Kylian Mbappe and his representatives refused to meet with Al Hilal officials in Paris on Wednesday to discuss a possible world-record transfer to Saudi Arabia, it has been reported. Mbappe’s club Paris St Germain are understood to have given the Saudi Pro League side permission to speak with the France striker over personal terms after receiving a £259million bid for the player in writing. An Al Hilal delegation was reported to have been hoping to sell their project to Mbappe in Paris while finalising the signing of Brazil striker Malcom from Zenit St Petersburg. But, according to French sports newspaper L’Equipe, Mbappe and his team have refused to enter into any discussions with the Saudi club and he has never considered the option. Mbappe’s PSG future has been in serious doubt since it emerged in June that he would not extend his existing deal through to 2025, meaning he would become a free agent next summer and be able to discuss a pre-contract agreement with another club as early as January. PSG have not confirmed the reports that Mbappe has snubbed Al Hilal’s approach, but are understood to be convinced that Mbappe has already agreed a free transfer to Real Madrid next summer. Parisian sources have said the 24-year-old would benefit from a 160m euro (£138m) signing-on fee if he wound down his existing contract and moved to the Spanish capital in 2024.

Bournemouth host Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday. Preview includes team news, predicted lineups, how to watch on television and live stream & more.

The 2023 season was a failure for the St. Louis Cardinals. These three issues plagued them the most this season.

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has admitted he cannot just “slap money on the table” as he attempts to find the last piece of his jigsaw for the new season. The Magpies, backed by their majority owners, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, have invested a net £95milion in Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes and Tino Livramento at the expense of the departed Allan Saint-Maximin this summer but Howe is keen to add one more player to his resources, with central defence a remaining focus. However, the 45-year-old knows the club may have to be “creative” to get another deal over the line in an attempt to plot a path through Financial Fair Play regulations, with loans and staggered payments among the options. Asked what that meant on the eve of the new Premier League season’s opener against Aston Villa, Howe said: “It means we can’t just go out and slap money on the table and buy a player. We don’t have the resources to do that at the moment with FFP restrictions. “It’s about trying to find a different way rather than paying money in the here and now.” Newcastle have strengthened their squad significantly after last season’s top-four finish, which secured a return to Champions League football, but Howe is hopeful there is another deal to be done. He said: “I’d love one more player, that’s what I’d love personally, and I think then we’d have the ideal depth at this moment with the injuries that we currently have.” I have said my ultimate emotion that I use is fear of failure. Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe The Magpies’ surge back into the upper reaches of the league table came less than two years into the new ownership’s reign and took many by surprise, despite the £250million spending spree which helped to fuel it. They were able to take advantage of below-par showings from the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea, and are likely to face a tougher challenge this time around with TV pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher predicting they will not even make the top six this season. Asked if that provided added motivation, Howe brushed that aside and said: “Ultimately people will always write us off, and I urge us all to come together and to fight tooth and nail to prove people wrong – and in my job you have to prove people wrong every single day. “I have said my ultimate emotion that I use is fear of failure. Some people might see that as negative, but it’s fuelled me all my career and to work as hard as I can to make sure we don’t suffer that experience.” Howe could hand Tonali, Barnes and Livramento competitive debuts against Villa, while defender Fabian Schar is back in contention after a thigh injury. However, midfielder Joe Willock is likely to be missing until the middle of next month with the hamstring problem he suffered last season. Howe said: “I think we’ll probably miss him for the first group of games before the first international break.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Moises Caicedo record £110m fee is agreed for Liverpool switch – Jurgen Klopp Talking points as England host Wales in World Cup warm-up Best is yet to come – Mary Earps sure England will improve for Colombia clash

For the Miami Heat, shooting at Denver’s 5,280 feet of mile-high altitude during Game 1 of the NBA Finals wasn’t a problem

Stephen A. Smith, host of ESPN's sports debate show "First Take," took time on his YouTube channel to address the high profile layoffs of on-air talent from the network last week and warned that he could be next, touching on race and the economy.

Mickey Moniak homered in the eighth inning and the Los Angeles Angels won for the fourth time in five games, beating the Boston Red Sox 2-1

Turn a $10 bet into $200 in bonus bets with no sweat thanks to this limited-time offer at BetMGM. Read more to learn how you can use your bonuses betting on today's NFL slate.

What was he doing?

Alex Palou will lead the field to green in the Indianapolis 500 after the young Spaniard put together the fastest four-lap pole run in history Sunday

Erik ten Hag reveals Man Utd's plans for Amad Diallo after his start in the pre-season friendly win over Leeds United.

Formula One first practice at the Canadian Grand Prix was embarrassingly cancelled after a CCTV failure at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The opening one-hour running of the weekend was red-flagged after just four minutes when Pierre Gasly broke down in his Alpine. Only a handful of drivers had posted a lap with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell among those who had not taken to the track. The running had been expected to restart as usual following the removal of Gasly’s Alpine, but F1’s governing body, the FIA, blamed “issues with local CCTV infrastructure” for the initial delay. The suspension in play then became temporary with the FIA confirming at 14:20 local time (19:20 BST) that the session would not be resumed leaving an estimated 90,000 spectators short-changed. The FIA said that the concluding running of the day, which was due to start at 17:00 local time (22:00 BST), would be brought forward to 16:30 to allow for 30 minutes more running. An FIA spokesperson said: “The delay will be longer as the CCTV is not synced correctly and until the issue has been fixed we cannot run on track. “This system is a local installation and they are continuing to work to resolve the problem. “The clock will continue to run down on FP1 and the session will not be extended as there must be two hours between FP1 and FP2.” Former driver Karun Chandhok, who competed in 11 grands prix and now works as a pundit for Sky Sports, was critical of the FIA’s decision to abandon the running. “I feel we needed to get on track,” said Chandhok. “I would argue that there’s races around the world where they haven’t got CCTV cameras and they rely on marshal posts to radio incidents in – then you can use the TV cameras to look at it.”