Russell Martin says Rangers could still play St Mirren tie
The expectation has been that Rangers would look to use that for the Buddies clash to give them the best chance of making the Champions League proper.
But Martin has suggested that may not be the case.
Speaking in today's presser previewing the game against the Czechs, he said the current expectation is they will play the game as planned.
More to follow.
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Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
Man Utd star rejects transfer offer and told he will 'never play for a big club'
Jadon Sancho has rejected a transfer approach to leave Manchester United and been told he will 'never play for a big club again'. The former England winger was hoping to earn a permanent move to Chelsea after being sent on loan to Stamford Bright last season. Chelsea had a £25m option to keep Sancho but instead decided to pay a £5m penalty to send him back to Old Trafford. Ruben Amorim has no plans to reintegrate Sancho into a first-team squad which is preparing for Sunday's Premier League opener against Arsenal. Sancho has been in talks with a number of Serie A clubs but received another transfer option this week in the form of Besiktas. In The Mixer: Exclusive analysis, FPL tips and transfer talk sent straight to your inbox every week – sign up, it's an open goal. The Turkish club's president Serdal Adali said: 'Just as much as the community wants him, I want him too. What matters is not only our desire, but also if the player wants to come to Turkey. 'We have a budget, and we will do our best to bring him here. Players like Jadon Sancho usually prefer clubs playing in the Champions League. 'Whether it happens today or not, it is hard to say. If it is possible, we will get him. Besiktas fans can rest assured.' But, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Sancho has rejected a reunion with former Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in Turkey. The 25-year-old is believed to be holding out for a move to Italy and has therefore rejected Besiktas' advances, though his stance may change if he is still searching for a new club as the transfer deadline approaches. Manchester United are hoping to sell Sancho for around £20m, which would represent a massive loss on a player they signed for £73m in 2021. Ex-Old Trafford striker Teddy Sheringham believes Sancho's hopes of joining another 'big club' are slim following his recent struggles. The best moments of Sancho's career came across two spells at Borussia Dortmund but the Bundesliga club have ruled out another move this summer. Sancho did help Chelsea qualify for the Champions League and win the Conference League last season but his individual performances were largely underwhelming. 'Jadon Sancho will definitely not play for a big club ever again,' United hero Sheringham told Snabbare. 'He will probably tell you that he can and he will but not for me. 'I see that he's burned his bridges with the manager. He's not even got a place in the changing room. 'Maybe if he'd be given another chance he could work for what Amorim wants but I know from experience once you've gone down that path of being unhappy and wanting out that it's very hard to turn it around with the manager, with the supporters, with the other players. 'You've got to show an unbelievable mental desire to turn that around. It can be done, and I know he's a talented lad, but I would be very, very surprised if that was the case now.' Sancho is not the only member of Amorim's 'bomb squad' this summer, with United also hoping to sell Alejandro Garnacho and Antony. Rasmus Hojlund, meanwhile, is free to leave following the signing of Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig. AC Milan are interested in the Denmark international. Hojlund has spent two underwhelming seasons at Old Trafford but Sheringham sympathises with the 22-year-old. 'I like his battling qualities, his endeavour and his desire,' Sheringham added. 'That's what is needed when things are going tough. More Trending 'But for me, he hasn't had the service. If he was missing four chances a game, you'd look at him and go, how can he still carry on playing? 'But he's not. He's having one chance every three games and snatching at it and not scoring. You can't feed off things like that as a striker. 'You need to be having those four chances and grabbing two of them then getting your confidence from there. I really feel for him. I think it's harsh to criticise him given the way that Manchester United play.' It remains to be seen whether Hojlund will still be a United player by the time Arsenal travel to Old Trafford for a mouth-watering Premier League opener on Sunday. For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. MORE: Christopher Nkunku approves transfer to new club as Chelsea make two demands MORE: Jamie Carragher reveals Arsenal's biggest 'problem' and his 'worry' for Liverpool MORE: Rio Ferdinand 'disagrees massively' with Manchester United transfer move
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Luis Enrique confirms he could have been Tottenham boss as he prepares to take them down in Super Cup with PSG
PSG are missing key player for match, with Gianluigi Donnarumma already axed QUE SERA Luis Enrique confirms he could have been Tottenham boss as he prepares to take them down in Super Cup with PSG Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) LUIS ENRIQUE confirmed he could have landed the Tottenham manager's job before taking over in Paris. The former Spain coach staged talks with Spurs in 2023, while Arne Slot also turned them down when he was still at Feyenoord. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Luis Enrique claims he could have been Spurs boss before joining PSG Credit: AP Eventually, Tottenham offered the position to Ange Postecoglou and Enrique ended up moving to Paris Saint-Germain. Preparing for Wednesday night's Uefa Super Cup clash with Spurs, he said: 'There were some options in the last six months before I came to Paris and Tottenham was one of them.' Enrique has proved to be a massive success at PSG as they won the Champions League for the first time last season. But the 55-year-old believes Spurs will have a huge advantage here in Italy because they have had a full pre-season while PSG have only been back for a week. READ MORE IN FOOTBALL 'HE'S SICK OF HER' Andy Carroll DUMPS Lou Teasdale after police quiz over boozy rows He added: 'I don't know what to expect. 'But we have had less than three weeks break and we started training. 'I don't know what the level will be. I don't know what we will pull out of the bag. 'I have to say it will be difficult to judge as Spurs recently changed their manager and the players have had some friendlies. BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS 'I don't know what kind of game they are going to play. This is our first week back but it's not an excuse. 'It will be difficult to improve on last season as we won practically everything.' Tottenham meet Eze's team | Transfers Exposed PSG skipper Marquinhos, 31, said: 'Tottenham are in a better position. We are not at the top of our fitness levels. Tottenham will give everything.' Defender Nuno Mendes, 23, said: 'We are not as fresh as we'd like to be mentally, we're all coming back from holiday.' PSG midfielder Joao Neves, 20, misses the game due to a suspension.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Premier League 2025-26 preview No 15: Newcastle United
Guardian writers' predicted position: 7th (NB: this is not necessarily Louise Taylor's prediction but the average of our writers' tips) Last season's position: 5th A Champions League campaign beckons and there is the Carabao Cup to defend but the removal of Alexander Isak's image from the windows of Newcastle's club store at St James' Park is emblematic of a troubled Tyneside summer. As if the Sweden striker's decision to skip the club's tour of Singapore and South Korea while trying to force a move to Liverpool was not bad enough, a succession of transfer targets have turned Newcastle down. Hugo Ekitiké, Bryan Mbeumo, João Pedro, James Trafford and Benjamin Sesko opted to move to Liverpool, London or Manchester as the majority Saudi Arabian-owned club operated without a sporting director and chief executive. The good news is that Eddie Howe is an excellent coach and possesses plenty of high-calibre players, Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimarães, Anthony Elanga, Joelinton and Anthony Gordon foremost among them. Throw in the arrivals of Anthony Elanga, Aaron Ramsdale and, almost certainly, Malick Thiaw and last season's starting XI has been fortified in goal, central defence and on the right wing. The need for a couple of strikers and, above all, a resolution to Isak's flirtation with Liverpool remains pressing. Howe's admission that he 'wants players that really want to play for this football club' suggests the manager has had enough of Isak but much depends on the expected impending financial haggling between Newcastle's owners and the Anfield board. Meanwhile Newcastle have failed to win a pre-season fixture. 'It's been a challenging summer,' Howe reflected. 'But any season can go one of two ways. Things are never as good or as bad as you think. At the moment I'm very neutral. I believe that from tough moments you can build something even more special than you had before.' Any concerns that Howe could flounder away from his south-coast comfort zone have been well and truly banished during the near four years the former Bournemouth manager has spent on Tyneside. The workaholic 47-year-old is an outstanding coach who, in the course of leading Newcastle into the Champions League for the second time in three seasons and choreographing the Carabao Cup triumph, has improved a series of players beyond measure. Joelinton's startling metamorphosis from struggling centre-forward to gamechanging midfielder is testament to Howe's talents. Although an excellent, highly articulate communicator, Newcastle's piano-playing manager does not dispense trust easily and, publicly at least, is a master of circumspection. Despite the gargantuan wealth of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Newcastle's relatively skinny commercial revenue streams dictate their spending is restricted by Premier League profitability and sustainability rules. Fans, and some players, are frustrated by the Saudis' failure to deliver a new training ground, and a decision as to whether to revamp St James' Park or build a new stadium keeps being postponed. It does not help that the club have spent the past 11 months seeking a new chief executive after the outgoing Darren Eales's blood cancer diagnosis and have been without a sporting director this summer in the wake of Paul Mitchell's abrupt exit in June, after less than a year in the job. Since the ousting of the former minority owner Amanda Staveley and her husband, Mehrdad Ghodoussi, last summer the lack of an Arabist and/or an executive conversant with Saudi business culture in Newcastle's UK hierarchy has created an apparent disconnect. The £55m signing of Elanga from Nottingham Forest ends Howe's long-running quest for a new right winger. 'I want to showcase my talent,' says the rapid-dribbling 23-year-old Sweden international. 'I'm pacey and direct. I can play on either side, I can play as a striker. I can use both feet. I've got lots of weapons. I know the gaffer and staff here can take my game to another level. What we want to achieve, how we want to play, it's perfect. What we're building here is unique and special. As soon as I knew about Newcastle's interest it was a no brainer.' Howe has long been impressed by a player whose solitary work on his left foot during lockdown has left Elanga two-footed. 'I've got a saying where I'm precise, not rushed,' says the former Manchester United winger. 'It's a French saying, precis pas précipité, something I go by a lot. In my life, I've never rushed anything.' Lewis Miley is 19 but looks very much the complete midfielder and holds two England Under-21 caps. After breaking into Newcastle's first team during the 2023-24 campaign, a 6ft 2in player with an eye for goal, equally at home in a defensive or attacking midfield role, was restricted to 14 appearances last season. If a back injury was partly responsible, the best youngster to emerge from Newcastle's academy for a very long time faced stiff completion from Tonali, Guimarães and Joelinton for a starting spot in Howe's midfield trinity. The demands of a Champions League campaign should create more opportunities this term when Miley can show he is capable of providing real competition for Guimarães and co. At 27 Aaron Ramsdale has suffered three relegations from the Premier League (with Bournemouth, Sheffield United and Southampton), been bought by Arsenal for £30m and won five England caps. He joins on loan from Southampton and will compete with Nick Pope for a starting place. Howe, Ramsdale's old Bournemouth manager, admires his footwork and regards his former protege as the sort of goalkeeper needed to advance Newcastle's stylistic evolution. But is Ramsdale really a better all-round keeper than Pope? Can he recapture the form that once made him Arsenal's first choice? And can he assuage Newcastle's disappointment at seeing Manchester City hijack their move for Trafford, the gifted former Burnley goalkeeper?
