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The year 2025 was a good one for Kansas City Royals pitcher Kris Bubic—but it appears to have come to a close.

Bubic has strained his left rotator cuff and will be shut down for the rest of the 2025 season, Royals manager Matt Quatraro told reporters Monday afternoon. The news follows an uneven Saturday start where Bubic allowed three earned runs in 2 2/3 innings in a loss to the Cleveland Guardians.

That loss was unrepresentative of a career year for Bubic, an All-Star who will end '25 with an 8-7 record, 2.55 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 116 1/3 innings.

"It's an opportunity to get physically better, mentally better," Bubic told Vahe Gregorian of the . "That's how I approach it. The early part of rehab is usually always the worst. … but once you get through that phase, at least in my head, you get to have a normal offseason."

Bubic previously underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2023.

His Kansas City squad is currently 52-54—four games back of the American League's final wild-card playoff berth.

One of the greats of Indian cricket played the game his own way and left lasting memories

Karthik Krishnaswamy24-Aug-2025January 2019. Earlier that month, Cheteshwar Pujara had been the toast of the nation, scoring centuries in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney as India won a Test series in Australia for the very first time. Now he was the villain of all of Karnataka, or at least the few hundred despondent diehards at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium who watched him seal their team’s fate with an unbeaten fourth-innings hundred that steered Saurashtra into the final of the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy.The bulk of Pujara’s innings came against the backdrop of chants from these diehards. “Cheater! Cheater! Cheater!” Once in each innings, he had been reprieved by the umpire when he seemed to have edged behind. Both times, he stood his ground and batted on.If you watched this match, you may have remembered it when you read Pujara’s retirement announcement on Sunday. One word in particular.”As a little boy from the small town of Rajkot, along with my parents, I set out to aim for the stars; and dreamt to be a part of the Indian cricket team,” he wrote on his social media feeds. “Little did I know then that this game would give me so much – invaluable opportunities, experiences, purpose, love, and above all a chance to represent my state and this great nation.”Related

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• 'Always put his mind, body and soul for the country' – colleagues react to Pujara's retirement

• Pujara's best in Test cricket

State and nation. Pujara belonged equally to both. He played nearly as many first-class matches for his state team (90) as he did Test matches (103), and more than half his Saurashtra games (58) came after his international debut. And this is before we count white-ball cricket, of which he only had a fleeting international taste. Pujara’s father Arvind and uncle Bipin played for Saurashtra too, 43 times between them.Australia’s scourge, Karnataka’s cheater. The competitor in Pujara may have enjoyed both roles equally.In being as much of Saurashtra as of India, Pujara was almost unique for an Indian cricketer of his generation. This, of course, was a matter largely of circumstance. He was a red-ball cricketer of the highest rank, and a red-ball cricketer almost to the exclusion of anything else. The gaps this left in his international schedule allowed him to build a significant body of work in domestic cricket.And as he did this, he became a reminder of a bygone age when batters dreamed of scoring 100 first-class hundreds. For Geoffrey Boycott, getting to that landmark – in an Ashes Test, no less, and in front of his home crowd – was “the most magical moment of my life”.ESPNcricinfo LtdPujara, the most Boycottian batter of his age, didn’t get quite as far, but he went two-thirds of the way, scoring 66, ten of them during a productive late-career county stint at Sussex. In the span of his career, only one batter, Alastair Cook (68), made more first-class hundreds. It’s a momentous achievement, and one, appropriately enough, entirely out of step with the zeitgeist.But as out of step as he may have seemed, Pujara was a formidable cricketer who at his peak ranked just below the four great Test batters of his age. Quite a peak it was too; at the end of that 2018-19 Australia tour, he averaged 51.18 and had scored 18 hundreds in 68 TestsHis numbers declined in the pandemic and post-pandemic years, but he was hardly alone in suffering that fate, with Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane going through similarly prolonged slumps as India played Test match after Test match, home and away, in treacherous batting conditions.And all of that, and perhaps the effects of age on his game, have left many of us with a somewhat diminished image of Pujara the batter. In the tributes from team-mates and former players that have flowed since his retirement announcement, the most frequently used word, by far, is “grit”, and the most frequently evoked image is of the body blows he took during his 211-ball, fourth-innings 56 in the Gabba fairytale of 2021.Cheteshwar Pujara cops a blow from Josh Hazlewood•AFPPujara had plenty of grit, of course, but you need a whole lot more than that to play 103 Test matches. You need those magic, uncoachable qualities that are commonly clubbed together under the banner of talent.One common definition of batting talent prizes the ability to hit a wide range of attacking shots, with bonus points for hitting good balls and/or in unusual directions. Pujara’s gifts didn’t lean in this direction, but he nonetheless gave a sense that he was born to bat.”Every great batsman,” CLR James suggested in his chapter on George Headley in , “is a special organism.” Whether Pujara was a great batter is a debate for elsewhere, but he was undoubtedly a special organism, a batter who could go on and on and score prodigious quantities of runs. In October 2008, for instance, he scored 386 and 309 for Saurashtra’s Under-22s, and in November he followed up with a 302* in the Ranji Trophy.This appetite for runs was well-known long before Pujara played for India, so while it was remarkable that he scored six hundreds – two of them doubles – in his first 16 Tests, with his average hovering in the 60s, it wasn’t that much of a surprise. It takes an uncommonly good eye and technique to be able to score like that, and also the mind of a special organism, capable of an uncommon level of focus. In the first half of his career, Pujara often seemed to bat in a state of trance-like absorption that was palpable to the viewer.He would start watchfully, even glacially, and you’d wonder if his low, choking grip was inhibiting his power and range of strokes, but if he batted long enough he would flick a switch and start hitting shots to all parts, leaping off his toes to cut the fast bowlers without needing width, sashaying out of his crease to drive spinners inside-out or whip them outside-in.ESPNcricinfo LtdThis way of batting came with a remarkably high ceiling, of course, but also a high floor. He often looked in control even when he wasn’t making a lot of runs, as in England in 2014, and by the end of that 2018-19 Australia tour, he had faced at least 50 balls in 73 of his 114 Test innings, and carried on to the 100-ball mark and beyond on 42 occasions.The limits of Pujara’s game only really became evident on extreme pitches, particularly against bowling attacks of uncommon depth, where the proverbial ball with the batter’s name on it was always around the corner. India just happened to play a lot of their cricket on those kinds of pitches, against those kinds of attacks, during the second half of his career. Other batters may have tried to bat differently; Pujara’s faith in his way never wavered.And while this meant he stopped scoring hundreds – he only made one in his last 35 Tests – he still made significant contributions to India’s results: two half-centuries spanning 381 balls in the 2021 SCG draw, that aforementioned 56 at the Gabba, a 206-ball 45 in a slow-burning, match-turning century stand with Rahane at Lord’s in 2021, and a second-innings 61 at The Oval in the same series.None of this was enough to ward off time, of course, and the surge of batting talent pounding at India’s door. But let’s put the job Pujara did in perspective. Since his last Test match, the six batters India have tried at No. 3 have collectively averaged 31.95 across 24 Tests. A fading Pujara, over his last 24 Tests, averaged 31.51.The end came with a second defeat in a second World Test Championship final in 2023, but it wasn’t really the end. The Pujara of Saurashtra, Sussex and West Zone would score a further 2057 first-class runs, at an average of 51.42, with seven hundreds. A fitting finish, on Pujara’s own terms, leaving you wondering if he couldn’t have gone on just a little longer.

Manchester United have now opened talks to sign an “incredible” star, who’s scored a whopping 147 career goals, and they are looking to get a deal done at the start of next year.

Man Utd looking to bring in another leader

In the wake of the 4-1 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday night, Ruben Amorim praised Lisandro Martinez for his leadership capabilities, while also adding: “Mason Mount is always the same thing, training, talking, dealing with people around Carrington. That is not easy. So he is a very, very good player.”

However, the perceived lack of leaders in the squad has been criticised for quite some time, with Roy Keane calling into question whether Bruno Fernandes is a suitable captain after the 1-1 draw against Chelsea last season.

Following the emphatic win at Molineux, the Red Devils are up to sixth in the Premier League table, but they clearly aren’t the finished article just yet, having lost at home to 10-man Everton and drawn with a struggling West Ham United side in recent weeks.

If Man United are to start competing for the top honours once again, they may need to bring in players who are experienced at the top level, and they have now opened talks over a deal for Sergio Ramos, who is a free agent, following his departure from Monterrey.

That is according to a report from Spain, which states negotiations are in the early stages, with United expressing the ‘strongest’ interest in securing the former Real Madrid man’s signature, and they are looking to bring him in at the start of next year.

Several other unnamed clubs are in the race for the Spaniard’s signature, with his future set to be resolved in the next few weeks.

Related Amorim's priority target: Man Utd step up interest in "special" Madrid star

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Posts ByDominic Lund 3 days ago "Incredible" Ramos knows what it takes to win

With Keane previously making it clear he is not entirely convinced by Fernandes as a captain, Man United could perhaps do with bringing in an experienced leader, who knows what it takes to win.

The 39-year-old certainly fits the bill in that regard, having become the first player to captain a team to three straight Champions League triumphs during his time with Real Madrid.

Mesut Özil has also made it clear just how highly he rates his former teammate, saying: “Sergio Ramos is the best defender I’ve ever played with. And the one with the most character. At that time I was still very young, but I already had a very strong mentality. It was incredible. It was clear that sooner or later he would lead Real Madrid to UCL glory.”

Not only is the 180-time Spain international a top-quality defender, but he also poses a threat at the other end of the pitch, having amassed a whopping 147 career goals for club and country.

That said, Ramos is now 39-years-old, and hasn’t played in Europe since a spell with Sevilla in the 2023-24 campaign, so there may be some doubts over whether he is still capable of making an impact at a club like Man United.

NEW YORK — The 2025 New York Yankees died as they lived: disappearing for a stretch, then—long after it really mattered—staging a furious comeback attempt that ultimately fell short. 

Add Aaron Judge’s thrilling, game-tying, season-saving American League division series Game 3 home run to the Endy Chávez catch file: It would have been one of the greatest of all time if only the team had gone anywhere. Instead, after a listless 5–2 loss in Game 4, the only place the Yankees are going is home. 

Over the past five days, they disappointed in all areas of the game. They were out-hit, out-pitched, out-defended. It was the most pitiful effort by a group of New Yorkers since Eric Adams’s re-election campaign. 

“They beat us this series,” said manager Aaron Boone. “Simple as that.” 

Start with the pitching. The Blue Jays certainly did, scoring first in all four games. Only in Game 2 did it take them more than two outs to plate their first run—and then it took three. The Yankees’ starters, whose 3.61 regular season ERA was fourth in baseball, combined to allow 19 runs in 14 ⅓ innings. Only rookie Cam Schlittler, who threw 6 ⅓ innings of four-run ball in Game 4, got an out in the fourth inning. The beleaguered bullpen mostly kept the score where it was, but converted starter Will Warren allowed six runs in 4 ⅔ innings, and erstwhile closer Luke Weaver, after lowering his October 2025 ERA from infinity to 135.00, acknowledged he felt he was tipping pitches and said, “I don’t feel like my mind is completely clear to go out there and attack.” 

Still, the Yankees are built to out-slug anyone, and they simply did not. In Game 1, they scored one run; in Game 2, they put up seven, but only after Toronto had scored 12. On Wednesday, facing a bullpen game—against a relief corps that threw 6 ⅓ innings a day before, and that had shown every arm to the Yankees during the series—the lineup that scored the most runs in the majors this season went 1-for-6 with a walk with runners in scoring position. Not until the seventh inning, down 4–1, did a runner stand at second base. The only runs came when glove-first third baseman Ryan McMahon homered in the third and Judge singled in a run in the ninth. 

India’s batting hero spoke about the challenges she has been through during the World Cup

Sruthi Ravindranath31-Oct-2025

Emotional Jemimah Rodrigues waves at the crowd after her sensational innings•Getty Images

Jemimah Rodrigues revealed the mental battle she faced in the weeks leading up to her match-winning unbeaten 127 against Australia in the World Cup semi-final, describing a period of anxiety that left her feeling “numb” and brought her to tears. Rodrigues broke down during the post-match press conference, saying she hoped sharing her experience could help others facing similar struggles.”I will be very vulnerable here because I know if someone is watching, this might be going through the same thing and that’s my whole purpose of saying it. Nobody likes to talk about their weakness. I was going through a lot of anxiety at the starting of the tournament,” she said, pausing to hold back tears.”It was a lot, you know, before few games also, I used to call my mom and cry the entire time, let it all out. Because when you are going through anxiety, you just feel numb. You don’t know what to do. You are trying to be yourself. And also in this time, my mum, my dad, they supported me a lot. And also there was Arundhati [Reddy], who I think almost every day I have cried in front of her.Related

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“Later I was joking, saying ‘you don’t come in front of me, I will start crying.’ But she checked on me every single day. There was Smriti [Mandhana], who helped me. She also knew what I was going through. Few of the net sessions, she was just standing there. Even yesterday she came, she just stood there, just because he just knows that her presence is important for me.”There has been Radha [Yadav], who has, always been there, taking care of me. I am so blessed to have friends, I can call family, that I didn’t have to go through it alone. And it’s okay to ask for help.”Rodrigues had entered the semi-final on the back of a 76 not out against New Zealand, but her tournament began with a few low scores, including two ducks. She had also been dropped for the match against England as India opted for an extra bowler, a bold call given Rodrigues’ status as one of India’s top batters. She said it was difficult to stay patient, but she chose to hang in and trust that her moment would come.”My family went through a lot, but everyone stood by me, and believed in me when I didn’t, when I couldn’t,” she said. “And it started with the anxiety thing. Then I was dropped from the team [for the match against England]. That really hit me.”When you are dropped, you have a lot of doubts because I always want to contribute to the team. But that day, I couldn’t do much sitting out. And then, when you come back in, it’s a lot more pressure, than everything that was happening in the past month.’I am very grateful for the people who believed in me when I couldn’t, and were there for me and understood me because I couldn’t do this on my own’•ICC/Getty Images”But sometimes all you need to do is, just hang in there and, things fall into place. So, I am very grateful for the people who believed in me when I couldn’t, and were there for me and understood me because I couldn’t do this on my own.”During India’s chase of 339, Rodrigues was at the crease for nearly the entirety of the innings after entering at No. 3 in the second over. She remained unbeaten on 127 off 134 balls, guiding India to victory with five wickets in hand and nine balls to spare. Her innings, however, included a reprieve when she was dropped by Alyssa Healy on 82. Asked how she would rate her innings, Rodrigues reflected on her mindset.”I mean, how do I rate this innings? Actually, I have not let it sink in,” she said. “All I would say was I didn’t play for my 100. I didn’t play to prove a point at No. 3. I didn’t play for my 50. I just played to make sure India win. I wanted to see India win at the end and that was my only motivation.”I think when you have that thought process, I think God also favours you. You do it for the team, you don’t do it for yourself. And I think I have always played my cricket that way. I’m short of words actually.”Rodrigues also revealed that during a team discussion on the eve of the match, she had expressed a clear goal for the game.”We were just saying what all we could do better in this World Cup and all I said was that I want to be there till the end and finish the game. Whether we are batting first, I know if I am there, I can make a partnership. And get those 20-30 runs extra because I run well, pick gaps, unusual gaps.”And the second thing was if we are chasing, then I want to make sure I take the team through. And this just feels like a dream actually. It just felt like everything was such a set up. Because the last month wasn’t the easiest, but it just felt like a set up for this moment.”

Liverpool had defeated Real Madrid 1-0. It wasn’t spectacular. It was gritty and to their credit, Arne Slot’s side were by far the best team on the field.

Not bad for a team supposedly in a mini-crisis. Coming into this game, the Reds had won just two of their last eight games in all competitions.

So, are they back? Quite possibly. One man who was indeed back at Anfield was Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The Merseysider, Liverpool’s great son, was welcomed home to his city of birth to a chorus of boos. His exit still stings, of course it does, and the fanbase will have achieved a sense of great comfort from seeing him suffer defeat on Tuesday evening.

Being interviewed on Prime Video post-game, skipper Virgil van Dijk was asked by Theo Walcott if he had spoken to Trent or had any desire to meet with him. The colossal Dutchman had an emphatic one-word response: “No.” Each to their own, eh, Virgil?

Trent's Anfield return in numbers

It wasn’t a great surprise to see Alexander-Arnold named among the subs for Tuesday’s encounter.

Trent is a fine right-back but hasn’t set the world alight after moving to Madrid over the summer. The defender was initially set to move on a free transfer but as Real aimed to push a move through before the Club World Cup, Liverpool ended up getting £10m for him.

Money well spent? Arguably not. The 27-year-old has battled with a hamstring injury in the embryonic stages of his Madrid career, playing just 14 minutes in this season’s Champions League and starting only twice in LaLiga.

It’s not the start Trent will have wanted and the last thing he probably needed was a return to Liverpool.

Fede Valverde started ahead of him at right-back on the night but with nine minutes remaining the Reds academy graduate finally got his chance to play at Anfield again.

While some did applaud, for the most part, he was met with a series of boos. Who can blame them?

As Xabi Alonso’s men tried desperately to score an equaliser, their efforts were ultimately in vain as Trent failed to inspire the European giants to a point.

After coming on, Alexander-Arnold managed just ten touches of the ball and was only able to complete six of his eight passes. His only cross was inaccurate and he didn’t manage a key pass.

Minutes played

9

Touches

10

Accurate passes

6/8 (75%)

Key passes

0

Accurate crosses

0/1

Dribbles

0

Possession lost

3x

Shots

0

Tackles

0

Interceptions

0

Clearances

1

He had limited minutes, of course, but it was far from the heroic involvement we were used to seeing from the England international during his days in red.

As it happens, he was completely outshone by fellow right-back Conor Bradley. In the words of content creator, George Scaife, the Northern Irishman’s display was “the best performance by a Liverpool player this season” having locked down one of the best wingers in the world in the form of Vinicius Junior.

Yet, it’s not Bradley who is more closely evoking memories of Trent this term.

Liverpool's summer signing is suffering from the Alexander-Arnold treatment

In the bigger picture, Alexander-Arnold’s time in England must be celebrated. He is one of the most iconic right-backs the Premier League has ever seen.

He scored 23 goals and racked up a rather mind-boggling tally of 92 assists from defence. There have been very few like him in the modern era.

Trent was very much one of the pioneers of the modern full-back. Creative, attacking and possessing the ability to invert into midfield, he offered a great deal to both Jurgen Klopp and Slot. Except, he was always a little bit suspect defensively.

While Bradley dealt with Kylian Mbappe and Vini Jr with ease on Tuesday, on the contrary, Liverpool’s great Liverpudlian has struggled in games like these before.

Remember the quarter-final in 2021? It was Trent’s mistake that led to Marco Asensio scoring. The final in 2022? On that occasion, the full-back allowed Vini to ghost behind him and find the net.

While some of his defending was pretty inexcusable during his time at Liverpool, the threat he carried in the final third and from set-pieces always rescued him. He was a special player.

Yet, 2024/25 was a tough one as he geared up for his move to Madrid. Trent did feature in 49 matches across all competitions but he only completed 13 full 90 minutes in his 33 league outings.

Slot regularly withdrew him early from games and once it got towards the end of his time in England, he didn’t get much of a look in.

During Liverpool’s last six fixtures in the Premier League, he featured for a combined 220 minutes of the 540 that were played.

While the defender had suffered from a late-season ankle injury, his defending also hadn’t improved. After Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United back in January, Roy Keane was brutal with his criticism: “There’s talk about him going to Real Madrid, the way he’s defending he’s going to Tranmere Rovers after this. He’s got to do better.”

Well, in 2025/26, it would appear as though summer arrival Milos Kerkez is also suffering from a bout of Trent-itis.

Last season he was hailed as “one of the best left-backs in world football” by Troy Deeney and few would have disputed that claim.

The Hungarian was a rampaging threat on the left-hand side of the Bournemouth side, ending the campaign with two goals and six assists.

Like Trent, he’s got a wicked delivery in him. He’s a great creator of chances. Yet, also like Trent, he’s suspect defensively and has been found out since his big £40m move in the summer.

Not one to mince his words, Gary Neville was particularly scathing of the full-back in October, saying: “The left back hasn’t settled in. He plays like a 10-year-old; he is all over the place.” Harsh but you’d certainly expect better of a player who cost as much as he did.

As such, Kerkez has been in and out of the team much like Trent was last season. Like Alexander-Arnold, Slot cannot trust him, particularly in the big games. Indeed, against Man United, Jamie Redknapp described the defender as a “nervous wreck”, constantly hassled by Bryan Mbeumo.

Consequently, the former Cherries full-back has completed 90 minutes on just five of his nine league starts and now finds himself out of the team. Andy Robertson has started the last two games and Liverpool have won both. That is surely no coincidence.

Kerkez will no doubt come good in a Reds shirt. He was electric for Andoni Iraola’s side last campaign but he is going to have to eradicate his haphazard defending if he is to make it at Anfield.

If he doesn’t, then he can expect further Trent-like treatment in the months to come. An unreliable figure who’s excellent in attack but suspect at the back.

Kylian Mbappe’s feud with Paris Saint-Germain has exploded into one of football’s most expensive courtroom battles, with the Real Madrid star now demanding more than €260 million in compensation. PSG have countered with an even bigger €440m claim, as both sides accuse each other of breaches of contract, bad faith and unfair treatment in a case now before a Paris labour court.

• Mbappe escalates compensation claim against PSG

  French superstar Mbappe’s long-running contract dispute with Paris Saint-Germain has reached a dramatic new phase, with the forward now demanding over €260m (£229m/$301m) in compensation as the case moves through the Paris labour court. According to a recent report by the Real Madrid striker, who did not attend Monday’s hearing, has massively increased his initial claim of €55m (£48m/$64m), arguing that PSG “owe him that money because his fixed-term contract should be reclassified as a permanent one.”

  This reclassification, his lawyers say, would entitle him to full compensation for unfair dismissal, unpaid wages, bonuses and severance, in addition to substantial damages. His legal team stated: “Kylian Mbappe is not asking for anything beyond what the law provides; he is simply seeking the enforcement of his legal rights, as any employee would.”

  Mbappe’s complaint also alleges moral harassment, undeclared work and breaches of PSG’s duty of good faith, pointing to his sidelining in 2023 after he informed the club he would not extend his contract. The forward was excluded from a pre-season tour and forced to train with fringe players, a practice described in France as “lofting.”

  The case stems from the breakdown of relations following Mbappe’s refusal to activate the optional extension in his 2022 contract, a decision that left PSG facing the prospect of losing a €300m (£264m/$347m) asset for free, and ultimately did.

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• AFP
  

  PSG’s accusations of loss of revenue and reputational damage

  PSG have responded with a colossal counter-claim of €440m (£387m/$510m), arguing that Mbappe’s departure on a free transfer inflicted severe financial and reputational harm. The club insists he acted in bad faith throughout the final year of his contract, with PSG saying in a statement: “The club has presented evidence demonstrating that the player acted disloyally by concealing his decision not to extend his contract for almost eleven months, between July 2022 and June 2023, thus depriving the club of any possibility of arranging a transfer.”

  PSG further argue that Mbappe reneged on what they describe as a verbal agreement to forgo certain bonuses in exchange for being reintegrated into the squad during the 2023-24 season. Their statement adds: “The player challenged an agreement reached with the club in August 2023, which provided for a reduction in his remuneration should he decide to leave freely, in order to preserve the club’s financial stability following the exceptional investment made.”

  The French champions also categorically denied allegations of psychological pressure or mistreatment, which Mbappe has been claiming. PSG emphasise that Mbappe still played over 94% of official matches that season, reinforcing that all “sporting decisions were made by a coach who is now a Champions League winner.”

• Mbappe’s camp challenges PSG allegations and recounts isolation period

  The French captain’s legal team has firmly rejected PSG’s narrative, insisting that the club never provided proof of any agreement to waive bonuses. The player maintains that he was subject to “moral harassment,” pointing to his exclusion from pre-season tours and enforced training away from the first-team squad. His camp argues this treatment created a “hostile working environment” and breached the club’s obligations under the French labour code.

  His lawyers highlight that Mbappe’s sidelining began shortly after he informed PSG he would not extend his contract, claiming this amounted to a clear attempt to pressure him into renewing. They repeated that PSG have “never produced any evidence” of a verbal pact on bonuses or salary reductions.

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• AFP
  

  Court ruling could reshape contract disputes across European football

  The star forward, who left PSG having scored a club-record 256 goals in 308 games, believes that the club’s actions were motivated by frustration over his decision to depart for free. His team insists PSG used public pressure tactics to shape the narrative around his exit, a claim the club vehemently denies.

  This legal confrontation has quickly become one of the largest and most complex player-club disputes European football has ever seen, and the combined claims push the potential financial outcome of a figure unprecedented in football labour cases.

  The tribunal is expected to deliver a decision on December 16, though the case may drag on through appeals. 

Both batters have been good against spin in Pakistan and give South Africa hope ahead of tours to India and Sri Lanka

Firdose Moonda21-Oct-2025International cricket tours are not research trips but if they were, South Africa would mark the Pakistan Tests as a success because of what it has taught them about their batters. Especially Tony de Zorzi.With a century in Lahore and 55 in Rawalpindi, as things stand, de Zorzi is the series’ leading run-scorer and has kept South Africa in the game in both first innings. Remarkably, de Zorzi has a much higher Test average in the subcontinent – 70.50 – than he does on home soil, where he averages just 14.53. Both his Test hundreds and one of his three fifties have come in Asia and one other in the West Indies, where conditions are also slow and low.It’s all a bit of an anomaly given that de Zorzi grew up on the Highveld and spent the early parts of his career playing on pacy, bouncy strips but has developed a game plan that works in Asia and it’s an obvious one: “Tony is a really good player of spin. He sweeps well, reverse sweeps well and uses his feet well,” Ashwell Prince, South Africa’s batting coach, who has also coached de Zorzi at domestic level, said.He is also willing to be patient, as evident from his early engagements in his innings in Rawalpindi. The first ball he faced, from Sajid Khan, whizzed past the shoulder of his bat as he hung back in his crease in defence. From then, de Zorzi tried to get forward to defend as much as possible and scored only five runs off the first 22 balls he faced. In that, was one that should have got him out. Pakistan did not review an Asif Afridi delivery that was shorter in length, kept de Zorzi on his back foot and spun into his pad. They appealed for a catch at short leg but a review on the lbw would have meant this story may have been about something else entirely. But luck is part of the game and what players do with it can be more important than whether they have it. De Zorzi made it work for him.Three overs after the non-dismissal, he saw an opportunity to change tempo, walked across his stumps and hit Sajid through deep backward square for four. South Africa were scoring at the pedestrian rate of 2.35 runs an over before that shot, and they were closer to three runs an over by the end of the day.Related

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Asif Afridi finally gets his moment

First day in Pindi = first day in Lahore

Whether de Zorzi got it right when it came to his balance between attack and defence is a matter of opinion. Prince’s is that de Zorzi, in just his 15th Test, is still discovering how to do things but is learning fast. “I don’t think with three days to go it’s necessary to go a lot quicker but the important thing is for every batter who goes out there to find his natural rhythm of play,” Prince said. “What we try and emphasise is finding your tempo and marrying strong defence with good scoring opportunities. It’s important for all of them to know where their singles are and to understand which kind of boundary options they may be looking at but as far as time is concerned I don’t think there’s any rush.”De Zorzi main scoring shot is the sweep – and according to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, he has scored 35.1% of his 423 runs in Asia using that shot – and he scores mostly square of the wicket. In this innings, 36 off his 55 runs came between point and covers or short fine and midwicket and he scored them off 21 balls. His is a contrasting wagon wheel to his partner – Tristan Stubbs’ – an off-side dominant batter, who is the other player that has passed on the South African report card.Before this Test, Stubbs had got into double figures only once in his last nine Test innings and appeared completely out of sorts. He had been shifted from No. 3 – a position given to him in August last year and then taken away in December – to No.4 to No.5 and his role was unclear. With Wiaan Mulder left out of his Test to accommodate the left-arm seam-bowling allrounder Marco Jansen, Stubbs was pushed back up to No. 3 and showed determination just to stay there.Can Tristan Stubbs become South Africa’s long-term No. 3?•AFP/Getty ImagesHe scored 13 runs off the first 60 balls he faced before de Zorzi played that shot off Sajid and Stubbs followed shit when he shimmied down the pitch to hit Sajid through the covers. Though he still accumulated at a conservative pace, Stubbs found runs when he moved his feet: lunging forward and lowering one knee to sweep Asif over square leg, and occasionally when he advanced on bowlers. The pillar of this innings, though, was defence. Stubbs faced 140 dot balls, only eight fewer than in the knock he played against Sri Lanka in Durban, when he scored 100. This is already his third-longest Test innings by balls faced, 14 short of his knock in Chattogram, where he also scored a century. There will be pressure on him to convert this into three figures too but that isn’t the only goal.At this stage of his career, Stubbs just needs to make a case for where he should bat in the Test team and why and this could be the innings that does that. “He showed great character,” Prince said. “He was a little clearer in his game plan, understood his scoring opportunities and obviously was strong on defence. He’s also been quite positive in terms of his footwork, back and forth and using the crease and when he wanted to hit the ball in the air, there was commitment in that so he’s gone pretty well.”Prince said Stubbs sees being back at No. 3 as a “great opportunity,” but that it doesn’t mean he has the spot back permanently. “We’ve always seen him as a player who’s got a pretty decent game against spin. Whether he continues in that position in the future will be determined by where we play and the conditions that we face.”And that may be South Africa’s biggest lesson about their batting from this trip. Just as Lungi Ngidi was left out of this series so South Africa could stack their squad with spinners, the same thinking can apply to South Africa’s batting line-up and the way they are talking suggests it could. “The No. 3 position would fluctuate in terms of where we are playing,” Prince said. “We have to marry people in terms of horses for courses approach.”In that case, two of the horses for this kind of course have been identified. Given that between the Chattogram Test last year where de Zorzi scored his first hundred and the Lahore one, he had only crossed 30 once in nine Test innings, there is a case to be made that when South Africa play in the subcontinent, de Zorzi should be in the XI but when they are in SENA countries, he may not be. Instead, someone like David Bedingham, who has sat on the bench this series, could be considered then. The same could apply to Stubbs and the inclusion of captain Temba Bavuma, when he becomes available post-injury could then be another talking point.All this information South Africa can use for future trips to the subcontinent, and there are two more of them in this WTC cycle, which makes it valuable. What they will wish is that is what they already had coming into this contest. For Prince, there is still time for South Africa to show they can apply what they have learnt in this match and maybe, to spring a great surprise. “One more big partnership – something close to 100 runs brings us close to Pakistan’s score and the potential is there to get 40 or 50 runs ahead. It might not sound a lot but under these circumstances it could be a lot.”

Julio Rodríguez is doing his part for the Mariners in their winner-take-all Game 7 as Seattle plays for the franchise's first trip to the World Series.

To begin the American League Championship Series decider, he hit a leadoff double on the second pitch of the game to get in scoring position for Josh Naylor, who drove him in two batters later. That gave Seattle an early 1-0 lead, but the Blue Jays were able to tie the game in the bottom half of the first thanks to an RBI single from Daulton Varsho.

Rodríguez wasn't done, though, crushing a go-ahead solo home run in his next at-bat to take back the early lead. The ball sailed 423 feet over the left center field fence after a seven-pitch at bat.

In the clutch at-bat, he quickly got down 0-2 and was nearly called out on strikes on a checked swing down in the count. First base umpire Doug Eddings ruled that Rodríguez didn't go around, but the checked swing was insanely close and could have went either way:

Rodríguez took a second ball before fouling off two pitches ahead of the massive homer to break the 1-1 tie. He may have gotten away with one, but Eddings had to go with his gut which said Rodríguez held off. The call can't be taken back and it may prove to be critical in the decisive matchup for a trip to the World Series.

سلطت صحيفة “ديلي ميل” البريطانية الضوء على مساندة ودعم حسام حسن، المدير الفني لمنتخب مصر الأول لكرة القدم لقائد فريقه، محمد صلاح، نجم ليفربول بعد تصريحاته الأخيرة.

وخرج صلاح مساء أمس بعد انتهاء مباراة ليدز يونايتد وتحدث لوسائل الإعلام وفتح النار على الجميع وعلى رأسهم مدربه آرني سلوت، بسبب جلوسه على دكة البدلاء لثلاث مباريات متتالية، (للمطالعة على التفاصيل اضغط هنا).

كان ليفربول قد تعادل أمام ليدز يونايتد بثلاثة أهداف لمثلها بعدما كان الريدز متقدمًا بنتيجة 2/0 في المباراة وكل الأمور كانت تسير بشكل إيجابي.

وحل صلاح بديلًا في آخر ثلاث مباريات لليفربول وشارك في المباراة الأخيرة أمام سندرلاند فقط، وفي تلك المباريات لم يفز ليفربول سوى في مباراة واحدة.

وفي آخر 15 مباراة لليفربول خسر في 11 مباراة ولم يفُز سوى في 4 مباريات فقط، لكن حتى مع تلك المباريات التي فاز بها كانت هناك علامات استفهام كثيرة حول الأداء.

وقالت الصحيفة الإنجليزية إن علاقة محمد صلاح بـ حسام حسن مدرب منتخب مصر جيدة للغاية وليست منهارة مثل علاقته بالهولدي آرني سلوت.

وأضافت أنه برغم انهيار علاقته مع سلوت، يبدو أنه لا تزال هناك صداقة قوية بين صلاح ومدرب مصر حسام حسن، بعد أن أعلن المدرب البالغ من العمر 59 عامًا دعمه العلني لنجمه.

وذكرت أنه في وقت لاحق من الشهر الجاري، سيتوجه صلاح إلى كأس الأمم الإفريقية مع منتخب مصر، وقد يغيب لأكثر من شهر، واعترف بأنه قد لا يعود إلى ليفربول عندما تنتهي البطولة.

حسام حسن كان قد نشر صورة له مع محمد صلاح عبر حسابه الرسمي على موقع التواصل الاجتماعي “انستجرام” وكتب عليها: “دائمًا تكون رمزًا للقوة والعزيمة”.

ومن المقرر أن يخوض منتخب مصر مباراته الأولى في كأس أمم إفريقيا أمام نظيره زيمبابوي في 22 من شهر ديسمبر الجاري.