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US investors’ pursuit of Europe’s historic football teams is accelerating, with Miami-based 777 Partners LLC closing in on

The 2023-24 EuroLeague season will be a repeat of the last, with all 18 teams from the 2022-23 season coming back once again. This means the likes of Partizan Belgrade, Virtus Bologna, and other wildcard teams are here to stay for the time being.

EuroLeague basketball is a continental competition that pulls in teams from all across Europe. Here are the nine countries that will participate in the 2023-24 EuroLeague season.

Today's Premier League gossip includes Julian Alvarez linked with Real Madrid, Nayef Aguerd chased by Liverpool and Anwar El Ghazi potentially on his way to Manchester United.

The best fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 2.

Breaking down the top start 'em, sit 'em options for Week 2.

The wife of former England captain Dave Watson has welcomed the creation of a new fund designed to support ex-professionals living with neurodegenerative disease. The Brain Health Fund, which has an initial £1million available immediately to support former players and their loved ones, has been set up by the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) and the Premier League. It has faced criticism from some quarters, including the family of former Manchester United and England midfielder Nobby Stiles, who had been living with dementia for many years prior to his death in 2020. However, Penny Watson, whose husband Dave won 65 caps for England between 1974 and 1982 and who is now living with dementia, believes the PFA and the Premier League deserve enormous credit. Watson, herself a critic of the PFA under its former chief executive Gordon Taylor, told the PA news agency things had “drastically changed” at the union under his successor Maheta Molango. She added: “I am so thankful to the PFA and the Premier League for finally formalising the fund and the determination and hard work of several people specifically – Adam White, Rachel Walden and Dawn Astle at the PFA and Nick Perchard at the Premier League, they have been working very, very hard to try and negotiate this. “They should be proud that the money now, as we speak, is actually helping families. I do get involved with families, I know the situation a lot of them are in.” Consultants believe Dave Watson is suffering from the progressive brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is associated with repeated head impacts but currently can only be accurately diagnosed post-mortem. The fund will assist in ensuring the quality of life of both the former player and their carer and making sure that it is the best that can be achieved in those last years and months. Penny Watson His wife Penny is in touch with many other families of ex-players going through similar circumstances, and believes the fund will make a major difference to them. “The fund will assist in ensuring the quality of life of both the former player and their carer and making sure that it is the best that can be achieved in those last years and months,” she said. “The application process will be as seamless and easy as possible, with no hoops to jump through or hidden pitfalls. There will be nothing like that. “The money is there, so I hope families will contact the Brain Health Department at the PFA and they will explain how to apply. I just want families not to be focusing on and hearing all the bad things, they need the help now. “(The fund) has been really well thought out, I think that’s one of the reasons it has taken a long time to get to this point.” The ultimate goal for PFA chief executive Molango is that the fund be replaced in the longer term by a charity backed by all the four key stakeholders in English football. Dawn Astle’s involvement has been pivotal to the creation of the fund. Her father Jeff Astle, a former West Brom and England forward, died in 2002 aged 59 with early-onset dementia. A coroner recorded the cause of death as industrial disease, owing to the repeated heading of a ball. The Football Association is involved in funding a number of research projects aimed at understanding why there is a heightened risk of neurodegenerative disease among footballers, something identified by the 2019 FIELD Study. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live David Brooks’ first Wales goal since beating cancer savoured by team-mates Ben White says Scotland will learn from South Africa loss and become better team Tony Harrington named fourth official for Newcastle-Brentford after VAR ‘error’

American investment firm 777 Partners have returned to the negotiating table at Everton but are now reportedly considering a majority purchase. The group had been in talks earlier this summer over a partial investment only for rivals MSP Sports Capital to enter into an exclusivity agreement with Toffees owner Farhad Moshiri. With the agreement now over after that potential investment fell through over repayments to existing lenders – although a £100million loan to help finalise the completion of a new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock was agreed – it appears 777 have re-entered talks. However, reports suggest it is with a view to a full takeover of the club. Everton have been seeking outside investment for some time in order to free up finances to complete the new stadium. In January Moshiri, who has spent more than £500million on players since becoming the majority shareholder in 2016, said the club was not up for sale but admitted he was exploring funding options to cover the final stages of the £550m-plus build at Bramley-Moore which will is set to see the ground opened next season. The 777 group, which did not comment when contacted by the PA news agency, currently own, or part own, Genoa, Standard Liege, Hertha Berlin, Vasco de Gama and Melbourne Victory and the London Lions basketball team and British Basketball League. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Barcelona are ready to join the transfer hunt for Manchester City stiker Erling Haaland.

The Football Association will resist any attempt from Ireland to appoint England under-21 manager Lee Carsley, should Irish boss Stephen Kenny be sacked. Ireland have just suffered successive defeats to France and Netherlands and while those would otherwise be respectable performances, they come on the back of a series of poor results that have now all but ended the hopes of Euro 2024 qualification. While Kenny is widely expected to be given the rest of this campaign, a failure to claim a play-off place - which is now dependent on results in other groups - could well end three difficult years in charge of the Irish team. A former Irish international, Carsley has long been admired by the Football Association of Ireland, and is seen as the next main target for the senior job whenever that may be. He bolstered his growing reputation in the summer with England's first under-21 European Championships victory in 39 years, beating Spain in the final. That has only added to Carsley's value within the FA, though, where he is seen as the sort of figure who could eventually succeed Gareth Southgate as senior manager. While there would be the expectation that England go for a more established club manager when Southgate eventually departs, a growing school of thinking is that the international game demands different qualities. Southgate himself is one of a few examples from high-profile European nations who have succeeded by promoting from the underage squads. There has been a feeling Carsley's year-to-year under-21 contract could mean he is attainable by Ireland, but any approach would be met with resistance by the FA. Other names that have been mentioned in circles around the top of the Irish football hierarchy are Ipswich Town's Kieran McKenna and even Rafael Benitez. While the latter would be hugely expensive but potentially open to the job in the future, McKenna is seen as even more difficult due to Ipswich’s huge investment in a Premier League promotion push. Read More Gareth Southgate hails Evan Ferguson and confirms England interest in Newcastle starlet Stephen Kenny ‘not thinking about’ pressure on job as Euro 2024 hopes crumble Gareth Southgate acknowledges England want Newcastle duo amid call-up tug-of-war with Scotland

Harry Wilson revealed how the Wales dressing room serenaded David Brooks with “his song” after the Bournemouth forward scored his first international goal since beating cancer. Brooks was diagnosed with stage-two Hodgkin lymphoma in October 2021 while on Wales duty. The 26-year-old announced he was cancer-free in May last year, but it has been a long road back to form and fitness as Brooks’ body took time to recover from the full effects of the disease. So it was no surprise the entire Wales squad wildly celebrated the stoppage time goal that Brooks scored to seal a 2-0 European Championship qualifying victory over Latvia on Monday. It was Brooks’ first Wales goal since scoring the winner in a Nations League tie against the Republic of Ireland in November 2020. “When the news broke that he had his illness we were on camp and it hit us hard,” Wilson said after the Riga success. “He’s a big part of the group. He’s been my room mate for years and it was tough for us all. “To see how strong he’s been through it all, how he’s come back and regained his fitness. He’s had setbacks along the way and picked up a few injuries. “His body was completely shut down for a while and it’s going to happen, but it’s how he’s dealt with those setbacks. “Now he’s fully fit he showed his quality at the end. At that moment in the game a lot of players would have snatched at that chance, but he was so calm to wait for the keeper to go down and just lifted it over him.” Wales supporters are used to belting out the ‘Brooks will tear you apart again’ song to the tune of Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear You Apart’ in tribute to him. Wilson said: “The other day when he came on against South Korea the fans must have sang his song for a good 15 to 20 minutes. “They were singing it again at the end when we went to them to show our appreciation. “I think he must have done an interview so he was the last one back in the dressing room. “We had it going as well and I think it shows what a massive member of this group he’s been and how much he’s been missed over the couple of years he’s been out of the squad.” Wales’s win – only their second in 14 games – has put them back in the mix for a top-two spot and automatic qualification while easing the pressure on boss Rob Page. They have drawn level with Armenia on seven points and trail Croatia and Turkey by three. Next month’s visit from group favourites Croatia will be followed by a November double-header away to Armenia and at home to Turkey. Wilson said: “We’ve done well at home in the past against big teams when we’ve got the ‘Red Wall’ behind us. We’ll be looking to do that again. “We know Armenia away is going to be tough, hostile and the pitch might not be great, but you’ve got to deal with that when you go to these places. “We feel it’s back in our hands now and we have to make sure we put on performances like we have done before. “We were all disappointed with how the summer camp went, not just the results (defeats to Armenia and Turkey) but the performances as well. “We couldn’t wait to get back on camp and put right what went wrong in the summer. We put a bit of pressure on ourselves but we never do it the easy way.”

Declan Rice hails Manchester City and Spain ace Rodri as the best midfielder currently operating in the Premier League.