Fenerbahce announced on Friday that they had agreed a deal to sign Manchester City defender Nathan Ake

Fenerbahce sensationally announced the signing of Nathan Ake from Manchester City on Friday – before a deal had been agreed. The two clubs are in talks over a transfer but have not yet finalised the details.

Given the confidence of the Turkish club, the move is expected to happen this summer to bring an end to Ake’s six years at the Etihad. A fee of around £7m, potentially rising to £8.5m, has been talked about in discussions between the clubs.

However, there is still work to be done on the transfer and there will have been bemusement in Manchester on Friday that a deal had been announced. The Fenerbahce statement read: “Our club has reached an agreement with Nathan Aké, a player of the Netherlands National Team, and has signed a contract with the footballer.

“The player, who wore the Netherlands jersey in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, will join our team in the Austria camp following the permission process. We present this to the information of the public.”

Ake’s departure will leave City with four senior centre-backs following the exit of John Stones on a free transfer. Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Abdukodir Khusanov and Marc Guehi are still a formidable quartet of centre-backs, yet they will need to be bolstered by Enzo Maresca to ensure the Blues have the numbers to compete in multiple competitions.

That could come in the form of returning Brazilian defender Vitor Reis, who spent the year on loan with Girona. Homegrown centre-back Max Alleyne is another option, having answered an emergency call from City in January and terminating his loan at Watford in order to make his debut for the Blues.

When I walked into my PXG iron fitting, I wasn’t expecting to replace the irons in my bag. In fact, it was the first club fitting I’d ever gone into genuinely happy with my current set. But still, I was curious to see whether they could actually outperform the clubs I already trusted.

The fitting started with a question from GOLF’s Johnny Wunder that set the tone of the session:

“What’s the miss that scares you the most?”

For me, it’s the big slice that creeps into my game every now and then. Nothing rattles my confidence faster than watching my shot peel off to the right. As we talked through my tendencies, my fitter explained that the goal of the session wasn’t to chase the occasional perfect shot — it was to make my misses look more like my good shots, both in distance and dispersion.

We started with PXG’s 0311T GEN8 irons in a configuration close to my current setup, pairing the head with a slightly heavier shaft and neutral weighting. It only took a few swings to notice a difference. Right off the bat, my ball speeds jumped, my carry distance increased, my launch window came down and I still had plenty of stopping power into the green.

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The added distance was impressive, but the forgiveness was what really stood out. Shots struck low on the face maintained more ball speed than I expected, flew nearly their full distance, and stayed on line enough to keep me within scoring distance.

From there, we began dialing in the weighting. By adding more mass to the heel, we introduced a slight draw bias that offset my tendency to leave the face open. These weren’t dramatic changes, but they made a noticeable difference. I watched as my dispersion tightened, my start lines became more consistent and my misses finished in better spots.

We also compared the 0311T GEN8 against PXG’s Players option (0311P GEN8). At address, the two looked remarkably similar, with the Players iron offering just a touch more offset. Both performed well, but the T consistently produced a tighter dispersion and more predictable start lines, making it the clear winner.

By the end of the session, we landed on a blended set: 0311T GEN8 irons from 6-iron through pitching wedge, a 0311P GEN8 5-iron, lofts bent one degree stronger, SteelFiber 95 shafts, and a heel-biased weight setup built specifically for my swing.

When I walked into the fitting, I wondered if PXG could outperform a set of irons I already loved, and now I had my answer.

The biggest difference wasn’t the extra ball speed or even the added length — it was the confidence this set of irons gave me. My good swings were rewarded, but more importantly, my mishits were no longer at risk of wrecking my rounds.

FIFA introduced a wild rule for this year’s World Cup in which players could receive red cards for covering their mouths while speaking; however, one of soccer’s largest governing bodies will not be following suit.

FIFA established the new rule to prevent players from hiding abusive, discriminatory or offensive language while on the field.

But the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) announced Thursday that players will not be sent off the field for the infraction during Champions League, Europa League and Conference League matches next season.

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Miguel Almiron of Paraguay reacts after receiving a red card for covering his mouth while talking to another player during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group D match between Türkiye and Paraguay in Santa Clara, California, on June 19, 2026. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

UEFA did say, however, that players could receive a yellow card if they are “attempting to conceal communication as an act of unsporting behaviour.”

“This is obviously without prejudice to any disciplinary investigation or proceedings that may follow as a consequence of or in connection with such behaviour,” a statement said.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino pushed for changes after Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni tried to hide verbal insults toward Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior in a Champions League match. Soccer’s rulemaking panel, the International Football Association Board, agreed that players can be penalized with a red card if they cover their mouths when verbally confronting another player.

Piero Hincapie of Ecuador (R) covers his mouth while arguing with Santiago Gimenez of Mexico (L) during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round Of 32 match between Mexico and Ecuador at Mexico City Stadium on June 30, 2026, in Mexico City, Mexico. (Martín Fonseca/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)

FORMER TEAM USA STAR WANTS TO SEE RED CARD RULE CHANGE AFTER FOLARIN BALOGUN CONTROVERSY

The rule is not mandatory within the Laws of the Game but gives tournament organizers like FIFA the option to use it at their discretion.

The rule change was unanimously approved by IFAB, which includes officials from FIFA and the four British soccer federations, at a special meeting ahead of the FIFA Congress. FIFA’s proposal followed Vinícius, backed by Real Madrid teammate Kylian Mbappé, accusing Prestianni of making a racially charged insult while raising his jersey to cover his mouth during the game in February.

Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron and Piero Hincapie of Ecuador are the only players to be red-carded for mouth-covering.

Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic expels Ecuador’s defender Piero Hincapie during the 2026 World Cup Round of 32 football match between Mexico and Ecuador at the Mexico City Stadium in Mexico City on June 30, 2026. (Yuri Cortex / AFP via Getty Images)

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If a player is shown a red card by an official, the player is ejected from the match and must serve a one-game suspension in the following match. The team is also forced to play the remainder of the match with 10 players.

OutKick’s Matt Reigle and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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A major experiment will be going on during this year’s NBA Summer League.

The NBA announced Thursday that the “one free throw rule” will be used at the Summer League events happening this month in Salt Lake City, Northern California and Las Vegas.

The G League has used this rule since the 2019-20 season, which is designed to speed up play.

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Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks shoots a free throw during the game against the San Antonio Spurs during Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals on June 13, 2026 at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. (Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)

Any foul that would typically result in the awarding of one, two or three free throws will instead result in a single free-throw attempt. That attempt will be worth the same total number of points as the free throws it replaces.

The rule doesn’t apply to the entire game, though. Standard free-throw rules — two shots for a two-shot foul, etc. — will be used for the last two minutes of fourth quarters and in all of overtime.

Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs takes a foul shot against the New York Knicks in Game Four of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on June 10, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) ((Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images))

It’s unclear whether the one-free-throw rule will make it into NBA games, but similar to the minor and independent leagues and Major League Baseball, the Summer League has been a proving ground for eventual rule changes.

Among those that started at those levels and eventually got to the NBA are the coach’s challenge, resetting the 24-second shot clock to 14 seconds after offensive rebounds and the one-shot award for a transition take foul — which is when a defender intentionally commits a foul to halt a transition opportunity for the opposition.

Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers shoots a free throw during the first half of Game 4 against the New York Knicks in the second round of the NBA playoffs in Philadelphia on May 10, 2026. (Matt Slocum/AP)

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The G League also plays 10-minute quarters, something NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has openly advocated for. The league once tested 11-minute quarters in a preseason game, while exhibition games prior to the “bubble” in 2020 used 10-minute quarters.

The Summer League begins on July 9.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Naomi Osaka of Japan celebrates winning the third round women’s singles match against Daria Kasatkina of Australia at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 3, 2026.(AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

LONDON–Japan’s Naomi Osaka ended her long wait to reach the Wimbledon fourth round for the first time with a 6-1, 6-3 win against Australian Daria Kasatkina on Friday.

Osaka has caused a stir at Wimbledon with her eye-catching outfits, but the 28-year-old is finally stealing the spotlight with her performances as well.

After advancing no further than the third round in her five previous main draw appearances at the All England Club, Osaka finally made it to the last 16 with a dominant display on Court One.

She needed just 65 minutes to dispatch Kasatkina, setting up a fourth-round clash against world number one Aryna Sabalenka or former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

“I’m really happy. In my career I’d never won on this court. I’m just glad to have made a really good memory here,” Osaka said.

“I’ve played a lot of matches on grass over the last few weeks. I’m feeling really confident. I hope I’m able to get further and further.”

Osaka’s habit of wearing haute couture costumes on to court before removing them to play in her usual tennis attire has been the talk of Wimbledon.

She earned headlines with a kimono-inspired outfit prior to her first-round match and wore a long wedding-dress train for the second round.

And once again she struck a pose with her latest creation — an all-white layered Japanese ceremonial-style kimono — before facing Kasatkina.

The outfit, by Tokyo fashion designer Hana Yagi, featured cherry blossoms in another nod to her native Japan.

She also wore a jelly-fish themed dress at the Australian Open this year and an Eiffel Tower-inspired costume at the recent French Open.

Osaka’s tennis has been as memorable as her cat-walk moments.

She reached her maiden final on grass at Bad-Homburg in June but was forced to retire in the second set with an injured ankle.

Osaka has maintained that grass-court excellence in south-west London, raising the prospect of a genuine challenge for her first Wimbledon title.

The four-time Grand Slam champion cruised to straight-sets wins over Elsa Jacquemot and Anastasia Gasanova before routing Kasatkina.

Osaka, the 14th seed, had only reached the last 16 at a Grand Slam twice since winning the Australian Open in 2021.

Having lost to Sabalenka in the fourth round of the French Open in June, Osaka is rounding into form just in time for a potential revenge mission against the Belarusian.

She was far too strong for world number 65 Kasatkina, whose ranking has slumped over the past 18 months due to poor form while she battled with a nagging hip injury.

Russia’s Roman Safiullin (R) is congratulated by Brazil’s Joao Fonseca for winning their men’s singles third round tennis match on the fifth day of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 3, 2026. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)

LONDON— Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin wiped away tears after beating Brazilian rising star João Fonseca 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon on Friday.

Safiullin, ranked No. 132, dealt with a knee injury last year but this week has eliminated two seeded opponents at the All England Club. He surprised 12th-seeded Andrey Rublev in the first round. Fonseca was seeded No. 24.

The 28-year-old Safiullin, a Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 2023, became emotional when he described his journey back.

“After the U.S. Open, I had to stop — for treating my injury,” he said in an on-court interview. “That time was super tough. Even let’s say half a year ago I didn’t know if I will be able to be back.”

Safiullin then paused and used his shirt to wipe away tears as fans applauded on No. 2 Court.

“I’m super happy to be back here,” he added.

Safiullin will face either Novak Djokovic or Arthur Rinderknech for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Djokovic and Rinderknech were playing on Centre Court. Later, defending champion Jannik Sinner faces Jenson Brooksby of the United States on No. 1 Court.

In the women’s draw, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka plays Jelena Ostapenko later on Centre Court.