Archive September 9, 2025

Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven is a target for Real Madrid, Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo wants a January move while Arsenal will consider selling an attacking duo.

Real Madrid are interested in signing Tottenham centre-back Micky van de Ven, 24, but Spurs would only consider selling the Netherlands defender for about £70m. (Fichajes – in Spanish)

Manchester United and England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, 20, may seek to resurrect a loan move to Napoli in January if he does not get more game-time at Old Trafford. (ESPN)

Arsenal will consider the sales of Brazil striker Gabriel Jesus, 28, and Belgium forward Leandro Trossard, 30, in the January transfer window. (Football Insider)

West Ham are in talks to re-sign Polish goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski just two months after the 40-year-old left club when his contract expired. (Talksport)

Crystal Palace’s French striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, 28, has no interest in a move to Leeds United but finds the prospect of joining Aston Villa enticing. (Teamtalk)

Liverpool and Newcastle are the latest clubs to join the race to sign England and Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton, 21, with Chelsea and Manchester United also among interested parties. (Teamtalk)

Tottenham’s Yves Bissouma, 29, is headed for the exit door with the Mali midfielder falling out of favour under new boss Thomas Frank. (Football Insider)

Atletico Madrid are eyeing Tottenham’s Rodrigo Bentancur with the 28-year-old Uruguay midfielder’s contract set to expire next summer. (Fichajes – in Spanish)

New Nottingham Forest boss Ange Postecoglou may bring former Tottenham backroom staff members Mile Jedinak, Nick Montgomery and Sergio Raimundo to the City Ground. (Mail)

Manchester United are hoping goalkeeper Andre Onana can perform well on loan at Trabzonspor this season so they can sell the 29-year-old Cameroon international for a sizeable fee next summer. (Football Insider)

Manchester United’s 21-year-old English winger Sam Mather might leave for a club in Turkey before their transfer window closes either on loan or permanently. (Manchester Evening News)

Joao Mendes, son of Brazil and Barcelona legend Ronaldinho, is leaving Burnley with the 20-year-old winger set to join Hull City’s under-21s set-up. (Hull Daily Mail)

Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has accepted responsibility for the shock 2-1 defeat by Armenia in Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier in Yerevan and is candid about the fact his position will now come under scrutiny.

The hugely underwhelming performance against a team ranked 105 in the world followed a 2-2 draw against Hungary in their opening game.

It has left the Republic bottom of Group F on one point and facing an uphill struggle to qualify for next year’s finals.

Eduard Spertsyan’s penalty put Armenia ahead in first-half stoppage time and Grant-Leon Ranos doubled the advantage on 51 minutes, with Evan Ferguson pulling a goal back six minutes later.

“Of course, I take the blame for this, but the players are the same players we were happy with against Bulgaria and in the second half against Hungary,” Hallgrimsson told RTE.

“I will take the blame, the players need support, and we need to encourage them. They are going back to their clubs and hopefully they come back in four weeks’ time ready for the next challenge.

“It is an off day, and we have to look inside and see what we can do differently.”

The Republic boss is under contract until the end of the qualifying campaign but acknowledged this display will raise questions about his future.

“The job of the coach, if they are not producing, then of course it is always a question,” added the 58-year-old.

“I am not naive, it is understandable now and after this performance.

Asked what went wrong in Armenia, the former Jamaica manager said “almost everything”.

“We were not as solid defending like we normally are, we lost a lot of duels, in possession we made lots of mistakes and lost the ball in tough areas.

“Armenia can be quick on the counter and they have good individuals with good individual skills, and they deservedly won.

“There are a lot more negatives than positives, that is for sure. We are hugely disappointed.”

Trailing 1-0 at half-time, Hallgrimsson introduced Adam Idah and Kasey McAteer off the bench in place of Jack Taylor and Chiedozie Ogbene.

“We wanted to change it tactically, we thought we needed a goal early so we wanted two strikers and that was successful three days ago so that was one of the reasons we did this change,” he explained.

“Also [we wanted] fresh legs, but the substitutions are on me, of course.”

On failing to potentially involve star striker Ferguson sufficiently, the Republic boss added: “We didn’t create a lot of chances. It is not about him or how we can involve him. The whole team were not on it and it was Armenia’s day, not ours.”

Captain Nathan Collins also told RTE the better team won and reflected on his team’s shortcomings.

“I probably do think they were the better team, which is nowhere near where our standards should be,” said the defender.

“We didn’t create enough. It probably wasn’t defensively strong enough and overall, just wasn’t a good enough performance.

British horse racing will stage a one-day strike on Wednesday in protest against the government’s proposed tax rise on betting on the sport.

No fixtures will take place after four meetings were rescheduled by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), which says a tax hike would cost millions in revenue and lead to thousands of job losses.

The following meetings have been switched to leave a blank day on Wednesday.

There will be no racing in Britain, with leading jockeys, trainers and owners instead attending an event at Westminster where they will lobby MPs.

It is the eve of the four-day St Leger meeting at Doncaster, which Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer attended last year, and is the first time the sport has voluntarily refused to race in its modern history.

Racing will be held in the Republic of Ireland, where the sole fixture takes place at Cork.

The Treasury is looking to bring existing online betting duties into one single rate.

This could increase the 15% tax rate paid by bookmakers on racing and align it with online gaming, such as casino and slot games, which is currently taxed at 21%.

A Treasury spokesperson said: “We are consulting on bringing the treatment of online betting in line with other forms of online gambling to cut down bureaucracy.

Horse racing is the second-biggest spectator sport in Britain, behind football, with more than 1,400 fixtures a year.

Racing’s leaders fear increased costs for betting operators would lead to less promotion and sponsorship of the sport, worse odds and reduced bonuses for customers – making betting on racing less attractive and potentially turning people towards the black market.

Betting turnover has already been hit by affordability checks for punters aimed at limiting problem gambling.

Reduced turnover has a knock-on effect as major bookmakers must give 10% of racing profits via a levy, which raises more than £100m a year, and is used towards race prize money and helping the sport in other ways.

Chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves’ budget on 26 November is expected to bring tax rises.

Activists and some MPs believe increased taxes could help fund welfare spending and tackle harmful gambling.

Economic analysis commissioned by the BHA has shown that aligning the current tax rate paid by bookmakers on racing with online games of chance could result in a £330m revenue hit to the industry in the first five years.

Jockey Tom Marquand said he and wife Hollie Doyle, also a leading rider, could be forced to move abroad if the funding of British racing is hit.

“It seems pretty sad we might have to think about emigrating somewhere else to make a living out of the sport that we so enjoy,” he told BBC Sport.

“It’s an important day for racing and hopefully a step in the right direction. It’s a huge industry employing 85,000 people. The effect would be enormous.”

When the BBC filmed at Windsor races on Monday, many punters were supportive of the action.

“It’s a wonderful day out and we have a little flutter,” said racegoer Alan Mills.

“Bookmakers need the money to come in to keep the business going. The sport should be promoted, rather than taking people’s livelihoods away.”

But the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) – which represents betting shops, online betting and gaming operators and casinos – says it was not consulted.

“Racing’s decision to reschedule fixtures was taken without consultation with betting operators, whose support for the funding of the sport is mission critical,” it said in a statement.

The impact will be offset by the fixtures being rearranged, but there will be an estimated cost of around £200,000 in lost revenue on the day.

BHA chief executive Brant Dunshea said: “Betting on British horse racing must be treated differently.

“In racing, there is a skill to it, it is why it is such a cherished part of our national heritage. We say our product is different to other betting products, it’s different in a positive way. It brings communities together.”

He said higher taxes could push punters seeking the best odds towards bookmakers on the black market.

“We need to ensure any policy decisions that are taken are mindful of the potential unintended consequences,” said Dunshea.

No more strikes are planned as things stand, although further action at higher-profile race meetings has not been completely ruled out.

Wednesday’s strike is “part of an overall campaign”, said Dunshea.

Marquand added: “We’re in a bit of a predicament.

“It’s an important subject that is going to affect a lot of people’s lives. Ultimately, I don’t think there’s a measure that’s too far for racing to take to make sure it’s heard on this, because it is so damaging.”

The action is designed to publicise the BHA’s ‘Axe the Racing Tax’ campaign. Its petition against the tax proposals had around 12,000 signatures going into Wednesday’s action.

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Nuno Espirito Santo’s reign at Nottingham Forest ended in slow motion.

After a series of surprise outbursts from the usually guarded Portuguese, and almost a month of doubt, his 21-month City Ground reign finished abruptly with an early morning statement.

When it came to his replacement, there was no waiting as Forest moved quickly and Ange Postecoglou was appointed within 13 hours.

Nuno lit a flame when he criticised the slow pace of Forest’s transfer business, before revealing his relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis had changed from last season.

A summer spend of around £180m on 11 players would not likely initiate complaints but Nuno was unhappy they had not arrived quickly enough to integrate them into the squad and his methods.

“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” he said, when asked if his job was on the line before the 1-1 Premier League draw at Crystal Palace last month, likely creating a deeper rift.

In August, BBC Sport was told Postecoglou – sacked by Tottenham in June despite leading them to Europa League success – was a likely candidate to replace Nuno, who had already gone public with his frustrations.

Discussions with the Australian had accelerated over the last two-and-a-half weeks as Nuno’s position became increasingly unstable and ultimately untenable.

The trust was eroded between owner and head coach after his public comments and once that had gone it was very difficult to repair.

There was also friction between Nuno and global sporting director Edu, but the head coach could have stayed silent and worked the issues out privately.

The outbursts, though, were ultimately viewed as creating noise and disruption that was unnecessary, rocking the boat as Forest planned for the new season and a first European campaign for 30 years after a dream previous campaign.

Internally, there was sadness at how it ended. Nuno was well liked and it had been an almost perfect relationship for 18 months, taking them from battling relegation to the Europa League, only missing out on the Champions League on the final day.

Amid the backdrop of a four-point deduction for breaching Profit and Sustainability rules, Nuno led Forest away from relegation danger, before last season’s surprise seventh-placed finish.

But after discussions during the international break, and following the disappointing 3-0 home defeat by West Ham – the worst performance of Nuno’s reign – the axe fell.

The fact a statement announcing Nuno’s exit came out at such a strange time, 00:15 on Tuesday morning, was due to the news breaking in the manager’s native Portugal

Forest would have preferred not to have done it that late, out of respect to Nuno, but it was out of their control after leaks elsewhere.

The fact Postecoglou was available, the 60-year-old became an option given the existing good relationship between him and the Greek owner which stretches back a number of years.

They were together in July when Marinakis, president of Greece’s Super League, presented Greece-born Postecoglou with an award for becoming the first coach from the country to win a major European club trophy.

“What he achieved, he did with a team that has not won any titles – it has had a very difficult time in recent years,” said Marinakis at the time.

“In this huge success that the whole world saw, he promoted Greece. We must thank him especially for this and we wish him well, although we are sure that he will do well as he has the ability. Wherever he goes, the successes will come.”

As it turns out that is now at the City Ground.

Postecoglou arrives, having ended Tottenham’s 17-year trophy drought with their 1-0 triumph over Manchester United.

He paid the price, though, for finishing 17th in the Premier League, losing 22 of their 38 games and sitting 27 points adrift of Forest.

It will not have escaped attention in Forest’s statement welcoming the Australian to the club, that Marinakis was quoted as saying the new manager has the credentials to help them challenge for trophies.

Players, many away on international duty, were also surprised at the news of the managerial changes. Nuno had given many of them the opportunity to progress in their careers.

Some received calls and messages from other shocked team-mates and they will return to training this week for the start of a new era.

Nuno created a close-knit group, squad members had previously stayed and played around with an American football after media appearances at the training ground, rather than immediately dashing off home.

The bond was evident, and the best thing Postecoglou can do is to harness it and recreate the unity fostered under Nuno.

It will be difficult, given the 51-year-old’s popularity within the squad and the fanbase.

Ex-Celtic boss Postecoglou must win over the supporters who adored Nuno, although that is something the former Wolves manager did himself when he replaced Cooper in December 2023.

While Tottenham’s wretched season last term still ended in silverware, Postecoglou’s first campaign saw them finish fifth in 2023-24, qualifying for the Europa League which they eventually won.

Adopting a different style – pressing and possession – to Nuno’s counter-attacking punch which served Forest so well, Postecoglou has the tools to succeed.

Record buy Omari Hutchinson, £30m attacker James McAtee and striker Arnaud Kalimuendo have joined to complement England internationals Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson and last season’s 20-goal striker Chris Wood.

Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton believes Postecoglou – who won two Scottish titles, two Scottish Cups and a Scottish League Cup with the Hoops – will be a success.

He told BBC 5 Live: “People are quick to forget that when he first went to Spurs, he really improved the team with a fifth-placed finish in the Premier League and then won a trophy.

“Spurs never win trophies and he gave the fans a night which will stick in their memories forever.