“I want to play Champions League football,” said Ruben Neves, as, all of a month ago, he explained why he might leave Wolves. Maybe he had just omitted a word, because, after winning the Saudi league, Al Hilal can provide him with that chance. He is bound for the Asian Champions League. A swift change of destination on the exit from Molineux – to Riyadh rather than Barcelona – has left Neves accused of paying greater attention to his wallet than his heart, to his bank balance than his ambitions. If many of the others decamping to Saudi Arabia are in their thirties, signing up for a final pay day, Neves is 26. He may be a trendsetter if others in their prime follow suit or, like Oscar, who left Chelsea for China at 25, be seen as a player who gave up his seat at the top table too soon. The simplistic accusation may be to brand Neves a mercenary. The reality may be more complex: not for the first time, he is an example of trends in the modern game. He is joining Al Hilal for £47m; the price could appear inflated, given that he had a solitary year left on his contract at Wolves, or market value, considering his class as a passer. Either way, it put him beyond Barcelona’s reach, even before the availability of Ilkay Gundogan on a free transfer meant they could acquire a top-class alternative rather cheaper. The dream move was stripped of any realism. Barcelona’s financial difficulties have altered the equation for many another who might otherwise have been bound for Catalonia, as Neves’ Portugal teammate Bernardo Silva can testify. The broader collapse of the European transfer market is part of a wider theme affecting Premier League clubs and their greater struggle to sell. There are only a handful on the continent capable of paying a £47m fee for a midfielder; if, for various reasons, they can be ruled out, it reduces the alternatives to the big buyers in England. That they have overlooked Neves points in part to the high number of talented midfielders on the market this summer, but also to the sense he is a man out of time. A languid passer may not suit sides with a greater focus on pressing. Neves may not be a Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola or Mikel Arteta-style midfielder. But the changing dynamics in the game may have meant he was an ever more incongruous presence at Molineux. Odd as it felt that he traded the Champions League – where, at 18, he was its youngest ever captain in his Porto days – for the Championship, his first three years at Wolves were an unqualified success, with promotion and successive seventh-place finishes. The last three, however, have been underwhelming, with mid-table finishes, a lack of goals, and this season, a flirtation with relegation. Neves has still been excellent. Wolves have not been. He has been their classiest player since their golden age more than six decades ago; the added benefit was that he stayed for six years and 253 games. The axis of Neves and Joao Moutinho brought a level of style Wolves may not see again in midfield for decades. But if Neves is leaving a traditional club for a new player in the football firmament, an alternative perspective is to say he has traded one moneyed project where Jorge Mendes has exerted an influence and where Portuguese players have signed up for another. The super-agent has a habit of spotting opportunities and Wolves, under the ownership of Fosun, provided one. Not that Wolves provides such scope for signings this summer. As even Julen Lopetegui seems to have belatedly acknowledged, they have an issue with Financial Fair Play. Heavy spending in the last two windows was often misguided – Goncalo Guedes and Matheus Cunha, particularly – while a lack of buyers on the continent means Wolves cannot recoup much of their money. Neves was one of the few remaining assets, a footballer who had publicly said his time was up without having a better exit strategy. Lower mid-table at Wolves followed by a spell in Saudi Arabia was scarcely the career trajectory that many envisaged when he was skippering Porto in the Champions League as a teenager. Sympathy may be in short supply, given the probable scale of his remuneration. He may be happy at Al Hilal. But Neves, a quality player at his peak, seemed short of options. And if that is a shame, it is also part of a bigger picture. Once again, Neves is a sign of how the game is changing. Read More Saudi Arabia money has turned transfers into ‘chaos’ – will it last? N’Golo Kante, the midfield miracle worker who changed football

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England’s Mary Earps has revealed the public high of winning Euro 2022 and being named FIFA women’s goalkeeper of the year resulted in an unwelcome private battle to “feel human again”. The Manchester United keeper, set to start in the Lionesses’ World Cup opener against Haiti on Saturday, has cemented her place as England’s number one since the arrival of boss Sarina Wiegman, whom Earps often credits for reigniting a career she once thought had ground to a halt. Though the 30-year-old loved “experiencing almost how the Kardashians live” at FIFAs swanky February awards ceremony in Paris, she was surprised by the corresponding lows in the aftermath. Earps, speaking from England’s team hotel in Brisbane, said: “I was speaking with Micah Richards and Jamie Carragher, and we were talking about the difference between winning a tournament and then having a disappointing tournament and how different it’s to come back from that. And I was saying for me personally, I felt like that was the hardest thing I ever did. “Okay, that’s an exaggeration. Not the hardest thing I ever did, but it was the hardest footballing thing to come back to. “Like you’ve been on this massive high for so long and then you come back to normal life where you are not in this bubble, you’re not living in this little world, you’re not surrounded by people. “And it’s absolutely a life of privilege, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a lot to adjust to coming back and going back to training every day. It was hard to find your feet as to what normal felt like. And it probably took me till after December to feel human again Mary Earps “Not at that intensity, not at that pressure, but also with that comes an incredible adrenaline rush. And not having that every day, it was hard to find your feet as to what normal felt like. And it probably took me till after December to feel human again. “And then obviously the FIFA Best came and I felt like I had to start all over again. “It’s a privilege to be in that situation and a problem that I would love to have every single year, but it was definitely hard to adjust.” England vice-captain Earps may need to repeat that process again should the Lionesses, among the tournament favourites, lift the trophy that has eluded them in five previous World Cup appearances. At the beginning of 2021, Earps was on the verge of quitting football altogether. Her contract at United was coming to an end and she had not featured for England since November 2019. Yet Wiegman saw something in Earps when she took the reins in September 2021 and recalled the Nottingham native and 2019 World Cup veteran as part of her first selected squad, handing her a fresh start in England’s 8-0 victory over North Macedonia to begin the World Cup qualifiers. Earps, who was also offered a new deal with United, has seized the opportunity with both gloves ever since and was instrumental in ensuring four of the Lionesses’ six matches in their unbeaten run to lift the Euro 2022 trophy were clean-sheet victories. Perhaps Earps’ path is most aptly illustrated by her journey to and from the FIFA awards, where she had a personal security guard named Johnny and the “surreal” experience of discussing the finer points of goalkeeping with Argentinian World Cup winner Emiliano Martinez and Arsene Wenger. Earps took EasyJet on the way there, but flew business class on the way back, where she was closer to the front than she had ever been in her life. Yet before the Golden Gloves, the first-class keeper was determined to elevate England to new heights. She added: “I always thought it was there. I didn’t think that it would burn as deeply as it’s burning. It’s like a fire in your belly that I’ve always had. But I think you’re always trying to achieve things that you don’t know if it’s going to be possible. “You’re like, that’s what you’re striving for, you’re striving for this excellence and you’re constantly on this pursuit of, ‘How far can I go? How high can I go?’ “And to actually achieve those things just makes me want to fill my cabinet with even more trophies and medals really. It doesn’t make me feel like, ‘Job done’, which I thought that it would. It makes me just want to do more, do better.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Matt Doherty returns to Wolves after Atletico Madrid exit England will temper sweet temptation to be at peak for World Cup – Lewis Ludlam Zak Crawley’s rapid century puts England on top in fourth Ashes Test

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Nyck de Vries admits his exit from AlphaTauri “hurts” after speaking out for the first time since losing his seat in Formula 1. The Dutch driver, who impressed so highly in finishing ninth last year at Monza for Williams, struggled throughout the first 10 races of the 2023 season. Alongside Logan Sargeant at Williams, De Vries was the only driver yet to score a point and has been under increasing pressure from Red Bull chief Helmut Marko. And with Marko dropping De Vries, Daniel Ricciardo has stepped in to replace the Dutchman ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend and for the remainder of the 2023 season. “Of course it hurts the F1 chance I dreamed of for so long ended prematurely,” the 28-year-old said on Instagram. “After recent events, I decided to take some time for myself away from social media, which I will continue to do. I would like to thank Red Bull and Scuderia AlphaTauri for the opportunity to live my dream. “But life is not a destination, it’s a journey, and sometimes you have to take the hard road to get where you want to be. “I am grateful for our privileged lives, proud of our journey and my family. This is just another experience, we move on and look forward to the next chapter.” De Vries also addressed media articles in the past week purporting quotes from the axed driver, which he implied are not accurate given he hasn’t spoken to the press. “I received some interesting articles about things I’ve said in the last week,” he added. “For clarity, I haven’t spoken to any media and for the time being I’ll enjoy some me time. Wishing you all a nice summer.” De Vries, the 2019 F2 champion and 2021 Formula E champion, was on Mercedes’ books as a test driver before switching to Red Bull for his move to AlphaTauri. Read More Daniel Ricciardo is back - and this time he wants to go out on top Red Bull has handed Daniel Ricciardo the first step to Sergio Perez’s seat Daniel Ricciardo is back - and this time he wants to go out on top Daniel Ricciardo: I thought I’d never race in F1 again Sebastian Vettel hints at return to F1: ‘I have some ideas’

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LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 19, 2023--