Mikel Arteta is confident Gabriel Jesus will not miss much of the new season as he offered a positive early prognosis on the Arsenal forward’s knee surgery. The Brazil international went under the knife on Wednesday after experiencing irritation following a more serious operation to treat an injury suffered at the World Cup. Jesus spent three months on the sidelines recovering during last season as the Gunners ultimately fell short in their Premier League title tilt. Having been absent for Wednesday night’s Emirates Cup clash with Monaco, Jesus will also miss the start of the new campaign – including Sunday’s Community Shield clash with former club Manchester City. Speaking ahead of the game at Wembley, Arteta said when asked for an update: “He’s fine. “He’s obviously disappointed because he was feeling good and then this issue came up that nobody expected. “We had to do a little procedure there but unfortunately it was the best thing to do and the quicker the better. We made that decision. I’m sure he will be back soon and very fit.” Bukayo Saka was an unused substitute against Monaco due to illness but Arteta confirmed he is available to face City. “Bukayo is much better, he trained today. I don’t expect anybody else to not play,” he added. All of Arsenal’s summer signings are in contention to start on Sunday, with Jurrien Timber, Declan Rice and Kai Havertz aiming to make an early impact. Rice, signed for a club-record £105million from West Ham, was also a target for Pep Guardiola and City during the summer. The fact the England midfielder ended up at Arsenal rather than rivals City is, according to Arteta, proof the Gunners can compete with the champions on and off the pitch. “The important thing now is that when we have a target that we have the resources that we need to bring that player in – but as well that we can convince him and what we tell him excites him, that he feels inspired and he wants to be part of it,” he added. “That is the feeling we are getting with every player I want to sign but as well with the players we already have here are the ones that we really have to look after, that they maintain that feeling and willingness to be here and drive the club to better every day and, for them as players, improve every day as well.” On what Rice will bring to the team, Arteta continued: “His leadership skill is unquestionable and when you meet him and spend five minutes with him. You already get the feeling and impression that he will help so much, the dressing room and approach that we want to take in games.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Pep Guardiola hopes Manchester City complete signing of Josko Gvardiol soon Warren Gatland hails Leigh Halfpenny’s professionalism ahead of 100th Wales cap Gareth Southgate understands criticism of Jordan Henderson following Saudi move

Anthony Joshua was expecting to fight a familiar face this weekend, just not this one. Until last Saturday, the former two-time world heavyweight champion was on course for a clash with Dillian Whyte, who outpointed Joshua when the Britons were amateurs, but who “AJ” knocked out brutally in a professional rematch in 2015. The trilogy bout was set for this Saturday, at London’s O2 Arena, which hosted the rivals’ last meeting. But then Whyte completed his own trilogy, returning an adverse drug-test finding for the third time in his career. Whyte served a two-year ban from 2012 to 2014 in the first instance, before being exonerated during his 2019 episode, and now fans await the outcome of this latest saga. Stepping in for the 35-year-old, in any case, is Robert Helenius, who Joshua also knows well. The pair sparred in 2017, as Joshua prepared for his fight with Wladimir Klitschko, and Helenius recalled of AJ this week: “[He was a] hard hitter, good technicals, a little bit robotic. I felt pretty confident.” Those comments are put to Joshua. “A bit robotic? Maybe,” he said. “But I became a champion being robotic. It’s true, right? It’s paid off.” Helenius, 39, also said he would not have accepted a short-notice showdown with Joshua, 33, if he didn’t think the Briton was “vulnerable”. “I’m gonna take my chances and say now is the best time to fight him,” said the Finn. Regardless, Joshua is not taking Helenius lightly. “I can’t fail,” he said gravely. “That’s good pressure. “It’s the wrong mindset [to underestimate] Helenius. He’s gonna roll the dice, what’s he got to lose? But then I’m gonna go in there and have to f*** him up myself as well. It’s gonna be a good fight, may the best man win. I can’t afford to think it’s a light, late replacement, that I’m gonna take him 12 rounds; no, I want to take him out in round one if I can.” Deontay Wilder did just that in October, detonating a short, counter right hook to put Helenius out cold in the first round. The Finn has since bounced back, beating Mike Mielonen just last Saturday, but it was Wilder’s performance against Helenius that made Joshua hesitant to accept him as a late-notice opponent. “It’s just the comparisons,” Joshua says, “but this is my fight with Helenius – my own fight, not Wilder’s fight, no one else’s.” Joshua has always been aware of comparisons between his and Wilder’s performances against mutual opponents, and he notes Dominic Breazeale, Eric Molina and Jason Gavern as examples. AJ stopped Breazeale in round seven; Wilder stopped him in round one. Joshua beat Molina in round three; Wilder beat him in round nine. Joshua stopped Gavern in round three; Wilder stopped him in round four. But the Briton argues: “You never know until I step in the ring, potentially, with Wilder.” That may yet happen next year, though many are sceptical, given such a clash was in the works for the end of 2023 and has in fact been discussed for several years. As rumours swirl and talks rumble on, Joshua insists that his best approach is to “ignore, ignore, ignore it, ignore it”. “One step at a time,” he says. “Yeah, ignore it – I think that’s better.” And so, Joshua’s focus remains on Helenius – and staying focused was essential this week, even when AJ did not know what he was focusing on. “There was one session where I was like: ‘What are we training for?’” he says. “But we just had to flip the script. Due to this late replacement, whoever it may be, I couldn’t put my energy into complaining. I changed the screensaver on my phone from Dillian at a weigh-in to me and Klitschko.” Having Whyte as his screensaver was a tactic that Joshua picked up from Jarrell Miller, ironically, ahead of his cancelled bout with the American in 2019. Miller tested positive for numerous banned substances, leading him to be replaced by Andy Ruiz Jr, who famously stunned Joshua with a TKO win. “I just wanted to visualise what my life’s focused on at the minute,” Joshua explained. “When you’re psyched up about fighting someone, you want them on your mind. When I was slacking, I wanted to think about Dillian; if I was gonna eat a piece of chocolate, I wanted to think about Dillian. “I’ve had to flip the script now. I gave myself until 12 August to be committed. That was the date, so I’m gonna stay focused. On 13 August, I’m gonna relax a bit, but I just thought: ‘Even if I don’t fight on 12 August, I’m gonna stay committed to training this week.’” Helenius wants to do more than flip the script when the action starts at around 10pm; he wants to tear it up. It is Joshua’s job to ensure that does not happen. Watch Joshua vs Helenius live on Dazn by clicking here. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. Read More It’s time to stop taking Anthony Joshua for granted Robert Helenius on accepting Anthony Joshua fight: ‘Nobody will remember a coward’ ‘We need to get it at the root’: Anthony Joshua and Robert Helenius on boxing’s doping ‘problem’ Anthony Joshua weighs in ahead of bout against Robert Helenius ‘Have you got a problem?’ Anthony Joshua and Robert Helenius share intense staredown Campbell Hatton talks next steps of his career and being part of a boxing dynasty

Stephen A. Smith ripped the Los Angeles Angels on First Take.

Jalen Green scored 28 points in three quarters and the Houston Rockets never trailed in a 128-94 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers

Lewis Hamilton has reportedly been offered a sum in the region of £40m to make a shock switch to Ferrari next year. The 38-year-old, who has won six of his seven world titles at Mercedes since joining the Silver Arrows in 2013, is currently stalling on extending his current contract which expires at the end of the season. While both Hamilton and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff insist a new deal will be agreed, Ferrari have now reportedly entered the race for the seven-time world champion with a lucrative offer. After the Daily Mail stated a £40m-a-year offer was in the works, Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport now report that a multi-million pound offer has been made to land Hamilton. The latest update, however, adds that the potential deal has obstacles and is complicated, particularly given Hamilton’s vocal insistence that he will stay with Mercedes for “life” despite his latest contract stand-off. Ferrari president John Elkann has already been in contact with the Brit and his team. The report in the Mail adds that one possible scenario is for Hamilton to replace current Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, in what would amount to a straight-swap deal with the Monegasque joining Mercedes to partner George Russell. The other, more favourable, option is to pair Hamilton with Leclerc, meaning Ferrari would look to offload Spanish driver Carlos Sainz. With Hamilton’s current contract close to the £40m-a-year mark anyway, money would not be the predominant factor in his decision-making. Instead, the competitiveness of both cars compared to current runaway leaders Red Bull would be of greater significance, as Hamilton targets a record-breaking eighth world championship in his final years in the sport. While Mercedes, the dominant team in the hybrid era from 2014-2021 with eight-straight constructors’ crowns, took a backwards step in 2022, Ferrari burst to the front of the field with a potential championship-winning car. Leclerc’s challenge was foiled by reliability problems and strategic errors, as well as a few mistakes himself, and Ferrari have struggled at the start of this year too despite Fred Vasseur replacing Mattia Binotto as team boss. Mercedes are poised to bring new upgrades to this week’s race in Monaco – with a new floor, sidepod design and front suspension in the works. The modifications were set to come in at Imola last week before the race was cancelled due to flooding in the Emilia Romagna region. Whether Mercedes can haul in the deficit to Red Bull out in front – by 128 points in the constructors’ standings – this season remains very unlikely, but Hamilton will want to be encouraged that his team are taking a positive step before signing a new contract. Hamilton has been linked with Ferrari in the past, particularly surrounding contract negotiations in 2019, but stated at the time there were “things that don’t mirror my values and approach.” "The Ferrari thing is not going to happen, I think," he said then. "I’ve always been positive about Ferrari. I watched Michael win there. I’ve always been a Ferrari fan. I remember one of the first cars I ever bought was a Ferrari. And I think it’s a hugely iconic team and brand, particularly. "I think the team has, in my period of time. There have been things I’ve seen that I don’t necessarily feel mirror my values and my approach. However, it is a team that every driver, I think, has dreamed of what it would be like to sit in the red cockpit. Hamilton has not won a grand prix since December 2021, in Saudi Arabia, and a race later missed out on a record-breaking eighth crown in controversial and dramatic circumstances in Abu Dhabi to Max Verstappen. Currently, Hamilton is level in the all-time leaderboard on seven F1 world titles with Ferrari icon Michael Schumacher. Hamilton could, possibly, also be swayed by the fact that hero Ayrton Senna was poised to join Ferrari in 1995 before his fatal crash at Imola in May 1994. Red Bull is not seen as a realistic option for Hamilton, with Christian Horner saying as much in April, while Aston Martin are content with their current driver pairing of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. Hamilton currently trails championship leader Verstappen in the standings this season by 63 points after just five races. Read More Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes are the biggest losers from Imola Grand Prix cancellation Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 F1 title still under threat as Felipe Massa bemoans ‘injustice’ Where are Mercedes and Ferrari? Frankly, you don’t want to hear the answer ‘Nasty piece of work’: Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes slammed by Toto Wolff Lewis Hamilton and George Russell ‘pray’ for Imola as they urge people to ‘stay safe’ during floods

Quarterback Kyler Murray said he’s returning to the practice field on Wednesday for the Arizona Cardinals as he works to come back from a torn ACL in his right knee that he suffered last season

Check out the F1 schedule for the Canadian Grand Prix weekend including practice, qualifying and race start times and live streams.The Canadian Grand Prix brings the Formula 1 season back to North America this weekend.This will be the 58th running of the Canadian Grand Prix in Formula 1 with...

San Francisco Giants outfielder Michael Conforto left Wednesday night at Toronto after an inning because of a tight left hamstring

The Edmonton Oilers are the final Canadian team left in the race for the Stanley Cup, but after a Friday night loss in Vegas, they're one loss away from being sent home and extending Canada's Cup drought, which dates back to 1993.The Golden Knights got the better of the Oilers in Game ...

Romeo Doubs' praise of new Green Bay Packers starting quarterback Jordan Love could be seen as a shot at Aaron Rodgers.With Aaron Rodgers going over to the New York Jets this offseason, Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs will have to catch passes from Jordan Love now.Doubs is o...

Veteran Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric will stay at the club for another season after renewing his deal until June 2024...

P