Category Sports News

Manchester United’s agreement to sign RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko for £74m will take their summer spending on their forward line past £200m, but now the question is ‘who is going to play in midfield?’

Head coach Ruben Amorim was determined to massively increase his side’s goal output having scored just 44 times in the league last season, their worst return since being relegated in 1973-74.

Sesko will be the third attacking arrival this summer after Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, but centre midfield remains an issue for United, with a question mark or two around each of the candidates to play one of those two positions.

And that has led to the club quietly trying to establish what the terms would be to sign Cameroon midfielder Carlos Baleba from Brighton.

Firstly, the non-negotiables.

Amorim’s system involves two deeper midfield players, wing-backs who push high up the pitch, two inside forwards and a striker.

It is assumed Sesko will be the striker, with Matheus Cunha playing behind him on the left and Bryan Mbeumo on the right.

That would mean skipper Bruno Fernandes taking on one of the deeper midfield roles.

Now, Fernandes is many things but a box-to-box midfielder is not one of them.

Fernandes likes to roam. He likes to get on the ball. He likes to find pockets of space to take a pass.

But the 30-year-old Portugal international is not someone you would rely on being alert to danger. He is not someone who is going to make a 10-yard run in anticipation of closing down space.

This seems to be a problem even if it was something Amorim dismissed when I asked him on the specific point about his midfield in Chicago a couple of weeks ago.

“Bruno runs a lot,” he said. “Maybe in the sprint he’s a different player, but he runs a lot. He has a lot of endurance. He’s smart. So it’s not about that. Bruno’s physicality is not the concern. He’s ready for the physicality, playing deep or as a midfielder.”

If that was accurate, why would United be making discreet inquiries on Baleba?

The nearest Amorim has is Manuel Ugarte but the Uruguay midfielder is yet to show he is worth the £50.8m United paid Paris St-Germain for him.

Ugarte remaining on the bench throughout last May’s Europa League final defeat by Tottenham told its own story on the 24-year-old’s form.

In Atlanta on Sunday, Ugarte was carrying the ball out of his penalty area when he was tackled and lost possession. Everton switfly countered and Idrissa Gueye equalised. That is Ugarte’s flaw, he doesn’t see danger and allows himself to be challenged in areas of huge danger for his team.

Casemiro is far less likely to do that. The Brazilian has all the experience and nous Amorim needs. He was favoured to play alongside Fernandes in Bilbao.

However, it has been established at 33, Casemiro can no longer get about the pitch as he used to do – and whether he had to do much running in his prime is debatable given he played in a midfield with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, who were not exactly wasteful in possession.

United do have Kobbie Mainoo. But when he was talking about his squad in the United States recently, Amorim compared the England international’s qualities to those of Fernandes. Mainoo’s forte is finding space and threatening the opposition goal.

It is noteworthy that in the Euro 2024 final, when Mainoo started, he did so in one of the midfield slots in the same formation Amorim deploys. But the man alongside him was Declan Rice, who is one of the best deep midfield players in the world.

If there is no-one inside the club who can do the job, United have to bring someone in.

However, while it is accepted they could sign Sesko without selling anyone given the next Profit and Sustainability deadline is not until 30 June 2026, United do need to start getting rid of unwanted players – and more signings mean more exits are required.

Alejandro Garnacho, Antony, Jadon Sancho and Tyrell Malacia are part of the unwanted “bomb squad” who are training alone as the search goes on to find them clubs.

Argentine forward Garnacho is in talks with Chelsea about a move to the London club.

Offloading them all is not straight forward and it is expected that most of those deals will be concluded nearer the September 1 deadline.

And that means United may need to wait for that next signing.

It all brings us back to Baleba. Brighton have made it known they would want a huge fee for the 21-year-old, along the lines of the £115m Chelsea had to commit to sign Moises Caicedo in 2022.

It is not easy to see how United could hit those kinds of figures this summer without more members of Amorim’s squad being sold.

Chelsea defender Levi Colwill has had surgery on a serious knee injury and is expected to miss most of the season.

The 22-year-old sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during his first training session after the Club World Cup on Tuesday, and has since had a scan and operation.

ACL injuries typically rule players out for between six and nine months.

Colwill was a near ever-present for Chelsea last season in the Premier League, starting 35 of their 38 matches as they qualified for the Champions League.

The England international also played a major role as a substitute in the Conference League final and during the Club World Cup, as Chelsea won their first two major trophies under the current ownership.

When asked if Chelsea needed to sign another defender to replace Colwill at his media conference before friendlies against Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan, Maresca said: “It depends – we will wait and see.

“You know in our way, how important Levi has been. I spoke with him yesterday and I told him that if we achieve what we achieved last year, it is also because of him – and he was a main player for us.”

Munich, Bayern won a pre-season friendly 4-0 at the Allianz Arena with Harry Kane scoring a goal but missing a penalty against former club Tottenham Hotspur.

Before scoring Bayern’s opener, the England striker controlled Michael Olise’s excellent long pass.

However, he slipped as he took a spot-kick in the fifteenth minute, sailing over the bar.

In the final 30 minutes, Bayern completely dominated and scored three goals.

Kingsley Coman curled in their second before Konrad Laimer eliminated Djed Spence.

The second half saw the signing of a number of youngsters, with Kane one of them coming off, and two of them scoring.

Lennart Karl, 17, fired a fantastic first-time effort from 18 yards, and Jonah Kusi-Asare, 18, whipped in a fine shot from the near corner of the box.

Since making a £86.500 move to Tottenham in 2023, Kane has played his second game for the club against Spurs. He last played in a friendly at the stadium last year.

With 280 goals in 435 games, the 32-year-old is Spurs’ all-time top scorer.

Luis Diaz, a Liverpool transfer from the summer, also started.

It’s always enthralling to see a young talent realised, even if it has been long forecasted.

But a moment of realisation, where everything clicks and stuttering potential morphs into roaring success, is even more giving: enter Canada’s Victoria Mboko.

Twenty-two games unbeaten for an 18-year-old who at the beginning of the season was ranked 333 in the world, but is one match away from winning her home tournament – if she can beat top-tier ever-present and multiple Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in Thursday’s final.

For Japan’s Osaka, another match for her to underpin her gravitas in tennis’ seemingly endless-yet-entertaining grind to prove current status.

For Mboko, validation of hard work from the age of three, and for parents who landed in a very different United States in 1999 – one which provided solace from political unrest the Democratic Republic of Congo.

But it’s in Toronto where Mboko – who was born in Charlotte, US – was inspired to play tennis.

“I remember going there as a kid and watching all the great players playing,” Mboko told the Women’s Tennis Association.

Beside, and behind her packing their racquet bags, at least 22 times this year… Mboko’s not only making a big impression with her cerebral brand of tennis, but this is the kind of run that only great players tend to go on, as most of the winning streak records suggest over time.

Yes, there’s a way to go to match Martina Navratilova’s 74 in 1984, but Mboko is keeping very good company.

And Mboko talks as if she is thinking through the fear on the court when it matters most: as things appear to be going horribly wrong.

Mboko was facing match-point in her semi-final with Elena Rybakina, but got into the zone.

“After the first set Elena was playing great tennis, and I didn’t have much time to reflect on how I could improve. But in my head I thought I wanted to stay in with her and bring as many balls back in the court as I could. That mentality helped me get through a lot of difficult points.”

Perhaps there’s little surprise – she has had some good advice from players she is yet to beat: her three older siblings, Gracia, Kevin and David.

“I just remember watching them from the sidelines and not wanting to be left out,” Mboko said.

Mboko’s coach Natalie Tauziet – herself a pragmatist on the court and former world number three and Wimbledon finalist in the ’90s – has overseen Mboko’s remarkable form after previously guiding her in the junior ranks.

“I think what is important for her is to see us not panic when something happen. I remember at the beginning of the year, she always told me: ‘Oh, you’re so calm during the match.'”

“The US Open is the objective – who knows, maybe she can do something good? Here, we are going match by match, and hoping for no injury.”

Mboko hurt her hand in the semi against Rybakina in a heavy fall in Montreal, but says she doesn’t feel it ahead of the final.

Another benefit of being young appears to be the ability to bounce off a hard court, alongside the anxiety-free world-view teenage sports stars so often benefit from.

As former young Canadian star and another Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard said on Canadian TV after Mboko’s win over Coco Gauff: “She was fearless, and she didn’t seem to let the moment affect her that much.

“Her power and shotmaking were great. She didn’t let Coco do too much, or give her give her any time. Taking it to her with her serve, [Mboko] Handled the moment in such a mature way.”

Mboko will need that maturity before the final against an experienced player who herself has never gone past the quarters in Canada: “It’s crazy how life works, it’s such a great feeling.”

A lifelong fan of a non-league football club has resorted to cheering on his team from the branches of a nearby tree after being served with what he describes as an “unwarranted” lifetime stadium ban by the club.

Richard Lambert, 58, who has followed ninth tier Epsom & Ewell FC for almost 44 years, has been refused entry to the ground since January following a long-running series of disputes with the committee that runs the club.

He claims the suspension was ultimately issued after he upset the committee by changing the name of his personal X account to appear as though it was the official club account.

Mr Lambert has been highly critical of the club, which plays in the Combined Counties Premier Division South, from his own social media feed and website with some of that criticism personal in nature against named committee members.

Since April, BBC London has asked Epsom & Ewell on three separate occasions why Mr Lambert has been banned for life.

The club has declined to provide details, saying only: “We have had a number of issues with this supporter over the years. We do not want to discuss this any further. The matter has been dealt with.”

BBC London has seen the letter the club sent to Mr Lambert notifying him of his ban. It gives the sole reason for the punishment as being his breaking of a previous agreement not to use his social media account in such a way.

The letter also refers to it as an “indefinite” ban.

After BBC London’s most recent approach to the club this week, they again declined to give details but said: “The ban is now for life and that will never change.”

It was as a 15-year-old in 1981 that Mr Lambert watched his first Epsom & Ewell game.

He describes himself as “being bitten by the football bug” and has barely missed a match since.

Mr Lambert has acted as club historian for 20 years and writes match reports for nearly every game, something he is still doing from his new position in the trees.

“I only miss one or two games a season,” he said. “All I want to do is see my team play, but I also want to see the culture at our club change towards valuing its supporters.”

Lifetime stadium bans in football are rare and are usually only handed out for the most serious offences or where a supporter has broken the law, which is not the case here.

However, any football club is within its rights to ban anyone from their premises for any length of time and does not necessarily have to give a reason.

The Football Supporters’ Association – which works on behalf of fans – says it has been attempting to mediate but that the club has ignored its approaches.

“We quite often come in to act as the middleman to try and broker solutions between clubs and supporters where relationships have broken down,” Garreth Cummins from the FSA told BBC London.

“Unfortunately, in this case, Epsom & Ewell have not engaged at all with that process, despite our repeated attempts and Richard’s repeated attempts.

“We will always do what we can to help get the football supporter back in the ground, because, particularly at non-league level fans are the lifeblood of the game, and in a situation like this we don’t see that either side is winning.

“Richard is left on the outside looking in, and the club are missing a valuable and long-serving supporter.”

Epsom & Ewell is a members’ club which is run by committee. Mel Tough has served as chairman and Barry Gartell as vice chairman since both being elected to their roles in August 2020.

Immediately after his ban, Mr Lambert watched matches from just outside the perimeter fence of the stadium. But in March, he says the club hired a security guard to prevent him standing there so he took to climbing a nearby tree instead.

He viewed the final games of last season from a height of around 30ft overlooking King George’s Field in Surbiton, which Epsom were ground sharing with Corinthian Casuals.

This summer, Epsom returned to one of their former homes – Leg O’Mutton Field in Cobham, which they share with Cobham FC.

“If the ban stays in place for life, then I’ll be climbing this tree for the rest of my life,” Mr Lambert added. “Or at least for as long as I’m physically able to.

“Every football fan understands that you never desert your team. Whatever it takes to see Epsom play, I’ll continue to do it.”

The Salts averaged home crowds of around 90 for league matches last season.

Founded in 1918 as Epsom Juniors, their greatest achievement was finishing as runners-up to Hoddesdon Town at Wembley in the first ever FA Vase final in 1975.

More recently they won last season’s Southern Combination Challenge Cup.

They beat Abbey Rangers 1-0 in the final which took place in April at their then home ground of King George’s Field.