The first domino in the Formula One driver market has fallen with Aston Martin's confirmation that Fernando Alonso will be driving for the team in 2023.

Sebastian Vettel's retirement announcement ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix was always going to lead to movement on the grid but Alonso's move from Alpine is a significant statement of intent from the Silverstone-based team.

Alpine are currently vying for the best of the rest tag in 2022, alongside McLaren, while it has been a year to forget so far for Aston Martin – but they still boast one of the most recognisable brands on the grid and Alonso is a stellar acquisition.

There will be further movement, with a number of teams yet to confirm their full driver line-up for the 2023 season – with Alpine, Haas, Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri having one spot open, while Williams have not confirmed either driver.

That leaves six seats up for grabs as it stands, with some of the outcomes easier to analyse than others – Alonso's departure from Alpine solves their headache as it leaves a slot open for reserve driver Oscar Piastri.

The Australian was already heavily tipped to take a seat on the grid for 2023 but, with Esteban Ocon and Alonso at Alpine, just where that spot would open was up for debate, with a Williams move touted, but it should now be a fairly easy decision.

For Williams, it could result in the continuation of their partnership with Mercedes. With Alex Albon expected to retain his seat, a replacement for Nicolas Latifi is on the agenda and the leading option may now be Nyck de Vries.

Toto Wolff had already conceded that De Vries, who is on their young driver programme, could be let go in order for him to open avenues in F1, but a seat becoming available at Williams would be perfect for all parties – potentially lining-up De Vries as Lewis Hamilton's long-term successor.

Another option for Williams is Jamie Chadwick, who has dominated the W series and has her eyes set on a seat in F1, though she has expressed doubt as to whether women can cope with the physical demands of the series.

Seats at Haas, Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri are harder to assess but Mick Schumacher could play a pivotal role for the trio. Yet to be confirmed by Haas for 2023, the young Ferrari driver could make a sidewards move to continue his F1 career.

Given AlphaTauri's relationship with Red Bull, Alfa Romeo seems the more likely option for Schumacher if he was to depart Haas and an opportunity to drive alongside Valtteri Bottas could aid his development – though Alfa Romeo have a young talent of their own waiting in the wings in the form of Theo Pourchaire.

Felipe Drugovich, the runaway leader in F2 this season, and American Logan Sargeant are alternative options within the young driver ranks, while both have additional appeal due to their respective nationalities, Brazil and the United States, both of which are areas of growth for F1.

The break period in the F1 season is usually the time where teams line everything up for the next year, so the next few weeks before the season resumes in Belgium are likely to be extremely busy – and there could be some surprises in store.

Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie must miss the opening weeks of the Serie A season after joining Paul Pogba on the injured list.

The United States international had been relishing the prospect of teaming up with new recruit Pogba in the new campaign, but that may not materialise for a long time.

Pogba could be sidelined for several months after suffering a knee injury, and Juventus have yet to decide whether he should undergo an operation.

They would have hoped to have McKennie available while Pogba recovers, but, like the Frenchman, he returned hurt from the team's pre-season US tour, damaging his left shoulder.

Juventus said in a statement on Monday: "Weston McKennie underwent radiological examinations at J Medical [the club's medical centre] this morning, which revealed a capsular lesion of the left shoulder. The player will begin rehabilitation, three weeks' differentiated work will be required."

McKennie sat out the final game of the Juventus tour, a 2-0 loss to Real Madrid at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Saturday.

The Turin giants begin their Serie A campaign against Sassuolo on August 15, with further games against Sampdoria, Roma and Spezia to come before the end of the month.

If McKennie is to be carrying out rehab and solo fitness work for three weeks, he appears unlikely to feature in any of the August fixtures.

Pogba looks to be a certain absentee too, and reports in Italy have suggested he may not play again until early 2023 should the former Manchester United man require surgery.

Having made just 21 Serie A appearances for Juventus last season, McKennie was touted for a potential move away, with a number of Premier League clubs suggested as possible destinations.

However, head coach Massimiliano Allegri declared in July the club had no intention of selling the 23-year-old former Schalke player.

Mauricio Pochettino does not believe Kylian Mbappe had a big say in his sacking and maintains he did a good job at Paris Saint-Germain.

PSG parted company with the Argentine coach in July, just 18 months after appointing him as head coach, naming Christophe Galtier as his replacement.

The former Tottenham boss won the Ligue 1 title last season, the Coupe de France in 2021 and the Trophee des Champions during his short reign.

Pochettino was unable to mastermind a first Champions League triumph for the Parisian giants, though, as they were knocked out by Real Madrid after squandering a two-goal lead in the last-16 stage.

There has been talk of Mbappe perhaps having increased power at PSG after he snubbed Madrid to sign a new contract, but Pochettino does not think the France forward pushed for him to be fired.

Pochettino said in a long interview with Infobae: "What I think is that PSG have done everything possible to retain Kylian and I also agree with that.

"He is one of the best players in world football today and I think that PSG, having all the resources to do it, have convinced him to stay.

"But I don't think Kylian is the one who designed the new project either. Those who rule, in this case the president [Nasser Al-Khelaifi], are those who would have thought that the most convenient thing was a new project in the club."

Pochettino feels there is too great an obsession with winning the Champions League at PSG, with anything but lifting the trophy deemed to be a failure.

"The only thing that has changed a bit now [from when he played for PSG] is the expectation, which is the Champions League, the Champions League and the Champions League," he said.

"The obsession is the Champions League and everything that is not winning the Champions League is synonymous with failure, but not for us. I believe that.

"We have done a job in which we have been honest, we have worked as hard as we could, and we had that misfortune in the last minutes against Madrid.

"We reached a semi-final last year when Mbappe was injured in the first leg against Manchester City, and with him in Manchester we could have reached the final after knocking out Barcelona and Bayern Munich. In other words, I think we have done a good job, perhaps not recognised externally because the expectation was to win the Champions League."

Christian Eriksen revealed he snubbed repeated advances from Manchester United before signing up last month.

The Denmark international joined Erik ten Hag's side on a free transfer in July following a short-term stint with Brentford, having left Inter due to medical issues that meant he was no longer able to play in Italy.

The implantable cardioverter-defibrillator he had fitted after suffering cardiac arrest at the European Championship last year counted Eriksen out of a Serie A return to action.

Eriksen excelled with Thomas Frank's Brentford side, scoring once and contributing four assists in 11 Premier League matches, leading to United's interest.

He indicated he had previously spoken to Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer about a potential move, having been admired since first moving to the Premier League in 2013 with Tottenham.

"I've spoken to every manager who's been here at Man United to see what the situation was," Eriksen told ESPN.

"But I was at Spurs at the time and I really couldn't see myself playing in another English team at that time. I went abroad and went to Inter.

"It's been on the books, well, not on the books but it's been spoken about. For me, it wasn't the [right] timing, it wasn't there and I was at a place at Spurs for a long time and I wanted to try something abroad, and I went to Inter and ended up having a lovely time.

"But then obviously something happened in the summer and that changed a bit the career path I had in mind, and then obviously to come back to Brentford first of all and then to be here is something I didn't think could happen a year ago."

Eriksen's impressive form at Brentford led to United battling the London side for his services, but the midfielder denied there was a possibility of a return to Tottenham.

"It was only talk. They never really came with anything, so it wasn't really a thing for me to go back to Tottenham at the time and Man United were very early on, very positive and I had good conversations," he said.

"It was very positive from the first few phone calls already and the club felt like they wanted me, so it was on for a long time."

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson is set to be issued a six-game suspension following a disciplinary hearing conducted by former US district judge Sue L. Robinson.

The former Houston Texans star faced 24 civil lawsuits following sexual assault and misconduct allegations. He was not charged by two grand juries.

The NFL was seeking a suspension for a breach of the league's personal conduct policy, and Robinson has ruled Watson should be suspended for six games with no additional fine, according to NFL Network.

That would see the Browns without Watson for games against the Carolina Panthers, the New York Jets, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Atlanta Falcons, the Los Angeles Chargers and the New England Patriots.

His Cleveland debut would potentially follow against the Baltimore Ravens on October 23.

The NFL and the NFLPA have three days to appeal the decision, although the latter had already confirmed on Sunday it would not oppose any decision taken by Robinson. 

"Every player, owner, business partner and stakeholder deserves to know that our process is legitimate and will not be tarnished based on the whims of the league office," the NFLPA said in a statement.

"This is why, regardless of her decision, Deshaun and the NFLPA will stand by her ruling, and we call on the NFL to do the same."

Watson settled 20 of 24 lawsuits in June, with a further three settlements reported on Monday ahead of the hearing verdict.

He has not played since the 2020 season and was traded to the Browns in March, signing a fully guaranteed five-year $230million contract.

Real Madrid have confirmed the departure of forward Borja Mayoral, who has joined Getafe on a five-year deal.

The 25-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan with Getafe, scoring six goals in 18 matches, and leaves Madrid after 15 years associated with the Spanish giants.

With Madrid, Mayoral has won the Champions League, Club World Cup, Super Cup and Supercopa de Espana, although he never quite established himself as a regular within the first-team squad.

Mayoral made his debut for Madrid in 2015 but subsequently went on loan to Wolfsburg for the 2016-17 season, returning to the Santiago Bernabeu the following year.

A two-year loan with Levante was followed by a two-season spell with Roma, which was cut short in January with Getafe taking over the deal for the remainder of the 2021-22 campaign before securing his permanent signing.

Jules Kounde has detailed the role Xavi played in bringing the defender to Barcelona from Sevilla, describing how "important" it was the coach was pushing for the deal.

The 23-year-old was long courted by Premier League outfit Chelsea, who were widely reported to be set to secure a deal before Barcelona moved to hijack the agreement.

It was the second time in the window a late Barca move had frustrated the English side, with the Blaugrana beating them to the signature of Raphinha from Leeds United, while they also signed Andreas Christensen on a free transfer from the Blues.

For Kounde, though, the key to his decision was the conversations he had with Xavi.

"I had some good conversations with Xavi, he always expressed desire for me to come here, and that was important for me," he told a news conference.

"This is an important moment in my career, and in the conversations, he asked me to continue to do what I was doing in Sevilla, to continue to be aggressive, bring the ball out from the back, distribute, those are some of my strengths. 

"Barcelona is a great club, very demanding as well, and that's something that Xavi talked to me about."

Kounde's arrival at Barcelona comes as part of a significant recruitment drive from Xavi's side, with Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Christensen and Franck Kessie fellow new arrivals.

However, the France international has an advantage due to his experience of playing in Spain and believes he will quickly settle into the club.

"My knowledge of the league is going to make it easier to adapt as soon as possible, to adapt to the Barcelona style as well," he explained.

"My coach is obviously going to ask me to know my team-mates as well, and that's going to take time, but it won't be a problem.

"There is lots of competition, I think it's very good for the team. It's good to have a lot of competition in each spot; there are lots of games, of course.

"What I have to do here is grow and learn. I'm very young still, and I'm here to help the team at any given moment, whatever the coach asks of me and my team-mates.

"It's good that there is competition, I'm really looking forward to playing, and when there's competition, it's a challenge and that's great."

Orlando Brown Jr is set to return to the fold for the Kansas City Chiefs with reports he will attend Monday's training camp.

The left-tackle had skipped the first week of camp amid a contract dispute but ESPN's Robert Griffin III states he will return to play on the one-year franchise tag, earning him a $16.6million pay out for the upcoming season.

Brown's return comes as NFL teams have their first padded practice on Monday and it will provide a huge boost for the Chiefs, as well as quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

The Chiefs are looking to tie Brown to a multi-year contract but it is reported Brown turned down the team's last offer of a six-year, $144million contract with a $30.25m signing bonus – with the sticking point being no guaranteed money after the first two years.

Brown was a third-round pick by Baltimore in 2018 and has been selected to three Pro Bowls in four seasons, all of which came during his three years with the Ravens.

In Brown's absence from the training camp, the Chiefs have turned to fifth-year tackle Roderick Johnson who took the majority of first-team reps last week.

On Johnson's role, head coach Andy Reid said: "Johnson] was productive in the offseason, so coming in, we thought he could help out. We'll just see how it rolls."

The Chiefs begin pre-season at the Chicago Bears on August 13th, then host the Washington Commanders and the Green Bay Packers before the regular season starts on the road at the Arizona Cardinals on September 11th.

Bournemouth have completed the signing of versatile midfielder Marcus Tavernier from Middlesbrough ahead of their Premier League return.

Tavernier follows Ryan Fredericks and Joe Rothwell in joining Bournemouth, who begin their campaign at home to Aston Villa on Saturday.

The 23-year-old, who made 155 appearances for Boro, has signed a five-year deal at the Vitality Stadium for a reported upfront fee of £10million.

Bournemouth confirmed the transfer on their website on Monday and chief executive Neill Blake said: "He was one of the standout performers in the Championship last season.

"He has a great pedigree, tremendous energy and is a versatile young player who can play a number of different positions.

"Marcus was attracting a great deal of interest and we are delighted he has decided to join us. Everyone at the club is looking forward to working with him."

Tavernier is comfortable playing in midfield, out wide or up top and scored and assisted a combined 10 goals in 44 Championship appearances last time out.

"I'm happy to be here, it's been a long time coming," Tavernier said. "I'm just delighted to be here now."