Napoli confirm Rasmus Højlund has completed a permanent move from Manchester United, as the ‘conditions have been met for the permanent acquisition.’

Napoli confirmed Hojlund’s permanent transfer to the Stadio Maradona with an official statement on Wednesday.

Advertisement

Official statement: Hojlund permanent transfer to Napoli from Man United

“Napoli announce that the conditions have been met for the permanent acquisition of the sporting rights of Rasmus Hojlund from Manchester United,” the Partenopei said.

“On September 13, our No.19 scored his first goal on his debut, helping Napoli secure a 3-1 victory away at Fiorentina at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. He has made 44 appearances with the Azzurri shirt, scoring 16 goals.

NAPLES, ITALY – MARCH 14: Rasmus Hojlund of SSC Napoli celebrates after scoring his side first goal during the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and US Lecce at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on March 14, 2026 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

Advertisement

“He also played a key role in Naèoli’s Super Cup triumph, scoring in the semifinal victory over Milan.

“Congratulations, Rasmus!”

Napoli secured Hojlund’s permanent move with mathematical qualification for the Champions League with a game to spare at the end of May.

Napoli already paid €6m for the striker’s one-season loan last summer, adding €44m for his permanent move.

Hojlund had already played in Serie A before joining Napoli, spending one season with Atalanta in 2022-23, managing 10 goals in 34 appearances.

During his three-year spell at Manchester United, Hojlund scored 26 goals in 95 matches.

COMO, ITALY – MAY 02: SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte looks on during the Serie A match between Como 1907 and SSC Napoli at Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium on May 02, 2026 in Como, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Advertisement

Napoli are set to hire Massimiliano Allegri as their new coach, replacing Antonio Conte, who has already announced his departure after two seasons at the Stadio Maradona.

Napoli finished the 2025-26 Serie A campaign in second and won the Supercoppa Italiana.

As we count down to the first college football game of the 2026 season on August 29th, we’re pleased to introduce a new series: The records of each top CFB program in the West against all the others in the region.

Some schools have met many times over the years, while others are beginning new rivalries in the wake of recent realignment.

For each opponent in the table below, we provide the total games played, wins, losses, ties, winning percentage, first year played, and most recent contest.

We begin with Air Force, which has played 466 games vs. regional foes, winning 252, losing 207, and tying seven for a winning percentage of .548.

The Falcons have recorded the most wins against Colorado State (40) and lost the most games vs. Wyoming (28). Those two teams are tied for Air Force’s most played opponents at 63 games each.

Here is a breakdown of the AFA’s records vs. the region’s teams.

Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott is poised to make his England debut in the forthcoming World Cup warm-up games in the United States.

Scott, Rio Ngumoha, Josh King, Jason Steele and Ethan Nwaneri have travelled as supplementary members of the England squad for their preparation camp in Florida.

This comes as they await the arrivals of Arsenal quartet Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke and Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson following their involvement in European finals.

Henderson is due to arrive in the next 24 hours, with the remaining four expected to report for duty over the weekend.

It is understood that all five additional squad selections, despite not being picked in Thomas Tuchel’s full squad for the World Cup, are eligible to play in the friendlies versus New Zealand and Costa Rica.

The quintet will also stay in Florida for the duration of the camp and not head back when the remaining five players report for duty.

Scott was named in Tuchel’s provisional 55-man squad for the tournament, which means that from the five supplementary players, only he stands a chance of breaking into the full World Cup squad at this stage should any injuries occur.

With that in mind, the 22-year-old has a strong chance to make his international debut in one of the upcoming friendlies before heading off for his summer break.

Scott earned his senior first call-up for the November matches against Serbia and Albania but didn’t make an appearance.

Tuchel then left Scott out of the squad to face Japan and Uruguay in March before omitting him from his final 26-man World Cup party.

But in explaining why he decided to bring five extra players to the US for their pre-tournament camp, the England head coach said: “I’m really happy these guys are with us, especially Alex, who was with us in the list of 55 and had a kind of disappointing phone call as well, that he didn’t make the first cut. But the reaction of him was outstanding, the commitment, the wish to be in pre-camp and to just be a step closer to the team was not even a question for him.

“He showed me his character and his spirit so I’m delighted that he’s with us because it was a close call.”

Pep Guardiola has left Manchester City after 10 hugely successful years at the Etihad and all eyes are on what next for the Spaniard, who is keen to test himself in the international arena

Pep Guardiola has been told he might not suit international management.

Guardiola has targeted a national job as his next role in football, having quit Manchester City at the end of the season. The Spaniard was on England’s radar before the FA appointed Thomas Tuchel.

While Guardiola has also been linked with taking charge of Spain, Brazil or Argentina in the future.

But despite being regarded as the greatest manager of all time, former England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey reckons Guardiola would not be an ideal candidate to take charge of a national side – because he won’t get to spend enough time with his players.

Click here to find out the latest Manchester City news in our daily newsletter

Speaking at Grosvenor Casinos as part of his England World Cup Roadshow, Heskey said: “I‘m not sure Pep Guardiola is an international manager. The only reason I say that is because of the level of detail he commands, and that has to be worked on day-in, day-out, which isn’t realistic with a national set-up.

“Kyle Walker has come out and said he struggled to understand Pep’s way of thinking in the first year and a half. And that’s coming from a player who was working with him every single day.

“So how are you supposed to take a team with ten days together and try to get them to produce what you want, and fully understand your ideas?

“The only way you can really do that is by being with them all the time.

“It’s easier for international sides like Spain, who always seem to play a similar style across all age groups and the senior team – but that’s not really the same for England.

“You’ve got different players coming from different clubs, different systems and different philosophies – and I don’t think it would quite work in the same way.”

Get MEN Premium now for just £1 HERE – or get involved in our City WhatsApp group by clicking HERE. You can also join our City Facebook page by clicking HERE and don’t miss out on our brilliant selection of newsletters HERE.

In this sun-baked Texan city, San Antonio Spurs players often bump into fans at the supermarket, mingling easily with a community that has embraced its young team, which has carried the franchise back to the NBA Finals.

The Spurs are everywhere in this city of 1.5 million people, where Latinos form a majority of the population.

The team’s name adorns restaurant windows, cafes and bars.

Black-and-silver pennants flutter from front porches while residents proudly wear jerseys bearing the iconic spur logo.

On the city’s south side stands a giant, 5.5-metre figure of Victor Wembanyama, unveiled in 2023 – the year the 2.24-metre French prodigy arrived in Texas and transformed the fortunes of the franchise.

Read moreNBA: Wembanyama within sight of ‘childhood dream’ after Spurs stun Thunder

Throughout San Antonio, confidence is high that a sixth NBA title is within reach as the Spurs prepare to face the New York Knicks on Wednesday in game one of NBA Finals, 27 years after defeating the same opponent to secure their first championship in 1999.

‘A new time’

“It’s a new time,” says 32-year-old musician Bobby Rivas. “We’ve been here all our lives, so we were here for the (Tim) Duncan, the (Manu) Ginobili era and all of that. And now we’re back, baby. It feels great.”

Bridgette Sanchez, 38, a member of the band HoneyBunny with Rivas, agrees.

“It’s a new chapter,” Sanchez said. “We’re back. It’s a whole new wave. We love Wemby,” she adds, referring to Wembanyama by his commonly used shorthand nickname.

Ricky Alvarado and Luis Ramos – two contractors and die-hard Spurs fans – were part of the family group that built and installed the giant “Wemby” figure at the entrance of a family-owned workshop.

Crafted from wood, reinforced with metal, and repainted from time to time, the statue stands as a testament to their fandom.

“Definitely excited about it, man,” Alvarado says. “I want to see what they do. We’ve got a good team. I think they’re playing strong.”

Building the giant Wembanyama statue was born from “love for the Spurs”.

“Just made us just want to build this,” he said.

Alvarado said that while he hasn’t met Wembanyama in person, the Frenchman is considered part of the community, even visiting the statue to sign it – an autograph that was eventually washed away by rain.

“It’s good to see him interacting because a lot of stars, they want to get away from people,” Alvarado said. “But it’s good to see him engage in the community, actively serving, and you know, want to be here. He seems like a good man. He’s got a good heart.”

With game one of the finals a little more than 24 hours away, the souvenir shop at the Frost Bank Center – home of the Spurs – was packed with fans browsing for jerseys.

The fan fervor has even swept up the city’s Salesian nuns, who have taken to wearing Spurs jerseys over their habits.

The nuns went viral after posting videos of themselves shooting hoops on the convent grounds.

Candles featuring photographs of Wemby – depicting him as a saint-like figure – are also being sold in local bars and souvenir shops.

‘Everyone contributes’

The arrival of Wembanyama, 22, thrust the Spurs into the global spotlight while retaining the down-to-earth nature of city and its team.

It is that spirit that revered figures like Duncan and Gregg Popovich – the club’s former head coach and now president – have upheld for 29 seasons.

Long-time Spurs fans Jim and Elsie Fellows have decorated the entrance to their home with pennants and slogans supporting the Spurs.

“It’s a great team. At the very top is Wemby; when he’s on the court, everything just works better. Everyone contributes,” Jim, 55, says.

Elsie, meanwhile, recalls attending the victory parade after the team’s 1999 title, and had no doubt Wembanyama would fit seamlessly into San Antonio.

“We thought after reading about him he would be perfect because he’s really humble, and a lot of Spurs players they’re still local,” she said. “They’re very humble, we see them at (supermarket) HEB, at the mall and it’s just like, ‘hey’ and you keep walking, you don’t bother them. He’s like part of the community, he’s just like a normal guy. But on the basketball court he’s fantastic.”

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

FIFA is enhancing offside calls for the 2026 World Cup with advanced semi-automated VAR technology, providing real-time audio alerts for quicker decisions.(photo/Agency)

Ahead of the FIFA 2026 World Cup, the governing body of the game has introduced a new, advanced semi-automated system for Video Assistant Referees (VARs) to make offside decisions faster. It will give assistant referees relief as they can raise the offside flag even before the move plays out.Under the new setup, assistant referees will receive a real-time audio alert in their earpiece the moment a player is more than 10 centimetres offside – an improvement from the previous threshold of 50 centimetres used during trials at the Club World Cup and the Intercontinental Cup.The linesman still decides when to raise the flag and stop the play. They may keep the flag down if they suspect there has been an error in the new system.The technology still cannot pick the closest offside calls, and there are limitations if players are in crowded situations. The VARs will still decide marginal calls, crowded situations and subjective offside cases.The technology will be helpful for the positional offside calls. “For positional offside, the information was via an audio alert directly sent to the assistant referee – and they could raise the flag. So we had not really any longer delay for positional offside.” FIFA’s Director of Innovation, Johannes Holzmueller, said during the trial of the system in the Club World Cup.FIFA hopes it will remove the frustration felt by supporters and players, and will reduce the chances of injuries due to needless passages of play when there is an offside play by a player.In May 2025, Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi was placed in an induced coma after colliding with the goalpost during a Premier League fixture against Leicester City, a horrifying incident that unfolded because the assistant held off raising the offside flag as protocol demanded under the VAR rules. The governing body of football does not want such incidents on the biggest stage.FIFA has confirmed it will create AI-powered, life-like 3D avatars of every single player at the tournament – all 1,248 of them across the 48 competing nations’ 26-man squads.Each player will step into a scanning chamber during their pre-tournament photo shoot for a one-second full-body scan that captures precise body dimensions. It will give more enhanced and clearer offside animations in the upcoming World Cup.

FIFA To Introduce New ‘Out of Bounds’ And ‘Line of Sight’ TechnologyFIFA has also approved technology that can determine whether the ball crossed a touchline or byline before a goal was scored, a call which was needed as Aston Villa had a goal disallowed in a Premier League fixture against Brentford in February this year, with the ball unclear if it had gone out of play. Japan’s goal against Germany in the group-stage match in the last World Cup edition also happened due to an unclear call.FIFA has also expanded ‘Real-time 3D Recreation’ to make ‘line-of-sight’ judgements for offsides faster and clearer, and to help on-field referees.There will be two virtual feeds, available to the VAR and TV viewers, which replicate the perspectives of both goalkeepers, another technological improvement for the game which can be seen by the fans in this year’s World Cup Edition.

As football continues to showcase stories that transcend borders and cultures, one of the most fascinating examples is that of Samuel Moutoussamy. The DR Congo international midfielder carries a unique heritage that connects Africa, Europe, and India through his family roots.

Born in France, Moutoussamy comes from a diverse family background. His mother is Congolese, while his father is an Indo-Guadeloupean of Tamil descent.

The Indo-Guadeloupean community traces its origins to South Indian indentured labourers who migrated to the Caribbean during the late 19th century. As a result, Moutoussamy’s family history reflects a remarkable journey spanning multiple continents and generations.

Why Samuel represents DR Congo?

Under FIFA eligibility regulations, players can represent a nation if a biological parent or grandparent was born in that country, provided they also hold the required nationality.

Establishing Himself With DR Congo

Moutoussamy made his senior debut for the DR Congo national team in 2019 and has since become a regular presence in midfield.

The 29-year-old has accumulated 57 international caps, establishing himself as one of the key figures in the Leopards’ setup. His composure on the ball, defensive work rate, and experience have made him an important asset for the national side.

Club Career Across Europe

At club level, Moutoussamy currently plays for Atromitos in the Greek Super League.

Before moving to Greece, he spent several seasons with FC Nantes, where he gained valuable experience in French football. He also enjoyed a stint in Turkey with Sivasspor, adding another chapter to his European journey.

A Unique Connection to Indian Heritage

While Moutoussamy represents DR Congo internationally, his Tamil ancestry gives him a unique connection to India. His story highlights the global footprint of the Indian diaspora and serves as another example of how football continues to unite cultures and identities across the world.

From French upbringing to Congolese international football and Tamil roots stretching back generations, Samuel Moutoussamy’s journey is one of the most distinctive stories in modern football.

Ollie Watkins described his omission from England’s March training camp as a “blessing in disguise”, and a setback that ignited a remarkable run of form for the Aston Villa striker.

His initial hopes of securing a spot for the World Cup 2026 appeared to be fading after he was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad for friendlies against Uruguay and Japan however, Watkins responded emphatically, netting 11 goals in the next 12 games.

That prolific spell was instrumental in guiding Villa to the Europa League title as well as securing a coveted top-four finish in the Premier League.

Reflecting on the period, Watkins stated: “To be fair, before the March camp, I had started to pick up my form. I scored an important goal and had some big performances against Lille in the round of 16.

“So my form was starting to pick up, I think it was a blessing in disguise. Sometimes, when something gets taken away from you, you realise how important it is, and it gives you that fire in your belly to come back and show people what you can do.”

He added: “The manager always had faith in me. So, it is nice I could repay him with the performances and goals and to show I deserved to be here. I felt in the big moments, when the team needed me, I stepped up and came up with some big goals and some big performances.”

The season concluded on a high note for the 30-year-old, who hopes Villa’s European success can serve as a springboard for further achievements this summer.

“It’s been a long time since the club had brought back a trophy, and we did that,” he said. “You know, 44 years, fans have been waiting for that a long time, and obviously we succeeded, and it’s an amazing feeling to do that. To come into the England camp off the back of a strong end of the season, and winning a trophy, there’s nothing better.”

Watkins also acknowledged his role for the upcoming tournament and is ready for the challenges the World Cup will bring.

“I think everything that I had pictured, really, and imagined is coming to play,” he said. “Physically I’m the best I’ve ever been, and obviously my form as well in front of goal is really good at the moment, so I’m feeling really strong.

“Everyone’s got a part to play in this competition, whether it’s early stages, later stages, we just have to be ready, and we’re all working together as a team to achieve something special.”

Watkins will be competing with Ivan Toney, as an alternative to Harry Kane, with both players having made an impact off the bench at Euro 2024.

“I think it’s good, me and Ivan are different players, and you need that, you need to have versatility,” Watkins commented.

“At the end of the day, Ivan’s a proven goalscorer, he’s shown it throughout all his career. Even in the last Euros, there were times where he came on when the team needed him, and then I had my moment, obviously, in the semi-final as well. I think it’s amazing that we’ve got Ive here as he’s a clinical goalscorer.”

Man Utd youngster Kobbie Mainoo was included in England’s squad for the World Cup after a red hot run of form.

Kobbie Mainoo has admitted that he suffered “difficult times” during Ruben Amorim’s tenure at Manchester United. Amorim could not find a way to fit Mainoo into his system, experimenting with him in different positions.

Amorim once attempted to play Mainoo up front in a home defeat to Crystal Palace. The 41-year-old eventually decided that Mainoo would be pitted against Bruno Fernandes for minutes in a deeper midfield position.

Mainoo did not start a Premier League game this season until Amorim was sacked in January. Michael Carrick immediately reinstated him to the starting team, and his sparkling form in the second half of the campaign earned him a place in England’s squad for this summer’s World Cup.

Click here to find out the latest Manchester United news in our daily newsletter

United have rewarded Mainoo with a new five-year contract to safeguard his future at Old Trafford, but he would have been forced to leave his boyhood club if Amorim had remained in charge.

Reflecting on the first half of his season, Mainoo told England reporters in the USA: “I mean, obviously there were difficult times.

“But I tried to keep my focus on what was in front of me, take things day by day and just keep working my craft, keep working hard for the team, and I hoped the rest would come. Thankfully it has.”

When asked if he had Carrick to partly thank for his World Cup call-up, he said: “Definitely, and I told him that I was very grateful. Because if he hadn’t put me on the pitch, then I wouldn’t have been here so, I’m always grateful to him for that.”

Mainoo shared his delight at Crrick’s appointment, adding: “We were very happy with it, obviously, I love the way he coaches and manages me personally in the team as well. I think everyone in the squad can agree with that. When he officially got the job, we were all so happy.”

FOLLOW OUR MAN UNITED FB PAGE! Latest news and analysis via the MEN’s Manchester United Facebook page

The youngster believes England can win the World Cup. “One hundred per cent,” he said. “I feel like everyone in the squad, staff, everyone believes we can win it.

“But that doesn’t come easy. It’s very special, something I’ve dreamed of, and I’m sure all the players have dreamed of since they were really young.

“So to be here and say that I’m playing in a World Cup is unbelievable. I’ve always wanted to play in a World Cup for all my life. It’s the biggest tournament in the world, so it’s definitely different from the Euros, but we will try and approach it in the same way with the goal that we want to win.”

Mainoo started in the Euro 2024 final against Spain, and former England manager Gareth Southgate heaped praise on him during that tournament, suggesting the Three Lions had not had a talent like Mainoo in midfield.

The Stockport-born lad submitted a request to leave United on loan in the final week of last summer’s transfer window. However, the request was denied, and Mainoo continued to struggle for game time until Amorim was sacked amid rising tensions with the board in January.

Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package

Advertisement

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more

Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.

Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.