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It appears the Houston Astros will have to wait to sign their rising star shortstop to a contract extension.

The New York Post's Jon Heyman reported Wednesday that Jeremy Pena and the Astros were in "serious long-term contract talks" before the shortstop switched agents to Scott Boras.

Now, according to Heyman, those talks are on hold.

Pena, 27, is in the middle of a breakout season in his fourth year as the Astros' starting shortstop. In 78 games, Pena is batting .328/.380/.493 with 11 homers and 15 stolen bases. He has received the third-most All-Star votes among American League shortstops.

Pena has two more years of team control on his contract and is currently set to hit free agency after the 2027 campaign. The Astros appear motivated to get him locked down for the future, but they'll have to wait as Pena's camp pivots to Boras.

Whilst many opt for either the Saudi Pro League or the MLS these days, there remains a select few players who have decided to drop down divisions to complete some of the most unexpected moves away from the Premier League.

Premier League Player Power Rankings 2025/26

The best players in the Premier League right now.

2 ByBen Goodwin Dec 4, 2025

We’ve seen players go from Liverpool to the Isthmian League and even watched on as Paul Konchesky joined Billericay Town as a player before becoming the assistant manager there alongside Jamie O’Hara. So, it’s not always the sunny beaches of Miami that come calling. Ocassionally, it’s a cloudy away day at Southend.

Andy Carroll has also made some interesting moves over the years. The 36-year-old has reiterated time and time again that he simply wants to play football rather than chase a higher paycheck. He revealed that “it’s never been a question of money” when asked about his move to fourth-tier French side Girondins Bordeaux.

Now playing at Dagenham & Redbridge in the National League South, the former Newcastle United striker has stayed true to that verdict and has since watched on as others have followed in his path.

Perhaps in the most unexpected move yet, however, one former Liverpool player has now been spotted playing for a United Arab Emirates third division side, having only been a Premier League midfielder two years ago.

Shelvey opens up about shock third-division move

Jonjo Shelvey didn’t quite get the memo of moving to the likes of Saudi Arabia and the UAE for the chance to earn a life-defining amount, did he? In fact, he’s done the complete opposite. The former Liverpool midfielder has made the move – playing for Arabian Falcons in the third division – but revealed that his “brother earns more” working in a London hotel.

To put into context the difference in his earnings from 2023 to now, Shelvey reportedly brought in around £75,000-a-week at Nottingham Forest. Based on his verdict about the current pay in the UAE third division, it would take him around four years to earn that amount these days.

That said, like Carroll, it’s not about the money from Shelvey. He’s enjoyed the highs of his career, from Anfield to St James’ Park, and is now enjoying the quiet life whilst still playing the game he loves.

Manchester City star Phil Foden has sparked wedding rumours after being spotted ring shopping with girlfriend Rebecca Cooke. The pair were reported to have become engaged after returning from a romantic holiday earlier this year; Cooke was spotted wearing an engagement ring while the pair entered the jewellers in the affluent Cheshire town of Wilmslow.

AFPFoden sparks wedding rumours

Foden and Cooke have been a relationship since they met as teenagers, and they have three children together. Rumours of an engagement between the pair started in Februrary, after Cooke was spotted wearing a diamond ring in February after a New Years Eve trip to Paris. The couple have not officially announced their engagement, however, their recent trip to the jewellers appears to confirm their upcoming nuptials. 

AdvertisementSource: "Massive wedding" expected

A source told in February that the pair had agreed to marry after their romantic getaway to France. They commented: "The pair of them have been together since they were young and their family and friends have been expecting them to get engaged for a while.

“The time seemed right for Phil to pop the question. He took her away to Paris for New Year’s Eve and when they came back Rebecca had a sparkling diamond ring on her engagement finger.

“The ring is absolutely huge. It’s a massive diamond. She loves it and she’s very proud of wearing it although she hasn’t announced anything about it.

“But all the wags know and all the players know in Manchester about the ring and everybody is looking forward to maybe an announcement soon that something has happened, maybe an engagement.

“It would certainly be a massive wedding full of footballers and celebrities and Wags.

“Rebecca loves a party and has hosted some amazing baby showers.”

Foden's personal life not impacting his play

This is the latest development in the reporting around Foden's personal life. The City star has had to sell his eight-bed Cheshire mansion below the asking price, as he and Cooke relocated to a more secluded house in the countryside. The luxury abode was at the centre of controversy, as the 24-year-old was said to have thrown family parties that sparked multiple noise complaints from his well-to-do neighbours. Cheshire Police were called at one stage, as locals complained the Foden residence was louder than Glastonbury. 

However, the stress of shifting his £3.25m digs, does not sseem to have had a negative impact on the playmaker's on-field peformances. After a sub-par outing last term, Foden has been enjoying his football again. Last month, the Cityzens star admitted he had "got his smile back" after a tough year, while England manager Thomas Tuchel promised a "central role" for Foden after omitting him from recent Three Lions squads. 

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Getty Images SportWhat comes next for Foden?

Despite those assurances, there are still question marks over Foden's place within the German's starting lineup for next summer's World Cup. 

He will have to continue separating the tumult in his personal life with his performances on the pitch. Foden's season continues on Saturday as City take on Leeds at the Etihad. 

There are sexier spin bowlers at this World Cup but few wilier than the Afghanistan stalwart

Osman Samiuddin03-Nov-20232:16

How impressive has Shahidi been as captain?

Pretend you’re an Afghanistan selector. You’re licking your lips at the fantabulous array of spinners you can call upon for a World Cup in the subcontinent.There’s the GOAT white-ball leggie who’s become so good now that teams consider it a win if they go at four an over against him and only cede the odd wicket; so good that eight years after his international debut, thousands of hours of video dissection later, we’re still only guessing which one’s the googly.There’s the right-arm all-sorts who has become possibly the world’s first specialist new-ball spinner, opening the bowling in 62 of the 72 ODIs he’s played, bowling in the powerplay in 69 of those. Who has taken more than three times as many wickets in the powerplay as the next most prolific spinner in that phase since his debut six years ago; whose 47 wickets are equal to the combined total number of wickets taken by that list’s top six.Related

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Netherlands run themselves out of the World Cup

There’s an 18-year-old left-arm legspinner and that’s it. Those words the sell. And for the first time since the mid-2010s, they’ve also got a solid fast-bowling pair, one left-arm, one right-arm. All of which means they didn’t even need to pick another couple of young leggie sensations for this World Cup.All bases covered right? Yep. All good.Now pretend you’re the opposition to an Afghanistan side. Got to plan this with care. See out Rashid Khan, don’t give him so much as a sniff (say a little prayer just in case because you’ll likely need it). Mujeeb ur Rehman, be very wary because though you want to go hard in that powerplay, here’s the data dump: he’s not going to let you. He goes at four an over he takes wickets. Sure, later on you might target him but don’t be rash when you start.And Noor Ahmad is no Kuldeep Yadav or Brad Hogg but he doesn’t need to be. Remember, his kind are still rare enough so that, every now and again, they spark all kinds of malfunctioning in perfectly functioning batting orders. And Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq are both considerably better than you might think.Missing anything? Nope. All systems go.Except, hang on. Incoming.Mohammad Nabi sends his regards.Remember him? How could you forget? Part of the furniture so long he’s not the first name on the teamsheet, he is basically the letterhead. Precisely the guy oppositions might look past because, hello, right-arm zero frills. Nobody bothers doing video dissections of Mohammad Nabi because what are you trying to decipher? Whether he’s a handsome young-looking old man, or a handsome old-looking young man?

The stumping of Logan van Beek was obviously exceptional, a flighty, floaty gimme that dipped late and turned into an absolute gotcha, the kind of ball that cuts across all preferences and demographics: young, old, casual, hardcore, Bedi, Ashwin, red-ball purist, white-ball hedonist

And yet here he is at this most joyous of World Cups for Afghanistan, a better strike rate and economy than Rashid and Mujeeb and only a wicket fewer than both. Fact: other than R Ashwin, who’s only played one game, Nabi has the best economy rate for all fingerspinners at this World Cup.This latest, a Player-of-the-Match display in Afghanistan’s fourth win, was classic Nabi. Everyone was watching out for the others, the big turn, the carrom balls, the wrong ‘un, the leftie’s wrong ‘un, and in slipped Nabi behind them. Right-arm offspin? Sure, if you really want to call it that, but actual turn seems to be the least of it sometimes with Nabi.More like right-arm unsexy. Right-arm sorry-not-sorry. Right-arm scrooge. Right-arm gotcha. Right-arm hustle. Right-arm bustle. Right-arm squeeze. Right-arm tease. Right-arm raised-eyebrow. Right-arm lowbrow. Right-arm wise. Right-arm does-not-miss-a-damn-trick.Afghanistan had conceded six, nine, six, nine, six, eight and 11 in each of the seven overs before Nabi came on for the 12th. At least a boundary in each of them too, swiftly squandering the advantage Mujeeb’s first-over wicket had got them. Farooqi was not settling, Mujeeb was not settling, Netherlands were bossing it. Afghanistan got into a long on-field huddle. All eyes on Rashid, having just returned to the field, taking control of this impromptu timeout and… Nabi sent his regards.Mohammad Nabi celebrates Bas de Leede’s wicket•Associated PressTight on off, tighter on length, four dot balls in his first over, seven in his first two overs, 12 in his first three, three singles conceded, one boundary, not a single ball worth remembering, barely a single ball deserving to be hit. Nothing to see here folks, except the life being squeezed right out of the Netherlands start.By the time he got his first wicket, he’d already caused the fall of three others. Now you might think the using “caused” for run-outs here is generous and perhaps you’re right. But I prefer to think the three run-outs in his overs were his new magic trick, like a new variation. Right-arm run-outs. And if ever there was a case to be made for a run-out being the work of the bowler, then it was in Scott Edwards’ dismissal which, spiritually, was surely a stumping.In his next over, the innings’ 21st, he got Bas de Leede with what looked like an exceptionally unexceptional delivery, except that it did hang back a little longer, a little more outside off and made a point of not turning. Netherlands were 72 for 1 when Nabi came on. They were now 97 for 5.The real stumping later of Logan van Beek, by contrast, was obviously exceptional, a flighty, floaty gimme that dipped late and turned into an absolute gotcha, the kind of ball that cuts across all preferences and demographics: young, old, casual, hardcore, Bedi, Ashwin, red-ball purist, white-ball hedonist. Everybody loves The One Where The Batter Danced Out And Looked a Little Bit Silly. Un-obviously it was also exceptional, coming at the end of an over in which his speeds went up and down like an arrhythmic heartbeat, never letting either van Beek or Sybrand Engelbrecht settle.”Focusing on dot balls,” he explained later, as if it needed pointing out. “I always try to concentrate on my lines and lengths, and variations. I try to stick to my plans and use the angles. In some pitches, the variation is more, that is sometimes why I get more wickets.”Translation: look over there, at all those bright, flashy toys. That’s where the action is. Nothing to see here. Just me, quietly minding my own business and with it, Afghanistan’s too.

Williamson, who is recovering from a groin injury, was not considered for the ODI series and will focus on preparing for the Test series

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Nov-2025Matt Henry is set to return to action for New Zealand’s the upcoming three-match ODI series against West Indies, starting November 16 at the Hagley Oval.Henry, who missed the final two ODIs against England due to a calf strain, has been undergoing a “planned conditioning and rehabilitation block” to prepare for the ODI series, as well as the subsequent three-Test series in December.Blair Tickner, who was an injury replacement for Kyle Jamieson for the England series, has also retained his spot despite Jamieson’s return to action. Tickner took eight wickets in two matches against England.Related

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The pace bowling group also includes Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes and Nathan Smith, while captain Mitchell Santner, Michael Bracewell, and Rachin Ravindra will handle spin duties.Several players remain unavailable due to injury, including Mohammad Abbas (ribs), Finn Allen (foot), Lockie Ferguson (hamstring), Adam Milne (ankle), Will O’Rourke (back), Glenn Phillips (groin), and Ben Sears (hamstring). The NZC stated in a release that Kane Williamson, who is recovering from a groin injury, has not been considered for the ODI series and will focus on preparing for the Test series, which begins on December 2.Blair Tickner was impressive against England•Getty Images”Matt is a vital member of this group and the senior leader of our pace attack, so it’ll be great to have him back for both the ODIs and Tests,” New Zealand head coach Rob Walter said of Henry. “He will be fresh and fit after a good rest, and we know he will be raring to go ahead of what promises to be a big five weeks with both the white and red ball.”Walter also praised Tickner’s recent form, saying, “Ticks was outstanding against England, and we’re pleased to keep rewarding players who step up when called upon.”Looking ahead to the West Indies challenge, Walter said: “They’re always a dangerous side, with players who can turn a game in an instant. It’s an important series for us as we continue to develop and grow in the format.”The New Zealand squad will gather in Christchurch on November 14. The team will be keen to extend their streak of ten consecutive home ODI series wins, following last month’s 3-0 clean sweep over England.Meanwhile, the ongoing five-match T20I series between New Zealand and West Indies is currently tied 1-1 after two games.New Zealand squad for West Indies ODIMitchell Santner (capt), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner, Will Young

Bravo wants to concentrate on playing and enjoying the game, says Venky Mysore

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jul-2020West Indies white-ball captain Kieron Pollard will continue to lead Trinbago Knight Riders for the upcoming CPL season.Pollard had been named Knight Riders’ replacement captain after regular captain Dwayne Bravo was sidelined from the entire CPL 2019 with an injury. After captaining Knight Riders to the playoffs – they were beaten by eventual champions Barbados Tridents in the second qualifier – Pollard took over as the captain of West Indies’ ODI and T20I sides.ALSO READ: Trinbago v Guyana to kick off 2020 seasonIt was Bravo who had led Knight Riders to back-to-back title victories in 2017 and 2018, but, according to Venky Mysore, the CEO of the team as well as Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, Bravo wasn’t keen to lead the side earlier too, and instead wanted to focus on his career as a player.”We are happy that Kieron who is the West Indies captain is our leader at TKR,” Mysore was quoted as saying by . “The champion DJ Bravo has been coming to me year after year and asking me to give someone else the captaincy because he wants to just concentrate on playing and enjoying the game. I always told him not until I am ready and that time has come and he is very happy to play under Pollard.”

They are great friends and they will both come together to give us the best chance at the CPL this yearVenky Mysore

Pollard and Bravo also share a great relationship and when Bravo announced his decision to come out T20I retirement last December, he talked up Pollard’s captaincy.”They are great friends and they will both come together to give us the best chance at the CPL this year,” Mysore said. “Bravo said he has played under Pollard before and this will be the best thing at this time for all parties. Pollard was kind enough to accept the position to lead the team at the tournament. He said if we wanted him to do it he will and we said that we will be delighted to have him as captain again.”During the draft that was held virtually on June 24, Knight Riders snapped up 48-year old Indian legspinner Pravin Tambe, Zimbabwe allrounder Sikandar Raza and local quick Anderson Phillip. Earlier, Knight Riders retained their core from last season and signed New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Seifert, Australian legspinner Fawad Ahmed and fast bowler Jayden Seales, who had represented West Indies in the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year.Knight Riders will play five-time finalists Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL 2020 opener on August 18. Due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the entire tournament will be held in Trinidad & Tobago this year, with the final scheduled for September 11 at the Brian Lara Stadium.

Wants to “become a better option for the skipper in the middle overs” with the ball

Andrew McGlashan19-Aug-2020Marnus Labuschagne hasn’t been idling away his time since the Covid-19 enforced hiatus in cricket began, instead focusing on how he can improve on what was a spectacular 2019-2020 season.From the moment he was parachuted into the second Ashes Test at Lord’s as Steven Smith’s concussion substitute, Labuschagne barely put a foot wrong, piling up 1249 Test runs at 83.26. That included a home summer against Pakistan and New Zealand which brought four centuries, the last of which was a career-best 215 at the SCG.Shortly before sport came to a grinding halt, Labuschagne earned his first call-up to the ODI side and, unsurprisingly, tasted early success with an emotional maiden century against South Africa in front of extended family in Potchefstroom. His last innings before lockdown was another half-century against New Zealand in Sydney.It will probably be in the ODI format where he resumes action unless he earns a first call-up to the T20I side for the initial part of the England series. While he has been working on all areas of his game, it is elements of one-day cricket where he is eyeing strides, notably his legspin and being able to hit strongly late in an innings.”It doesn’t matter what the format is; you want to get better,” he told reporters in Brisbane. “There are some areas in one-day cricket where I’m continuing to develop: my bowling and making sure I get a bit more consistent, so I become a better option for the skipper in the middle overs and, with my batting at the death – I want to keep working on that. So it’s been nice to have five months to be able to work on those skills, where if I’d been playing cricket you might not have had the opportunity. It’s all about using the time wisely. Hopefully that’s the way it comes across.”Labuschagne, who under normal circumstances would have been in county cricket for Glamorgan during the English season, is the only Queensland player in the 21-man squad for the England tour. He has been able to take advantage of more favourable circumstances in the state to prepare, both from the situation of fewer Covid-19 restrictions and the warm winter climate that allows for outdoor training and practice which included an inter-squad game to the rules of the Hundred.”There have been so many areas that I’ve found I can keep working on in the nets or at home, finding cricket in different ways,” he said. “The lack of games is definitely something I’ve missed but there’s been plenty of other areas and we’ve been lucky here that we’ve been able to train outdoors on turf.”That’s what this pre-season has been about, making sure I prepare, improving those areas I needed to to take my game to the next level. I had a really good summer but you want to be better than that, I want to go one better, so making sure you are using this time wisely.”

Celtic are now thought to be closing in on a new deal for one Parkhead gem, according to an update on Thursday.

Celtic transfer rumours

It has been a busy season at Celtic Park which began with Ange Postecoglou leaving for Tottenham and Brendan Rodgers returning for a second stint in charge.

A plethora of players were brought in and sold, with the most high-profile exit being Jota’s big-money move to Saudi Arabia, a transfer which has helped the club bring in so many new signings.

Celtic signings 2023/24

Fee

Gustaf Lagerbielke (IF Elfsborg)

£3m

Odin Thiago Holm (Valerenga)

£2.5m

Marco Tilio (Melbourne City)

£2m

Hyun-Jun Yang (Gangwon)

£2m

Hyeokkyu Kwon (Busan I-Park)

£1m

Maik Nawrocki (Legia Warsaw)

£4.3m

Tomoki Iwata (Yokohama F. Marinos)

Undisc.

Nicolas Kühn (Rapid Vienna)

£3m

Adam Idah (Norwich City)

Loan

On the pitch, things haven’t exactly been how Rodgers would’ve been hoping for, with rivals Rangers currently topping the Scottish Premiership and already winning the Scottish League Cup. In fact, if the Northern Irishman fails to win the league title, there are rumours he could be sacked after just 12 months back at the club.

New additions to the Celtic squad are also expected at the end of the campaign, with a new goalkeeper, winger and striker top of the agenda ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has been heavily linked with a move to replace Joe Hart, whereas a permanent move for loanee Adam Idah from Norwich City has also been mooted.

However, alongside any new signings, the Hoops are also working to keep a number of their potential future stars at the club, with a positive update emerging on one of those in question.

Celtic agree new contract with Hoops gem

Scott Burns of The Daily Record reported this week that Celtic are close to agreeing a new contract with youngster Daniel Kelly. The Hoops tabled an extension to the 18-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of the season, and were confident of a deal being signed.

Football Insider's Pete O'Rourke has since issued a further update on talks, revealing Hoops chiefs have made a breakthrough to actually agree a deal with Kelly already, who will net a "significant" pay rise.

Kelly has made an impact at Parkhead since the turn of the year and is highly rated in Glasgow, with the central midfielder making four senior appearances in all competitions this season. He even scored his first professional goal in the recent 7-1 win over Dundee.

Kelly has also come in for praise from Billy Stark, former Celtic player and current Scotland Under-19 boss, who labelled the Hoops gem a “powerhouse”.

“It was great to see young Daniel get that opportunity and I’m looking forward to him joining up with the Under-19s next week. He scored a good goal against Dundee with his right foot, which is his swinger.

“Daniel is a real powerhouse who is strong and committed, with lots of energy. He has a lot of attributes that are needed for a top midfielder and we hope he continues to develop the way he has.”

Enlarged training group serves as reminder that sport is a brutal business

George Dobell29-May-2020One day in the summer of 1987, Paul Smith found himself in the England dressing room at Edgbaston during a rain break.Smith, a Warwickshire player, was 23 at the time. He had scored 1,500 first-class runs as an opening batsman the previous season and, as a bowler, had been dubbed “the fastest white man in the world” by Bob Willis. He had, he thought, a decent chance of a call-up as England started to contemplate life after Sir Ian Botham.But then he heard Micky Stewart, the England coach at the time, list some of the issues facing his team. And one sentence, in particular, put him back in his place with a jolt. “The problem is, we just don’t have any allrounders,” he recalls Stewart saying.It was a moment of crushing disappointment. A moment when all the hopes and dreams of recent months suddenly seemed foolish and naive. A moment when the door to the England team seemed to have been slammed in his face.There will be a host of England-qualified cricketers feeling the same way today. For as much as it has been encouraging for the likes of Laurie Evans and Richard Gleeson to win inclusion in this extended training group, it is probably the omissions which tell us most. Not to be in included among the 55 – that’s five teams – really does seem like a knockout punch.ALSO READ: Who are the new names in the England frame?The absence of Alex Hales’ name that will draw the most attention. And it’s true that, on form, he should be there. But Eoin Morgan, England’s limited-overs captain, made it clear on Wednesday that there would be no imminent return.Many might think missing a World Cup – and such a World Cup – was punishment enough. It now seems Hales will miss the T20 one as well. But Morgan has earned the right to lead the limited-overs teams as he sees fit and clearly feels the culture he has inculcated requires further entrenchment. And it is true, it is not so long since some cricketers seemed more motivated by thoughts of their next night out than training or even playing for their country. The treatment of Hales provides a sobering reminder of the consequences and will serve as a deterrent.There’s still a way back. He could win a recall in 2021, if he continues to score heavily and maintain a clean disciplinary record. He really is very good. But he’s 31 now. And some of those who have taken advantage of his absence, notably Tom Banton, are every bit of 10 years younger. That’s an uncomfortable equation for Hales.There’s probably no way back for Liam Plunkett. He is now 35 and, in the year leading into the World Cup, clearly struggled to redress a notable drop of pace. As England look to challenges ahead, conditions in which his cutters may find little grip and that drop in pace might be punished, it is clear they have decided to move on. It’s not necessarily wrong, but it is ruthless.Jake Ball, Liam Plunkett and Alex Hales have all been excluded from England’s training group, three years after playing in the Champions Trophy semi-final•Getty ImagesPlunkett really was terrific in that World Cup. England won every match in which he played and, lest it be forgotten, he claimed three wickets – including that of Kane Williamson – in the final. Indeed, it’s probably no coincidence they lost only six of his final 57 ODIs. Maybe, in time, he will reflect that bowing out of international cricket in that Lord’s final was better than doing so in an empty Ageas Bowl in September. Either way, it to be hoped this ending does not leave a sour taste in a mouth that was full of champagne not so long ago.Whatever happens, Hales and Plunkett and even Gary Ballance, who seems destined for a Ramprakashian second half of his career, can console themselves with the memories of many fine days in the sun wearing an England shirt. It has to end sometime and it nearly always ends badly.Jamie Porter and Sam Northeast do not even have that consolation. Porter’s frustration, in particular, is understandable. He was told, in the summer of 2018, that he would play Test cricket at some stage that year. But James Anderson refused to age, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran offered better batting options and Porter fell back among the pack.