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Chelsea are willing to listen to offers for defender Marc Cucurella ahead of a possible January transfer move, sources have told ESPN.

The £62 million ($75.5m) signing from Brighton made his second appearance of the season in Wednesday’s 1-0 Carabao Cup fourth-round win against his former club but is yet to play a single Premier League minute since Mauricio Pochettino became head coach in July.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

Cucurella told ESPN as part of an exclusive interview in July that he wanted to stay at the club and fight for his place but a lack of regular minutes in the coming months will likely force a rethink.

Chelsea were ready to allow the 25-year-old to join Manchester United on loan this summer but the deal collapsed after Cucurella played in the club’s previous Carabao Cup tie against AFC Wimbledon.

FIFA regulations stipulate that a player cannot represent three clubs in a single season and given United wanted to insert a break clause in any deal to allow them to return Cucurella to Chelsea, talks broke down.

Reports in Spain have linked Real Madrid with a possible loan bid in January and the prospect of returning to the country of his birth is thought to appeal to Cucurella. United are unlikely to re-enter the running given they signed Sergio Reguilón on loan from Tottenham after switching their attentions from Cucurella.

Chelsea would prefer a permanent transfer to help balance the books after another summer of spending which took Chelsea’s total outlay on transfers past the £1 billion mark since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital completed their takeover of the club last May.

There’s something melancholic about an English seaside town in winter. Whether it’s the shuttered shop fronts rusted by the salty air, the sickly green waves crashing against the vacant shoreline, or the wind buffeting rows of empty beach huts, there’s often a sense of stoicism, a need for hibernation and a yearning for better times.

However, for the residents of Brighton and Hove on England’s south coast, this year will be different. Those familiar doldrums will be shaken off as the city and its football club prepare for the team’s first European campaign in its 122-year history — a result of an incredible sixth-placed finish in the Premier League last season that handed them a spot in the UEFA Europa League.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

It has been a long time coming, as Brighton fans have had to endure heartache over the years: From relegation from the top flight in 1983, the same year they lost an FA Cup final to Manchester United, to almost being relegated to the Football Conference and liquidated in 1997, to repeated failure in the Championship playoffs — they lost three times between 2012-2016, before finally achieving promotion to the Premier League in 2016-17.

Now things are different. Amid worldwide acclaim for their transfer business and tactical style under exciting head coach Roberto De Zerbi, Brighton’s rise to playing in Europe is quite a story.

The city relies on the summer “holiday season,” when its population swells as thousands of Londoners — or DFLs (“Down From London”) as the locals call them — take the roughly 50-mile trip to the seaside. On Thursday, it will welcome fans of Greece’s AEK Athens for the first group-stage game, before supporters from the Netherlands’ Ajax Amsterdam and France’s Marseille make the journey in October and December.

Brighton have always maintained a strong community ethos — CEO Paul Barber personally sent a letter of thanks to the 41 devotees who travelled to every home and away fixture in their first season in the Premier League — so as soon as the Europa League draw was made in Monaco earlier this month, supporters began organising flights and hotel rooms, determined to make the most of the opportunity to attend matches in Europe for the first time.

“It’s a tough group but I’m really happy with it,” Brighton local Kim Strudwick tells ESPN. “You want to play teams that you know and it’s going to be amazing to watch Athens and Marseille. We’ve booked flights for Amsterdam as well. It’s going to be a great experience. I want to make sure I live it and say I’ve been.”

Brighton’s existence threatened

Seeing De Zerbi and his team take on European heavyweights is a fitting reward for the fans who have stuck by the club through thick and thin — most notably when it came within 28 minutes of relegation from the Football League in 1997.

Financially crippled from years of mismanagement, the club was left homeless and even came close to liquidation, with the board selling the Goldstone Ground to pay off debts. Seemingly doomed to the drop — it was 13 points adrift at the bottom of Division Three at one stage — the club rallied and faced what was effectively a one-match playoff against Hereford United in the final game of the season to determine who would be relegated to the Conference. In the end, a 62nd-minute equaliser from forward Robbie Reinelt secured the point Brighton needed to survive and keep the debt collectors at arm’s length.

“It was just one knockback after another at that time,” Kim’s father, and fellow Brighton fan, Steve Strudwick remembers. “You thought that Brighton could go out of existence. It would have been that way. Especially if we got relegated from the Football League. We were that close to being a semi-professional club.”

Knight in shining armour; Brighton Bloom

Four months later, on Sept. 2, 1997, local businessperson and dedicated supporter, Dick Knight — the man behind the infamous “Wonderbra” advertisement — led a consortium that took full control of Brighton from previous owner Greg Stanley and chairman Bill Archer for just £100.

The club, though, was still without a permanent home and, after two years sharing a ground at Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium, relocated to the Withdean — an athletics stadium that had once been the site of the local zoo. It was there that the supporters, who watched on from rickety temporary stands, saw the first signs of the team’s growth as the Seagulls won back-to-back promotions after the turn of the Millenium.

“Seeing us play at Gillingham for a couple of years when we were towards the bottom of the old Tier Four … We were awful then,” Steve says. “We had to go 70-odd miles or so to get there every other Saturday. It was miserable and more often than not we’d lose anyway! I remember getting soaked at the Withdean on many occasions. The stand we sat in was in the open so there was no protection. You were also a long way from the pitch because of the running track.”

Brighton’s nomadism was brought to an end in 2009 with the takeover by local entrepreneur and sports betting magnate, Tony Bloom. Fresh investment was badly needed to push through plans for a new stadium in Falmer, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, and he has put in over £400 million of his own money. Those “Bloom or bust” years even spawned the charity single ‘We Want Falmer’ that raised awareness of the fans’ wish for a new home — it reached No. 17 in the UK singles charts. But with his takeover completed in 2009 and £93m finally secured for their first permanent home in 14 years — the American Express Community Stadium — Brighton’s new owner and chairman set about creating the modern-day incarnation of the football club.

“He [Bloom] is just a hero, he’s the man,” season-ticket holder Steven Meachin says. “I would say behind Dick Knight he’s the most important person in Brighton’s history, or at least the last 50 years or so. If we didn’t have Tony Bloom then we wouldn’t be going to Marseille next month, that’s for sure.”

Rise to the Premier League

In many ways, Bloom is the embodiment of the city of his birth, continually finding appeal in the niche and the under-appreciated. It’s an ethos he has ingrained into the club.

Brighton found success under Uruguay legend Gus Poyet to gain promotion to the Championship in 2010-11 and, after a few years of playoff heartache, eventually sealed their place back in the top flight for the first time in 34 years under Chris Hughton in 2016-17. Since then, the club’s player recruitment department, and their ability to see potential in traditionally overlooked and undervalued regions of the world, has set them apart from their competitors.

“They seem to be spotting gems in random leagues all over the place,” Brighton fan Ryan Newington says. “The way I sort of imagine it to be is like Football Manager [the video game], with some very intelligent data scientists going through various South American second divisions and seeing what they look like.”

It’s a process that has produced Premier League stars such as Mali’s Yves Bissouma [£30m, to Tottenham], Argentina’s Alexis Mac Allister [£35m, to Liverpool], Ecuador’s Moisés Caicedo [£100m, to Chelsea] and, most recently, the Republic of Ireland’s 18-year-old striker Evan Ferguson. But the accepted hierarchy of modern football means that for clubs like Brighton, it’s not just finding the right players; it’s about replacing them when the richer teams inevitably take them away. It’s something they seem to do better than any other club, but do the fans still get nervous whenever one of their heroes is moved on for a huge profit?

“I trust the board and I think lots of other Brighton fans feel that way,” Newington continues. “Yes, we’ll recruit players and yes, we’ll move them on for a profit and that is part of the system, but I feel like the money is reinvested well. Over the past two or three seasons it feels like the recruitment has got even better. You can’t be anything but happy with it.

“I have immense trust in the club’s leaders, Tony Bloom and Paul Barber. I suppose it’s because they’ve just made right decision after right decision after right decision for 10 years. Tony Bloom is a lifelong Brighton fan, he’s invested a lot of his own money. It’s all purely out of love.”

As a former professional gambler, Brighton’s owner is understandably secretive about how he consistency beats the odds, and the inner workings of his sports betting and analytics company, Starlizard, are shrouded in mystery.

Bloom’s secrecy extends to his football team. If you drive down the busy Old Shoreham Road into Worthing you’d be forgiven for overlooking the fact that Brighton’s training ground is nestled just out of view, hidden in the residential area to your left. There are remarkably few signs that mark its presence.

The results, however, are clear to see – the club have scored more goals than anyone else in the Premier League so far this season (15) after registering a £74m net profit from the summer transfer window and have even signed Lionel Messi’s one-time heir at Barcelona, Ansu Fati, on a season-long loan.

“When you compare where we are now to those days [at Gillingham and the Withdean] I do think it gives you genuine pride,” Newington adds. “With where we are now and the success of qualifying for the Europa League you’re like: ‘oh my God, we’re actually good!'”

De Zerbi leads European charge

Supporters, though, are keen to stress that they’re not getting too ahead of themselves as the club makes its first foray into Europe this week.

“I think from the fans’ point of view there’ll be no pressure at all,” Meachin says. “I think everyone expects us to get through the group, but worst-case scenario, finish third, and get in the [Europa] Conference League. Brighton fans don’t expect a lot. Most fans are kind of just kind of happy with going on the ride at the moment.”

The lack of ruthlessness that saw Brighton suffer so badly when faced with the intensity of Championship playoff games was a feature that De Zerbi quickly rectified after taking over from Graham Potter [who joined Chelsea] in September last year.

Potter was derided for the way in which his team consistently underperformed against their Expected Goals (xG) — in three games towards the end of February 2021, the team had a total xG of 7.79 but scored only once. Under De Zerbi this season, Brighton have scored 15 goals from an xG of 12.16. But the Italian hasn’t just improved his team in front of goal, many Brighton fans feel as though his influence on the club has been underappreciated from the outside.

“De Zerbi has changed more than what people give him credit for,” Meachin claims. “He is a different level but I can’t see him staying around for more than another year or two [because a bigger team will hire him]. I mean Potter did well, but I think De Zerbi is just a clear step up.”

“A lot of people don’t realise what it was like up until the March of the season before he [Potter] went. There were still a lot of question marks with the fanbase. We lost at home to Wolves in December of 2021 and a lot of people were saying ‘he’s got to go, we’re not progressing.’ It wasn’t until that March when we won at Tottenham that it started to properly come together.”

Even Bloom has admitted to being surprised by De Zerbi’s influence.

“I didn’t quite realise the impact he would have when he came in,” Bloom told BBC Radio Sussex Sport. “He has been hugely influential for so many players. He is so good at improving them. The quality of the play and the risk taking at the right times to create opportunities for the players to create chances and his tactical abilities are superb.”

Brighton have come such a long way in a short space of time. When they kick off against AEK Athens on Thursday night, you can guarantee that everyone associated with the club will take a moment to contemplate just how much they’ve achieved. Twenty-six years after Reinelt’s goal kept Brighton alive, they’re heading off to Europe in search of the good life.

Erik ten Hag has admitted there is doubt about whether Jadon Sancho has a future at Manchester United.

The 23-year-old is training alone following his public row with Ten Hag in the aftermath of the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal before the international break.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

Sources have told ESPN that Sancho has not apologised for his role in the spat and, speaking at a news conference on Friday, the United manager refused to say whether the England international remains part of his long-term plans at Old Trafford.

“I don’t know,” said Ten Hag, when asked whether Sancho will play for United again.

“I prepare my team the best I can, I put all my effort into the players who are available. He is not available, so in this moment, he is not important, because he can’t contribute.”

Sancho has been banished from first-team training after publicly challenging Ten Hag’s reasons for dropping him for the game at Arsenal.

Ten Hag said it was because of poor training performances, before Sancho issued a post on social media to say the comments were “completely untrue” and that he had been “made a scapegoat for a long time.”

Sancho is unavailable for Brighton’s visit to Old Trafford on Saturday but Ten Hag insists the rest of his players are focused.

“With fans it’s the talk, with you [the media] it’s the talk, but with the players it is not the talk,” he added.

“They want to perform. For players who didn’t have so much opportunities, they get their opportunity, so this is their chance to come into the team.

“So, as I said, we had a really good spirit, everyone is focusing on this game, and the coming games.”

Sancho is currently training alone with club staff and there is no timeframe for his return to the squad.

Ten Hag is also without Antony, who has been given a leave of absence amid allegations of abusive behaviour towards multiple women. Raphaël Varane, Mason Mount, Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia and new signing Sofyan Amrabat are all out injured leaving United short of options, but Ten Hag insists he had no choice but to take a tough stance on Sancho.

“It’s in favour of the team,” he said.

“That is what my decision is based on. That is not about me, and to be strict. No. This is in favour of the team.”

Gareth Southgate has labelled criticism of Harry Maguire as a “a joke” and claimed the “ridiculous treatment” of the Manchester United defender is “beyond anything I’ve ever seen.”

Maguire came on for the second half of Tuesday’s 3-1 friendly win over Scotland at Hampden Park and was jeered throughout by the home supporters.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

England were leading 2-0 through strikes from Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham before Maguire scored a 67th-minute own goal to prompt further ironic cheers.

Harry Kane settled the contest with his 59th international goal nine minutes from time as England supporters continued to chant Maguire’s name in response to sustained abuse.

Maguire was also cheered by Arsenal fans when appearing as a substitute for Manchester United at Emirates Stadium earlier this month and Southgate believes the negativity is the product of unfair coverage.

“From a Scotland fan’s point of view, I get it and I have absolutely no complaints with what they did,” began Southgate. “It is a consequence of ridiculous treatment of him for a long period of time, frankly. I think our fans recognised ‘OK, there might be a bit of heat from our own supporters but we’re not going to have it from others getting into him.’

“But it’s a joke. I’ve never known a player treated like he is, not by the Scottish fans but by our own commentators, pundits whatever it is. They’ve created something beyond anything I’ve ever seen. He’s been an absolute stalwart in the second most successful England team in decades.

“He’s been an absolutely key part of that. I’ve talked about the importance of our senior players, he’s been crucial amongst that. Every time he goes on the field, the resilience he shows, the balls he shows is absolutely incredible. He’s a top player, we are all with him and our fans were brilliant with him tonight.”

Asked how Maguire was, Southgate continued: “He’s good, he’s great. We’ve had a good win. He’s been a big part of that. He’s gone and spoken with the media because that’s the sort of lad he is. He’s fronted up as he always does. Enormous credit to his character.”

Serbia forward Aleksandar Mitrovic has joined Saudi side Al Hilal from Fulham, the two clubs announced on Saturday.

Mitrovic, Fulham’s top scorer in four of the last five seasons, did not play in the Premier League club’s 3-0 loss to Brentford on Saturday after being injured in the opening game of the season at Everton last weekend.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

Fulham manager Marco Silva later acknowledged that they had reluctantly agreed to let the 28-year-old leave.

“I got information before the match and now the confirmation from the club after the match too that he’s on his way to leave the club,” the Portuguese told reporters at Craven Cottage.

“Both clubs they got an agreement and now is the moment to finish the era of Mitrovic in our club.

“He forced everything to leave the club, he wanted to leave the club,” he added. “In the end they reached an agreement and now is the moment for us to keep playing and working without him.”

Silva did not provide any details about the deal.

Mitrovic has three years left on his contract and Fulham last month rejected multiple offers from Al Hilal, who have also signed Brazil’s Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain.

ESPN reported that Riyadh-based Al Hilal had since come back with an improved offer of £46 million ($58m), which was believed to be close to Fulham’s asking price.

Silva said Fulham would seek to replace Mitrovic within the transfer window but it would not be easy.

“Unfortunately for me as manager we have four or five players to sign in 15 days. The striker position and striker market is not an easy one,” he said.

“Many clubs are looking for the same. We are going to do our best to do it.

“We have to find the right player to replace him. If not we’re going to face the Premier League with the players we have here.”

Information from ESPN’s James Olley contributed to this report.

اوکلند، نیوزلند — تیم ملی فوتبال زنان نیوزیلند پس از اینکه شنبه شب مجبور شد به طور موقت از هتل خود به دلیل آتش سوزی تخلیه شود، سالم است.

فوتبال نیوزلند در بیانیه‌ای اعلام کرد: «می‌تواند تأیید کند که تیم و کارکنان Football Ferns به‌دلیل آتش‌سوزی از هتل پولمن، پایگاه تیم‌های آنها برای جام جهانی فوتبال زنان، به‌طور موقت تخلیه شده‌اند.

همه اعضای تیم و کارکنان در امنیت هستند و مورد توجه قرار می گیرند.

یک سخنگوی آتش نشانی و اورژانس NZ به ESPN تأیید کرد که حدود ساعت 8 بعد از ظهر روز شنبه، به دلیل فعال شدن زنگ خطر آتش سوزی، خدمه اورژانس از جمله هشت کامیون به هتل پولمن فراخوانده شدند و مهمانان مجبور به تخلیه شدند. آتش خاموش شده و کنترل هتل به کارکنان هتل بازگردانده شده است.

پلیس نیوزیلند در بیانیه ای اعلام کرد که یک مرد 34 ساله در ارتباط با این آتش سوزی دستگیر شده است.

پلیس گفت: «در پی آتش‌سوزی مشکوک در یک محل در واترلو کواد، اوکلند سنترال دیشب، مردی دستگیر شد. این مرد 34 ساله به دزدی و آتش‌سوزی متهم شده است و قرار است روز دوشنبه در دادگاه منطقه اوکلند حاضر شود.

سخنگوی خدمات آمبولانس هاتو هان سنت جان به ESPN تأیید کرد که دو آمبولانس به محل حادثه اعزام شدند و چهار نفر به دلیل استنشاق دود تحت درمان قرار گرفتند، اما نیازی به انتقال به بیمارستان نداشتند زیرا در “وضعیت متوسط” بودند.

هشت تیم در حال حاضر در اوکلند در طول مسابقات حضور دارند: نیوزلند، ایالات متحده آمریکا، ویتنام، آرژانتین، نروژ، فیلیپین، پرتغال و ایتالیا.

منچستریونایتد روز پنجشنبه پیشنهاد خود را برای آندره اونانا، دروازه بان اینترمیلان به 50 میلیون یورو (54 میلیون دلار) افزایش داد (45 میلیون یورو به اضافه 5 میلیون یورو اضافی) و اکنون در اولدترافورد این اطمینان وجود دارد که می توان با یک معامله موافقت کرد. منابع به ESPN گفته اند.

اینتر به یونایتد گفت که پیشنهاد 40 میلیون یورویی آنها در روز چهارشنبه (43.4 میلیون دلار) برای تایید جدایی اونانا کافی نیست. این پیشنهاد اکنون قرار است 10 میلیون یورو افزایش یابد که یونایتد را به ارزش 60 میلیون یورویی اینتر نزدیک می کند.

– پخش جریانی در ESPN+: لالیگا، بوندسلیگا، بیشتر (ایالات متحده)

اکنون در همه طرف های معامله اعتقاد وجود دارد که می توان به مصالحه دست یافت و به اونانا اجازه داد میسون مانت را تا اولدترافورد دنبال کند.

در میان ابهامات ادامه دار پیرامون آینده داوید دخیا، اریک تن هاگ، سرمربی، به دنبال یک دروازه بان جدید است.

منابع به ESPN گفته‌اند که یونایتد همچنان در حال برنامه‌ریزی برای مذاکره رو در رو با دروازه‌بان اسپانیایی برای بحث در مورد وضعیت قراردادش است، اگرچه روسای باشگاه قبول دارند که در صورت امضای اونانا ممکن است او نخواهد شماره 2 شود.

دخیا روز پنجشنبه در کارینگتون نبود زیرا بازیکنان غیر بین المللی یونایتد به تمرینات پیش فصل بازگشتند. این بازیکن 32 ساله پس از پایان قراردادش در 30 ژوئن یک بازیکن آزاد است.

تن هاگ در طول مدت حضورشان در آژاکس با اونانا کار کرد و این ملی پوش کامرونی هدف اصلی دروازه بانی او در این پنجره است.

علیرغم علاقه شدید تن هاگ به این بازیکن 27 ساله، یونایتد تمایلی به برآورده کردن ارزش اینتر ندارد زیرا نیاز به ذخیره بخشی از بودجه تابستانی برای جذب یک مهاجم دارد.

یونایتد به دلیل ارزش گذاری بیش از 100 میلیون پوندی تاتنهام از انتقال احتمالی هری کین عقب نشینی کرده و در عوض روی راسموس هوجلوند از آتالانتا و راندال کولو موانی از اینتراخت فرانکفورت تمرکز کرده است.

بودجه نقل و انتقالات تابستانی تن هاگ به دلیل نگرانی های فیرپلی مالی محدود شده است و باشگاه قصد دارد بین 100 تا 150 میلیون پوند هزینه خالص داشته باشد.

مانت 50 میلیون پوند اولیه از چلسی هزینه داشت در حالی که انتقال پیشنهادی اونانا از اینتر ممکن است 50 میلیون یورو دیگر هزینه داشته باشد.

منابع به ESPN گفتند که منچستریونایتد نگران این است که داوید دخیا آخرین بازی خود را برای این باشگاه انجام داده باشد.

سران یونایتد معتقد بودند که به توافق با دروازه بان برای تمدید قرارداد نزدیک شده اند، اما مذاکرات طولانی شده است و این نگرانی وجود دارد که او اکنون تابستان امسال را ترک کند.

– پخش جریانی در ESPN+: لالیگا، بوندسلیگا، بیشتر (ایالات متحده)

منابع به ESPN گفته اند که باشگاه تصمیم به تمدید یک ساله قرارداد دخیا گرفته است که باعث می شود او تا سال 2024 در باشگاه بماند. این گزینه در ماه می منقضی شد.

در عوض، مذاکراتی درباره یک معامله طولانی‌تر در مورد دستمزد پایه پایین‌تر، اما شامل پاداش‌های مرتبط با عملکرد قابل توجه انجام شده است.

منابع به ESPN گفته اند که مذاکرات با دخیا در حال انجام است اما یونایتد به اندازه یک ماه قبل نسبت به دستیابی به سازش خوش بین نیست.

دخیا 32 ساله 12 فصل را در اولدترافورد سپری کرده و بیش از 500 بازی انجام داده است.

منابع به ESPN گفته اند که در اوایل این فصل او در حال بررسی امکان بازگشت به اسپانیا بود در حالی که علاقه آزمایشی باشگاه های عربستان سعودی نیز وجود داشت.

در همین حال، یونایتد قصد دارد دومین پیشنهاد برای جذب میسون مانت، هافبک چلسی ارائه دهد.

اولین پیشنهاد 40 میلیون پوندی دیگر (51 میلیون دلار) بلافاصله توسط چلسی رد شد، زیرا می خواهد نزدیک به 70 میلیون پوند باشد. یونایتد تا این حد ادامه نخواهد داشت، اما به گفته منابع، امیدوار است با مبلغی در حدود 50 میلیون پوند موافقت کند.

ماونت تابستان امسال وارد آخرین سال قراردادش در استمفوردبریج خواهد شد و امید چندانی به توافق او برای شرایط جدید وجود ندارد.

بازار کوه، که در یک مرحله شامل لیورپول، آرسنال و بایرن مونیخ می شد، در نیم فصل دوم به طور قابل توجهی سرد شده است و یونایتد به عنوان پیشتاز آشکار برای امضای او شناخته می شود.

یونایتد امیدوار است که نیاز چلسی به فروش تعدادی از بازیکنان در تابستان به مذاکرات کمک کند تا این احتمال وجود داشته باشد که ماونت بتواند بخشی از تیم قبل از تور پیش فصل ایالات متحده باشد که در نیویورک در 20 جولای آغاز می شود.