That tour was also backed by a record 25 commercial deals.

Jamie George, Peter O’Mahony, Finn Russell and Jac Morgan, the captains of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales respectively, were involved in discussions that have brought about the new deal.

“This agreement recognises the role players play across the Lions tour, both on and off the field,” said O’Mahony.

“It’s great to see a commitment to ensuring everyone benefits from the success of each tour.”

The agreement between the Lions management and players will also include a debrief session in the wake of the tour.

ENGLAND superstar Jude Bellingham organised a surprise birthday present for team-mate Trent Alexander-Arnold.

And Liverpool fans are worried Bellingham, 21, is trying to lure Alexander-Arnold – now 26 – to join him at Real.

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TAA has been linked with a move to the Bernabeu the last few months, with his Anfield contract running out in June.

The two stars – who are close pals and holidayed together in the summer – are now on international duty with England ahead of the Nations League clashes with Greece and Finland and reunited at St George’s Park.

And Bellingham decided to commemorate Alexander-Arnold’s 26th birthday with a giant card that showed his team-mate with a caption that simply read: “Happy birthday, Trent.”

But there was a catch as the star midfielder hid behind the present and waited for the full-back to finish with media duties.

After about 20 minutes of the ex-Borussia Dortmund star standing behind the board, Alexander-Anrold finally showed up.

The versatile midfielder went to have a look and that was when Bellingham emerged from his hiding spot to scare the Liverpool star.

The two team-mates went on to high-five each other, but many believe there is more than meets the eye.

One fan tweeted: “I’d hate to be Liverpool right now.”

Another commented: “It’s so over for Liverpool.”

A third wrote: “Real Madrid connection.”

And a fourth stated: “Agent Jude.”

Liverpool fans even went as far as to order Bellingham to “stay away” from Alexander-Arnold for the rest of the international break.

One tweeted: “Separate these two immediately, none of that luring to Madrid act.”

Another wrote: “STAY AWAY!”

A third commented: “Cute idea.. but don’t you dare Jude.”

Transfer rumours suggest Real see Alexander-Arnold as a replacement for Dani Carvajal at right-back.

However, Los Blancos just extended Carvajal’s deal until 2026 despite him suffering a devastating injury last week that will sideline him for the rest of the season.

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Initially, there seemed a potential upside for Europe, but it has not properly materialised.

Hopes that the US circuit’s bigger names would venture to this side of the pond to add stardust to events such as the Dunhill and BMW PGA, as well as the Irish and French Opens, have proven unfounded.

While DP World Tour loyalist Billy Horschel came and conquered at Wentworth for the second time last month, he is a rare exception. We see precious little American enthusiasm from any of their other big names.

Yes, there were massive crowds for the recent PGA, but they did not turn up to see Peter Malnati and Mark Hubbard – the next two most prominent US golfers to dig out dusty passports.

By contrast, last week’s Dunhill and the invitations of its powerful tournament boss, South African Johan Rupert, imported a bucketload of stardust from the rival LIV tour.

Among the 14 LIV golfers who took part in this glorified pro-am, where early rounds are also played at Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, were former world number one and Masters champion Jon Rahm, five times major winner Brooks Koepka and 2018 Augusta victor Patrick Reed.

This is the sort of star-power craved by the DP World Tour to supplement the likes of Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick, who offer crucial support to the European circuit at this time of year.

Rupert also engineered it so that PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan competed and played together as amateurs.

DP World Tour boss Guy Kinnings was also present. So there was plenty of scope for developing ongoing talks to bring further Saudi investment into golf and potentially agree a more harmonious future.

Kinnings’ position in all of this was, surely, bolstered by the quality of the pro field.

Imagine this scenario developing; LIV stars – including US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau – routinely playing DP World Tour events and picking up the sort of world ranking points that have now returned Hatton to the world’s top 20.

How about, in return, Saudi investment pouring into Wentworth? The appeals by Hatton, Rahm and Adrian Meronk against fines for playing LIV events without releases could be quietly dropped.

Some might recoil at strengthening ties with Saudi Arabia but the European tour has never had a problem with doing deals with the Kingdom, despite its controversial reputation on human rights.

Money talks: “Pinch your noses chaps, we’re going in. This is too good to refuse.”

Like it or not, morality takes a back seat when cash becomes the driver. It is why splashing it for ‘sportswashing’ purposes, according to some critics, seems so worthwhile to the Saudis.

For Kinnings’ tour there is a future, if they can buy their way out of the strategic alliance, that potentially involves more money, more big name players and probably more sponsorship.

McIlroy said last week that he finds European tour events “more authentic and not as corporate” as in the US, adding that the “crowds at the Irish Open and Wentworth, compared to the three FedEx Cup play-off events, were bigger and the atmosphere better”.

The European tour could return to being a rival to rather than a partner of the PGA Tour, especially if the current stodgy negotiations continue to falter, or the deal fails to pass the scrutiny of the US Department of Justice.

“It would maybe bring the European tour back to like the ’80s and ’90s when there was two strong tours,” said McIlroy, when I recently asked him about the prospect of a breakaway Saudi deal with the continental circuit.

“But it keeps the game divided and I don’t like that. You know, I really want the game to come back together. It would be Plan B. It would be maybe an alternative to the best solution.”

McIlroy’s vision is for the game to come together with a global calendar that benefits everyone. He told BBC Northern Ireland last week that he would like to see it done by the end of the year.

There is impatience.

It is now 17 months since the shock announcement of a ‘framework agreement’ that was prematurely portrayed as a merger between the PGA and DP World Tours and LIV.

Very little has emerged, other than the formation of the for-profit umbrella PGA Tour Enterprises company that has $1.5bn (£1.15bn) of funding from the US-based sports venture capitalist Strategic Sports Group.

It is thought SSG want a Saudi deal done quickly. That could also suit the PIF and LIV players, who are wondering what the long term future holds for their circuit.

The DP World Tour is increasingly keen to know the outlook of the men’s pro game. But is there the same urgency for the PGA Tour?

They have lucrative TV contracts secured for the rest of the decade, sponsors in place and seemingly unwavering support from their season-long backer, FedEx.

Might they just want to play for time, see how LIV reacts as contracts with several of their initial crop of players begin to expire? Will the Saudis continue to send massive oil soaked cheques to pick off top PGA Tour players? Who knows?

Monahan, and influential board members such as Patrick Cantlay and Tiger Woods, might want to wait and see. This could further frustrate the fragile peace process aimed at ending an increasingly tedious stand off.

But the Dunhill showed there is a potential alternative path for the DP World Tour that, at the very least, provides Kinnings with some leverage to give Monahan and co the hurry up.

Back in the 19th century, Old Tom was golf’s most important pioneer. He helped make St Andrews the undisputed ‘home of golf’ but Morris Snr’s influence was felt far and wide. He truly – to use the LIV buzz phrase – “grew the game”.

Maybe, just maybe, the arrival of his long-awaited statue has coincided with the next significant steps to be taken by his sport.

KEANU REEVES swapped scripts for slipstreams as he made his motor racing debut over the weekend.

The Hollywood A-lister, 60, was behind the wheel at the Toyota GR Cup North America event.

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Reeves took part in two 45-minute races at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway circuit.

The venue has been the host of the world-famous Indy500 event for more than 100 years.

Formula 1‘s United States Grand Prix was also staged there between 2000 and 2007.

Over the weekend, Reeves was behind the wheel of his No. 92 BRZRKR car.

The A-lister was advertising his new novel, entitled “The Book of Elsewhere”, written alongside highly-renowned science fiction author China Mieville.

Reeves’ car also represented the comic book series co-written alongside Matt Kindt.

The Canadian qualified 31st out of 35 racers for the event.

He nearly crashed just over halfway through the race, narrowly avoiding a collision as he slid on to the grass at Turn 9.

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Thankfully unhurt, Reeves went on to recover to finish 25th.

Undeterred, the Matrix star took part in again in Sunday’s event.

The races acted as a support for the weekend’s Indy 8 Hour sports car action.

In Sunday’s event, Reeves went one better to finish 24th.

The superstar actor starred in the 1994 blockbuster “Speed” alongside Sandra Bullock.

On Tuesday he is set to reunite with Bullock in Los Angeles for a special 30th anniversary screening of the movie.

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The word ‘irreplaceable’ has been bandied around in the last few weeks in the wake of Rodri’s season-ending injury for Manchester City.

But as the champions continue their attempts to cope without the Spain midfielder, it got us thinking – which other players would Premier League clubs most dread to lose?

We have come up with a shortlist for each club and want you to vote for your most irreplaceable player.