“I want to play Champions League football,” said Ruben Neves, as, all of a month ago, he explained why he might leave Wolves. Maybe he had just omitted a word, because, after winning the Saudi league, Al Hilal can provide him with that chance. He is bound for the Asian Champions League. A swift change of destination on the exit from Molineux – to Riyadh rather than Barcelona – has left Neves accused of paying greater attention to his wallet than his heart, to his bank balance than his ambitions. If many of the others decamping to Saudi Arabia are in their thirties, signing up for a final pay day, Neves is 26. He may be a trendsetter if others in their prime follow suit or, like Oscar, who left Chelsea for China at 25, be seen as a player who gave up his seat at the top table too soon. The simplistic accusation may be to brand Neves a mercenary. The reality may be more complex: not for the first time, he is an example of trends in the modern game. He is joining Al Hilal for £47m; the price could appear inflated, given that he had a solitary year left on his contract at Wolves, or market value, considering his class as a passer. Either way, it put him beyond Barcelona’s reach, even before the availability of Ilkay Gundogan on a free transfer meant they could acquire a top-class alternative rather cheaper. The dream move was stripped of any realism. Barcelona’s financial difficulties have altered the equation for many another who might otherwise have been bound for Catalonia, as Neves’ Portugal teammate Bernardo Silva can testify. The broader collapse of the European transfer market is part of a wider theme affecting Premier League clubs and their greater struggle to sell. There are only a handful on the continent capable of paying a £47m fee for a midfielder; if, for various reasons, they can be ruled out, it reduces the alternatives to the big buyers in England. That they have overlooked Neves points in part to the high number of talented midfielders on the market this summer, but also to the sense he is a man out of time. A languid passer may not suit sides with a greater focus on pressing. Neves may not be a Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola or Mikel Arteta-style midfielder. But the changing dynamics in the game may have meant he was an ever more incongruous presence at Molineux. Odd as it felt that he traded the Champions League – where, at 18, he was its youngest ever captain in his Porto days – for the Championship, his first three years at Wolves were an unqualified success, with promotion and successive seventh-place finishes. The last three, however, have been underwhelming, with mid-table finishes, a lack of goals, and this season, a flirtation with relegation. Neves has still been excellent. Wolves have not been. He has been their classiest player since their golden age more than six decades ago; the added benefit was that he stayed for six years and 253 games. The axis of Neves and Joao Moutinho brought a level of style Wolves may not see again in midfield for decades. But if Neves is leaving a traditional club for a new player in the football firmament, an alternative perspective is to say he has traded one moneyed project where Jorge Mendes has exerted an influence and where Portuguese players have signed up for another. The super-agent has a habit of spotting opportunities and Wolves, under the ownership of Fosun, provided one. Not that Wolves provides such scope for signings this summer. As even Julen Lopetegui seems to have belatedly acknowledged, they have an issue with Financial Fair Play. Heavy spending in the last two windows was often misguided – Goncalo Guedes and Matheus Cunha, particularly – while a lack of buyers on the continent means Wolves cannot recoup much of their money. Neves was one of the few remaining assets, a footballer who had publicly said his time was up without having a better exit strategy. Lower mid-table at Wolves followed by a spell in Saudi Arabia was scarcely the career trajectory that many envisaged when he was skippering Porto in the Champions League as a teenager. Sympathy may be in short supply, given the probable scale of his remuneration. He may be happy at Al Hilal. But Neves, a quality player at his peak, seemed short of options. And if that is a shame, it is also part of a bigger picture. Once again, Neves is a sign of how the game is changing. Read More Saudi Arabia money has turned transfers into ‘chaos’ – will it last? N’Golo Kante, the midfield miracle worker who changed football

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Apple has announced a surprise event, at which it is expected to unveil new Macs. The event is unusual in a number of ways, including its much later start than Apple’s regular events: it will begin at 5pm local pacific time, or midnight in the UK. Apple events almost always begin at 10am local time, and it did not give any indication of why it had changed its time. It will also take place notably late in the year, on 30 October. Apple appeared to reference the proximity to Hallowe’en in its invitation, which used the title “Scary fast”. It will also be entirely virtual, with no in-person attendance. Apple switched to fully virtual events during the pandemic, but has since opened up physical attendance as restrictions have lifted. Unlike many recent Apple events, it is unclear what exactly the company is planning – though Apple’s website used the “Finder” icon from the Mac operating system, all but confirming a focus on its computers. Apple seems likely to introduce a new version of its iMac, which was last updated in April 2021 and is now far behind all of the rest of Apple’s line-up. It still uses Apple’s M1 chip, and the event will presumably at least bring it up to speed with the existing M2 processors. The company might unveil its first M3 processors, however. Apple’s first M2 computers arrived last summer, inside updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models, and so those computers could also be updated with the latest generation. Some reports have also suggested that Apple could be planning an update for its most high-end and expensive 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro, too. Those were overhauled earlier this year, however, with the introduction of the M2 Pro and M2 Max, meaning that any new update might be less likely or could be more minor. Recent weeks brought rumours that Apple was planning to update at least some of its iPads. The rumoured launch day only brought a new Apple Pencil, however – which may mean that the iPads were delayed for the upcoming event, or may mean that Apple opted not to make any changes to the iPad and released the Apple Pencil to clear the way for its new Macs. The latest launch comes the month after Apple held another live event – at its usual time – to launch the new iPhone 15 and other products. Read More Apple ‘is planning surprise Mac announcement soon’ Apple just released a new Pencil after days of excitement Sadiq Khan, Met Commissioner to ask phone companies to ‘design out’ theft

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