Sports
Manchester City: Who will start for Pep Guardiola’s side after January signings?
City could do with a right-back – but both defenders they have signed so far are primarily centre-backs.
Brazilian Reis, 19, moved from Palmeiras for £29.6m and Uzbekistan’s Khusanov, 20, has joined for £33.6m.
But will either play immediately?
“At the age of 19, with only 22 senior appearances at Palmeiras behind him, it is difficult to see Reis as anything other than a player for the future, even though he has the capability to play across the back line,” said BBC journalist Stone.
“Khusanov has more experience and understands European and international football. However, he is viewed more as a central defender.
“That said, as with Josko Gvardiol, no-one can be entirely sure what is in Pep’s mind for Uzbekistan’s first Premier League player.
“Gvardiol arrived as an international central defender and is now first-choice left-back, so nothing can be taken for granted with Guardiola.”
Palmeiras wanted to keep right-footed Reis on loan, after he was named in the Brazilian league’s team of the season.
But City insisted he moved immediately – and they say he will join Guardiola’s squad this season.
“I believe he will have no trouble adapting to the City system because here in the youth teams he was always exposed to playing under risk, having to be involved in the build-up play while also defending efficiently, even in one-on-one situations,” Palmeiras Under-20 coach Lucas Andrade told BBC Sport.
Khusanov would seem more likely to play soon – after a rapid rise – but is still unlikely to go straight into the team.
He has played 24 Ligue 1 games for Lens after an £84,000 move in July 2023 from Belarussian side Energetik-BGU.
“He’s a raw profile who needs ironing out,” said Luke Entwistle, editor-in-chief of Get French Football News.
“He’s an unpolished diamond, but one worth taking a punt on because the finer details and tactical understanding can be improved by Pep Guardiola. Forty million euros could look like peanuts in a decade’s time.”
Lens’ British boss Will Still said: “He’s calm, powerful, he’s fast.
“He has very, very impressive potential. Kodir is a tank. He’s impressive physically and athletically.”
The Basque native spoke about former coach Marcelo Bielsa’s influence on his attacking approach in an interview with Sky Sports in 2023.
“I use a lot of exercises from Marcelo that I learned from him [at Athletic Bilbao],” he said.
“I use a lot of things, especially with the ball. He is willing to make all the runs to the space, he is ready to accept this kind of disorder, offensively.”
The key takeaway here is disorder. Whereas managers like Pep Guardiola, Mikel Arteta and Arne Slot are all about minimising risk and avoiding chaotic game states, Iraola’s Bournemouth embrace them and are all the better for it.
The former Rayo Vallecano boss deploys a system that aims to apply both zonal marking and man-to-man pressing. Analysts these days call it ‘hybrid pressing’ and although Bournemouth are not alone in using such an approach, they are certainly far more effective than most teams at executing it.
Aiming to win the ball back as high up the pitch as they possibly can, Bournemouth’s hybrid press is generally most visible during opposition goal-kicks.
Sports
Luke Littler inundated with ‘requests’ from girls after darts fortune as teen gives update on love life
Teenage darts sensation Luke Littler has revealed he’s been receiving requests from girls asking to meet up following his historic World Championship victory and recent 18th birthday.
The newly-crowned world champion disclosed that his increased profile has brought additional attention since his triumph at Alexandra Palace.
“Extra attention comes with me winning the world title and certain reporting restrictions are lifted at the age of 18 so that will have an impact,” Littler told the Daily Mail.
The young champion has chosen to ignore these advances, revealing he generally doesn’t respond to such requests.
Luke Littler is currently single
Reuters
“I have had a few requests from girls to meet up. But I generally don’t reply. It’s just people looking at me and the money I am making, and they want part of that,” Littler explained.
Following his parents’ guidance, Littler has opted to maintain his existing friendships rather than pursue new relationships.
“My mum and dad told me to keep the friends I have,” he said.
Littler’s focus remains firmly on his darts career, with dating taking a back seat for now.
“Give it a few years and I may meet someone along the way,” the teenage champion said, indicating his priorities lie elsewhere.
Luke Littler split from girlfriend Eloise Milburn back in JulyPA
His measured approach comes after splitting with previous girlfriend Eloise Milburn last year.
The young star acknowledges his continued success only adds to the attention he receives, noting: “If I keep winning, I’m not making it easier for myself, am I?”
Despite his newfound fame, Littler maintains close ties with his school friends who are pursuing various careers.
“I have a couple of good friends from school and a few friends from different schools,” he shared.
His friendship circle reflects normal teenage life, with Littler explaining: “They are doing well. They have apprenticeships, at Asda or McDonald’s, or want to be plumbers or electricians. All have good jobs and are trying to make money for themselves.”
Littler’s rise to stardom began during his remarkable run at Alexandra Palace, where he went on to defeat Michael van Gerwen in the World Championship final.
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Luke Littler won the World Championship earlier this monthReuters
His historic victory made him the youngest-ever world champion, bringing unprecedented attention to the teenage sensation.
During his championship campaign, his then-girlfriend Eloise Milburn was frequently seen at Ally Pally, supporting him alongside his family.
The relationship has since ended, with Littler now focusing solely on his flourishing darts career.
It has been a superb start to the season for Chelsea since changing managers in the summer with Sonia Bompastor stepping in after Emma Hayes’ successful reign.
Reiten says Bompastor has been “tough” and “demanding” but players know what is expected.
“She has been very clear on what to expect from everyone in their different positions,” said Reiten.
“You have to know your role but you also have to know the roles of the players around you. It’s been very clear.
“Sonia and Emma have one thing in common – they want to win games.”
As well as Bompastor’s arrival, the club strengthened the squad with France international Sandy Baltimore among those to join and make a big impact.
“I’m loving things here. Football-wise, I knew things would be really intense every weekend, but I’m loving it so far,” Baltimore told BBC Sport.
“At the start it was quite tough given that it was a move from Paris to London and there was lots of paperwork to sort out. Now I have gradually settled in some more.
“I really love the game and I love football so I think you probably could say I have settled quite quickly.
“Adapting to the English game has gone well. A lot of that is down to my team-mates and everyone at the club. They have made the transition easier for me.”
Tottenham Hotspur are being tipped to turn around their disastrous form – and ease the pressure on manager Ange Postecoglou.
Spurs were humbled 3-2 at Everton in their last Premier League game – prompting reports that their Australian manager could be set for the sack.
But the club’s owner, Daniel Levy, is believed to have assured the former Celtic boss his job is safe and that he will back him in the January transfer window.
Now, in a further boost, a Three Lions legend has forecast Spurs to win at the weekend.
Terry Butcher expects Tottenham to beat Leicester and Man City to edge Chelsea this weekend
PA
In his weekly round of predictions Terry Butcher, now leading inspirational keynote speaker , told GB News he is backing Spurs to beat Leicester 1-0.
If correct, the pressure would switch to the Foxes under-fire manager Ruud Van Nistelrooy who has failed to arrest the side’s poor league form since arriving at the King Power stadium.
Elsewhere, Butcher is predicting wins for Arsenal, Brighton, Liverpool, Newcastle and Aston Villa.
He’s also backing Manchester United to bounce back from their shocking home defeat to Brighton last weekend by going to Fulham at the weekend and winning 3-1.
In the weekend’s standout game he’s tipping Manchester City to carry on their resurgent league form by overcoming Chelsea 2-1 at the Etihad.
Butcher is also predicting two draws at the weekend. He thinks high-fliers Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest will cancel each other out and play out a 1-1 draw.
And he thinks it will also be 1-1 between Crystal Palace and Brentford at Selhurst Park.
Read on below for his predictions in full.
Terry Butcher’s Premier League predictions in full
Bournemouth 1-1 Forest
Brighton 2-0 Everton
Liverpool 2-1 Ipswich Town
Southampton 1-4 Newcastle
Wolves 0-2 Arsenal
Man City 2-1 Chelsea
Crystal Palace 1-1 Brentford
Tottenham 1-0 Leicester
Aston Villa 2-0 West Ham
Fulham 1-3 Man Utd
Only time will tell if allowing Kyogo to leave mid-season is a good move or not.
Selling a 30-year-old signed for £4.5m for a reported £10m, having enjoyed four excellent years of service, makes sound financial sense, but only if an adequate replacement can be found.
Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton said on X: “The one thing I really am not keen on is Kyogo leaving in January, especially with the Champions League and domestic to play for.
“If that’s the case, his replacement will have to be pretty special and have to hit the ground running.”
Podcaster Paul-John Dykes, from A Celtic State of Mind, described news of Kyogo’s expected departure as “really disappointing”.
“You look at that moment where he’s changed his agency in the summer,” he told BBC Scotland. “You don’t want to lose the quality of a Kyogo, but I think that was the first sign.
“After the change of agency, there was that story link coming to Manchester City and, at that point, we wrote that off as being a means of trying to drum up interest. Then there was the MLS chat of the week that was apologised for, it was a mistake online.
“But the one thing now that’s really telling is the fact that Brendan a couple of weeks back said that if a player doesn’t want to be here then he can go. And that left us all guessing who could that be?
“He was always there in the big games. You could count on him on the big occasion. I mean, even the ghost hat-trick the other night against Young Boys, he’s left us with a memory that his finishing was unbelievable. His anticipation, his movement, was incredible. Very, very sad to see him go.
“We’ve put ourselves in a position where it’s going to be difficult to replace him like-for-like in terms of quality. We do need to go in and buy a player in January, otherwise we’re going to be short for the rest of the season.”
Sports
Mike Tyson and Jake Paul condemned for antics at Donald Trump’s inauguration after controversial boxing fight
Mike Tyson and Jake Paul have been blasted by fans after the pair were seen enjoying themselves at Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
The pair fought back in November, with Paul cruising to a comfortable victory at the AT&T Stadium in Texas.
However, despite recently meeting in the ring, the pair appear to be on extremely good terms just two months on.
At Trump’s inauguration, Paul was seen holding Tyson on his shoulders – with Evander Holyfield and Logan Paul watching on.
Mike Tyson and Jake Paul have been blasted by fans after the pair were seen enjoying themselves at Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday
X
However, with many still unhappy at the lacklustre nature of November’s fight, some users have taken to social media to express their anger.
“Was the boxing match just a money grab op? I very much think so,” fumed one fan.
A second simply wrote the word: “Disgrace.”
Another raged: “Those two laughed all the way to the bank a few months ago.”
A fourth said: “Remember that skit they were in two months ago?”
And a fifth hit out by saying: “I’ll never watch a Netflix fight.”
Tyson and Paul were hit with allegations that their fight was fixed, something both men have denied.
They did profit from the bout in Texas, however, with Tyson pocketing $20million – while his rival earned $40m.
READ MORE: Andy Murray makes ’embarrassing’ admission after Novak Djokovic quits Australian Open
Paul, when quizzed on the allegations last year, hit back by saying: “People are like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s rigged because look at him on the pads but he didn’t do this in the fight,’ because someone is f***ing punching back you dumb f***s.
“People don’t realize my power, and my jab and my speed and my ability, and my footwork to get out of the way of those punches, so then all of a sudden he’s throwing at, literally, air.
“He was hard to hit. He was elusive. I was missing a lot of punches.
“I don’t know how he gets off to the side like that… I wish he had put up a better fight so that I could’ve risen more and done more, and he was surviving.”
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Jake Paul puts Mike Tyson on his back while Logan films pic.twitter.com/stnL7WR98b
— Derek Utley (@realDerekUtley) January 21, 2025
His business manager, Nakisa Bidarian, also shut down those allegations and insisted they simply weren’t true.
“The only thing that bothers me is the continued kind of narrative and people saying the fight was rigged,” Bidarian told ‘The Ariel Helwani Show.’
“How would you have seen the contract to begin with that Mike Tyson couldn’t throw an uppercut?
“It’s beyond lunacy.”
Mike Tyson was beaten by Jake Paul in their controversial boxing match back in November
GETTY
He continued: “This was a regulated professional bout by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. And we were partners with Netflix, the biggest media company in the world, who’s a public company.
“For anyone to suggest that this was in any way a rigged fight, they’re either dumb or they’re looking for attention.”
There are four Grand Slam tournaments a year – the Australian Open, French Open, US Open, and Wimbledon.
The Grand Slams are managed by each of the respective national associations.
These four national associations produce the Grand Slam Rule Book., external
That says players must attend media opportunities after each match, which give them opportunities to “put across their opinions on their performance and provide valuable exposure to the media and fans”.
Players can be fined up to $50,000 for failing to attend these media opportunities.
The rules around post-match media commitments include a reference to broadcast interviews, but do not specify these must be completed on the court. That said, it is extremely rare for players not to stay after the match to do these.
At this year’s Australian Open, Novak Djokovic swerved the on-court interview after a win which put him through to the quarter-finals.
This followed remarks made by a Channel Nine presenter, which Djokovic called “insulting and offensive”. The Australian broadcaster apologised for the comments.
January is a notoriously tricky window to do transfer business in, but plenty of Women’s Super League clubs have been busy so far.
With the rumour mill in full swing, can we expect any more moves before Thursday’s 23:00 GMT deadline?
You can put your questions to BBC Sport’s women’s football news reporter Emma Sanders below and she will answer the best ones.
Sports
Andy Murray could be set for stunning new job after working with Novak Djokovic at Australian Open
When it was announced that Andy Murray would be working with Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open, it sent off shockwaves around the world.
So just imagine if he now chooses to coach Emma Raducanu, who has split from Nick Cavaday just days after her hopes of Grand Slam glory were ruthlessly ended by Iga Swiatek.
Murray coaching Djokovic came out of the blue. Having retired from tennis last summer, after playing doubles with Dan Evans at the Paris Olympics, he was widely expected to enjoy some time off. Resting up, playing golf, spending with his family. The small things in life.
But the 37-year-old loves tennis. It will always be his passion, having been his whole world for the bulk of his life. When Djokovic picked up the phone, his old friend was willing to listen.
Andy Murray could be set to coach Emma Raducanu after working with Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open
REUTERS
Djokovic’s time in the competition is now over. He was forced to withdraw from his semi-final showdown with Alexander Zverev on Friday having succumbed to an injury picked up against Carlos Alcaraz earlier in the week.
Currently, it is unclear what the future holds for the pair. Given Djokovic’s impressive performances Down Under, it’s feasible that an extension of their alliance could be in the works.
Neither were in the mood to give anything away on Friday. Djokovic said: “I’ll definitely have a chat with Andy and thank him for being here with me.
“Give him my feedback, which is, of course, positive, and see how he feels and we make the next step.”
And Murray was equally coy, with the three-time Grand Slam winner adding: “Me and Novak agreed that after the tournament we would speak. We’ll do that.”
However, there was intriguing news on Friday when it was announced that Raducanu has split from Cavaday – with the tennis coach revealing he’s eager to focus on his health.
READ MORE:Andy Murray makes ’embarrassing’ admission after Novak Djokovic quits Australian Open
Raducanu has chopped and changed coaches ever since defying the odds to win the US Open back in 2021, when she etched her name into the history books with a breathtaking victory over Leylah Fernandez in 2021.
But with Murray now potentially available, and with the 22-year-old needing a new mentor to steer her to more Grand Slams, the stars could be about to align.
The tennis legend seems open to the idea, at least. Speaking back in 2022 to the Tennis Channel, when asked for four names he’d like to coach one day, he said: “Female player – Emma Raducanu. Male player – between [Carlos] Alcaraz, [Stefanos] Tsitsipas and [Jack] Draper.”
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Andy Murray is set to discuss his future with Novak Djokovic after the pair worked together at the Australian Open
REUTERS
Back in the summer, Raducanu caused controversy by denying Murray a dream farewell at Wimbledon. The pair had been due to play doubles together and Judy Murray, at least, seemed far from happy.
Yet there is no bad blood between the pair. Speaking recently, Raducanu said: “Afterwards I sent him a long message, basically: ‘If I caused any trouble I guess at Wimbledon, that’s definitely the last thing I want.
“He’s someone that I’ve grown up looking up to and I don’t want any bad blood or harsh feelings with him.
Emma Raducanu has split from coach Nick Cavaday following her recent Australian Open campaign
PA
“I sent him a long message and he took it really well and responded saying he was disappointed but he understood. We’re fine now.
“We walk past each other and say ‘hello’, ‘well done’. It’s obviously really cool seeing him with Novak [Djokovic] here as well.
“Two great champions and they’re just together, it’s pretty awesome.”
If she thinks that’s awesome, imagine how it would feel being coached by Murray. A dream, it seems, could be about to become a reality.
A Blackburn Rovers fan has accused the local council of running a “scam” after being fined for following matchday traffic signs at Ewood Park.
Nicholas Hatch, a lifelong supporter of the club, received a fixed penalty notice for using a bus lane despite following official signage directing traffic after a match.
“It is just a scam, it is wrong, it is not just about the money. It is morally wrong and I think people need to know,” said Hatch.
Hatch received the fine while working as a chef at the club when he followed a sign off Bolton Road redirecting traffic past McDonald’s.
Anyone leaving Ewood Park early remains at risk of receiving a fine
Getty
“Generally when I worked there I was out before the crowd comes out. I am 15 minutes ahead so it was never an issue,” he explained.
“I must have been working late and the sign was up and I had no reason to dismiss it, it just told me to use the bus lane.”
The sign had appeared multiple times, according to Hatch, who photographed it to support his appeal.
Blackburn with Darwen Council stated that the temporary bus lane suspension only operates for 90 minutes following the final whistle.
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Anyone leaving Ewood Park early remains at risk of receiving a fine, despite the sign giving no indication of specific timings.
Bus lane violations in the town carry a £70 penalty, which is reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days.
Drivers can appeal these fines if they can provide supporting evidence to the council.
Hatch expressed frustration after his appeal was rejected by the council.
“I have been totally blanked. I have only received a standard email stating that it has been finalised and been paid and there is nothing I can do,” he said.
A generic image of a parking fineGETTYHe attempted to contest the fine using his photograph of the sign, but was unsuccessful.
“They said it was hyperbole so I had to pay, and I would rather pay £35 than £70,” Hatch added.
Martin Eden, Strategic Director of Environment and Communities at the council, explained the system has been in place since 2016 to ease post-match congestion.
“The temporary suspension runs for 90 minutes only from the final whistle, and members of our highways team are on site with traffic cones and diversion signs during this time,” he said.
“Outside of this timeframe, the bus lane is fully operational and any drivers who use the bus lane will be issued with a penalty charge notice.”
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