Bologna favourites to sign Miller
Bologna have emerged as favourites to sign Lennon Miller after Udinese failed to match Motherwell's valuation of the Scotland midfielder, 18. (Sun), externalCeltic and Strasbourg have submitted offers for Manchester City's 19-year-old English defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey. (Football Insider), externalCeltic are keen on Josh Brownhill, who announced his Burnley departure on Monday, but Brendan Rodgers' side could face competition from West Ham United. (Record), externalRangers have emerged as favourites to sign English winger Mikey Moore, 17, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur. (Matt Law - Telegraph), externalValur midfielder Tomas Bent Magnusson, 22, will fly to Edinburgh this week to undergo a medical and sign a long-term deal with Hearts. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription required), external
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The Independent
3 minutes ago
- The Independent
Liverpool will not be held to ransom in pursuit of Alexander Isak
Liverpool will not be held to ransom in their pursuit of Newcastle striker Alexander Isak. The PA news agency understands the Premier League champions remain keen on the 25-year-old Sweden international, who was made to train by himself on Tyneside on Wednesday after missing the Magpies' pre-season trip to Singapore and South Korea amid speculation over his future. However, as they await completion of Darwin Nunez's proposed 53million euros – around £46.3million – plus bonuses move to Saudi club Al Hilal, sources on Merseyside indicated they would not enter a bidding war as they sought a replacement. Liverpool's admiration of Isak, who scored what proved to be the winning goal against them in last season's Carabao Cup final at Wembley, is well known and they have already tabled a bid of around £110m, which was swiftly rejected. Newcastle have repeatedly insisted the Swede, for whom they paid Real Sociedad £63m during the summer of 2022, is simply not for sale and with three years remaining on his existing contract, they hold a strong position in one sense. However Isak, who signalled his intention to explore his options during the current transfer window, has so far resisted all overtures to sign a new, long-term deal at St James' Park and that appears to have encouraged the Anfield club that they may be able to prise him from head coach Eddie Howe's grasp. That said, the Reds are understood to have drawn up a series of criteria which will govern their pursuit of the former AIK Solna and Borussia Dortmund forward, or indeed alternative targets. Among them are an insistence that any replacement must be of the required quality, must represent fair market value and perhaps most importantly, must be realistically attainable. In that context, Newcastle's asking price of £150m – which was designed to ward off potential suitors – would seem a significant obstacle, as would their long-held stance on his availability, although there is little doubt that he would meet the quality requirement having scored 27 goals in all competitions last season. In addition, the Magpies' interest in RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko looks unlikely to come to fruition with Manchester United confident they are in the driving seat, complicating the search for a credible replacement with Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson having being touted as an option. Newcastle were already in the market for a striker following Callum Wilson's departure at the end of last season, but plugging the gap left by a man around whom Howe would ideally want to build his team, during a summer which has already proved intensely difficult, would be both difficult and expensive. The alternative is to persuade Isak that his future remains at St James' at least in the short term – there is little doubt that his head has been turned – and that is a task which would take all his manager's estimable powers. It remains to be seen whether or not Liverpool will increase their offer for the player if and when the Nunez deal is finalised. They will bank a significant proportion of the 75m euros – around £65.4m – plus bonuses they paid Benfica for the 26-year-old Uruguay international in June 2022, having rebuffed advances from Saudi Arabia in January and Napoli, who are understood not to have met the club's valuation and to have wanted to pay the fee over five years, this summer.
The Independent
3 minutes ago
- The Independent
Michael ‘Venom' Page on the frustrations that led to surprise fight with Jared Cannonier at UFC 319
Michael 'Venom' Page has explained his decision to stay at middleweight for his next UFC fight, despite previously expressing an intention to drop back to welterweight. A longtime welterweight fighter in Bellator, 'MVP' debuted in the UFC in the same division in March 2024, outpointing Kevin Holland. But after losing a decision to Ian Machado Garry last June, Page's next move was to head up to middleweight. There, the Briton proved his doubters wrong by outpointing the highly-touted Shara Magomedov in February. And although Page told The Independent before that bout, 'I'm fixated on getting business done [at welterweight],' his next fight will also take place at middleweight. The kickboxing specialist, 38, will face former title challenger Jared Cannonier at UFC 319 on 16 August. 'I want all the smoke, I want to go where the smoke is,' Page told The Independent on Wednesday (6 August). 'It feels like the guys in the welterweight division are not carrying any fire. It seems to be very political, it's a bit too technical about who fights who. 'There's even more people with even more claims of getting that title shot [than at middleweight], so a lot of people don't want to take those dangerous fights if they don't have to. And to add to the welterweight division, Islam is moving up as well now, which just holds up the division even more.' Page was referring to Islam Makhachev, who vacated the lightweight title in May with the intention of challenging for the welterweight belt. Makhachev is due to get his chance later this year, facing champion Jack Della Maddalena – potentially at UFC 322 in November. 'In the middleweight division, there are just a lot of hungry guys wanting to make it to the top,' Page continued. 'Everyone, it seems, is more excited to just fight and make big fights happen, continue to prove themselves. Even if they feel like they're next in line [for a title shot], they're still willing to take that extra fight to push them closer. "I was just tried of waiting, so I said: 'I've done it once [at middleweight], let me try it again.' Until things are cleared up down there, I'll just get some good fights at middleweight." Discussing how comfortable he felt at 185lb in his bout with Magomedov, Page added: 'I felt really good. It's weird, because most of your camp [even at welterweight], you're actually sparring at that weight [closer to 185lb]. So, although we cut down to whatever we cut down to, we never really stand around at [170lb]. So, it feels way more comfortable [at 185lb], because I've spent a lot more of my career – off-camera – at that weight.' Magomedov was the betting favourite against Page, entering that contest with an unbeaten record, but the latter's kickboxing capabilities trumped the Russian's. 'Even speaking to people afterwards, I knew he was the favourite,' Page said. 'I didn't go in there worried about that. I, and a lot of the British media, already knew it was a very good match-up for me. Anybody that's willing to stand in front of me is gonna have a problem.' Cannonier is also expected to stand in front of Page. The American, 41, is known for his heavy hands and previously fought at heavyweight and light-heavyweight. 'It'd be silly to overlook somebody of his calibre, who's fought absolutely everybody,' Page said. 'There's not really been one [fight] where he's been dominated. He's given all those names, every single one of those amazing fighters, a great fight. 'Heavyweight to light-heavyweight to middleweight, and I'm coming up to middleweight, so you know he's gonna be very strong. 'And he's a person that's going out on his shield. Even in his last fight: he got knocked down, it looked like it was going the other way, and he stuck in there, kept it going, then came back and won the fight himself.' Cannonier's last outing ended as a stoppage win over Gregory Rodrigues in February, with the 'Killa Gorilla' sealing the finish early in round four. With that, Cannonier snapped a two-fight losing streak. The American has fought a who's who of middleweights, from former champions Robert Whittaker, Sean Strickland, Anderson Silva and Israel Adesanya – who held the title when he beat Cannonier – to contenders Kelvin Gastelum, Marvin Vettori, Jack Hermansson and Nassourdine Imavov.
BBC News
3 minutes ago
- BBC News
Gossip: Foxes eye Doyle as Ndidi jets off
Leicester and Nigeria midfielder Wilfred Ndidi, 28, is set to undergo a medical at Besiktas ahead of an £8.5m move to the Turkish Super Lig. (Sky Sports, external)Norwich are hoping to beat Leicester and Sheffield United to the signing of England under-21 defender Callum Doyle, 21, who is valued around £10m by Man City. (SportsBoom, external)Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Thursday's gossip column here.
