may not be teasing a return for Peña. Prior to her shocking upset defeat to Peña at UFC 269, there were rumors that Peña and Harrison — teammates at American Top Team — were circling a fight with each other. This was back when Harrison was negotiating with PFL, and Harrison was actually in attendance for the bout.
But whoever she might be coming back for, if she actually is at all, Dana White is here for it.
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“I love Amanda Nunes,” White said. “I have an incredible relationship with her. I would absolutely love to see her come back.”
Asked about his Euros axe, Grealish said: “I will be honest with you – I didn’t really agree with it.
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“You can imagine how I was absolutely devastated. It was one of the most difficult periods of life in terms of football.
“It was difficult to just watch the games, especially for someone like me who watches so much football.
“I have won a lot of stuff now so, you asked me should I have gone, yes, I still think I should have, but obviously it wasn’t meant to be.
“I felt like I didn’t have the best season. If you look at some players in my position, for example Phil Foden, Anthony Gordon, Jarrod Bowen, they scored a lot of goals.
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“But I know that my game is not just about goals. I give so much more to the team than goals.
“You need a bit of a balance in every position on the pitch and I class myself as quite an experienced player now.
“I’ve played in a lot of big games — Champions League finals and FA Cup finals.”
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Grealish, 29, scored in the 2-0 win over Ireland in Dublin and hopes to feature against Greece in the Nations League at Wembley on Thursday.
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The three-time Premier League winner is feeling “a lot of love” playing for Carsley — a fellow Brummie.
And Grealish believes the former Three Lions Under-21s boss has all the qualities to land his new job on a permanent basis.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “He played me in both games and hopefully I repaid him by scoring in Dublin. It was nice to play in the No10 role.
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“I wanted to come here and train well and play well. I thank the manager, Lee Carsley, for giving me that chance and having that trust in me. It’s really meant a lot.
“Throughout my career, when I’ve played under managers that have shown a trust in me and communicated with me the way he has in the past two camps, it has really helped me.
“I’ve felt a lot of love from the manager.
“It makes me feel that the manager really does rate me and I can’t speak highly enough of him since I’ve been here.
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“He gets across to us how he wants us to play and how he wants me to play personally. The younger lads with him at the Under-21s said he is like a proper father figure.”
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Grealish struggled to watch football during his Euro 2024 omission
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Grealish trained hard during the summer to get his England place back
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Grealish and Sasha announced the birth of Mila this week
Football agent Kia Joorabchian splashed out more than £8m on three new signings – at racehorse sales in Newmarket.
He secured the trio, all offspring of the legendary Frankel, for his Amo Racing team.
Joorabchian paid 4.4m guineas (£4.6m) – the second most expensive purchase of a yearling at public auction in Europe – at Tattersalls Book 1 Sale.
He also snapped up a filly who is a full sister to Alpinista, winner of the 2022 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, for 2.5m guineas (£2.6m).
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And Joorabchian, whose football clients have included ex-Argentina forward Carlos Tevez and former Brazil midfielder Philippe Coutinho, bought a son of Atone for 1.1m guineas (£1.15m).
“It is very difficult to buy such mares because the likes of Juddmonte, Coolmore, Shadwell, all the big guys own all the big mares,” Joorabchian said.
“So we have to come out here and hope that what we are buying in terms of pedigrees will make us competitive.
“It is very hard to buy [such pedigrees] after the yearling stage – once a filly has won a Group One you are in very high prices, so you have got to try to get them earlier and hope that they go on well.”
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He was accompanied by bloodstock agent Alex Elliott and Nottingham Forest FC owner Evangelos Marinakis.
“All the teams select the best horse and it is who blinks first, and fair play to Kia he certainly did not blink,” said Elliott.
“Kia is ready for the operation to prove itself at the next echelon and that is where we are trying to get to and that is why we need to get into these families.
“The fact that these horses are staying here is huge for British racing and we should all be huge cheerleaders for it.”
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Al Naamah fetched the highest price of 5m guineas in 2013 at the Tattersalls auction, which is Europe’s leading sale of yearlings – horses aged between one and two years who are too young to race.
Racehorse prices are still listed in the old currency of guineas – which equates to £1.05 for every guinea.
Artem Vakhitov hasn’t even had a UFC fight yet, and the promotional wheels are already turning for an Alex Pereira showdown.
Two days after his UFC 307 title defense, Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) boarded a plane from Connecticut to Las Vegas to witness in person Vakhitov (3-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) earn a UFC deal at Dana White’s Contender Series 75.
Vakhitov was patient as he waited for his moment to significantly attack French heavyweight Islem Masraf (3-1) with a flurry for a TKO stoppage at 4:23 of Round 1.
After the fight, UFC CEO Dana White said he debated what he should do with Vakhitov but consulted Pereira, who gave a resounding “absolutely, positively.”
Vakhitov, 33, is a two-time Glory light heavyweight champion, who defended the title five times. He is the last man to defeat Pereira in kickboxing.
The two fighters are tied 1-1 in their lifetime series. Pereira won the first fight by split decision and Vakhitov won the second by majority decision.
Vakhitov told MMA Junkie prior to the bout that while he really wants to fight Pereira again, the two are friendly and respectful without bad blood.
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He transitioned to MMA in June 2023 and suffered an injury in the bout. After back-to-back finishes, he earned his DWCS shot and maintained his 100 percent finishing rate.
Dana White said that Alex Pereira told him to sign Artem Vakhitov after his knockout win on #DWCS 👀 pic.twitter.com/ByV4mdcJIS
Phillips represented nine clubs during his 20-year playing career, including Watford, Sunderland, Southampton, West Brom, Aston Villa and Birmingham.
He scored a total of 287 goals, won eight caps for England and in 2000 became the first English player to win Europe’s Golden Shoe award. Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane became the second English winner last season.
Since retiring in 2014, he has held coaching roles with Leicester City, Derby County and Stoke City before a 15-month stint at South Shields, who he led to promotion into the National League North in his second season in charge in 2022-23.
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