Archive September 1, 2025

Aston Villa have signed Manchester United forward Jadon Sancho and Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott on loan, with both parties agreeing to pay a purchase fee.

Elliott, 22, will receive a £35 million package, which includes sell-on and buy-back clauses.

Elliott’s signature was contested by Villa, who also turned down West Ham and Fulham earlier this summer.

Given the potential of the England Under-21 international and the fact that regular first-team football will aid his development, Liverpool thought the inclusion of a buy-back clause was necessary.

Sancho, 25, had earlier turned down a move to Roma, and another Italian side, Juventus, had expressed interest.

Villa are guaranteed to pay 80% of Sancho’s over-£200k-a-week wages, while Manchester United anticipates full pay for the entire season thanks to the loan fee and readily achievable bonuses.

Victor Lindelof, a former United defender, was signed by Villa for a two-year deal earlier on the transfer deadline day, with the Swede set to leave for free.

Sancho has spent the last 18 months on loan at Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund, but neither side made a permanent deal, with Chelsea paying a £5 million fine for breaking their contract.

His United contract expires the summer of 2018, but Ruben Amorim’s side has the option to extend it to prevent him from leaving for nothing.

Aston Villa needed reinforcements, not whether they arrived on deadline day or before.

The squad’s frailties were exposed by Sunday’s 3-0 home loss to Crystal Palace, their first Premier League defeat at Villa Park in a year.

In their first three Premier League games, Villa have only earned a point and lack the energy that has been hallmark of Unai Emery’s side.

A worrying decline has resulted in the need for reinforcements in the wake of Villa’s commitment to profit and sustainability regulations.

This summer, pushing back moves were always going to happen, as were the Under-21 European Championship and the Club World Cup. Therefore, it needs to be seen as good business rather than late business when Harvey Elliott and Jadon Sancho arrive, in addition to Victor Lindelof.

Elliott won the player of the tournament award after scoring twice in the quarter-final, a double in the semi-final, and the opener against Germany in the final.

He has won the Premier League, the EFL Cup twice, the Super Cup, and two Under-21 European Championships and is a mature and respectful 22-year-old with a lot of experience.

The lack of game time at Anfield was Elliott’s only gripe. He lacks any evidence, but he will give a Villa team that looked lifeless at the start of the season class and guile.

Sancho, in contrast, appears to be moving up a gear in his quest to establish his ability to perform best in the Premier League.

When Marcus Rashford was on a loan from Manchester United last year, Emery successfully utilized his ability to make a comeback in the England squad.

Kevin Shakhtar Donetsk has been signed for a club-record sum of £34.6 million.

The Cottagers have a five-year contract with the Brazilian, who has the option to extend it by a further year.

“I’m happy to be playing for a huge club in the world,” Kevin said.

“I’m very happy for everything that’s happening in my life,” said the Fulham forward, “I hope to score a lot of goals this year” and do great work.”

Kevin is the second wide player to travel to Craven Cottage on deadline day, scoring 17 goals in all 57 games for the Ukrainian side.

Prior to the late afternoon transfer window collapse, Fulham made announcements regarding the loan signing of AC Milan’s Samuel Chukwueze and the signing of Chelsea forward Tyrique George for a fee of £22 million.

Chukwueze, 26, made eight goals in 70 games for the seven-time European champions when he first arrived in West London.

The 2023-born Nigerian international previously played 206 games for Villarreal, but injury prevented them from winning the Europa League penalty shootout against Manchester United in the 2021 final.

“I’m so happy to be here; it’s a fantastic club. Because I have people around me, Chukwueze said, “It feels like home.”

“I already feel at home, and I’m eager to begin.”

US Open 2025

Dates: August 24 through September 7 in Flushing Meadows, New York

Andrey Rublev, 15, and Felix Auger-Aliassime, 15, both won in straight sets to set up a US Open quarter-final match against Alex de Minaur, an Australian.

For the first time since 2021, the Canadian, 25, dominated the Russian 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows.

Given that Rublev had defeated Auger-Aliassime seven of their previous eight matches, he had been the favorite before the match.

Rublev, who won the US Open junior championship in 2016, outshot him, hitting 42 winners to the Russian 22 and losing his serve just once, though.

“I’ve played well against Andrey in the past, but I kept my cool and stayed composed all the way through the match,” said Auger-Aliassime.

“I’ve only been playing on Arthur Ashe for a few years, but it feels better than ever.”

I was on my way up when I did it for the first time at age 21. To return to the quarter-finals after a few setbacks, injuries, and struggles with confidence, it feels much better and more deserved.

“Every moment here is worth it,” I declare.

De Minaur only needed one hour and 33 minutes to reach the quarter-finals, despite the fact that the Australian eighth seed struggled to beat the world number 435.

Breaks early in the first set gave the impression that Louis Armstrong Stadium’s audience was going to enjoy a close game, but Riedi’s all-or-nothing aggressive game was his demise.

De Minaur won the match in 32 minutes after seven break points in the first set alone.

De Minaur won five straight games before Riedi experienced a brief resurgence before breaking from 0-40 down and setting out for his stall for the second set.

Riedi made 15 unforced errors in the second set, which gave him a slight advantage in the second set.

After two separate operations at the end of last year, Riedi performed admirably in the last 16 before his service game started to unravel as a leg issue got worse.

De Minaur, who has never been after the final eight of a major, said, “I’ve always believed that the first job is to get there and give myself the opportunity.”

For the first time in his career, Lorenzo Musetti defeated Jaume Munar 6-3, 6-1, 6-1, and scored a potential last-eight tie with fellow compatriot Jannik Sinner at Louis Armstrong Stadium later that day.

Italian Musetti broke early in the opening set, hitting 12 winners in place of Munar’s three.

Munar, who managed just five of the 29 points in the second set, managed to lose.

The Spaniard slowed down as he held off Musetti’s 10 straight wins, and after that, he should have broken but spurned three break points, Musetti’s defensive game still remained unmistakable.