Alejandro Garnacho’s future hasn’t gone in the trajectory he would’ve liked after forcing a move away from Manchester United

Manchester United could lose out on a transfer windfall on Alejandro Garnacho as he is being monitored by La Liga sides over a possible move. The Argentine is currently on a season-long loan at Aston Villa from Chelsea after a temporary deal with a £43million buyout was negotiated.

Should Unai Emery’s side trigger the clause to make his move from Stamford Bridge permanent, it would see United earn around £300,000 due to the 10 per cent sell-on.

The clause only relates to the profit Chelsea makes on the £40m investment they spent on him last year. However, a £43m permanent deal to Villa already looks unlikely, putting any potential financial boost for United in jeopardy, with the Argentina enduring a nightmare start at his new club.

He will remain with Villa after being snubbed by Lionel Scaloni for the forthcoming Argentina camp, after the 22-year-old was consigned to just 31 minutes of action so far.

Should Villa opt against triggering the terms of their deal, it will see him return to West London. Xabi Alonso’s side will then have a decision on their hands over whether to offload the attacker.

Mail Online have claimed that La Liga clubs are watching the situation and ready to pounce should Villa opt against signing him. The chances of Garnacho, who joined United in 2020 from Atletico Madrid as a talented teenager after growing up in the Spanish capital, moving to La Liga for an offer in excess of £40m – particularly if his loan spell at Villa continues as it is – look slim, though, meaning United’s clause could all be for nothing.

Garnacho hasn’t come off the bench in each of Villa’s last three matches, and Emery has called for more from the summer arrival. However, he conceded that the forward is slightly off the pace after a difficult pre-season.

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He said: “Continue working. Work, work, train, work.

“When he can have minutes to play, try to play well. He is progressing, but we have players in front of him now. George Hemmings is playing fantastic.

“Alysson is also understanding things well and is giving us things I want. [Ibrahim] Mbaye also responded well.

“We want a competitive team and players to compete in the style we have.

“Garnacho is a little bit behind because of some circumstances we had in pre-season. It is time to be patient for the time he needs.”

The winger has really struggled since leaving United, registering just one Premier League goal and four assists since his Old Trafford exit. Fans on social media are already concerned he may not live up to the billing, having exploded on the scene at United, with many fearing that Emery is not a fan and that his loan at Villa will go the same way as Harvey Elliott’s failed move.

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Dutch midfielder Tijjani Reijnders has revealed dissatisfaction over his tactical position at Manchester City, along with a lucrative financial package, prompted his surprise £51 million transfer to Saudi Arabia’s Al Qadsiah.

The 28-year-old preferred playing as a dynamic midfielder moving between attack and defence, but was increasingly deployed in advanced central roles, leading to him leaving City after just one season in the summer.

“In pre-season, I noticed that things were heading in that direction again at City, and I started thinking about whether I wanted another season like that,” he told reporters as the Dutch national team prepared for Thursday’s Nations League game against Germany.

“The honest answer was no. I wanted to look elsewhere, and then I heard from the club that I was allowed to do so.”

On switching to the Saudi Pro League, Reijnders admitted he had initial concerns: “I think a lot of people have the idea that your career as a top footballer is over when you make a move like this. I initially felt that way too.”

However, conversations with Al Qadsiah coach Brendan Rodgers changed his mind.

“He said I could have three or four very enjoyable years here and then return to Europe. There are enough examples of that now. That is my goal too,” Reijnders said.

“With all the big names, I actually rate the Saudi league higher than the Eredivisie (Dutch league). If people want to judge the football there, they should watch it first.”

Reports suggest Reijnders signed a four-year contract worth roughly 100 million euros (£86 million) in Saudi Arabia.

“You can always play the moralist, but I think everyone would say yes to that,” he said.

“I don’t want to have to work anymore after my career. I didn’t need to after City either, but now I can also set up future generations of my family well.

“If this choice means my grandchildren can also live comfortably, why wouldn’t I do it?”

Despite defeating HB Koge 1-0 to kick off the league phase of the UEFA Women’s Champions League thanks to a stoppage-time penalty from Mariona Caldentey, Arsenal look nothing like the club that won this competition in the 2024-25 season. While Koge have become regulars in this competition, appearing each year since 2021, Arsenal are among the class of women’s soccer, and after already looking to regain the Women’s Super League title from Manchester City, this won’t be the start that manager Renee Slegers would have wanted.

The season may be young, but Arsenal have now played five games in all competitions, scoring three goals, struggling to put their efforts on target, taking 19 shots with only two testing the Koge keeper, Alberte Vigum. Capitalizing on a mistake to get all three points is something that good teams do, but with a league phase that will see them face Olympique Lyonnais, Benfica, Paris FC, Barcelona, and Inter, continuing to have performances like this one won’t be good enough for Arsenal to make it deeper into Champions League play. Arsenal dominated possession, having the ball for almost 70% of the match, but despite being massive favorites, they were unable to convert it into good chances facing Koge.

Fans can watch all the UWCL action across CBS Sports platforms. Paramount+ will live stream matches all season, while select fixtures also broadcast on CBS Sports Golazo Network and CBS Sports Network.

Beth Mead’s departure to Manchester City is one that is looming large on the attack, and these are games where it shows. It had been a summer of change for the club after coming in second in the Women’s Super League and making it to the semifinals in the Champions League, but they’re only one season removed from lifting this very competition, and you wouldn’t know it watching this game in a vacuum. It’s a result that feels even worse, especially after also seeing Mead score her first Manchester City goal against contenders for the UWCL crown, Bayern Munich, and the disappointment could be seen on the faces of Arsenal players who knew that they needed to have a better showing than this.

On the bright side, even with massive squad turnover, the defense does look solid, only allowing four shots for an xG of 0.36 in the match, but to defeat the best teams in the world, the attack has to be up to the challenge. These are the challenges that come with being as successful as Arsenal have been, and the departure of top players can create a leadership void that may need to be filled. Securing the win gives Arsenal more time to do that, but the next challenge is around the corner with facing Chelsea away from home on Sunday.

Want to watch WSL? Fans can watch all the action across CBS Sports, as Paramount+ will live stream all 183 matches, the most matches ever made available in the competition’s newly expanded format. CBS Sports Network will additionally air one match per week, with select fixtures also broadcast on CBS Sports Golazo Network.

The schedule won’t get any easier as an improving Paris FC and Manchester City follow as well. To show that they’re still contenders, even with the schedule being hard, Arsenal will need to get results, which only adds to the pressure on these players, and Slegers has to determine what has to change in order to get her side back to their best. Koge were able to stay compact, challenging Arsenal for most of the match, but when the pressure built, it was tough to withstand, with a foul eventually leading to a penalty for the hosts. 

At the end of the day, if the team’s name in the game wasn’t Arsenal, the performance would be taken as a job done and a good result in European competition, but that’s how high the expectations are when you’ve won a Champions League title. If signings gel, there’s no reason why Arsenal won’t be up for it again, but with so many tough games on the horizon, time isn’t on their side. The improvement of teams like City and the London City Lionesses also means that struggles in the domestic league will be punished, as time waits for no one in soccer. If the goals from open play don’t come soon, tough conversations will follow. 

Waiver wire runs are going to be very difficult in Week 3. Saquon Barkley left Week 2 with a stinger, and as of early Tuesday afternoon, we haven’t heard about his test results. J.K. Dobbins left Week 2 with a hamstring, but the team sounds optimistic that he could be okay for Week 3. Jadarian Price left Week 2 with a chest injury, but X-rays came back negative, and he could play in Week 3. That is a whole lot of coulds and maybes, which makes waiver wire decisions regarding Tank Bigsby, Jonah Coleman, and Emanuel Wilson extremely risky. I’ll break down how I am prioritizing those three in the waiver wire section below. 

Two guys who aren’t on the waiver wire, but could be big risers because of injury this week, are Jaylen Warren and Chuba Hubbard. I wrote about them in yesterday’s projections, risers and fallers. One guy I didn’t write about was Travis Etienne, who had perhaps the most troubling Week 2 of all.

In Alvin Kamara’s first game back, Kamara led the team with a 33% rush share. He also had an 18% target share, tripling Etienne’s workload. It was shocking after the contract they gave Etienne, and it has probably had everyone wondering if they can even flex Etienne. One reason I am not completely panicked yet is that Kamara’s 14 touches produced 22 yards. It is hard to imagine a less efficient outing. Also, Etienne led the Saints running backs in both snap share (53.1%) and route share (33.3%). 

Those last numbers could be both good news and bad news. On the plus side, Etienne is still the back on the field the most and the back in position to catch the ball the most. On the downside, there are few must-start running backs that are playing half of the snaps and running a third of the routes. For this week, view Etienne as an extremely borderline RB2. Hopefully, Kamara’s usage shrinks due to his ineffectiveness. If not, Etienne has few outs to avoid being a bust.

QB | RB | WR |TE

Now let’s get to the rest of the Week 3 RB Preview:

Week 3 RB Preview

• 476 — Kenneth Walker is on pace for 476 touches this season. The Chiefs are probably going to have to give Emmett Johnson a few more snaps.
• 78% — Emanuel Wilson played 78% of the offensive snaps after Jadarian Price left Week 2.
• 36.4% — Rhamondre Stevenson’s 36.4% snap share would have been his second-lowest snap share last year. Have the fumbles finally caught up with him?
• 39.3% — Bhayshul Tuten’s 39.3% avoided tackle rate is second only behind Kenneth Walker.
• 2.7 — David Montgomery is averaging 2.7 yards per carry. If he can’t get going against the Colts, we’ll have a real reason for concern.
• 4.05 — Blake Corum leads all running backs with 4.05 yards before contact per rush attempt. Kyren Williams is sixth at 2.13.
• 11 — Bucky Irving’s 11 receptions are tied with Jahmyr Gibbs and Bijan Robinson for the lead amongst running backs. 
• 12.5 — Jeremiyah Love has averaged 12.5 touches per game so far. He’s not more than a flex until his role increases, but he’s also a good buy low because I expect he gets more touches soon.

My full set of Week 3 Fantasy football projections for every position is now available here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don’t live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 3. Projected stats for all starting running backs will be updated throughout the week, so check back regularly.

Roy Jones Jr believes Anthony Joshua “has a lot left” but that, if he is to defeat Tyson Fury, the 36-year-old will need to adapt his style.

The two British heavyweights are expected to finally lock horns on December 11, with Cardiff’s Principality Stadium the most likely destination.

Several weeks ago, fans were told their long-awaited showdown would be heading to New York’s Madison Square Garden but, now, it would appear that both combatants have agreed to collide in the UK.

More importantly, it seems Netflix and Saudi Arabian organisers Sela are committed to abandoning their American dream and staging the event on British soil.

Whatever the location, though, Fury is likely to be made a sizable favourite following his seventh-round stoppage of Mariusz Wach in July.

Joshua, on the other hand, was compelled to survive two knockdowns before scoring a second-round finish against Kristian Prenga that same weekend.

But while many have since accused ‘AJ’ of being ‘shopworn’, or words to similar effect, pound-for-pound legend Jones has told Parimatch that he believes the knockout artist remains capable of stopping Fury.

“I want to see whether Joshua is able to land a big punch to knock Fury out, or if Fury’s able to be smart enough to get in his head and outbox Joshua.

“I don’t know how it’s gonna play out but, to win the fight, I think AJ needs to win it by knockout. Fury could also hurt Joshua early to get Joshua afraid, then Fury’s gonna be able to outbox him. So whoever goes out and implements their plan first is gonna win the fight.

“Joshua has a lot left. It’s just that they’re not getting him ready physically and mentally to deal with taking punches or be defensively inclined. If you made him defensively inclined before he attacks, he wouldn’t get caught with those big punches.

“With Tyson Fury, SugarHill [Steward] has helped him develop his punching power a little bit.”

In terms of Joshua’s training camp, the two-time world champion was previously working with Team Usyk but, now, it appears he could be leaning on the assistance of former head coach Ben Davison.

Arch Manning has come a long way since his inauspicious debut as the full-time starter last August.

He grew into the immense pressure he faced because of his last name and the hype surrounding him being the top-ranked recruit in the 2023 class, with 1,368 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and one interception in his final five games of the 2025 campaign.

And he’s carried that over to the first three games of the 2026 season. A Texas squad that started last season at No. 1 before missing the College Football Playoff is now back up to No. 1 after its thrilling 24-23 win over then-No. 1 Ohio State which saw Manning lead three fourth-quarter touchdown drives.

Through three games of his fourth season at Texas, Manning has 664 passing yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions.

But he still isn’t quite living up to all of the hype he had no choice but to deal with due to his multiple generations of NFL ties.

Manning still needs to prove it

Look at his performance in Saturday’s 30-6 win over UTSA. He completed just 17 of 33 passes (51.5%) for 164 yards.

Mind you, he’s surrounded by some of the best talent in college football. With a pair of sensational receivers in Ryan Wingo and Cam Coleman, a pair of coveted running back transfers in Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown and a much improved offensive line from a season ago, he’s guiding one of the highest-paid rosters in the nation.

Manning admitted postgame that he knows that performances like he delivered against the Roadrunners won’t help the Longhorns reach their goals this season.

“(My performance was) not good enough,” Manning said after the game. “I didn’t play well. Offense, we were a little sloppy. We’ve got to be better if we want to beat Tennessee.”

It’s true of more than just this week’s Southeastern Conference opener in Knoxville against the 14th-ranked Volunteers. That game begins a stretch of six of the next seven games set to be played against currently ranked teams.

The only game against an unranked team in that stretch? Texas’ rivalry game against an Oklahoma team that started the season ranked 10th before falling out of the poll this week after consecutive subpar performances.

That brutal schedule ahead — paving the path for what should be a CFP appearance — leaves Manning plenty of chances to prove he’s worthy of consideration of being the No. 1 pick in next April’s NFL Draft.

Because while that has been discussed as a near-certainty since he was a budding prospect, he hasn’t yet shown much in terms of production which makes that likely to happen.

Mirabai Chanu finally ended her long wait for an Asian Games medal, winning silver in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday. The Olympic silver medallist lifted a combined 198kg to finish second behind North Korea’s Ri Song Gum, who claimed the gold medal.

Chanu’s silver marks her first podium finish at the Asian Games after she missed out in her previous two appearances. She finished ninth at the 2014 Incheon Games and was forced to miss the 2018 edition because of injury, before narrowly missing a medal with a fourth-place finish at Hangzhou in 2023.

A medal that had eluded Chanu

Chanu made her Asian Games debut at Incheon in 2014, finishing ninth in the women’s 48kg category. She missed the 2018 Jakarta Games because of a back injury, before returning at Hangzhou in 2023, where she finished fourth in the 49kg event.

The Hangzhou campaign ended in disappointment after Chanu competed despite a thigh injury. The result left her without an Asian Games medal despite having already established herself as one of India’s most successful weightlifters on the global stage.

Her record includes an Olympic silver medal, a World Championships gold and three Commonwealth Games gold medals. The Asian Games, however, had remained unfinished business.

Silver adds another chapter to decorated career

The Aichi-Nagoya medal comes after another successful season for Chanu. She won her third consecutive Commonwealth Games gold earlier this year, lifting 190kg in Glasgow with an 85kg snatch and a 105kg clean and jerk.

The Asian Games presented a different challenge, with Chanu competing against some of Asia’s leading lifters in the 49kg category. North Korea’s Ri Song Gum won gold, while Chanu secured silver with her 198kg total.

For Chanu, the result completes a significant part of her international medal collection. She now has an Olympic medal, a World Championships title, Commonwealth Games gold and an Asian Games medal to her name.

More importantly, the silver closes a chapter that had stretched across three Asian Games cycles.

After finishing ninth at Incheon, missing Jakarta and narrowly missing the podium at Hangzhou, Chanu finally stood on the Asian Games podium in Aichi-Nagoya.

In the latest chapter of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s descent in popularity at Manchester United, the club’s official Muslim supporters’ club released a statement insisting they had no confidence in either the Ineos founder, or the Glazer family. The lengthy release outlined the group’s unhappiness about the ‘years of decline’ overseen by the United owners, citing ticket prices, Old Trafford’s deterioration and wasteful spending, as reasons for their thinking.

However, a paragraph in the middle of the statement has led to the group’s message being misconstrued. Over the weekend, Ratcliffe was interviewed by the BBC. During it, he claimed that no politician was ‘tough enough’ to deal with two problems in the UK – immigration and benefits. This came off the back of Ratcliffe apologising in February for declaring that the UK had been ‘colonised by immigrants’.

“We hoped a lesson had been learned. Clearly, it has not,” the Manchester United Muslim Supporters’ Club (MUMSC) wrote. “This week, Sir Jim has again placed immigration and people receiving benefits at the centre of his explanation for Britain’s problems, arguing that nobody is ‘tough enough’ to deal with either. We find these latest comments deeply disappointing and completely unacceptable.”

Since then, MUMSC’s chairman Asif Mahmud tells MEN Sport the purpose of their statement has been lost, insisting it is far wider than Ratcliffe’s political views.

“This has been bubbling for quite some time. It’s not something that’s a knee jerk reaction,” he said. “We’ve had frustrations at the ownership model for a long, long time.

“We were very much, genuinely, excited about Jim coming in because he was a Manchester lad, seemed to actually support and care about the club. But since they’ve [Ineos] arrived, it’s just a vicious cycle of hiring and firing, managers not getting backed fully, staff at the club being unhappy, it’s just the overall atmosphere and the feeling around the club, it’s just not good. And that’s been reflected on the pitch.”

Mahmud said that things came to a head in two parts. The first was at the end of the summer transfer window when himself and MUMSC felt Michael Carrick had been left short in terms of new recruits. Then, after the derby day defeat to Manchester City, Mahmud felt the time was right to say something.

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“It was actually that evening that I reached out to some of our committee members and said: ‘Look, I feel we should put out a statement about not being happy with the way the club’s being run and how things are going,’” he said.

“I reached out to a friend who runs another supporters’ club, an official one, and said to them: ‘Look, I think something needs to be done’, and I threw some suggestions, and one of them was that collectively, all supporters’ clubs put out a statement of no confidence.

“Now, I know it’s just words, and words don’t seem to bother the ownership, but I just felt doing something together would be quite powerful. I also reached out to another fan group and I waited all weekend. There was no interest or anything coming back.

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“On that Monday [September 14], a statement was drafted, and it was sent to the two groups that I mentioned. I said: ‘Look, I explicitly stated that it was an idea, it doesn’t have to be our idea. You don’t have to give us any credit. We just feel that something needs to be done. If this is a good idea, then speak to the others and see if they’re interested in doing it’. It wasn’t about speak to the others and see if they want to get in with us and they’ll do it on the back of us. It was, if the other supporters’ club groups think it’s a good idea, let’s just do it.

“Unfortunately, nothing came back and then on Saturday [September 19], Sir Jim comments about immigration and just the overall ill feeling, again, [that] he brought up comments he’d made previously. We just felt, enough is enough. We need to do something.”

Mahmud explained the response to the statement has been mixed. This has included hate mail stating members of MUMSC should ‘leave the country’. However, the issue for Mahmud and his group is that the main thrust of the message has now altered.

“I just feel like a lot of what we’ve said has been lost,” he said. “All the focus has all been about his comments on immigration, but we can put that to one side.

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“You don’t have to like us, you don’t have to like our religion, you don’t have to like anything about us, but one thing we all have in common is that we hate and we dislike what we’re seeing at Manchester United. Surely we can get behind each other and we can rally and have one voice about what’s going on.

“We were prepared to put out the statement even before Sir Jim said what he said, risking our official status as a supporters’ club. People have said: ‘Why is there a Muslim supporters’ club?’ And: ‘Why do you need to do this? Do you need to do that?’ Well, to be honest, we were willing to forego even being an official supporters’ club for Man United because we knew that putting out a statement came with risk.”

Mahmud explained that United have reached out to him after the statement was released to see if everything was okay. MEN Sport understands there are no plans to strip MUMSC of their official status, following their no-confidence statement.

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Moving forward, Mahmud insists that United fans need to unite to make their feelings on the ownership heard. “I’ve got a season ticket. I have been going to Old Trafford for over 12 years, supporting the club through everything, up and down, since Sir Alex [Ferguson] left,” he concluded, “and I see it and I hear it.

“I hear people at the ground complaining about the ownership. I was at the game against Fulham. People in the crowd, I could hear them complaining about the ownership.

“Now, if they can’t say it out loud because they don’t have the platform, then the supporters’ clubs need to speak on behalf of the fans, because it’s not just us. Yes, we’re talking about our statement right now because we published it, but we know that others feel the same way and they need to make their voice heard.”