Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone will not be put off signing Sergio Reguilon as a replacement for Renan Lodi, despite the defender's affiliation with Real Madrid.
Spain international Reguilon is out of favour under Antonio Conte at Tottenham, and is seeking a move away prior to next Thursday's transfer deadline.
Atletico are reportedly eager to bring in the 25-year-old on an initial loan with a view to making the deal permanent at the end of the season.
Reguilon spent 15 years of his career on the books of Atletico's fierce rivals Real, where he emerged through the youth system and made 22 first-team appearances.
But as Atletico look to sign a full-back to replace Nottingham Forest-bound Lodi, Simeone pointed out his side have had success when recruiting former Los Blancos players in the past.
"The club's working on signing a replacement for Lodi – let's see what happens in the next four days of fun," Simeone said at a press conference ahead of Monday's trip to Valencia.
"Juanfran had previously played for Real Madrid, as had Filipe Luis – both are now part of the history of this club.
"Even today, Alvaro [Morata] is doing well; Mario [Hermoso] gave a lot to the title-winning squad two seasons ago.
"[Marcos] Llorente was off the charts when we won the title. I look at all these as football players."
Reguilon, who spent the 2019-20 season on loan with Sevilla, made 67 appearances in his first two seasons with Spurs, but has not yet featured this campaign.
It has been the same story for Lodi, who has yet to play any minutes in the 2022-23 season, and is eager to move on with an eye on Brazil's World Cup 2022 squad.
"Renan wants to play continuously. Because of his situation, that is not happening," Simeone said. "He is looking for a club where he believes he can get that.
"There are people who like to compete and others who prefer to change teams to get the minutes that theoretically gets them in a better position for the World Cup."
St. Jago, Eltham, STATHS and Wolmer’s through to Walker Cup final four
St. Jago High, Eltham High, STATHS and Wolmer’s Boys all advanced to the semi-finals of the Walker Cup knockout tournament after quarter-final wins on Thursday.
St. Jago booked their spot in the last four after a 3-2 win over Calabar High at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.
St. Jago took an early lead before Calabar equalized in the 45th minute through Kevaun Campbell. St. Jago retook the lead five minutes into the second half through Richardo Lewis before Seon Cato made it 3-1 in the 74th minute.
Calabar got a consolation goal through Sheldon Pusey eight minutes from full time but it wasn’t enough.
In the second game of the double header at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex, Wolmer’s Boys got the better of St. George’s College 2-1.
Elsewhere, STATHS got a comfortable 3-0 win over Charlie Smith at Calabar to advance while Eltham beat Jonathan Grant 3-1 at the Spanish Town Prison Oval to make it through.
Venezuela 1-1 Brazil: Super sub Segovia holds Selecao to shock draw
Substitute Telasco Segovia delivered the pivotal goal that saw 10-man Venezuela hold Brazil to a 1-1 draw in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying.
The shock result leaves Brazil in third place, trailing second-placed Colombia by two points and far short of Argentina in first.
Brazil opened the scoring just before half-time as Raphinha curled a delightful free-kick over the Venezuela wall from 20 yards out to break the deadlock.
On the other side of the break, however, half-time substitute Segovia equalised just 41 seconds after the restart, striking from outside the box, having run onto Jefferson Savarino’s short lay-off.
The visitors were provided with a prime opportunity to restore their lead when Rafael Romo fouled Vinicius Junior in the box. But the Real Madrid forward was unable to capitalise on the resulting penalty, seeing his initial effort saved before firing the rebound wide.
As tensions rose, the game delivered further drama as Alexander Gonzalez received his marching orders in the 89th minute for lashing out at Vinicius after fouling Gabriel Martinelli.
In a farcical ending to the lively affair, sprinklers popped up in the pitch in added time to delay proceedings, but neither side could find a way through.
Data Debrief: Instant impact for super sub Segovia
Segovia's goal, 41 seconds after coming on, is the fastest for a player coming off the bench in the last three editions of the South American World Cup Qualifiers.
Venezuela have now scored two goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half, only Brazil (four) and Colombia (four) have scored more in the 2026 CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers.
Kelleher repays Ireland trust in Finland victory
Republic of Ireland winger Mikey Johnston said the team had always trusted Caoimhin Kelleher after he made a crucial penalty save in their 1-0 Nations League win over Finland.
Johnston's corner set up Brighton and Hove Albion striker Evan Ferguson for the decisive goal on the stroke of half-time, after Finland had twice been denied by the woodwork.
The visitors had a golden chance to level in the second half, but Liverpool goalkeeper Kelleher made a stunning save to deny Joel Pohjanpalo from 12 yards following a handball from Ferguson.
The result means Finland are relegated from Group B2, while Ireland must come through a play-off to remain in the competition's second tier.
Speaking after the game, Johnston credited Kelleher's all-important penalty save, saying: "I always trust him to go and save a penalty. He has reacted really well and stepped up in a big moment.
"We were aiming for the win. They had moments but there were a few chances we could have taken as well.
"We're happy that we've come away with the win. Sometimes in the last year we would have been on the other side of a bit of bad luck."
Ireland round off their campaign against England on Sunday, in Lee Carsley's final game in charge of the Three Lions before Thomas Tuchel takes the reins in January.
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