Category Sports News

Winner of the Serie A with Napoli, Scott McTominay. Winner of the Conference League with Chelsea, Jadon Sancho. Winner of the FA Cup with Crystal Palace, Dean Henderson.

There was a time when a player’s career started to slow down after leaving Manchester United.

Is that still the case?

Two players signed to United are currently playing in the Conference League final on Wednesday, Sancho who has spent the season on loan at Chelsea and Brazilian winger Antony, who signed for Real Betis on a temporary basis in January.

After Chelsea defeated Chelsea 4-1 in Wroclaw, Poland, Sancho wraps up the season with a European winners’ medal as United’s bosses conduct an inquest into the disastrous 2024-25 campaign.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Matteo Darmian, who both spent time at United in recent years, could also play for Inter Milan when they face Paris St-Germain in the Champions Final on Saturday in Munich.

McTominay was a bit-part player at United’s starting matches when he was on the substitute bench.

The Scotland midfielder requested a change of scenery last summer, and United needed funding to help them adhere to the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

The Lancaster-born player made the courageous decision to re-join United in Italy after spending more than 20 years there. He first started playing soccer at the club when he was five.

A fee of £25.7 million appears to be extremely affordable right now.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, his former manager at Old Trafford, recently said to BBC Sport, “How you can sell Scott is beyond me.”

Since joining Napoli from former United team-mate Romelu Lukaku, McTominay’s game stats have improved in almost every way.

In 2024-25, he scored 13 goals and added four assists in 2, 972 minutes of playing time on the pitch, compared to the previous season’s 10 goals and three assists at United.

Paul Lambert, a former Scotland international, claimed that McTominay’s move to Italy was the result of his efforts.

After leaving Manchester United, Lambert, who won the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund in 1997, said that “it’s believed that British football is the end all.”

“It’s not. Players move more quickly when playing European football. You mature more quickly as a result.

According to BBC Sport’s chief football newsman Simon Stone, former United boss Erik ten Hag did not want to agree to a deal with Napoli for McTominay.

You really need to look beyond the deals themselves, comprehend why they happened, and concentrate on the real issues, Stone said.

Scott McTominay is the glaring one. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the former head of Scotland, told me earlier this month in Istanbul that he was unable to understand why the Scotland international had been sold.

The justification was straightforward. It was the only way to raise money through PSR to bring in Manuel Ugarte, even though Erik ten Hag was against doing so with Napoli.

Antony is one more player to enjoy at Old Trafford than Antony.

After moving to Spain to join United for £81.3 million in 2022, the Brazil winger scored five goals in 62 Premier League games before making his first-team debut against Real Betis in January.

Despite having won the Conference League final with a medal, Antony has since managed nine goals, five of them in La Liga and four in Europe. He is now content with life again.

Next season will Antony be back at Old Trafford? Well, he will be a United employee until 2027, but both parties may agree to a permanent move to Betis.

There is not a single United fan who would argue that the Brazilian should have been given more time, according to Stone.

“The ridiculous fee paid for Antony was the issue,” he said.

Henderson, who has been with United since he was 14 years old, has also seen his career grow since joining Palace in a £20m deal in August 2023. He has also been working for United since he was 16 years old.

After saving Omar Marmoush’s penalty in the FA Cup final, he has made his first appearance in England and helped give Palace his first major trophy in the past 12 months.

What about Anthony Elanga, exactly?

Along with Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh overall and secured a spot in the Conference League, he will also play on the continental stage.

Elanga, a Sweden international who joined Forest for just £15 million from United in 2023, contributed 11 Premier League assists and scored six more goals in 2024 and 25.

He had played for United since he was 12 years old and broke into the first team in 2021, making 55 appearances before Ten Hag’s decision to let him join after Elanga decided not to have the necessary calibre to have enough of an impact on his squad.

There have, of course, been numerous recent instances of players’ careers deteriorating since leaving United.

Paul Pogba’s signing from Juventus was a record-breaking £89 million in 2016.

After receiving a four-year ban for a doping offence in February 2024, he left in 2022, and the World Cup winner with France in 2018 is currently without a club. However, that was cut to 18 months in October.

Jesse Lingard has signed for FC Seoul in South Korea while Anthony Martial, who left in 2024, is currently playing for AEK Athens in Greece.

As Ruben Amorim attempts to stamp his name on the squad and secure his own signings since taking over the club in November, a number of players are expected to leave United this summer.

Marcus Rashford, who has been on loan at Aston Villa and has agreed to leave while Amorim is in charge, is one of the likely departures.

Additionally, the United boss has informed winger Alejandro Garnacho that he will be allowed to sign for a new club this summer.

Will Rashford, a two-time FA Cup champion and champion of the Europa League, and Garnacho and Rashford prosper elsewhere?

Garnacho, who is still only 20, is often believed by those who follow United that the pressure placed on him by his lack of experience has not helped him.

Will he start at Chelsea next season or make a United debut?

Sancho has had a good season at Chelsea, according to Stone.

The Blues would not even have considered sending him back to United if he had been that good.

Ella Toone, an England midfielder, claimed she didn’t “actually grieve” until a time when she was forced to sit on the sidelines due to injury.

The Lionesses beat Germany to win Euro 2022, and Nick Toone’s daughter scored the opening goal, was diagnosed with prostate cancer the following day.

Three days before his 60th birthday, he passed away in September 2024.

Two weeks after Toone’s arrival, Manchester United’s Women’s Super League campaign began. He started playing every game until he injured his calf in training in November.

Before suffering from an injury, Toone had not scored in six games and, in her own words, had lost interest in the game.

Before the season even started, the 25-year-old told The Tooney &amp, Russo Show, “I just lost my dad.”

After that, I continued playing and probably wasn’t as interested as I should have. Because I always wanted to play football for him, I never would have told myself or acknowledged it.

When it actually came out of my hands, I realized more than anything that I needed to step away from football and practice mental correctness. I desperately needed to return to my love for the game.

Toone was able to concentrate on herself both physically and mentally during her time away from the pitch.

While undergoing rehab, she began speaking with a counselor and spent time with her partner Joe in Dubai.

She continued, “At first I didn’t miss it.” I was working on my rehab, getting stronger, and doing my exercises. The best thing I could have done was to mentally prepare for my own grief.

Toone returned with a bang after nine weeks of dissolution.

In her first five games with United, she scored six goals, including a stunning hat-trick against Manchester City.

When I was back on the grass and around the girls, Toone said, “I knew I was ready to kick on.”

“I quickly returned and started scoring goals.” Then, as I started to put pressure on myself and score for my father, I realized I was never going to score again, and my love for the game really increased.

It arrived at the ideal moment, and it is now about to stop falling. You are constantly up and down in football, which is a challenge.

Toone is currently serving as an international player for England’s Nations League clash against Portugal and Spain.

Alessia Russo, her best friend, and current Arsenal player, flew to Manchester after learning of Nick’s passing.

Russo said, “From living together to then being so far down in London was difficult.” All I wanted to do was stand up for what was happening when something as serious as that occurs.

I didn’t really care whether she wanted me there or not. I merely wanted to be there to see her, to share her cry with her, to eat with her, to make her laugh, and to lend a hand to anything else she needed.

In the dark, Russo and other Toone’s team members, both from the local and international, rallied around her.

“Everyone came together,” Toone continued. They have been amazing, as have my team-mates, who are also normal, don’t potter around me, or have no idea what to say.

“The number of people present at the funeral was unbelievable. I had Georgia [Stanway] flying over from Germany, and I had the girls coming out of London.

What would I have done if I had all these people coming and said, “Wow, I am so lucky to have these people,” I thought?

Toone’s challenging off-field and on-field season came to an impressive eight goals and four assists.

She used her father’s sky as a source of inspiration whenever she found the back of the net.

Everyone is sad that day and talks about memories, and it’s difficult for everyone to go through that. However, it’s still difficult for us.

On Friday, May 30th, the Tooney and Russo Show’s second season will be available on BBC Sounds and YouTube, with fresh episodes arriving every Monday and Friday.

In its coverage of the Women’s Summer of Sport, BBC Sport will stream the Lloyds Women’s Tour of Britain this year live.

On June 5, the four-day race across England and Scotland will begin, and it will be streamed live on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport, and the website and app.

Two-time Olympian Lizzie Deignan and her Lidl-Trek team-mate Anna Henderson, both of whom won the 2024 Olympic silver medal, will compete in the event.

Movistar’s Cat Ferguson and Imogen Wolff, both riders for Visma-Lease a Bike, are also involved.

The Women’s Euros, Women’s Rugby World Cup, and World Athletics Championships will be broadcast live on the BBC alongside Wimbledon, The Hundred Cricket Tournament, and Queen’s Tennis, where women will compete for the first time in more than 50 years, as part of BBC Sport’s coverage of the women’s summer of sport.

The Director of BBC Sport, Alex Kay-Jelski, said, “We’re delighted to bring this event to fans across the UK through our popular digital platforms. This is another fantastic moment for women’s sport this summer.”

“The BBC consistently supports women’s sport.” The stories, the grit, and the drive that underlie them, not just the victories. And as the most popular sports broadcaster in the UK, we’re proud to highlight this race and its outstanding cyclists.

Stage one: Dalby Forest to Redcar on June 5th.

Stage two: Hartlepool-Saltburn-by-the-Sea on Friday, June 6th.

The Scottish Borders Stage, Kelso to Kelso, on June 7 for stage three.

French Open 2025

Location: Roland Garros, May 25 – June

Richard Gasquet took a significant step forward with just one small step, Jannik Sinner’s.

The Frenchman’s playing career came to an end when he defeated Gasquet, 38, 6 (6) 6-4, to win the match on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Nearly 30 years after Gasquet’s famous terracotta court performance was first brought to the attention of the country, Roland Garros’ terracotta courts served as a fitting setting for the sentimental farewell.

His ravishing backhand will be Gasquet’s lasting legacy. His success will be largely determined by the joy his signature shot brought, especially to the adoring French public, not by Slam wins.

Gasquet’s backhand was ranked as the fifth-best single-hander of the Open era by Tennis.com in 2023.

It referred to it as possibly “the most visually appealing one-handed backhand drive of that time.” Only the top three scorers, Stan Wawrinka, Ken Rosewall, Justine Henin, and Federer, outnumber Gasquet.

When the then-President of the French Tennis Federation, Lionel Faujare, compared a 15-year-old Gasquet to Mozart, not without reason.

It was difficult to live up to the billing standard.

When he was 12 years old, he defeated Rafael Nadal in the junior Les Petits As competition, but the result was 18-0 in Nadal’s favor. Novak Djokovic had a 1-13 record against him and Roger Federer had a 2-19 record.

Tatiana Golovin and Gasquet won the senior mixed doubles at Roland Garros as teenagers in 2004 and the French Open and US Open junior singles titles.

He won 16 ATP titles, a Davis Cup with France in 2017, and an Olympic doubles bronze medal at London 2012, and he also won two Grand Slam semi-finals, including two at Wimbledon.

He successfully argued that he was unknowingly contaminated after kissing a woman, known as Pamela, in a Miami nightclub after testing positive for cocaine in March 2009.

He placed seventh in the world rankings, matching Federer’s record-setting ATP victories in 24 straight seasons.

Franck Ramella, the tennis writer and biographer for L’Equipe, writes:

He seems content with his career, I believe. because he never claimed to be the champion of the world.

He never lived up to what others had hoped for him to be. The expectations were what made things complicated for him.

There was a lot of hope,” he said. There’s a sort of failure syndrome [in French tennis] because we’ve been waiting for a men’s champion since Yannick Noah [in 1983] at Roland Garros. So we put a lot of faith and intensity into it as soon as someone can win. He had a strong faith in France.

After the Champions Cup final, Bordeaux-Begles prop Jefferson Poirot received a two-week ban for altercation with Northampton’s Henry Pollock.

After the final whistle blew, Poirot’s side won 28-20 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, and the England and Lions flanker was charged with grabbing the England and Lions flanker’s throat.

The final two games of Bordeaux’ regular season will feature Poirot.

Poirot “accepted that he had committed an act of foul play that warranted a red card,” according to European Professional Club Rugby, the tournament’s organizer.

Four weeks was chosen as the appropriate entry point, according to a statement added: “The independent disciplinary committee upheld the complaint and determined that the offending was against World Rugby’s sanctions.”