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Daily Mirror
11 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Man Utd transfer news: Benjamin Sesko alternatives eyed as Erik ten Hag considers reunion
Manchester United are having to consider striker targets should they miss out on Benjamin Sesko with Erik ten Hag and Bayer Leverkusen potentially going after Rasmus Hojlund Manchester United are looking to battle with Newcastle as they both eye RB Leipzig frontman Benjamin Sesko with the Magpies already seeing an offer for the Slovenian rejected. The Red Devils have now tabled an offer and do have the finances to pursue Sesko without selling any of their current players. Already they've spent more than £120million to land Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha but now want a No 9 to lead their line. Ruben Amorim is under pressure to make a far greater impact than he did last season but new recruits have been limited so far this summer. The United boss will hope his extended time on the training ground will aid his philosophy and game plan at Old Trafford. United still need to try and get a number of players off their books with time running out ahead of their Premier League opener in less than a fortnight. Here's the latest coming out of Manchester. Two back-up options to Sesko United are desperate to sign a new striker this summer and have Nicolas Jackson among their two back-up options if they fail to land Sesko from Leipzig with Newcastle also pushing to land the Slovenian. The Chelsea forward is on their shortlist with the Athletic reporting that the Blues are be open to selling Jackson this summer after signing Liam Delap and Joao Pedro, but only if they receive an acceptable proposal. French outlet L'Equipe, meanwhile, are reporting that PSG's Randal Kolo Muani is another option United are considering. Juventus were the frontrunners to land Kolo Muani, but it is claimed that deal has now stalled, which could allow those in Manchester to swoop back in. Hojlund's Ten Hag reunion Bayer Leverkusen are keen on a move for United's Rasmus Hojlund as Erik ten Hag considers signing the Dane for the second time in two years. It was during his second summer that the Dutchman spent more than £70m to land the striker from Atalanta. Hojlund has struggled for goals and is linked with a move away with the Bundesliga now a live option. Leverkusen, who have received plenty of cash this summer, could face competition from AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus according to Caught Offside. Amorim recently admitted he could offer no assurances that Hojlund would remain at Old Trafford beyond this summer's window, even though the player himself is keen to remain and prove that he is capable of cutting in it Manchester. Club bosses working on more deals Omar Berrada has insisted major figures at the club are working hard to strengthen Amorim's squad this summer. Speaking to reporters at the weekend, the United CEO said: "We have to do a lot of multi-tasking. "We have a team back home led by (director of football) Jason (Wilcox), the recruitment team, that is working around the clock to ensure that we continue to find opportunities to strengthen our squad. There are lots of late calls and early morning meetings to make sure that we stay on top of it. What we want to do is to win and to start winning titles as soon as possible."
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Premier League 2025-26 preview No 4: Brentford
Guardian writers' predicted position: 18th (NB: this is not necessarily John Brewin's prediction but the average of our writers' tips) Last season's position: 10th The summer has seen Brentford transformed from established and admired club to being the enigma they once arrived in the Premier League as. If anything, even less is known about what awaits them than back in 2021. The departure of Thomas Frank removed the club's public face, someone who embodied and fronted the rise of one of London's smaller concerns. Without him, uncertainty is unavoidable. Frank was a huge asset to the club, bordering on irreplaceable and so, Brentford must do things differently, as always under the club's idiosyncratic majority ownership. There is heavy trust in the process that benefactor Matthew Benham employed to establish Brentford, while Phil Giles is a highly respected sporting director, at the club for over a decade. The pair met in a different sphere, the world of sporting statistics for betting purposes. Their great gamble this summer is to replace Frank with a rookie manager in Keith Andrews, appointed from within. Many external punters now fancy Brentford for the drop. Success or failure will come via those processes. Frank took three key members of staff in Justin Cochrane, Chris Haslam and Joe Newton to Tottenham. Another assistant, Claus Nørgaard, has also departed. The playing staff will also look markedly – and for fans, almost certainly worryingly – different. Manchester United were shaken down for the full valuation of Bryan Mbeumo while Yoane Wissa has agitated to follow his partner out the door, too. If those two were the biggest-name departures then further on-field leadership has exited in the club captain, Christian Nørgaard, the veteran centre-back Ben Mee and Mark Flekken, the popular, underrated goalkeeper. A very different Brentford will greet opponents next season, with the ex-Liverpool pair Jordan Henderson and Caoimhin Kelleher immediately becoming the most widely recognised players at a freshly unknown quantity in whom fans are asked to keep the faith. Keith Andrews is new in the job but he's not an unfamiliar face, having enjoyed a lengthy media career since his retirement from playing. Last season, Brentford fans became used to the sight of Andrews on the sidelines as Frank's set-piece coach. Kieran McKenna, the Ipswich manager, was on the list of possibles, as was the departed Cochrane for another inside appointment. In late June, Andrews, with little frontline managerial previous beyond spells as assistant at MK Dons and then the Republic of Ireland, was plumped for. He has huge shoes to fill, even if he does have the bountiful hair to match his beloved predecessor. The summer of great change continued in July when Benham cashed out a minority stake of around 25%, for a deal valuing Brentford around £400m. The new minority owners are the South Africa-based UK businessman and former Autoglass chief executive Gary Lubner and the film mogul Sir Matthew Vaughn, behind such films as Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, Kick-Ass and Layer Cake. Vaughn is also Mr Claudia Schiffer. Benham had been seeking new investment since late 2023, and the pair have paid £100m for their share of his Best Intentions Analytics holding company. Vaughn has revealed he previously considered buying in 25 years ago, when 'it would have been much cheaper'. The chief executive, Jon Varney, and Giles will, though, continue to run the club day to day. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion At 35, Jordan Henderson still has plenty to prove. There are doubts over his candidacy to be a member of Thomas Tuchel's England squad after ill-starred, and controversial, moves to Saudi Arabia and Ajax. If many expected a return to his Sunderland roots, Henderson chose London, there perhaps being little coincidence he is within easy reach of a Tuchel scouting trip. Henderson, as a Premier League-winning captain, brings huge experience, the type of leadership a club shorn of key personnel might seek. But has he the legs to play the all-out pressing style Brentford favoured under Frank and highly likely to continue under Andrews? Michael Kayode's loan move from Fiorentina was made permanent in May for a fee of £17.5m, after 12 impressive Premier League appearances. The Italy Under-21 international showed off his promise during that short window, including a rampaging overlapping right-back's performance in a 4-3 May victory over Manchester United that showed off Frank's team at its risk-and-reward best. 'He was very strong,' said the departed manager of a powerhouse performance from a player who has assimilated well into the Bees' culture. 'An easy decision,' said Giles once the move was made permanent. Kayode's long throws represent a considerable addition to the already dangerous set-piece repertoire Brentford can boast. Fábio Carvalho is another, though perhaps forgotten, ex-Liverpool player within the Brentford squad, someone who fell victim to the spate of injuries that denied Brentford's push for Europe last season. Like Igor Thiago, the club-record signing striker whose first season was wrecked by a knee injury, a shoulder injury robbed the 22-year-old of the final three months of 2024-25. Both Thiago and Carvalho will represent near-new additions to Brentford's squad. West London, when at Fulham, is where Carvalho played the best football of his career though admittedly at Championship level. Frank never quite harnessed the Portugal Under-21 player signed for £27.5m a year ago. 'The new coaches have been great – full of energy, fresh ideas,' Carvalho said during his club's pre-season training camp.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
New association gives players 'stronger voice'
A new, independent association for leading snooker players will give them "a stronger voice", according to its chairman John four-time world champion is a director of the Professional Snooker Players Association (PSPA) which says it is launching to "champion the sport", along with its leading names."We feel as though we've not been listened to as we should have been in recent years", Higgins told BBC Sport."The game has not moved forward with the times compared to other top sports."Snooker deserves a strong, independent players' association that stands for fairness, transparency, and progress." The association also claims the governance of snooker "should factor in more of the views of the players".It has vowed to foster a "collaborative relationship" with the sport's authorities, including the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), the existing WPBSA Players' Board, and World Snooker Tour "to enhance the sport's future, while safeguarding player welfare and commercial interests".The PSPA says it has established a players board comprising of Judd Trump, Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby, Barry Hawkins, Shaun Murphy, Ali Carter, Gary Wilson, Stuart Bingham, Jack Lisowski, Stephen Maguire, Mark Allen, Ryan Day and Joe Perry. Another player - Matthew Selt - has been appointed a director, alongside lawyers Ben Rees and Mark association also claims that seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan has agreed to become a member, along with Chinese stars Ding Junhui and Xiao Guodong."I've had lots of discussions with Ronnie" said Higgins. "He's really excited about it, so it's full steam ahead."The fact so many of the top players are behind the new body suggests some feel they do not have enough say in the running of the World Snooker Tour (WST), particularly the commercial the 2024 World Championship, the headlines at the Crucible were dominated by talk of a potential breakaway tour. This came after the game's top players were approached to play in lucrative events in China and North America as part of a potential breakaway players sign a contract which does not allow them to compete in any outside events while WST tournaments are being played, unless they are events sanctioned by the WST, although players have recently negotiated more the WST has been increasing the amount of prize money in the game, and is preparing to stage the sport's "fourth major" in Saudi Arabia with a prize pot of more than £2m. The second Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters will take place later this week in WPBSA's own players' body was formed in 2020, and the governing body says it has "a specific mandate to act in the collective best interest of members in relation to welfare and issues affecting the professional game."It says that it "acts as a channel for member concerns and provides a platform whereby issues surrounding their wellbeing can be raised at the highest levels by the WPBSA Players Board."The PSPA says it has been formed with expert guidance from leading sports law professionals, and that its key objectives include legal and commercial support to protect players' rights in sponsorship, broadcasting, and contractual matters.
