Sports
Transfer rumors, news: Man United’s Højlund wants loan move
Rasmus Højlund wants any loan deal to include an obligation to make it permanent if he leaves Manchester United, while Arsenal are weighing up a move for Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Rogers. Join us for the latest transfer news, rumors and gossip from around the globe.
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TOP STORIES
– Sources: Chelsea owners BlueCo closing in on Enciso deal
– Sources: Chelsea’s Renato Veiga close to Villarreal move
– Sources: Arsenal set to hijack Tottenham’s £67.5m move for Eze
– Source: USMNT’s Aaronson near move from Frankfurt to Rapids
– Source: Orlando Pirates’ Mofokeng on brink of move to Minnesota
TRENDING RUMORS
— Manchester United striker Rasmus Højlund has made it clear to Napoli, RB Leipzig, AC Milan and any other interested clubs that he wants any loan deal to include an obligation to sign for them permanently rather than an option, reports Fabrizio Romano. The 22-year-old had been keen to stay at Old Trafford but now wants to feel the confidence of his new club if he is to leave. Elsewhere, Corriere dello Sport state that Højlund is the most likely option to replace Napoli’s injured striker Romelu Lukaku.
– While Arsenal are closing on a £67.5 million deal to sign Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze from under the noses of Tottenham Hotspur, they are also weighing up a move for Aston Villa attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers, claims The Sun. A potential long-term injury to striker Kai Havertz has made an attempt to sign Rogers more likely, but the Gunners had already been closely monitoring the 23-year-old as they looked for somebody to challenge Gabriel Martinelli on the left wing. Villa are determined to keep the England international and are no longer under financial pressure, so they are unlikely to entertain any offers under £80m.
– Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho is now on Internazionale‘s short list, reports TEAMtalk, which adds that Roma are also still in picture after initially being rejected by the 25-year-old. Sancho could look for a loan to keep his options open as a free agent in 2026, with Borussia Dortmund and Juventus the frontrunners. Turkish side Besiktas are also interested in the winger, who has no future at Old Trafford after signing for €85m from Dortmund in 2021.
– Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott is RB Leipzig’s top option to replace midfielder Xavi Simons, says Florian Plettenberg, with the Netherlands international being set to join Chelsea for around €60m after the Bundesliga opener against Bayern Munich. Leipzig have already agreed personal terms with Elliott — who was a standout performer in England’s U21 Euros win this summer — and the Reds would let him leave if they received a suitable offer.
– Brentford have rejected Newcastle United‘s improved offer of £35m, plus £5m in add-ons, to sign striker Yoane Wissa, as reported by The Athletic. Brentford haven’t given any club a valuation for the transfer of the 28-year-old, who wants to make the move to St James’ Park, but clearly want more than £40m. Newcastle had previously had a £25m offer rejected, while Nottingham Forest have seen two bids rejected since last January but have now moved on to other targets.
CONFIRMED DEALS
– Bayer Leverkusen have signed Man City forward Claudio Echeverri on a season-long loan. Read
– Bournemouth have completed the €21m signing of Bayer Leverkusen winger Amine Adli. Read
– Leeds have signed Switzerland forward Noah Okafor from AC Milan for a reported fee which could rise to £18m. Read
– United States youth international Adrian Simon Gill has extended his contract with Barcelona until 2026. Read
EXPERT TAKE
ESPN’s Sam Tighe on why Arsenal are unlikely to sign both Eberechi Eze and Morgan Rogers.
It’s no surprise that Arsenal have reignited their Eze interest — perhaps the surprise was that they let it go cold, after clearly doing a lot of groundwork on the deal in early summer — and Rogers, who was just crowned PFA Young Player of the Year, is a player of such potential, he’ll be on everyone’s watchlist.
The players share some distinct similarities: They’re both exciting, dynamic, ball-carrying forwards who can play across the attacking midfield line (although Eze rarely plays on the right); they both cut their teeth in the EFL Championship, making them relatively late bloomers at the top level; and they’re both homegrown, which always helps with squad registration.
Eze, four years Rogers’ senior, is understandably a much more polished footballer. The highlight reel shows 45 Premier League goal contributions in the past three seasons; the deep dive reveals how often he makes the right choice in possession, which is a truly valuable trait.
Rogers is fairly inexperienced for a 23-year-old these days, but is catching up fast. His 40-yard runs with the ball are thrilling, but he does lose the ball a lot too — he ranked in the 6th percentile last season for mis-controls (3.29 per 90) and the 13th percentile for times dispossessed (2.14 per 90).
Eze is ready for a big step; Rogers less so. Having already signed six senior players this summer, it’s highly unlikely the Gunners can acquire both, and if it is to be Eze, it’s likely the right call.
OTHER RUMORS
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– Manchester United have been linked with three midfielders: Brighton’s Carlos Baleba, Sevilla’s Lucien Agoume and Sporting’s Morten Hjulmand, but have yet to progress a deal for any of them. (GMS)
– Everton are interested in Manchester City defender Nathan Ake, with Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitaly Mykolenko both having suffered injuries. (Daily Mail)
– Real Betis are looking at signing Arsenal left back Oleksandr Zinchenko, who will be allowed to move on this summer. (GMS)
– Marseille are looking at Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas and West Ham United’s Emerson Palmieri as they aim to sign a left back. (Footmercato)
– Galatasaray and Al Ittihad have joined Internazionale, Juventus and AC Milan in looking at Marseille midfielder Adrien Rabiot after he was placed on the transfer list for a fight with teammate Jonathan Rowe. (Footmercato)
– Al Ahli have raised their offer to sign Juventus midfielder Manuel Locatelli to €35m, with a salary of €12m per year. (Nicolo Schira)
– Marc Casado can decide his own future, but Barcelona would be open to offers for the midfielder worth over €30m. Wolves, Bournemouth, West Ham United, Real Betis and Atletico Madrid are among those interested in the 21-year-old. (Sport)
– Villarreal have agreed to sign Renato Veiga from Chelsea in a €29.5m package that includes add-ons and a percentage of the defender’s next move. (Fabrizio Romano)
– AC Milan have reached an agreement with Bayer Leverkusen worth €30m for the loan of striker Victor Boniface with an option to permanently sign him. The Rossoneri are also looking at Sporting CP forward Conrad Harder and Vasco da Gama winger Rayan. (Sky Sports Italia)
– Nottingham Forest have reached an agreement with Juventus for the loan of Douglas Luiz with an obligation to make the deal permanent dependent on the number of games he plays. Forest also have an option to sign the midfielder for around €30m if that figure isn’t met. (Athletic)
– Luiz’s departure means Juventus can move to bring striker Kolo Randal Muani back from Paris Saint-Germain on a €10m loan with a €35m-€40m conditional obligation to make the deal permanent. (Gazzetta dello Sport)
– Bayer Leverkusen have made Monaco winger Eliesse Ben Seghir their priority for the rest of the transfer window. Negotiations are ongoing with the Ligue 1 side wanting a fee of well over €30m. (Florian Plettenberg)
– Bayer Leverkusen have also put Feyenoord midfielder Quinten Timber on their shortlist as they look to strengthen that position. (Florian Plettenberg)
– Bournemouth have rekindled their interest in Chelsea defender Axel Disasi. (Daily Mail)
– Galatasaray will make their offer to Manuel Akanji after reaching an agreement with Manchester City for the defender. (Fabrizio Romano)
– Napoli are negotiating with Girona for right-back Arnau Martinez, who they see as a back-up option if they are unable to sign Sevilla’s Juanlu Sanchez. (Calciomercato)
– Girona are positioning themselves to bring in Barcelona goalkeeper Inaki Pena, but there is also competition from Como and Celta Vigo among others. (Mundo Deportivo)
The 2025 MLB playoffs are down to the final four teams after an action-packed division series round that saw the Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners move on in thrilling Game 5s.
Now that the matchups are set — Los Angeles Dodgers-Brewers and Mariners-Toronto Blue Jays — it’s time for some (more) predictions! We asked our MLB experts to weigh in on who will reach the World Series, which players will earn league championship series MVP honors and the themes that will rule the week to come. We also had our experts explain why their initial Fall Classic picks are still in play — or where they went very wrong.
LCS previews: Blue Jays-Mariners, Dodgers-Brewers | Bracket
Jump to: ALCS | NLCS | Predictions we got right | … and wrong
ALCS
Seattle Mariners (8 votes)
In how many games: seven games (5 votes), six games (3)
MVP if Mariners win: Cal Raleigh (4), Randy Arozarena (2), Josh Naylor (1), Julio Rodriguez (1)
Who picked Seattle: Jorge Castillo, Alden Gonzalez, Paul Hembekides, Eric Karabell, Tim Keown, Kiley McDaniel, Jeff Passan, David Schoenfield
Toronto Blue Jays (7 votes)
In how many games: seven games (3 votes), six games (3), five games (1)
MVP if Blue Jays win: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3), George Springer (1), Kevin Gausman (1), Daulton Varsho (1), Ernie Clement (1)
Who picked Toronto: Tristan Cockcroft, Bradford Doolittle, Tim Kurkjian, Matt Marrone, Dan Mullen, Buster Olney, Jesse Rogers
The one thing we’ll all be talking about:
How a perpetually tormented franchise is going to represent the American League in the World Series. The Mariners have played 49 seasons. They’re the only team in MLB never to make the World Series. And to advance to the American League Championship Series in such dramatic fashion only supercharges the stakes for them.
The Blue Jays, meanwhile, spend year after year in the AL East meat grinder, haven’t been to the World Series since winning it in 1993 and returned much of the roster from a team that went 74-88 last year. They’re a delightful team to watch, though, putting the ball in play, vacuuming balls on the defensive side like Pac-Man, running the bases with purpose and throwing tons of filthy splitters.
Destiny calls one of these snakebit organizations. It’s a fight decades in the making. — Jeff Passan
The stars in both lineups. On one side you have George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who torched the Yankees in the American League Division Series. On the other, it’s Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh. Complementary players matter in October, but stars fuel deep October runs. — Jorge Castillo
There’s so much to like about the Mariners — the powerful lineup led by Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez, good starting pitching and an effective closer, and they’re good at home — but they will start this series at such a disadvantage because of how their series played out against the Tigers. Whether Dan Wilson chooses an opener or goes with a starting pitcher on short rest or leans into Bryan Woo for his first appearance in a month, the dominoes from the ALDS Game 5 will affect the choices Seattle will have to make in this round. Meanwhile, the Jays will be relatively well-rested. — Buster Olney
It rarely comes down to one thing in baseball, but as I like the way the Blue Jays’ hitters match up against the Seattle staff, I think we’ll be harping on the importance of making contact as a standout trait for an offense in this era of strikeout hyper-inflation. This will especially be the case if the Blue Jays end up playing the Brewers in the World Series. Batting average is alive and well! — Bradford Doolittle
NLCS
Los Angeles Dodgers (10 votes)
In how many games: seven games (2 votes), six games (4), five games (3), four games (1)
MVP if Dodgers win: Shohei Ohtani (6), Blake Snell (2), Teoscar Hernandez (1), Freddie Freeman (1)
Who picked Los Angeles: Jorge Castillo, Alden Gonzalez, Paul Hembekides, Tim Kurkjian, Matt Marrone, Kiley McDaniel, Buster Olney, Jeff Passan, Jesse Rogers, David Schoenfield
Milwaukee Brewers (5 votes)
In how many games: seven games (3 votes), six games (2)
MVP if Brewers win: Jackson Chourio (4), Andrew Vaughn (1)
Who picked Milwaukee: Tristan Cockcroft, Bradford Doolittle, Eric Karabell, Tim Keown, Dan Mullen
The one thing we’ll all be talking about:
How the Dodgers’ rotation doesn’t just have them on the brink of becoming the first repeat champion in a quarter century, but might make a case for the best a team has ever fielded this time of year. The foursome of Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow will continue to dominate. — Alden Gonzalez
How the big market Dodgers have tipped the economic scales in baseball will be the talk during the World Series, but for the LCS, the conversation will be about Shohei Ohtani. He’s going to get hot. Hitting .148 in the postseason so far — with 12 strikeouts to just three walks — is an outlier. That will reverse itself very soon as his struggles this postseason come to an end starting on Monday. He’s your NLCS MVP. — Jesse Rogers
Can anyone stop the Dodgers? It’s the same question that was asked last year. The answer was no. And now Los Angeles is coming off a series in which it beat a very game Philadelphia team while posting a .557 OPS and hitting two home runs, the fewest of any division series team. The prospect of the Dodgers’ bats staying cold for an extended period of time is unlikely, regardless of what’s thrown at them.
After two rounds, the Dodgers have solved their closer issue — Roki Sasaki is the guy — but their lack of bullpen depth has been exacerbated. For a seven-game series, manager Dave Roberts needs to find at least one more reliever he can trust, or the Dodgers could find themselves in the sort of late-inning trouble that has yet to derail them. If that and the paltry offense couldn’t do the job, perhaps nothing can. — Passan
The talk of the NLCS will be the same story as in the Dodgers’ NLDS win over the Phillies: the starting pitching and their new closer.
Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow are peaking at the right time, the main reason — along with Roki Sasaki — why the Dodgers held the Phillies to a .212 average in their series (and under .200 if you ignore the Clayton Kershaw disastrous relief outing). Of course, the related talk, if they do dominate, is that this is the ultimate store-bought staff of high-end pitchers, with four free agents and Glasnow (acquired in a trade, signed to a big extension). Not a single homegrown starter. — David Schoenfield
World Series predictions we’re right about — so far
I rarely go chalk when filling out a bracket, but this year I did exactly that by seed line — picking both the Brewers and Blue Jays. Of course, those No. 1 seeds were also far less popular choices going into the postseason than the Yankees and Phillies, among others, but a second straight World Series between top seeds is still in play. — Dan Mullen
The Blue Jays easily handled the Yankees, especially at Rogers Centre. They’re rightfully the slight Vegas favorite to win this series with home-field advantage. But I picked the Mariners to win the World Series before the regular season started and again before the postseason, so I’m sticking with them. — Castillo
The Dodgers were one bad Orion Kerkering decision away from potentially having to go back to Philadelphia and win a do-or-die game — and now, they should be everyone’s favorites. The Yankees just got beaten by a better team. — Passan
Well, obviously the Phillies found a way to “Phillies” again, so they won’t be winning, but I had the Mariners representing the AL, and they have the pitching to hold the Blue Jays relatively in check. In the NL, it’s Milwaukee’s best chance in such a long time. It may be unconventional against the behemoth Dodgers, but the Brewers have the pitching and depth. We’ll have a first-time WS champion, the Brewers. — Eric Karabell
World Series predictions gone wrong
My World Series pick (Phillies-Yankees): If I had it to do all over again, I would have picked two teams that did not lose in the LDS. Thinking back to my late-September self, I’m sure I was entranced by the veteran presence and long ball power on both the Phillies and Yankees. It did not work out. — Doolittle
I also predicted Yankees-Phillies, a 2009 World Series rematch that failed to materialize thanks to a scorching Blue Jays lineup and a dominant showing from the Dodgers’ starting rotation. — Paul Hembekides
Before the playoffs, I predicted the Phillies would beat the Dodgers in the NLDS and go on to win the World Series. The home-field advantage wasn’t what I thought it would be for Philly, though the starters and Jhoan Duran were as good as expected: 30.1 innings, 6 earned runs for a 1.78 ERA in the series. I’ll shift my World Series winner prediction over to the Dodgers, as they were my second option from before the playoffs. — Kiley McDaniel
I had the Phillies winning the World Series, which says a lot about what it meant for the defending-champion Dodgers to get past them in the division series. They might have been the most talented in this field. — Gonzalez
Since my original pick, the Phillies, decided to play the Dodgers just as Roki Sasaki and Emmet Sheehan transformed the Dodgers’ bullpen into a formidable unit, Los Angeles seems like the obvious pick here now — and why not a West Coast World Series against the Mariners, with the shadows creeping from the mound to home plate in the late afternoon sun, and every game ending 2-1? — Tim Keown
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NFL legend J.J. Watt took the opportunity to roast himself during the CBS broadcast of a Week 6 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
The broadcast featured a photo of Watt from when he was in the trenches with the Wisconsin Badgers. The photo that was shown was from Wisconsin’s media day in 2008. He was unable to play that season after he transferred to the school from Central Michigan.
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Wisconsin Badgers defensive tackle J.J. Watt (99) celebrates following the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Camp Randall Stadium on Nov. 27, 2010. (Jeff Hanisch/USA TODAY Sports)
Play-by-play broadcaster Ian Eagle asked Watt, “What exactly was going on?”
“Oh my gosh! I was fat, and I had a weird facial-hair situation going on. … I (didn’t) know how to tie a tie. I have a chinstrap going on,” Watt said. “That is a bad look. A lot of Mickies Dairy Bar in my system.”
Watt played two seasons with the Badgers, recording 11.5 sacks in 26 games. He entered the NFL Draft after the 2010 season and the Houston Texans made him the No. 11 overall selection.
J.J. Watt in attendance of the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Jan. 26, 2025. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
He went on to become one of the greatest players in Texans history and is likely to become a Hall of Famer once he’s eligible.
For now, Watt can be heard on the CBS broadcast. Sunday wasn’t the only time this season his appearance has been mentioned. The former defensive lineman debuted a new hairstyle. CBS called it “feathered and lethal.”
FILE – In this Dec. 27, 2020, file photo, Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt walks on the field before an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith, File)
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Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers had 235 passing yards and two touchdown passes as the Steelers defeated the Browns 23-9. DK Metcalf and Connor Heyward had the touchdown grabs.
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Australia defeated India by three wickets in a record run chase in the women’s ODIs during the World Cup 2025 match at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, on Sunday.
Australia successfully chased down a massive 331-run target with six balls to spare.
Earlier, India posted an imposing 330 all out in 48.5 overs, powered by a superb opening stand between Smriti Mandhana (80 off 66) and Pratika Rawal (75 off 96).
The duo’s 142-run partnership provided a commanding platform before middle-order contributions from Harleen Deol (38), Jemimah Rodrigues (33 off 21), and Richa Ghosh (32 off 22) lifted India to their highest-ever World Cup total.
Annabel Sutherland grabbed five wickets for 54 while Sophie Molineux struck crucial blows to India by dismissing three batters.
In reply, Alyssa Healy led from the front with a match-winning 142 off 107 balls, laced with 21 fours and three sixes.
She found solid support from Phoebe Litchfield (40), Ashleigh Gardner (45), and Ellyse Perry, whose unbeaten 47 guided Australia home in style.
Despite Shree Charani’s three wickets and Amanjot Kaur’s two, India could not halt the Australian charge.
The victory marked the highest successful run chase in ICC Women’s World Cup history, reaffirming Australia’s dominance and depth under pressure.
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