Kylian Mbappe and his representatives refused to meet with Al Hilal officials in Paris on Wednesday to discuss a possible world-record transfer to Saudi Arabia, it has been reported.

Mbappe’s club Paris St Germain are understood to have given the Saudi Pro League side permission to speak with the France striker over personal terms after receiving a £259million bid for the player in writing.

An Al Hilal delegation was reported to have been hoping to sell their project to Mbappe in Paris while finalising the signing of Brazil striker Malcom from Zenit St Petersburg.

But, according to French sports newspaper L’Equipe, Mbappe and his team have refused to enter into any discussions with the Saudi club and he has never considered the option.

Mbappe’s PSG future has been in serious doubt since it emerged in June that he would not extend his existing deal through to 2025, meaning he would become a free agent next summer and be able to discuss a pre-contract agreement with another club as early as January.

PSG have not confirmed the reports that Mbappe has snubbed Al Hilal’s approach, but are understood to be convinced that Mbappe has already agreed a free transfer to Real Madrid next summer.

Parisian sources have said the 24-year-old would benefit from a 160m euro (£138m) signing-on fee if he wound down his existing contract and moved to the Spanish capital in 2024.

Tom Latham and Will Jacks were both dismissed for 99 as leaders Surrey built a first-innings lead of 198 on the second day of their LV= Insurance County Championship match with Somerset at Taunton.

New Zealand’s Latham and Jacks fell just short of centuries as Surrey made 368 all out on a rain-shortened day in response to Somerset’s first-innings total of 170 all out. The hosts’ seamer Matt Henry finished with six for 80.

Surrey began the day on 138 for four, 32 runs behind, with Latham on 67 and Jacks on 13.

Nick Gubbins gave Hampshire a sniff of saving their fixture with Essex as they lead by 73 runs with four second-innings wickets remaining at the Ageas Bowl.

Hampshire looked on the brink of a fourth defeat of the season, which would have all but ended their title hopes, having given up a 49-run first-innings lead and lost four second-innings wickets before wiping out the deficit.

Jamie Porter was the main architect of their destruction with another three wickets to go with his first innings five for 37, but Gubbins made 44 – the highest individual score of the match so far – as Hampshire were 122 for six at the close.

Middlesex’s first-day charge towards victory over Warwickshire was slowed first by stubborn batting and then by bad weather on the second day at Edgbaston.

After a frenetic opening day of 312 runs for 22 wickets, Warwickshire, bowled out for 60 on the first morning, closed the second day on 189 for four in their second innings, leading by 50.

Sam Hain and Dan Mousley dug in to add 110 in 45 overs, hitting 66 not out and 58 respectively, as Warwickshire clawed their way back into the game, but Middlesex remain very strongly placed.

An unbeaten 61 by opener Luke Wells helped Lancashire have the best of a rain-affected second day against Northamptonshire at Emirates Old Trafford.

When the wet weather brought an early end to play, the home side were 121 for one in reply to Northamptonshire’s 342 after the visitors had begun the day on 302 for five.

Northamptonshire’s lower order squandered their first-day advantage, losing their last five wickets for 40 runs in less than 80 minutes’ play – the final four of them to the spinners, Jack Morley and Tom Hartley, for 13 runs in 28 balls.

Injury-kit Kent finished on 102 for two in reply to Nottinghamshire’s 350 all out on another rain-hit second day at Trent Bridge.

After Ben Slater’s opening-day century, wicketkeeper Tom Moores made 94 as Nottinghamshire secured three batting points – 20-year-old Jas Singh finishing with four for 87 as Kent collected three for bowling.

Division Two leaders Durham trail Yorkshire by 234 runs with nine first-innings wickets remaining after the second day in Scarborough.

Durham responded to the hosts’ commanding first-innings total of 340 by reaching 106 for one from 33 overs with former Yorkshire opener Alex Lees unbeaten on 65.

Yorkshire advanced from 142 for two overnight thanks to Adam Lyth’s 111 off 188 balls and Jordan Thompson’s 54 off 52 deliveries, including four fours and as many sixes.

Derbyshire reached 95 without loss to trail by 426 runs in reply to Glamorgan’s first-innings total of 521 for eight declared.

Luis Reece (52 not out) and Harry Came (37no) shared an unbroken opening stand in 40 overs before rain prevented any play after tea.

In Cheltenham, Worcestershire fought back from 182 for seven to end the first day on 265 for seven against Gloucestershire.

Brett D’Oliveira (53no), Gareth Roderick (53) and Matthew Waite (64) contributed half-centuries as wickets fell regularly, with the former sharing an unbroken partnership of 83 with Josh Baker (40no).

Bryce Young's tenure as the Carolina Panthers' starting quarterback will begin right away, as head coach Frank Reich announced Wednesday that the 2023 No. 1 overall pick will start the team's season opener against the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 10.

Young, the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner, will become the first rookie quarterback to start for the Panthers in Week 1 since former NFL MVP Cam Newton in 2011.

“When we decided to pick Bryce we imagined and saw the vision that we would be standing here today saying he is the QB1,” Reich told reporters.

Reich's decision was not unexpected, as Young took over first-team reps from veteran Andy Dalton near the end of Carolina's organised team activities in June.

"I think Bryce has made good progress. You can just tell, he and the whole group on offence ... you can just tell everybody is feeling more comfortable with it. Certainly, Bryce is as well. So we feel good about where he's at."

The Panthers traded two first-round picks, including the No. 9 overall selection in this year's draft, and wide receiver D.J. Moore to the Chicago Bears in March in order to move up to No. 1 and take the diminutive but dynamic Young as their intended franchise quarterback.

Young earned that honour with a stellar three-year career at the University of Alabama in which he completed nearly 66 per cent of his attempts while totalling 8,356 passing yards and 80 touchdown passes with just 12 interceptions.

The 5-foot-10 California native won the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore after throwing for 4,872 yards and 47 touchdowns in 15 games and leading Alabama to the College Football Playoff championship game.

"That's a huge blessing," Young said in being named the Week 1 starter. "For me, it doesn't change my approach. I want to make sure I take things day by day. There are a lot of things that I want to keep growing in, keep improving in.

"We are all as a team in this together."

Young takes over a Carolina team that recorded its fifth consecutive losing season by going 7-10 in 2022. The Panthers' streak of five straight non-playoff seasons is tied with the Falcons for the second-longest active drought among NFC teams.

Hibernian manager Lee Johnson believes standing David Marshall down as captain will suit the goalkeeper as well as the team.

Paul Hanlon has been restored as Hibs captain after Marshall wore the armband in Johnson’s first season in charge.

The 38-year-old faces fresh competition for the gloves with former Swindon keeper JoJo Wollacott, who joined on a three-year deal this summer.

But Johnson confirmed that Marshall would start in goal on Thursday when Hibs face Inter Club d’Escaldes in the first leg of the Europa Conference League second qualifying round in Andorra.

Johnson added: “It allows Marsh to concentrate on that goalkeeping battle.

“One of the big things is positionally on the pitch, you are trying to get information to players and it’s not easy to go by your captain when he’s in goal and 50-60 yards away.

“When I came through the door, don’t forget, Paul Hanlon was injured. I didn’t know anybody and at that point David Marshall was probably the only one in the squad I could guarantee would play.

“Marsh is a leader anyway, that’s a factor in this after having a discussion with Marsh.

“And also both ways, Marsh is also taking on an awful lot in terms of his future. He is doing a sporting directorship, he is doing his coaching badges as well, and being captain of a football club like this takes an awful lot of time up.

“You’d be surprised, just the little things like arranging the bonuses, the tickets, all that type of stuff, is a really important factor.”

Hanlon has played 535 times for Hibs and sits fifth on the club’s all time appearance holders list.

“With Paul having been here a while, it probably suits him best this season,” Johnson added.

“It’s clear for everyone to see that Paul is extremely trusted, that he has strong leadership and communication skills, and by playing in the centre of defence it allows him to get messages around the whole team quickly and effectively.”

Hanlon is one of several players Johnson has been mining for information ahead of his own European debut.

“I will have to lean on the experience of the boys,” the former Sunderland manager said.

“I have had a lot of conversations with the lads that have played in these European games because I didn’t play in European competition and nor have I managed in that.

“You can do all the work in the world in terms of studying the opposition but inevitably experience is always welcome. I don’t feel like we are short of it, the lads are well versed in foreign competition.”

Johnson revealed Martin Boyle would be on the bench in Andorra in a “cheerleading” capacity and would not feature as he continues his comeback from a serious knee injury.

Sebastian Aho has received quite the gift on his 26th birthday.

The Carolina Hurricanes announced Wednesday they have signed their standout center to an eight-year, $78 million extension that will keep him under contract through the 2031-32 season.

Aho was entering the final season of a five-year, $42.3 million contract signed in 2019, when the Hurricanes matched an offer sheet the Montreal Canadiens gave the then-restricted free agent.

That has proven to be a shrewd move for Carolina, as Aho's 135 goals over the last four seasons rank eighth among NHL players and he's one of only nine players to score 30 or more goals in four of the last five seasons.

Aho has been a core member of a Hurricanes team that reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2022-23 and has won at least one playoff series in five consecutive seasons.

"Sebastian has developed into one of the best two-way centers in hockey," Hurricanes president and general manager Don Waddell said in a statement. "He's a tremendous leader on and off the ice who sets a great example for our younger players. We're grateful that he's decided to stay in Carolina for the foreseeable future."

Aho has spent his entire seven-year NHL career with Carolina after being taken by the Hurricanes in the second round of the 2015 draft. The two-time All-Star's 218 goals and 468 points both rank fifth in franchise history.

The native Finn owns club postseason records for career goals (23), assists (35) and points (58), while his 16 career shorthanded goals are tied for the most in franchise history.

Aho is coming off another outstanding campaign in which he compiled 36 goals and 31 assists in 75 regular-season games before contributing five goals and seven assists in 15 games during Carolina's playoff run. 

Max Malins denies that England have suffered from the high turnover of attack coaches since he made his Test debut almost three years ago.

Eddie Jones, Simon Amor, Martin Gleeson, Nick Evans and Richard Wigglesworth have each filled the role during Malins’ 17-cap Test career that began against Georgia in 2020.

England’s attack has functioned only sporadically during that time, but Malins believes the frequent changes are not the reason for any shortcomings.

“Every attack coach has their own ideas but it doesn’t vary too much,” the Saracens wing said.

“It’s not like we’ve gone from trying to play wide to hitting everything through the middle. As a general picture, it’s been pretty similar.

“There’s a solid foundation and solid coaching group that can take us forward. It hasn’t held me back.”

Wigglesworth has been placed in charge of England’s attack after joining Steve Borthwick’s coaching team from Leicester at the end of the season.

With the World Cup opener against Argentina on September 9 looming large, the four warm-up Tests that start against Wales on Saturday week will provide precious opportunities to lay some foundations.

While Wigglesworth oversees the attack, he is given assistance by fly-half generals Owen Farrell, George Ford and Marcus Smith.

“It’s very collaborative. Richard will give his thoughts on the system and how we want to play,” Malins said.

“But once we’re out on that field there’s a lot of talk: Owen, George and Marcus all pitch in with ideas on different plays as they unfold.

“It’s on the go, in the moment, out on the field, fixing things or appraising things as we do them.

“Owen and George are both students of the game. If you see them chatting in the corner, you know what they’re chatting about. Two unbelievable rugby minds.

“To have those two – and Marcus, who brings a different spin on things – it’s brilliant for the team.”

England captain Ben Stokes is ready to have “serious conversations” about an operation on his troublesome knee injury in a bid to set him on course for another tilt at the Ashes in 2025/26.

Stokes has been struggling badly with a chronic left knee problem for the past year and has been in visible pain throughout the current series against Australia.

Having set his heart on playing a full all-rounder’s role this summer, he has been able to offer just 29 overs with the ball and has not bowled at all in the last two Tests. Batting and fielding also appears to push him to the limit at times and, at the age of 32, a solution needs to be found.

This week’s Ashes finale at the Kia Oval, which England must win to square the scoreline at 2-2, is England’s last red-ball game for six months – a window that offers Stokes the chance to tackle the issue head on.

He had a cortisone injection ahead of this year’s Indian Premier League to help manage his symptoms and, asked if he would now consider going one step further with surgery, he said: “Yeah, it’s something I obviously want to get sorted.

“The times I’ve seen specialists and stuff like that, there has been cricket around, so as it’s been manageable we’ve just cracked on.

“I was pretty broken after the Lord’s game, but I still managed to walk out. I think this is a good time to have some serious conversations with medics around what I could potentially do to get a role in which I can bowl without having to worry about my knee. Those are conversations we will be able to have in that time off.

“It has been frustrating in the last couple of years, not being able to have the same impact and play the same role that I have done for the last 10 years.

“So it’s obviously something that I want to be able to do and hopefully I can get sorted. I keep forgetting that I’m ageing every day.”

Regardless of what happens in the next five days in south London, Stokes knows it will be Pat Cummins lifting the urn instead of him at the end of the game.

That means England are now guaranteed at least a decade between Ashes wins, having last triumphed in 2015, and Stokes would love to be fit and firing to lead the charge Down Under next time around.

“It’d be nice to go out to Australia in 2025 and have a good chance of winning,” he said.

“How this series has gone and how close we were, it does make you think when we next go to Australia do we have a better chance than the last few times?

“The way in which Australians and England players speak about the Ashes, it’s obviously the big one. The Ashes is such an important series for English and Australian cricket and it would be nice to say I’ve won it twice.”

In the short term, Stokes has to work out how to spend his time away. He and head coach Brendon McCullum have worked hard bonding the Test team together over a hectic 12-month period and now face a hiatus before touring India in January.

Stokes has an open invitation to throw his hat back into the ring for England’s 50-over World Cup defence this autumn, but insisted he had no second thoughts about about leaving ODI cricket behind.

“I’m retired,” was his unambiguous response to the idea.

“I’m going on holiday after this game. That’s as far as I’m thinking. But there’s only so much ‘break’ you can cope with. You really do miss that environment, when you’re around the other lads.

“In two or three weeks I’ll probably get bored and just schedule a squad game or something like that.”

Group One winner Dubai Mile has been ruled out for the rest of the season through injury.

The three-year-old was expected to make his debut for Martyn and Freddie Meade in Saturday’s Sky Bet York Stakes on the Knavesmire having joined from Charlie Johnston.

However, last season’s Criterium de Saint-Cloud winner suffered an injury during his final piece of work on Tuesday.

“We were preparing him to run in the Sky Bet York Stakes when he suffered a conjugal fracture on his near-hind fetlock, so it is an absolute tragedy,” Martyn Meade told the Press Association.

“We were giving him his last bit of work yesterday on our watered peat moss gallop, which was absolutely perfect for him, but it was just a complete freak accident.

“We managed to get him straight up Newmarket, where he has been operated on and it has been pinned. That appears to be a success.

“However, he is clearly out for the rest of the season, I would think. It always happens to the best horses. You wouldn’t believe it.”

The son of Roaring Lion progressed nicely through his juvenile campaign for Charlie and Mark Johnston.

Yet he had failed to build on that success in three starts this term. Although fifth to Chaldean in the 2000 Guineas, he was subsequently ninth in the Derby and finished eight lengths behind King Of Steel in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Thereafter, he joined the Meades’ Manton Park Stud after a deal was secured to purchase a half-share in the colt from owner Ahmad Al Shaikh, with a view to a stallion career.

“We will have to assess how he recovers from that surgery and assess whether or not he will have a racing career or whether he will be going to stud,” Meade went on.

“It is heartbreaking really, also for Ahmed who is our joint-owner, who has been very good about it, I have to say. He has been very understanding.

“When it happens, it affects everyone, the lads who do them, they get very upset by it, understandably so. It is terrible for everyone. A huge blow.”

Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from July 26.

Football

Harry Kane reflected on Spurs’ trip to Asia.

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A post shared by Harry Kane (@harrykane)

A bittersweet game for Ryan Reynolds.

Jill Scott will be immortalised in comic-book form.

Ray Parlour enjoyed himself.

Erling Haaland thanked Japan.

Ian Wright was made to feel welcome in New Zealand.

President of Zambia Hakainde Hichilema praised the women’s football team for their efforts at the World Cup.

Cricket

Ben Stokes was rudely interrupted by Mark Wood’s choice of music.

Kevin Pietersen was on safari.

Azeem Rafiq urged the rain to stay away from The Oval.

Stuart Broad reminisced.

MMA

Conor McGregor caught World Cup fever.

Cycling

Sir Chris Hoy was a proud husband.

Golf

It was a dog’s life for Padraig Harrington ahead of the Senior Open.

Athletics

Usain Bolt geared up for the 2024 Olympics.

Boxing

Alexander Usyk was ready for battle.

Pat Cosgrave has left the UK to embark on a new challenge and will now call Saudi Arabia home as he continues his riding career oversees.

The 41-year-old, who was champion apprentice in Ireland in 2003, has won  Group One contests in Germany, Australia and the UK and has ridden over 100 winners for trainers Jim Boyle, William Haggas and George Baker in his career.

He is also no stranger to success further afield and liked up with Saeed bin Suroor to win the UAE 1000 Guineas in 2020 and was also aboard the Godolphin handler’s Gifts Of Gold on Saudi Cup Night in 2021 when the duo landed the valuable Red Sea Turf Handicap.

Cosgrave has now been handed the chance to become retained rider for 2022 Saudi Cup-winning owner Prince Saud Bin Salman Abdulaziz’s, an opportunity he has jumped at.

He said: “I’d only been back from Dubai (back in March) for a couple of weeks and was approached by Prince Saud Bin Salman Abdulaziz’s team about the opportunity.

“I knew how successful their operation was over there, particularly given they won the Saudi Cup back in 2022 with Emblem Road, but it was a tricky time to make a decision as racing was just getting going again in the UK.

“I thought about it for a little while and decided it was a good thing to do. The racing, as well as other sports in Saudi, seem to be getting bigger and better every year and it’s an exciting time to be getting involved.”

Cosgrave hit the headlines earlier in the year when he received a 28-day ban for easing up on 1-6 favourite Concorde in the final stages of a mile handicap at Chelmsford.

He added: “I have been going along OK in the UK. There were a couple of silly incidents that put me on the sidelines for a bit, but overall I was doing well, winning some decent handicaps and operating at a good strike rate.

“I was riding winners for the likes of George Boughey, Richard Hughes, George Baker and Jim Boyle, so things were going OK, and they were looking after me well, but it feels like the racing in Saudi is really progressing and I think it’s a great opportunity to take.”

Cosgrave is not the only member of the weighing room on the move, with Andrea Atzeni having been granted a part-season licence by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Atzeni’s licence in the far east runs from July 17 until February 12 next year and he is expected to be in Hong Kong for the start of the new season at Sha Tin on September 10.

The Classic winning rider said on his twitter account: “Looking forward to my new challenge!”

The New York Giants and tackle Andrew Thomas have agreed to a five-year extension that reportedly contains the largest amount of guaranteed money for an offensive lineman in NFL history.

NFL.com reports that Thomas' new deal, which runs through the 2029 season, has a maximum value of $117.5 million and includes $67 million in guarantees. The previous high in guaranteed money for an offensive lineman was the $64 million the Baltimore Ravens granted left tackle Ronnie Stanley in his 2020 extension.

Thomas becomes the second highest paid offensive lineman in terms of average annual value at $23.5 million, surpassed only by the three-year, $75 million extension the Houston Texans gave tackle Laremy Tunsil in March.

"Ecstatic about that," Giants general manager Joe Schoen told reporters Wednesday about locking up Thomas. "He played at a high level. He's our type of guy."

Thomas has emerged as one of the NFL's premier left tackles since being selected by the Giants with the fourth overall pick of the 2020 draft. The 24-year-old has started 44 games over his three seasons and was named a second team All-Pro in 2022.

He's also the latest core player the Giants have signed to a multi-year contract this offseason. The team retained starting quarterback Daniel Jones with a four-year, $160 million deal and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence on a four-year, $90 million extension.

The Giants were unable to reach a long-term agreement with star running back Saquon Barkley, who instead received the franchise tag and signed his one-year, $10.1 million tender offer Tuesday.

Thomas is one of two offensive linemen that agreed to an extension Wednesday. The Houston Texans reached a three-year, $56 million deal with right tackle Tytus Howard that contains $36.5 million guaranteed, according to NFL.com. 

A first-round pick of Houston in 2019, Howard has started 54 games over his four seasons and was entering the final year of his rookie contract. 

Hukum’s jockey Jim Crowley is excited to be part of Saturday’s King George VI And Queen Elizabeth II Qipco Stakes and hailed one of the deepest renewals in recent years as “great for the sport”.

The Group One Ascot showpiece looks set to feature Derby one-two Auguste Rodin and King Of Steel, last year’s Epsom hero Desert Crown, defending champion Pyledriver and the first two home from the Coronation Cup, Emily Upjohn and Westover among others.

The Owen Burrows-trained Hukum, who won last year’s Coronation Cup before injury sidelined him for a year, returned to defeat Desert Crown in the Brigadier Gerard at Sandown in May.

With the ground currently described as good, good to soft in places at Ascot and rain forecast on Wednesday evening, connections of the Shadwell-owned Hukum are growing increasingly confident that the six-year-old will handle the white-hot opposition.

Crowley is happier when he lets his riding do the talking and the former champion jockey knows the quality of the opposition could not be higher.

“All I can say is that Hukum is in great form. It is a very, very good race – the best King George I’ve seen on paper for a long, long time, and it is great to be part of it,” he said.

“The horse is in great form going into the race and that is all we can ask for. If he is good enough, he is good enough.

“It is great to be part of it and great to be riding a horse with a chance in it.”

Hukum goes into the contest as the winner of six of his last eight races. The two defeats came by a head to Hamish in the September Stakes at Kempton in 2021 and by a length and three-quarters to Shahryar in the 2022 Dubai Sheema Classic.

After making a pleasing return at Sandown and following sustained support in recent days, he is now vying for favouritism with Auguste Rodin and King Of Steel with some bookmakers.

Crowley has ridden in most of the top races around the world, yet sees the mile and a half midsummer spectacular as one of the most eagerly-anticipated in recent times.

“I’m the same as all the other jockeys, really – it is going to be very exciting for a lot of people to watch and it is going to be very exciting to ride in it, but on the other hand, it is very important,” he said.

“It is great for the sport – it is what people want, isn’t it? It is our version of the Arc.

“No-one is ducking it, so that means everyone fancies their chances. It is when they don’t fancy their chances they start ducking it.”

Crowley added: “We are very happy with him and very respectful of the opposition, because it is a very good race. Any rain would not be a negative, it would be beneficial to him.”

Hukum’s connections will be content, with almost their ideal ground conditions on the cards.

Ascot’s clerk of the course Chris Stickels is expecting overnight rain into Thursday.

Speaking at 4pm on Wednesday, he said: “The going is good on the straight course, and good (good to soft in places) on the round course. We had two millimetres of rain on Monday and have not had any since.

“We are expecting rain this evening and through the night. The ground would be getting quicker as we speak – it would be getting close to good to firm now in places – but obviously it is going to rain, so, we won’t see that change. We are expecting between seven and 15 millimetres.

“Until we get the rain we don’t know what the going will be but 12 millimetres will probably make us good to soft.”