Archive February 21, 2025

In the summer, Manchester United will look to sell their sluggish striker, while Manchester City will chase Adam Wharton and Jack Grealish will lead an exodus.

Liverpool will likely look to sell Darwin Nunez, 25, this summer, with the Uruguay striker struggling for playing time at Anfield. (The Athletic – subscription required)

Although Juventus are still interested, Manchester United is in the lead in the transfer market for England midfielder Adam Wharton, 21. (CaughtOffside)

England midfielder Jack Grealish, 29, Belgium playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, 33, and Portugal forward Bernardo Silva, 30, are expected to headline an exodus of Manchester City players this summer as Pep Guardiola rebuilds his squad. ( Daily Star)

Manchester City‘s manager is determined to fix things, but if he asked to leave, the club would not interfere with him. (Telegraph – subscription required)

Rafael Leao, 25, has long-term admirers at AC Milan, who are both interested in the Portugal international. (La Gazzetta dello Sport in Italian)

As concerns grow over Andre Onana’s inconsistent form, Manchester United are interested in signing Atalanta and Argentina goalkeeper Juan Musso, 30. Musso is currently on loan at Atletico Madrid. (Fichajes – in Spanish)

Theo Hernandez, 27, a left-back from AC Milan and France, is also on the radar at Manchester United, who are willing to sell. (Fichajes – in Spanish)

Although there are several European clubs interested in Sporting and Portugal Under-21 wing-back Geovany Quenda, 17, they have not reached a deal with either club or player. (TeamTalk)

Arsenal have been given encouragement to sign Spanish goalkeeper Joan Garcia, 23, this summer from Espanyol. (Teamtalk)

Newcastle will sign Burnley and England goalkeeper James Trafford, 22, this summer, even if the Clarets are promoted to the Premier League. (Mail Plus – subscription required)

class=”ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3″>Newcastle are also interested in class=”ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3″>Bournemouth’s Ghana striker Antoine Semenyo, 25. (talkSPORT)

Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are all interested in signing former Manchester United attacker Mason Greenwood, 23, from Marseille. The English striker would receive 50% of any transfer fees paid to United. (GiveMeSport)

Despite having won just three of their past 11 games, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca maintains the backing of his players and the club’s leadership. (Mail Plus – subscription required)

Chelsea and England international Cole Palmer, 22, has no clause in his contract that would prevent him from leaving the club in the event that they don’t make it to the Champions League. (Mail Plus – subscription required)

In the event that Ange Postecoglou, the Australian manager, leaves the club, Andoni Iraola, manager of Bournemouth, would make a preferred replacement. (talkSPORT)

In the final of the Premier League Darts in Dublin, Gerwyn Price defeated Nathan Aspinall 6-3 to win the game three.

The 2021 world champion defeated world champion Luke Littler and world number one Luke Humphries to reach the final. The 2021 world champion held on for the entire evening in stunning form.

It was the Welshman’s first night win since the 11th event in 2023 – where he went on to finish runner-up in the season-ending play-offs.

In legs three and four, he broke with Aspinall, who had won his first championship, before regaining control in leg seven.

He held his throw before breaking again to seal a dominant victory, 4-3, and so did he.

He averaged 100.57 and took out 50% of his checkouts, before racing off stage and not conducting a post-match interview with Sky Sports.

Speaking after this quarter-final win, the 39-year-old had said: “I want to be a tough nut to crack for everyone, that is what I used to be. I was two or three years ago, and I may have slipped a little behind the radar, but I’m returning.

My mind is in a good place, and my game is in a great place.

After the world number 11 opened up about having ‘dartitis’, a mental block that players experience when they throw on the stage, the world number 11 promises a morale-boosting performance for Aspinall.

It came after he said he felt” absolutely shocking “and was” under the weather “before his quarter-final win over Rob Cross.

After being defeated by Price in the semi-finals with a 6-3 advantage, Humphries failed to reach the final for the first time this season.

He had a 2-0 lead before the Welshman’s superb finishing saw him squander six of his seven checkout attempts.

With a stunning 6-4 victory over Littler, Price’s pumped up performance had already beaten the world no. 2 overall.

This means Price has now defeated Littler in five of his matches.

Littler struggled to achieve his best, combining high scoring with low scores, which resulted in an average of less than 100.

As he made his way out of the stage, the 18-year-old was clearly angry with his performance and was seen throwing his darts to the floor.

Michael van Gerwen, a seven-time champion, made his third semi-final appearance in a row, but Aspinall broke his throw four times.

With Aspinall’s clinching run to the final, only Stephen Bunting, who is playing in the Premier League since 2015, has lost.

He posted on X after his 6-4 defeat by Humphries to say” still a few nerves “and it is” a marathon not a sprint”.

Final

Gerwyn Price 6-3 Nathan Aspinall

Semi-finals

Luke Humphries 3-6 Gerwyn Price

Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Michael van Gerwen

Quarter-finals

Luke Humphries 6-4 Stephen Bunting

Gerwyn Price 6-4 Luke Littler

Rob Cross 3-6 Nathan Aspinall

Premier League Darts is played across 16 initial weeks in the league stage with quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final each night.

In the quarter-finals in weeks 1-7 and 9-15, with fixtures for weeks 8 and 16 off the table, each of the eight players is guaranteed to face the other seven. On the final league-stage night, Sheffield will play host to fourth-and-fifth place teams, with potential playoff spots also in the cards.

Players are awarded two points for each quarter-final victory, five for each semi-final victory, and five for each night’s victory.

The top four players after the group stage progress to the play-off night at London’s O2 Arena on 23 May, with first facing fourth and second against third in a best-of-19-leg match. The final, which is the best of 21 legs, follows.

Exeter, 27 February, 19: 00 GMT

Rob Cross vs. Michael van Gerwen

Gerwyn Price v Luke Humphries

Chris Dobey v Nathan Aspinall

Betfred Super League

Wakefield (2) 12

Tries: Johnstone, Pratt Goals: Jowitt 2

Hull KR (6) 14

Mikey Lewis lost to an ankle injury, but Hull KR prevailed over Wakefield Trinity, who was promoted to Man of Steel.

When Lewis’ lofted kick hit the crossbar before dropping for Tom Davies, who scored the 100th try of his career, the visitors took the lead in unexpected circumstances.

Before the break, Tom Johnstone dived over in the corner to level the score for the home side after Max Jowitt had already kicked a penalty to put the home side on the board.

Lewis, a half-back, rushed over to give Hull KR the lead before getting hurt as he sprinted downstream to avoid a tackler.

With the clock ticking, Jowitt was unable to land the kick that would have brought the game to golden point extra time when the impressive Oliver Pratt won in the corner.

The playmaker managed to play for a period of time after his ankle was completely wrapped up, but with just over 10 minutes left he eventually fell off the field.

Wakefield, who won impressively at Leeds in week one, competed well throughout in front of a sell-out crowd and will take positives from this defeat by last season’s beaten Grand Finalists.

The Robins won the game by a score of ten points over Castleford last week, but they once again struggled to play ball well with the ball in hand.

After the game, Lewis was seen using crutches, and he and his teammates will now have to wait to find out how serious his condition is.

Daryl Powell, the head coach for Wakefield, told BBC Radio Leeds:

“It was a tight game and I thought we were excellent. We were down by a few soldiers, and today we were a little sick. I believed it was a significant effort by us.

” We’ve lost a tight game and I think we can be proud. We’ve got a genuine team.

“They will know they were in a game because there was nothing in it.”

We have shown everyone that we are not tip-toeing our way into this competition for the past two weeks. This team has a lot more to offer, and I believe things will improve.

“I’m pretty happy tonight. I’m disappointed but I’m proud. We’re in a great place”.

Willie Peters, the head coach of Hull KR, told BBC Radio Humberside:

“We knew that this week would be difficult, just like last week.” That’s the beauty of this competition, if you are not on it you will get beaten.

I believed we had a strong start, which established the foundation for a long period of control, too.

Tom Davies had some brave carries and tough carries, according to my opinion.

Lewis’ injury: “Mikey may have gotten worse there than he did there.” We’ve got to wait and see after a scan”.

Wakefield: Jowitt, Walmsley, Pratt, Hall, Johnstone, Russell, Lino, McMeeken, Doyle, Hamlin-Uele, Croft, Storton, Pitts.

Interchanges: Vagana, Rourke, Smith, Faatili

Hull KR: Evalds, Davies, Broadbent, Gildart, Burgess, Lewis, Hiku, Sue, McIlorum, Waerea-Hargreaves, Martin, Batchelor, Minchella.

Interchanges: Litten, Hadley, Whitbread, Tanginoa