James Maddison has earned his place in England's World Cup squad by becoming "one of the best in the Premier League, his Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers believes.
Maddison was a surprise name in Gareth Southgate's 26-man squad announcement on Thursday, having made his first and only appearance for his country in November 2019.
His recent form for Leicester has won Southgate over though.
Since the start of last season, Maddison has been directly involved in 30 goals in the Premier League (18 goals, 12 assists), with only Harry Kane (38) recording more among English players.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Leicester boss Rodgers described the moment Maddison found out he was heading to the World Cup.
"He was delighted. He had a missed call from Gareth just before we went out to training," Rodgers revealed. "I said to him to go into my office to make the call privately. He obviously spoke to Gareth and came out with all the joy of the world, so it was great for him.
"It's wonderful news for James and his family and everyone here in Leicester. I'm delighted for Gareth from a coaching perspective to have that talent available at a great tournament. His level of consistency, work ethic and talent over these last few years has swung that decision.
"He's a fantastic player, one of the best in the Premier League. I'm really delighted for him."
Maddison was listed as a forward in England's squad along with Kane, Marcus Rashford, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling and Callum Wilson.
Rodgers believes his versatility will make him a valuable asset, outlining the skills he is likely to bring to Southgate's team if called upon during the tournament, which begins on November 20.
"Everyone talks about his favourite position, but James has played across the front line to a high level," he said. "He's plays for me on the right side. He still scores and creates goals. He makes runs like a top winger. One thing he can do above a lot of players is that he can see the forward pass. That's absolutely key.
"He plays forward quickly. A lot of midfield players can conserve the ball, but you need players to see the pass. He's a player whose view of the game is fantastic. England have players who have talent and James has a special talent that can unlock tight games and defences and he can score goals."
Virtual reality could help improve heading skills amid new restrictions – study
Virtual reality could help footballers improve their heading without the repetitive head impacts from a ball, a new study indicates.
Players involved in a study at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Institute of Sport and its Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences demonstrated greater performance in ‘real world’ heading after training with a VR headset compared to a control group who did no training.
The VR group also reported greater self-confidence and efficacy in their heading compared to the control group, the study found.
The study, titled: ‘A preliminary investigation into the efficacy of training soccer heading in immersive virtual reality’, has been published in the journal Virtual Reality on Tuesday.
It provides some insights into how players may be able to improve heading technique amid restrictions on training.
Football Association guidelines advise against any heading training in under-12s, while a trial is ongoing in the current season and next season to eliminate deliberate heading completely from matches up to and including that age group.
At ages 12 and 13, heading should be limited to a single session of no more than five headers, and no more than 10 headers per session for children aged 14 to 17, according to FA guidance.
Even in adult football at all levels, players are advised to perform only 10 ‘higher force headers’ per training week, such as headers from crosses, corners, free-kicks and returning of goal kicks.
The exposure to heading has been limited because of concerns over the sub-concussive impact of repetitive heading on a player’s longer-term wellbeing.
The 2019 FIELD Study found professional footballers were three and a half times more likely to die of neurodegenerative disease than age-matched members of the general population.
“With increasing restrictions of heading exposure to professional and youth soccer, it is evident that alternative methods for training heading confidence and technique will be required while it remains an integral part of the game,” the VR paper concluded.
“The work presented here provides some initial evidence suggesting that immersive VR may have a place in any new approach to training this important skill.”
A group of 36 adult recreational-level players, made up of 30 men and six women, participated in the study in total.
The 36 were split into two groups of 18, with 16 men and two women in the control group who did not use the VR headsets between ‘real world’ heading sessions, and 14 men and four women in the VR group.
The VR group used the Oculus Quest 2 head-mounted display, with the Rezzil Player 22 application used to provide the VR football heading training.
Dr Ben Marshall, Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport, said: “Our findings show that virtual reality (VR) based training can be used to improve real-world heading performance and that this method is more effective than not training the skill at all.
“This is important as current training guidelines recommend limiting the number of physical headers performed in training for all age groups due to the associated long-term risks to player health.
“Our findings suggest the inclusion of VR-based training could play an important role in developing football heading skills whilst reducing the number of real-world headers and sub-concussive head impacts that players need to be exposed to – which is really positive.”
Caglar Soyuncu and Daniel Amartey among seven players leaving Leicester
Leicester have confirmed seven players will depart the club at the end of their contracts in June, including Caglar Soyuncu and Daniel Amartey.
The announcement comes following the Foxes’ relegation to the Championship on the final day of the Premier League season last month.
Turkish defender Soyuncu joined in 2018 from Freiburg and has featured over 100 times for Leicester, while fellow centurion Amartey made his first appearances for the club during their Premier League title-winning season in 2016.
Youri Tielemans is also among those leaving, having announced his exit on Instagram last week after spending four years with the club since joining from Monaco in 2019.
Nampalys Mendy, Ryan Bertrand, Ayoze Perez and Tete are the remaining players who are to leave the King Power following the expiration of their contracts.
Captain Jonny Evans remains in discussions with the Foxes as his contract is set to expire this month, while an option has been exercised to extend Hamza Choudhury’s contract to June 2024.
Birmingham investment approved by EFL
The EFL has approved Tom Wagner’s imminent investment in Birmingham.
The American financier and his company, Knighthead Capital Management, has agreed to purchase a 45 per cent stake in Blues under Shelby Companies Limited.
Birmingham and Wagner still need the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to confirm the deal before it is officially completed with the club’s parent company, Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited, having been looking for investment.
A club statement read: “The English Football League (EFL) has today approved the acquisition of 45 per cent in the Club by Shelby Companies Limited and is now awaiting approval in accordance with the rules of Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
“This exciting announcement comes after the exchange of two signed Sale and Purchase Agreements (SPA) on Sunday, 7 May.
“Shelby Companies Limited is managed by American financier, Tom Wagner, who was in attendance at Blues’ final game of the 2022/23 Sky Bet Championship season against Sheffield United.”
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