Wednesday's roundup of Chelsea transfer rumours includes news on their bid for Dusan Vlahovic, their pursuit of a new goalkeeper, Kai Havertz's surprise suitors and more.

A list of MLS called up for the June FIFA International window.

Patrick Mahomes gave a sweet shout-out to Texas Tech commit Will Hammond for his dazzling performance on Friday night.

England has finished third at the Rugby World Cup for the first time by stopping waves of late Argentina attacks and prevailing 26-23 in their riveting playoff in Paris

In today's MLB rumors, the Cardinals eye a closer, a few Dusty Baker replacements get revealed, and another Cubs executive could have one foot out the door.

NBA star James Harden expressed disbelief after Chinese fans snapped up 10,000 bottles of his own-branded wine in seconds, demonstrating the massive reach of livestreaming in the country, where basketball is loved by millions.

Erik ten Hag admits that Manchester United need to "look in the mirror" after losing their fourth game of the season against Bayern Munich.

Logan Paul really loves his new WWE title belt – too much, in fact. The influencer-turned-wrestler and boxer was crowned WWE United States Champion recently and he’s been celebrating by posing for a series of photos with his trophy. Only, they’re a little more intimate than some fans were probably expecting, showing him working out, sleeping and showering in his new belt. In a recent interview with his brother, Jake Paul, he even revealed that he’s been having sex while wearing the belt. “I just took a shower with this belt on. I ran a 5K earlier with this belt on. This belt never leaves my waist. I f*** in this belt. This belt means everything to me,” he said. Logan then revealed the guidance he was told by Triple H, real name Paul Levesque, who is the chief content officer and head of creative for WWE. “The WWE did say I can’t f*** in the belt. I swear, Triple H, he came up to me and he said, ‘Logan, congratulations on the belt. One thing we’ve been really cautious about here in the organization is making sure our athletes are not f***ing in their belts so if you could just refrain from f***ing in your belt,’ and I gave him my word,” he said. It comes after Paul beat Rey Mysterio to win the United States Championship belt, marking the biggest moment in Paul’s wrestling career to date. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

Novak Djokovic has received his trophy after securing the year-end No. 1 ranking for a record-extending eighth time

Michael O’Neill admitted Northern Ireland’s miserable Euro 2024 qualifying campaign was starting to feel like Groundhog Day as he urged fans to look at the bigger picture while he tries to mould a new team. After Thursday’s 4-2 defeat to Slovenia on Thursday, it was back the old familiar feeling of a 1-0 defeat in Kazakhstan on Sunday – a fifth consecutive defeat in this campaign and the fourth 1-0 reverse during that run. The build-up to the match was dominated by talk of injuries – Northern Ireland have been without as many as 18 different players during this campaign to date – and yet again the talk after was of a game decided by narrow margins. Maxim Samorodov’s 27th minute strike settled it, but Northern Ireland missed a golden first-half chance when Kazakhstan’s goalscorer tracked back to stop Conor McMenamin prodding home when Matty Kennedy’s mis-hit shot was rolling towards the goal line. Although they did not produce anything like the attacking display they showed in Ljubljana on Thursday, O’Neill’s side still ended the game with more possession and more shots than Kazakhstan, but on the wrong side of the result. “I think it followed quite a similar pattern for us,” O’Neill said. “Obviously the goal in the game is the only defining moment. We started the game well, we were dominating but our play in the final third let us down, we’re lacking a little bit in that area at the minute obviously.” The absence of Steven Davis, Stuart Dallas, Corry Evans and Shane Ferguson has been a constant since before the campaign even started, but on top of that, Northern Ireland have suffered a succession of injuries, with Craig Cathcart and Ciaron Brown the latest to join the list. That has forced O’Neill to blood young players more quickly than planned, and meant a campaign which started with such optimism has turned into a recurring nightmare, the only thing missing being the sound of Sonny and Cher’s ‘I Got You, Babe’ heralding the start of each international window. “It has been a little bit (like Groundhog Day),” O’Neill said. “This is our third time together as a group in terms of my time back in charge so there is a process we’re having to go through a little bit, which is painful. “For a lot of those lads, it’s always nicer to come into international football for the first time and you’re winning games, it’s always easier to come into a team that’s doing well. “I reflect back to the lead-in to Euro 2016 and you had the likes of Stuart Dallas and Paddy McNair come into the team and we were always going well. It’s always an easier process. “Now we’re trying to introduce players into a team when the results are not so good so it’s more challenging for the players.” The hope is that those younger players benefit further down the line, particularly when the day comes that the senior players Northern Ireland have leaned on for so long are no longer around – a time that may well arrive by the start of the World Cup qualifying campaign in March 2025. “We just have to play through this period,” O’Neill added. “I think the team in many ways is developing. People may argue against that based on the results, but I have to look at the bigger picture in terms of where the team has to go in the next 12 to 18 months. “We just have to persevere with what we’re doing. I think a lot of what we’re doing with the team is the right way to approach, but in this campaign we’ve had four 1-0 defeats and the margins in all the games have been very narrow.”

It all comes down to this: Malmo v Elfsborg, separated by three points, meeting in the last game of the season with the Allsvenskan title on the line. It has been dubbed “the final” by Swedish media. Malmo will deploy more security guards than at any game in the club’s history. Elfsborg’s fans will be “caged” in one corner of the Stadion Malmo, in an effort to stop celebrations or fury spilling on to the pitch. Malmo shouldn’t even be alive in this race. Henrik Rydstrom’s free-flowing team lost 4-2 at third-place Hacken last weekend and thought they were done. But somehow Elfsborg only mustered a draw at home to relegation-threatened Degerfors, scoring a 95th-minute equaliser but failing to add their Aguero moment at the death. The pressure got to both teams, and so it goes to the wire. Malmo and Elfsborg are wildly contrasting clubs. While Elfsborg hail from a small town, Malmo is Sweden’s third city, the literal and metaphorical birthplace of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and its football team is the most successful in the country’s history with 22 league titles. Their style of play is unique in Swedish football, and eight or nine players can often be found filling the same side of the pitch to progress the ball upfield, or to quickly win it back in hunting packs. They play with a positional freedom that looks off the cuff, but contains patterns of passing and movement drilled on the training pitch by the innovative Rydstrom. Rydstrom is an unusual character in football, with a masters degree in literary studies and a past writing music reviews in magazines. He is known for his strong socialist principles and his outspoken comments have drawn criticism from right-wing politicians. The manager has been described in the Swedish media as “methodical, process-driven and sophisticated” in his approach, and his methods extend to giving players tactical homework. The coach demands utter dominance of the ball – Malmo’s average possession this season is 64.8 per cent, a long way clear of the rest and higher even than Manchester City in the Premier League (63.2). But he is no disciple of Pep Guardiola. Rydstrom’s style has been likened to the fluid Brazilian football of Fluminense coach Fernando Diniz, who recently led his team to the Copa Libertadores and whose “anti-positional” tactics – dubbed Dinizismo – are in stark contrast to Guardiola’s more rigid structure so popular in Europe. Elfsborg are a more typical Swedish team, defensively stable, with the most clean sheets this season. They don’t sit deep, but possession is not of high importance to head coach Jimmy Thelin, whose team are dogged and difficult to play against. Elfsborg have committed more fouls than any other side in the league. But there are no prizes for aesthetics, as the Swedish daily newspaper Expressen stressed this week. “Style plays a role only if it culminates in glory,” writes Noah Bachner. “Defeats can be erased from memory if ultimately they don’t affect the final table. But only one thing counts. You can drag up statistics on short passes, shots taken, how many Swedish Krona per point and every expected goal. You can moan about Elfsborg’s way of playing … But only the trophy matters.” Elfsborg are based in a town called Boras, not far from Gothenburg (the name Elfsborg refers to the region). They have won six Swedish titles in their 120-year history, the most recent in 2012, and their home ground is nicknamed ‘Elfsborg Fortress’ – a riff on an actual fortification off the coast of Gothenburg – in appreciation of what a notoriously hard place Boras is to go and win. What plays in Elfsborg’s favour is that Malmo have consistently been found wanting in the biggest moments under Rydstrom. “If you want to take charge of the title race, which Malmo had and lost several times, you have to take points from the teams you’re fighting against,” writes Bachner. He has a point: Malmo have not won any of their five games this season against key rivals Djurgarden, Hacken or Elfsborg, who thrashed Malmo at the Fortress in May. Malmo had 73 per cent possession, took 19 shots and scored no goals. Elfsborg committed 26 fouls and scored three. Rydstrom’s reputation as more than just a coach who paints pretty pictures depends on this result. “My conviction is that Rydstrom is right for Malmo, regardless of how it goes on Sunday,” adds Bachner. “But I am equally convinced that nothing is going to stop him from being branded as something other than a winner [should Malmo lose]. Another missed opportunity, after slipping again like last Sunday, will take time to scrub away.” But this time it is Malmo with home advantage. Elfsborg do not have a Fortress to defend. They are the visitors, and they must travel 150 miles south into the lion’s den to claim the prize that narrowly eluded them last weekend. For Elfsborg, a point will do. Malmo must win. It all comes down to this. Read More Pochettino learnt lessons from infamous ‘Battle of the Bridge’ to mature as manager Jeremy Doku’s brilliance shows Man City’s edge and Chelsea’s key problem Chelsea will be fighting for titles sooner rather than later – Pep Guardiola Pochettino learnt lessons from infamous ‘Battle of the Bridge’ to mature as manager Jeremy Doku’s brilliance shows Man City’s edge and Chelsea’s key problem Chelsea will be fighting for titles sooner rather than later – Pep Guardiola

Rory McIlroy is nine shots off the halfway lead at the British Open