LONDON: Unsettled Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford is close to joining Aston Villa on loan, according to reports on Saturday.
Villa have moved for Rashford after selling Colombia striker Jhon Duran to Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr on Friday.
The 27-year-old had been linked with AC Milan and Barcelona, while his representatives are also believed to have held talks with Tottenham and West Ham during the January transfer window.
A temporary switch to Villa would allow Rashford to rehabilitate his tarnished reputation after his astonishing fall from grace in the last two years.
Villa could benefit from a revitalized Rashford with a point to prove as they look to challenge for a top four finish in the Premier League, while also competing in the Champions League last 16.
Villa boss Unai Emery is sure to be asked about the interest in Rashford when his side face Wolves in Saturday’s late Premier League fixture.
Rashford has been looking to leave Old Trafford since admitting he was ready for a “new challenge” after being dropped by United boss Ruben Amorim for the Manchester derby in December.
The England star has missed all 12 of United’s game since then, with Amorim appearing to lose patience with Rashford recently when he said he would rather name the club’s 63-year-old goalkeeping coach in the squad.
Amorim said this week that Rashford would have to change his ways completely to end his exile.
But it now seems Rashford will get his wish to quit United before Monday’s transfer deadline.
Meanwhile, United have signed England Under-19 international Ayden Heaven from Arsenal in a deal worth over £1 million in compensation to the Gunners.
The 18-year-old center-back has signed a contract until 2029, with the option of a further year.
He was in the last six months of his scholarship terms at Arsenal and rejected the chance to sign a professional contract with the north Londoners.
Heaven made his Arsenal debut in the League Cup against Preston earlier this season and United said he will be “immediately” linking up with Amorim’s squad.
“I am incredibly proud to join Manchester United,” Heaven said.
“I’m grateful to everyone who helped make this dream a reality.
“There is so much that I want to achieve in the game. I’ll be giving everything to continue my development and become the best player that I can be.”
Man Utd’s Rashford close to Aston Villa loan: reports
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Man Utd’s Rashford close to Aston Villa loan: reports
- Villa have moved for Rashford after selling Colombia striker Jhon Duran to Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr on Friday
- A temporary switch to Villa would allow Rashford to rehabilitate his tarnished reputation
Kante snatches a point for Al-Ittihad during frantic finish at Al-Qadsiah
- Home side left to rue earlier misses as both teams score in second-half added time to earn a share of the points
- Al-Itthad, who have drawn their last 3 games, go 7 points clear at top of Saudi Pro League but Al-Hilal could close the gap to 4 on Friday
Al-Ittihad rescued a point with a 1-1 draw in their Saudi Pro League clash at Al-Qadsiah on Thursday, thanks to a 96th-minute strike from N’Golo Kante that canceled out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s opening goal, which came just five minutes earlier.
The late equalizer from the former Chelsea and Leicester City midfielder moved Al-Ittihad seven points clear at the top of the table but Al-Hilal have a chance to close the gap to four when they travel to Al-Fayha on Friday. The league leaders have drawn their last three games.
Al-Qadsiah, who would have moved into second place with a victory, remain in third, level on points with Al-Hilal. And they should have won, because the visitors were second-best for the majority of the game in Dammam.
The hosts dominated the first half to the extent that the visitors from Jeddah would surely have been relieved if they had found themselves only a goal down at the break, yet somehow they were still level at the end of the half.
Al-Qadsiah’s forwards certainly had their chances but were unable to make them count. Mexican marksman Julian Quinones has been in fine form in the league but could not find a way past Predrag Rajkovic in goal, or the woodwork. It was not only the forwards who missed good chances; defender Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat had a shot cleared off the line.
The home side were almost made to pay for their misses when Karim Benzema found Fawaz Al-Saqour unmarked in the area, only for the ball to bounce off his knee with the goal at his mercy.
As chances came and went there was always a possibility that Al-Ittihad might snatch a goal. Houssem Aouar, for example, was on target early in the second half with a shot from outside the area, forcing a save from Koen Casteels.
Still Al-Qadsiah continued to push forward until finally, in the first minute of added time, they got their just rewards. Nahitan Nandez sent in a low cross into the center of the area from the right and Aubameyang was waiting to guide the ball into the bottom corner of the net with a first-time shot.
That looked to be that but while Al-Ittihad might not be at their best right now, their fighting spirit is still very much in evidence. They grabbed their late equalizer when Benzema crossed from the left and found Kante, unmarked inside the six-yard box, who stabbed home to gift his team what had looked to be an unlikely point.
Man Utd draw in Spain in Europa League last 16 as Spurs beaten
- “I felt until the penalty we had control of the game and then I think the penalty changed a little bit the momentum,” Amorim told TNT Sports
- Rangers recorded an impressive 3-1 win away to a Fenerbahce team coached by Jose Mourinho
PARIS: Manchester United drew 1-1 away to Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday, while Tottenham suffered a 1-0 loss away to Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.
Joshua Zirkzee drilled in from just outside the area to give United the lead on 57 minutes in San Sebastian but Mikel Oyarzabal levelled from the spot after Bruno Fernandes was punished for a handball.
Zirkzee cut a distraught figure after missing the decisive penalty in last week’s FA Cup shootout loss to Fulham and has endured a testing first season at United, whose only remaining hope of silverware is in the Europa League.
He scored for the first time in Europe this term, unleashing a sharp low drive from 20 yards after being teed up by Alejandro Garnacho’s inviting pass.
But Ruben Amorim’s side could not hold on to their advantage as Fernandes handled at a corner, with Oyarzabal confidently converting his spot-kick.
Andre Onana made two excellent saves to keep United level as Real Sociedad pressed for a winner, leaving the tie evenly poised ahead of next week’s second leg.
“I felt until the penalty we had control of the game and then I think the penalty changed a little bit the momentum,” Amorim told TNT Sports.
“I felt our team in the last 30 minutes were really, really tired,” he added.
“We take this stage to Old Trafford... it’s going to be a different game, the pressure is going to be on us in that stadium and we have to be ready.”
Lucas Bergvall’s first-half own goal condemned Spurs to defeat in the Netherlands, and it could have been worse for Ange Postecoglou’s side were it not for two fine saves from Guglielmo Vicario.
Rangers recorded an impressive 3-1 win away to a Fenerbahce team coached by Jose Mourinho.
Cyriel Dessers put Rangers ahead early on in Istanbul before Alexander Djiku hauled Fenerbahce level.
Vaclav Cerny restored the lead for the Scots before striking again nine minutes from time to place Rangers in firm control under interim boss Barry Ferguson.
Lyon also took a big stride toward the quarter-finals with a 3-1 victory at Romanians FCSB.
Paulo Fonseca fought back tears as his players celebrated Nicolas Tagliafico’s opener with him, a day after the Portuguese coach was banned from the dugout until November by French football officials after an angry altercation with a referee.
Malick Fofana won the game for Lyon with two late goals after Alexandru Baluta had equalized for FCSB.
Roma host Athletic Bilbao later on Thursday, while Ajax are at home to Eintracht Frankfurt. Lazio travel to Viktoria Plzen for the first leg of their tie.
Women’s tennis players now are eligible for paid maternity leave funded by Saudi Arabia’s PIF
- More than 300 players are eligible for the fund, which is retroactive to Jan. 1. The WTA would not disclose how much money is involved
- The WTA says 25 moms are active on tour; one, Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda Bencic, won a title last month after returning from maternity leave in October
DUBAI: Pregnant players on the women’s tennis tour now can receive 12 months of paid maternity leave, and those who become parents via partner pregnancy, surrogacy or adoption can get two months off with pay, under a program sponsored by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and announced Thursday by the WTA.
“Independent contractors and self-employed individuals don’t typically have these kinds of maternity benefits provided and available to them. They have to go out and sort of figure out those benefits for themselves,” WTA CEO Portia Archer said. “This is really sort of novel and groundbreaking.”
More than 300 players are eligible for the fund, which is retroactive to Jan. 1. The WTA would not disclose how much money is involved.
The program — which the WTA touted as “the first time in women’s sports history that comprehensive maternity benefits are available to independent, self-employed athletes” — also provides grants for fertility treatments, including egg freezing and IVF.
It’s part of a wider trend: As women’s sports rise, there is an emphasis on meeting maternity and parental needs.
How many mothers are on the women’s tennis tour now?
The WTA says 25 moms are active on tour; one, Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda Bencic, won a title last month after returning from maternity leave in October.
More and more pros in tennis have returned to action after having children, including past No. 1-ranked players and Grand Slam title winners such as Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Kim Clijsters, Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka.
Azarenka — a member of the WTA Players’ Council, which Archer acknowledged played a key role in pushing for this fund — thinks these benefits will encourage lower-ranked or lower-earning athletes to take as much time off as they feel they need after becoming a parent, rather than worrying about losing out on income while not entering tournaments.
“That’s certainly one of the aims of the program: to provide the financial resources, the flexibility, the support, so that these athletes, regardless of where they’re ranked, but particularly those who earn less, will have that agency ... to decide when and how they want to start their families,” Archer said.
And, Azarenka said, this could lead some players to decide to become parents before retiring from the sport for good.
“Every feedback we’ve heard from players who are mothers — or who are not mothers — is like, ‘Wow, this is an incredible opportunity for us,’” said 2012-13 Australian Open champion Azarenka, whose son, Leo, is 8. “I believe it’s really going to change the conversation in sports. But going beyond sports, it’s a global conversation, and I’m happy that we’re (part of it).”
Other steps the WTA has taken in recent years to benefit players include steering more women into coaching, implementing safeguarding, attempting to stem cyberbullying, and increasing prize money with an eye to pay that equals what men receive in the sport.
What role does Saudi Arabia have in tennis?
The Public Investment Fund, or PIF, became the WTA’s global partner last year.
The kingdom now hosts the season-ending WTA Finals and an ATP event for rising stars of men’s tennis. The PIF sponsors the WTA and ATP rankings.
“We wouldn’t have been able to provide the benefits were it not for this relationship and the funding that PIF provides,” Archer said.
What are maternity leave policies in golf, soccer and basketball?
In golf, which like tennis is an individual sport without guaranteed salaries, the LPGA introduced an updated maternity leave policy in 2019 that lets athletes have the same playing status when they return.
In soccer, both the NWSL and the US women’s national team have collective bargaining agreements that allow for pregnancy leave and parental leave; the NWSL pays the full base salary while an athlete is pregnant.
In basketball, the WNBA’s CBA guarantees full pay during maternity leave.
For tennis, Azarenka said, the PIF WTA Maternity Fund Program is “just the beginning.”
“It’s an incredible beginning. Monumental change,” she said. “But I think we can look into how we can expand this fund for bigger, better things.”
Prosecutors demand Rubiales forced kiss trial be re-run
- They said judge Jose Manuel Fernandez-Prieto "unduly" prevented the prosecutor in the trial, Marta Durantez, from posing certain questions
- The judge "made no mention in the sentence" of key evidence brought up during the trial
MADRID: Prosecutors on Thursday requested that the trial of Spain's ex-football federation chief Luis Rubiales for his forced kiss on Jenni Hermoso be annulled and re-run, notably questioning the judge's impartiality.
Spain's top criminal court last month found Rubiales guilty of sexual assault for the kiss and fined him 10,800 euros ($11,670), sparing him jail in a sentence considered lenient by feminist groups.
The sentence fell well short of the demands of prosecutors, who had sought a total of two and a half years in prison for Rubiales, one year for sexual assault and 18 months for allegedly coercing Hermoso to downplay the kiss.
Hermoso is appealing the sentence, which also cleared Rubiales and three other defendants of coercion, including former women's team coach Jorge Vilda and two senior ex-federation officials.
The prosecutors said in a statement that they were appealing the sentence and requested the trial be declared null and void and "held again by another judge not tainted, to say the least, by an appearance of bias".
They said judge Jose Manuel Fernandez-Prieto "unduly" prevented the prosecutor in the trial, Marta Durantez, from posing certain questions and cited the "arbitrariness" of his sentence.
The statement added that the judge "made no mention in the sentence" of key evidence brought up during the trial, "as if such evidence had not existed".
Fernandez-Prieto attracted attention during the trial for his brusque attitude, frequently interrupting and scolding participants.
Rubiales was also banned from going within a 200-metre radius of Hermoso and from communicating with her for a period of one year. He denied the charges and is also appealing the ruling.
It was not immediately clear when the courts would decide on the various appeals.
The former federation chief sparked worldwide uproar when he kissed Hermoso on the lips as she went up to receive her winner's medal after Spain beat England in the 2023 Women's World Cup final in Sydney.
The backlash unleashed by the kiss forced Rubiales to relinquish his post in disgrace that year, saw him banned from all football-related activity for three years and plunged the federation into a prolonged period of turmoil.
The trial captivated Spain and made Hermoso, the all-time top scorer of the national women's team, an icon of the fight against sexism and macho culture in sport.
Hermoso said after the verdict that the trial would "create an important precedent in a social environment where there is still much to be done".
New Zealand vow to ‘find little ways’ to beat India in final
- New Zealand posted Champions Trophy record 362-6 to beat South Africa to qualify for final
- India beat New Zealand by 44 runs in the group stage of the tournament earlier this month
LAHORE: New Zealand have vowed to “find little ways to win moments” against India after making Champions Trophy history to power into Sunday’s final.
The Black Caps posted a Champions Trophy record 362-6 before restricting South Africa to 312-9 in Wednesday’s semifinal in Lahore.
They now face India in Dubai to decide the winners of the eight-nation 50-over tournament.
Rohit Sharma’s India are playing all their games in Dubai after they refused to tour hosts Pakistan because of political tensions.
India beat New Zealand by 44 runs in the group stage but batting all-rounder Daryl Mitchell said that would have no bearing on Sunday’s result.
“Final is a new day,” Mitchell said after scoring 49 against South Africa.
“Really excited to be stuck into that challenge and will adapt to whatever surface and conditions we get on the day, and will find little ways to win moments throughout that game.”
The tournament’s tangled schedule, with teams flying in and out of the United Arab Emirates from Pakistan while India have stayed put, has been hugely controversial.
The pitches have been vastly different in the two countries.
Pakistan tracks produced big totals, in contrast to the slow and turning decks of Dubai’s international cricket stadium.
“We don’t quite know how the Dubai pitch is like,” said Rachin Ravindra, one of the heroes of New Zealand’s semifinal win with a 101-ball 108.
“We know our game against India it did turn and Aussie v India (semifinal) didn’t turn so much, so I think we pride ourselves in adapting and playing the situation in front of us.”
India unleashed four spinners against New Zealand in the group phase and Varun Chakravarthy returned figures of 5-42 to bowl the Black Caps out for 205 in their chase of 250.
Rohit’s side were unchanged in their four-wicket win over Australia as the spin-heavy selection came up trumps again, albeit on a pitch that turned a little less this time around.
“They are all pretty good,” Mitchell said of India’s slow bowlers.
“But we have got some pretty good spinners ourselves.”
