Category Sports News

Barcelona want Marcus Rashford to stay beyond his loan, Aston Villa eye return for Tammy Abraham and Manchester United hope to beat Arsenal to sign teenager Igor Tyjon.

Barcelona want to keep England forward Marcus Rashford, 28, beyond the term of his loan from Manchester United. (Athletic – subscription required)

Aston Villa are looking to recruit 28-year-old English striker Tammy Abraham, who is on loan at Besiktas from Roma this season. (Telegraph – subscription required)

Manchester United are hoping to beat Arsenal to signing Blackburn Rovers and England youth international Igor Tyjon, 17. (Sun)

Newcastle United are assessing Atalanta and Italy centre-back Giorgio Scalvini, 22, following the injury to Swiss defender Fabian Schar, 34. (Teamtalk)

Chelsea have ‘overtaken’ their rivals in the race to sign 25-year-old Real Madrid and Brazil forward Vinicius Jr. (Fichajes – in Spanish)

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner is the frontrunner with Manchester United‘s hierarchy to become the club’s next permanent manager. (Caughtoffside)

Three horses have died after sustaining injuries in separate incidents during Kempton Park’s Lanzarote Hurdle card.

Grade One winning Kalif Du Berlais, who was part-owned by former Manchester United manger Sir Alex Ferguson, fell and unseated jockey Harry Cobden in the final stages of the four-runner Silviniaco Conti Chase.

The six-year-old sustained a broken shoulder and could not be treated by the veterinary team, with trainer Paul Nicholls describing the loss as “a big kick in the teeth” and a “sad day”.

Also on Saturday, Wertpol suffered a fatal fall in the juvenile hurdle, while Peso pulled up with an injury in the Shaker Handicap Chase.

A spokesperson for Kempton Park said: “All of us at Kempton Park care deeply about the welfare of all racehorses, as do the thousands of racing staff who provide them with world-class levels of care at home every day.

“Our heartfelt condolences are with the connections of all three horses.”

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) said it will analyse each incident in detail through its fatality review process.

“At this stage there does not appear to be any common factor that can be attributed to these incidents, with each of the injuries different in nature and sustained in unique circumstances,” it added.

Briton Nicholls said Kalif Du Berlais had been “travelling beautifully” at Kempton and they had “a lot of faith” the horse could go far.

“He’s won a Grade One and had a big future, there is no doubt about that, but we’re not going to know how big, sadly,” he said.

Harry Derham, who was riding Wertpol, wrote on X it had been “an utterly miserable day” and said the three-year-old “was a bright talent who was fresh and happy doing his work every day, often playing around and expressing himself”.

He added: “Racing can at times be a painful sport and today has been a tough day for a number of connections. A day to forget.”

Investec Champions Cup Pool 1

Sale (7) 26

Tries: Ma’asi-White, Rodd, O’Flaherty 2 Cons: Ford 3

Sharks (3) 10

A much-improved second-half performance helped Sale beat South African side the Sharks and confirmed their passage to the Investec Champions Cup last 16.

Siya Masuku’s penalty put the visitors ahead before Sale centre Rekeiti Ma’asi-White scored the only try of an error-strewn opening period to give the hosts a slender half-time advantage.

England prop Bevan Rodd burrowed over on 49 minutes and Tom O’Flaherty crossed soon after to put Sale 19-3 up, before Sharks flanker Manu Tshituka scored a wonderful individual try to reduce the arrears.

After falling behind to Masuku’s penalty Sale responded quickly and their building pressure told when Ma’asi-White collected a short pass before crossing the whitewash.

Sharks, without the majority of their South Africa internationals including captain Siya Kolisi, were enjoying plenty of possession and providing an attacking threat, but after several phases of probing the Sale defence around the 20-minute mark they opted to kick in behind and lost possession.

Sale debutant Obi Ene looked sharp on the wing but his side were struggling to build momentum with handling errors allowing the Sharks to counter regularly and on one such foray forward blind-side flanker Tino Mavesere came close to scoring but dropped the ball in contact five metres short of the tryline.

The hosts escaped again shortly before the break when full-back Hakeem Kunene broke clear only for Sale winger O’Flaherty to come back with a vital covering tackle.

Sharks fly-half Masuku tried his luck with a penalty from his own half early in the second period, and although it had the length he sent the kick wide of the posts.

It took Sale until the 49th minute to get their second try as a catch and drive from a five-metre line-out allowed Rodd to score.

George Ford’s superb kick to the corner then set up Sale’s third soon after. With the line-out ball secured, Ene spun it wide to fellow wing O’Flaherty who ran in unopposed.

Just as Sale looked like they were well on top, Sharks flanker Tshituka scored an excellent try, picking the ball from the base of a ruck and beating Ford all ends up before racing away to the line.

Sale: Carpenter; Ene, Du Preez, Ma’asi-White, O’Flaherty; Ford, Warr; Rodd, Jibulu, Harper, Bamber, Van Rhyn (capt), Vermeulen, Dugdale, T Curry.

Replacements: Caine, McIntyre, John, Burrow, Andrews, Hanson, Louw, Wehr.

Sharks: Kunene; Penxe, Venter, Julius, Malan; Masuku, Braude; Mazibuko, Swart, Koch, Rahl, Van Heerden, Mavesere, Tshituka, Hatton (capt).

Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wal)

Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wal) and Ben Connor (Wal)

Former Premier League goalkeeper Shay Given has “unreservedly” apologised for describing Wilfried Nancy’s short time as Celtic manager as an “absolute Holocaust” live on BBC show Final Score.

Given, 49, was asked to give his thoughts on Nancy’s sacking after just 33 days and eight games in charge of the Scottish champions.

The ex-Republic of Ireland international said the tenure “was terrible from start to finish”, before using insensitive language to describe 48-year-old Nancy’s first week in the role.

He added: “We all have areas of ignorance in our knowledge, and I hope to use this as an opportunity to become better educated going forward.

“I am genuinely mortified and apologise unreservedly to everyone offended, and will be donating my fee from today’s show to the Holocaust Educational Trust.”

Final Score presenter Jason Mohammad apologised later in the show for the “inappropriate language” used.

Frenchman Nancy was sacked last week following Celtic’s 3-1 defeat by Rangers – his sixth loss as manager in just eight games.

His 33-day stint as Celtic boss was the shortest reign in the club’s history.