Micky van de Ven has predicted Tottenham can achieve “beautiful things” under attack-minded Ange Postecoglou.

The Dutch defender was thrown into the deep end in Sunday’s Premier League opener at Brentford after only three training sessions with his new team-mates, but impressed in the 2-2 draw.

It had been a whirlwind week for Spurs with growing speculation over record goal-scorer Harry Kane eventually resulting in his departure for Bayern Munich on Saturday.

A degree of optimism remains rife amongst supporters following a busy summer of transfer activity and with a new bold, front-foot approach set to be adopted by Postecoglou.

“It’s an amazing club,” Van de Ven reflected after his debut. “I had a good meeting with the trainer and it was a really good meeting.

“He’s a really good trainer. I love the club, I love the players and I think there is so much potential under this trainer so we will see where this season heads.

“He has a good view on football, that’s what I think. Attacking football is what I love, playing with a lot of space in the back doesn’t matter for me.

“Offensive football is what I like and I think if we play a lot of offensive football and we train, we train, we train then I think we can do some beautiful things.”

Spurs had chased Netherlands Under-21 captain Van de Ven all summer and eventually secured his services on August 8 for an initial £34.5million fee, which could rise to £43.1million in add-ons.

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Despite featuring for Wolfsburg during pre-season, the 22-year-old had not completed 90 minutes all summer, but Postecoglou’s decision to include him in the starting XI was vindicated.

Van de Ven admitted: “Everything is harder, it’s going quicker and it’s going up and down, up and down. There is no moment in the game where you feel you can rest a bit, you always have to be sharp and 100 per cent focused.

“It is my first game with the team, so of course at the beginning we have to watch a bit how everything is going and afterwards you feel more comfortable. The guys are talking positive to you so that is also helping.

“I trained three days with the team but they gave me some confidence and the trainer was talking to me and also gave me some confidence. I didn’t stress at all that I can’t do it.

“All the trainers were positive, all the players were positive saying ‘do your job, do what you can do and we will help you’ and I think it went well.”

Comparisons to Jan Vertonghen, another left-footed centre-back who started out in Eredivisie, occurred before Van de Ven had even signed his contract at Tottenham.

The ex-Volendam defender revealed he used to study Vertonghen before the Belgian moved to Spurs, where he went on to make 315 appearances and become a hugely popular figure with the club’s fanbase.

“I was always in the stadium when Jan Vertonghen was playing for Ajax so I always saw him play and always said he was a good left-footed, centre-back. I learned some from him as I watched videos of him,” Van de Ven added.

“I watched a lot of times Spurs because a lot of players from Ajax also went to Spurs and also players from Holland.

“Always when you see a player go to Spurs it is an amazing step if you went from Ajax, AZ, PSV to Spurs.

“Of course with the history they didn’t win a prize for a long time but you never know what is going to happen.”

Georgia Stanway has revealed she is leaning on the support of former Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick to navigate the highs and lows of England’s World Cup campaign.

The Lionesses, who are bidding to reach the final of the competition for the first time, will take on tournament co-hosts Australia on Wednesday in Sydney for the right to face Spain – 2-1 victors over Sweden in Tuesday’s semi-final – in Sunday’s showpiece.

Bayern Munich midfielder Stanway was introduced to “mentor” Chadwick through her agency while she was still playing for Manchester City, and speaks to him at least once a week – even from 10,000-plus miles away in New South Wales.

Stanway said: “I’m not afraid to say it, I went through a time at City where it was a little bit up and down in terms of my mentality, my position, everything was changing.

“(Chadwick) was my go-to in terms of getting clarity on my position, clarity on what I wanted to achieve in that season.

“It’s just little things. You rely upon a good luck message before the game and he never fails. Always after the game he’s always the first to say something positive and then says, ‘Let me know when you want to talk’. It’s always on my terms, which is so understanding.

“He’s honestly one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet and he cares for absolutely everybody. And I think the most important thing is that he removes himself from any equation, and he’s just so focused on making sure that he improves the individual and wants them to be the utmost successful individual as a player and as a person.

“I think it’s just (about) finding yourself.  I’ve found what works for me, so I’m not going to change that.”

Chadwick, now 42, made his senior United debut just months after Red Devils won the treble in 1999, but the joy of seeing his lifelong dream fulfilled was soon overshadowed when the teenager found himself routinely ridiculed for his appearance on the popular BBC panel show They Think It’s All Over.

His mental health suffered severely. Chadwick became “obsessed” with what people might be thinking about him every time he left the house, later admitting in an interview on the club website that he “really did suffer in silence”.

Chadwick, who also played for England at youth level, was privately haunted by the experience for two decades before opening up in 2020, a revelation that resulted in an apology from presenter Nick Hancock.

He has since used his experience of facing adversity as fuel to help players like Stanway reach their full potential, a holistic approach that includes everything from pre-game goal-setting on the eve of matches to ensuring her Munich flat was fitted out with everything she needed.

Though still just 24, Stanway has evolved into one of the leaders on Sarina Wiegman’s 23-woman squad, one of seven England players in this tournament who also featured four years ago in France, when the Lionesses were knocked out 2-1 by eventual champions the United States in their semi-final.

Her maturing process has resulted in a new appreciation for facts over sometimes-misleading feelings when it comes to evaluating her own performances.

Stanway said:  “I am big on numbers. I could come away from the game feeling on top of the world and then my mentor could bring me back down to Earth, and say, ‘Oh, no, your passing was shocking today’.

“So it’s vice-versa and it’s just kind of (about) staying level and staying consistent and being consistent in the way that I am as a person and the way that I am on the field.”

England have been embraced by locals since they arrived in Australia nearly six weeks ago, but Stanway appreciates the semi-final match-up might have cooled down the warm welcome.

She added: “Everyone we speak to, they always say, ‘Good luck until you play Australia’, so we’re kind of feeling that a little bit now.”

Captain Millie Bright expects the hostile environment England will encounter against Australia in their World Cup semi-final to feel like well-trodden territory for the European champions.

Wednesday’s game is a sell out at the 75,000-plus capacity Stadium Australia in Sydney, with the vast majority issued to home supporters, who have backed their side in rapidly-rising, record-smashing fashion.

While the Lionesses – who are hoping to advance to a first-ever final – have so far been warmly embraced Down Under, Bright is acutely aware that millions of new friends will soon view them as foes.

She said: “We’re always preparing for that, no matter the opponent. Their fans are always going to want the opposition to lose, that’s football. We know that we’re going to have fans there, yes they’re going to have more, but we’ve been in these moments before and as players we’ve embraced these moments.

“It’s all about us sticking to task, executing the game plan and embracing the moment. It’s the semi-final of a World Cup, you want that environment, you want it to be tense, you want it to be noisy.

“It’s a proud moment in the women’s game when people turn on the TV back home and they see what an incredible atmosphere we’ve created. Credit to Australia for selling out the stadium and creating that atmosphere because like we always know, the women’s game is still on a journey, but what a place to be.”

The target on England’s back, at least publicly, has grown since Bright and her team-mates – 16 of whom are in this World Cup squad – lifted the Euro 2022 trophy at Wembley last summer and firmly entrenched themselves amongst the favourites to win the global showpiece.

Inside the Lionesses’ camp, said Bright, the reality has always been different.

She added: “Honestly, I think for us there’s always been pressure, whether it’s looked like that from the outside or not. I think for us, that’s what pushes us forward.

“That’s what gives us our determination to always challenge ourselves, to be better, to grow. The journey has been long and tough, but without those experiences you don’t develop, you don’t learn, and you don’t go to higher levels.

“I think we have an ultra-competitive group of players and staff where the competitiveness has always been there. It’s part of who we are. It’s our DNA to fight and be competitive and to want to win.”

England’s first appearance in a semi-final came eight years ago in Canada, when Laura Bassett’s own goal in second-half stoppage time abruptly halted their dreams of reaching the final.

The Lionesses won their third-place play-off for a best-ever World Cup finish to date, four years later coming fourth in France, where now-England boss Sarina Wiegman led the Netherlands to the final but ultimately lost to defending champions the United States.

The Matildas are the only side who can boast they have beaten England since Wiegman – otherwise undefeated in 36 matches – took over in September 2021, with a 2-0 victory at Brentford in April.

While she, too, has found herself impressed by the growth she has observed in the ninth edition of the World Cup, expanded to 32 teams for the first time and guaranteed a new champion, that elusive trophy remains at the forefront of her mind.

Wiegman said: “I’m aware that this is very, very special and that what happens in the growth of the women’s game the level has really grown so worldwide people see what’s going on.

“I hope that helps women in football but women in general too.

“But to be honest I’m very focused, so when it’s the game it’s the game, and you just try to block everything out because you have to do a job.”

Australia boss Tony Gustavsson believes his side are fully prepared to rise to the monumental occasion.

He said: “We actually don’t look at it as pressure. We look at it as a privilege that so many people believe in this team, and we feel the support.

“We look at it more as fuel, as energy, than pressure. We don’t look at it as heavy. We look at it as we get carried from underneath and built up, and I feel the belief in us.”

Australia opener David Warner has taken a cheeky dig at England ahead of the Women’s World Cup semi-final.

The Lionesses face Australia in Sydney in the last four on Wednesday morning.

The Australia cricket team were unhappy when the ball was changed mid-innings during England’s victory in the fifth Ashes Test last month.

It is something Warner clearly has not forgotten as he wished Australia good luck ahead of the semi-final clash.

He wrote on Twitter: “An early good luck to the The Matildas. Just keep an eye out in case the Poms ask to change the ball.”

Fellow batter Usman Khawaja also chipped in, tweeting: “They going to go with the 2010 ‘Jubulani’ ball.”

The winners of Wednesday’s showdown will face Spain in the World Cup final on Sunday.

Olga Carmona’s stunning late winner fired Spain into the World Cup final with a 2-1 win against Sweden.

In a cagey contest with few chances for either side, the game suddenly sprung into life in the final stages with three goals in the final 10 minutes of normal time.

Barcelona winger Salma Paralluelo, 19, gave Spain the lead in the 81st minute, but her goal was soon cancelled out by Rebecka Blomqvist.

But Carmona responded in emphatic fashion just one minute later, sealing a final clash against either Australia or England on Sunday.

Spain kept possession well in the opening stages and had a chance when a looping cross found Alba Redondo at the back post, but her header was cleared by Sweden.

They struck again minutes later with some good build-up around the box allowing Carmona to shoot from the edge of the area, but it just whistled past the bottom corner.

Sweden then had a half-chance at the other end when Johanna Rytting Kaneryd headed wide before Aitana Bonmati looped a cross in for Jennifer Hermoso but goalkeeper Zecira Musovic comfortably collected.

Another attack came from a Spanish free-kick which went as far as Alexia Putellas, who whipped the ball into the box and Magdalena Eriksson did well to quickly head the ball away.

Sweden had a great opportunity to take the lead just before half-time when Nathalie Bjorn picked out Fridolina Rolfo at the back post, but her half-volley was pushed away by Cata Coll.

A slow start to the second half saw Stina Blackstenius try her luck from the right-hand side of the box, but her attempt was easily saved by Coll, who then made an excellent dive to palm Rytting Kaneryd’s cross away.

Spain had some tidy build-up play around the box and had a great opportunity when Hermoso found Redondo in the box, but she was unable to cleanly strike it.

The match looked destined for extra time with neither side having any real clear-cut chances, but it suddenly burst into life in the final 10 minutes with three goals in eight minutes.

After dominating possession, Spain finally found the breakthrough in the 81st minute when Hermoso’s cross was cleared into the path of Paralluelo and the substitute tucked the ball into the bottom corner.

Their lead was short-lived though as Sweden hit back in the 88th minute when Lina Hurtig headed down a cross for Blomqvist to smash the ball first time across the goalkeeper and into the top corner.

Spain snatched the winner just one minute later when a short corner was played out to Carmona on the edge of the area and she smashed the ball from the outside of the box above Musovic’s head, with the goalkeeper unable to get a strong enough hand to keep it out.

Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana believes referee Simon Hooper and VAR were right not to award Wolves a last-gasp penalty in Monday night’s Premier League clash at Old Trafford.

United opened their league account for the season in unconvincing fashion as Raphael Varane’s header 14 minutes from time was enough to earn a 1-0 victory that was barely deserved.

Indeed, it looked like Wolves might get the chance to equalise from the penalty spot at the death when debutant Onana appeared to clatter into Sasa Kalajdzic, but the goalkeeper got away with it.

Wolves boss Gary O’Neil said Onana tried “to take the centre-forward’s head off” and claimed Premier League referees’ boss Jon Moss apologised to him for the decision after the match.

But asked if it was a penalty, Onana said: “No, goalkeepers make decisions, sometimes you are right, sometimes you are not.

“I made a decision and I am responsible for everything. For me it was contact between two big guys and nothing happened. But for us, the most important thing was to win and I am happy for the victory.

“Of course I was confident (it would not be given).”

Onana made his Premier League debut following his summer move from Inter Milan.

The Cameroon international, who worked with Erik Ten Hag at Ajax, has big boots to fill following on from David De Gea, and his style differs greatly from the Spaniard as he likes the ball at his feet.

But he insists it is a case of him adapting to his new surroundings rather than the United defence changing their game.

“Listen, I think I’m playing with some of the best defenders in the world because playing for Manchester United is not something easy,” he said.

“I think I’m the one who has to adapt because United is a very big club and I’m proud to be able to perform here and proud to play alongside these defenders and if something has to change, I think we will do it.

“At the moment everything is going right and we just have to continue working like this and I think it will be OK by the end of the season.”

Few will have seen a performance like this coming from Wolves, whose plans for the season were thrown into disarray last week when boss Julen Lopetegui left, just five days before their opener, with O’Neil coming in.

O’Neil, who was sacked at Bournemouth after keeping them in the English top flight last season, will have been thrilled at what he saw as his new side put in a slick counter-attacking display that had United on the run for the majority of the game.

But old failings returned as they could not score with any of the 23 shots they had, which will have brought back memories from last season, where they registered just 31 times.

“I think we keep doing more like today,” O’Neil said. “My initial thoughts around them not scoring enough goals last year was, we need to arrive in good areas, with good numbers more.

“We have enough talent in the group so if we arrive in good numbers, the boys will score goals, no doubt.

“I don’t think today was a reoccurrence of the pattern you saw last year. I think if the lads play that game 100 times, they score in 99 of them.

“Keep arriving in those areas, keep working with the players to improve understanding and how many times we arrive and the lads will score some goals.”

Manchester United survived a late VAR scare as Raphael Varane’s second-half goal saw them edge past an impressive Wolves to get their Premier League campaign off to a winning start at Old Trafford.

Varane headed home from close range with 14 minutes remaining to ensure an unconvincing display from Erik Ten Hag’s team ended in a 1-0 victory that was barely deserved.

Indeed, it looked like Wolves might get the chance to equalise from the penalty spot at the death when goalkeeper Andre Onana appeared to clatter into Sasa Kalajdzic, but referee Simon Hooper waved away protests and VAR backed his decision.

It felt harsh as few will have seen a performance like this coming from Wolves, whose plans for the season were thrown into disarray last week when boss Julen Lopetegui left just five days before kick-off, with Gary O’Neil coming in.

O’Neil, who was sacked at Bournemouth after keeping them up last season, will have been thrilled at what he saw as his new side put in a slick counter-attacking display that had United on the run for the majority of the game.

But it was old failings that came back to haunt them as they could not take any of their chances, with the electric Matheus Cunha hitting the post in the second half.

United will know a display like this will not be good enough, but they at least got the job done to ensure they join Manchester City and Arsenal in taking maximum points in the opening weekend of the campaign.

There was a small scale demonstration outside the ground before kick-off as United fans again chanted against the Glazers and the lengthy sale process of the club, which has been going on since November.

However, planned protests against the possibility of Mason Greenwood being integrated back into the squad did not extend beyond the odd banner, with the forward’s fate still unknown as the club are still in a consultation phase following the conclusion of their internal investigation.

The off-the-pitch issues have not clouded what was a promising pre-season for Ten Hag’s men, though they could not translate that into a cohesive performance in the opening 45 minutes.

In fact, to much surprise given their build-up to the season, Wolves were the better team as they had United running scared with pace on the break, creating two excellent openings to take the lead.

In the 26th minute a lightning counter attack saw Cunha surge forward and pass to Pablo Sarabia, but it was slightly behind him and the Spaniard saw his drilled effort go just wide with the aid of a deflection.

Another slick move saw roles reversed six minutes later as Sarabia’s excellent pass played in Cunha, but he dragged his shot wide after bursting into the box.

That acted as something of a wake-up call to United, who came to life in the final 10 minutes of the first half.

There were loud shots for a penalty when Marcus Rashford headed against the arm of Nelson Semedo, but the Wolves defender managed to tuck his limb in just in the nick of time.

But Wolves rediscovered their counter-attacking verve after the break and should have led in the 50th minute.

Another lung-busting break from Cunha, who ran virtually the length of the pitch, saw him lay the ball off to Sarabia and it came back to him at the far post, but, slightly off balance, his shot clipped the outside of the post.

The hosts were petrified of Cunha and their defence parted in alarming fashion five minutes later but saw a low shot saved by Andre Onana.

Cunha was at it again in the 71st minute with another run that had United floundering and the loose ball fell to Pedro Neto, but he shot straight at Onana.

There was an inevitability about what was to come as Wolves paid for their lack of cutting edge when United stole the lead in the 76th minute.

Bruno Fernandes unlocked the defence to play in Aaron Wan-Bissaka and his cross from the right was headed home by Varane from close range.

Wolves knocked on the door for an equaliser and Fabio Silva had a hat-trick of chances but was denied by Onana’s legs twice while Luke Shaw produced a goal-saving block to earn his side victory.

The visitors thought they should have had a penalty in the sixth minute of time when Onana went walkabouts, but Hooper and VAR denied them.

Jurgen Klopp called for clarity on time-wasting offences after Trent Alexander-Arnold was booked for taking too long over a thrown-in during Liverpool’s draw with Chelsea on Sunday.

This season has seen the introduction of measures to try and keep the ball in play for a greater proportion of matches, with significant increases in added time seen over the Premier League’s opening weekend.

It is hoped that adding on time to reflect the length of pauses to the game will deter players from delaying the re-start of play.

But Klopp believes the yellow card shown to the Alexander-Arnold in the 67th minute at Stamford Bridge whilst the score was 1-1 was unfair since the defender was looking for a player to throw the ball to.

“I think last season some teams stretched it, definitely,” he said. “And we are not one of these teams, we never were. I knew we would get a yellow card – probably the first yellow card – for time wasting with a throw-in.

“When Trent is looking for a player and tries to find a player, this is a tactical thing – he cannot just take the ball and throw it.

“Maybe we have to clarify it a little bit, but besides that I think too many teams stretched it and did it too obvious and that’s why everybody thinks we should watch a bit more football.

“I don’t know exactly what the net ball in play time was today, but that’s how it is now. It was not a problem today for me, to be honest. What was it, first half six minutes? Because of the VAR decisions. And second half, five, I think.

“That’s a lot but this is a time where we try to sort it like that. I am not sure that will last forever but at the moment it’s like that and we have to deal with it.”

Liverpool led early in west London thanks to Luis Diaz’s well-taken breakaway goal and thought they had doubled their lead when Mohamed Salah slotted home, only for VAR to adjudge the striker was offside.

Chelsea levelled through debutant defender Axel Disasi and had a second goal of their own from Ben Chilwell chalked off after a video check, as the sides played out an entertaining draw.

The game was characterised by a lack defensive control in midfield from both sides, though Chelsea have since beaten Liverpool to the £115million signing of Moises Caicedo from Brighton and look set to land Southampton’s Romeo Lavia, who has also been courted by the Reds.

“We should’ve solved it better,” said Klopp of his team’s difficulty in midfield. “The best way to avoid these kind of things (is) obviously controlling the game (which) we could’ve done, because when we did that we passed in the right moment and kept the ball in the right moment and created one v one situations on the wing, so it was really tricky for Chelsea to deal with.

“It’s the first game, not the last, so we have a lot of things to improve there’s no doubt about that, but I saw already a good basis.”

Of the two clubs’ competition over Caicedo and Lavia, he added: “(More players) is usually what a Chelsea manager wants, and usually they get it.”

Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber will see a specialist to determine the extent of his knee injury, with reports suggesting he is set for an extended spell on the sidelines.

The Dutchman, signed from Ajax in a £38.5million summer transfer, limped off early in the second half of Saturday’s win over Nottingham Forest in the Gunners’ opening Premier League match.

According to reports, Timber has suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury, which if confirmed would see the Netherlands defender facing a lengthy spell of rehabilitation and possibly being out until early 2024.

Arsenal confirmed on Monday evening that further assessments will be needed to determined a timeframe for Timber’s return to action.

“Further to his substitution during our match against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, Jurrien Timber has received extensive assessments and scans which have confirmed he has sustained an injury to his right knee,” a club statement read.

“Jurrien will undergo a further detailed assessment and review with a consultant in the coming days to assess the full extent of the injury, in order to determine the next steps. A further update will be provided in due course.

“Everyone at the club will be focused on supporting Jurrien at this time.”

President of the Jamaica Football Federation, Michael Ricketts, has consistently highlighted the importance of education to every part of society, including football.

In keeping with that philosophy, Ricketts announced last Thursday that, starting in September, the JFF will be providing a pair of scholarships valued at $300,000 each to two members (one male and one female) of Jamaica’s national youth football setups.

“We want to ensure that our players get some academic support. The JFF is very proud to announce that we will be providing two scholarships valued at $300,000 each,” Ricketts said.

“This year will be the inaugural year and this will be for a boy and girl out of a High School. That boy and girl ought to have matriculated to be a national player. A number of our U17s and U20s would certainly qualify for this initiative,” he added.

“This is something that the President dreamed about when I spoke to him about it last year. He said he wanted to do something for children and academics,” said JFF General Secretary, Dennis Chung.

“The Wisynco Foundation will be working with us and we thought it was important because we can’t just focus on the football side. We have to emphasize academics and push that,” he added.

Ricketts offered similar sentiments.

“This JFF has one single item on its agenda and it’s to grow the sport of football. We also want to make it very clear that it’s not just about football,” said Ricketts.

“We want to, from a commercial and a social standpoint, positively impact the psyche of every single boy and girl in this country,” he added.

A 26-year-old worker has died during construction work at Everton’s new stadium.

Merseyside Police confirmed that an injured man later died at hospital “after an incident” at Bramley Moore Dock on Monday afternoon.

They said that “his next of kin have been told and an investigation is under way”.

Everton tweeted that everyone at the club is “heartbroken” by the news a male worker had died following an incident at the site.

They said: “The thoughts and condolences of everyone connected with Everton are with his family, friends, and colleagues at this unimaginably sad time.”

Stadium contractor Laing O’Rourke said they were “shocked and saddened” by the death.

Work at the site has been suspended work “until further notice” with both the police and the Health and Safety Executive in attendance, the contractors said.

In June, Everton said the club would consult with fans as part of their considerations over whether to move into the new stadium midway through the 2024-25 season.

A police spokesman said: “We can confirm that a man has died after an incident at Bramley Moore Dock this afternoon.

“At around 1pm it was reported that a man, aged 26, had been injured.

“He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. His next of kin have been told and an investigation is under way.”

A Laing O’Rourke spokesman said: “We can confirm that earlier today a member of our team, who was carrying out work for one of our sub-contractors, was seriously injured in an incident.

“He was taken to hospital via ambulance, where he sadly died.

“We are shocked and saddened by today’s tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased man and our wider project team.

“The police and the Health and Safety Executive are on site and we have suspended work until further notice. We will co-operate fully with any investigation that follows.”

Moises Caicedo’s £100m move from Brighton continues Chelsea’s lavish spending under Todd Boehly’s ownership group and represents another major profit for the Seagulls.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the two clubs’ contrasting approaches in the transfer market.

Boehly breaks the bank

Chelsea became used to unprecedented transfer outlay under former chairman Roman Abramovich but if anything, Boehly and Behdad Eghbali’s Clearlake consortium have taken it to new levels.

Raheem Sterling was the first signing of the new era for a reported £47.5million last summer, with defenders Wesley Fofana (£70m), Marc Cucurella (£60m) and Kalidou Koulibaly (£34m) the other stand-out deals in a window that saw them spend over £250m in all.

A British record £106.8m deal for Enzo Fernandez and an initial £62m, potentially rising to as much as £89m, for Ukraine winger Mykhailo Mudryk followed in January. The Premier League’s spending of £815m that month was almost double the previous January record of £430m, while Chelsea’s £308m alone would have ranked second on that chart and was more than the rest of Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues combined.

That £650m-plus season expenditure – plus pay-offs to sacked managers Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, and a reported £20m to Brighton to lure Potter in the first place – could not help Chelsea to success as they limped to a 12th-placed finish in the league, their worst finish since 1994.

The solution, unsurprisingly, has been to spend another £290m and counting this summer on the likes of forwards Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson, defender Axel Disasi – whose debut goal earned a draw with Liverpool on Sunday – and now Caicedo.

With a reported ongoing interest in Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia and an admitted need for another striker following Nkunku’s injury, Boehly’s Blues could be on course for an even larger outlay in this window and potentially even a total outlay topping £1billion within 15 months of their takeover.

Brighton bring in big bucks

Caicedo is the latest off-the-radar discovery to make a huge profit for Brighton, having signed from Independiente del Valle in his native Ecuador for a reported £4.4m as recently as February 2021.

Now seemingly worth up to 26 times that amount if the £15m in potential add-ons in his deal are all activated, the midfielder continues an impressive trend.

In the last three seasons, Albion have sold 10 first-team players who made at least 20 league appearances in the previous campaign and have made a profit on all but two.

The summer 2021 window saw homegrown defender Ben White move to Arsenal for a reported £50m and Dan Burn to his hometown club Newcastle for £13m, a near-£10m profit for the Seagulls.

Alireza Jahanbaksh’s move to Fenerbahce that summer represents Brighton’s only significant loss on a first-team player in that timeframe, the Iran winger leaving for less than £1m having signed for a then club-record fee of almost £17m in 2018.

Neal Maupay, signed for just over £14m from Brentford and sold to Everton last summer for £10m, is the only other player to lose Brighton money in the market but it was offset by selling Yves Bissouma and Marc Cucurella, both signed for in the region of £15m, for £25m and £60m to Tottenham and Chelsea respectively.

A £7m profit on Leandro Trossard followed with his January move to Arsenal before this summer saw £7m signing Alexis Mac Allister and academy product Robert Sanchez sold for, respectively, an initial £35m to Liverpool and £20m to Chelsea. Caicedo’s move makes it a combined profit of around £245m on the 10 players.

Chelsea have completed the signing of Moises Caicedo from Brighton for an initial £100million, possibly rising to £115m after add-ons.

A deal for the midfielder was finally agreed late on Sunday night after a lengthy saga that saw Brighton knock back three bids for the 21-year-old.

He underwent a medical and agreed personal terms on Monday and has signed an eight-year contract with the club.

Caicedo said: “I am so happy to join Chelsea! I am so excited to be here at this big club and I didn’t have to think twice when Chelsea called me, I just knew I wanted to sign for the club.

“It’s a dream come true to be here and I can’t wait to get started with the team.”

The PA news agency also understands Chelsea have won the race to sign Romeo Lavia from Southampton after the midfielder picked Stamford Bridge over a move to Liverpool

Though a fee is yet to be agreed, the 19-year-old has indicated his desire to join Mauricio Pochettino’s side and negotiations will now take place over personal terms, with the deal likely to be worth in excess of £50million.

It is the second time in less than 24 hours that the club have beaten Liverpool to a key transfer target following Caicedo’s capture.

Belgium international Lavia has played just 29 Premier League games since joining Southampton from Manchester City last summer but was a standout performer last season despite Saints’ relegation to the Championship.

Liverpool had reportedly agreed a deal worth £60m to sign Lavia as Klopp looks to reinforce his midfield following a clutch of departures, but look set to miss out again in an echo of their failure to lure Caicedo, for whom a £111m fee had been agreed before Chelsea stepped in.

Moises Caicedo has joined Chelsea from Brighton in a deal worth a possible £115million.

The Blues look set to eclipse their own British transfer record having agreed to pay £100m up front for Caicedo, plus a further £15m in potential add-ons.

Here, the PA news agency compares the transfer with previous big-money signings.

Highest transfer fees paid by British clubs

The Caicedo deal is the fourth nine-figure transfer in Premier League history.

The record remains at £106.8m – the amount that Chelsea paid Benfica for Enzo Fernandez in January – but Caicedo’s move could eventually surpass it should he meet add-on criteria totalling £15m.

The Fernandez fee appears to have set a new precedent for central midfielders, with Declan Rice also having moved from West Ham to Arsenal for £100m plus add-ons earlier this summer.

Manchester City’s Jack Grealish was the first Premier League player to break the £100m barrier, with the former Aston Villa captain having signed for Pep Guardiola’s side in 2021.

Most expensive under-21s

Caicedo is the third player aged 21 and under to command an initial fee of £100m or more.

The Ecuadorian follows in the footsteps of Kylian Mbappe and Joao Felix, who moved to Paris St Germain and Atletico Madrid for £165.7m and £113m respectively.

Mbappe was 19 when PSG secured his permanent transfer from Monaco in 2018, while Felix was the same age upon moving from Benfica to Atletico 12 months later.

Meanwhile, Jude Bellingham’s £88.5m switch from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid continued the German club’s impressive record of signing young players and selling them for a large profit.

Ousmane Dembele – who joined Barcelona from Dortmund as a 20-year-old in 2017 – also ranks in the five most expensive players aged 21 and under (£96.8m).

Highest fees received by British clubs

Brighton are the fifth British club to receive a nine-figure sum for an individual player.

The Seagulls are fast proving themselves as adept as Dortmund when it comes to developing young talent, with Caicedo having joined for an estimated £4.4m from Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle in 2021.

His sale is the third this summer to breach the £100m mark, after Tottenham and West Ham cashed in on their club captains Harry Kane and Rice respectively.

Liverpool – who Caicedo turned down in favour of Chelsea – have held on to top spot in terms of most expensive sales in Premier League history.

The Reds sold Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for an initial £105m in January 2018, with a further £37m received in subsequent add-ons.

Spain take on Sweden and England face co-hosts Australia in the Women’s World Cup semi-finals.

Here, the PA news agency looks at what the tournament statistics can tell us about the games ahead.

Spain v Sweden

The two top-scoring semi-finalists meet in Auckland on Tuesday, with Spain having scored 15 goals – matching eliminated Japan for the tournament high – and Sweden 11.

The Scandinavians have actually had the fewest attempts on goal of any of the last four, just 62, but have the best conversion rate, having scored with 18 per cent of their shots.

Four-goal defender Amanda Ilestedt is also the unlikely leading challenger to current Golden Boot leader Hinata Miyazawa, whose Japan side Sweden knocked out in the quarter-finals.

Ilestedt aside, the statistics heavily favour Sweden. Among the semi-finalists, they rank first and Spain fourth for total shots and shots on target, ball progressions both attempted and completed, line breaks attempted and take-ons completed.

Some hope for Sweden comes from Spain’s defensive record – their six goals conceded is at least twice as many as any of the other remaining teams. Japan scored four of those, and Miyazawa two, in a surprisingly one-sided final game in Group C – but having beaten the Nadeshiko, Sweden will be confident.

They will also know they can respond if, as the statistics point to, they fall behind – Spain have scored nine goals in the first half of games but seven of Sweden’s 11 have come after the break.

The two teams have each used 22 of their 23 available players, with only their respective third-choice goalkeepers Enith Salon and Tove Enblom yet to play a single minute in the tournament.

Australia v England

England and Australia, by contrast, have used only 17 players apiece and fatigue could be a factor in the second semi-final in Sydney.

England’s 553 minutes played is the most in the tournament, closely followed by their opponents with almost 548 minutes. Five Australians and three England players have played every one of those minutes, with Australia naming nine of the same 11 starters in every game – goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold and the back four of Ellie Carpenter, Clare Hunt, Alanna Kennedy and Steph Catley, plus Hayley Raso, Katrina Gorry, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Caitlin Foord – and England six.

Working in England’s favour in that regard could be the distance the respective teams have covered. Their 562.3km is 2.5km lower than any other semi-finalist, with Australia once more ranking second in that regard, and England also have the lowest proportion of that spent sprinting or “high-speed running” at 27 per cent, according to FIFA’s official statistics, and the highest proportion of walking at 39 per cent.

England have scored 10 goals to Australia’s nine and are the most accurate shooters of the remaining teams, with 44 per cent of their efforts on target, while Australia are least accurate at 30 per cent. The co-hosts have had more total shots, 76 to England’s 68, but have allowed 64 at the other end compared to just 52 on Mary Earps’ goal.

Expect England to have the bulk of the possession – they have attempted and completed over 1,000 more passes than Australia, 2,691 of 3,100 compared to 1,584 of 2,061.

Australia are only the second country to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup as host nation, following the United States who won the 1999 final at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl and were also semi-finalists in 2003.