Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish was left scratching his head by the lack of interest in midfielder Eberechi Eze during the transfer window.
Eze, who joined Crystal Palace from Queens Park Rangers in 2020, has attracted plenty of interest for his performances with the Eagles over the years.
The 26-year-old got his tally up and running for the new Premier League season on Sunday, netting the equaliser in Palace's 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Last season, Eze completed more dribbles (69) and created more chances (54) than anyone else in the Eagles squad, also scoring 11 goals in 27 league appearances.
But another one of Palace's top performers, Michael Olise, secured a move to Bayern Munich in a £50million switch, with Parish relieved they were able to keep at least one of their prized assets for the start of the current campaign.
"I was really worried from a club point of view of losing Michael and Ebbs in the same window," Parish told Sky Sports News.
"We didn't have in Ebbs the interest that I thought we would have.
"I was astounded. Genuinely astounded. I mean, the guy's just an outstanding footballer, an outstanding person."
Palace did have plenty of interest in defender Marc Guehi and rejected multiple bids from Newcastle, the latest of which reached £65m.
Guehi impressed for England at Euro 2024 in the absence of Manchester United defender Harry Maguire, starting every game on their way to the final.
Parish was expecting Guehi to leave Selhurst Park during the transfer window, but with Joachim Andersen returning to Fulham on a permanent transfer and an injury to new arrival Chadi Riad, forced him to alter his plans.
"I don't think the window worked out exactly the same format that we thought it would," Parish added.
"Maybe we thought at the beginning it'd be more likely that Marc Guehi went and we kept Joachim Andersen.
"We accepted that bid [for Andersen] which then made it very difficult really to sell both of our starting centre-backs in one window."
The Magpies' attempts to sign Guehi rolled on for most of the window, with the Eagles standing firm on their valuation having earned sizeable fees for Olise and Andersen.
Parish was able to welcome eight new faces to Selhurst Park, including the permanent arrival of Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah and the loan transfer for Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah on the final day of the window.
But the Eagles chairman is all too aware that he will not be able to hold on to Guehi, and his other star players, for too long amid the financial powers from the clubs in the division and across Europe.
"We're proud of the fact that Michael Olise's gone to Bayern Munich," said Parish.
"We want to be selling to the top clubs, or to clubs like Newcastle who've got great aspirations and have recently been in the Champions League.
"So we have to manage all of those things. We won't get really great young talent to come to us if they think they're going to be stuck."
"We want to be playing in the Champions League. The reality is we don't right now.
"That's what players want to achieve in their career and we respect that and we respect the fact that sometimes we're going to be a pathway to that."
Kane at the peak of his powers as he takes inspiration from Ronaldo's 900th goal
Harry Kane feels at his peak ahead of his landmark England appearance on Tuesday, taking inspiration from Cristiano Ronaldo's latest goal-scoring achievement.
Kane is set to make his 100th England appearance at Wembley in their Nations League fixture with Finland, becoming only the 10th player to reach that milestone.
His landmark appearance will see him awarded with a golden cap ahead of kick-off, the first player to receive one since Wayne Rooney did so in November 2014.
The Bayern Munich striker has made 86 starts for the Three Lions and has 83 goal involvements (66 goals - an England record - and 17 assists) to his name.
He averages a goal every 117 minutes, having 3.5 shots and 1.6 shots on target per 90, creating an average of 1.1 chances per 90.
Since his international debut in 2015, Kane has won 61 of his matches for England, giving him a 61.6% win ratio while also captaining the side to two major tournament finals.
At 31-years-old, many believe his time on the international stage may come to an end soon, but Kane has taken inspiration from Ronaldo, who, at 39-years-old, netted his 900th career goal against Croatia last week.
"I feel in really good shape, both physically and mentally, at a peak in my career," Kane said.
"Watching other players, [Cristiano] Ronaldo scoring his 901st goal, seeing him compete at 39 years old inspires me to play for as long as possible.
"I love this game, I love representing England - more than anything and I don’t want it to end any time soon.
"For me, personally, now it’s about continuing to improve and being consistent both in an England shirt and at club level.
"I’m hungry for more. I’m determined to keep pushing the boundaries."
81 of Kane's 99 caps came under former England head coach Gareth Southgate, with the others coming under Roy Hodgson, Sam Allardyce, and most recently, Lee Carsley.
Carsley got his reign as the Three Lions' interim boss with an impressive 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland on Saturday, with goals coming from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish.
Kane managed the most shots (four) and touches in the opposition box (nine) at the Aviva Stadium and is enjoying life under the 50-year-old.
"It has been really good. A new energy into the place especially after the disappointing end to the summer," Kane said.
"It has been great to work with the boss so far. He's brought his ideas, how he wants us to play. I think the lads have enjoyed it.
"We've got a good mixture of youth and experience in the team. You're seeing the excited faces of some of the new players."
JFF thanks fans for support in 2024-25 CONCACAF Nations League opener against Cuba
The Jamaica Football Federation, in a release on Monday, expressed their gratitude to fans for their support in attendance at Jamaica’s opening game of the 2024/2025 season of the CONCACAF Nations League against Cuba at the National Stadium on Friday.
CONCACAF Officials reported an attendance of over 17,000 which is the highest attendance for a Reggae Boyz game at the National Stadium since 2019 when they played Honduras.
President of the Jamaica Football Federation Michael Ricketts gave some remarks on this feat.
“It was such a pleasant sight to see a sea of black, green and gold in the National Stadium on Friday night. You could definitely feel the energy in the support and every time Jamaica was in possession, the 12th man was behind the team. It certainly is a great stepping stone for future home games to come.”
The Reggae Boyz will next be in action on Tuesday September 10, 2024 against Honduras in Tegucigalpa.
The next home game for the Reggae Boyz will be Monday October 14, 2024 against Honduras at the National Stadium.
“Tickets for this game are slated to go on sale on Friday September 13, 2024. The Public are encouraged to buy their tickets as soon as possible. For the match against Cuba, the Grandstand tickets were sold out. Once again thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you all at our next home game,” the release concluded.
Arsenal handed BK Hacken reunion, Man City to face Paris FC in Women's Champions League
Arsenal, Manchester City and Celtic found out their opponents for the Women's Champions League qualifying second round on Monday.
All three will play the first leg away from home, with Jonas Eidevall's side, who beat Rangers and Rosenborg to reach this stage of the tournament, facing BK Hacken.
The Swedish side reached the quarter-finals last year for the first time in the competition since the 2012-13 edition.
BK Hacken also played Arsenal in the last eight of the tournament during the 2011-12 season, with the Gunners winning 3-2 on aggregate.
Man City kickstart their Champions League campaign after finishing second in the Women's Super League last term against Paris FC.
The French side beat Real Madrid home and away last year but finished third in a group that contained Chelsea and BK Hacken.
Celtic were the only British team to be involved in the Champions Path draw and will face Ukrainian champions Vorskla Poltava.
The first legs of the two-legged ties will take place on September 18 and 19, with the returns on September 25 and 26.
Those that emerge victorious in the round-two qualifying fixtures will progress to the group stages of the competition, joining Barcelona, Lyon, Bayern Munich and Chelsea.
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