Tottenham winger Dejan Kulusevski was "sad" to see Antonio Conte fired by the club but claimed Spurs players support the decision to remove him from his post.
Conte and Spurs parted company on Sunday after a week of intense speculation suggesting he had already taken charge of his final game.
The Italian made headlines last Saturday when he went on a remarkable rant in his post-match press conference after Spurs threw away a two-goal lead at Southampton to draw 3-3.
He called his players "selfish" and extraordinarily suggested the club's lack of tangible success in recent years was ingrained, saying: "Tottenham's story is this – 20 years and they never won something. Why?"
Conte was reportedly asked by club chiefs to clarify those comments and he was said to have insisted they were aimed at the players rather than hierarchy, though seemingly that was not enough to save his job.
Since Conte's exit was confirmed, media reports have brought to light apparent frustrations with Conte from the squad, though Kulusevski – who was signed during the former Inter boss' tenure – appeared disappointed.
He told Fotballskanalen: "It's always sad when a person you work with and have grown close to has to leave.
"But life goes on and you just have to move on. We have ten games left now and we have to do our best to reach the top four."
Kulusevski added: "He has been very important [to me]. I have learned a lot from him and I will always remember him, but now we have his assistant [Cristian Stellini], who I know very well.
"Then we'll see who comes in next season, but I enjoy the city and the club very much."
Nevertheless, Sweden international Kulusevski clarified that, while he seemed somewhat disheartened by the change, collectively the Spurs squad does not have an issue with the action taken by decision makers.
"It's not me who decides. Whoever is the coach, we players will always accept and play for him and for everyone else," he said.
"Now the club made this decision because they think it is the best, and we players stand behind that."
Spurs are back in Premier League action on Monday when they go to Everton – at that point, Newcastle United, who have two games in hand, could have replaced them in fourth.
Virgil van Dijk accepts he has not been performing at his best level but says footballers "are not robots" after being strongly criticised by Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit.
The Liverpool defender's captaincy credentials were questioned by Van Basten in particular following Friday's 4-0 Euro 2024 qualifying defeat to France.
Dutch great Van Basten accused Van Dijk of "making noise but not saying anything" and creating chaos that leads to misunderstandings" in the side.
Fellow former Netherlands international Gullit, speaking alongside Van Basten in his punditry role with Ziggo Sport, said Van Dijk "thinks he is better than the rest".
While Van Dijk is open to opinions, he does not believe the criticism is entirely justified.
"It is clear that we played badly. I am one of the experienced guys, so it is completely justified," he said following Monday's 3-0 win over Gibraltar.
"Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion these days, that's the case. Did I set the bar unrealistically high? I was never perfect.
"But we've had a lot of success with the team. Football players [Van Basten and Gullit] know that better than anyone, have high peaks and deep valleys.
"It's quite normal that you can't always play consistently. That you have a phase as a club or player where you are looking for your level. People should not forget that.
"It is normal that people make mistakes; it is part of football and that it is very human."
Van Dijk has also been far from his best in a Liverpool shirt this season, but he hopes to return to top form soon.
"You know better than anyone when you are doing something right or not," the 56-cap defender said. "These are difficult times at my club, with lots of ups and downs.
"I am very positive about the future and I try to play my best game ever in every game. We are not robots. Let's not forget that. Maybe people sometimes forget that."
Emerson Royal will miss a string of important games for Tottenham in the Premier League run-in after he undergoes surgery on a left knee injury.
The Brazil international faces a battle to play again this season, with the news of his setback coming as the club head into their final 10 games of the league campaign.
Spurs have Pedro Porro at their disposal at right-back, and the Spaniard is set to have a run in the side with Emerson Royal sidelined.
The north London giants let Matt Doherty join Atletico Madrid on loan in January, so acting head coach Cristian Stellini will hope Porro stays fit.
Tottenham said in a statement: "We can confirm that Emerson Royal suffered a meniscus injury to his left knee while on international duty with Brazil last week.
"The defender will undergo surgery before beginning his rehabilitation with our medical staff."
Emerson Royal has made 32 appearances for Tottenham this season, taking all competitions into account, including 23 starts.
He played in Brazil's 2-1 friendly defeat to Morocco on Saturday, suffering the injury in the 90th minute after a challenge from Sofyan Amrabat.
Harry Kane is not ruling out scoring 100 goals for England after becoming his country's all-time leading goalscorer this international window.
The Tottenham striker's penalty in last week's 2-1 Euro 2024 qualifying victory over Italy moved him in front of Wayne Rooney outright on 54 goals for the Three Lions.
He added to that tally with another strike in Sunday's 2-0 win over Ukraine at Wembley to make it 55 goals in 82 appearances since making his debut in 2015.
Only Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo (122) and Iran great Ali Daei (109) have reached triple figures for men's international goals, while Argentina's Lionel Messi is one short.
But Kane, who will only turn 30 in July, is looking to chase down that big milestone ahead of qualifiers with Malta and North Macedonia in June.
"Getting 100 will be tough for sure, but I never count out anything," he is quoted as saying by BBC Sport.
"I am still young – I am 29, I am still fit and strong. I want to play for England for as long as I can. Every game there is I will be putting myself forward to try and play.
"We will take it step-by-step. The next step will be trying to get into the sixties.
"A hundred is not out of the question. It will be extremely tough, but we will have to see how the next few years go."
Kane has scored 39 goals with his stronger right foot for England, seven with his left and nine via his head.
While he has yet to win a trophy with England – or indeed with Tottenham at club level – he won the Golden Boot with his six goals at the 2018 World Cup.
"I am extremely passionate about my country. I love playing for England," Kane, who also recently became Tottenham's record scorer, said of his Three Lions career to date.
"To think of all the English legends and strikers that have played the game and to be number one now is just beyond my dreams.
"Playing for England is special and to have this record is special.
"I don't think I dreamed this far. I dreamed of playing for England and scoring for England – to be record goalscorer was not even in my dreams.
"I have had so many great moments and hopefully there are more to come."
Thomas Partey is a fitness concern ahead of Arsenal's return to Premier League action next weekend after sitting out Ghana's match with Angola.
The 29-year-old played a full part in Tuesday's 1-0 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying win over the same opponents, but was not called upon for Monday's 1-1 draw in Talatona.
Ghana head coach Chris Hughton later explained Partey, who missed two Arsenal games in February with a back injury, was not risked due to a minor problem.
"Thomas has some small issues," Hughton said at his post-match press conference. "We felt it was too big of a risk to start him."
Partey, who was accompanied on Ghana duty by Arsenal physio Simon Murphy, has played in 30 of the Gunners' 39 games this season.
Premier League leaders Arsenal are back in action on Saturday with a home match against Leeds United, before travelling to Liverpool eight days later.
Nikola Jokic believes his main rival for a third-straight NBA MVP award, Joel Embiid, will "be remembered as one of the most dominant players in the league."
The clash between the Denver Nuggets and the Philadelphia 76ers had been billed as the league's two leading players facing off, only for the Sixers to rest Embiid due to a calf injury.
Jokic led Denver to a 116-111 victory on Monday, scoring 25 points with 17 rebounds and 12 assists, joining Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history to produce 10 games of at least 20 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in the same season.
With James Harden also out, Tyrese Maxey led Philadelphia with 29 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals, but the main talking point after the game remained Embiid, with Jokic reserving words of praise for his rival.
"I think he's a great player," he said. "I think he's gonna be remembered as one of the most dominant players in the league. The guy's a beast, and he's so talented.
"He can affect [the game] many ways on the floor. He can post up, he can face up, he can shoot threes. He can defend really well. He can, in some situations, guard one through five. So he's a really, really good player."
Embiid leads the league for points-per-game this season (33.3), ahead of Luka Doncic (32.9), Damian Lillard (32.2), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31.3) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (31.1).
Sixers coach Doc Rivers said prior to the game he was tired of the animosity brought about by the debate around this year's MVP award, with Jokic having won it the last two seasons and having had another stellar year for the Nuggets.
"It's like we can't celebrate people," Rivers said. "The league is in a great place. It's in an amazing place.
"You've got Joel Embiid and Joker, two centers, in a non-center league, dominating the league. You've got Giannis, and I always put him as a whatever, because we don't know what [position] Giannis is, but he's one of the best players in the league. Jayson Tatum is playing unbelievable. Kevin Durant, if he wasn't hurt. You can just keep going.
"You can like them all, and you can actually not like one because you love the other one. But you don't have to hate on anybody. I think we just need to get back to judging whatever your flavour is, and I don't think you have to hate the other one, for sure."
Rafael Nadal has cast doubt on a possible return at next month's Monte Carlo Masters after revealing he is still unsure when he will be ready to make his comeback.
The 22-time grand slam champion has been struggling with a left hip issue that contributed to his second-round exit at the Australian Open in January.
Nadal pulled out of hard-court contests at the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open as he continued to recover from the problem.
Speaking two weeks ago, Monte Carlo Masters director David Massey said Nadal was the first player to register for this year's Masters 1000 event, which begins on April 8.
The tournament's official Twitter account more recently suggested Nadal will "definitely" take part.
However, Nadal – who has slipped out of the world's top 10 men's tennis rankings for the first time in almost 18 years – denied that is the case.
"I don't know who gets this information," he is quoted as saying by Spanish publication Marca.
"Obviously if it were true, I would confirm it, but unfortunately I can't. I'm following my course and I don't know when I'll play again, that's the truth.
"I'm in a phase of increasing work. If I knew when I was going to return, I would say so, but I don't know.
"I can't confirm that I will play in Monte Carlo. Things are seen day by day. I prefer to say things when I really know them."
The Monte Carlo Masters kicks off the clay-court season ahead of events in Madrid and Rome, with the French Open – Nadal's favourite event – now just two months away.
Nadal has won the Monte Carlo Masters a record 11 times, though his most recent triumph came in 2018 with victory over Kei Nishikori in the final.
Rudy Gobert says the Minnesota Timberwolves will continue treating "every game like it is our last" after strengthening their playoff hopes with a fourth victory in a row.
The Wolves beat the Sacramento Kings 119-115 on Monday to add to recent wins over the New York Knicks, the Atlanta Haws and the Golden State Warriors.
They are now 39-27 for the season and climbed above the Warriors into the Western Conference's sixth seed with their latest triumph.
After turning their season around over the past week or so, Gobert is eager for his side to keep their winning streak alive.
"We have the talent and personnel to be able to beat anybody on any given night," said Gobert, who controlled the paint with 16 points (five-of-nine), 16 rebounds and two blocks.
"It's really out of urgency and consistency. We play every game like it's our last and we play every game like there's no tomorrow. That's the mindset that we need."
Minnesota were without Karl-Anthony Towns but had seven players score at least 14 points each in a well-rounded effort at Golden 1 Center.
Jaden McDaniels led the Wolves in scoring with 20 points (eight-of-15 shooting), while Kyle Anderson had a game-high 11 assists.
"These guys really like each other and love playing with each other," coach Chris Finch said. "They have lifted their game with the games being so big."
The defeat for Sacramento meant they were unable to officially end the longest playoff drought in NBA history in front of their success-starved fans.
Having missed the chance to clinch a first playoff berth since 2006 on their own patch, the Kings will now look to do so when they travel to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Sacramento guard De'Aaron Fox said: "The guys wanted to clinch a playoff spot at home and wanted to share it with our fans.
"But at the end of the day, regardless of where we do it, I think people are going to be appreciative and people are going to love it."
The Timberwolves are back in action of Wednesday at the Phoenix Suns.
Jason Kidd praised the performance of Luka Doncic after the point guard led the Dallas Mavericks to a much-needed away win against the Indiana Pacers.
Doncic was cleared to play against the Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse after his one-game suspension for a 16th technical of the season was rescinded earlier on Monday.
The four-time NBA All-Star starred with 25 points (eight-of-17 shooting), seven rebounds and six assists to guide the Mavs to a 127-104 victory, snapping their four-game losing streak.
"That's what he does," coach Kidd said. "He's one of the best players in the league at finding guys and then he's able to catch and shoot – not just once but multiple times."
The Mavericks' season had been hanging by a thread following defeats to the Memphis Grizzlies, the Golden State Warriors, and the Charlotte Hornets back-to-back.
But with Doncic stepping up and Kyrie Irving chipping in with 16 points (seven-of-11), six assists, three blocks and two steals, Dallas are now 37-39 for the season.
Kidd's side are a half-game behind the Los Angeles Lakers (37-38) and Oklahoma City Thunder (37-38) as they battle it out for the last play-in spot.
The 33-43 Pacers have now lost three straight and six of eight, meanwhile, and former Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle accepts his side had little chance with Doncic clearly in the mood.
"It's tough," Carlisle said. "Luka makes a couple of passes that were unbelievable, that only one player in the world can make."
Doncic's dazzling display proved the difference, but Carlisle – who has a league-leading 11 technicals this season – was not surprised the league allowed him to play.
"I don't know how many I have myself, I just know I've surpassed the five the team can pay for," he said.
"They're not cheap, so if you're going to get them, you better get your money's worth."
The Mavs have another road trip at the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, while the Pacers host Eastern Conference leaders Milwaukee Bucks on the same day.
Reigning back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic joined elite company on Monday as he put together another spectacular performance in the Denver Nuggets' 116-111 home win against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Jokic put up a team-high 25 points on eight-of-11 shooting, while adding 17 rebounds and 12 assists. In the process, he joined Hall-of-Famers Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history to produce 10 games of at least 20 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in the same season.
The contest was meant to be a battle of the two top MVP candidates, but 76ers center and award favourite Joel Embiid was ruled out with calf soreness after suiting up for all 13 games this month.
With James Harden also out, Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers with 29 points on 12-of-21 shooting, five assists, four rebounds and three steals, while Paul Reed excelled off the bench with 16 points (seven-of-seven), nine rebounds, two steals and a block in just 17 minutes.
The win extends the Nuggets' lead atop the Western Conference to 3.5 games, while their 51-24 record trails only the Milwaukee Bucks (54-21) and the Boston Celtics (52-23) for the league's best. Their 32-6 record at home is the second-best in the league, behind the 32-5 Memphis Grizzlies.
Timberwolves win fourth straight in potential first-round preview
The Minnesota Timberwolves are getting hot at the right time, collecting their fourth win in a row by defeating the Sacramento Kings 119-115 away from home.
Karl-Anthony Towns was sitting out the second leg of the back-to-back after returning from a long-term injury on Sunday against the Golden State Warriors, but the Wolves had seven players score at least 14 points each in a well-rounded effort.
Elite young defender Jaden McDaniels led Minnesota in scoring with 20 points (eight-of-15 shooting), Kyle Anderson dished a game-high 11 assists and Rudy Gobert controlled the paint with 16 points (five-of-nine), 16 rebounds and two blocks.
The win means the Timberwolves leapfrogged the Warriors into the Western Conference's sixth seed, and if the season ended today, they would have a first-round series against the Kings.
Mavericks keep postseason hopes alive
With the Dallas Mavericks' season hanging on by a thread, they took advantage of Luka Doncic's rescinded technical and rode him to a 127-104 away win against the Indiana Pacers.
Doncic was given his 16th technical of the season in Sunday's surprise loss to the Hornets, which would have resulted in a one-game suspension if the league did not overturn it.
But it did, and Doncic went on to lead the Mavericks with 25 points (eight-of-17), seven rebounds and six assists, while Kyrie Irving chipped in 16 points (seven-of-11), six assists, three blocks and two steals.
The result leaves Dallas (37-39) a half-game behind the Los Angeles Lakers (37-38) and Oklahoma City Thunder (37-38) as they battle it out for the last play-in spots.
Reigning Wimbledon and Indian Wells Open champion Elena Rybakina extended her winning streak to 11 matches with Monday's 6-4 6-3 victory over Elise Mertens in the Miami Open fourth round.
Rybakina, 23, has been one of the most in-form talents in the sport this year, with her only two losses since the start of the Australian Open coming in three-setters against Aryna Sabalenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia.
The Kazakhstan representative produced 10 aces against Mertens on her way into the quarter-finals, becoming the first player this WTA season to finish with at least 10 aces in three consecutive matches.
She will look to keep her sparkling form alive when she meets Martina Trevisan for a spot in the semi-finals, after the Italian got the better of Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 6-3.
Sabalenka showed why she is the top remaining seed after Iga Swiatek's withdrawal, beating 16th seed Barbora Krejcikova 6-3 6-2. Krejcikova was one of two players this season to beat Sabalenka – with Rybakina the other – and by avenging that defeat the Belarusian improved her record in 2023 to 20-2.
America's top hope Jessica Pegula needed only 79 minutes to eliminate Magda Linette 6-1 7-5, winning the first five games of the match to set the tone early, and she will now meet Russia's Anastasia Potapova in the quarters.
Potapova finished with just one ace compared to Qinwen Zheng's nine, but she showed enough guile to overcome the Chinese international's power advantage.
Romania's Sorana Cirstea kept her great run going with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 triumph over Marketa Vondrousova, making it eight wins from her past nine matches, and Bianca Andreescu was forced to retire through injury while down a set 7-6 (7-0) 0-2 against Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Three of the top seeds in the Miami Open field were eliminated on Monday as Felix Auger-Aliassime, Hubert Hurkacz and Frances Tiafoe were all sent packing.
Fifth seed Auger-Aliassime was taken out 6-2 7-5 in one of the biggest wins of Francisco Cerundolo's career, with the Argentine avenging recent losses to the Canadian at both the Australian Open and the Indian Wells Open.
Adrian Mannarino's 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-0) victory over eighth seed Hurkacz was arguably an even bigger upset, as it snapped his streak of nine consecutive losses against top-10 opponents at Masters 1000 events.
The 34-year-old Frenchman absorbed 20 aces from Hurkacz and still came out on top, limiting his own unforced errors to 13 for the match.
A third upset of the day saw unseeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego play a near faultless match to eliminate 12th seed Tiafoe, finishing the contest with 22 winners and only two unforced errors, while not facing a single break point in the brief 68-minute battle.
There was no drama for Daniil Medvedev as the fourth seed received a walkover against Alex Molcan, and he will face France's Quentin Halys in the fourth round after his 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 triumph over Mackenzie McDonald.
Two seed Stefanos Tsitsipas almost joined the long list of seeded victims, but he prevailed 6-3 4-6 6-4 against Christian Garin in the day's only three-setter.
The Greek star will meet Russian 14th seed Karen Khachanov in the fourth round after his comfortable 6-2 6-4 result over Jiri Lehecka, while unseeded American Christopher Eubanks finished the day's play with a 6-3 7-6 (9-7) defeat of Gregoire Barrere.
After years of patchwork quarterback play, the Indianapolis Colts are considering acquiring Lamar Jackson to solve their woes under center.
Just hours after Jackson announced that he had asked the Baltimore Ravens to trade him, the Colts became the first franchise to declare their intentions to look into acquiring the former league MVP.
"Anytime a special player is available, which [Jackson] is, you've got to do the work," Colts general manager Chris Ballard said Monday at the NFL's annual league meeting in Phoenix.
"I'm not going to get into deep discussions on where it's at or what we're doing or what we might do," Ballard said. "But what I'll tell you is he's a really good player, really special player. But you never know how any of this will work out.
"I think anytime at that position we have a chance to acquire a guy, you've got to do your work on it to see if it's doable," Ballard said. "Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not.
"If you don't feel like you have one that can absolutely change the franchise in terms of leading you every year, I think you're always going to feel some pressure to get that player right."
Since Andrew Luck’s surprising retirement in 2019, the Colts have shuffled through a list of stop-gap options at quarterback, including Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan.
Jackson confirmed suspicions that his relationship with the Ravens has been fractured Monday when he announced in a statement on Twitter that he had requested a trade on March 2.
On March 7, Baltimore placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on the two-time Pro Bowl quarterback, meaning that other teams could sign Jackson to an offer sheet in exchange for two first-round draft picks.
Teams could offer more than two first-rounders to the Ravens as a part of any potential blockbuster trade.
Ballard said his team will do their "due diligence" to bring an answer at quarterback to the Colts – who own the fourth overall selection in next month’s draft – and had previously said the team would consider trading up for the right quarterback.
On Monday, Ballard made the case for drafting a quarterback outside the first round.
"What I would tell you is that there's good players in this draft at every level," Ballard said. "Everybody just talks about the top four [quarterbacks], but there's some more guys out there that are pretty good players.
"And I think history's shown – especially in the last few years with [Philadelphia Eagles quarterback] Jalen [Hurts] being one and [San Francisco 49ers’] Brock Purdy coming in and playing really well – they come at every level. So, we'll do our work on every one of them."
Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said the team plans on engaging in extension discussions with quarterback Jalen Hurts in the near future and is confident an agreement can be reached before the 2022 NFL MVP runner-up hits free agency.
Speaking at the NFL annual league meeting in Phoenix on Monday, Roseman confirmed that extending Hurts will be the Eagles' highest priority in the coming months.
"It's no secret that sometime relatively soon we want to extend our quarterback," Roseman stated. "We want him here long-term. It's going to be a priority for us to extend him.
"You have to navigate the offseason understanding that we're not going to lose our franchise quarterback with one year left on his deal."
Hurts, who led the Eagles to Super Bowl LVII by throwing for 3,701 yards and 22 touchdowns during a breakout 2022 campaign, is entering the final season on the four-year contract he signed as a rookie in 2020.
The second team All-Pro added 760 rushing yards and led all quarterbacks with 13 rushing touchdowns while finishing second to Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes in MVP voting.
Hurts will be due for a substantial raise from the $4.2million he is set to make this season, and Roseman acknowledged a new deal will have a profound impact on the Eagles' roster in 2024 and beyond.
"Our whole kind of roster-building is going to turn a little bit here, from a quarterback on a rookie deal towards hopefully a quarterback on a long-term deal," Roseman said.
"It's going to mean 2024 is going to look different, we're not going to have a quarterback on a rookie deal. Not that we're talking about [franchise] tags or anything like that, that's not our goal here, but we're going into it with our eyes open and understanding that we've got to kind of flip [the roster]."
An extension for Hurts is expected to command an average annual value of at least $40m while making him among the top 10 highest-paid quarterbacks in the league. And with two other premier quarterbacks from the 2020 draft – Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert – in line to receive lucrative new deals relatively soon, the Eagles have significant incentive to work something out as soon as possible.
A second-round pick in the 2020 draft, Hurts took over as Philadelphia's starting quarterback in 2021 and has gone 22-8 since over the past two seasons. Only Mahomes (26-8) has a higher winning percentage among quarterbacks who made at least 15 starts during that span.
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