What the papers say
Crystal Palace are interested in a move for Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah this January, with the 24-year-old yet to play under Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino, the Daily Express reports. There is also reportedly interest from Serie A teams and Bayern Munich.
The Daily Mail reports Manchester United are willing to sell Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane, Anthony Martial and Casemiro after their director of football John Murtough spent time in Saudi Arabia this month.
However, the Manchester Evening News says Varane is hoping that the club will trigger their one-year contract extension option for him.
Wolves are reportedly looking to sign Nigerian striker Rafiu Durosinmi from Viktoria Plzen for around £7million, despite reportedly being set to report losses of £65million.
Social media round-upPlayers to watch
Ian Maatsen: Chelsea are reportedly willing to sell the 21-year-old Dutch defender in January, with Manchester City, West Ham, Roma and Napoli among clubs interested in him, 90min says.
Clement Lenglet: The Aston Villa defender’s loan deal from Barcelona could be terminated by the Spanish club as they look to sell the 28-year-old, Football Insider reports.
Mark Hughes was sacked as Manchester City manager on this day in 2009, paying the price for a run of two wins in 11 games.
Roberto Mancini was installed as Hughes’ replacement, with Brian Kidd as his number two, in a move which confirmed speculation that a decision had already been taken before an eventful 4-3 win over Sunderland, at which the Italian was present.
A three-goal hammering at Tottenham convinced owner Sheikh Mansour and chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak that Hughes could not steer City into the top four, as had been expected following a summer outlay of £120million.
“A return of two wins in 11 Premier League games is clearly not in line with the targets that were agreed and set,” Khaldoon said in a statement.
“Sheikh Mansour and the board felt there was no evidence that the situation would fundamentally change.
“The targets were agreed as a result of the player acquisition strategy of the club being radically accelerated in the summer as a result of very favourable conditions for any buying club.
“It was also based on the fact that the infrastructure of the club had been overhauled completely at great cost in order to create the best possible environment for the team.”
City also confirmed that Mark Bowen, Eddie Niedzwiecki, Kevin Hitchcock and Glyn Hodges – all part of Hughes’ coaching staff – had left the club.
There was an argument Khaldoon should have waited until after the Christmas fixtures against Stoke and Wolves, and even an FA Cup tie at Middlesbrough and a League Cup semi-final – the first time City had reached the last four of any domestic competition in almost 29 years – against Manchester United.
But, with another transfer window about to open, Khaldoon took the view it was better to act when he did.
In Mancini, he brought in a manager who had guided Inter Milan to three successive Serie A titles from 2006 before being sacked in 2008 after failing to make any impact in Europe.
A late touchdown from the arm of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock sealed his side’s three-point victory over the Philadelphia Eagles with less than 30 seconds left in the contest.
Lock threw for 208 yards throughout the match, including the match-winning 29-yard touchdown to rookie wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, while Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts scored two touchdowns in his team’s 20-17 loss.
The Eagles were first to score with Hurts running into the end zone from three yards in the first quarter to give the away side an early lead.
Both teams scored field goals in the second quarter, before running back Kenneth Walker III tied the game up at 10 early in the third with a 23-yard running touchdown.
Jalen Hurts ran over for his second s ore with four minutes to go in the third quarter to give the Eagles a seven-point lead.
A field goal early in the fourth quarter and Smith-Njigba’s last-gasp touchdown then gave the Seahawks their first lead of the game.
The Eagles had a late chance to steal the win but the hail Mary pass from Hurts was intercepted by Julian Love, giving Seattle their seventh win of the year and handing the Eagles just their fourth loss this season.
Mary Earps is the favourite to secure the BBC’s 2023 Sports Personality of the Year prize tonight.
Bookmakers have made the 30-year-old goalkeeper the odds-on choice to win the prestigious award after she played a key role in England’s run to the Women’s World Cup final in the summer.
She is joined on a six-person shortlist by cricketer Stuart Broad, jockey Frankie Dettori, athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson, tennis player Alfie Hewett and golfer Rory McIlroy.
Earps saved a penalty from Spain’s Jennifer Hermoso in the World Cup final but the Lionesses were unable to add to their 2022 European crown as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat in Sydney. Earps was awarded the FIFA Golden Glove as the tournament’s best goalkeeper.
In September she was also voted as England Women’s Player of the Year and helped her club Manchester United finish second in the Women’s Super League last season with 14 clean sheets.
Her future at United is uncertain however, with Earps’ contract with the club due to expire next summer.
Earps also hit the headlines early on in the World Cup when she spoke about the hurt she felt that sportswear manufacturer Nike had not made her England goalkeeper’s replica jersey available to purchase before the tournament.
After mounting pressure, the sports brand released her green long-sleeved Lionesses shirt, and it sold out in five minutes.
Broad announced he was retiring from cricket during the fifth Ashes Test in the summer and bowed out in spectacular fashion. The 37-year-old hit a six off his final ball and took the final wicket as England won the match to level the series, though Australia retained the urn.
Dettori, 53, secured a series of big wins in his farewell year in UK racing including the 2000 Guineas on Chaldean and the Oaks on Soul Sister. He is set to continue riding in the United States next year.
Johnson-Thompson claimed the world heptathlon title for the second time in Budapest in the summer after a calf injury wrecked her hopes of Olympic glory in Tokyo in 2021.
Hewett won seven wheelchair tennis singles tournaments in 2023 including the Australian and US Open titles. He also secured the doubles titles at the Australian and French Opens plus Wimbledon alongside partner Gordon Reid.
McIlroy was a key part of Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup-winning team in October and finished in the top 10 at three of the year’s four majors.
Former Liverpool player and manager Kenny Dalglish will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the ceremony in Salford on Tuesday night.
Former winner Gerwyn Price is convinced he can finally win over the Alexandra Palace crowd after breezing into the third round of the PDC World Darts Championship.
The Welshman has had an often troubled relationship with the fans and last year wore ear protectors during his 5-1 quarter-final defeat to Germany’s Gabriel Clemens.
Price’s solitary crown came in 2021 when the crowd was shut out due to Covid-19, but he is hopeful of more support after outclassing Connor Scutt with a 3-1 win.
“It’s really difficult to come here when the crowd’s on your back,” Price told Sky Sports.
“I’m glad the crowd were really good to me today and if they continue like this there’s no reason I can’t win it.
“It was difficult, my game was steady, it wasn’t my ‘A’ game and there were some first-round jitters, but I’m through so I’m happy.”
The performance of the night came from Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung who hit 11 maximums as he battled back from 2-0 down to see off Dutchman Gian van Veen 3-2.
Leung looked down and out after missing 10 darts at double for the second set, but stormed back with a thrilling performance to book his place in round two for the first time.
Martin Lukeman had too much for New Zealand’s Haupei Puha as he eased to a 3-0 win, while Tibault Tricole was a 3-1 winner over Mario Vandenbogaerde.
Bradley Beal won't play another game for the Phoenix Suns until the calendar flips to January.
Beal will miss the rest of December because of a right ankle sprain sustained in Friday's loss to the New York Knicks. He will be re-evaluated in early 2024.
He was injured in the first quarter when shooting a 3-pointer, which he made. Upon landing, he fell on the foot of the Knicks' Donte DiVincenzo, who was called for a Flagrant 1 because he didn’t give Beal space to land.
This is the latest setback for the 30-year-old Beal, who has been dealing with a sore back since the onset of the season and has appeared in just six games.
He is averaging 14.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists after averaging 27.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.5 assists over the previous five seasons.
The Suns acquired the three-time All-Star over the summer hoping to create a super team with fellow All-Stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. But injuries to Durant and Booker have resulted in the trio playing just two of a possible 26 games together.
Phoenix, which has two wins in its last six games, is in fourth place in the Pacific Division after reaching the Western Conference semi-finals each of the past three seasons.
In a bid to foster a new era of athletic excellence across multiple sports, St. Lucia's Sports Minister Kenson Joel Casimir, has revealed the government's strategic investments in developing young talents on the island.
The success of notable athletes like Bowerman Award winner Julien Alfred, cricket icons Darren Sammy and Johnson Charles, and rising star sprinter Naomi London has ignited a wave of inspiration and paved the way for broader support for sports development.
Minister Casimir shared insights into the government's commitment to nurturing talent across various sports, including track and field, cricket, and football. The shift in paradigm also involves reimagining the island's inter-school track and field championships to enhance stakeholder engagement.
“We as a government, we've decided that we are going to take the added step of moving our inter-schools’ competition, that we have coined Island Champs, to a weekend event. And of course, we've been trying to get public buy-in, you know, parental support," the minister revealed in an exclusive interview with Sportsmax.TV
Explaining the rationale behind the change, he added, "We found that during the week in St Lucia, we've not been able to really get the amount of support that we want from the commercial sector, from parents, and from all walks of life and so we have rebranded our schools’ championship in track and field to ensure that the likes of a Julien (Alfred) or Naomi London could be on display for all of St Lucia to see, not just on television. (So), a Sunday event, a Sunday afternoon family event for St Lucians to see some of the next athletes that we are going to be exporting to the world."
Highlighting strides made in cricket, Minister Casimir revealed that plans to develop the next great cricketers from the island are well underway.
“We have a high-performance centre that has been set up for cricket for the first time in our history where we've put 15 of our best male and female cricketers into a program where they are given nutritional support, they're given the best facilities to work with, the best coaches to work with."
The government has collaborated with the St Lucia Kings, a CPL franchise, to bring in coaches from India, contributing to the holistic development of cricket talent on the island.
Turning to football, Minister Casimir revealed exciting plans for grassroots development with renowned figures in the sport.
“With the likes of Coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier and Earl ‘Ball Hog’ Jean, we're going to be seeing the launch of a grassroots development program in football," Minister Casimir revealed while highlighting the contributions of Stuart Charles and Earl Jean to St. Lucia's global representation and their involvement in an elite program for under-17 footballers.
The initiatives revealed by Minister Casimir reflect a broader vision to elevate sports in St. Lucia and create a lasting legacy of sporting excellence.
Girona’s dream season continued as they brushed aside Alaves 3-0 to return to the top of the LaLiga table.
Artem Dovbyk scored twice and Portu also hit the mark as Michel’s men stretched their unbeaten league run to nine games.
The hosts started well in their quest to leapfrog Real Madrid as Dovbyk connected with a cross from Yan Couto but his header was deflected wide.
The Ukrainian finally broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute after Couto’s initial effort was deflected by Alaves keeper Antonio Sivera into his path and he headed the opener.
Alaves fought back strongly and Girona keeper Paulo Gazzaniga had to be alert to catch a header from Samu Omorodion as the visitors continued to look dangerous on the counter-attack.
However, no-one was making a bigger impact than Couto who repeated his service for the second goal by firing in the cross from which Portu steered his first-time shot into the net.
Girona were well in command but Alaves continued to have their chances with Rafa Martin heading just wide from a Ruben Duarte free-kick.
Girona effectively wrapped up victory in the 59th minute when Couto fell under pressure from Javi Lopez, and Dovbyk swept home from the penalty spot.
Valery and Pablo Torre had further chances to increase Girona’s lead but their job was already done as they booked their place back at the LaLiga summit.
Pittsburgh Steelers safety Damontae Kazee's hit on Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. was quite costly.
The NFL suspended Kazee without pay for the remainder of the season for violating rules designed to protect the health and safety of players.
The announcement came two days after Kazee was ejected in the second quarter of Saturday's 30-13 loss at Indianapolis for delivering a forceable hit to a diving Pittman. Kazee made contact with Pittman's head, and the receiver left the game and went into the concussion protocol.
NFL Vice President of Football Operations Jon Runyan issued the suspension on Monday, and wrote in a letter to Kazee that, "You had an unobstructed path to your opponent and the illegal contact could have been avoided."
Runyan also referenced multiple prior instances of hits that violated rules designed to protect player safety.
The suspension means Kazee will miss the Steelers' final three regular-season games and any potential play-off games, should Pittsburgh qualify. The Steelers are 7-7 and just outside the play-off cutoff.
By being banned for three games, Kazee will forfeit around $208,000 in game checks.
Kazee, a seven-year veteran, has appeared in all 14 games this season, ranking third on the Steelers in tackles with 61, and is tied for the team high with two interceptions.
Napoli manager Walter Mazzarri hailed a “thrilling” match in prospect after his side were drawn against Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League.
The Serie A champions will face their LaLiga counterparts in February after progressing from a tough group which contained Real Madrid, Braga and Union Berlin.
It took a victory on the final matchday against the Portuguese side before qualification was confirmed.
And their reward is a meeting with a Barca side who last played at this stage of the competition in 2021 having been eliminated in the group stage in each of the last two seasons.
Mazzarri replaced the sacked Rudi Garcia in November with two games of the group to go and helped salvage their campaign after dropped points against Real and Union had placed their future in the tournament in jeopardy.
“I said after the match against Cagliari that all the teams who have qualified for the round of 16 are strong and therefore any draw would be difficult,” said Mazzarri.
“This one against Barcelona is especially difficult. For Napoli it will be a thrilling prospect.”
Mazzarri could turn to youngsters Giovanni Simeone, Alessandro Zanoli and Gianluca Gaetano for Tuesday’s Coppa Italia last-16 meeting at home to Frosinone, with the opportunity to rest more established players against the side sitting 13th in Serie A.
Striker Victor Osimhen is one of the players likely to sit out, with either Simeone or Giacomo Raspadori coming in to deputise.
Piotr Zielinski, Mathias Olivera and Eljif Elmas all missed the recent meeting with Cagliari, but Mario Rui could return.
Frosinone boss Eusebio di Francesco called on his side to be more clinical in front of goal against the champions after they went down 2-1 to Lecce on Saturday.
“We have to be a little more concrete and, when the team plays interesting patterns, it’s good,” he said.
“But we have to be more determined and aggressive in front of goal.”
Fluminense rode their luck as they progressed into the FIFA Club World Cup final with a 2-0 victory over Al Ahly in Jeddah.
Jhon Arias converted a 71st-minute penalty awarded when Marcelo was hacked down by Percy Tau, but the goal came in a second half controlled by the Egyptian champions until they ran out of steam.
Tau was presented with a superb chance to redeem himself soon after but his shot failed to match the quality of the long ball played in by Hussein El Shahat.
Veteran midfielder Felipe Melo had to come to Fluminense’s rescue earlier in the half, El Shahat forced a save from Fabio and Mohamed Hany also went close.
Al Ahly were open to the counter attack as they searched for the equaliser and while German Cano was kept out, John Kennedy produced a fine finish after being picked out by Matheus Martinelli for the Brazilians’ second.
Fluminense, making their debut in the competition, will face either Manchester City or Urawa Red Diamonds in Friday’s final at King Abdullah Sports City.
World Athletics president Lord Coe fears fans – and athletes – could be priced out of next summer’s Olympics in Paris.
Coe is concerned over sky-high costs, with tickets for an athletics session at the Stade de France costing as much as £850 on the official Paris 2024 website. The cheapest admission for an evening session is £170.
Athletics remains the number one Olympic sport and, after sell-out crowds at August’s World Championships in Budapest, Coe is mindful of the costs.
“These are going to be the most expensive ticket prices in an athletics arena that we have witnessed at an Olympic Games,” he said. “We asked for a balance.
“The most important element here is you want fans in the stadium, you want fans within affordable prices. I know the challenge on a budget – 25 per cent of our budget in London was tickets.
“Our ticket strategy was built three years before the Games. We knew more about our fans at the end of that. We had some expensive tickets in there but we also had a lot at affordable prices.
“These are difficult balances for any organising committee, but if I am wearing my World Athletics hat, I don’t want fans being costed out of the stadium and I certainly don’t want athletes and their families being costed out of the stadium.
“If you look over the course of an athlete’s career, there are very few athletes that are able to sit down and say they got in commercial
sponsorship more than what their families put in.
“Most are sitting there at the end of a 15-year career and saying it was my families that bore the brunt of what I did, in terms of funding time, commitment and all the things. I want to be respectful for them, so that’s the challenge.
“We have made the point that these prices are lumpy. In Budapest we had very affordable price tickets. Tokyo (2025 World Championships) we will make sure we get the same as well.
“There are always going to be premium tickets, but it is important that our stadiums are full of people that love our sport, not people that can afford to get to an Olympics.”
Coe also said his vote for BBC Sports Personality of the Year on Tuesday evening would go to world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who regained her title in Budapest after recovering from a serious Achilles injury.
The 30-year-old has been shortlisted along with England goalkeeper Mary Earps, former cricketer Stuart Broad, jockey Frankie Dettori, tennis player Alfie Hewett and golfer Rory McIlroy, but Coe felt there should also have been a spot for 1500m world champion Josh Kerr.
“It’s a world championship,” Coe said. “Of course I’m going to say this, but this isn’t being remotely disparaging about anyone else on that list. That’s not my issue.
“The issue is that there are two truly global sports; one is football, one is track and field. Both Katarina and Josh Kerr won a world championship in one of the most fiercely competitive sports on the planet.
“Do I think there was room for both of them on that list? Of course I do. There is only Katarina Johnson-Thompson, so of course I’m going to say, as the president of World Athletics, I would be voting for her, because she’s a world champion, it was an extraordinary comeback, and she won a global world championship.”
Pep Guardiola has called for change as the fixture burden on players continues to increase.
The Manchester City manager was speaking in light of FIFA’s decision to expand the Club World Cup to a 32-team tournament from 2025.
Guardiola insists he is not against the new event in principle – and City are already guaranteed a place – but he feels something has to give somewhere to ease the workload on players.
The Spaniard told reporters at a press conference: “I am not against the new competitions. I am against the lack of time to recover from year to year.
“This is what I am complaining (about) all the time. For me it doesn’t matter to play every three days, six days, seven days. It is OK.
“But it is really tough to finish the season and then in three weeks restart again and go to Asia, to be financially stable, or the States. That is really, really tough, for ourselves and especially for the players. For myself, things should change. This is my point.
“But how do you change when (after) you finish the season, you go to the States to play another competition? This is the problem.”
Guardiola was speaking in Saudi Arabia, where Champions League winners City are preparing for this year’s edition of the Club World Cup.
They face Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds, the Asian champions, in their semi-final in Jeddah on Tuesday.
“It’s a pleasure to be here, it’s an honour,” said Guardiola.
“It’s the first time Man City are here. That shows how difficult it is. We won’t take it for granted. We take it as a privilege.
“Of course we want to win it. It is a trophy we don’t have. We want to close a little circle, that we have won all the trophies we could do. This is the last one.”
Midfielder Bernardo Silva admitted the schedule facing players at the top level was difficult but was not complaining.
The Portuguese said: “We were not consulted but we try to do our jobs, to represent our clubs the best possible way, and the people that pay our salaries and the fans that support us.
“The reality is the amount of games we have nowadays, and even more with the new competitions, if you look at it, it is a bit crazy because of the rest that players get and the risk of injury is up quite a lot.
“At the end we cannot complain because we earn a lot of money but in my opinion, for the people that love the game, and are entertained by the game, if we have this many games for so long, at the end the games will lose the energy and the intensity.”
City again seem likely to be without striker Erling Haaland, who has missed the last three games with a foot injury. Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku are also with the squad as they near returns to action but they are not expected to play.
West Indies T20I Captain Rovman Powell, ODI vice-captain Alzarri Joseph and the ninth-ranked T20I bowler in the world, Akeal Hosein, headline a number of West Indians vying for selection in the IPL player Auction scheduled for Tuesday.
Powell, one of the world’s most destructive T20 batsmen, most recently represented the Delhi Capitals last season and has also represented the Kolkata Knight Riders previously.
He made his debut in 2022 and has scored 257 runs in 17 matches at an average of 19.77 with a top score of 67*.
Joseph made his IPL debut in 2019 and has taken 20 wickets in 19 matches including a career best 6-12 for the Mumbai Indians. Last season, Joseph played for the Gujarat Titans who won the title.
Hosein has only made one IPL appearance, taking the field for the Sunrisers Hyderabad last season.
Brandon King, Sherfane Rutherford, Fabian Allen, Matthew Forde, Jason Holder, Keemo Paul, Johnson Charles, Shai Hope, Obed McCoy, Oshane Thomas, Odean Smith and Shamar Joseph are the other West Indians entered into Tuesday’s auction.
King, Forde, Hope and Joseph are the only ones with no previous IPL experience.
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