Arsenal eye Chelsea striker Nkunku – Tuesday’s gossip

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Arsenal are keen on signing Christopher Nkunku from Chelsea who are plotting a move for Jamie Gittens, Everton want to re-sign Richarlison, Paul Pogba eyes a return with DC United, plus more.

Arsenal are considering a move for out-of-favour Chelsea and France forward Christopher Nkunku, 27, as Mikel Arteta looks to add more attacking options this summer. (Teamtalk)

DC United have been in contract talks for months with 32-year-old former Manchester United, Juventus and France midfielder Paul Pogba, who has not played for 20 months. (Washington Post – subscription needed)

Premier League champions Liverpool are set to invest heavily in their squad during the summer, with a centre-forward and left-back their priorities. (Telegraph – subscription required)

Chelsea are planning a move for Borussia Dortmund’s English winger Jamie Gittens, 20, before the Club World Cup – and it is possible they could sell England forward Jadon Sancho, 25, to the German club as part of the deal. Sancho is currently on loan at Stamford Bridge from Manchester United – but the Blues have an obligation to make the deal permanent. (Teamtalk)

Real Sociedad president Jokin Aperribay says Arsenal target Martin Zubimendi’s future will be resolved in June. The Gunners look ready to formally trigger the 26-year-old Spain midfielder’s £51m release clause. (Radio Marca Donostia, via Mirror)

Everton have made Tottenham Hotspur and Brazil player Richarlison, 27, their first-choice forward target this summer. (Givemesport)

Newcastle’s English midfielder Sean Longstaff, 27, is a target for Leeds United. (i Paper)

Spurs will have to sell players to make funds available for new signings this summer.(Telegraph – subscription required)

Leeds chairman Paraag Marathe is flying to the UK to hold talks over the future of manager Daniel Farke. (Guardian)

Fulham are interested in signing 28-year-old England full-back Kyle Walker-Peters on a free transfer when his Southampton contract expires this summer. (Sky Sports)

Arsenal are ready to open discussions with the agent of Sporting and Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres, 26, about a summer move. (Givemesport – subscription needed)

Real Betis might struggle to meet Manchester United’s asking price for Brazil winger Antony despite the La Liga club’s chief insisting they want to make the 25-year-old’s loan move permanent. (Mirror)

Manchester United are still interested in signing Napoli and Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen, 26, but there are concerns about a deal at Old Trafford. (TBF Football)

Everton are in talks with Senegal midfielder Idrissa Gueye, 35, over a new contract. (Football Insider)

Wrexham, Bolton, Charlton and Portsmouth are interested in Dungannon Swifts’ Northern Irish forward Tomas Galvin, 20. (Football League World)

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Hewett criticises late court changes at French Open

Rex FeaturesGemma StevensonBBC Radio Cambridgeshire at Roland Garros7 minutes agoAlfie Hewett says he is “extremely disappointed” with French Open organisers after his wheelchair singles final was moved to a different court less than an hour before the start “without really consulting the players”.The Norfolk player’s match against Tokito Oda on Saturday, which he lost 6-4 7-6 (8-6), was switched from Court 14 to being straight after the women’s wheelchair final on Suzanne Lenglen. They were only given about 35 minutes to prepare after being informed of the change at just past midday.”I understand the reasoning behind it because of the changeable weather this week but I think they could have communicated that the night before – like given us a heads-up and said ‘if this quads match goes on longer than the women’s final then you boys will be on Lenglen, if it doesn’t happen then you will stay on Court 14’,” he said. “None of that communication was had the night before, or even in the morning.”The BBC have approached Roland Garros and the International Tennis Federation for comment.As the wheelchair draw progressed there was a lot of discussion around the scheduling and last-minute changes, with different courts offering varied conditions for the players.”It’s a completely different environment,” said Hewett, who won his sixth consecutive Roland Garros doubles title with partner and fellow Brit Gordon Reid, and who – by also finishing with runners-up honours in the singles – improved on his 2024 performance at Roland Garros.”Gordy [Gordon Reid] was saying it when we were playing doubles. The ball was slower, the balls pick up more clay because there is more clay on those courts.”On the outdoor courts it’s slightly livelier, it’s slightly bouncier, there’s shorter back runs. It completely changes the tactical game of the match and usually you know that you’re going to be playing on a show court, so you practice on that court beforehand.”As elite-level athletes who are competing for the top prizes in tennis, a lot of thought goes into pre-match preparations for the wheelchair players – not just at the Grand Slams but every week they compete on tour.”I’m not one to come out here and criticise tournaments often because I know we are as players, and I am, incredibly grateful to be at events like this, to be celebrating wheelchair tennis and showcasing it on a big stage but what happened today was unacceptable,” said Hewett.”There are standards I believe that have got to be set and you know as players we weren’t listened to, we weren’t heard. “We tried to ask for the court to be pushed back, but unfortunately the priority was for fans to watch the women’s final on a screen rather than giving the wheelchair players more time to warm-up and prepare for a Grand Slam singles final.”This isn’t me making excuses for my performance, Tokito was in exactly the same boat as me. I’m very happy with the way I performed actually. “This is more about the players and our welfare, and actually treating us like professionals, because I can guarantee there’s no way Jannik Sinner or [Novak] Djokovic would get told ‘sorry you can’t have a proper practice, you’ve got to go on court in 30 minutes’.”He added: “You put everything on the line for these matches. It’s not the reason why I lost the singles final – Tokito was the better player in the bigger moments – but these are the things that people higher up have got to take into consideration – and which I know they are taking into consideration with the other players.”They didn’t take that into consideration with us and I feel really disappointed in that.”Related topicsTennisDisability Sport

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‘Troubling decline’ in secondary school PE lessons

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Clement ‘had bad feeling after League Cup final’

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But Clement arguably got more than predecessors Michael Beale and Giovanni van Bronckhorst. After all, neither of them suffered the ignominy of a Scottish Cup home defeat by second-tier Queen’s Park.Protesting that his squad needed time to develop and grow became a regular refrain of Clement’s and the passing of time has not changed his view on that. “It’s a pity that the story stopped, that the board didn’t have the patience, or maybe listened too much to some fans,” he says.”There are other clubs where there is a difficult moment and everybody sticks together because everybody knows the story, how the work is done inside the building, and they continue and they are successful afterwards.”In three or four windows, we could have closed the gap [to Celtic] with a good development of players, but the decision is made and you need to accept it.”As Rangers tried to assuage swingeing losses, Clement’s task was to usurp Celtic but with a diminishing budget. Was he initially misled about what funds might be available to him?”No, not misled, but I understand now why,” he says. “Because some people were already thinking about selling the club and selling their stocks.”I think you need to go back to one year ago. The story was that the club was not financially sustainable anymore, so that was the story of the transfer window.”Clement says he and the recruitment team were told they could spend whatever money the club were able to recoup in player sales and from cutting salary spend. But, despite taking “more than 35%” from the wage bill, an ageing squad, contracts expiring, and a lack of attractive young talent, meant the yield proved meagre. “You gain money by bringing young players in, making them better and selling them,” Clement says. “That was the idea. There was not another road to take. “In the end, it’s about deciding if the idea we had was working. You need patience to build it or you need to spend money. 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‘For anyone who’s felt hopeless’ – Harrison wins UFC title

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