Category Sports News

Northern Ireland’s Jonathan Rea finished 10th in the first World Superbike race of the weekend at the Most circuit in the Czech Republic on Saturday.

The race’s winner BMW-mounted Toprak Razgatlioglu, of Turkey, overtook early leader Nicolo Bulega with 19 laps to go and had six seconds to spare over the Italian Ducati rider at the chequered flag, with Danilo Petrucci a further four seconds adrift in third.

Six-time champion Rea crossed the line 22.6 seconds behind Razgatlioglu to achieve his best result of the season to date.

The 38-year-old missed the first three rounds of the series in Australia, Portugal and the Netherlands as he recovered from a serious injury to his left foot sustained in a crash during testing at Phillip Island in February.

Rea finished 19th, 16th and 18th on his return to action at the Cremona round in Italy two weeks ago.

Britain’s Alex Lowes was fourth in Saturday’s race, with Alvaro Bautista working his way up the field from 16th to take fifth after being involved in a collision with Andrea Locatelli and Michael van der Mark at the opening chicane on lap one.

The incident ruled Locatelli and Van der Mark out of the remainder of the race.

Bulega heads the championship standings on 218 points, with two-time champion Razgatlioglu 29 points in arrears on 189.

So, we need to talk about George.

That is because George Ford turned in another player-of-the-match display as Sale Sharks beat Bristol Bears 41-27 to boost their hopes of a play-off spot.

It is now five wins in six games for Sale since the Premiership resumed after the Six Nations and Ford, 32, has been instrumental in all of them.

Ford’s own boss, Alex Sanderson, has been beating the drum for two months for the fly-half to be included in the British and Irish Lions squad for the tour of Australia.

Head coach Andy Farrell opted not to pick him, going for Scotland’s Finn Russell and England’s Fin Smith as his two regular number 10s, with Marcus Smith as cover for both that position and full-back.

However, Farrell said he was keeping a couple of places spare in his squad, to be filled at a later date, with many assuming that his son, Owen Farrell, was one of those targeted for these spots.

But he has not played much rugby in a Racing 92 team that is really struggling in France’s Top 14.

On Friday night, Bristol boss Lam said he had altered his side’s normal tactics to opt for a kicking game.

But his side could not match Ford, whose ability to manage the game had Lam purring in respect.

“We didn’t execute it anywhere near as good as George Ford did his,” said Lam. “He had a masterclass in that.

“George drives Sale’s game so well. When you watch him play for Sale and England, his ability to turn teams and make good decisions, he’s in a real rich vein of form and he’s doing what he’s very good at.

Sale’s win over Bristol took them up to third in the Premiership with one game to go.

Victory away to Exeter Chiefs in their final game will assure them of a play-off spot for a third consecutive season, with all of those finishes since Ford joined the club from Leicester Tigers.

If Sale do make the play-offs, it would also keep the tantalising possibility of a clash between them and Bath – and a battle of the number 10s with Ford against Russell.

For captain Curry, having someone like Ford, a veteran of 98 England caps, makes his job easier.

“Fordy is a little cheat code,” he said.

“For me being captain, life is so easy – you just sit back and let him do his thing.

“He is unbelievable. It’s not just his rugby or what he says on the pitch. He is a proper standard-bearer, he just seems to get it right.

“I don’t think there are many players in the world like him.

US PGA Championship

Date: 15-18 May Venue: Quail Hollow, North Carolina

The start of the third round of the US PGA Championship was delayed until 16:43 BST on Saturday by bad weather at Quail Hollow.

Play was due to get under way at 08:15 local time (13:15 BST) but was suspended moments before American Max Greyserman was set to hit the first shot.

Practice had earlier been suspended for 17 minutes due to the threat of lightning in the area.

Greyserman made the halfway cut on the mark of one over par, as did Rory McIlroy and defending champion Xander Schauffele, who were in the second group due out.

These scheduled tee times below will be revised into threesomes off split tees from 16:43 to 18:55:

13:15 Max Greyserman (US), Sam Burns (US)

13:25 Rory McIlroy (NI), Xander Schauffele (US)

13:35 Michael Kim (US), Chris Kirk (US)

13:45 David Puig (Spa), Bud Cauley (US)

13:55 Elvis Smylie (Aus), Kevin Yu (Tai)

14:05 Sergio Garcia (Spa), Brian Harman (US)

14:15 Justin Lower (US), Tom Kim (Kor)

14:25 Thorbjorn Olesen (Den), Maverick McNealy (US)

14:35 Stephan Jaeger (Ger), Rasmus Hojgaard (Den)

14:45 Nico Echavarria (Col), Harris English (US)

14:55 Brian Campbell (US), Taylor Moore (US)

15:15 Cameron Young (US), Daniel Berger (US)

15:25 Byeong Hun An (Kor), Collin Morikawa (US)

15:35 Harry Hall (Eng), Austin Eckroat (US)

15:45 Corey Conners (Can), Nicolai Hojgaard (Den)

15:55 Beau Hossler (US), Luke Donald (Eng)

16:05 Matt Wallace (Eng), Tom McKibbin (NI)

16:15 Wyndham Clark (US), Rafael Campos (Pur)

16:25 Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)

16:35 Marco Penge (Eng), Lucas Glover (US)

16:45 Jon Rahm (Spa), Keegan Bradley (US)

16:55 Viktor Hovland (Nor), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng)

17:15 Adam Scott (Aus), Joe Highsmith (US)

17:25 Eric Cole (US), Cam Davis (Aus)

17:35 Tony Finau (US), Ben Griffin (US)

17:45 Alex Noren (Swe), Ryo Hisatsune (Jpn)

17:55 Richard Bland (Eng), Davis Riley (US)

18:05 Taylor Pendrith (Can), Bryson DeChambeau (US)

18:15 JJ Spaun (US), Aaron Rai (Eng)

18:25 Ryan Gerard (US), Garrick Higgo (SA)

18:35 Sam Stevens (US), Denny McCarthy (US)

18:45 JT Poston (US), Robert MacIntyre (Sco)

19:05 Ryan Fox (NZ), Alex Smalley (US)

19:15 Michael Thorbjornsen (US), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (SA)

19:25 Max Homa (US), Scottie Scheffler (US)

19:35 Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng), Kim Si-woo (Kor)

19:45 Jhonattan Vegas (Ven), Matthieu Pavon (Fra)

Dean Huijsen’s £50m move to Real Madrid caps off a remarkable rise for a defender who was struggling to get in the Bournemouth team seven months earlier.

The 20-year-old Spain centre-back became one of the Premier League’s most consistent centre-backs, after replacing the injured Marcos Senesi in December.

The Cherries almost quadrupled their money, having paid a maximum of £15m to sign him from Juventus last summer.

Huijsen ranks highly in many different categories for Premier League defenders to play at least 1,000 minutes this season, per 90 minutes.

On top of that, in his 30 Premier League appearances, he has scored three important goals – a winner against Tottenham, opener against Manchester United and equaliser against Arsenal – all in wins.

Jordan Clark, BBC Radio Solent’s Bournemouth commentator, has been hugely impressed by the youngster.

“He looks like he’s a second ahead of the strikers,” he says. “He reads the game so well. He’s a brilliant ball player, playing it out from the back, and he’s defensively strong, physically solid.

“It’s tough to see any downsides to his game. He does the basic things well. If a player is under pressure you see modern-day defenders take risks and play it out from the back.

“But he’ll assess the situation quickly and if he feels the pass isn’t on, he’ll just put the ball out of play. It’s like an old-school defender; no risks, if in doubt put it out.”

Huijsen actually began the season in the starting XI before dropping to the bench for a few months before Senesi’s injury.

“He played the first game at Forest and I remember saying on commentary it was the first time we’d seen him properly, a 19-year-old, but he looked like he’d been playing in the Premier League for years.

“He had something about him physically, he dealt brilliantly with Chris Wood but the ball playing as well was impressive. He stood out that day. But then he had to wait for his opportunity.”

The CIES Football Observatory recently put Huijsen second in the world of 2024-25 signings whose values have risen, saying the Cherries could have made a £57.7m profit had he not had a release clause.

His form this season saw him make his senior Spain debut. Born in the Netherlands but raised in Spain, he had represented both nations at youth level.

Spain boss Luis de la Fuente said they had been monitoring him for years and he “isn’t some new discovery”.

“There are many players – and this is the best news for Spanish football – who today are still unknown to the general public and even some in the media, but not to us inside the federation,” he said.

Juventus will be kicking themselves as they were the ones who wanted Huijsen to leave last summer.

The 20-year-old joined Juve from Malaga’s academy in 2021 – with Huijsen turning down the chance to join Real instead that summer.

He only played one senior game for Juve, spending the second half of last season on loan at Roma.

Huijsen told Gazzetta he wanted to play for Juventus this season but was told the club needed to sell him for financial reasons and forced him out.

Not their wisest decision, especially since they went on to sign Newcastle’s former Bournemouth defender Lloyd Kelly for £20m in January.

In April, Bournemouth technical director Simon Francis told BBC Radio Solent: “Juventus might be scratching their heads at that now [how the English club got him for so cheap].

“We found a fortunate time to take him out of there. [Bournemouth president of football operations] Tiago Pinto had worked closely with him before [at Roma] and gave us reassurance.

“The idea was for him to come in as back-up and learn but through injury there was the opportunity for him to come into the team and he’s been there ever since.”

Huijsen was wanted by most of Europe’s top clubs – including Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle and Bayern Munich.

BBC Sport football news reporter Nizaar Kinsella says Real told the player they would continue watching his career when he turned them down for Juve aged 16.

“He will sign on a five-year deal with a salary of 9m euros (£7.6m) gross but expected to rise to 11m (£9.3) by the end of his contract,” said Kinsella.

“Madrid found it challenging convincing his father and agents to go for Madrid with Juni Calafat and Jose Angel Sanchez handling negotiations. They believe they were offering less than some clubs in England for his signature.

“The sporting project convinced Huijsen as Real told him they will build their defence around him for the next decade and believe he fits Xabi Alonso’s system of playing out from the back.

“Madrid wanted him regardless but Alonso spoke to him and approved the deal.”

Bayer Leverkusen manager Alonso is set to replace Carlo Ancelotti as Real boss before the Fifa Club World Cup.

Real Madrid have signed defender Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth in time to play in the Club World Cup after the Spanish giants activated his £50m release clause.

The 20-year-old has signed a five-year deal which will allow him to debut at the newly expanded tournament in the United States.

Both clubs confirmed the move with Madrid saying that one-time Spain international Huijsen will officially join on 1 June.

Their first match of the Club World Cup is against Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal on 18 June.

The fee will be paid in three instalments, with Huijsen’s two former clubs set to receive a slice of the fee – Juventus are due 10% and Malaga 5%.

Huijsen has chosen Real and will return to Spain where he grew up, playing for Costa Unida CF academy in Marbella and Malaga’s youth team.

Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso, who is set to replace Carlo Ancelotti as Real manager, has been instrumental in the decision to sign the defender and prioritised signing a young centre-back.

Huijsen joined Bournemouth from Juventus last summer for a fee of £12.6m.

The Netherlands-born defender has made 34 appearances in all competitions for the Cherries this season, scoring three times.

Huijsen is set to become Madrid’s second signing from the Premier League this summer, with Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold also set to move to the Spanish capital.

Huijsen was subject of an international tug-of-war between the Netherlands, where he was born, and Spain, where he was raised.

He opted to play for Spain, and made his debut for the 2024 European Championship winners against the Netherlands in March 2025.

Spain manager Luis de la Fuente, who gave Huijsen his international debut, says the defender is “ready” for the move to the Bernabeu.

“I see him – if nothing gets in the way – as capable of playing for any team,” De La Fuente told BBC Sport.

Tiago Pinto, Bournemouth’s president of football operations, was crucial in the signing of Huijsen.

The Portuguese joined the Cherries from Roma in 2024, where he was general manager.

He was key in landing Huijsen, having watched the former Roma defender on loan at the Stadio Olimpico that season.

Those with knowledge of the negotiations say Pinto knew he could exploit Juventus’ need to sell players.

This is despite one source in Turin saying they thought Huijsen could become “world class” even when he started out in their academy teams.

Bournemouth ended up signing Huijsen for £12.6m, in a deal potentially rising to £15m.

After an injury to team-mate Marcos Senesi, Huijsen broke into Bournemouth’s starting XI and hasn’t looked back.

He was exceptional on his third Premier League start, scoring a towering header in a 1-0 win over Tottenham at Vitality Stadium in December.

He has been an ever-present in Andoni Iraola’s defence since.

What has become very clear, not just at Real Madrid but at all the top teams, is that there are players that cannot last a whole season and cannot play three games in a row.

It is nothing to do with training or bad preparation, it is just the physical demands.

Real feel there are some areas of the team that need reinforcements and central defence is one of them.

In Huijsen, they see someone that can maintain the level of the Premier League, who has the physicality to deal with it and is still developing.