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Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have been warned that Wrexham will be unable to reach the Premier League without breaking a few financial rules.

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Historic run of three successive promotionsMore money required to reach the top-flightCompeting with other big-spending outfitsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty/GOALWHAT HAPPENED?

On the back of three successive promotions, the Red Dragons are now just one step away from rubbing shoulders with the elite of English football. Hollywood co-owners have never shied away from the fact that they want to bring top-flight action to North Wales.

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Reynolds and McElhenney have helped to fund a meteoric rise, with more investment now being sought as Wrexham’s revenue figures and overall valuation soar. The plan is to bring in Premier League pedigree during the summer transfer window of 2025.

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Wrexham have plenty of room for manoeuvre when it comes to Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), but they may need to step outside of those regulations – as part of elaborate spending sprees – in order to compete with rivals that boast even deeper pockets.

WHAT SPORTS FINANCE EXPERT SAID

Sports finance expert Dr Rob Wilson has told of the Red Dragons’ bid to reach the top tier in the not too distant future: “I don't see how Wrexham can get into the Premier League in a season or two without breaching the financial regulations that exist within the division. However, you would probably argue given their trajectory that if they were to get into the Premier League, they would probably stay there for a little while.

“Then they could afford to take any hit if they were then ultimately relegated at some point. I think mid-table is probably where I think you'd see an incredible amount of investment to try and protect that. It links with the new stadium and with some of the broader plans to activate the commercial and the broadcast opportunities.”

Liverpool have reportedly slapped a huge price tag on an out-of-favour player amid Premier League and Bundesliga interest.

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Liverpool man struggling for game timeLinked with summer transfer exitReds set huge asking price for defenderFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Daily Mail journalist Lewis Steele states that Liverpool will want around £50 million ($67.3m) for centre-back Jarell Quansah, despite his lack of game time this season. If he does go, though, a replacement will be needed.

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Quansah made 25 appearances for Liverpool last season but just 13 of those were starts. He was behind captain Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate in the pecking order, and as a result, fellow journalist David Lynch believes the 23-year-old is a 'genuine candidate for a departure'. Lynch adds that Premier League and Bundesliga sides are keen on the defender but £50m does seem a lot.

DID YOU KNOW?

Liverpool academy product Quansah, whose Anfield contract runs until 2029 and there is an option to extend that a further year, made most of his starts (five) this season in the Reds' run to the Carabao Cup final – where they lost to Newcastle United.

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It remains to be seen if Quansah will still be at Liverpool next season, or if he will seek pastures new in a bid for more game time. For the time being, it seems he will be a back-up to Van Dijk and Konate.

Mikel Arteta has been tipped to leave Arsenal if the Gunners miss out on silverware next season as Jamie Carragher hit out at his "excuses".

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• Arsenal falter again in the final lap
• Remain trophyless for another season under Arteta
• FA Cup success in 2020 remains the only silverware

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Arsenal’s hopes of ending their long wait for silverware were dashed once again following their Champions League semi-final exit at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain. The defeat at Parc des Princes means the North London side will finish a fifth successive season without lifting a major trophy, their last success being the FA Cup triumph over Chelsea in 2020.

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  Despite the defeat, Arteta maintained that his side had outperformed their French opponents across both legs. He insisted that Arsenal deserved a place in the final, arguing that the overall display was more deserving than the result suggested.

• WHAT CARRAGHER SAID

  Former Liverpool defender and pundit Jamie Carragher was among those who questioned Arteta’s reaction. Writing in Carragher criticised the Arsenal manager for what he described as "excuse-laden" remarks, likening them to fan reactions often seen on social media.

  He wrote: "Some of Arteta’s most recent public comments have veered into that territory, making him sound more like a fan on social media perpetuating a series of complaints about injuries and refereeing decisions. His remarks about Arsenal deserving to beat Paris St-Germain over two legs in the Champions League semi-final left him open to ridicule. Luis Enrique’s side have been by far the best side in this year’s competition, and they showed their class in both games."

  Carragher further noted that while injuries can derail a season, every title contender faces adversity. He cited Manchester City’s struggles during Rodri’s absence as an example, suggesting that Arteta’s focus on such incidents does little to justify the bigger picture.

  "One club’s valid explanations for ‘failure’ are everyone else’s lame excuses. That is especially true with regard to injuries. We could go through many league seasons in which the runners-up could point to ‘if only’ moments," he wrote.

  "Every neutral football supporter knows that the injury that truly transformed this season was Rodri’s against Arsenal last September – the first of many games Arteta’s side should have won but ended up drawing. Would a fit Rodri have altered the title race and prevented a Liverpool procession? We will never know. More importantly, when a season is reviewed, such facts become incidental, no matter how influential they were at the time."

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Carragher stressed that Arteta’s tenure, although marked by substantial progress, is now at a crossroads. If Arsenal are to avoid a cycle of near misses, the upcoming season must yield tangible rewards.

  "Arteta has so much credit in the bank, it is fair and right, there is more resistance to managerial change at Arsenal than desire for it," he said.

  "But no one understands better than him that all the goodwill for creating an Arsenal team capable of winning is gone. Arteta must deliver next season, otherwise his legacy will be years of groundwork for the benefit of a successor who will be asked to add the finishing touches."

تحدث خوان لابورتا رئيس نادي برشلونة الإسباني في مقابلة مع شبكة قنوات “سي إن إن” عن باريس سان جيرمان الفرنسي بطل دوري أبطال أوروبا.

كما أشاد لابورتا بالنظام الجديد لبطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا، واعتبره خطوة إلى الأمام تعزز من قوة البطولة، وأوضح رئيس برشلونة: “النظام الجديد لدوري أبطال أوروبا يُحسن مستوى المنافسة”.

وأفاد لابورتا بأنه يعتقد أن برشلونة وباريس سان جيرمان هما الفريقان في أفضل حالاتهما ويلعبان أفضل كرة قدم في البطولة.

وأضاف: “من المؤسف أننا لم نتمكن من مواجهة بعضنا البعض في نهائي العام الماضي، أو في كأس العالم للأندية”.

وأشار: “كل من يحب كرة القدم قال في الموسم الماضي أن برشلونة وباريس سان جيرمان هما الفريقان اللذان يقدمان أفضل كرة قدم في العالم”.

اقرأ أيضًا | حقيقة ارتداء خوان جارسيا الرقم 1 في برشلونة

وأوضح: “باريس سان جيرمان لديه فريق رائع ومدرب رائع، يلعبون كرة قدم رائعة، من المؤسف أننا لم نتمكن من مواجهة بعضنا البعض لأننا كنا الفريق الأكثر تنافسية، عالم كرة القدم ينتظر تلك المباراة بفارغ الصبر”.

واختتم: “نأمل أن نواجه باريس سان جيرمان هذا الموسم حتى نتمكن من معرفة من هو الأفضل”.

Arsenal could now miss out on signing an “elite” £50m player, with Real Madrid confident about winning the race for his signature, according to a report.

Mikel Arteta keen on a midfielder

There were no new arrivals at the Emirates Stadium in the January transfer window, with Mikel Arteta opting to wait until the end of the season before making any new additions to his squad.

There have been widespread calls for the Gunners to sign a striker, with doubt remaining over whether Kai Havertz is good enough to lead the line for a Premier League title-winning side, while Arteta also wants to strengthen the spine of his team.

It recently emerged the north Londoners are vying for the signature of Chris Rigg, with Sunderland now willing to sanction the midfielder’s departure for a fee of £25m in the summer.

Arsenal keen on "special" £25m ace who's now available to sign this summer

The Gunners have set their sights on a hot prospect, who is being targeted by some of Europe’s top clubs.

ByDominic Lund Feb 9, 2025

At just 17 years old, Rigg is likely to be one for the future, but Arsenal are also keen on a player perhaps capable of making a more immediate impact, and it has long been expected that Martin Zubimendi will move to the Emirates Stadium this summer.

However, there has now been a worrying twist in the transfer saga, with reports from Spain revealing Real Madrid are now confident about winning the race for Zubimendi, as they believe he could be tempted by the opportunity to remain in his home country.

The Gunners aren’t going down without a fight, however, with the report revealing they are still pushing to get a deal done, as they are convinced the Spaniard would fit perfectly into their team.

Arteta is not willing to give up, and the north Londoners remain well-placed to win the race, but there will certainly be concern about Madrid’s interest as it looked like he was on course to move to the Emirates.

Zubimendi would be an "elite" signing for Arsenal

Arsenal are already well-stocked in central midfield, with Declan Rice once again emerging as one of their best-performing players in the Premier League this season, but the Real Sociedad star could take them to the next level.

The 26-year-old, who is expected to cost £50m, has been lauded for his ability in possession of the ball by scout Ben Mattinson.

Not only that, but the Spain international is also capable of pitching in defensively, ranking in the 90th percentile for clearances per 90, and the 90th percentile for aerials won when compared to his positional peers.

It will be a real concern that Madrid fancy their chances of winning the race for Zubimendi, but there is no reason to panic at this stage, with Arsenal still well-placed to get a deal done, and they can boost their chances with a strong finish to the season.

Kurtis Patterson will not be New South Wales Sheffield Shield captain next season with incoming coach Greg Shipperd hoping a return to the ranks will help revive his batting.Patterson, who played two Tests for Australia in 2019, took on the NSW role ahead of the 2021-22 season when he replaced Peter Nevill. They finished fourth in the Shield that season before ending bottom last summer with Patterson dropped for the final match against South Australia.Overall he averaged 29.78 last season with one century and scored just two hundreds during his time as captain.Related

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Since his brief Test appearances, where he made a century in his second outing against Sri Lanka in Canberra, Patterson has struggled to make runs consistently with just three first-class hundreds in the next four seasons.”That was a disappointing finish for the season for Kurtis,” Shipperd said. “I’ve had contact with him today and we’ve identified some areas of his game and thinking. Losing the captaincy will allow him to concentrate fully on performing at his best.”You can get consumed by captaincy and he gave it a terrific shot I’ve got to say while I was there, it was team first and him second. We can flip that balance around next season and make sure we get him back playing as well as he’s ever played.”Moises Henriques stepped in as captain the final Shield game of last season but Shipperd said he and Greg Mail, NSW’s head of performance, still needed to work through who would take the role permanently.”That’s a really important discussion to have,” he said. “We do have some candidates that I think could comfortably do the job so it’s about when I get up to Sydney next, sitting down with Greg and the team and those candidates and make sure we get the best decision out of it.”More broadly, Shipperd acknowledged it was the batting that really needed to lift for NSW although he had been encouraged by some late-season performances from younger players Ryan Hackney, Jack Edwards and Blake MacDonald – the latter earning his first contract. However, of those to play more than three matches, allrounder Chris Green topped the averages at 41.42.”It’s a complicated judgement when you are just looking at figures,” Shipperd said. “I, like others, was a little bit alarmed that our younger batting group were tracking along in the mid-20s as averages.”In my discussions with the players I was quite frank in terms of suggesting that success in first-class level is averaging above 40 with the capacity to have an out season and averaging over 60. So setting the bar quite high for those players and it was pleasing that four of them in response in the back end of the season averaged over 40, but that’s just the start.”Shipperd also hoped that NSW would be able to play a greater proportion of their home Shield matches at the SCG so there was more of a home-ground feel to being in Sydney. The T20 World Cup last season restricted how much it could be used in the first half of the summer but for a number of years the team has regularly gone to suburban and intra-state grounds.The players now have a permanent training base at the new Cricket Central facility which opened last season and there are plans for it to host top-level state matches. Following his retirement, Trent Copeland noted he had never had his own locker throughout his career.”Essentially we have had no home ground, no training facility that is always our own,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “That’s now changed. Then we’re playing one to three games at the SCG and then grade grounds and country grounds where we stand there at the toss and we have no idea essentially on how to build a game plan, what to do at the toss or even a best guess on what the pitch is going to play like, versus our opposition that are walking into the same venue every game. So these are a few of the little challenges that I think are going to start to be naturally fixed.”

England, meanwhile, will be looking to maintain their winning start to the tournament when they take on Scotland

Sruthi Ravindranath12-Oct-2024England vs ScotlandSharjah, 2pm local timeEngland squad: Heather Knight (capt), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones (wk), Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith, Danni WyattScotland squad: Kathryn Bryce (capt), Chloe Abel, Abbi Aitken-Drummond, Olivia Bell, Sarah Bryce (wk), Darcey Carter, Priyanaz Chatterji, Katherine Fraser, Saskia Horley, Lorna Jack, Ailsa Lister, Abtaha Maqsood, Megan McColl, Hannah Rainey, Rachel SlaterTournament form guide: England have won both matches they’ve played so far – against Bangladesh and South Africa – while Scotland are coming into the match having lost all three of their games.News brief: These teams will be facing each other for the first time in T20Is. England are coming into this match after a gap of five days, having last played against South Africa on Monday.Scotland are out of the semi-final race. The Group B table has three teams – England, West Indies and South Africa – still in contention for the semi-final, with England having the lowest net run rate among them. England will be looking to improve their NRR with a big win.”There was a little bit of illness at one point but I think hopefully everyone will be available,” England captain Heather Knight said of player availability ahead of the match.This will also be Scotland wicketkeeper-batter Lorna Jack-Brown’s last international match.Player to watch: Danni Wyatt-Hodge has been solid at top of the order for England. Chasing a tricky target of 125 on a slow Sharjah pitch, with left-arm spinners bowling from both ends, she dropped anchor after the early loss of Maia Bouchier and stitched a 64-run stand with Nat Sciver-Brunt. She finished with 43 in as many balls, which followed her Player-of-the-Match performance of 41 against Bangladesh.Harmanpreet Kaur’s 52 took India to a win against Sri Lanka•ICC via Getty ImagesAustralia vs IndiaSharjah, 6pm local timeAustralia squad: Alyssa Healy (capt & wk), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia WarehamIndia squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, D Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, S SajanaTournament form guide: Australia have three wins in three matches and are coming into this contest having comprehensively beaten Pakistan. With that win, they also all but sealed a semi-final spot thanks to their net run rate of 2.786. India have two wins in three games. In their previous match, they posted the highest total of the tournament so far – 172 for 3 – and in return bundled Sri Lanka out for 90 to post their biggest win by runs at the T20 World Cup.Related

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News brief: Australia have major injury concerns heading into the crucial clash. Just four balls into the match against Pakistan, Tayla Vlaeminck was out with a right shoulder dislocation. To make things worse, captain Alyssa Healy suffered “an acute right foot injury” while batting on 37 as she hobbled off the field with Australia needing 14 runs to win. Both players went for scans on Saturday.India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who had hurt her neck in the match against Pakistan, turned up with a pain-relief patch on the right side of her neck during the Sri Lanka match. She also didn’t take the field during the chase. Fast bowler Pooja Vastrakar bowled full-tilt before the Sri Lanka game but didn’t play.India will want a big win against Australia. If they win by more than 61 runs, they will move ahead of Australia, thereby automatically qualifying for the semi-final. In a case where India win by fewer than 60 runs, they will hope New Zealand win by a very small margin against Pakistan on Monday. For instance, if India make 150 against Australia and win by exactly 10 runs, New Zealand need to beat Pakistan by 28 runs defending 150 to go ahead of India’s NRR. If India lose to Australia by more than 17 runs while chasing a target of 151, then New Zealand’s NRR will be ahead of India, even if Pakistan beat New Zealand by just 1 run while defending 150.Overall, India have won just eight out of 34 T20Is they’ve played against Australia. Two of those wins came in the group-stage games of previous T20 World Cups, in 2018 and 2020.Players to watch: Two of their best batters finding their form bodes well for India heading into the big game. Harmanpreet and Mandhana’s collaborative effort against Pakistan boosted India’s NRR with the semi-final race heating up. Mandhana, after a cautious start to her innings, changed gears and took on Sri Lanka’s spinners to make 50 off 38 balls. Harmanpreet, continuing from where she’d left against Pakistan, played a classic, hitting eight fours and a six on her way to a 27-ball 52. It was just what India needed to reinvigorate their T20 World Cup campaign.

Liverpool are still keeping tabs on Alexander Isak despite signing Hugo Ekitike, with the Newcastle United striker keen to leave St James’ Park. The Reds remain interested in a potential £130 million ($176m) move, but will only act if the Magpies soften their stance and Luis Diaz departs. Despite reports, it is now reported that Isak is not currently in talks with Al-Hilal.

• Liverpool still interested in Isak despite Hugo Ekitike arrival
• £130m package possible if Diaz leaves Anfield this summer
• Isak prefers top-level football over Saudi Pro League switch

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  As per reports, Isak has formally told Newcastle United he wants to explore a move away, with Liverpool and Al-Hilal both showing interest. The Swedish striker missed the Magpies’ pre-season tour, officially due to injury, though speculation continues to rage about his future.

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  Liverpool have been in direct contact and are considering a bid if conditions align. As per Fabrizio Romano, despite securing the signing of Ekitike, the Reds still view Isak as a priority target. The transfer guru has added that the Reds are prepared to act if the Magpies agree to sell and if Diaz leaves Anfield.

• TELL ME MORE…

  The report also added that negotiations with Al-Hilal haven’t progressed as Isak prefers to continue playing in Europe. He is believed to be more open to joining a Premier League side, especially the current champions. Newcastle remain reluctant to let their star forward go, but a £150 million ($203m) offer could change their approach. The Swedish striker is also reportedly pushing for a new contract worth around £ 300,000 per week if he stays.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR ISAK?

  Liverpool are monitoring the situation closely and may return with a formal offer if Newcastle shift their stance. Isak’s desire for top-level football makes a move to Merseyside more likely than Saudi Arabia. For now, Newcastle must decide whether to keep pushing for a contract extension or cash in.

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