US GM Markgraf resigns as Women's World Cup fallout grows
United States women's national team general manager Kate Markgraf has resigned, US Soccer said Saturday, following head coach Vlatko Andonovski to the exit after a...
2023-08-19 06:15
World champ Qin cruises as Zhang Yufei sets up Haughey blockbuster
World-record holder Qin Haiyang sauntered into the Asian Games 200m breaststroke final on Thursday, as fellow Chinese swimmer Zhang Yufei qualified fastest in the 50m freestyle and set...
2023-09-28 12:17
Mason Mount injury: Progress & potential return date for Man Utd midfielder
The latest news on Mason Mount's injury progress as the midfielder faces another spell out of the Manchester United team.
2023-11-29 07:16
Kawhi Leonard outlines how close he was to joining the Lakers
Oh, what could have been: Kawhi Leonard almost chose the Lakers in free agency before signing with the Clippers in 2019.Think back to the summer of 2019 and you will likely remember the very patient free agency process of Kawhi Leonard. Fresh off his NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors, Le...
2023-06-05 08:21
Skate Jam event in Los Angeles descends into fiery vandalism and chaos
According to police, three people were arrested and charged with vandalism
2023-09-12 03:26
Newcastle working on deal for Chelsea's Lewis Hall
Newcastle are hoping to sign Chelsea youngster Lewis Hall.
2023-08-17 15:21
Nacho Fernandez confirms Real Madrid contract decision
Nacho Fernandez has confirmed that he will stay at Real Madrid for another season following speculation about his future.
2023-06-12 18:17
American forward Jordan Pefok joins Borussia Mönchengladbach on loan from Union Berlin
American forward Jordan Pefok has joined Borussia Mönchengladbach on loan from Bundesliga rival Union Berlin
2023-08-31 20:25
Leeds gamble on £100m loan spree highlights broken transfer market
The £100m spending spree has lost its novelty value. When it may only yield a solitary player, when the biggest buyers’ summer expenditure could be double or even triple that, when £100m was far less than promoted Nottingham Forest paid out last summer, it may not feel like such an extraordinary event after all. But the £100m loaning spree represents an altogether newer development. The dynamic is different, too: the nine-figure sum may reflect the purchase prices of the players being borrowed, not the amounts their temporary employers will have to fork out to acquire their services for the season. Leeds United spent well over £100m buying players last season. The chances are that, by the time the window closes, they will have loaned out some £100m of signings – in terms of transfer fees paid rather than resale value now – this year. Which, in part, reflects the reality they could not sell them all, and perhaps any, for similar sums now. But Rasmus Kristensen, who cost around £10m, has joined Roma. Marc Roca, an £11m addition, headed to Real Betis for the season. The £13m defender Robin Koch has sealed his move to Eintracht Frankfurt. The £18m centre-back Diego Llorente is back at Roma, where he spent the second half of last season. The £25m Brenden Aaronson has gone to Union Berlin for the campaign, trading the Championship for the Champions League. Between them, they cost around £77m of Leeds’ Premier League revenue. Another loan or two – and if, for different reasons, Tyler Adams, Luis Sinisterra, Jack Harrison, Junior Firpo and Georginio Rutter might be expected to either be sold or stay but could yet prove contenders – then maybe Helder Costa and Dan James could take the total over £100m. All of which would reflect a shift in the transfer market. Relegated clubs have long been raided for players, sometimes for cut-price fees, but they tended to be bought, not borrowed. So far, Leeds’ only sale is Rodrigo, a scorer of 13 Premier League goals last season leaving – albeit in his thirties and with a lone year left on his contract – for just £3m. But they have been busier in a newer market: for loanees. It highlights several elements. Premier League clubs have had increasing difficulty selling to mainland Europe for meaningful fees in recent seasons; Championship clubs with footballers acquired for the top flight and caps for major countries stand still less chance of trading on their preferred terms. Perhaps Leeds came to that pragmatic conclusion early in the window; certainly opportunistic continental clubs realise they can acquire high-calibre players for nothing more than their salary and the occasional loan fee. In addition, there seems a recognition that players who signed up for a newly promoted outfit – as Koch and Llorente did in 2020 – or one who had just dodged the drop, as Leeds had when Aaronson, Kristensen and Roca joined in 2022, would not be expected to brave the EFL. With a dramatic drop in income, even with parachute payments softening their fall into the lower leagues, Leeds needed to reduce the wage bill. In some circumstances, it can be more of a priority than the prospect of transfer fees. Leeds will not recoup £77m for the quintet, but there are different tales among them: with Koch entering the last year of his deal, his Leeds career is in effect over; Llorente signed a new deal until 2026 in December, when demotion was a possibility and shortly before being loaned out; Aaronson, a 22-year-old, with four years left on his contract, could yet have plenty of Premier League football ahead of him at Elland Road. If part of the gamble is that Leeds can come back up, perhaps allowing them to inject loanees back into their squad with their (supposedly) greater quality in 12 months’ time, there is also the prospect that if they do not, then they are sent out for a further year elsewhere in 2024 because there are no buyers. It underlines an economy of risk: if some purchases don’t just lose some but all of their transfer value when a club is relegated, the money spent by the bottom-half Premier League clubs is likelier to end up wasted. In the meantime, there is a logic to Leeds’ actions, disposing of players who may not want to play in the lower divisions early in the window, to rebuild around their core of Championship stalwarts, young players and Brits, to giving new manager Daniel Farke something of a clean slate. For now, their squad is looking slender. There is a way to alter that. Because the recent history of the Championship shows one of the keys to exiting it in the right direction is to make astute loan signings – as Burnley did with Nathan Tella, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Ian Maatsen, Sheffield United with Tommy Doyle and James McAteer or Luton with Ethan Horvath, Marvelous Nakamba and Leeds’ Cody Drameh last season – from Premier League clubs. If the age-old wisdom was to neither a borrower nor a lender be, Leeds may hope it will pay to be both. Read More Harry Maguire’s fall from grace shows Manchester United captaincy is a hospital pass Looking back with pride and forward with anticipation – Friday’s sporting social NBA star Russell Westbrook joins Leeds United ownership group It’s done – Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas take minority stake in Leeds
2023-07-18 15:25
Gareth Southgate criticises nature of Ivan Toney’s eight-month suspension
Gareth Southgate criticised the wide-reaching nature of Ivan Toney’s eight-month betting ban and told the suspended England striker he can still make next summer’s Euros. The 27-year-old made his international debut as a substitute against Ukraine in March’s Euro 2024 qualifier but the Brentford star will not be able play for club or country again this year. Toney was charged with 262 betting offences at the end of 2022 and was last week hit with an eight-month Football Association ban after admitting 232 breaches. The striker starts the suspension by watching the end of the campaign and England’s June qualifiers from afar, with Southgate raising concerns about the sweeping impact of the ban. “I have spoken with him,” the England boss said. “I don’t know if that’s allowed, by the way, but f it isn’t then they can ban me and not add to his. “Look, the ban is the ban. It is what it is. I think he recognised and accepted the punishment. “What bothers me is we’ve got to look after people. He’s injured at the moment, what does he do about getting fit? What does he do? I don’t like the idea that we just leave somebody, so that they are not allowed to be a part of the football community. Gareth Southgate “How do we give him some structure over the next few months that he can develop himself or be a better person at the end of it? Or have experiences that he might not experience? “I don’t like the idea that we just leave somebody, so that they are not allowed to be a part of the football community. “I don’t think that’s how we should work, I don’t think that’s how the best rehabilitation programmes would work. “But he knows that we picked him because we felt until there was a charge, he should be allowed to play. “When he comes back, if he plays well then we’ll pick him. “It won’t have any bearing but I think he’ll have additional motivation through what he is experiencing. I think he is a resilient guy with great character and we are here to support him.” Toney is prohibited from training until September 17 and cannot play football again until January 17, 2024. There is only four-and-a-half months between the striker’s return and the Euros kicking off in Germany, but Southgate says the door remains open for him. Asked if Toney can still make the tournament in Germany, the England boss said: “Yeah, without a doubt. “It is not ideal because he is going to miss a large chunk of the season and you don’t know after that sort of period out how physically he’s going to adapt and how he’s going to play. “But it’s possible for him. There would still be time. “He’s really impressed us with the way he’s played. “I like personality, I like his belief and the way he goes about his job, so everything is still possible for him I think.”
2023-05-24 23:15
Rangers fans take Astros trolling to next level during Adolis Garcia World Series AB
Texas Rangers fans didn't stop trolling the Houston Astros just because the ALCS ended. During the World Series, they motivated Adolis Garcia with boos.
2023-10-28 10:56
Bruno Fernandes reveals why he is grateful for Erik ten Hag
Manchester United vice-captain Bruno Fernandes has opened up on his relationship with manager Erik ten Hag, who has stood by the midfielder throughout the 2022/23 season.
2023-06-03 17:17
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