Archive May 6, 2025

Leigh Halfpenny, a former Wales and Irish Lions back, is being linked with a move to French second-tier club Beziers.

The 36-year-old’s contract with Harlequins’ English Premiership side expires at the end of the season.

The full-back or wing has only had 562 minutes of playing time over the course of 10 appearances this campaign, despite the fact that Quins head coach Danny Wilson is a proven supporter of the experience and mentoring opportunities Halfpenny offers.

Halfpenny is a familiar face to French rugby. He first joined Toulon from Cardiff in 2014, spent three years with them, and won the 2015 European Champions Cup, before making a second move to Wales to join Scarlets in 2017.

Following the switch to Harlequins for this season, a 2023-24 Super Rugby Pacific season with New Zealand side Crusaders was a result of an injury-hit Super Rugby Pacific season.

Beziers, one of France’s fallen giants, has ambitious plans to advance to the top 14 league.

Halfpenny won 102 caps for Wales and also participated in four Test matches for the Lions, including winning the series MVP award in the 2013 Lions’ 2-1 victory over Australia.

Before the start of the Club World Cup, Real Madrid wants to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The England defender has confirmed that he will leave Liverpool when his contract expires later this summer. He is expected to become a free agent with the Spanish club.

The Club World Cup begins 16 days before Alexander-Arnold’s contract with Liverpool expires on June 30.

According to what BBC Sport is aware of, Real have spoken with Liverpool in order to work out a deal to bring Alexander-Arnold forward so they can prepare for the Fifa-organised tournament in the United States.

The Spanish club is reportedly considering a release offer of around €1 million (£850,000) from Alexander-Arnold early in his contract.

Real may also be willing to pay Liverpool’s Alexander-Arnold’s wages as they try to find a solution, it has been suggested.

All parties’ discussions are characterized as friendly discussions.

Fifa, the world’s oldest football organization, has confirmed that there will be a short initial transfer window this summer that will allow competing clubs to update their squads in time for the competition.

To give Tottenham more time to get ready for their potential Europa League final appearance, the Premier League game against Aston Villa has been moved two days to May 16th.

Spurs were scheduled to arrive at Villa Park on May 18 at 14:15 BST, but the Premier League requested that the game be played sooner to allow Ange Postecoglou’s side to have more time to prepare if they reached the Europa League final on May 21.

In the semi-final, Tottenham are 3-1 ahead of Bodo/Glimt, and they could face Manchester United, who are 3-3 up in a tie with Athletic Bilbao, in the final. On Thursday, both second legs will be played.

Even if Postecoglou’s side are eliminated and do not advance to the final in Bilbao, the Spurs game will still be played at Villa.

Villa objected to the request for the change, noting that there is no Premier League precedent allowing clubs in Europe to relocate fixtures.

Due to their participation in the Champions League and FA Cup, Villa had played every three or four days in April, according to a report from BBC Sport at the time.

Another factor in the objection was that this was Villa’s final home game of the season and that it might have pre-planned family activation activities that wouldn’t be possible if the game were played on a school night.

The Premier League has confirmed that the game will begin at 19:30 BST on the following evening despite Tottenham’s initial request to move it to the evening of May 15.