
Gossip: Zubimendi fee agreed
Arsenal have agreed a fee of about £59m with Real Sociedad for Spain midfielder Martin Zubimendi, 26, with the move to be completed after 1 July to help with meeting Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations. (AS - in Spanish), externalRB Leipzig's 22-year-old Slovenia striker Benjamin Sesko - a reported target for Arsenal - rejected a move to Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal before Tuesday's transfer deadline. (Star), externalLeipzig are holding firm on receiving the full release clause for Sesko, now understood to be more than £65m. (Independent), externalWant more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip columnFollow the gossip column on BBC Sport
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The Sun
15 minutes ago
- The Sun
Trent Alexander-Arnold reveals he's been ‘waiting a long time' to join Real Madrid, then issues immediate clarification
TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD quickly corrected himself after letting slip he had been "waiting a long time" to join Real Madrid. The defender was announced as a Real Madrid player after the Spanish giants stumped up £10million to sign him early from Liverpool. Alexander-Arnold revealed his excitement at putting pen to paper on what he described as a "proud day". But he also dropped a clanger after suggesting he had been waiting a long time to become a Real player. He said at a press conference: "Very, very exciting for me. A day I've been waiting a long time for now. "Very excited, very happy, very proud to be here. It's a dream to be here but there's still a lot of hard work to do and I'm excited to get started straight away. It's an exciting time for me." The England star quickly corrected that statement, clarifying he meant he has only been waiting a few weeks for his switch to the Bernbeu. He added: "To clear that up, by waiting a long time I mean a couple of weeks. Not years. "But I am very excited be here. Whether you support the club or not, you have to respect the trophies that the club win. "No matter what, that has been always there for me. I have always admired players and clubs that win trophies." Alexander-Arnold, 26, showed off his fluent Spanish at his Real Madrid unveiling. His short speech left fans stunned and won him applause from those who gathered at the event. He said in Spanish: "Good afternoon. Thank you to (club president) Florentino Perez and the club for this opportunity. "This doesn't happen every day, it's a dream come true. "I'm very happy and proud to be here. I want to show Real Madrid fans how I play. "I realise that I am signing for Real Madrid and that the demands are high but I am going to give my all for the team and Real Madrid fans. "I want to show those fans how I play, I want to win many titles, I want to be a winner here and enjoy playing alongside the best players in the world. Hala Madrid."


Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Manchester City agree £12.5m fee to sign Sverre Nypan - with Pep Guardiola's side beating Arsenal and Aston Villa to Rosenborg midfielder
Manchester City are set to sign Rosenborg midfielder Sverre Nypan after agreeing a £12.5million for his services. The 18-year-old's arrival will prove a coup to City who have beaten Premier League rivals Arsenal and Aston Villa to his signature. He will become the club's fifth signing of the summer following the arrivals of Marcus Bettinelli, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders. The teen is expected to go on loan to Girona upon joining Pep Guardiola 's side. The City Group had proposed to sign Nypan on a permanent for Girona in January which prompted the Norway international to consider Villa instead. However, City have now revised their offer. Nypan has already played 70 senior games for Rosenborg, who sit third in the 2025 Eliteserien after 11 games, and is a Norway Under-21 international.


Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Another Chinese car brand arrives in the UK
It's another day and that means yet another Chinese car brand arriving in Britain that you've never heard of before. Roll up the budget-friendly Firefly EV - the new compact supermini from Chinese giant Nio that is looking to put its stamp on the UK market this year. The Firefly – confusingly the name of Nio's sub-brand and its first model - will go up against the new Renault 5 EV and forthcoming Volkswagen ID.2, Renault Twingo and BYD Dolphin Surf city EVs. Confirmed for the European market this year, Nio is accelerating its rollout of the popular Firefly globally and it could arrive here as soon as October - making it the latest cheap Chinese EV to take to British roads. Launched in April in China , the small EV costs the equivalent of £12,500 - though that's not inclusive of import taxes and some favourable domestic subsidies. When it comes to the UK, it's expected to enter the increasingly populated sub-£25k affordable EV category. Said to be inspired by some European cult models, like the Fiat 500, the design is aimed at attracting 'lifestyle-based' buyers who want a 'memorable' electric car, Nio says. Its range is around 260 miles (albeit based on China Light Duty Vehicle Test Cycle which is about 15 per cent more forgiving than the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure), putting it about equal to the Renault 5 (250-mile range) and considerably ahead of the £15,000 Dacia Spring (140-mile range). At 4,003mm long, 1,781mm wide and 1,557mm tall, it is larger than the Renault 5 across all five dimensions. Via the Firefly brand, Nio's set its sights on building 'new, small electric vehicles, a car for everyone', Vice President of Nio design told journalists at the Shanghai Auto Show. 'The brief was really to create the next mini or Fiat 500; something iconic, something memorable, [and] to take advantage of electrification. 'We were to build a different, new design identity, something that was going to be more lifestyle-based than our premium brands, [Nio and Onvo],' he added. The Firefly is nothing like what we've seen from Nio previously. The compact model contrasts the Chinese giant's typical big, luxury saloons and SUVs, instead offering buyers a fun, small, sporty and endearing little zero emissions urban runaround. The tagline is 'small, electric, buzzing with energy', the blurb says. With seating for five, it's surprising practical with a 404-litre boot (larger than most compact cars including the R5's 326 litres) and a massive 92-litre additional froot (front boot). In terms of cabin tech, it boasts a Chat GPT-operated voice command system, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and benefits from two digital screens. And it will be one of the plushest and most luxurious small cars on the market, offering heated and ventilated front seats that even have massaging functionality like a high-end Mercedes limo. The rear-wheel drive car can accelerate from 0 to 62mph in 8.1 seconds and has a limited top speed of 93mph. The 42kW battery has a max charging speed of 100kW and can fast charge 10 to 80 per cent in 29 minutes. Handily for town, it has a turning radius of just 4.7metres, so weaving between width restrictions shouldn't be a drama. Will the Firefly create a buzz in Europe? Firefly - initially announced as a new brand alongside Onvo but the two were repositioned as sub-brands by Nio shortly afterwards - is important for the Chinese battery swapping leader, with the Shanghai-based car maker not yet nearing profitability despite its sales growing. In May, its first full month of deliveries, Firefly sold 3,680 vehicles according to Nio data. And so, the model has played a key role in boosting the brand's overall sales for the month by 13.1 per cent year on year. Nio is currently in the midst of a huge European expansion, committing to entering 16 new global markets this year alone. Seven of those have already been confirmed in Europe: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, Poland and Romania. And the Firefly has been specifically designed for the European market: it was supposed to launch in Europe first but due to tariffs and geopolitical tensions, as well as Nio's shaky sales, it arrived in China first. The UK is a big market for small EVs at the moment, with the Hyundai Inster , the Renault 5 and the Kia EV3 just a few of the latest entrants.