Jim Ratcliffe’s bid for up to a 25% stake in Manchester United Plc will give the English Premier

By Olena Harmash KYIV (Reuters) -A Russian missile slammed into a cafe and grocery store in a village in northeastern

It was a season to forget for Jurgen Klopp’s men after they struggled in the Premier League. Expectations were high for Liverpool last year but they failed to challenge for the title and even missed out on Champions League football entirely. Sadio Mane left for Bayern Munich with new signings Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez unable to replicate his relationship with Mo Salah until the back end of the season. James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have all left the club with Klopp focusing on midfield reinforcements during this window. World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister has signed from Brighton with the Reds targeting more players before the window closes. Here are the latest news and transfer updates from Anfield: Dominik Szoboszlai Hungarian midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has rocketed up Liverpool’s list for potential midfield reinforcements after the club met with his representatives. Newcastle United were previously interested in the 22-year-old, who has a €70m (£60m) release clause in his RB Leipzig contract, but according to The Athletic, Liverpool are now in pole position for the midfielder’s signature. No offer has been made as of yet but there is increased confidence a deal can be struck. Szoboszlai impressed in the most recent edition of the Nations League and his chance creation metrics and ball-carrying ability fit the profile Liverpool are after in midfield. Federico Valverde Potentially the most exciting name on this list is Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde. The Daily Mail says the Reds reportedly had a £51m bid for the Uruguayan rejected earlier this month though a potential deal for the midfielder could suit Los Blancos who are aware of the massive sum spent to secure Jude Bellingham and may need more cash to move for PSG’s Kylian Mbappe. Liverpool are reportedly preparing to submit a new proposal of around £77m according to Catalan outlet El Nacional. At just 24-years-old Valverde would bring a wealth of winning experience having already won two LaLiga titles and a Champions League trophy. His versatility across midfield is an asset that will appeal to Jurgen Klopp and 12 goals from the middle of the pitch this season is a bonus attribute. Federico Chiesa Gazzetta dello Sport report that Liverpool are keen to sign Juventus and Italy attacker Federico Chiesa. The Italian media outlet says that Chiesa does not have the best relationship with Juve boss Max Allegri and struggles to fit into his 3-5-2 formation. The 25-year-old is currently stuck in contract renewal talks but it appears a transfer away from Turin could be a real possibilty especially if a big Premier League club comes knocking. Enter Liverpool who are interested in the winger. Juventus want €60m for Chiesa though he is valued him at €40m by the Reds who are unwilling to go over that. The departure of Roberto Firmino has left a vacancy in Liverpool’s forward line but with Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota available as back-up the Reds won’t be convinced to spend more than they want to for Chiesa. Fabio Carvalho It remains to be seen whether a deal will materialise between Liverpool and RB Leipzig for Szoboszlai but there has already been one deal agreed between the two clubs after Liverpool confirmed that young midfielder, Fabio Carvalho, will join the German side on a season-long loan move. Carvalho joined Liverpool in a move last summer from Fulham, making 21 appearances for Jurgen Klopp’s side in all competitions and scoring three times. Khephren Thuram A player of interest to Liverpool, Thuram is currently in action for France at the under-21s European Championships alongside Manu Kone - another individual being heavily linked with an Anfield switch. Nice are said to be seeking £35m for the 22-year-old, who would bring some much-needed physicality to the midfield. Read More Chelsea transfer news: Hakim Ziyech move collapses, Mason Mount and Moises Caicedo latest Manchester United transfer news: Mason Mount bid accepted, David De Gea and Andre Onana latest Arsenal transfer news: Record Declan Rice bid, Jurrien Timber and Granit Xhaka latest Liverpool transfer news: Szoboszlai release clause, Valverde and Carvalho latest On this day in 2010: Roy Hodgson appointed Liverpool manager Man City assistant Rodolfo Borrell joins MLS side Austin FC as sporting director

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Arsenal have agreed a deal to sign Brentford goalkeeper David Raya. The PA news agency understands a fee of £30million has been agreed for the 27-year-old Spaniard, who is reported to be signing a five-year contract. Raya will provide competition for established number one Aaron Ramsdale and the England international welcomes it. “Bring it on. Nothing comes easy in football. At the same time you need to move along and adapt as well,” Ramsdale told ITV Sport. “I’ve done it to other people when I’ve moved clubs so I’m not going to be thinking that it’s never going to happen to me. “If it happens, it happens and then we’ll fight and we’ll make each other the best version of ourselves because that’s what the manager is telling us as well. “And I’m sure whoever plays, me or whoever comes in, the goalkeeping union – people laugh at it but it’s a real thing – (means) your individual disappointment will go away. “You will put the team first and you’ll put that goalkeeper first as well.” Raya’s arrival will also signal the departure of United States goalkeeper Matt Turner to Nottingham Forest in a deal which could be worth up to £10m.

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“You want to talk about who’s the baddest man on the planet?” Joe Rogan asked. As it turns out, it was a conversation that Tyson Fury and Jon Jones were very keen to have. It might have taken the best part of two months for the question to reach Fury, but when the WBC heavyweight champion heard Rogan’s own answer, he became incensed. “If Jon Jones and Tyson Fury are locked into a room, I’m pushing all of my chips on [Jones],” Rogan laughed, the UFC commentator and comedian speaking on his Joe Rogan Experience podcast in March. “Tyson Fury is an amazing boxer... he doesn’t have a f***ing chance in hell of making it out of that room. He has no chance of making it out of that room, zero chance. He would have to catch Jon immediately with one punch, and I just don’t see that happening, man. The threat of the takedown looms so large; that shot will come so unexpectedly. When he gets his hands around you, you’ll be so stunned.” To those uninitiated in the realm of MMA, Jones is the UFC heavyweight champion of the world and is seen by many as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. Jones, 35, won the vacant heavyweight title a matter of weeks before Rogan daydreamt up a contest between the American and Fury, but his legacy was built on a frightening run at light-heavyweight between 2008 and 2020. It was a long phase in which Jones beat some of the greatest fighters that his sport has ever seen, finishing the majority of them and suffering a sole defeat after throwing what were – controversially – deemed illegal elbows; in most minds, “Bones” is unbeaten. To fans willing to overlook his failed drug tests, he may be unrivalled. There is no asterisk on Fury’s unbeaten record; the Briton is one of the most talented, enigmatic boxers of his generation, a unique heavyweight in the annals of the sport, and no man has found a way to outfight or outthink the 34-year-old in 34 bouts. Two have found a way to put Fury down. Neither has found a way to keep him down. Jones would have no problem doing either. Rogan, a jiu-jitsu black belt, is right to highlight Jones’ wrestling and grappling abilities as the obvious means by which the UFC heavyweight champion would manhandle and neutralise Fury. Sometimes, when discussing the prospect of a boxer crossing into MMA, boxing fans suggest that their fighter would be equipped enough to deal with a mixed martial artist after just six months of training in ‘MMA’. Six months is a curious timeline, plucked out of nowhere for no specific reason. This perception is problematic, in part, as a misunderstanding of how most mixed martial artists train. They typically commit years of their lives to various disciplines in their own right – boxing, Thai boxing, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, and more. Some practitioners spend well over a decade pursuing a black belt, even while training in just one of those fields. Fury has had a few pointers from Darren Till, a former UFC title challenger from Liverpool, for what that is worth. Still: “I heard Joe Rogan say something about me, and I’ve been off all the social medias and didn’t reply to that little p****, little bald-headed midget,” Fury said on Thursday (18 May). “I heard him say that Jon Jones could f*** me up if we were in the room together. I don’t think so. Not a man born from a mother could f*** me up, in a room, on our own. Whatever happens in that room, I’d be walking out. Not a f***ing problem.” Yet one of the several problems is that, while a fairly inexperienced grappler would have no issue controlling Fury from the get-go, Jones in particular thrives in wrestling exchanges. And that is not even his greatest asset, with the American’s application of elbows and kicks among his most devastating attributes. “Hey Tyson, it seems like Joe may have struck a nerve,” Jones tweeted on Thursday. “I’ll admit there’s no one touching you in that ring right now, but [don’t] let that confuse you with what would happen if you stepped foot in my cage. If you ever want to put some of those questions you got going on to rest, give Dana [White, UFC president] a call. I’ll help you out.” Fury, wisely, was quick to retreat, paying a degree of respect to Jones and clarifying that by ‘room’ he certainly did not mean ‘cage’. “I see Jon Jones has piped up,” Fury said in a social-media video. “Jon, you’re talking about me in a cage. I’m not a cage fighter, mate, I’m a boxer – the best boxer actually. So, if you want to come into a boxing ring and fight me, be my guest. Let me know. You don’t have to call anybody else – no Dana’s, nobody. You call me, because it’s a boxing fight, and I’m the boss in this game. Me. “You’re a great fighter, Jon, but you’re definitely no boxer, that’s for sure. All the best, good luck.” Fury has flirted with a crossover fight before, repeatedly calling out Jones’s predecessor as UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou. The pair shared the ring for a few moments after Fury knocked out Dillian Whyte at Wembley last April, and Ngannou is now free of his UFC contract and signed to the PFL, which is allowing the Cameroonian to box on the side. That would be the stipulation for a super-fight between Fury and Ngannou: a boxing match. And it would have to be, just as it would if Fury and Jones were ever to meet. Conor McGregor’s 2017 clash with Floyd Mayweather showed what would happen if even an elite MMA striker were to step into boxing, against a world champion. The Irishman was stopped in the 10th round and, if Mayweather had decided differently on the night, the fight could have ended earlier. At the level in question, and in the near future, we are unlikely to see a boxer dip their toes into the tempestuous waters of MMA. Boxers’ records and auras are everything to them. Those metrics be massacred in MMA. Read More Tyson Fury lifts lid on ‘silly’ Andy Ruiz Jr negotiations UFC rankings: The Independent’s pound-for-pound fighters list Francis Ngannou: Who will the heavyweight fight next after signing with PFL? Tyson Fury lifts lid on ‘silly’ Andy Ruiz Jr negotiations Who will Francis Ngannou fight next after signing with PFL? Tyson Fury reveals how he will celebrate if he beats Oleksandr Usyk