Archive February 4, 2026

Heart of Midlothian manager Derek McInnes believes James Wilson has made a mistake by joining Tottenham Hotspur on loan in a deal that could be made permanent at the end of the season.

Arsenal were in talks with the Scottish Premiership leaders over a move for the 18-year-old but the Scotland striker joined Spurs instead.

Wilson, who became the youngest man to represent Scotland when he came on in their Nations League play-off tie against Greece last March, will play for Spurs’ Under-21s side.

He has scored eight goals in 45 appearances since making his Hearts breakthrough last season but he has struggled for game time this term.

“James wanted to go, so you don’t want to keep a player who then becomes unhappy,” said McInnes.

“I couldn’t guarantee him minutes, such is the way it’s been. I told him and his agent that our preference was to stay, fight for his place, be part of something.

“But his head was turned with the Tottenham thing. First it was Arsenal, then Arsenal went quiet, and then all of a sudden Tottenham came to the table.

“I don’t think it’s the right move for him. Ultimately, it’s academy football and I think he’s better than that. But it was something James wanted to do.

“I hope it goes well for him because he’s a great kid. We’ll see how it plays out. I just need to concentrate on the players who are here and who want to be here and play their part.”

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said he was “a little bit grumpy” when asked about the club’s January transfer business.

Rather than concentrate on City being the biggest spenders for the second consecutive winter window, he preferred to focus on net spend.

“In net spend the last five years we are seventh,” Guardiola insisted.

It appeared to be targeted at critics of his team’s performances this season. The Spanish manager seemed to be arguing that others have been spending more money to catch up.

“They are facts,” Guardiola added. “Good luck to the six teams who are in front of us for net spend for the last five years.”

Figures from Footballtransfers.com show City are sixth, not seventh, with a net spend of £324.7m.

But let’s be fair to Guardiola. He is effectively correct.

Nottingham Forest (£323m) pretty much have the same net spend despite being in the Championship for the first season of the calculation.

There are two ways of looking at things.

Yes, City are not the biggest net spenders.

But the data also shows they have spent the second most on players over this period.

Chelsea have spent the most (£1.57bn) to try to catch up with the likes of Manchester City. They have sold the most, too, with £862m worth of talent.

Guardiola comes second on both: £962.3m spent with £637.6m brought in from sales.

This underlines how City have been incredibly adept at bringing through players from their academy and selling them for high transfer fees. In fact around £280m has been recouped in this way in the last five years.

Cole Palmer moved to Chelsea for £40.9m. James McAtee was signed by Forest in a £22.2m deal. Taylor Harwood-Bellis switched to Southampton for £20m.

Between them they made six Premier League starts for City, yet all three appear as pure profit as club-trained players.

This is not a criticism, though. It is exactly how an academy should operate.

If a player is not to the level of the first team, or has limited opportunities, then they should be sold. Rinse and repeat the process as the years pass.

But it could be construed as creating a slightly misleading picture in terms of net spend on the first team.

Chelsea have the same kind of model so it should be no surprise that their finances are along similar lines. It is just to slightly different levels.

Manchester United have the worst of all worlds: a high spend, a low return in transfers and disappointing results on the pitch.

The Red Devils are third in spending (£920.9m) but they have not come close to utilising the value of their academy, with player sales of just £246.6m.

That places them second in net spend (£674.3m).

This could also be said of Arsenal, who are third in net spend (£610.1m) but they have the lowest outgoing sales of the top clubs – just £184.2m.

Guardiola mentioned five years, but what happens if we take a longer term view over the last decade?

It paints a very similar picture in spending on players.

Chelsea (£2.35bn) have spent the most, ahead of City (£1.82m) and Manchester United (£1.62bn).

When we look at net spend the comparison gets worse for Manchester United, who have the highest net spend (£1.18bn).

Chelsea are in second (£993m), with Arsenal in third (£893.3m) and City (£890m) marginally behind in fourth.

On player sales only Chelsea (£1.36bn) have brought in more money than City (£934.6m).

Arsenal are again the worst performers on sales (£418.1m) ahead of Manchester United (£439m).

You can see why Guardiola would feel aggrieved.

Over the last five and 10 years his team have consistently not been close to the top of the net spend table.

Several Russian athletes approved to compete as neutrals at the Winter Olympics have links to activity supporting the war in Ukraine, according to evidence seen by BBC Sport.

The International Olympic Committee has cleared 13 competitors from Russia to participate as Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs) in Milan-Cortina.

Their eligibility was assessed by a three-person IOC panel, with athletes deemed ineligible if they were found to have actively supported the war, including through social media activity or participation in pro-war events.

However, material shared with the BBC by the Molfar Intelligence Institute and investigative journalist Artem Khudolieiev raises questions over whether some of those approved meet the IOC’s broadly-framed criteria.

Meanwhile, one member of the panel – Morinari Watanabe – was filmed embracing a Russian gymnast sanctioned for his involvement with Russia’s war effort during a visit to Moscow in March, prompting further questions about the vetting process.

Ukraine’s flag-bearer for the opening ceremony believes the IOC should review its neutral eligibility framework.

“Getting ready for competition in occupied territories, or supporting the war on social media, it is definitely not right to call them neutral because they’re not,” said skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych.

BBC Sport has verified the following evidence relating to four individuals cleared to compete as neutrals:

Ukraine’s Olympic Committee has written to the IOC to raise concerns about Gumennik and Korzhova.

None of the athletes named responded to BBC Sport’s requests for comment.

Russia’s Sports Minister, Mikhail Degtyarev, has previously said that “athletes are not responsible for relations between countries or for governmental decisions and according to the Olympic Charter they should have the right to compete”.

The final decision on whether the four athletes could compete in Milan-Cortina was taken by the IOC’s Individual Neutral Athlete Eligibility Review Panel.

Watanabe sits on the panel as the representative of international sports federations, by virtue of his role as president of World Gymnastics. He was also a candidate in last year’s IOC presidential election.

In March 2025, Watanabe was filmed embracing Nagorny during a visit to Moscow.

Nagorny, an Olympic gold medallist at the Tokyo Games, has been a prominent supporter of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

He served as head of Yunarmiya, Russia’s youth military organisation, between 2020 and 2024 and has been sanctioned by the UK, European Union and United States.

The UK sanctions notice accuses Nagorny of involvement in the forced deportation and re-education of Ukrainian children.

“It’s crazy,” said Heraskevych, who held up a ‘No War’ sign at the Beijing Games.

“He’s still hugging this person and still friendly with him. And then he decides whether these Russians are guilty or not guilty, whether they are engaged in the war or not.”

World Gymnastics, responding on behalf of Watanabe, said it would not comment on the IOC panel or its decisions.

It said Watanabe’s visit to Russia “took place a few days after he visited Ukraine” and that its purpose “was to show support to athletes affected by the war, on both sides”.

During Watanabe’s tenure as head of World Gymnastics, Russian athletes have also been allowed to return to international competition under neutral status in his sport.

That includes Angelina Melnikova, who was controversially cleared to compete last year despite previously posing with the pro-war ‘Z’ symbol and standing in local elections for Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began just four days after the end of the last Winter Olympics in Beijing.

At those Games, 209 Russians competed under the name of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) because of sanctions linked to a state-sponsored doping scandal. They finished second in the medal table, winning 32 medals including five gold.

Since the invasion, athletes holding Russian or Belarusian passports have been barred from many international sports competitions.

But the IOC has created a pathway for individuals to compete as neutrals, provided they meet strict criteria.

That framework was first applied at Paris 2024, where 32 competitors from Russia and Belarus took part as AINs.

To be eligible, they had to show they had not actively supported the war and were not contracted to the military. They competed without national flags or anthems.

The same conditions apply in Milan-Cortina. Thirteen Russians and seven Belarusians have been approved across eight sports. Team events such as ice hockey and curling remain off limits.

The IOC says every neutral competitor must also be cleared by their international federation.

Senior executives in Formula 1, football and American football maintained their links with Jeffrey Epstein after his conviction for a sex offence, documents included in the latest Epstein files release show.

Millions of new files relating to the notorious American financier were released last Friday.

They included emails and text messages between Epstein and some public figures who – before the files were released – claimed they had distanced themselves from him following his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor.

The files also include documents that show discussions about potential business deals involving Epstein, who died in prison in 2019, and high-level sports executives.

According to emails between Epstein and Jean Todt – the former president of motorsport governing body the FIA and team boss of Ferrari during the early 2000s – Todt visited Epstein at the latter’s New York home in 2017.

In May of that year, Epstein emailed Todt to say “jean, sorry it was so short and Terje did not give me any notice in advance to help with the fun”.

‘Terje’ appears to be Norwegian diplomat Terje Rod-Larsen, who the files show was also in contact with Epstein, and sent a text message to the American saying: “Think it could be useful for you to meet Jean Todt. Sent you his contact info. Call him and invite him for coffee.”

Replying to Epstein, Todt wrote: “It was nice to get to know you through our common friend Terje. Let me know if you come to Paris or Geneva. I will be back in New York in mid-July.”

The following day, Epstein sent an email to Eduardo Teodorani – now chairman and vice-president of the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the UK – saying: “i had jean todt to my house ? odd guy.”

Teodorani replied: “Very. But why?” No further replies are visible in the documents.

Todt’s name was first mentioned to Epstein in 2013, when another contact – French diplomat Olivier Colom – emailed him to say: “Going out at Jean Todt tonight. Do you know him? I introduced Terje to him lately. Good man.”

Flavio Briatore – now executive adviser and de-facto team principal of the Alpine F1 team – also maintained contact with Epstein, according to the files.

One email from 2010, sent by a person whose identity is redacted, said: “Flavio Briatore would like to speak with you. He can be reached at his office in London.”

Later the same year, Epstein referred to Briatore as “my Italian friend” in an email chain discussing the potential purchase of an aircraft by Mohamed Al Fayed – the late businessman who has been accused of multiple alleged rapes and attempted rapes.

Briatore was also mentioned in a conversation between Epstein and Lord Mandelson – the former business secretary and US ambassador, who is facing an investigation into alleged misconduct in public office. The subject was a property in Chelsea, which Epstein was told Briatore wanted to sell.

The files show Crystal Palace investor Josh Harris remained in contact with Epstein via email and phone calls for many years after his conviction, including joining him for a breakfast meeting in 2013 after which he sent an email saying “thank you for inviting me”.

Harris – whose private equity firm Apollo Global Management also owns NBA team the Philadelphia 76ers, NHL team New Jersey Devils, and the NFL team Washington Commanders – also contacted Epstein in 2016, saying he was “happy to catch up” at some point in the future.

A spokesperson for Harris said: “Josh Harris never had an independent relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Harris sought to prevent Epstein’s attempts to develop a corporate relationship with Apollo. As these emails indicate, Harris sought to avoid meeting with Epstein, cancelling meetings and having others return his calls.”

Emails sent to Epstein also appear to show he conducted two meetings with Todd Boehly – now co-owner and chairman of Chelsea – in 2011, three years after Epstein’s conviction.

The emails suggest Epstein wanted to be introduced to Boehly, who at the time was co-owner of baseball team the Los Angeles Dodgers, and a managing partner at global asset management firm Guggenheim Partners.

Neither Boehly nor Chelsea have made a public comment.

Celtic owner Dermot Desmond was mentioned twice in emails sent to Epstein in 2010 on behalf of golf resort developer Gerald G Barton.

In the messages, Epstein was told by somebody writing on behalf of Barton that Irish billionaire Desmond – a golf resort owner – was willing to provide millions of dollars to help co-fund golf developments.

New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch repeatedly sent complimentary emails to Epstein in the early 2010s, and Epstein appeared to be attempting to arrange meetings between Tisch and women.

In one, in 2013, he told Tisch, “I can bring the Russian if you like”.

In a statement, Tisch said: “We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition we discussed movies, philanthropy and investments.

“I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with.”

The NFL says it is deliberating whether to conduct a formal investigation into Tisch.

“We are going to look at all the facts,” said commissioner Roger Goodell when asked at a news conference about Tisch’s conduct.

“We’re going to look at the context of those [messages]. We’re going to try to understand that and we’ll look at how that falls under the policy,” Goodell said.

In 2016, the billionaire property developer Andrew Farkas apologised on behalf of himself and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross for the condition of the mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, that Epstein visited, and a year later Farkas told Epstein that Ross would be willing to provide up to $100m of funding for a project also part-funded by Epstein.

The files also include contact between sports figures and Ghislaine Maxwell – serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for her role in Epstein’s crimes – that took place before her former partner’s conviction.

Casey Wasserman – chairman of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and founder of marketing agency Wasserman – exchanged sexually charged emails with Maxwell in 2003.

Wasserman told her “I miss you”, asked “can I book that massage now?” and requested to see Maxwell in “a tight leather outfit”.

Wasserman’s agency represents some of the most high-profile athletes in the world.

“I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light,” Wasserman said.

David Wassong, who – according to an online profile – advises entrepreneurs and businesses, sent a message to Maxwell in 2003 asking “are you going to send me names and numbers of people to play with in Ireland?”

Maxwell replied with the phone number of former F1 driver Eddie Irvine. She also introduced Irvine to other acquaintances in the same year, according to emails.

Irvine has previously admitted attending parties organised by Epstein and Maxwell in New York and Miami, and says he saw Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s accuser Virginia Giuffre at one event, but presumed she was about 20.

“I knew Ghislaine reasonably well,” Irvine said in 2020. “I spoke to her from time to time and I spoke to [Epstein] from time to time. Ghislaine was always super-sweet and a super-nice lady.