Barcelona to step up efforts for Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven, Bruno Fernandes future at Manchester United depends on Champions League qualification and Aston Villa keen on Fulham‘s Harry Wilson.

Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven, 24, is wanted by Barcelona, who are set to intensify their efforts to sign the Netherlands international in the summer. (Sport – in Spanish), external

Manchester United are prepared to offer Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes an improved deal worth up to £400,000 a week – but the 31-year-old will base a decision on his Old Trafford future on whether the club qualify for the Champions League. (Mirror), external

England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo’s long-term future at Manchester United is still up in the air as talks over a new contract for the 20-year-old drag on. (Mail – subscription required), external

Arsenal have been told by Inter Milan that 20-year-old Italian forward Pio Esposito is not for sale at any price. (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian), external

Juventus are set to revive their interest in Paris St-Germain’s French forward Randal Kolo Muani, 27, who is currently on loan at Tottenham. (Calciomercato – in Italian), external

Aston Villa are one of the clubs interested in 28-year-old Wales attacking midfielder Harry Wilson, whose contract at Fulham runs out in the summer. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Brentford are set to offload up to five players in the summer, including 23-year-old Portugal midfielder Fabio Carvalho. (The I – subscription required), external

Manchester United have no intention of selling English midfielder Mason Mount, 27, in the summer despite interest from Aston Villa and Fulham. (Football Insider), external

Juventus appear to have made progress in extending the contract of 26-year-old Serbia striker Dusan Vlahovic, whose deal runs out in the summer. (Tuttosport – in Italian), external

Bayern Munich and Austria midfielder Konrad Laimer, 28, have halted talks over a new contract as there is a large gap between the expectations of both parties. (Sky Sports Germany), external

Ciaron Maher eyes a bold move into the Newmarket Handicap after Jimmysstar’s electric Cranbourne hit-out.

He will touch base with the sprinter’s connections before locking in for the Group 1 1200m event at Flemington Saturday.

Maher’s stable plotted the gelding’s reappearance in the Group 1 William Reid Stakes (1200m) Caulfield March 21, onward to Group 1 T J Smith Stakes (1200m) Randwick April 4 and Group 1 All-Aged Stakes (1400m) subsequently.

Tuesday saw Mark Zahra at Cranbourne trialling Jimmysstar amid Ethan Brown’s suspension lasting to month-end.

Zahra, retained for Saturday’s feature on Tenytris, switches to Jimmysstar if aiming for William Reid Stakes immediately.

Newmarket Handicap nominations finalise Wednesday morning.

“Mark’s coming back from his ‘fake broken leg’, but he was pretty keen to get down here this morning and he worked super,” Maher joked.

“I will have a chat to the owners, and it will be either this race or the William Reid, but I think Jimmy is coming up really well.

“We only gave him a short time off and we wanted to keep him active.

“The planning has been to only have one run here and then go to Sydney for the T J and the All-Aged, but I’ll have a chat to the owners after today’s work.”

Stable shelves Jimmysstar for Saturday, Benedetta represents Maher post her creditable third in Group 1 Lightning Stakes (1000m) Flemington February 14.

Benedetta gets 4kg allowance against Tentyris, Lightning winner, avenging her 1-½ length reverse.

Third crack at Newmarket for Benedetta after fourth, tenth finishes with Jason Warren.

Maher praised Benedetta’s top first-up showing among four stable efforts.

“Last prep, whether we were working out, or she didn’t come up as well, she’s certainly come up better and certainly her coat, and her action, is a pretty good reflection of that,” Maher said.

“She was super the other day. She ran close to a PB. I thought she looked fantastic and I think she’s held that through to this race.

“We haven’t had to do a lot with her. She was very fit and right to go and couldn’t have hit the line any better.

“The 1200 (metres) is going to be ideal. I think she will hit the line pretty hard.

“It’s going to be a slick race, but I think she’s come on again.”

Visit betting sites to find racing betting markets for the Newmarket Handicap.

Michael Carrick is the favourite to be Man Utd manager next season but the club’s former midfielder has so far been quiet on his long-term hopes.

Michael Carrick has given the strongest indication yet that he wants to stay on as Manchester United head coach past the end of the season and hopes his winning run will strengthen his chances of getting the job on a long-term basis.

The 44-year-old was appointed in January on a contract until the end of the season, with United conducting what insiders describe as a “thorough process” to find a permanent head coach in the summer. A run of six wins and a draw from seven games has thrust Carrick to the top of the shortlist.

The former Middlesbrough boss, who had been out of work for seven months after leaving the Riverside Stadium before accepting the SOS from Old Trafford, has remained coy on his chances of keeping the job and has been relatively non-committal on whether he would want to stay on.

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But a remarkable run of form that has lifted United to third ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Newcastle has made the question unavoidable, and Carrick accepts it is now going to be one he has to face regularly if the results keep coming.

“It’s going to be every week, isn’t it this? There’s no getting away from the situation, of course,” Carrick said. “I love being here. I love doing what I’m doing.

“I’ve said it from the start, I’m not making any decisions for short-term or quick fixes. I think it’s the responsibility, however long I’m here, to make decisions that are the best for the football club in the long term.

“Winning games helps and the boys are doing great with that. We’ll just have to see where it ends up.”

Carrick left Boro in the summer after three years with the Championship club. He led them from 21st to the play-offs in his first season in charge but wasn’t able to mount a promotion charge after that.

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He had ventured into TV work after that and seemed unclear whether he wanted a return to the pressures of management, having shown little interest in jobs that became available before Ruben Amorim was sacked.

The lure of Old Trafford proved too difficult to turn down, and now that he’s back in the hot seat, he is talking like someone who sees his future there.

“I enjoy working with players,” he said. “I enjoy trying to help players. The responsibility here is the whole football club and I enjoy it. It’s a privilege to be able to influence certain things, but I enjoy working with players and helping them.

“Whether that’s their career, whether that’s for the team, whether that’s development week to week, it’s something I just really enjoy and am passionate about. I never really lost it, to be honest, whether it’s managing, head coach, whatever role that is, it comes down to working with players and people really to get the best out of people and backroom staff and supporters.

“It’s something I like seeing, that development and connection growing. So, whether that’s skills or technical skills or whether you see the group coming together, like [on Sunday against Palace] from a setback to be able to overcome that, it’s nice when you are part of that.”

The start of free agency is fast approaching, and the Minnesota Vikings have work to do to become salary cap compliant — even more work to do to create space for any new signings. To do so, there are certain moves to look out for over the coming weeks.

Cap Maneuvers Signal Minnesota’s Next Wave of Roster Decisions

The work has already begun with the announcement that two veterans will be released at the start of the new league year (March 11) if no teams make a trade offer before then. The release of Aaron Jones and Javon Hargrave will save the Vikings $18.65 million — a good start to trimming the salary cap. It will leave Minnesota with just under $27 million in additional savings to reach parity.

Clearly, more moves are required, and there are several ways the Vikings can do this. More releases, contract extensions and restructures, or trades will be on the table as acting general manager and salary cap wizard, Rob Brzezinski looks to get Minnesota ready for the start of free agency. Here are some of the possible moves that could be on the table in the coming weeks.

T.J. Hockenson Paycut

Hockenson is scheduled to be the highest-paid tight end in 2026 on the back of a couple of less productive years due to a bad knee injury. He had been circled as a potential cut candidate to save the Vikings money, but reports have surfaced that Hockenson has told the team he is willing to take a pay cut in order to stay. If Minnesota can make similar savings and keep Hockenson, then it’s a no-brainer; he is still a good TE.

More Cuts

Hargrave and Jones are the first names in line for release, but I don’t think they will be the last. Three separate concussions decimated Ryan Kelly’s first year in Minnesota. With a history of concussions before arriving in Minnesota and turning 33 years of age in May, the Vikings may decide it’s best to move on.

Jonathan Allen was another disappointing free-agent signing in 2025, and while his release would have to be designated as post-June 1, doing so would save the Vikings $11 million. A couple of players who would save the team around $4 million each with their release are Isaiah Rodgers and Blake Brandel.

Releasing Rodgers after one inconsistent season would seem premature, and Brandel is a good utility lineman. Ideally, both stay, but it depends on how desperate the Vikings get to find savings.

Brian O’Neill Extension

Brian O’Neill is in the last year of his contract and remains a consistent presence at right tackle for the Vikings. There have been some injuries, but O’Neill has never played fewer than 14 games in a season. He will turn 31 in September, but should still have enough years left in him to warrant a new contract, with the usual backloading of money, which should provide considerable cap savings on the $23.1 million due this year.

Contract Restructures

There are several players the Vikings could restructure contracts with for immediate salary cap relief. All the players on long, expensive contracts are candidates, like Justin Jefferson, Christian Darrisaw, Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, Byron Murphy, and Will Fries.

Restructuring all of those contracts would put the Vikings in a healthy cap spot for 2026, but, of course, it would move a lot of money down the road that will need to be addressed later.

Kicking the can down the road, so to speak, splits opinion. Some people don’t like it, and some think the salary cap is a myth. The truth is, restructures and cap management are essential to running an NFL team, but they have to be done wisely. All of those players won’t get a restructure, but a couple probably will. Darrisaw would be my prime candidate.

A Jordan Addison Trade

Fantasy trade proposals for Justin Jefferson by media folk and fans outside of Minnesota have become an offseason tradition. No such trade will be happening, but Jefferson’s WR partner, Jordan Addison, could be a trade candidate. The Vikings must decide on Addison’s fifth-year option this year. He has too much talent to be discarded so easily, but his ongoing off-field discrepancies have proven to be a headache. 

A strong trade offer may be enough for the Vikings to decide to move on, and while that will only save $2.6 million against the cap this year, it will save money next year and will add to the years draft arsenal. The value of any trade proposal will determine if it’s a worthwhile move.

Proud UK Viking. Family Man. Enjoy writing about my team. Away from football an advocate for autism acceptance.

ONE flyweight MMA world champion Yuya Wakamatsu will put his gold on the line against Uzbekistani slugger Avazbek Kholmirzaev at ONE Samurai 1 on Wednesday, April 29.

The showdown will unfold inside Tokyo’s Ariake Arena on the promotion’s new monthly event series from ‘The Land of the Rising Sun’. The world’s largest martial arts organization confirmed their scheduled five-round war on its official website on March 2.

Yuya Wakamatsu, ONE’s 2025 MMA fighter of the year, will arrive inside the Japanese capital on top of the world—rightfully so.

‘Little Piranha’ has been unstoppable since claiming the then-vacant flyweight MMA crown against former longtime king Adriano Moraes at ONE 172 in Saitama last March.

He stunned the Brazilian veteran inside the opening round to lay his hands on MMA’s most prestigious strap and returned home with a US$50,000 performance bonus from ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong.

His first title defense came against another tough opponent, ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio, at ONE 173 in Tokyo, Japan, on Nov. 16, 2025.

Once more, the Tribe Tokyo MMA martial artist showed his chops, authoring another highlight-reel victory to ruin the Filipino’s dreams of two-division supremacy.

Yuya Wakamatsu can expect to have his hands full against Avazbek Kholmirzaev

Yuya Wakamatsu’s vicious finishes last year upped his winning streak to five, and now he’ll look to make it six back-to-back triumphs when he shares the Circle against the high-flying Kholmirzaev at ONE Samurai 1.

The Uzbek talent, 25 years of age, has built one of the most impressive winning runs on the global stage since debuting at ONE Friday Fights 50 in February 2024.

‘Ninzya’ kicked off his tenure with three finishes on ONE Friday Fights. Though he suffered a defeat to Bektur Zhenishbek Uulu in his fourth fight, the Raqobat affiliate returned to the winner’s column with a brilliant second-round rear-naked choke triumph against Valmir Galiev in December 2024.

Since then, he’s emerged victorious all of his five fights, with four wins inside the distance. Put simply, Kholmirzaev does not the judges decide the outcome of his fights.

His finishing instincts and well-rounded arsenal should match up well alongside Yuya Wakamatsu’s world-class fight IQ, technicality, and dexterity when these two throw down for the ONE flyweight MMA world title at ONE Samurai 1 on April 29.

Tickets are on sale now via ePlus and Zaiko.