Arsenal target Viktor Gyokeres is facing disciplinary action by his club Sporting after failing to report for pre-season training, says the Portuguese club’s president Frederico Varandas.
Varandas added that any potential transfer was now becoming “more complicated”.
BBC Sport reported last week that Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta held face-to-face talks with Sweden international Gyokeres in Portugal.
Sources have told BBC Sport that talks are ongoing with Arsenal, who are still hopeful of striking a deal, with their most recent proposal for the 27-year-old totalling about 70m euros (£60m) including add-ons.
Last month Sporting president Varandas said there was no ‘gentleman’s agreement’ for Gyokeres to leave for 70m euros but added that the club would not demand his full release clause of 100m euros (£85m).
Gyokeres, who scored 54 goals in 52 games last season, has yet to publicly explain why he has not turned up for pre-season.
Varandas told Portuguese news agency Lusa that “no one is above the interests of the club”.
“We’re calm. Everything can be solved with the closure of the market, a hefty fine and an apology to the group,” Varandas said.
“If they don’t want to pay Viktor’s fair market value, we’ll be very comfortable with that for the next three years.
“If the geniuses who are devising this strategy think that this puts pressure on me to make it easier for him to leave, not only are they completely wrong, but they are also making it more complicated for the player to leave.”
One of the most divisive football competitions created comes to an end on Sunday with the Club World Cup final between Paris St-Germain and Chelsea.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino said on the eve of the final “we can say definitely that this Fifa Club World Cup has been a huge, huge, huge success”.
Previously an annual winter tournament for the six continental champions plus one host club, it now takes the format of the World Cup, although that too is being expanded from 2026 onwards.
Thirty-two teams – some from every continent – will have played 63 games, including the final, in the US over a month.
Critics have called it an Infantino vanity project and former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp referred to it as the “worst idea ever implemented in football”.
Issues have included sparse crowds for some group games, extreme weather and player fatigue – and what the knock-on effects could be.
“It’s been a big success. I’ve been everywhere and it’s been a brilliant tournament to work on and to watch here,” Michael Brown, who has been covering the games for broadcasters Dazn, told BBC Sport.
BBC Sport looks at what the interest levels have been like and whether the tournament in this format can be considered a success or not.
The crowds
Much has been made of some of the low attendances.
Four matches failed to get 10,000 fans, with the lowest the 3,412 who watched Mamelodi Sundowns beat Ulsan HD 1-0.
But there have been 15 crowds of 60,000 or more, with the highest the 80,619 who saw PSG beat Atletico Madrid 4-0 in Pasadena.
Most of the highest attendances were at games involving PSG or Real Madrid, and the majority of knockout games have been well attended.
The average attendance of 38,369 is below that of any World Cup since Chile 1962.
“The decisive question is ‘do the fans like it or not’?” said former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, Fifa’s chief of global football development.
“We believe the attendances were projected as low and in reality were much higher. The answer is there.”
A dynamic pricing structure, which is common in US sports, is being used, where the cost of tickets can change regularly.
Ticket prices for Chelsea’s semi-final against Fluminense reportedly dropped from almost £350 to less than £10 in the week before the game.
Tickets for the Blues’ quarter-final against Palmeiras ended up at £8, with fans talking about having paid more than £250 when they first went on sale.
“From the fans point of view, it’s been positive,” said ex-Premier League midfielder Brown, who has worked on 10 games involving 12 clubs.
“Everyone I’ve spoken to thinks it has been an incredible tournament and they have had a wonderful time.
What information do we collect from this quiz?
Did teams want to win it?
The answer to this question is yes – helped to a large extent by the huge prize fund available.
Teams could win up to £91m for winning the tournament, with Manchester City pocketing £38m despite going out in the last 16.
Chelsea have probably earned about £80m for reaching the final, with Joao Pedro repaying over a third of his transfer fee with two semi-final goals against Fluminense.
The winners will be allowed to wear a badge on their kit saying they are world champions until the summer of 2029, when the next tournament is played.
Players of Brazilian clubs celebrated wins and broke down with defeats every bit as much as any major cup.
As the tournament went on, European teams were determined to win it too.
“We had a lot of ambition for this Club World Cup and we wanted to win it,” said City captain Bernardo Silva after losing to Al-Hilal.
Asked if it hurt as much as Champions League elimination, he said: “Yes, a little bit.”
Wenger said: “If you make enquiries to all the clubs who were here, then 100% of answers would be that they would want to do it again.
What information do we collect from this quiz?
The football
Purely in football terms, the tournament could be considered a success.
The group stages were a slow burner, with mismatched games like Bayern Munich 10-0 Auckland City.
There have been plenty of dramatic games and surprising scorelines – and an average of more than three goals per game.
Manchester City were knocked out 4-3 in extra time by Al-Hilal. Benfica took Chelsea to extra time thanks to a 95th-minute penalty – after a two-hour weather delay – before the Blues won 4-1.
Chelsea scored a late winner in the quarter-final against Palmeiras, with Estevao Willian, who joins them after the competition, netting against his soon-to-be team-mates.
Lionel Messi scored a free-kick, amateur side Auckland City picked up a point against Boca Juniors, having lost their first two games by a total of 16-0, and there have been games with scorelines of 4-4, 4-3, 4-2 and 5-2.
PSG, who have been sensational at times, beat Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Inter Miami 4-0.
PSG beat Bayern 2-0 despite having nine men – and there were three stoppage-time goals and a red card as Real beat Borussia Dortmund 3-2.
“We saw a few games at the start of the tournament which were a bit of a mismatch, but after that all the games have been competitive,” said Brown.
“The mixture of cultures has been amazing. We’ve seen some different styles of play but a lot of quality everywhere.
“The Brazilian teams in particular contributed to that in a massive way. They set the standard in matches, put pressure on European teams and made them respond.
What information do we collect from this quiz?
Have fans been interested worldwide?
The tournament – inevitably considering the lack of history or prestige – has not grabbed the attention of all football fans.
For example, the BBC Sport live pages and reports for the knockout rounds have had between 40% and 50% of the audience they would normally get for the Champions League equivalent.
But those are still big figures compared to many lesser followed competitions and sports.
Every match has been available to watch for free in the UK, with all 63 games on the Dazn app and Channel 5 showing 23.
Dazn has not replied to requests for the viewing figures, but Channel 5 said it was happy with how many people have watched the games it broadcast.
Chelsea v Los Angeles FC was watched by a peak of 1.6 million people in the UK. Real’s game against Al-Hilal was seen by a peak of 1.1 million.
In Saudi Arabia more than 1.5 million people watched their win over Manchester City in the last 16 despite kicking off at 4am local time.
“There was not a single place that didn’t have the Al-Hilal game on, and everyone was off the streets and watching it,” content creator Fayad told BBC Sport, speaking about the quarter-final loss to Fluminense.
“The freeway was so empty. On a Friday night that never happens, not even during Ramadan.”
Brazilians have arguably bought into the Club World Cup more than fans from any other nation. All four of their teams reached the knockout stages.
What information do we collect from this quiz?
Fatigue and injuries
We will not know for several months yet how much of an impact this could have.
Many players involved have not had any break yet, with last season leading straight into international fixtures, which led straight into the Club World Cup.
Most teams start their 2025-26 campaign about a month after the Club World Cup ends, with the need to have a break and fit their pre-season into those four weeks.
“I try not to think about it, otherwise I will be so anxious,” Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said recently.
“Maybe in November, December, January, ask me. I may say ‘So listen, we are a disaster. We are exhausted. The World Cup destroyed us.’
Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Maheta Molango told BBC Sport: “It’s this feeling of accumulation of competitions that just do not talk to each other and create a calendar that is just nonsensical.
“Let’s see what happens in October, November – that’s when you’re going to start seeing because you pay the price. This Club World Cup gives us a chance to start looking at the bigger picture.”
For Bayern, the competition posed a more immediate problem.
What information do we collect from this quiz?
The innovations
The tournament had a few quirks that might be alien to traditional football fans.
The man of the match was instead called the superior player of the match.
The 22 starting players were called out one by one on the loudspeaker, instead of all running out together.
American sports announcer Michael Buffer called the players out for the semi-finals.
There were loud countdowns to kick-off and music played during cooling breaks.
Video assistant referee (VAR) decisions have been shown in the stadium and a ‘ref cam’ has shown footage from referees’ bodycams during the game.
EXCLUSIVE: Geordie Shore icon Nathan Henry shares a brand new side to him in an emotional series filmed about his dad, who is living with stage four lung cancer
Geordie Shore star Nathan Henry gave fans the chance to get to know him and his family in a way he’s never done so before in his new series. While the classic MTV programme captured all of the 34-year-old’s wildest nights out and messy, drunken antics, he “faces the reality of his own family” in the new series, Geordie Stories: Nathan and Dad.
The four-part series, airing weekly on YouTube, follows the Henry family navigating their new normal after his father, Glen, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. In the raw and honest series, Nathan seeks advice from friends and experts as he creates sweet new memories with Glen.
Nathan revealed the cancer was ‘terminal but manageable’ with Glen needing to be on pills, as radiotherapy was out of the question due to his pacemaker. To better understand his journey as well as seek solace from a friend, Nathan approached pal Gabby Allen, whose dad died from brain cancer, for advice.
Nathan takes fans on an emotional journey on his new four-part series
He also went to Ex On The Beach star Ashley Cain to learn new methods of coping during difficult, life-changing situations. Ashley and her ex-partner Safiyya Vorajee’s daughter was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia at eight weeks old. She sadly passed away at eight months old in 2021.
At one emotional moment in the series, Nathan and his dad attended a support meeting organised by Cancer Black Care – an organisation offering advice, counselling, help with social services, support groups while lobbying for improved cancer services.
During the group discussion that saw attendees discuss their experiences living with cancer, Nathan was asked a seemingly simple question that knocked him through a loop like emotional whiplash.
“Do you have any support?” someone turned to Nathan and asked, which left him lost for words as he finally managed to admit: “I don’t know.” In an exclusive interview with the Mirror, Nathan said he initially reacted ‘logically’ when he learned about his father’s diagnosis and spent most of the time busy taking care of his family.
His father Glen was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer
However, it wasn’t until he was asked the weighted question that he broke down in tears over everything that had happened to him and his family in recent years.
He spent so long worrying about everyone in his family’s health that he forgot to think about his own pain and emotional turmoil. “That question caught me off guard as I was thinking in my head, ‘We’re not here for me, we’re here for my dad’,” he told us.
“When she asked me whether I had support, I said I didn’t know. Obviously, my friends asked me questions, even my boyfriend asked me questions, but at that point, I didn’t talk to them. Not because they might not have said the right thing or they didn’t understand. It was because I was too busy being there for my dad and too busy being there for my family. I don’t even have time to check in on me and what I’m feeling when I get home.”
Nathan continued: “I do self-care stuff, I might have a pamper to take my mind off things but I wouldn’t sit in my house and dwell on it and I wouldn’t think about it, so when that lady asked me that question, I was like, I don’t know. I need a moment to think about it. The thing is, because she asked me that, when I got home, I fully broke down crying and I was like it just hit me.
The star had his first breakdown about the situation after he was asked a simple question
Speaking about his breakdown, which fans see a glimpse of in the show, he said: “I was like, ‘F**k’. She really asked a question that I didn’t know the answer to and now, I think that big cry I had, releasing that emotion… At that point, I don’t think I’d cried properly from the three years ago from the diagnosis to now.
“It was like three years of crying came out. Even the next morning, I woke up and I cried for three hours. I had to go to my mum’s and just sit there and I was still crying. My mum was like, ‘What is it?’ I was like, ‘Please don’t talk to me, I just need you to sit there and let me cry but I need someone there’. That was what I needed and I cuddled the dogs, I cried.
“My mum must have thought I was an absolute psychopath because I’ve cried for three hours but she just sat there playing Candy Crush, not speaking to me, and then all of a sudden I wiped my tears and I went, ‘Right, see you later then!’. And she was like, ‘What? Is that it? What’s happened?’ I was like, ‘No, I’m done. I’ve finished. I got it all out. I’m off now Bye’.”
The reality star icon wanted to share his father’s story in hopes of helping someone, all while getting to know his dad, but he did worry about how Glen would come across on television.
“He was more open. I think I might have been the problem,” he said as he recalled filming for the first few days. “My dad was more open to talk about his cancer, but I was more protective. You know the part where we do our interview questions?
“[Producers] were asking questions and I was being more protective and answering for my dad. One day we went for dinner just before we were filming they said, ‘I know it’s hard because we are talking about this stuff.’
“From being on TV I know how to edit myself and I was trying to edit my dad for him they told me, ‘We want this to be raw. You need to stop cutting in and let your dad speak’.”
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The Macmillan Support Line offers confidential support to people living with cancer and their loved ones. If you need to talk, call us on 0808 808 0000.
GEORDIE STORIES: NATHAN AND DAD launched on the 3rd July with a new episode every week on MTV Shores YouTube Channel.
Manchester Police have spoken out following arrests at Oasis’ Heaton Park gigs over the weekend.
The Gallagher brothers were back in their hometown playing to 80,000 fans a night. It has now been revealed the gigs resulted in 15 arrests across Friday and Saturday – six at the first gig and nine on the second.
On Saturday night, six people – five men and a woman in three separate incidents – were arrested on suspicion of fraud after attempting to access the venue with fake accreditation. A further arrest was made of a man on suspicion of assaulting a member of security staff.
Two more men were arrested on suspicion of assault, one for section 18 – also known as “wounding with intent” or “grievous bodily harm with intent” – inside the venue and one for section 47 – also known as Actual Bodily Harm (ABH)- outside.
A section 34 Dispersal Order was in place for the concerts, allowing officers to direct individuals to leave a specified area and not return for a period of up to 48 hours to reduce anti-social behaviour and its impact on the community.
Assistant Chief Constable Matt Boyle said: “We have been planning for these events for several months, working with partners and the organisers to make sure everyone can enjoy the concerts safely. To that end, I’m pleased to say that the first two Oasis homecoming events have been a success.
“What has been especially pleasing is how more than 100,000 people have enjoyed these iconic events safely and without trouble.
“We will have a highly visible presence in and around Heaton Park, and across the city, to ensure the next three events continue to pass safely.
“A number of people without tickets attempted to gain entry through a perimeter gate on Saturday night but failed to do so.
“We continue to support the event organisers and the local authority with their plans preventing any unauthorised access to the arena site.
“While arrests have thankfully been minimal, we have had to take some suspects to custody, including one after an alleged assault on a steward on Saturday night. We will not tolerate any abuse of anyone doing their job.
“On Friday night we also dealt with a number of breaches of airspace restrictions involving drones where our officers seized five drones and spoke to two other pilots.
“We continue to have airspace restrictions in place on the nights of the concerts and anyone found breaching the one-and-a-half-mile restriction zone could face prosecution.”
Kate Middleton continued her iconic Wimbledon fashion streak as she made her appearance at the 2025 tennis tournament, sporting a stylish summer tote bag from a Meghan-Markle loved brand
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Kate Middleton’s Wimbledon tote is from royal-approved brand Meghan Markle loves(Image: Getty)
The Princess of Wales delighted fans with a surprise appearance at this year’s Wimbledon tournament this week, and she was welcomed by applause from the crowds of spectators. Wearing two affordable maxi dresses in her signature blend of structured formal, whimsical and romantic, from Self-Portrait in two different shades: very pale green and white (both of which are sold out at the time of writing).
But Kate crowned her outfit from yesterday (July 12) with a covetable woven tote bag, perfect for spring and summer. And the Princess isn’t the only royal who loves this brand, as the small tote comes from Anya Hindmarch, a brand Meghan Markle has loved for some time. And the best part is, Kate’s Wimbledon accessory is still in stock.
READ MORE: Emma Louise Connolly wears white ‘suit of dreams’ to Wimbledon and it’s still in stock
READ MORE: Copy Princess Kate’s most iconic Wimbledon look with this ‘very flattering’ polka-dot shirt dress
Kate Middleton attends day thirteen of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships on July 12, 2025(Image: Getty)
As she arrived at the tennis tournament, Kate showcased her stunning accessory: her Neeson Small Square Tote (in chalk). Boasting a summer-ready woven design in capra leather, Kate’s go-to bag features adjustable handles that make it a seamless choice for all styles of wearing.
Also equipped with a D ring, Kate’s handbag features a large leather slip pocket that’s decorated with a signature woven Anya Hindmarch bow, adding a feminine flair to the otherwise understated and versatile aesthetic.
Meghan Markle is a fan of this brand, as was seen last September when she was spotted at a public appearance, without Harry, sporting an Anya Hindmarch accessory of her own. As reported by The Mirror US, it was Meghan’s $310 accessory which caught the most attention. In pictures obtained by People Magazine, the Duchess of Sussex was seen carrying around a leather matchbook keychain, which featured a very special message on it. “Take What You Need,” it read as it featured uplifting words such as hugs, love, patience, and a smile.
Kate accessorised with this Neeson Small Square Tote in Chalk Capra Leather from Anya Hindmarch(Image: Anya Hindmarch)
Kate Middleton’s Wimbledon tote bag is available directly from Anya Hindmarch’s store for £950. If this is a little outside your budget, don’t worry—we’ve found plenty of leather woven tote bags that won’t break the bank.
For instance, one that’s currently retailing for a slightly lower price point is this London Tote from Aspinal of London (a brand Kate has given her stamp of approval to), which is selling for £750.
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For more wallet-friendly options, Dune London has this Deliberate Woven Shoulder Bag for £109. Radley also has options, including this Dukes Place Weave bag for £143 and Marks & Spencer offers this Faux Leather Woven Shoulder Strap for an affordable £45.
Australia 225: Smith 48, Green 46; S Joseph 4-33, Greaves 3-56, Seales 3-59
West Indies 16-1
West Indies trail Australia by 209 runs
Australia collapsed to 225 all out in the first innings of their day-night Test against West Indies in Kingston.
The tourists were in a decent position at 157-3 but lost their remaining seven wickets for just 68 runs.
West Indies finished the day on 16-1 to trail by 209 runs, with Mitchell Starc bowling opener Kevlon Anderson for three on his 100th Test appearance.
Steve Smith top-scored with 48 and Cameron Green added 46 for Australia, but their dismissals either side of the dinner break sparking the collapse.
Shamar Joseph was the pick of the West Indies bowlers with 4-33, while Jayden Seales and Justin Greaves took three wickets each.
“Every pitch has been tough. The more balls you spend in the middle you hope it gets better but it just hasn’t been the case,” said all-rounder Green.
“It’s a bit of a grind first time with these balls, but a lot of learnings. Time in the middle is key – just trying to get used to their bowlers, their conditions.”
West Indies faced nine overs at the end of the day, with Starc – just the second Australia pace bowler after Glenn McGrath to play 100 Tests – making the breakthrough as Anderson chopped an inside edge onto his stumps.
