rugby.com.au’s LIVE broadcast will commence at 6:45PM AEDT, with all the red carpet, player interviews and latest news from the event.

10:04pm

John Eales Medallist – Michael Hooper

9:54pm

Shawn Mackay Award – Men’s Sevens Player of the Year – Ed Jenkins

Ed Jenkins is the most-capped Australian Sevens player of all time and has topped the tally to win the men’s Sevens Player of the Year award.

9:48pm

Shawn Mackay Award – Women’s Sevens Player of the Year – Charlotte Caslick

Charlotte Caslick has capped a dream 2016 with the Shawn Mackay Award for Women’s Sevens Player of the Year

9:43pm

Women’s XVs Player of the Year – Ash Hewson

Wallaroos captain Ash Hewson has claimed the Women’s XVs Player of the Year. Hewson steered Sydney Uni to a second straight national championship this season and was a star in their recent two-Test series against New Zealand. The veteran of the side scored all their points against New Zealand in that series.

9:40pm

Wallabies Try of the Year – Drew Mitchell

Drew Mitchell wins the gong for his hand in Adam Ashley-Cooper’s try and takes the cake for best acceptance speech – popping a bottle of Dom Perignon!

9:30pm

Wallabies Rookie of the Year – Dane Haylett-Petty

Dane Haylett-Petty has played 10 Tests in his debut season, scoring two tries in that. He is the only Wallabies debutant to start every Test this season and has found his feet out of position on the wing. The 27-year-old had a few to beat too, with 11 2016 debutants. A late bloomer when it comes to Tests but looks to have made his mark.

9:20pm

We have a new leader!

Michael Hooper has taken the lead in the John Eales Medal but it’s Nick Frisby who is the MVP at this point, lighting up the rugby.com.au stream and letting the cat out of the bag about who injured Michael Cheika’s shoulder…It was star fullback Israel Folau!

9:12pm

Wallabies Player of the Year, Fan’s Choice – Michael Hooper

Michael Hooper has been voted as the fan’s player of the year. An omen for the awards to come?

9:08pm

Super Rugby Player of the Year – Sean McMahon

9:01pm

Super Rugby try of the Year – Nick Frisby

Nick Frisby played the major hand in Jake McIntyre’s epic Queensland Reds try. He was quick to pay tribute to one of his other nominees, Luke Morahan, who just missed out on the gong. Frisby’s optimistic about 2017 for the Reds.

8:51pm

Super Rugby Coach of the Year and team of the Year – Stephen Larkham/Brumbies

The Brumbies made the Super Rugby finals for the fourth time in as many years, with their Australian conference win nabbing them team of the year.

8:45pm

Super Rugby referee of the year – Angus Gardner

Angus Gardner will become the first Australian to referee four international matches in one season, winning his second award of the night, scooping the referee awards.

8:39pm

Super Rugby Rookie of the Year – Reece Hodge

Reece Hodge’s breakout season has been rewarded with the Rookie of the Year gong. He was a runaway winner of this one, in a year that helped him to Wallabies selection.

8:32pm

NRC Player of the Series- Irae Simone

Irae Simone lit up the NRC in 2016 and beat out fellow nominees Jake Gordon (NSW Country Eagles) and reigning winner Jono Lance. Simone’s award was the Shute Shield Rookie of the Year and has earned himself a 2017 Super Rugby contract.

8:15pm

Pocock leads the pack

8:03pm

Red Carpet pics

The Red Carpet pics are in! Take a look at some of the Wallabies and their partners.

7:51 pm

The first count 

We’re on to the first part of the big gong tonight, from Chicago to the World Cup final.David Pocock leads the pack after an epic Rugby World Cup. Here’s your top 10!

David Pocock – 140

Kurtley Beale – 103

Adam Ashley-Cooper- 101

Bernard Foley – 99

Sean McMahon – 92

Matt Giteau – 71

Tevita Kuridrani – 63

Michael Hooper – 60 

Drew Mitchell – 54

Sekope Kepu – 43

7:49pm

Honouring Classic Wallabies

A moment’s silence for the Wallabies who have passed away in the past year. Some of the greatest. 

7:43pm

Geoff ‘Bunter’ Shaw Community Coach of the Year Award – Kylie Dawson

Kylie Dawson has been recognised for her influence in the rugby community, nominated by her players for the award, beating out a nation of contenders. Dawson is from Tamworth and a former coach of Australian Sevens player John Porch. A rugby fan for most of her life, Dawson says she just loves to take her players on a journey. Clearly, she’s making an impact. 

7:35pm

Joe French Award – Alec Evans

Alec Evans honoured to receive the award and thanks his wife for putting up with his passion for rugby for the past 53 years. Pretty solid effort there!

7:32pm

Australian U20s Player of the Year – Tyrel Lomax

Bit of an awkward moment in this one – Lomax’s former coach Stephen Larkham presenting the U20s award to the front rower, who is moving up to the Rebels in 2017. Was immense in the U20s World Cup and will be a star to watch. Comes from a rugby league background but opted for the 15-man game, a choice that’s going well. Lomax says he’s settling well into Melbourne and rates his 2016 highlight as the U20s victory over New Zealand.

7:31pm

Nick Farr-Jones Spirit of Rugby Award – Megan and Anthony Elliott

7:21pm

Referee of the year – Angus Gardner

Angus Gardner has been one of the success stories of the Australian refereeing pathway, and this year officiated a number of internationals and major Super Rugby matches. Gardner has spoken of the difficulties of travel as an international referee, especially having just become a father.

7:14pm

HSBC Volunteer of the Year 

Congratulations to all three Volunteer of the Year award winners, who are keeping rugby ticking every day in their own backyards.

7:12pm

Hall of Fame – Peter Johnson

Peter Johnson played 42 Tests, five as captain over a 13 year international career, where he was recognised as an outstanding hooker.

Peter Johnson wore the green and gold jersey with pride on eight overseas tours. His team mates would tell people he never played a bad game, and was a credit to his country.

In his final test Johnson moved past Tony Miller to become Australia’s most capped player – it was an honour he held for 16 years.

7:11pm

Hall of Fame – John Solomon

John Solomon captained Australia in 8 of his 14 Tests, which he amassed during two tours to NZ and one to South Africa.

He was known as a resilient, scheming winger, inside centre or flyhalf and later became a successful coach. He was a veritable leader of men, and made an outstanding contribution to Australian rugby.

John Solomon’s achievements on the South African rugby tour in 1953 which included assisting a match-winning length of the field try, led to him being carried off the field by both Australian and South African players – something that’s unlikely to ever be repeated again!

7:08 pm

Hall of Fame – Jack Ford

Our first Hall of Fame inductee – John ‘Jack Ford. John “Jack” Ford played 11 tests for Australia and was the first Tasmanian to represent our country. This award for him comes in a special year for Tasmanian rugby – with born and bred Tasmanian Adam Coleman having made his Wallabies debut this year in the third Test of the England Series.

Jack Ford was a boarder at St. Joseph’s College in Sydney, which is where he learnt to play. Upon finishing school thanks to his flashing speed, immense strength and sheer size, he was virtually unstoppable.

in 1929,  he played for the first Australian team to win all internationals against New Zealand.

He retired in 1930, a winner in eight of his last nine Tests after Australia’s win over the 1930 British Lions.

7:04pm 

We’re underway at Randwick Racecourse. Greg Clark and Sandra Sully taking us away, ahead of the induction of our 2016 Hall of Fame inductees.

6:45pm 

We’re not too far away from the start of official proceedings here. We’ll have the red carpet images coming through soon.

Here are some pics of the contenders getting ready. 

The Rebels have their finals hopes exactly where they want them heading into a pivotal clash with the Brumbies, backrower Colby Fainga’a says.

Friday’s match will help decide the Australian conference winner, who will potentially be the country’s only Super Rugby finalist, and Fainga’a said they were pleased to have control over their own fate.

“It’s extremely important,” he said.

“We’re in a good position where we’ve got our own destiny in our own hands so it’s a good spot to be in and to have tough games coming up.

“If you want to be the best in the comp you’ve got to play the best.”

Fainga’a said there wasn’t a feeling that this match would end of their season if it turned out in a loss.

“There’s a still a few games to go,” he said.

“I don’t think this is the be all, end all for the squad if we don’t win this game but I know we’ve put a lot of effort into this weekend.

“Everyone’s done a lot of review and preview on these guys and what we’ve done well over the past few games, what we need to work on.

“We’re not putting all our eggs into the basket for this weekend, there’s still quite a few games to go in this season.”

As for his own personal battle in the back row, Fainga’a said the team wouldn’t be consumed by the threat of David Pocock.

We pride ourselves a lot on our breakdown as well so we know going into this weekend we know he’s there but I don’t think we’re going to change a whole lot,” he said.

“I think we’ve recognised he’s in the team, he’s obviously a world class player but we also need to stick to what we do well.”

The Rebels look likely to welcome some players back from injury for the clash, including gun back Mike Harris, who has missed eight weeks with a quad injury.

Fainga’a missed seven weeks with an elbow injury and said the Rebels’ list was being boosted at the right time.

“We’ve had quite an unlucky run throughout the start of the season,” he said.

“It’s good that at the back end of the season that’ where everyone’s trying to feed back into the team.

“It’s a pretty good spot to have (had) such an inconsistent team for the first half of the season (with) guys going in, guys coming out, getting injured.

“(It was) a disrupted start to the season and then to get a bit of consistency towards the back end of the season that’s where you want to be peaking.”

The Rebels host the Brumbies on Friday night, kicking off at 7:40pm AEST.

It brought Waratahs fans to their feet but NSW flyhalf Kurtley Beale says his try-saving tackle wasn’t that special.

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Beale stopped barnstorming Reds winger Chris Feauai-Sautia in his tracks, as the Reds looked certain to score and said he was as surprised as anyone with the way things unfolded.

“There’s a bit of talk about it at the moment but basically it was surprising,” he said.

“I think obviously he is a great finisher and I had to just try and stop him, put my body on the line and that’s exactly what I did,” he said.

“There was nothing special about it, I think my first intent was to try and push him to score in the corner.

“(I was) surprised that I actually got there in the end and I was able to put a tackle on him, I was pretty happy that I got him down.”

Beale flourished in the chief playmaking spot for the Waratahs against the Reds and said his confidence was growing in the 10, though he expects incumbent Bernard Foely to reclaim the starting flyhalf spot when he returns from injury.

“I know what I can do out there on the footy field and I’ve got that belief and I know I’ve got that belief from my teammates and that’s all that matters to me,” he said.

“Obviously the coaching staff have installed that belief and it was just a matter of me just going out there and just do the job and get the job done.

“I was very lucky to have some quality players around me to help me get my job done and obviously having a forward pack like we do at the moment it makes my job a lot easier when they’re laying a good platform up front.”

Beale’s combination with debutant David Horwitz worked well against the Reds’ fledgling inside backs but Beale admitted they would need to brace for a much different proposition against Aussie favourites, the Brumbies.

The 27-year-old was adamant the ACT franchise had earned the favourites tag, a label that has stuck even more firmly after a 52-10 romping of the Hurricanes.

“They are the talk of the Australian conference and I think also they’ve got all the experience, all the attacking threat,” he said.

“I think they played some of the best rugby in round one so we as a team have got to be aware of that so it’s going to be a huge challenge for us going in the game.”

A 2014 win over the Stormers sparked a championship run for the Waratahs but captain Michael Hooper says things are different in 2016.

Both sides have changed plenty since that clash and Hooper said they wouldn’t be dwelling too much on that victory as they head to Newlands this weekend.

“(We’ll take) nothing into this game,” he said.

“The guys who were a part of it know how hard it is and it is a good celebration to have.

“The odds are stacked against you but they’re a completely different team to then as are we so it’s going to be a new challenge.

“And for us (it’s) the first South African team of the year as opposed to playing pretty much  Aussies all bar the HIghlanders.

“It’s a new challenge and new style of footy we’re going to be faced with tomorrow night.”

What happened after that 2014 clash proved to be defining for the Waratahs and Hooper said they hoped it kick started something similar two seasons on.

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“It (that 2014 run) definitely is something to reflect on and think how you got yourself into that position and built confidence to be able to put out back-to-back performances each week,” he said.

“I mean, we haven’t won two games in a row yet. So for us going back-to-back against a tough team will be huge.

“It is a different squad to back then so and different coaching staff and all of that’s not excuses, but we’re trying to not reflect because that’s not going to be right for this squad.

“We’ve got to try and work out what’s right or we think we’re going to try and work out what’s right ot get back-to-back performances.”

The Waratahs have made just one change to their side to face the Stormers after a Western Force game that Hooper described as a “lightbulb moment” for the side.

“We saw that as a really good 80-minute performance chasing that from start to finish,” he said.

“It was a real lightbulb moment in that we really controlled the game really well. That was down to our nines, 10s, KB (Kurtley Beale) and sticking to the game plan for the duration.”

Dean Mumm is the only new face in the starting side from that Force side and Hooper said he was confident that would boost their backrow.

“Having Dean at six, he’s a really quality jumper who will do nothing but help our chances and bolster that contest up.”

The Waratahs take on the Stormers in Cape Town tomorrow morning at 3:15am AEST. See all the action live on Fox Sports 2.

Diving is one of the most controversial aspects in football with more and more players seemingly going to ground on the edge of the box easily

Diving. Players do it, managers have a moan over it, and some critics have accused divers of ‘ruining’ the modern game and football itself.

But what is diving, and why do footballers feel the need to do so? The act of diving has, over the years, been perfected into an art by some players, with some mastering the craft of going to the ground with just the perfect amount of weight and theatrics.

It is a fine line, however: other players, including some of football’s elite, have become notorious for throwing themselves to the floor in a bid to hoodwink match officials into awarding decisions in their favour.

Goal takes a look at players who have a tendency to dive, what the punishments are for diving, as well as how to recognise a ‘simulation’ and more.

A ‘dive’ is the term used for when a player attempts to gain an unfair advantage on the opposition team through falling to the ground easily and feigning injury, giving the impression to the referee that a foul has been committed.

Deciding whether or not to award marginal fouls, especially when they occur inside the penalty area, has long been one of the most controversial elements of football and a regular talking point after games.

Referees are forced to decide in the blink of an eye between giving the fallen player the benefit of the doubt by awarding the penalty or ultimately seeing what was a fake attempt at trying to gain an advantage for their team.

Players generally dive in order to receive free-kicks or penalties or to earn opposing players yellow or red cards.

High-pressure and intense games where the scoreline is either even or tight may see more players go to ground more easily in order to gain an edge for their side.

Diving has been formally termed ‘simulation’ by FIFA.

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Brazil forward Neymar has picked up infamy for his diving theatrics across the World Cup 2018 in Russia, whose numerous tumbles spread across social media like wildfire, inspiring memes and mockery.

After Mexico lost to Brazil in the World Cup group stages, El Tri coach Juan Carlos Osorio berated the antics of the PSG star as the reason for his team’s defeat.

Late on in the second half, Neymar was found writhing on the ground for nearly two whole minutes after Mexico’s Miguel Layun trod on his ankle.

“This is a real shame for football,” Osorio said at the time. “We wasted a lot of time because of one single player.”

Interestingly enough, however, despite some players obviously taking the opportunity to dive as a means to gain an advantage for their team when the score is unfavourable to them, the Wall Street Journal analysed the Brazil international’s diving patterns during the 2018 World Cup and concluded that his tumbles come more frequently when his side are winning.

Roughly 60 per cent of Neymar’s falls come with the scoreline level, but the research showed that he actually goes to ground more when his team is winning – averaging 15 seconds on the ground when his team in front against only nine when the game is tied.

Additionally, Brazil’s games had been tied for longer than when they had led – so Neymar flops more often when his team are in front, approximately once every eight and a half minutes, compared to once every nine and a half minutes when the game is tied.

Tottenham’s Dele Alli has also gained a notorious reputation for diving, earning the dubious distinction of being booked for simulation twice in one season when Spurs played out a 2-2 draw at Anfield in February 2018.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino had no excuses for the England international, but also lamented that too much discussion around driving will distort the game in the future.

“It was a yellow card,” Pochettino told reporters. “It happens. During different games, a lot of situations like this happen. The problem now is we are so sensitive about the situation. And then we are so focused on Dele Alli. The referee was right and perfect. It was a yellow card and nothing [else]. It’s too much sometimes. There is such a focus on this type of situation. I think it’s a minimal issue.

“Dele is not perfect. Nobody is perfect. He is a clever boy. He is a little bit nasty. Football is a creative sport in which you need the talent that grows in a very intelligent person, a very smart brain. But the problem today is that, more than this type of situation, I am worried we are going to change the game we know.”

Former Liverpool and current Barcelona striker Luis Suarez also has a reputation for going to ground too easily, as do the likes of Gareth Bale, Sergio Busquets, Didier Drogba, Ashley Young and Radamel Falcao.

Usually, certain dives are fairly obvious to identify – such as when the player goes to ground in too dramatic a manner, almost after a short lapse in time following initial contact with the opposition team player.

Certain players such as Neymar and Suarez are also overtly theatrical with their dives, and are often victims of ‘contact consistency’ – nursing a body part other than when the impact occurred, such as when a challenge to the chest causes the player to fly to the ground or hold their face.

The ‘archer’s bow’ pose is the biggest giveaway used to identify a diving player, which has them set in a position with their head tilted back, chest thrust forward, both arms raised and legs bent at the knee to lift both feet of the ground to the rear. According to the Telegraph, such motion is counter to the normal reflex mechanisms used to protect the body in the event of a natural fall.

Dr Paul Morris explained: “In most dishonest tackles the behaviour itself does not indicate dishonesty, the deception is revealed in the timing and co-ordination of the behaviours.

“But one action is unique to a faked fall – the archer’s bow.

“This occurs in many dives but biomechanically it does not occur in a natural fall.”

The FA’s rules state that attempts to deceive the referee through feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled through simulation must be sanctioned as unsporting behaviour, and punishable by a yellow card.

In November 2017, Everton player Oumar Niasse became the first player to be banned by the FA for diving, receiving a two-match ban for the offence in a match against Crystal Palace.

Most recently, Spurs hotshot Harry Kane was given a yellow for going to the ground in December 2018 in a home game against Wolves in the Premier League.

Of course, one of the most tangible punishments for diving do not come through cards, but through the way the reputation of the diving player is affected.

Referees tend to have limited patience for those who are seen as prone to go to ground more easily, as opposed to those players who rarely make a meal out of a challenge.

And so, similar in a ‘Boy Who Cried Wolf’ scenario, in the event that a player subsequently does merit the awarding of a penalty after being legitimately fouled inside the box, the referee may decide to simply turn a blind eye.

The Liverpool boss saw his forward reach 50 Premier League goals during a meeting with Crystal Palace, with just 72 games required to reach that mark

Jurgen Klopp has seen Mohamed Salah hit 50 Premier League goals, but the Liverpool boss concedes he could have had even more if “I hadn’t played him on the right wing so often”.

The Egyptian forward, who landed the Golden Boot last season, reached a half-century of goals in the English top-flight during a dramatic meeting with Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Of that haul, 48 have come in the colours of Liverpool and two during a previous stint with Chelsea.

Just 72 games have been required to join an illustrious list of prolific marksmen, with only three players getting to a notable mark quicker.

Klopp admits he has been blown away by a player acquired from Roma in 2017 to fill a wide support role in the Reds attack, with the German joking that he has held the 26-year-old back at times.

He told reporters after seeing Salah bag a brace in a 4-3 win over Palace: “Exceptional achievement from a world class player.

“He made a few steps in the last couple of months, in the right direction!

“Wow, an outstanding number [5 goals in the Premier League].

“I heard the names of the other players who got there a bit quicker– Alan Shearer, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Andy Cole – good strikers as well, eh.

“Maybe he would have scored more and earlier if I hadn’t played him on the right wing so often. My fault!

“But no, not bad. Helped us a lot. It’s a typical win-win situation. He benefits from the style of play, and the boys benefit of course from his scoring desire. It’s cool.”

Salah’s efforts proved crucial on his latest outing at Anfield, as he helped Liverpool to recover from a slow start.

Efforts from fellow members of a fearsome forward line were required though to stretch the Reds’ lead at the top of the table to seven points, with Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane also getting in on the act in a fixture which saw Klopp’s side finish with 10 men following the dismissal of James Milner.

“Nobody should be surprised about the character of the boys. If something was really here before I came in, it was character,” added Klopp.

“I have known the boys since 2015 and I have found boys with outstanding character. The work rate has always been unbelievable and you have to mix that with a few other attributes. Confidence, self belief, it’s important, but the boys are ready to fight, that’s clear.

“It’s not the first time this season we had to do it, but today it was pretty special and I really liked it.

“It was not too easy for the crowd to get the first half, we did OK but you’re 1-0 down and I’m pretty sure a lot of people thought today was the day we would lose it. We were not like this, I told the boys we had to stay positive and we were not allowed to lose our nerve, there was no reason for it.

“We needed to improve a few things and do things again and again. Of course we had to protect the left wing extremely well, to win the ball back there, and the boys did it. You always need a bit of luck in football, but the boys deserved these three points in a very difficult game.”

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The Citizens have been in rampant form during the 2018-19 campaign and their goals against the Terriers means they have scored 22 in four games

Manchester City might not be top of the Premier League this season, but that hasn’t stopped them from finding the back of the net with impressive frequency.

In fact, with Danilo’s first-half strike during their 3-0 victory over lowly Huddersfield Town on Sunday, they’ve become the first side in Europe to hit the 100 goal threshold across all competitions this campaign.

Pep Guardiola’s side have been helped to that milestone by some extraordinary form in 2019 so far, with a seven-goal FA Cup rout of Rotherham and a nine-goal demolition of Burton Albion in the Carabao Cup helping them to leapfrog their continental rivals.

In fact, counting the three scored in their previous Premier League victory over Wolves and their efforts at the John Smith’s Stadium this weekend, with Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane both getting in on the action, they’ve now notched up 22 successful efforts in four games.

To contrast, the Terriers have scored only 18 in their last 36 matches in all competitions before this encounter.

Danilo has also become the 17th different player in City colours this year to find the back of the net, while Huddersfield only have eight such scorers.

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Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe were all among the goals once more as the Ligue 1 leaders almost made it to double figures

Paris Saint-Germain equalled an all-time record for the club in Ligue 1 as Guingamp became the latest club to be put to the sword by Thomas Tuchel’s men.

The reigning French champions picked up their third straight league win on Saturday with a 9-0 destruction at Parc des Princes.

Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani both helped themselves to hat-tricks while Neymar scored twice for PSG in a game that was all too easy for the hosts.

The rout was rounded off by Thomas Meunier, leaving Guingamp thankful only that their tormentors stopped short of double figures.

Only once previously have PSG managed to beat league opposition by such a decisive margin.

Troyes were the last unfortunates, going down 9-0 to the capital club back in March 2016.

Saturday’s game also marked PSG’s best-ever Ligue 1 result on home soil at Parc des Princes, as the Troyes thrashing had come on the road.

Neymar, meanwhile, may have failed to match his strike partners and hit a triple, but he continues to take French football by storm.

The Brazilian’s two goals take him to 32 in just 33 league outings since joining from Barcelona, making him the fastest man to reach that mark in Ligue 1 for 45 years.

Between them Mbappe, Cavani – who took his own PSG tally to 100 with his triple – and Neymar have scored 44 goals so far in the league this season, 10 more than the total number of strikes scored by the entire squad of Lille, who follow PSG as France’s top marksmen.

It is thanks to that incredibly potency in front of the net that Tuchel’s men sit a whopping 13 points clear of Lille at the summit, having dropped just four points so far in this unbeaten campaign.

That gap could become even wider before too long, as PSG hold two games in hand over their closest rivals.

The leaders saw games against Montpellier and Dijon cancelled in December due to the violent anti-government protests that have rocked France in recent months.

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The England youth international does not have a wealth of experience at Chelsea, but still gives the Bavarians plenty of options in the future

When Bayern Munich made their first offer for Callum Hudson-Odoi in early December, the teenage winger had not started a Premier League game for Chelsea.

The Bavarians are currently in a transitionary period, having appointed a young head coach in Niko Kovac to help develop the next generation of superstars at the Allianz Arena as their experienced winners reach the ends of their careers.

They seamlessly replaced club legend Philipp Lahm with Joshua Kimmich, while Xabi Alonso’s midfield mantle was taken on by Leon Goretzka. However, the club are still figuring out how best to replace veteran wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, who both will leave this summer after winning everything there is to win at the club.

Bayern expect to not only win the Bundesliga every season, but also to compete for the Champions League. As a result, they need to have mutliple options in each position.

Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry and Alphonso Davies will battle for the wide positions next season, but the double exit of Robben and Ribery was the reason they decided to pursue Hudson-Odoi so heavily. Coman and Gnabry are both injury prone, meaning that extra depth on the wings is crucial if Bayern are to challenge in Europe.

Hudson-Odoi has only played a handful of times for Chelsea, but Bayern Munich liked what they saw of him at international level for England as he helped them win the 2017 Under-17 World Cup and finish as runners-up in the European Championship at the same age level. There, he shone alongside Jadon Sancho, who earned a move to Borussia Dortmund from Manchester City as a result.

Bayern have the belief that Hudson-Odoi can replicate Sancho’s impact in the Bundesliga, deciding to make the 18-year-old their third most expensive signing ever and make him their next Robben or Ribery. Which player’s shoes he will step into is the big question in Munich, with Kovac having many options on how to line up in the future.

Bayern fans have become accustomed to seeing an inverted winger cut in from the outside and shoot with his opposite foot and score. Hudson-Odoi’s two Europa League starts for Chelsea were both on the left wing and he could be deployed in this position by Kovac.

Hudson-Odoi’s only goal for the Blues was a mirrored Robben-style finish from the left side of the box on his right foot. He would step into Ribery’s role for Bayern, battling it out with Coman to be the preferred left winger.

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Both Coman and Gnabry have played on the right this season for Bayern Munich, while previous managers have also used Thomas Muller there.

Kovac prefers Muller more centrally in an attacking three in support of Lewandowski, meaning Hudson-Odoi would be an option on the right following Robben’s exit from the club.

Fellow teenager Davies primarily played on the left for Vancouver Whitecaps in Major League Soccer, so Hudson-Odoi could play opposite him in a very young wide attack for Bayern.

With Phil Foden and Sancho playing further forward for England’s underage sides, Hudson-Odoi was often deployed on the left of a midfield trio. He lined out in this position for the Three Lions as they reached the final of the U17 European Championship, allowing him to help build attacks from deep.

This approach could also see Kimmich moved from right-back into midfield, playing either as the holding midfielder or on the right of a midfield three to allow him to get forward and support the attack.

Summer signing Benjamin Pavard regularly plays at centre-back for Stuttgart, but achieved his greatest success at right-back as he helped France win the 2018 World Cup.

Much of Hudson-Odoi’s experience to date has come with Chelsea’s U23 side in Premier League 2. Here, he has played in a variety of positions, including in support of the striker.

Kovac previously used a three-at-the-back approach at Eintracht Frankfurt and could decide to bring that to Bayern, with Hudson-Odoi competing with Muller or James Rodriguez – should he remain in Munich – to play just behind Lewandowski.

Once again, Kimmich is deployed further forward to utilise his crossing ability more often, while the midfield trio would be interchangeable depending on the strength of the opposition.

The forward has been the subject of a £35 million offer from an unnamed Chinese club this month and was reportedly unhappy negotiations broke down

Marko Arnautovic training at West Ham without any problems, claims Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini, and could return to action against Wimbledon in the FA Cup on Saturday. 

Arnautovic appeared set to leave London Stadium this month but a proposed move to the Chinese Super League failed to materialise.

The 29-year-old Austria international was omitted from the Hammers’ 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth last time out but Pellegrini believes he is ready to play once more.

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Beyond that, however, the ex-Manchester City manager is unsure how the transfer saga will play out.

“[On Friday] we will see the squad and which players are involved in the squad list. He is working with us without any problem,” Pellegrini told a news conference.

“It is impossible for me to know the future. As a manager you worry about any different issue you have in your squad.

“When you don’t have any worries it is better but things happen in football and we know we must try to resolve as soon as we can.

“I speak with all the players every day so I know what they want.”

Repots suggested Arnautovic was disappointed the move to China fell through, with the Austrian’s brother hitting out at the Hammers for not accepting the £35 million ($45m) offer.

The forward has also been linked with moves to Chelsea and Manchester United in the past —  former West Ham boss David Moyes revealed this week that he thinks Arnautovic would flourish at Stamford Bridge  — but he looks set to stay put for the rest of this season at least.

Pellegrini has received a boost, however, as Argentina international Manuel Lanzini is back in light training with West Ham for the first time since suffering the anterior cruciate ligament injury that ruled him out of last year’s World Cup.

“We have had the good news that Manuel Lanzini has started working with the squad,” Pellegrini added.

“He is just working for part of the warm-up with the squad but the important thing is that he feels good and his knee is the correct way.”

After they take on Wimbledon, United will face a tricky trip to Wolves next Tuesday.