Tottenham have agreed a £55m fee with West Ham to sign midfielder Mohammed Kudus.
The Ghana international is now set to have a medical before signing a long-term contract.
BBC Sport reported on Saturday that the Hammers had rejected an initial £50m but a deal has now been clinched.
Kudus, who has an £85m release clause, joined West Ham in a £38m deal from Ajax in 2023. He has made 65 Premier League appearances for the club, scoring 13 goals and providing nine assists.
At least six top clubs have enquired about Kudus in recent weeks but well-placed sources told BBC Sport the 24-year-old had prioritised a move to Spurs.
BBC Sport
‘Kudus highly rated by many’
Phil McNulty, chief football writer
Kudus is highly rated by many very good judges.
When I spoke to Danny Murphy at the end of last season about players Liverpool should be looking at this summer, he named Kudus as one. The player is sought after – despite being as underwhelming last season as he was electrifying in 2023-24 following a £38m move from Ajax.
He only scored five goals in the most recent campaign, down from 14 the year before, and was often ineffective in the system preferred by head coach Graham Potter, who took charge in January and favours wing-backs over wingers.
During the recording of (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, the Gallagher brothers had one of their bigger rows. Noel swung a cricket bat at Liam.
Paul McGuigan was the Oasis bassist at the time. He’s a huge cricket fan.
The biggest comebacks of the summer are happening all at once. Last week it was Oasis in Cardiff, this week Jofra Archer at Lord’s, scene of his champagne super over in the 2019 World Cup final and felling of Steve Smith on Test debut. He was electric.
Archer’s return to play in the third Test against India on Thursday is remarkable. More than four years away, his career threatened by back and elbow injuries. The last time he played a Test in this country was in the Covid bubble. The last time he played a Test in front of a home crowd was that debut summer six years ago.
The fans have not forgotten. When Archer was 12th man during the second Test at Edgbaston, an appearance to run the drinks brought one of the loudest cheers of the week from the Hollies Stand.
“He absolutely loved it,” said England captain Ben Stokes. “He had no idea what to do. He went around once, and went back round again.”
For Archer, one of the most complete fast bowlers to play for England in decades, perhaps expectations should be managed. He has bowled only 18 competitive overs with a red ball in the run-up to this.
But what is the point of sport if excitement is not allowed? Hopes, dreams and heroes get us believing a Briton can reach the second week of Wimbledon or Stoke City might avoid a relegation battle this season. It will be the same with Archer, believing he can be the same exhilarating bowler of 2019.
Archer’s inclusion in place of Josh Tongue boosts an England attack that looked to be on life support at Edgbaston. If anything, only one change is a surprise, but Stokes is adamant Brydon Carse’s battered feet are good to go and Chris Woakes’ record here is so good they should re-name the ground after him.
There will be attention on conditions, balls and the pitch. Last week, Stokes said the Edgbaston surface was subcontinental, which was understandable given it has barely rained this summer. Still, 18 England wickets fell to India’s excellent seamers.
From a distance, there looks to be more grass on the Lord’s pitch, though that will be baked in temperatures forecast to be above 30 degrees. Both teams have complained about the Dukes balls going soft, which led Stokes to question the brand of rings used by umpires to test the roundness. It later transpired they are standard issue from the International Cricket Council.
If the predicted heatwave does arrive on Thursday, then there will much intrigue around the toss, especially if Shubman Gill calls incorrectly. Stokes, who loves a chase as much as a dog running after a car, admitted he would be looking to bat first.
A captain makes hundreds of decisions during a Test, but not many as important or scrutinised as closely as the toss.
Stokes chose to field first at Headingley and England won. Stokes chose to field first at Edgbaston and England lost. On both occasions, Shubman said he would have bowled, too. You will have your own opinion whether or not a toss decision is vindicated by the result of the match.
Despite his history in home Tests, Stokes stressed he was “not stuck in his ways” and it is not a “tactic to consistently bowl first”.
“When I get the whites out with the blazer on, I look up to the sky more than anything. It’s not rocket science,” he said.
“I’m not the Met Office, so I can’t tell what’s going to happen afterwards.
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Such is the brutal nature of Test cricket, a heavy defeat like Edgbaston can open old wounds that were otherwise thought to have healed.
In fact, after Birmingham, it can be argued the questions that hung over England at the beginning of the summer still remain: Zak Crawley’s charmed life at the top of the order, Ollie Pope’s feast or famine at number three, the Shoaib Bashir project, how the pace bowlers take wickets on flat pitches.
For India, the jubilation of their first win in Birmingham has carried to London. The entire squad was at the YWC gala on Wednesday held in honour of former batter Yuvraj Singh’s cancer charity.
Shubman and coach Gautam Gambhir took the stage together to hand out ‘awards’ to the squad. The fearsome Gambhir cracked a smile. Rishabh Pant was revealed as the man always late for the team bus, Ravindra Jadeja the best beard, Shubman as best dressed.
It took India nine attempts to secure a first win at Edgbaston and their record at Lord’s is almost as bad; only three wins in 19 visits, though two have come since 2014.
The majority of the India team that take the field on Thursday will be playing a Test in St John’s Wood for the first time. Shubman, in the form of his life, has played here once before, for Glamorgan against Middlesex in 2022. He was bowled by Toby Roland-Jones for 22 and caught off Tim Murtagh for 11. Maybe England need some honest county seamers in their XI.
Jasprit Bumrah has played one Test here, picking up three wickets in India’s win four years ago. His return after being rested at Edgbaston could have him joining Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep to form an extremely potent trio.
In the gala on Wednesday, Bumrah was given an award for ‘best comeback’ after his back injury, but his return pales in comparison to what Archer has been through.
Now, two of the game’s most exciting fast bowlers line up against each other at the grandest cricket ground on the planet with a thrilling series perfectly poised at 1-1.
A Spanish court sentenced Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti to a one-year suspended prison term for tax fraud when he was Real Madrid manager in 2014.
The Madrid court also fined Ancelotti 386,000 euros ($452,187) during Wednesday’s proceedings.
Spanish prosecutors accused Ancelotti of defrauding the state of 1 million euros ($1m) in 2014 and 2015.
State prosecutors sought a prison sentence of up to four years and nine months on two counts of tax fraud.
But the former Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain boss, who no longer lives in Spain, will not serve jail time because the sentence is less than two years and he has no criminal record. In Spain, a judge has the discretion to suspend a sentence of less than two years for first-time offenders.
In March 2024, prosecutors accused Ancelotti of having used shell companies to hide his true earnings. They claimed Ancelotti, for example, used one company that lacked “any real [economic] activity” in the Virgin Islands as part of an alleged scheme.
Carlos Sanchez, Ancelotti’s press officer, told The Associated Press that the coach “will not make comments for now.”
Brazil’s football confederation (CBF) said in a statement that it was following the case.
The Italian coach is the latest in a string of major football profiles to face a crackdown by Spanish authorities over unpaid taxes, although none have actually been sent to prison so far. That list includes star players Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as Jose Mourinho, another former Madrid coach.
The CBF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ancelotti, who turned 66 last month, is one of football’s most successful coaches. He is the only coach to have won the Champions League five times, three with Madrid and twice with AC Milan, and the only coach to have won domestic league titles in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.
The former Italy midfielder left Real Madrid to become Brazil boss at the end of last season after a rare trophy-less campaign in the 2024-25 season.
Ancelotti, right, was the head coach at Real Madrid until two months ago when he departed to coach Brazil’s national side before the 2026 FIFA World Cup [Susana Vera/Reuters]
Remco Evenepoel won the individual time trial on stage five of the Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar took the yellow jersey from Mathieu van der Poel.
Belgium’s Evenepoel, who is the world and Olympic champion in the discipline, lived up to his billing as favourite on the 33km route around Caen with a stunning performance.
The Soudal Quick-Step rider averaged 54km/h to finish 16 seconds quicker than Slovenia’s Pogacar, with Italy’s Edoardo Affini in third, 33 seconds back.
“I gained positions at every checkpoint. The pacing was perfect and everything was on point, I’m super happy,” said Evenepoel.
“I did what I had to do to take as much time as possible and step up in GC [General Classification]. It’s kind of the same situation as last year, so I’m happy with that. It’s a big step towards the podium, but there’s still a long way to go.
“Everybody knows what’s coming next week and the week after. One year, I will come to win the Tour but it’s a bit too early this year.”
Pogacar was the big beneficiary of the day after an excellent ride of his own as his main GC rival, Jonas Vingegaard, toiled.
The Dane, who has won the Tour twice, ended the race against the clock in 13th to ship over a minute to three-time champion Pogacar, with Evenepoel moving up to second in the GC standings 42 seconds behind.
Vingegaard is fourth overall, with promising French rider Kevin Vauquelin 14 seconds ahead of him.
Dutch rider Van der Poel came home in 18th and drops to sixth.
The result also means that Pogacar becomes the first rider to wear the yellow, green and polka-dot jerseys at this stage in the Tour since Belgium’s Eddy Merckx in 1970.
Hollywood actor Orlando Bloom has sent the rumour-mill into overdrive after sharing a sweet family photo with ex-fiancée Katy Perry as fans beg them to get back together
Orlando Bloom fans baffled by family snaps with Katy Perry – days after split(Image: Instagram/ @orlandobloom)
Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom may have recently announced the end of their romantic relationship, but their latest public appearance and Orlando’s cute family photo tells a very different story. The former couple, who said they are now focusing on co-parenting their daughter Daisy Dove, are currently on tour in Europe after joining newlyweds Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez on their honeymoon.
Last week, the Teenage Dream singer, 40, and the 48-year-old actor were seen on board Bezos’s luxury superyacht in the Mediterranean, accompanied by their four-year-old daughter. Despite confirming they had decided to ‘shift’ their relationship to focus purely on parenting, Katy and Orlando appeared relaxed and happy to be spending time together as a family.
Orlando shared a rare family photo with Daisy and Katy and his son Flynn (Image: Instagram/ @orlandobloom)
Their appearance on the yacht has drawn even more attention, not only because of the high-profile nature of the Bezos’ honeymoon, but also due to the timing of their getaway following their split. Many expected the couple to be spending time apart following their separation, yet they seem to have chosen the opposite by joining a romantic trip.
And after spending time with the newlyweds, it looks as though Katy and Orlando escaped to spend some family time together their with daughter Daisy and Orlando’s son Flynn, 12, who he shares with ex-wife and supermodel Miranda Kerr.
Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, The Pirates of the Caribbean actor shared a ‘photo dump’ of the wholesome family trip, which saw him sweetly pose net to Flynn, and lay in bed with a messy-haired Daisy. Orlando also posted a sweet family photo including his ex-fiancée Katy as the former couple posed with the two children in front of a stunning view.
After sharing the photo with Katy, Orlando’s fans appeared to jump to conclusions as they shared their wishes that the pair would get back together and stay together ‘forever’. One wrote: “I hope my favorite couple stays together for a long time.”
Orlando shared some sweet family snaps (Image: Instagram/ @orlandobloom)
Someone else echoed: “So nice to see Katy smiling with you. You two belong together forever. It’s giving twin flames.” Meanwhile, another one of Orlando’s fans gushed: “You two belong together!!!!! Whether it’s just as friends or lovers I don’t know, but you two are definitely meant to be together.”
The sweet family snap comes after Katy was forced to miss Bezos and Sanchez’s extravagant £48 million wedding in Venice because she was touring in Australia. While Katy was delighting crowds in Sydney, Melbourne, and beyond, Orlando was rubbing shoulders with some of the most famous faces in Hollywood.
He attended the wedding solo, where he was spotted socialising with a high-profile guest list including Tom Brady, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Sydney Sweeney. He was also seen chatting with a mystery woman during the celebrations which raised many an eyebrow.
Orlando and his 12-year-old son Flynn (Image: Instagram/ @orlandobloom)
Still, despite appearances at separate events and suggestions of moving on, their family trip suggests that Katy and Orlando continue to operate as a close-knit unit.
Last week, the pair officially called it quits on their nine-year romance – six years after the Pirates of The Caribbean actor popped the question.
In a statement, their respective representatives declared: “Orlando and Katy have been shifting their relationship over the past many months to focus on coparenting.
Orlando is now co-parenting with Katy (Image: Instagram/ @orlandobloom)
“They will continue to be seen together as a family, as their shared priority is – and always will be – raising their daughter with love, stability and mutual respect.”
Before the official announcement, an insider had informed the magazine of their amicable split, stating: “Katy and Orlando have split but are amicable. It’s not contentious at the moment. Katy is of course upset but is relieved to not have to go through another divorce, as that was the worst time in her life.”
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Katy and Orlando’s love story began in 2016, endured a brief hiatus after a year, before rekindling flames in 2018. The power couple got engaged in 2019 and embraced parenthood with the arrival of Daisy Dove in 2020.
