The Texas Rangers are one game away from winning the World Series, and how Chris Young built the offense is a primary reason for it.

Liverpool have agreed a British record transfer fee with Brighton for Moises Caicedo, but the Reds face a battle to land the Ecuadorian amid fierce competition from Chelsea. Jurgen Klopp confirmed on Friday morning a deal has been struck which could see Liverpool pay in the region of £110million for the midfielder, who has attracted intense interest from Chelsea this summer. Chelsea’s third and most recent offer for Caicedo was £80m, substantially below Brighton’s valuation of a player who they signed for £4m from Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle in February 2021. However, while Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi is resigned to losing Caicedo, Chelsea are not yet out of the running and will be mulling over whether to make a fresh bid as it is understood the 21-year-old Ecuador international would prefer a switch to Stamford Bridge. Klopp wants to reinforce his options in the middle of the park with Jordan Henderson and Fabinho going to the Saudi Pro League last month while Naby Keita and James Milner also recently left the club. They signed Caicedo’s ex-Brighton team-mate Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig but missed out on Jude Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid in June in a deal that could rise to £115m. “I can confirm the deal with (Brighton) is agreed, whatever that means because we want the player and not any kind of agreement, we will see,” Klopp said. “We are a club that doesn’t have endless resources, we didn’t expect a couple of things happening in the summer, like Henderson and Fabinho (leaving), stuff like this. “We didn’t think about that before the summer, to be honest, and then it happened. We gave (attempting to sign Bellingham) a go and the club was really stretched. We will see (what happens with Caicedo).” As for whether Caicedo will undergo a medical in Merseyside on Friday or if signing the youngster would be Liverpool’s final business of the summer window, Klopp was tight-lipped. “I’ve said what I know,” he added. “Let’s do it step by step, let’s see what happens in the next hours or days.” The Caicedo fee is upwards of the previous British record of £107m that Chelsea paid for Enzo Fernandez in January and dwarfs Liverpool’s own highest transfer payment of £75m for Virgil van Dijk in 2018. De Zerbi said on Friday: “I would like to answer only one time (on Caicedo). I’ve already forgotten Moises. Moises is leaving and is not important for me now.” Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino was coy when asked about Caicedo but the tug-of-war between the Blues and Liverpool is an intriguing subplot ahead of their showdown on the opening weekend of the Premier League season on Sunday in west London. “I never talk about players that don’t belong to us,” the Argentinian said. “I am so respectful. “What I can tell you is we are working really hard to try to add more players to the squad, to add quality. When we have some update to be made for you, the club will do. “It’s obvious, when you look at the squad compared with last season, too many midfielders leave the squad. We have different options, we are working hard to try, to see.” Klopp, whose side missed out on Champions League qualification after finishing fifth last season, was reminded of his critical comments on paying nine-figure sums for players six years ago. After Manchester United signed Paul Pogba for a then-world record £89m, Klopp said: “If you bring one player in for £100m and he gets injured, then it all goes through the chimney. The day that this is football, I’m not in a job anymore, because the game is about playing together.” However, Klopp accepted he was mistaken for questioning the wisdom of such fees on Friday and admitted prices for players will only increase with Saudi Arabia muscling in as a rival to Europe’s top leagues. “Everything changed,” Klopp said. “Do I like it? But did I realise I was wrong? Definitely. That’s the way it goes, it will not go the other way around again, Saudi Arabia will not help with that. “I’m not blaming anybody, it’s just the market with a lot of money. “In the end, we as a club have just to try to make sure that with our resources, we get the best possible team together. We really try everything to get the best squad for us. “We are not in a dreamland so we can’t just point on players and bring them in, there’s a lot of work to do these kinds of things. Sometimes one door closes then the other door opens up. “If people want to throw my quotes from five or six years ago, absolutely no problem. I realise now I was wrong, it’s easy to admit that.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Saudi spending won’t compromise owners’ aims for Newcastle, says Mapgies CEO Today at the World Cup: Spain and Sweden set up semi-final clash Dewi Lake puts injury troubles behind him to lead out Wales at Twickenham

He was not happy.

Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes must start focusing on next season with Red Bull maintaining their march to F1 title glory this year. Max Verstappen secured victory at the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday for Red Bull’s 10th-straight win – and nine from nine in 2023 – while the team also celebrated 100 wins in Formula 1. Christian Horner’s team now lead the constructors’ championship by 154 points to Mercedes, while Verstappen has a 69-point lead in the driver standings to team-mate Sergio Perez. Hamilton, who finished third in Montreal, was satisfied to be fighting with Verstappen and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso at the top of the leaderboard but insists his team must now divert focus to 2024. "I reckon Max’s team are already working on next year’s car, so we need to take our eye a little bit off the ball and focus on next year also but happy to be up there,” he said. "For us to be up there, having battles with Fernando in the Aston, and being on the second row, it’s been great. To be on the podium two races in a row is really fantastic for us. "We were also running fourth in Monaco, so we’re definitely getting closer. And it’s going to be a battle of development over the rest of the season. Hamilton added that, as he continues to pursue a record-breaking eighth world championship, he yearns for the closely-fought battles of his 2021 title battle with Verstappen once again. "It’s likely that they [Red Bull] will win every race, moving forwards, this year, unless the Astons and us put a lot more performance on the cars, or their car doesn’t finish,” the Brit added. "It’s not easy with the regulations to find the amount of performance that they have, advantage-wise. They’ve got to be 30 [downforce] points upon us in certain points through the lap and we’ve got some work to do. "But it’s not that it’s frustrating – I’m happy to firstly be back in the mix and I’m just hoping at some stage we can have it all a little bit more level so we can get back to some of the good races we had back in 2021. To have all three of us in a super-tight battle would be sick." Hamilton’s contract with Mercedes expires at the end of this season but a new deal appears to be in the pipeline in the coming weeks. The 38-year-old will next be in action at the Austrian Grand Prix (30 June - 2 July) before his home race, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, a week later. Read More Are Red Bull now the most successful F1 team ever – and how long can this dominance last? Christian Horner details what makes ‘mega talent’ Max Verstappen so special Lewis Hamilton ‘excited’ to share Canada podium with two world champions Red Bull mastermind Adrian Newey hints at retirement: ‘It’s on a countdown’ Max Verstappen aims to ‘keep winning’ after matching Ayrton Senna’s 41 victories

Irene Paredes was denied the opportunity to make her 100th appearance for Spain after an computer error meant that she wasn’t listed in the squad for Tuesday’s match against Switzerland. The Barcelona defender had missed her country’s 1-0 win against Italy last Friday with injury but was hoping to make her return to the team for their Nations League fixture in Zurich. However, a computer glitch in Uefa’s system meant that the Spanish Football Federation were unable to update their squad list ahead of the game. The squad from the previous game - which Paredes missed - was instead submitted, meaning the 32-year-old was unable to be selected. The error also meant Amaiur Sarriegi still appeared in the squad list, despite being withdrawn from the national squad due to injury. “There was some kind of computer problem,” Spain’s head coach Montse Tome said. “I was told about it at the hotel so I had to adapt to the situation. From there, we chose the 11 that you saw.” On the pitch, Spain extended their perfect start in their Nations League group, running out comfortable 7-1 winners against Switzerland after a brace from Alexia Putellas. Aitana Bonmati also started the game after being crowned Women’s Ballon d’Or winner earlier in the week. Paredes could still earn her 100th cap for her country in next month’s international break when Space take on Italy and Sweden. Putellas and Jenni Hermoso are the only current players to have reached the landmark for the national side. Hermoso made a triumphant return to the national side last week, coming off the bench to score the winner against Italy in her first appearance for Spain since the kiss scandal involving former Spanish football president Luis Rubiales at the women’s World Cup final. Read More Why the Ballon d’Or still doesn’t care about women’s football Lionel Messi wins record eighth Ballon d’Or as Aitana Bonmati and Jude Bellingham also pick up awards Luis Rubiales banned from football for three years after World Cup final kiss

Pat McAfee's transition to ESPN is now complete, as the Pat McAfee Show is airing live on the network from noon to 2 p.m. ET on weekdays. Some bumps in the road

Ange Postecoglou hailed Tottenham’s bravery at Arsenal, but expressed his bemusement at the handball rule and joked “armless defenders” will be required after Cristian Romero gave away a penalty in the 2-2 draw. Spurs grabbed a share of the north London derby spoils after captain Son Heung-min struck either side of half-time. An own-goal from Romero in the 26th minute broke the deadlock at the Emirates, with the Argentina defender deflecting Bukayo Saka’s shot beyond team-mate Guglielmo Vicario. Son fired home before half-time from James Maddison’s cross, but Arsenal made the perfect start following the restart when Romero was penalised for handball after he blocked Ben White’s shot from close proximity. Saka rolled home the 54th-minute spot-kick but 108 seconds later Tottenham were level when Maddison won possession from Jorginho and played in Son, who netted his 150th Spurs goal. “It’s not about being happy with the result, for me it was about the performance,” Postecoglou said. “You can get a result here, a draw, and like I said before you can walk away knowing that ‘you know what, we escaped’, but I don’t have that feeling now. “I think we went toe-to-toe with a top team and at times I thought we really asserted our dominance on the game. At times they did but that’s what happens when you face top sides. “Even if we had lost today, and I don’t like losing, but for me to keep pushing these guys, they need to feel that out there that what we talk about and work on, they can see it come to fruition and when it does against a top team, being brave with our approach, that’s the key thing. For me I’m pleased.” Postecoglou was less enthusiastic about the decision to award a penalty for Romero’s close-range block on White and likened it to the handball given against Wolves’ Joao Gomes at Luton on Saturday. He added: “I’ve got no idea about the handball rule. I really don’t. I saw the one yesterday at Wolves and it just seems if it hits your hand it’s a penalty and then other times if it hits your hand, it isn’t a penalty. “I’ve got no idea. It is the one rule in the game I just don’t understand. “Unless we start developing armless defenders I don’t know how you are supposed to block things and be in a natural position. “It is what it is. You kind of hope these things even themselves out over the course of a year but I don’t understand the handball rule. “I think any clarity would be good because I have got no idea.” Opposite number Mikel Arteta was disappointed Arsenal failed to make it three wins in a row over their rivals. A key moment occurred after Romero’s own-goal when Gabriel Jesus won back possession from Maddison inside the area, but his 14-yard effort was blazed over the crossbar. Arteta said: “We are very disappointed not to earn the three points, that’s for sure, and especially when you go in front twice in the game and have the opportunity to win it. “We had control of the game, could have made it 2-0 with Gabi and then you concede the goal and you have to bounce back. We did and scored the goal but it’s a shame that within a minute you concede the other one. “I think that affected the team emotionally quite a lot and we lacked some composure to make more passes in the final third.” Arteta also leapt to the defence of Jorginho, who was introduced at half-time in place of the injured Declan Rice, after the ex-Chelsea midfielder was robbed of possession by Maddison for Tottenham’s second goal. “What happened is I love him and we love him,” the Arsenal boss insisted. “Errors are part of football. They’re allowed to make errors because they play and we don’t play. We are all with him.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Roberto De Zerbi critical of Brighton’s performance despite win over Bournemouth Ajax’s match with bitter rivals Feyenoord suspended by protesting fans Kaoru Mitoma sparks Brighton’s comeback win over Bournemouth

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