Borussia Dortmund join race to sign Monaco's Eliesse Ben Seghir
As reported by Nice-Matin, Bayer Leverkusen hold a strong interest in the forward and have seen a €25m bid rejected. As per L'Équipe, the Principality club, not entirely opposed to a sale, have set their asking price at €35m.
However, talks are ongoing. Bayer Leverkusen see Ben Seghir as the ideal candidate to replace Amine Adli, who is on the verge of completing a move to Bournemouth. However, they could now face competition from domestic rivals Borussia Dortmund, who, according to Romano, have made a call to Monaco in the past 24 hours to express their interest and to be informed of the player's situation.
Ben Seghir, who came off the bench during Saturday's 3-1 win over Le Havre AC, has a contract that runs until 2027.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle
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Fast Company
27 minutes ago
- Fast Company
AI assistants are here to shake up (or ruin) your fantasy sports league
The English Premier League, the world's most popular soccer league, kicks off this weekend to a global TV audience of around one billion people across nearly every country. Alongside the action on the pitch, millions more will be selecting their fantasy football teams for the weekend's fixtures. Fantasy sports bring together friends and colleagues, adding a competitive edge that some take to extremes—poring over data and acting as armchair analysts. But a new initiative by the Premier League could change that dynamic: an AI chatbot integration that allows users to ask for team-picking advice. Instead of choosing their own squads, players will now be able to ask Microsoft Copilot to do it for them. 'There will be much more conformity and far less diversity of teams if AI chooses the lineups. It doesn't come with our partisan opinions,' says Simon James, head of data science and AI at Publicis Sapient, and a fan of Plymouth Argyle, who play in the third tier of English soccer. That can be both a blessing and a curse, he admits, but it risks ironing out the quirks that make fantasy football unique. 'Football is fundamentally about opinions, and fans are naturally more inclined to pick their players over rivals,' he says. 'You'll never see a Chelsea fan choosing Solanke over Joao Pedro, but the AI might. AI seeks the path of optimization, but that removes the tribal element that makes fantasy football so engaging.' For James, 'the fun part is choosing the unknown' in fantasy sports. 'Can AI truly account for all these variables and gut instincts?' he asks. 'Probably not.' 'On the one hand, I am worried about overuse,' says Joanna Bryson, professor of ethics and technology at the Hertie School in Berlin. 'I'm particularly worried about people—that somehow it's combined badly with imposter syndrome. But on the other hand, I mean, we've had Google forever, right?' Some fantasy players treat the game with near-professional seriousness, devoting hours to research that separates them from casual competitors—an effort that becomes easier with AI advice. Others who lack the time often copy picks from online analysts, with a cottage industry of human advisers already reducing the role of guesswork. Bryson, however, worries that AI could push this trend too far. 'There's just so many different ways to have fun, but that one might be over,' she says. Not so, argues Joe Lepper, host of the Fantasy Football Scout YouTube channel. 'There is a lot of debate in the fantasy community about this,' he says. 'Some people don't like it at all. They think it's going to destroy the game. And some people really like it.' Where you land depends on your personal opinion, and on how you and others use AI. Following its advice blindly is 'obviously going to take the fun out of it,' says Lepper, 'but if you use it to just give you information to then feed into your own decision-making, then the fun is retained.' The move reflects the broader shift toward analytics in sports after Moneyball. Some welcome the precision; others believe it flattens the unpredictability that makes sport compelling. 'People can choose to ignore it. People can choose to embrace it. But it's not a case of man against machine. It's more of a case of machine helping that,' says Lepper. In the end, the debate mirrors the wider conversation about AI's impact on our lives. As James puts it: 'Just like in business, AI is excellent for automation, but the jury is still out for inspiration.'
New York Times
28 minutes ago
- New York Times
Is James Franklin overrated or underappreciated?
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — James Franklin keeps going around in circles. Actually, in this case it's a rectangle. It is lunchtime at Penn State's football facility, and Franklin is walking laps around the perimeter of the practice fields next to the Lasch Building. This is the abbreviated version of the head coach's midday routine. The longer hike is a six-mile loop around campus that takes him past Beaver Stadium and the arboretum and along College Avenue, the epicenter of student life at Penn State. Advertisement On those walks, Franklin's mind can bounce from Xs and Os to personnel to infrastructure. Getting away from the office can provide inspiration, clarity or at least a different perspective on the job he has been doing since 2014: making Penn State football the best it can be. Just how well Franklin, 53, does that job will be one of the most talked about parts of the 2025 college football season. Every small detail makes a difference as No. 2 Penn State tries to take the most daunting step in college football and break out of its own routine of year after year beating all but the very best teams it faces. 'I mean, we finished No. 5 in the country last year, and a good portion of (our fans) are pissed, right?' Franklin said this summer. 'It's one of those types of places. I don't want that to come off the wrong way. We embrace that, and we understood that when you decide to come and play at Penn State that comes with that, when you decide to coach at Penn State that comes with that. So I guess what I'm saying is we're kind of under these expectations every year, and we've been one of the most consistent programs in the country, and I'm proud of that.' Almost seven years have passed since Franklin said his program was great but not elite, one of the rawest expressions of frustration he's let out during his tenure. He believes Penn State is trending in the right direction, but what if the difference between great and elite is Franklin himself? The stage appears set this season to either validate or disprove the theory that Franklin can't get Penn State to the next level. The Nittany Lions are built similarly to the last two national champions, with a core of stars who bypassed NFL opportunities to take care of unfinished business while cashing in on college football's new era of players getting paid. Advertisement Heading into a season where — despite what Franklin says — the expectations are even higher than usual, the head coach with a Hall of Fame-worthy resume is the biggest source of doubt about the Nittany Lions for many. 'If I had to bet on somebody, I would never bet on James Franklin doing it,' said ESPN provocateur and radio host Paul Finebaum, voicing a common view of Franklin on an episode of 'Get Up' this offseason. 'Penn State will not win the national championship. Enough of that.' Under Franklin, the Nittany Lions have existed in a tier almost all to themselves in college football's hierarchy. Since his hire, the Nittany Lions have 101 victories, 10th most in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Narrow it down to the past nine years, and Penn State's .744 winning percentage is eighth-best in major college football. That places the program in a group with Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson, Notre Dame, Michigan and Oklahoma. Those other seven schools have either won at least one national championship or made multiple College Football Playoff appearances during that time. Penn State made the Playoff for the first time last year, the first season of an expanded 12-team CFP, and has not won a national title since 1986. 'I know he has a great record, but! There's always a but, right?' said Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft, rolling his eyes and shaking his head in incredulous resignation to the fact that he often has to defend his coach. What usually follows after the but when Franklin is the topic is this: 1-15, his record in games against top-five teams at Penn State. He is 4-20 against top-10 teams and 16-28 against teams ranked in the AP Top 25. The Nittany Lions' last-second CFP semifinal exit against Notre Dame only fueled the doubters. 'You got to be able to be as consistent as you can possibly can be, which is really hard, and we've done that as good as anywhere in the country,' Franklin said. 'But you also have to find a way to win the big ones. And I totally recognize that. I totally embrace that.' Advertisement So, the question is this: James Franklin, overrated or underappreciated? 'He's got Penn State in the upper echelon of college football, and he's had a lot of wins,' former Penn State quarterback and NBC analyst Todd Blackledge said. 'But there still is that thing out there of breaking through that ceiling of, not necessarily winning a national championship, but winning some games that either you are dead even going in or maybe expected to be a little bit the underdog. And whether that's fair or not — I think he's done an outstanding job — but I do think that's something that is still out there, that people want to see.' Two-time Super Bowl winning head coach Bill Parcells once said, 'You are what your record says you are,' but in college football, context matters. No one would ever suggest that a coach who spends his career at Kansas State should have the same winning percentage as one who spends his career at Ohio State, which is why you can make a legitimate case that Bill Snyder (.647) accomplished more with the Wildcats than Woody Hayes (.761) did with the Buckeyes. Franklin got the Penn State job because he had a Snyder-esque run in his first head coaching stop, going 24-15 in three seasons at Vanderbilt. At Penn State, Franklin replaced Bill O'Brien, who had succeeded Joe Paterno under unprecedented circumstances, as the program faced potentially crippling NCAA sanctions and more fallout from the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. O'Brien gets rightful credit for keeping Penn State football afloat during a precarious time, but the tension around the program was palpable as supporters broke into factions over how to deal with Paterno's legacy. Franklin took over a blue blood in need of modernization and a reputational makeover. Scandal aside, Penn State football had become antiquated. That's a problem almost every traditional college football power confronts at one point or another. From Alabama (pre-Saban) and Florida to Notre Dame and Michigan to USC and Miami, complacency is almost always part of the fall-from-grace story. Advertisement 'I can tell you for a fact that we were not when I got here supporting the program to the level (of) the peers that we judge (Franklin) by — Bama, Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan,' said Kraft, who replaced Sandy Barbour as AD in the spring of 2022. Because Paterno had corrected course after four losing seasons in five years, ripping off 51 victories from 2005 to '09, there wasn't much urgency to invest and improve. 'When I first got to Penn State, I felt like there was a lot of things that we needed to do, that we had fallen behind on, and facilities were one of those first big battles,' Franklin said. 'And what I was trying to explain to people is when (a recruit is) choosing between some of the top programs in the country, it's really not what you have. But what happens is the things that you are lacking or behind on, they stand out like a sore thumb. 'Not that facilities are the end-all be-all. But what they show people is they show a commitment. It shows a commitment to excellence.' Franklin has never been shy about pushing for improvements, both publicly and privately. During Franklin's time at Penn State, the school has spent $70 million on renovations to the Lasch Building. 'Everybody wants to win a national championship like we do,' former Penn State linebacker and current board of trustees member Brandon Short said. 'The program is committed. But the reality is for a long time James was coaching with one hand tied behind his back. There wasn't the level of support to match the expectations.' Short, who played for Paterno in the 1990s, said Penn State was also behind in things like nutrition and housing when Franklin arrived. Franklin talked about losing a recruit to Maryland because he couldn't guarantee the player a single room. Franklin declined to name the player, but the description makes it obvious he's talking about safety Nick Cross, who ended up being a third-round draft pick by the Indianapolis Colts in 2022. Advertisement 'When you're fighting and scratching and clawing, everything really does matter, and the margins are so small that one idea gets you one more first down, that could be a difference in the game. One more recruit that can make one more play in a game could win the game,' Franklin said. Franklin said he gets a lot more yeses from Kraft and university president Neeli Bendapudi than he did from the previous administration. He points to the hirings of offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki and defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, whom Penn State lured away from national champion Ohio State, as moves that would not have happened earlier in his tenure. Penn State will pay its highly respected coordinators about $4.5 million this year, with Knowles in position to become college football's first $3 million assistant. 'You feel like it used to be where just the people in the Lasch Building were waking up every single morning and going to sleep trying to win a national championship, and now there's other people (doing that),' Franklin said. While Franklin may have a point, that perspective can also come across as making excuses, especially after yet another big-game loss. Jay Paterno, Joe's son and former assistant coach and another board member, is quick to point out Penn State is spending more than ever on football, counting the 10-year, $85 million contract extension Franklin received in 2021 from Barbour and the $700 million Beaver Stadium renovation approved last year. 'We've invested between facility upgrades and head-coaching salary, a billion dollars,' Jay Paterno said. 'So we put the money there because we, as a university, believe that there's something special about this place and that it'll pay off now. Now the proof comes.' Yes, Franklin says, he feels appreciated by Penn State. 'You don't stay somewhere for 12 years, specifically in today's college football, if you're not appreciated,' Franklin said. 'If I didn't feel that way, I've had multiple opportunities to leave.' Compounding the issues Franklin found at Penn State was the fight over how Joe Paterno should be remembered and honored in the aftermath of the scandal. On a practical level, money was tight when Franklin arrived, with financial penalties still weighing on the school and football attendance down. The newly installed leadership that followed the scandal — Barbour, Franklin and university president Eric Barron — was often forced into impossible situations at a tricky time for Penn State to prioritize the football program. Advertisement 'It was shocking to me almost how easily we were associated with Sandusky and everything that occurred,' Virginia Tech coach and former Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry said. 'So we had to fight that, even though there was Coach O'Brien's tenure in between, we were very much battling that on the recruiting trail.' But for many, moving on felt like running away from Paterno and an identity that was a point of pride for Penn Staters: success with honor. 'There is no question that is 100% still a part of our brand and who we are,' Short said. Others will point to Penn State having the Big Ten's second-lowest Academic Progress Rating — a number that can be dragged down by transfers and players leaving early for the NFL — in the most recent reporting by the NCAA and question whether Franklin is upholding those standards. JoePa and Penn State were inextricable. He was the brand. In 2014, that meant very different things to different people. Some thought it could take Penn State football decades to shed the stigma of the scandal. 'I think Franklin has actually rebranded the place in his own image,' said David Jones, the former columnist for the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa., who covered Penn State for 35 years. 'I think when people mention Penn State, out in the country, they don't think of Sandusky or Paterno much anymore. I mean, they do kind of, but they don't want to think about Sandusky, and their mind is kind of made up about Paterno. And now, when you say Penn State, you think of James Franklin, and it's remarkable to me.' Today, enrollment is up at Penn State and the athletic department is thriving with national championships in wrestling and volleyball and a Frozen Four appearance in men's hockey. 'I think James is a real asset to not only Penn State intercollegiate athletics, but Penn State University,' said Chris Bevilacqua, a former All-American wrestler at Penn State in the 1980s and sports media and technology entrepreneur. 'I know how difficult it is to reposition or reinvent brands as time marches on. … And you've got to give credit to 10 years of James Franklin helping to do that.' Advertisement Michael Poorman, director of alumni relations for Penn State's highly regarded college of communications, called Franklin the school's Chief Marketing Officer. 'Penn State's a $10 billion corporation,' Poorman said. 'The best marketing tool Penn State has is football. So if you're paying James $9 million a year as CMO, you're bringing in donations, you're bringing in alumni engagement, you're bringing in tuition dollars, customers who as undergraduate students are paying $100,000 to $150,000. As CMO, James is earning every penny.' But what about as a coach? At the Corner Room, a State College institution as old as Penn State itself, Franklin gets good reviews from the staff. 'I'm confident in him,' says Sabrina Tra, a server and senior. 'He seems like a good coach.' Franklin also scores high marks as a customer. 'He's a very positive guy,' another server says. These are not necessarily the fans most apt to slam Franklin on message boards after another close loss to Ohio State or heckle him from the stands at Beaver Stadium. But in the quiet time between lunch and dinner, as they gather at the bar to fold napkins and talk about trading shifts, these Penn Staters give a pretty good glimpse of what it's like to be a fan of the Nittany Lions these days. Optimism: 'I think we're winning it all,' says one woman. Pessimism: 'I would love to see it, but I don't really think so,' says another. Analysis: 'I think we always start well but we're consistent in that we lose games to the same teams every year,' chimes in another. Critique: 'Penn State's known to crack under pressure,' a fourth woman says. That pretty much covers it. During the peak of the offseason content cycle, Franklin generally landed in the back half of the top 10 of this year's college football coach power rankings. Usually, he was behind Texas' Steve Sarkisian (.618 winning percentage in 11 seasons at USC, Washington and Texas), Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman (.767 in three years since inheriting a 10-win-season machine from Brian Kelly) and Oregon's Dan Lanning (.854 in three seasons since taking over a program that had been to three straight Pac-12 championship games). Advertisement No, these rankings don't matter — or at least they shouldn't — but they give a pretty accurate glimpse of consensus on Franklin. Respect for his long track record of success and program-building, but … a few more signature victories would be nice. Even a run to the CFP semifinals last year did little to change popular opinion, as the Nittany Lions plowed through SMU and Boise State as a combined 20-point favorite before coming up short against Freeman's Irish. Penn State could have earned another crack at the Buckeyes in the national championship game last season, but Drew Allar threw a late interception against Notre Dame to set up the winning field goal in a 27-24 loss. Yet another chance for critics to take shots at the coach sarcastically dubbed 'Big-Game James.' Of course, this stuff changes fast. Less than one year ago, Freeman lost to Northern Illinois and it felt like a five-alarm fire at Notre Dame. A few months later he was drawing interest from the Chicago Bears. We're not that far removed from the 'Seven-win Sark' days. Now it seems like just a matter of time before Sarkisian and Texas win it all. The electricity running through Beaver Stadium on the night of Oct. 22, 2016, was like nothing Happy Valley had experienced in years. The unranked Nittany Lions upset No. 2 Ohio State 24-21, lifted by a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown by Grant Haley. For the first time since the Sandusky scandal, Penn State football felt like it was big-time again. It was Franklin's first win against a ranked team at Penn State. It was the Nittany Lions' first victory against a top-five team since 1999, their first against a top-two team since 1990. 'Obviously these types of wins are important,' Franklin said after the game. 'To be honest with you, I don't want to spend a lot of time thinking about the big picture right now, I just want to soak this all in. I just want to enjoy tonight.' Advertisement Penn State and Saquon Barkley went on to win the Big Ten that year, the Nittany Lions' last conference title, and that Ohio State game remains Franklin's only victory against a top-five team. Two years later, following a second straight one-point loss to Ohio State in which the Buckeyes rallied from behind in the fourth quarter, Franklin let loose on the difference between a great program and an elite one and how Penn State was still chasing being the latter. Penn State coach James Franklin said his program is 'great' while Ohio State's is 'elite.' He explains the difference. — Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) September 30, 2018 Franklin said he doesn't look back on those comments from 2018 with regret, even though they have been used as a hammer against him by critics. 'You're in the game before the national championship, depending on your perspective, 99.9 percent of people in the country and programs in the country would say that is elite,' Franklin said. 'But again, when the standard and the expectation is a national championship, it's different. It's different at a place like Penn State.' The College Football Hall of Fame is loaded with coaches who at points in their careers were defined by their few failures rather than their many successes. ''You can't win the big one' means you are winning all the others,' said former Texas and North Carolina coach Mack Brown, who was dubbed 'Coach February' in the early 2000s as his team of blue-chip recruits lost five straight against rival Oklahoma. Brown broke through in 2005 when Vince Young led the Longhorns to an unbeaten season, with an upset of USC in the BCS Championship Game. Not long ago, Jim Harbaugh was the talking heads' top target. Harbaugh finished his time at Michigan with three straight victories against Ohio State and a national title — and a high-profile cheating scandal. Advertisement The bull's-eye has shifted to Franklin. Does it bother him? Franklin says the things coaches in his position say: He takes responsibility for the shortcomings and talks about constantly searching for ways to improve the program. To get one percent better everyday. He said he has spent even more time this offseason picking the brain of Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson, who has led the Nittany Lions to eight team national titles. 'We've had a number of close games that things that we have done in the offseason could have helped, and things that we could have done during that game could have helped, and all of it matters,' Franklin said. 'I actually see James a little bit like Joe,' former Penn State linebacker and Big Ten Network analyst Matt Millen said. 'Their careers are kind of similar.' Millen, who played for Paterno from 1976 to '79, points out that while Paterno turned Penn State into a powerhouse in the late 1960s, he didn't win a national title until his 17th season as head coach in 1982. Paterno then won another in 1986, cementing himself as one of the greatest coaches of all time with another 25 years still to go. That was a very different world, though. Penn State was playing as an independent, and Paterno had three undefeated seasons early in his career that didn't result in national titles. Paterno often pushed for a playoff system and felt his program and Northeast football in general were disrespected by the college football establishment. Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993, and Paterno had another unbeaten team that had to settle for No. 2 in 1994. But overall, Paterno's Big Ten record and Franklin's look a lot alike. And Penn State's big-game woes actually started under Paterno. Paterno's record against Ohio State was much better than Franklin's. But a case can be made that the Ohio State of Urban Meyer and Ryan Day that Franklin has faced is the best version of Ohio State ever. Franklin's team has never been favored against Ohio State, but before Michigan broke through with four straight victories against the Buckeyes, it could be argued that no team in the Big Ten played Ohio State tougher than Penn State. Penn State's eight straight losses to the Buckeyes have been decided by a total of 63 points, one possession per game. Advertisement 'You just knew every time they played Ohio State, they were going to find a way to f— it up because they didn't have a good enough team,' Jones said. Of course, it's Franklin's job to build a better team. He might have this year. With Allar, preseason All-America running back Nick Singleton and defensive tackle Zane Durant leading the way, this certainly looks like a golden opportunity for Franklin to flip the script. 'When we win, it feels like we're kind of paying him back for everything that he does for us,' Durant said. 'I love Coach Franklin.' And besides, with the 12-team CFP, a coach doesn't have to slay the biggest dragon to win the biggest prizes and silence his doubters. Day still hasn't beaten Michigan since 2019. Much as Day was the main character of the 2024 season, this season it will be Franklin's turn. It might be tempting to say it's now or never for him to break through, but barring some unusual and unexpected developments, that is probably not the case. Still, this is different. This season is big. Even Franklin is willing to concede that. 'For me or for anybody to say, we don't hear the buzz out there, we do,' Franklin said. 'But I guess what I'm saying is I always feel that way. Now, is it bigger, some years than others? Yes. Is it heightened? I think that's a good word, yes.' As to the question of whether Franklin is overrated or underappreciated, check back in January. The answer might never be clearer. (Top illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Scott Taetsch / Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Washington Post
28 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Bryce Young might not be a superstar, but he has showed he's not a bust
Two seasons into Bryce Young's tumultuous professional career, it is perhaps most fair to declare what he is not rather than postulate what he is. Young is not, contrary to his earliest returns with a horrible Carolina Panthers team (that included being benched last September), a total bust.
