Andrey Santos, Chelsea’s Andrey Santos, and Newcastle United’s Nick Woltemade, who wants to play for Bayern Munich, are among the six midfielders Manchester United have named as their shortlist, while Marc Guehi, who is a Crystal Palace defender, could also be in the running for the German champion.
In 2026, Manchester United are willing to sign two new midfielders, with Andrey Santos, 21, from Brazil joining a six-man shortlist that also includes Brighton and Cameroon’s Carlos Baleba, 21, respectively. (Talksport)
Marcus Rashford, 27, wants to stay at Barcelona after wrapping up his season-long loan there on a permanent basis at the end of the season. (ESPN)
Nick Woltemade, a 23-year-old German striker for Newcastle United, still wants to play for Bayern Munich in the future. (German) (Bild)
In the event that South Korean defender Kim Min-jae, 28, is sold or that France international Dayot Upamecano, 26, does not extend his contract, Bayern Munich’s 25-year-old Nico Schlotterbeck, and Crystal Palace’s England center-back Marc Guehi, 25, is one of their preferred defensive targets. (Sky Sports Germany)
In the January transfer window, West Ham is currently in the hunt to sign Dutch international Joshua Zirkzee, who will ask to leave Manchester United. (Mirror)
The 31-year-old Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic is wanted by AC Milan, Aston Villa, and West Ham. (Caught Offside)
Germany goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen may leave Barcelona in January, according to reports of interest in the 33-year-old. (Sky Sports Germany)
Chelsea are looking at a new goalkeeper and could consider a loan deal for Ter Stegen before making an effort to sign AC Milan’s 30-year-old France international Mike Maignan on a free transfer next summer. (TeamTalk)
As part of a comprehensive FBI investigation into rigged, mafia-linked poker games and illegal sports betting, an NBA player and coach are among those detained.
Federal prosecutors named Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier in two separate indictments on Thursday.
Rozier, 31, is one of six people detained for allegedly engaging in illegal gambling, as are other NBA players who may have fabricated injuries to sway the gambling industry.
An alleged scheme to lure victims into playing rigged poker games alongside famous athletes was discovered in that case, which prosecutors claimed involved four of the five major crime families in New York.
According to authorities, they did so using modern technology, including specially designed contact lenses and glasses capable of reading pre-marked cards and an X-ray table.
The NBA announced in a statement that Rozier and Billups would be given an immediate leave of absence while the federal indictments were being reviewed.
The statement read, “We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game continues to be our top priority.”
Rozier’s lawyer, who is the BBC’s US news partner, said: “Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight.”
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In Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday, FBI Director Kash Patel revealed the two indictments at a press conference with other prosecutors. He described the arrests as “extraordinary” and claimed there had been a “coordinated takedown across 11 states.”
He claimed that “we’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud, theft, and robbery over the course of a multi-year investigation.”
NBA games in doubt
The first case, according to the prosecution, involved players and business associates who allegedly manipulated bets on popular gambling sites using information that was not made public.
It was “one of the most blatant sports corruption schemes since the legalization of online sports betting” by Nocella.
The case included seven NBA games that occurred between February 2023 and March 2024. Rozier, who was a member of the Charlotte Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans, is said to have been a part of one of those events.
Rozier is alleged to have allegedly told a friend that the game would be postponed due to injury. The friend and his associates then placed bets on Rozier that would fall short of expectations, according to the prosecution.
He left the game after nine minutes, according to the report, which resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in betting profits for the participants.
According to the official NBA match report, Rozier played roughly nine minutes and only scored five points in the finale.
Prior to that game, he averaged 35 minutes of playing time and about 21 points per game.
Reuters
Prosecutors “appear to be taking the word of spectacularly incredible sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing,” according to Rozier’s lawyer, James Trusty, in a statement. The NBA cleared Terry, and these prosecutors reopened the case.
Trusty claimed he had represented Rozier for more than a year and that prosecutors had informed him that FBI agents were detained on Thursday morning and that he had been doing so because he was a target.
Damon Jones, a former NBA player, was also detained as part of the investigation.
In two of the identified games, Jones is said to have played both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder in January 2024, as well as the Los Angeles Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks in February 2023.
From 1992 until 2018, when the Supreme Court handed over state-level sports betting laws, sports betting was outlawed in the majority of the US.
The mafia and rigged poker games
31 defendants are alleged to have partcipated in a plot to rig illegal poker games and extort millions of dollars from the second indictment made available on Thursday.
13 members of the New York crime families Bonanno, Genovese, and Gambino were involved in the case.
Nocella claimed that the alleged victims were enticed to compete in Las Vegas, Miami, Manhattan, and the Hamptons with former professional athletes like Billups and Jones.
He claimed that victims were “fleeced” out of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per game.
He claimed that defendants used “very sophisticated technology” like altered off-the-shelf shuffling devices capable of reading cards. Pre-marked cards, as well as an X-ray table that could read cards face-down, were read by some of the defendants using special contact lenses and glasses.
Nocella claimed that “the victims” didn’t realize that everyone else at the poker game, from the dealer to the players, was involved in the con.
Tisch claimed that organized crime families used intimidation and threats to extort money from those who refused to pay.
Robbery, extortion, wire fraud, bank fraud, and illegal gambling are among the charges.
According to officials, the conspiracy cheated victims out of $1.7 million ($5.2 million), with one victim losing $1.8 million.
In his first game in charge, new Rangers manager Danny Rohl suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat to Brann in a shock 2-1 defeat to Go Ahead Eagles on Thursday, ending his perfect Europa League campaign.
Villa had a strong start on the European campaign by defeating Feyenoord and Bologna to cement their position as pre-tournament favorites.
The visitors in the Netherlands made seven changes, but Evann Guessand  fired in his first Villa goal, making it 2-0.
The home team’s famous victory came in their first ever group stage European football encounter, despite the choppy weather conditions.
Before half-time, Mathis Suray’s deflected shot, and Mats Deijl dinked over Emiliano Martinez to give the Dutch Cup winners the lead.
READ MORE: Arsenal’s Gyokeres “Hungry” To Build On Champions League Double
In De Adelaarshorst Stadium, Deventer, on October 23, 2025, Go Ahead Eagles and Aston Villa FC celebrate after scoring their team’s first goal during the UEFA Europa League, league phase – day 3, football game. Netherlands OUT (Photo by Vincent Jannink / ANP / AFP)
Emi Buendia missed a late penalty with the chance to salvage a draw at Tottenham, but Villa’s match-winner came on Sunday.
Rangers’ chances of reaching the last stages are thawing after their third successive defeat in the Europa League placed them at the bottom of the 36-team standings.
The Scottish giants, who lost to Norwegian opposition for the first time in their history, had no immediate effect after changing managers.
Brann took a half-time lead thanks to Emil Kornvig’s converted at the back post.
Noah Holm rubbed salt in Rangers’ wounds before Jacob Sorensen punished more subpar defending by heading in from a free kick.
When Sean Dyche takes over at home in Porto in the summer of 2017, he hopes to bring back Nottingham Forest’s first European campaign in 30 years.
After only 40 days and eight games in charge on Saturday, Forest, who had taken just one point from their opening two games, sacked Ange Postecoglou.
When Celtic host Sturm Graz, Celtic will attempt to kick off a disappointing season.
Corentin Tolisso and Afonso Moreira scored the goals that gave Lyon the lead in the 2-0 victory over Basel, continuing their 100 percent record.
After overcoming Red Star Belgrade 2-0, Braga are the only other team to have won three of their three games so far.
Bologna won their first league game with a 2-1 victory over Steaua Bucharest.
Real Betis were held 0-0 away at Genk, while Fenerbahce defeated Stuttgart 1-0.
Israel “is not going to anything” with the territory and “don’t worry about it,” according to US President Donald Trump in response to a question about the Israeli Knesset’s decision to annex the occupied West Bank.
Changpeng Zhao, the owner of the sizable Binance cryptocurrency exchange, was pardoned by US President Donald Trump for breaking American money-laundering laws.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed in a statement on Thursday that Trump “exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was a Biden Administration prosecutor in their cryptocurrency war.”
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Zhao expressed his deep gratitude for the pardon granted today in a post on social media platform X, and gratitude to President Trump for upholding the country’s commitment to justice, innovation, and fairness. He continued, “We will do everything we can to make America the home of crypto.”
After Binance admitted to having broken with an effective anti-money laundering program and owing a $4.3 million fine, Zhao, a billionaire and one of the most powerful figures in the crypto sector, stepped down as its CEO in 2023.
After serving a four-month sentence for breaking the Bank Secrecy Act, Zhao, a citizen of Canada who was born in China, was released from prison last year.
He was the first person ever to serve time in prison for violating US financial institutions’ “knowledge of their customers,” “to monitor transactions,” and “to file reports of suspicious activity.” No one has ever broken the law in the same way that Zhao has, according to the prosecution.
The president has a lot of authority under the US Constitution, including power to commutate sentences or pardons to overturn federal criminal convictions. Presidents have traditionally used these powers up until the end of their terms, but this is not required.
Zhao claimed to have never spoken to the president and that he had applied for a pardon from the Trump administration in May.
The most recent pardon that Trump has issued to crypto executives and entrepreneurs as well as others who have been found guilty of white-collar crimes is Zhao’s.
Although Zhao’s specifics are yet to be made public, the pardon may allow him to resume the company he co-founded in 2017. As the US crypto market booms under the Trump administration, it might also be a good thing for Binance to grow there.
In his second term as president, the Republican president pledged to reverse former president Joe Biden’s policies, which had targeted crypto companies for fraud and illegal finance violations. In 2024, the president’s second term received support from the crypto industry.
Trump also pardoned the three BitMEX co-founders, who had admitted guilt in 2022 for implementing a Bank Secrecy Act-compliant anti-money laundering program.
He also commuted the sentence of the executive of the now-defunct startup Ozy Media and pardoned the founder of the electric truck company Nikola for his role in the company’s fraud conviction.
Willie Miller described Aberdeen’s record-setting 6-0 Conference League defeat at AEK Athens as “embarrassing.”
He is well-qualified to say that the club legend was the captain in one of their previous heaviest defeats in Europe.
Aberdeen resumed their former self-control in Greece despite recent improvement in domestic success. They are now at the bottom of the 36-team table after their second consecutive defeat.
Miller on Sportsound remarked, “Jimmy Thelin needs to address this and not conceal it.” He needs to let the fans know that this wasn’t good enough.
He might argue that they are learning at this level, but he also needs to address the fact that this hasn’t been done enough.
What can Aberdeen learn from their biggest defeat in Europe, though?
18 June 2023
In Aberdeen’s box, AEK touched the ball 43 times, compared to 13 for their visitors. The Greeks completed 609 passes to 178, which was a much higher pass accuracy than the 77%) and 91% of passes (vs.
After allowing three goals in the opening half an hour, Thelin’s side will need to practice building up.
With only 27 minutes left, Niclas Eliasson scored a third while Aboubakary Koita opened the scoring with just 11 minutes left.
After the first half, a disgruntled Miller told BBC Sportsound, “It’s been a lesson.” It should be embarrassing, but it could get embarrassing.
I don’t believe Aberdeen thought that when you lose early goals, you need to think about the game a little more.
In the second half, the Dons experienced the same issues. After just ten minutes, AEK scored their fourth goal of the game in the second period.
Aberdeen is “learning,” but we need to do it soon.
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After that, Thelin said, “We have a journey to take to reach another level and compete in Europe.” We must develop both this year and next to increase our ability to compete in these kinds of games.
The best I can do as a manager is to help my players and take lessons from them, according to the manager.
Aberdeen will need to practice if they want to succeed in the European stage with games against AEK Larnaca, FC Noah, Strasbourg, and Sparta Prague still in the pipeline.
Thelin’s side can’t really afford to invest any more time studying domestically.
The north-eastern club have games against Hibernian and Kilmarnock before the end of October, and they are currently second bottom of the Premiership with seven points from their first eight games.
Thelin added, “We have a super important game on Sunday, which is what’s most important right now.”
