England’s Stanway to leave Bayern in summer

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England international Georgia Stanway will leave Bayern Munich upon the expiry of her contract at the end of the season.

The 27-year-old moved to Bayern from Manchester City in 2022 and has won three league titles.

During her time in Germany, she has won two European Championships with the Lionesses and has become recognised as one of the best midfielders in the world.

Stanway, who has 87 caps for England, is permitted to sign a pre-contract agreement with another club this month with a view to joining in the summer.

“I am incredibly grateful to Bayern. Thankfully, my time here isn’t over yet,” Stanway said in a club statement on Saturday.

“The decision to leave was incredibly difficult. I definitely didn’t make it lightly. I’ve made friends and memories here that will last a lifetime, and I’ve been able to develop enormously as both a player and a person.

“I will give absolutely everything for Bayern and our sporting success until the very last day – just as I have for the past three and a half years.”

Should Arsenal agree a deal with Stanway, it would be regarded as one of the biggest transfers of the January window.

Arsenal are looking to build a squad capable of winning the Women’s Super League, having lifted the Champions League trophy in May, and are working to secure additions for the summer.

Ellen White, Jen Beattie and Ben Haines

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Onley eyes Tour podium ‘in next couple of years’

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Oscar Onley still feels “very far away” from winning the Tour de France despite last summer’s historic fourth-placed finish but believes he is capable of making the podium “in the next couple of years”.

The 23-year-old equalled the best result by a Scottish rider, previously achieved by Philippa York (then known as Robert Millar) in 1984.

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Looking to bridge ‘big gap’ with top two

It’s been a steady progression by Onley since the London-born cyclist joined the Netherlands-based team, Team Picnic–PostNL, in 2023.

His first individual professional win came the following January in an uphill finish on stage five of the 2024 Tour Down Under, ultimately finishing fourth overall.

Onley, though, came into that year’s Tour de France “just trying to go for stage results, which meant there is certain days when I would sit up and take it a bit easier”.

That was with the knowledge that he was not in a position “to be fighting for a top-five finish overall”.

That all changed last year.

“It really feels like it came quite quickly in the last few months before the Tour,” he said.

“Everything started to click into place and so I was starting to gain a lot more confidence in myself as well.”

While he was initially targeting stage wins in his second Tour de France, with the general classification being a secondary aim, it soon became clear that a podium finish was a possibility.

Onley would finish just over a minute behind third-placed Florian Lipowitz of Germany. Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard was eight minutes in front in second, while winner, Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia, was 12 minutes better off.

“I still feel very far away,” the Scot said as he looked forward to the coming season. “To the front two, there is a big gap from the rest of us, but I definitely feel that, in the next couple of years, a podium finish is definitely possible if things go the right way for me.

Edinburgh Grand Depart ‘will be special’

Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar (left) and Oscar Onley (right) Getty Images

It is no surprise Onley is especially dreaming of success in 2027, when the Tour de France will start in Edinburgh.

“It is something I’m really looking forward to,” he said. “I think the UK and Scotland really put on a good show whenever big events come to the country, such as the Commonwealth Games or the road world cycling championships in Glasgow a couple of years ago.

Cycling ‘in better place’ over drugs

Performance-enhancing drugs in cycling hit the headlines with the banning of Lance Armstrong in 2012 and remains a hot topic despite fewer cases in recent years.

“I can’t speak for other sports, but I know how much we get tested and how much I personally get tested as well throughout the year and throughout the tour,” Onley said.

The Scot has “a lot of trust” in the systems in place trying “to keep the sport clean” and ensure a level playing field.

“I believe the sport’s come a long way in the past 10-15 years,” Onley said. “I also don’t believe it’s completely clean.

“I think it’s quite naive to think it’s clean throughout the whole world, but I think it’s in a better place than it was before I started cycling.

“It’s not much I think about. I can only compete with who I am up against. I am not riding along thinking, ‘this guy might be getting an advantage over me’. It’s not really the thought process I or many other riders have.

Missing fruit squash and Lammermuir Hills

Onley was speaking while preparing for the new season in Andorra, where he lives in the mountains between France and Spain.

“There is a big culture of professional cyclists up there and I have a lot of friends who live close by and we can always go out training together or do other things,” he explained.

“It’s quite peaceful and it’s a nice place to come back to in between races.”

Among those fellow cyclists, recently retired Welsh Commonwealth Games gold medallist and 2018 Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas “is someone I always looked up to”.

“The way he can focus on a certain goal every year he’s been professional,” he said. “In the last few years racing beside him has been quite inspiring.”

Brought up in Kelso, Onley also admits that, amid his globetrotting lifestyle, the biggest thing he misses about Scotland is a certain brand of fruit squash.

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Durant passes legend Chamberlain on all-time list

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Kevin Durant moved past the great Wilt Chamberlain on the NBA all-time scoring list but his 30 points could not guide the Houston Rockets to a win against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Durant, 37, has 31,435 points in his career and is now seventh on the all-time list. LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers leads the way with 42,601.

The Trail Blazers triumphed 111-105 at Moda Center in Portland.

Chamberlain, who died in 1999, is the only player to score 100 points in an NBA game and was a two-time champion with the Philadelphia 76ers and the Lakers.

“You see the numbers. You just can’t comprehend somebody putting up 50 a game with 25 rebounds,” Durant said before Friday’s game.

“You want to compete with that and try to match that as much as you can.

“It’s amazing just being in the top 10 with him, but to have the opportunity to pass him up, it’s pretty sweet.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo blocked a shot by James and stole the ball from him on consecutive possessions in the final minute as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Lakers 105-101 in LA to claim a fifth win in seven games.

Stephen Curry finished with 27 points and a season-high 10 assists as the Golden State Warriors triumphed 137-103 at home against the Sacramento Kings.

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Dominant Sabalenka reaches Brisbane final

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World number one Aryna Sabalenka reached the final of the Brisbane International for the third year in a row with a 6-3 6-4 win against Karolina Muchova.

Sabalenka is aiming to win a third Australian Open title in four years later this month and continued her preparations with a dominant victory to set up a final against Marta Kostyuk, who beat fourth seed Jessica Pegula 6-0 6-3.

A French Open runner-up in 2023, Czech Muchova had won her previous three matches against Sabalenka.

But Muchova had no answer to the Belarusian’s power at the Queensland Tennis Centre and, although three match points slipped away, Sabalenka sealed victory when a Muchova shot sailed long.

“She is such a great player and I always enjoy battles against her.”

Sabalenka has not lost a set in four meetings with Ukrainian Kostyuk, the world number 26. The final takes place on Sunday.

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Wrexham’s story ‘written in the stars, literally’

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“The stories have been written in the stars, it seems. Literally.”

While scathing of the effort of many of his own players, even Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche acknowledged something is stirring at Wrexham as they knocked his Premier League side out of the FA Cup.

In front of co-owner Ryan Reynolds, the Red Dragons’ class of 2025-26 etched themselves into cup folklore by taking their top-flight scalp at the Stok Cae Ras on penalties.

And with drama befitting their modern-day Hollywood association.

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For a club with FA Cup upsets stitched into its fabric, this win was up there with the most climactic – and the hero of the iconic win over Arsenal in 1992, Mickey Thomas, watched on.

Before the match, manager Phil Parkinson admitted he had wished to take on a Premier League team ever since the club’s journey up from the fifth tier began five years ago.

“We highlighted to the lads some of the great moments in this club’s history in the FA Cup and could we make our own bit of history tonight. We’ve certainly done that,” Parkinson said.

They did, and then some – beating top-flight opposition for the first time since 1999 to progress into round four.

But Wrexham are getting used to writing their own scripts.

“It’s not just about the money, the fame and the people involved who have been amazing in the whole story, but to keep that edge and keep pushing as they’re doing is tremendous,” Dyche said.

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‘A magical night’

From “colossus” Arthur Okonkwo’s spot-kick heroics to Ollie Rathbone’s continued rip-roaring return from injury, and first club goals for both Liberato Cacace and Dom Hyam thrown into the mix, Parkinson said there were “stories everywhere” on a truly wild night in north Wales.

“It’s a magical night. It’s just a classic FA Cup game,” said goalscorer Cacace, who was making his first start for Wrexham in more than two months.

It ensured co-owner Reynolds – accompanied by his mother who witnessed the glory of the world’s oldest national football competition in full view – was not left disappointed.

“I’m sure he’ll (Reynolds) be delighted to feel the emotion again inside the Stok Cae Ras,” said Parkinson.

And there’s more to come.

Wrexham sit just one point adrift of the Championship’s top six, having won four successive matches in the second tier for the first time in their history.

The likes of Lewis Brunt, Andy Cannon, Danny Ward, Kieffer Moore and Issa Kabore are all edging ever closer to returning from injury to bolster Parkinson’s ranks.

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As for Forest, it’s back to the drawing board.

While Wrexham made the most of their FA Cup opportunity, Dyche lambasted some of his players for “not making the most of the platform”.

“We built up to the game, there was a serious edge to it, we told them about Wrexham – and we were miles off,” Dyche said.

“Then we had three important players who came on and showed their hand and the whole thing changed and we looked like a Premier League outfit.

“The only positive – if there is one out of that first half – is it shows why I’m picking the team I am.”

Forest’s focus now will be Premier League survival while Wrexham’s will be to join them there next season.

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‘Unacceptable to the badge’ – Dyche fumes at FA Cup exit

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Sean Dyche has called for some of his Nottingham Forest players to “have a look in the mirror” after an “unacceptable” first-half performance in their FA Cup loss at Wrexham.

Forest were the first Premier League side in third-round action and the first casualty at the hands of lower league opposition.

Having made eight changes from Tuesday’s Premier League win at West Ham, Dyche watched in fury as his side trailed their Championship opponents 2-0 at the break.

They fought back to make it 3-3 and force extra-time at Stok Cae Ras, but were beaten 4-3 in the penalty shootout after Igor Jesus and Omari Hutchinson had their spot-kicks saved by home keeper Arthur Okonkwo.

“The first half was completely unacceptable,” Dyche told TNT Sports.

“I let the players know and there are certain individuals that certainly know and they have to look in the mirror.

“But the strangeness of football, some players that came on in the second half were a credit and we went on and looked like a Premier League side.

“You can’t do that in the first half, it’s completely unacceptable. It’s unacceptable to me, but I said you have to look in the mirror because that’s unacceptable to the badge as well.

“They all knock on the door and say, ‘why aren’t I playing?’. Well the evidence is quite honestly there for some, not for all.”

While Dyche praised those who came off the bench – including two-goal Callum Hudson-Odoi – for acting as a “catalyst” for their second-half comeback, he continued to berate his side’s efforts in a poor first 45 minutes.

“I could have taken all of them off [at half-time],” he added. “The tempo, the mentality to take the game on was lacking so badly in the first half.

“Slow, methodical, we have done a lot of work on that. There was basically no intent, no real desire to make a difference. Second half, the changes were terrific.

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‘They may as well have not turned up’

The three goals at Wrexham meant Forest have now conceded 46 in all competitions this season, with bottom club Wolves the only side to have let in more among Premier League clubs – and only one more at that.

But with his side 17th in the league – seven points clear of the bottom three – Dyche’s focus will now be solely on keeping Forest in the top flight after an evening to forget in north Wales.

“Forest were nowhere near good enough in the first half,” former Crystal Palace striker Clinton Morrison told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“If they had played the whole game like they did the second they would have won convincingly, but full credit must go to Wrexham.

“Forest back to the drawing board and the task of trying to stay in the Premier League.”

Speaking on TNT Sports, ex-Liverpool and Real Madrid winger Steve McManaman added: “The story tonight is Wrexham and the journey they have been on with the new owners. Nottingham Forest played their part in this story.

“The first 45 minutes, they may as well have not turned up. That is really disappointing because Sean Dyche trusted some of those players to do a job for him and they didn’t.

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