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Manchester United reportedly want to sign Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde this summer.
According to reports in South America, the Red Devils will make a fresh bid for the Uruguayan in the summer after failing to sign him in the January transfer window.
Manchester United lost influential midfielder Christian Eriksen to a three-month injury just before the winter window closed. To cover for the Danish international, they approached Real Madrid for the 24-year-old, but Los Blancos were uninterested in parting ways with the player, who is a vital part of the team.
However, according to El Nacional, Erik ten Hag’s side will return for Valverde in the summer, with an €80m bid on the table for the player.
United and Real Madrid did business last summer when the Spanish side sold long-time midfielder Casemiro to them. But it appears that another deal is imminent this summer if El Nacional is to be believed.
Paris Saint-Germain manager Christophe Galtier has blamed Chelsea for his side’s failure to sign Hakim Ziyech on loan on the last day of the January transfer window.
The French giants moved to sign Ziyech from Chelsea but failed at the last minute due to paperwork issues. However, the PSG coach has absolved his side of blame in the failed move, maintaining that the ‘responsibility’ did not lie with his side as they have a ‘quality workforce’.
Speaking about the situation after the French side’s win over Montpellier on Wednesday, Galtier said: “From the moment we released Pablo Sarabia to join England, we targeted players who could play on the right side. For various reasons, which I won’t go into, we couldn’t make the player we had targeted.
“I have a quality workforce. The young people will have their say. Obviously, in a very busy schedule, you have to be careful with injuries and fatigue, but there you go. I’m satisfied with the squad I have.
“Unfortunately, we could have reinforced it following the departure of Pablo, but we couldn’t. I believe that the responsibility does not lie with our club. That’s how we move forward. That’s how it is. That’s life; we look ahead.
“We wanted to replace Sarabia with a player able to evolve on the right side. Unfortunately, Ziyech was not done, and these are the hazards of the transfer window. It must be accepted. The responsibility does not lie with PSG, as I know.”
Premier League leaders, Arsenal are reportedly tracking the progress of Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi.
The 22-year-old winger left Stamford Bridge on loan last season, but could be finally sold this summer according to the Guardian.
Chelsea spent heavily in the January transfer window to recruit players, with the signing of Mykhailo Mudryk and Enzo Fernandez the highlihght of the winter window. Those additions has made space in wide areas very limited and Hudson-Odoi could be the first casualty of the shake-up.
Arsenal are lookingto pounce on that and sign the Englishman once his loan with Bayer Leverkusen comes to an end in the summer.
However, the Gunners are strong on the wings position at the moment, with Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and new-signing Leandro Trossard currently the first choice in the wings.
But should an opportunity to sign Hudson-Odoi for cheap arise, Arsenal might be interested. Mikel Arteta’s side recently signed Jorginho from Chelsea.
Since his loan move to Leverkusen, Hudson-Odoi is yet to net a league goal for the German side, creating values of just 0.1 Expected Goals and 0.8 Expected Assists. But he has netted just once in the Champions League and created a 12 chances in eleven league games
Warning: This news story includes graphic allegations of domestic violence.
Chicago White Sox pitcher Mike Clevinger is reportedly under investigation by Major League Baseball after domestic violence and child abuse allegations were levelled against him, according to The Athletic.
Olivia Finestead who has a 10-month-old daughter with Clevinger accused the Sox pitcher of allegedly committing multiple offences of physical, verbal, and emotional abuse.
The official report is described as “developing” and contains details of two incidents from last June where Clevinger reportedly choked Finestead, then slapped her and threw used chewing tobacco on their child two weeks later.
Finestead recounts that the second incident happened in a hotel room when the San Diego Padres (whom Clevinger was a player for then) were playing the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Olivia shared the Athletic’s report to her Instagram Story after uploading multiple slides, which show photos of her alleged injuries and more details of the alleged abuse. She wrote that she filed a police report against Clevinger.
credit: New York Post
Finstead wrote, “You really deserve hell. I’ve kept quiet for almost a year and you continue to covertly abuse your infant, withold ALL of her belongings, we have none of our stuff, still not even her birth certificate or her car seat attachment.
He’s made sure to do everything he can to keep control.
”
In one of the allegations from her Instagram story, Finestead said Clevinger threw an iPad at her while she was pregnant. She stated that Clevinger has children with someone else and posted screenshots of the conversation between mothers, claiming that they were both victims of his alleged abusive tendencies.
Finestead posted a message from someone who said they knew Clevinger but alleges that they cut ties with the Sox pitcher because he was “such a psychopath.”
Olivia added that Clevinger was left “alone homeless” 13 weeks after giving birth to their daughter. “I really hope you feel an immense amount of guilt for what you’ve done to ALL of your kids and their mothers including myself.” she wrote.
Major League Baseball Investigates Mike Clevinger
Sources aware of the MLB’s investigation process confirmed to the Athletic and ESPN that an investigation has been opened for Clevinger.
Clevinger was reportedly contacted by the investigators last summer when he was still a member of the San Diego Padres.
Mike accepted a one-year, $12 million free-agent contract with the White Sox in November and officially signed in December. The Athletic’s source and Finestead were told that the team did not know of the allegations until Clevinger signed with them.
The Investigation is reported to be conducted under the MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse policy shared by the MLB and MLBPA.
Chicago White Sox released a statement, “Major League Baseball and the Chicago White Sox take any and all allegations very seriously,” the team said, “The White Sox will refrain from comment until MLB’s investigative process has reached its conclusion.”
Some fans are already calling for Clevinger to be released from the team.
Journalist Gerard Romero, reports that Lionel Messi is no longer sure he wants to renew his contract with PSG and moving to MLS is once again a possibility.
At the end of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, every move pointed to Lionel Messi renewing his deal with Ligue 1’s Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and any speculations about him moving to MLS in the near future were mere rumours.
However, it seems things might have changed and according to a report by Barcelona journalist Gerard Romero, Messi is no longer confident about extending his relationship with PSG. This recent development has once again opened up conversations for the Best Player award winner to move to the MLS in the forthcoming summer market or the 2024 campaign.
Messi will end his contract with PSG in June of this year, and according to Romero, the legendary player is closer to becoming a free agent than he is to extending his stay with the Ligue 1 club.
Other Options For Messi
Speculations about Messi joining the MLS have been ongoing for a while now, and the Argentine has been linked with Inter Miami and New York City FC.
These MLS clubs are the possible destinations for the 35-year-old.
However, other leagues would be keen on bringing him into their side.
It has been revealed that the Roshn Saudi League might want to add Lionel Messi’s name to their portfolio. Especially after the media buzz surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Al Nassr gave rise to the Saudi Pro League being broadcast in France, Portugal, and Italy after media deals were brokered locally.
Marner tore through the New York Rangers and slid the puck past Igor Shesterkin, flying through the air.
One of the best things to come out of the NHL’s three-on-three overtime transition is that it gives players more space to showcase their talent. That is what the Toronto Maple Leafs Mitch Marner did on Wednesday evening when he carried the Maple Leafs into a 3-2 overtime win over the New York Rangers in a remarkable fashion.
Immediately after the opening matchup, Marner took control of the puck deep in his own zone and started building speed. Once he passed the offensive zone, he slowed done, weighed his options and sped past all the Rangers on the Ice, leaving a stunned Igor Shesterkin in the dust.
Marner joked after his goal; “There’s a snowstorm. I’m just trying to get out of here before I hit traffic.”
Toronto Fans could not contain their excitement over the Maple Leafs right winger’s heroic lone effort.
Source: Yahoo Sport
What Mitch Marner did on Wednesday was his 18th goal of the campaign and his 57th point in 49 games, assisting the Leafs’ offense to become one of the most dangerous in the NHL. Tied for the team lead in points, Mitch proved himself to be more than Auston Matthews ‘sidekick’.
Timothy Liljegren tied the game in the third period after Filip Chytil placed the Rangers 2-1 with a pair of goals in the second frame. Ilya Samsonov saved 27 out of 29 shots to clinch his 16th win of the season.
Although the Boston Bruins are leading the Eastern Conference and the President’s Trophy, breaking records in the same breadth, the fight for who will take the leftover top spots in the East is ongoing. The win nudged Toronto to 68 points, ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils.
With three games left on their five-game home stand that ends with Boston, Toronto will hope to gather some points in front of the crowd at Scotiabank Arena.
LeBron James is making history on his way to getting an all-time scoring record.
After his 46-point performance against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, Lakers’ LeBron James is now 178 points away from passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time scoring leader.
As this historic moment edges closer with every game – a look at LeBron’s current scoring average (30.2 ppg), puts him on pace to pass Kareem on February 4th against New Orleans. King James included another feather to his cap on Tuesday, becoming the first NBA player to score 40 points against all of the league’s 30 franchises.
However, this is not the first time LeBron has pulled off a feat like this; in November 2019, he became the first player in the NBA to record a triple-double against all 30 teams. His teammate Russell Westbrook joined him two months later.
LeBron ended Tuesday’s game with 46 points on 16-of-29 shooting from the field while making a career-high nine 3-pointers in 14 attempts. His ninth triple of the game cut what was previously a 21-point fourth-quarter lead for the Clippers down to 10 with 6:46 to play, capping off a 15-point scoring burst from LeBron in over four minutes of game time as he made three 3-pointers, a pair of free throws and dunks, The Clippers had LeBron scoreless the rest of the way and outscored the Lakers 20-12 to finish the game, securing a 133-115 win.
What LeBron James did on Tuesday, was his 73rd career regular season game with at least 40 points; he has another 28 on his playoff resume and his first against the Clippers in 41 games played. LA Clippers have tied down LeBron to his second-lowest scoring average against any opponent at 24.6 points per game; only the Detroit Pistons have not given up to James, allowing only 24.1 ppg in 61 career games.
Although the Clippers allowed a 40+ point game to LeBron, they won the match, extending their winning streak over the Lakers to 10 in a row in this intracity rivalry. James losing while still scoring up to 40 points is rare; after Tuesday’s match, the Lakers are now 60-13 (.822) when scoring at least 40 points.
Milwaukee Bucks: LeBron has six 40+ point performances over 61 career games, scoring 40 in nearly 10% of his games against the Bucks.
Highest Percentage of 40+ Point Games
Miami Heat: With five 40+ point performances in 43 games played, James has scored at least 40 in 11.6% of his game played against his former team. LeBron’s 40+ point game rate for his career is 5.2% (73 40+ point games in 1,404 games played).
Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers: Both teams have given LeBron the chance to score at least 40% in 10% of their games played – four in 40 games played against Portland and two in 20 games played against Cleveland.
Highest Scoring Average
29.0 ppg vs. Cleveland in 20 career games against his former team.
28.9 ppg vs. Portland in 40 career games, highest vs. Western Conference opponent.
Highest Scoring Game
61 points, Miami vs. Charlotte on March 3, 2014.
13 more 50+ point games, with all but two coming on the road.
The three MVP finalists for the Associated Press 2022 NFL Most Valuable Player award, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, and Patrick Mahomes were announced on Wednesday, and three of them will be playing in the scheduled Conference Championship game this Sunday.
Two other MVP finalists, Josh Allen the Buffalo Bills’ quarterback and Justin Jefferson the Minnesota Vikings wide receiver took their exits from the postseason.
But, the three quarterbacks Mahomes (Chiefs), Burrow (Bengals), and Hurts (Eagles) will play this weekend to give their teams a spot in Super Bowl LVII.
The AFC Championship Game for Sunday evening featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals is also a faceoff between MVP finalists, Mahomes and Burrow.
Mahomes is in line to win his second MVP award, he was chosen for this title in the 2018 season. This season, Mahomes ended with 5,250 passing yards and 358 rushing yards, both career highs, led the NFL in passing yards and passing touchdowns (41) and was the second position in quarterback rating (105.2).
Cincinnati Bengals had a rough start to the campaign, but are now in the AFC Championship Game, not losing a game since Halloween and with their best regular-season record with Burrow under center.
Joe finished the year as one of the top five in passing yards (4,475), touchdowns (35) and completion percentage (68.3), with the last two rankings second in the league.
When speaking on Burrow, the Bengals’ head coach Zac Taylor said; ‘He’s deserving of anything that comes his way. He’s one of the greatest players in the league, and those are usually the type of guys that should be in that conversation,” Taylor said of his quarterback being nominated for the award. “I’ve said it a million times, we’re fortunate to have him.”
On the NFC side of the playoff bracket, Hurts when speaking on Wednesday following his nomination, said he was at a “loss for words” when he was mentioned as a finalist.
“It’s a cool honor,” he said.
This season, Hurts was 14-1 as the starter for the Eagles, and accumulated a career-high 3701 passing yards, 22 passing TDs and 13 rushing TDs, even after missing two games late in the season due to a sprained shoulder.
Nick Sirianni the Eagles’ head coach said on Wednesday “His body of work speaks for itself. He’s had a phenomenal year.”
For these three star players, the first other of business will be Championship Sunday, with an opportunity to appear in the Super Bowl on the line. After that, the NFL Honors ceremony holding on Feb.9, where one of the five finalists will take home a title considered one of the highest honours in Football.
Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout said he is looking forward to the fun interactions with contemporaries while playing in his first World Baseball Classic. But the overall objective for him is winning.
Trout when speaking to the media via Zoom on Friday discussed his expectations for the upcoming Classic, where he would captain a Team USA that is looking to retain its title as champion.
Mike Trout speaking via Zoom about World Baseball Classic
“The main reason we’re here is to win this thing,” Trout said. “All the other stuff is great – being able to play with each other and getting to know each other a little bit more. But there’s only one thing on our mind and that’s trying to win this whole thing.”
Mike still deals with regret for not participating in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Watching from a distance, nothing down everything from the unique atmosphere to the joy and pride players felt representing the United States during an impressive run that ended in a victory over Puerto Rico in the championship game.
“I’m always having fun on the baseball field,” Trout said. “But when they were out there making them plays and winning, that’s what I regretted. I should have been out there. I wanted to do it and then I didn’t want to do it. I was kind of up in the air about it.
But I just wanted to be a part of it.”
Trout playing for Team USA has already made a significant impact on what is expected to be a stacked roster. Briefly, after he announced it during All-Star Week last July, the three-time AL MVP award winner said several “big name” players from other teams reached out to him about joining the list.
The list of players chosen for Team USA for the Classic is packed with stars like Mookie Betts, Pete Alonso, Nolan Arenado, Tim Anderson and Paul Goldschmidt, to mention a few.
“A lot of players reached out,” he said. ”It’s going to be something special getting to represent Team USA and go out there with the whole country behind you.
“
He said he believes the names on the USA roster can defeat any team provided they play their game.
Still, he knows that every team in the tournament has a roaster filled with star players too, including Team Japan, which has his teammate and friend Shohei Ohtani.
With high expectations for both the U.S. and Japanese teams. It is most likely that the two teams will square off at some point next month.
“Talking to Shohei about [Team Japan], he tried to tell me that he doesn’t think he’s the best player on the team,” Trout said. “There’s no way that there’s somebody better than Shohei. But he knows his baseball players.
I’m looking forward to that matchup if we get there and have to face them.”
