Category: 6. Sports

Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho on the verge of Chelsea move, AC Milan enter Christopher Nkunku race, Newcastle to return for Jorgen Strand Larsen, and Manchester City the most viable move option for Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Manchester United are on the verge of agreeing a deal worth between £35m and £40m to sell 21-year-old Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho to fellow Premier League side Chelsea. (Telegraph – subscription required, external)

AC Milan have entered the race for Chelsea forward Christopher Nkunku, and the 27-year-old France international has also drawn interest from Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich and his former club RB Leipzig. (Athletic – subscription required, external)

Newcastle are expected to return with an improved offer of £60m for striker Jorgen Strand Larsen after Wolves turned down bids of £50m and £55m for the 25-year-old Norway striker. (Sky Sports, external)

Paris St-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has not given up hope of a move before the deadline with Manchester City the most viable option for the 26-year-old Italian – if Brazil goalkeeper Ederson leaves the Premier League club. (Sky Sports, external)

There are no talks ongoing between Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and Manchester City for Ederson, but Galatasaray remain keen on the 32-year-old keeper. (Fabrizio Romano, external)

Meanwhile, Manchester City informed Tottenham on Wednesday they have no intention to let 21-year-old Brazil winger Savinho leave the Etihad Stadium this summer, even for a fee above £60m. (Fabrizio Romano, external)

West Ham are looking to sign Brazilian goalkeeper John Victor, 29, from Botafogo but the Brazilian club want to agree a fee much higher than £6m if the move becomes permanent in the future. (Sky Sports, external)

West Ham have told Everton that they want to keep Tomas Soucek after the Merseyside club launched an enquiry for the 30-year-old Czech Republic midfielder. (Athletic – subscription required, external)

Tottenham have agreed to send 18-year-old Croatia defender Luka Vuskovic to Hamburg on a season-long loan, with manager Thomas Frank now looking to add another option at centre-back. (Standard, external)

Sunderland hope to convince West Ham centre-back Nayef Aguerd, 29, to join them but Marseille, AC Milan and AS Roma are all interested in the Morocco international. (Footmercato – in French, external)

Premier League newcomers Sunderland have also made a new offer worth £24m to Bologna for 27-year-old Colombia defender Jhon Lucumi. (Sky Sports, external)

Genoa are considering a late move to sign full-back Maxwel Cornet from West Ham after the Ivory Coast international impressed manager Patrick Vieira on loan during the second half of 2024-25 season. (Tuttomercatoweb – in Italian, external)

Bournemouth’s 25-year-old Ivory Coast attacking midfielder Hamed Traore is set to join Marseille on loan, with an option to buy. (Footmercato – in French, external)

Wolves are interested in Genk striker Tolu Arokodare, the 24-year-old Nigeria international who was the top scorer in the Belgian top flight last season with 17 goals. (Sky Sports, external)

Today’s question: What was the defining moment of Alex Palou’s 2025 championship season?

Curt Cavin: I’ll defer a couple of the obvious answers to my colleagues in order to highlight two key aspects of Palou’s season. One, he has become the best qualifier in the series, capturing a season-high six NTT P1 Awards in 2025 (photo, above). He hasn’t started a race this season outside the top nine, and that’s a significant benefit to finishing strong in races. Two, he would have three oval wins this year if not for a passing cloud dropping sprinkles on the Milwaukee Mile late in last weekend’s race. He had led 199 of the 234 laps to that point Sunday. Bottom line: Palou has proven he can lead any session and any race at any time, which doesn’t bode well for the competition moving forward.

Eric Smith: Several moments come to mind, but an underrated one is Palou’s victory June 22 at Road America (photo, above). His hot start of six consecutive top-two finishes was a statement in itself. However, the championship race began to tighten after a 25th-place finish in Detroit and an eighth at World Wide Technology Raceway. Kyle Kirkwood won both of those races and suddenly looked like a serious threat to mount a comeback. Was the pendulum starting to swing? Then Palou responded by qualifying second and winning the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, delivering a clear message: His dominance wasn’t fading – he remained the one to beat.

Arni Sribhen: For me, a month should be considered a moment because over 21 days in May, Alex Palou didn’t lose and built a point gap so big over his next closest rival that everyone (except for maybe Palou and his team) was ready to give him the Astor Challenge Cup. First, it was Barber – one of Palou’s best tracks – and he led 81 of 90 laps in a romp (photo, above). Then it was on to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, where he won for the third time in four years. And finally, he conquered an oval, and not just any oval, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. A three-race win streak that spelled title for the 10 car.

Paul Kelly: It must be the hot start that saw Palou win five of the first six races of the season in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda (photo, above). The last time we saw dominance like that early in the season was 2020, when Scott Dixon won the first three races of that pandemic-shortened schedule. The Iceman then held off Josef Newgarden for his sixth championship. The difference between Dixon’s title in 2020 and Palou’s in 2025 is that Newgarden emerged as the only true contender to Dixon, winning an identical four races overall and falling short by just 16 points. No driver in 2025 mounted a consistent challenge to Palou, who leads the standings by 165 points – a staggering gap of three races’ worth of points – entering the season finale. Palou and his eight victories have been more of a steamroller this season than any INDYCAR SERIES driver since Sebastien Bourdais in his eight-win season in 2007, and, let’s face it: His rivals have done a pretty lousy job mounting any kind of regular counterattack. That’s a testament to Palou’s astonishing speed and consistency.

Venus Williams’ return to the US Open may not have resulted in victory, but the 45-year-old’s vintage performance inspired many watching in the stands and at home — including her younger sister, Serena Williams. 

US Open: Draws | Scores | Order of play

In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Serena Williams wrote that “there [are] not enough words to describe how proud” she is of her older sister after her three-set loss to No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova under the lights inside Arthur Ashe Stadium a day prior. But “strength, courage, determination, class, perseverance, inspiration” were just a few that she chose.

“P.S. I hope to be like you,” she added alongside photos of Venus Williams competing on the US Open’s biggest court.

Earlier this summer, Venus Williams became the oldest player in two decades to win a Hologic WTA Tour match by defeating Peyton Stearns in Washington, D.C. — her first match in more than a year. And in her Grand Slam return, she responded admirably to a slow start in which she dropped 11 of the first 13 points against 2023 Roland Garros finalist Muchova, also a two-time US Open semifinalist.

After the 2-hour affair, where she was cheered on vociferously by the New York crowd, the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion said her love of the game is as strong as ever.

“I think for me, getting back on the court was about giving myself a chance to play more healthy,” she said, swallowing emotion. “When you play unhealthy, it’s in your mind. It’s not just how you feel. You get stuck in your mind too. So it was nice to be freer.”

“I knew going into this match that people in this stadium, people in the United States, people around the world, were really rooting for me, and that felt great,” she continued. 

Though Venus Williams’ US Open effort in the singles draw ended at the first hurdle, her stay in New York has been extended after she and 2021 finalist Leylah Fernandez received a wild card for the women’s doubles draw.

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka set the platform for a US Open second-round victory over Polina Kudermetova by continuing her formidable tie-break record.

Sabalenka, 27, claimed her 17th consecutive tie-break in a 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 win in Wednesday’s night session in New York.

Being able to lock in when it mattered proved crucial once again for the world number one, who has won 10 of her past 11 matches when winning a first-set tie-break.

Taking the opener dampened her Russian opponent’s spirits and led to Sabalenka going on to break early in the second set.

Sabalenka’s service game was still a little scratchy – digging deep to save two break points before holding for 3-1 – but her level improved as she raced towards victory.

On the reason why she has been so dominant in tie-breaks this season, the three-time Grand Slam champion said: “I’m just trying to stay aggressive and fight for every point.

“I know every point can be a key moment of the set so I’m just trying to stay strong and play aggressive.”

Sabalenka is aiming to become the first player to defend the women’s singles title since Serena Williams in 2014.

Next she will face Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, who was a beaten finalist in 2021 when she lost to Britain’s Emma Raducanu.

Jonatan Furucz, Slovakia (still a junior) and Michael Johansson, Sweden lead the Open and Physically Challenged classes respectively at the end of Day 1 in the PreO competition, held on a hot and sunny day in the area of an old basalt mine near Sümeg, Hungary.

Many of the top stars in the Open class achieved a full-correct score today, meaning that only timed control times separated the leaders. Furucz’s lead is by just 9 seconds over Poland’s Krystian Petersburski, while another Polish athlete, Maciej Urbaniak is holding third place, another 2 seconds down. There is all to play for tomorrow!

In the Physically Challenged class, Michael Johansson, Sweden, one of the favourites for the gold medal, leads comfortably on timed control time over Alejandro Aguilar Lara, Spain; both dropped one point out on the course. Vladyslav Vovk, Ukraine is third with 2 points fewer.

Tomorrow’s competition takes place in detailed parkland right in the centre of Sümeg, on what is promised to be another hot day.

Full results can be found on https://top.yq.cz

This was probably as close as we will ever get to having another playing captain in a Ryder Cup. In truth, the PGA of America put Bradley in an invidious position by appointing him long before his days at the top of the game are done.

As a result, it could be argued, the American team have been denied one of their top dozen golfers for the 12-man team charged with trying to win back the trophy.

Bradley’s form and playing passion ticked every one of the boxes he cited for the six players he chose as wildcard picks. “They’re all incredibly gritty players, tough players, great competitors,” the skipper said.

“They’ve all proven themselves at the highest level. And again, they’ve played basically in the bubble of the Ryder Cup for the last month and a half and performed at the highest level.”

Bradley insists their current playing standards made it easy for him to leave himself out. But if someone else was captain, Bradley would have felt aggrieved to be ignored in the way that he was by Zach Johnson two years ago.

Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay were no-brainers. They bring vital experience and strong matchplay credentials – especially Cantlay, who has a 15-6-1 record in team competitions for the United States.

Cameron Young, a New Yorker who set the Bethpage Black course record as an amateur, won his first PGA Tour title only three weeks ago. His form and background made him a natural selection.

Ben Griffin’s consistency has been stellar and as someone who gave up the game to work in an office before returning to stardom, he provides a romantic perspective that could sit well in the locker room.

Sam Burns’ putting will worry Luke Donald’s European team, but Collin Morikawa’s patchy form in 2025 perhaps makes the two-time major champion the most fortunate of the picks.

Kansas City Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice has accepted a six-game NFL ban for his part in a high-speed crash that left a number of people injured.

The 25-year-old pled guilty in July to two third-degree felony charges of collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway causing bodily injury. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and was required to pay $115,000 in medical costs to the injured parties. The incident took place on a Dallas highway in March 2024. Prosecutors say Rice was driving a Lamborghini Urus SUV at 119mph when he made “multiple aggressive maneuvers around traffic” and struck other vehicles.

Rice said in a statement at the time of his plea deal that: “I am profoundly sorry for the physical damages to person and property. I fully apologize for the harm I caused to innocent drivers and their families.”

The NFL handed down its suspension after its own internal investigation, one week before the Chiefs are due to leave for Brazil, where they will play the Los Angeles Chargers in their season opener. Along with missing the Chargers game, Rice will miss a rematch of last season’s Super Bowl with the Eagles on 14 September at Arrowhead Stadium; a Sunday night trip to New York to face the Giants; a high-profile matchup with Lamar Jackson and the Ravens on 28 September; a game against Jacksonville the following Monday night; and a Sunday night showdown with the Lions. Rice will be eligible to return to the field when Kansas City faces the AFC West-rival Raiders on 19 October.

The Chiefs selected Rice in the second-round of the 2023 draft. He won the Super Bowl in his first season with the team, catching six passes for 39 yards in Kansas City’s victory over the San Francisco 49ers.