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Spurs are making progress with negotiations to sign Manchester City winger Savinho, Manchester United are battling their city rivals for Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson, while Atletico Madrid and Barcelona are eyeing Chelsea full-back Marc Cucurella.Tottenham are advancing in talks over a deal worth about £60m for Manchester City's Brazil winger Savinho, 22. (Mail), externalManchester United remain intent on signing Elliot Anderson, with the club's executives optimistic they can beat Manchester City in the race to acquire the 23-year-old England midfielder, who is valued at about £100m by Nottingham Forest. (Guardian), externalAnderson is said to have expressed a desire to join Manchester City over Manchester United. (Talksport), externalAtletico Madrid and Barcelona are best positioned to make a move for Chelsea's Marc Cucurella, 26, with the Spain defender keen on a change of scenery after four years at Stamford Bridge. (Marca - in Spanish), externalNewcastle will target Monaco's 22-year-old Senegal midfielder Lamine Camara should Italy's Sandro Tonali or Englishman Joe Willock, both 26, be among the midfielders to leave St James' Park this summer. (Telegraph - subscription required), externalManchester United scouts assessed highly rated Inter Milan striker Pio Esposito, 20, in action for Italy in a friendly against Greece. (Teamtalk), externalParis St-Germain's 27-year-old France forward Randal Kolo Muani, who spent last season on loan at Tottenham, wants to join Juventus where he had a six-month loan spell in 2025. (Tuttosport - in Italian), externalManchester City are weighing up moves for Real Madrid's Brazil winger Rodrygo, 25, and 26-year-old Everton and Senegal wideman Iliman Ndiaye. (Mail), externalPortugal centre-back Goncalo Inacio, 24, of Sporting is on Liverpool's list of replacements for departing defender Ibrahima Konate. (Caughtoffside), externalAtalanta are in talks with Nottingham Forest over a deal to bring Italian centre-back Nicolo Savona, 23, back to Serie A. (Goal - in Italian), externalAC Milan are set to hold a second round of talks with ex-Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner to become their new coach. (Calciomercato - in Italian), externalListen to the latest Football Daily podcast

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England defender getting used to protective brace and hopeful of contributing to Tuchel’s tournament effortIn the disorientation of the moment, as Djed Spence lay on the turf, the pain radiating from the left side of his jaw, it was tempting to wonder what flashed through his mind. The Tottenham full-back had been cleaned out by the elbow of Chelsea’s Liam Delap in the closing stages of the penultimate game of the Premier League season. Spence had eyes only for the high ball while Delap looked directly at his opponent before spinning and throwing out his left arm.For starters, there had to be surprise that Delap was not sent off. “Yeah, it was a crazy challenge,” Spence says. What about his involvement in Spurs’ final match of their relegation battle at home against Everton? And beyond that, the World Cup? Did he fear it might be all over for him?Perhaps Spence did not realise he had broken his jaw because he picked himself up and played on until the end of Spurs’ 2-1 defeat – a result that meant they had to get at least a draw against Everton to stay up. Or maybe his competitive courage overrode everything. But Spence’s answer is certainly a good one; revealing, too. He was not worried about anything. “No, not really,” he says. “It was painful but luckily I play football with my feet and not my jaw. So I was all good.”Spence is in the US with the England squad, looking ahead to Wednesday’s final warm-up game against Costa Rica in Orlando and the opening World Cup group match versus Croatia in Dallas on the Wednesday after that. He has made it with the assistance of a protective jaw brace. The 25-year-old wore it against Everton as Spurs won 1-0 to avoid the unthinkable. He wore it against New Zealand in England’s first warm-up friendly on Saturday in Tampa; another 1-0 win, Spence setting up the goal with a perfect cross for Harry Kane. And he will continue to wear it in matches for the duration of the summer. He remains supremely unruffled.“It’s a little bit uncomfortable but it is what it is,” Spence says. “I’ve got a broken jaw so I have to wear it throughout the tournament. It’s something I will have to get used to. It’ll be three months until it’s fully healed, so it’s a long time. I’ve been wearing it in training, getting used to it in the heat and just trying to fit in it properly, break it in.”Spence’s selection by Thomas Tuchel was met with surprise in some quarters. Why did the manager not prefer Myles Lewis-Skelly or Lewis Hall at left-back? Or even Luke Shaw? But Tuchel has picked Spence in each one of his squads this season. Lewis-Skelly was in the two at the outset, Hall the one in March. Tuchel has never selected Shaw.Tuchel likes Spence for reasons that go beyond his toughness. Spence is the fastest player in the World Cup squad. He is excellent in defensive one-on-ones. And then there is his versatility; Spence is a right-back by trade but he has been repurposed by Spurs on the left side in the past two seasons. Tuchel has Reece James and Tino Livramento as his main right-backs but both have had fitness issues.“I’m naturally a right-back, but I’ve been playing left-back for a couple of years now,” Spence says. “I’m still learning the position, still trying to get better, but versatility is a good strength to have. I haven’t played on the right for a long time, but it’s still a strong position for me and hopefully I might be out there on the right in this tournament. But, if not, I’m happy to be there on the left. It’s my position now.”Spence played well against New Zealand and he picked a good time to produce his first assist of the season in his 48th game for club and country. He is also yet to score and he knows he must do more in attacking terms. “Yeah, definitely,” he admits. “Everyone knows how good I am one v one but going forward is a bit different playing on the left because it’s not my natural side going forward. There’s still stuff I can improve on and I’ve got to try to get more numbers.”Spence is not a guy to hide his light under a bushel and he has joked on social media about how he has locked up opposing wingers. Arsenal turned the tables on him after their derby win at Spurs in February, posting a video of Spence being dispossessed by Bukayo Saka and Cristhian Mosquera with the caption “locked up” and a padlock emoji. Spence retaliated after Arsenal’s Champions League penalty shootout defeat against Paris Saint-Germain, replying to their three-month-old post with the eyes emoji and one for an open padlock.Saka and Arsenal’s other England players Declan Rice, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze joined up with the squad on Saturday night, having been given the week off after the PSG gamefinal. Did Spence expect a bit back from them? “No,” he says. “No jokes, no jokes. We have to focus on the tournament and hopefully it’s going to be a good one. We can joke afterwards.”

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BBC Scotland's chief sports writer in CharlotteDay one at Scotland HQ, east of uptown Charlotte, and there's a bunfight brewing - or to be more accurate, angry Norwegians are taking potshots at Steve Clarke, who, we can only surmise, couldn't care less what the Norwegians think.Stale Solbakken, the Norway head coach, and Brede Hangeland, the team manager, have let fly in the media about a training game between the reserve players from the two countries that Clarke cancelled.Who knew that the ditching of a meaningless bounce match could spark such fury."Unprofessional," trumpeted Solbakken of his Scottish counterpart. "Embarrassing" and "weak" whinged Hangeland.Just before the Scotland news conference at their palatial Charlotte base camp, three Norwegian reporters fetched up in search of Scottish retaliatory thunder.What they got was a cool response from John McGinn, not just super with the ball at his feet but also pretty nifty with a microphone in front of his face."I would say 75% of the [Scotland] squad haven't seen it," he said of the Norwegian anger, smiling as he spoke."I did see it. Our job is to look after Scotland. Norway's job is to look after Norway. And if they've done their research, we lost a very important part of the squad [in Billy Gilmour] very, very close to this camp."It had a huge impact on everyone. We didn't want to lose another. We had a few niggles, not everyone's been training."So I think it's a professional way of handling things, to be perfectly honest, and look after number one. I'm sure every single country will be doing the exact same."If Norway lost Erling Haaland or Martin Odegaard in one of the games leading up to Saturday, they would cancel the game as well."Norway boss brands Scotland's Clarke 'unprofessional'He was funny, thoughtful and deep on his football upbringing and the things he has learned along the way. And, of course, on the 25ft mural in his honour that's been painted on the side of a house in his home town of Clydebank.This is the third mural in tribute to Scottish players - Scott McTominay's overhead kick against Denmark is on the end of a tenement building near Hampden and the people of Liverpool have paid their own tribute to their former son, Andy Robertson, on a house near Anfield."It's a bit strange, but obviously it filled me with pride to see it," said McGinn. "All my little cousins, my nieces and nephews have had a look."Hopefully it can inspire young kids from Clydebank to know that one of their own is on the world's biggest stage."Actually, the person's house it's on, I went to school with their son. He might feel a bit weird, but it's on Jake Anderson's house. A generation's missed out, but thankfully this generation of children will see us on the side of buildings."McGinn is the darling of the Tartan Army, the 'Super John McGinn' song being as much a part of their world as kilts and bevvy.He's the one, more than all others, who fans identify with, a superstar with his feet firmly on the ground, a player they feel they know even if they don't.Two years ago at the Euros he arrived in Scotland's training centre in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and did a Bavarian dance called the schuhplattler at the welcoming ceremony, Tyrolean hat on his head, oompah music playing. Good knockabout stuff.It would have been fine had Scotland gone on to play well. Having failed, it all looked a touch ridiculous. Lesson learned. More than one, actually."Do I regret that? Maybe," he said."But at that point I'm not thinking we wouldn't be successful. I had belief at that time. They were looking for a volunteer and, obviously, this mug was number one."I don't think there'll be much dancing before this tournament, but if we manage to get through the group, I can put that back on and do the dance again."Personally, I'll do certain things differently. I didn't play at my best in the last two major tournaments alongside probably some others in the group."In these tournaments, you need your big players to come up with big moments. I'll enjoy the excitement building up to it but as it gets closer, I'll focus on the game and not the occasion. And that's what I've learned, not only at club level, but international level."The more big experiences and big games you're involved in, you certainly adapt. You learn things that don't work and you learn things that work. I feel as if I'm more ready."With 20 Scotland goals to his name, McGinn ranks fifth in his nation's all-time top scorer chart, a shortlist of icons from down the generations.He's 10 behind Denis Law and Kenny Dalglish, the greatest players who ever put on a Scotland jersey, three behind the 1928 Wembley Wizard Hughie Gallacher and two behind Lawrie Reilly, the Hibs immortal.He's arriving at this World Cup in the finest form of his life, a Europa League winner, a Champions League place secured for next season and his childhood World Cup dream realised. He was three years old the last time Scotland played on the biggest stage.McGinn was reflective when asked about his early years. "I remember going into the St Mirren changing room before one of my first starts and Stevie Thompson said, 'It's your jersey now, keep it'. And that stuck in my head my whole career."What Thompson said to McGinn then, McGinn is saying now to the younger members in Clarke's squad - Tyler Fletcher and Findlay Curtis aged 19 (he turns 20 on Tuesday) and Ben Gannon-Doak aged 20."If these boys get a chance to get their jersey, whether that's mine, [Scott] McTominay's, Che Adams', it's theirs to keep."That's what you want in any club, any nation. We all want the one thing and that's the country to be successful."So the young players aren't here to make up the numbers. They're here to make an impact and start their own careers with Scotland. And if that means taking someone out of the team, that's their job."In McGinn, they have the best mentor they could possibly have, a player with fire and class and belief, a leader who's waited his entire career for weeks like these.Everything you need to know about the World Cup

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Billionaire businessman David Sullivan, who stepped down as chairman of West Ham on Saturday over allegations of improper conduct, is facing further scrutiny following a joint investigation by the BBC and The Times.A number of accusations have been made against him, all from women who were models seeking work at the Daily and Sunday Sport newspapers.Sullivan, who made his fortune from the pornography industry, denies the claims and says: "The false allegations levelled against me have been sensationalised by the media. After a lifetime spent building businesses in the adult industry in which I have met thousands of women, it is sadly inevitable that a small number of improper conduct claims are being made against me. I categorically deny these claims."A spokesperson for the Independent Football Regulator said: "These are extremely serious allegations."We are in contact with West Ham on this matter and will use our statutory powers to seek urgent information from David Sullivan relating to his suitability under our Owners, Directors and Senior Executives regime."We are unable to comment further at this stage."The 77-year-old had been on the board at West Ham for over 16 years before stepping down.West Ham were relegated from the Premier League last month.

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Scot and Portuguese were close friends at Liverpool‘The two of you nurtured a World Cup dream’Andy Robertson has shared an emotional letter from Diogo Jota’s widow as he prepares to lead Scotland at their World Cup return. Robertson and Jota were teammates and close friends at Liverpool before the Portuguese was killed in a car accident, aged just 28, last July.When Scotland qualified for the World Cup for the first time in almost 30 years, Robertson revealed Jota had featured strongly in his thoughts. The pair had spoken regularly about shared World Cup aspirations. Now, as part of a feature on Fifa’s social media channels, Robertson has read out a letter from Jota’s widow, Rute Cardoso.“Andy I’m writing to you with a heart full of longing, gratitude and above all pride,” read the letter. “Diogo often spoke of you, of the friendship you built, the battles you fought together, the challenges, the laughter, the conversations about football and about dreams.“The World Cup was one of those dreams, a dream that the two of you nurtured side by side with the same passion with which you took to the pitch. When I heard your words and learnt what you felt on that day when Scotland qualified for the World Cup after so many years of waiting, I realised that Diogo never truly left the pitch.“By achieving that moment and securing your place at the World Cup, you won’t be going alone; you’ll be taking his dream with you too. And when you step onto the pitch, I know it won’t be just you walking out. Diogo will be with you in your thoughts, in your steps, in your heart.“So, today I want to thank you. Thank you for not forgetting him. Thank you for taking him with you. Thank you for turning the pain of loss into strength and into something so beautiful. That’s how we do it here at home too, every day. He would be and is incredibly proud of you.“Cherish that dream, Andy. Live it for yourself and for him. With love, gratitude and all my support, Rute Cardoso.”Robertson, who attended the wedding of Jota and Cardosa, was visibly moved by the sentiment offered towards him. Robertson, who will join Tottenham this summer, said: “It’s obviously amazing of Rute to even take the time, with what she’s going through, to write me a letter but it just sums up the person that she is. Thankfully, I got to know her and the amazing times that they had.“Obviously I’ve seen how heartbroken we all were, but in particular her, when obviously Jots left us. Just, thank you. That letter will stay with me for a very long time. And we’ve just got to carry him with us. We will always make sure that his name will never be forgotten, that his memories will always be cherished like Rute says in there, the dreams that we’d shared of trying to be at the World Cup.”

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Senior football correspondentPublished12 minutes ago4 CommentsCrystal Palace have held talks with Lens manager Pierre Sage about becoming their new head coach.BBC Sport revealed last week that Sage was a leading option for the Eagles as they look to replace Oliver Glasner, who left the Premier League club at the end of last season.Palace have now spoken to the Frenchman, 47, and have made contact with Lens to discuss a financial package to release him from his contract with the Ligue 1 side.Sage took over as Lens manager in June last year and led the club to a second-place finish in Ligue 1.Lens also beat Nice to win the Coupe de France for the first time in their 120-year history.Palace turned their attentions to Sage after failing to attract number one target Andoni Iraola to Selhurst Park.The Eagles had made a proposal to Iraola to join the club, but the Spaniard has since agreed to join Liverpool on a two-year contract.Frank Lampard, Kieran McKenna and Sean Dyche were among the alternative options.Latest Crystal Palace news, analysis and fan viewsAsk about Crystal Palace - what do you want to know?

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Jimenez, 35, was listed by Fulham on Monday among a group of players set to leave the Premier League club when his contract expires at the end of the month.It is understood negotiations have begun over a return to Molineux, where he scored 57 goals in 166 games between 2018 and 2023.His 40 Premier League goals make him Wolves' top scorer in the English top flight.Jimenez is currently on international duty with World Cup hosts Mexico, who begin the tournament against South Africa on Thursday.Wolves are looking to rebuild after finishing bottom of the Premier League last season and being relegated to the Championship.SoundsLatest Wolves news, analysis and fan viewsAsk about Wolves - what do you want to know?

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Senior football correspondentPublished27 minutes agoArsenal's head of sports medicine Dr Zafar Iqbal is leaving after two years at the club.It is understood the process of replacing the medical practitioner, who has also worked at Crystal Palace and Liverpool, is underway.Iqbal was informed in a meeting last week, in the aftermath of Arsenal's Champions League final loss to Paris St-Germain, that he would be departing.He arrived at Emirates Stadium in 2024, replacing Gary O'Driscoll who left to join Manchester United.Iqbal is highly respected throughout football and the decision has come unexpectedly, though some members of staff have been aware of the uncertainty over his future in recent weeks.The reasons are unclear, but the Gunners' squad sustained a number of key injuries throughout the season.Latest Arsenal news, analysis and fan viewsAsk about Arsenal - what do you want to know?

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The Canadian has been tipped as Gianni Infantino’s successor. He defends World Cup ticket prices and explains why the Premier League may soon have a rivalVictor Montagliani believes the World Cup will trigger a “cultural revolution” in North America that could result in Major League Soccer rivaling the Premier League at the top of club football.In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the president of Concacaf, who is also Fifa vice president:Defended the tournament’s controversial pricing strategy on the grounds that a World Cup in North America will be the peak of Fifa’s earning power that funds global football.Claimed Donald Trump will have “no part to play” at the tournament and that Fifa is “more than one guy.”Insisted it is too early to begin discussing expanding the World Cup to 64 teams, something which has been requested by South American confederation Conmebol.Expressed support for increasing the Club World Cup to 48 teams to raise standards and drive revenue growth.Left the door open to running for the Fifa presidency in 2031, after Gianni Infantino completes a final term following his expected reelection next year.In 2012, when he was president of the Canadian Soccer Association, Montagliani was one of the first advocates of Canada bidding to host the World Cup, and has been integral to the development of the tournament since being elected as head of Concacaf in 2016. After attending the first match of this World Cup in Mexico City between the hosts and South Africa on Thursday, the 60-year-old will fly to Toronto for Canada’s opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina the following day, something which promises to be an emotional occasion.“It’s been a unique experience, one of the best things I’ve done in my career,” Montagliani says. “It’s in my backyard, it’s my confederation, and one of the hosts is my country. It will be special.“If you take a snapshot of where the game was in North America when we won the bid and now, a lot of things have changed. Canada didn’t even have its own professional league eight years ago – now its clubs are selling players to European Champions League teams and competing in the Concacaf Champions Cup. Lionel Messi is established in Major League Soccer and may buy a franchise.“Soccer has just grown and grown and then the American economy continues to grow. So those factors have come together to create this huge mega event.”Montagliani is convinced that this growth is just the start, and that the World Cup can make football a truly North American sport for the first time.“I think the legacy here will be the cultural revolution of the game in North America, where we no longer think of it as a global sport that we’re not part of, where it’s a European thing,” he says. “Soccer will become our sport, and we will belong in the conversation of a global sport. It will no longer be somebody else’s sport that we just want to consume. It will be ours too. I think that will be the real legacy of this World Cup.“The potential of MLS in particular is huge, and it can grow to become the second-biggest league in the world. Maybe even the first. It might take a while, but I honestly believe that.“Just look at the ownership group – how strong it is and how international it is. And then consider the American attitude. I’ve grown up my whole life next to the US, it’s a reality of being Canadian. And I’ve never known anything that our friends from the south do where they want to be number eight in the world, or number 10 in the world. Their attitude is we want to be the best in the world. There’s nothing stopping them trying to be the best league in the world.“The customer experience of an MLS stadium is outstanding. The training facilities of the clubs are world-class, but ultimately what matters is the product on the pitch. All that’s missing is a few more star players, a higher salary cap, those sort of things. There’s only one Messi, but when you have a proliferation of that level of player across 30 teams the sky is the limit.”A dominant theme of the World Cup buildup has been the sky-high ticket prices, and many games are yet to sell out, but Montagliani is bullish in defence of the pricing strategy, claiming that Fifa had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to raise revenues which are expected to reach $13bn for the tournament.“This must be the biggest global event that’s ever taken place in terms of the size and scope,” he says. “From every metric that I’ve heard, it’s the biggest sporting event in the history of the world. And it might be a while until that’s broken. Just the scale of the thing, the hosts, and the economic realities of this side of the world.“We’ll be back in Europe in four years’ time, which won’t be the same. It’ll be great, but it’s just a different reality of economics. I’m sure the ticket prices will be lower. Fifa is a member organisation run by the members, governed by the members, and the council and the executives have a fiduciary duty to raise revenue, 100% of which goes back into football.“On behalf of my members, it would be great to keep growing the pot because that means that the membership will have more ability and more opportunities. But I think realistically this could be the peak, from a World Cup perspective.“But there will be opportunities to grow revenues in other areas. For instance, the Women’s World Cup is the next frontier. Every Women’s World Cup used to lose money. Now it’s right on the edge in terms of profitability. So there’s tremendous growth in that one.“And you know, the Club World Cup just started last year, which was a big success. There’s a lot of room for that to grow as well. But from the World Cup itself I think it will be difficult to top this one.”As well as the high prices much of the World Cup’s growth has come from the expansion of the tournament to 48 teams, increasing the number of games from 64 to 104.Montagliani concedes he was initially sceptical about the expansion and is opposed to a proposal from Conmebol to increase the tournament to 64 in 2030. But he is more open to expanding the Club World Cup to 48 teams.“I’m a traditionalist who grew up with a 24- or 32-team World Cup so had some concerns, but the teams that have qualified have earned their right to be here,” he says. “So that gives me a higher comfort level that I think with 48 teams we’ll be fine.“I think the conversation about expanding further can’t be had until we’ve had a couple of cycles of this format. We need to be a little bit more prudent. The World Cup has been 32 teams since 1998 so for us to change after one edition would not be prudent.“The Club World Cup is different as it started at 32, and it would be interesting to study the impact of a possible expansion. I mean, if you’re a couple of the big clubs in the UK you’re going: ‘Hey, what am I doing at home watching this?’“I can get that. I think from a club perspective, there’s a lot more quality just because you can buy players, right? So in England you’ve probably got 10 teams that easily could be playing at that level.“I would say that 48 teams is probably doable at some point. I don’t know if it’s the next one, but I would like to see it studied. I think there’s enough quality in the world to do it for sure. And economically, that’s where the growth could possibly come from. And if you look at other confederations like ours, Asia, Africa, the reality is that our national teams will only get better when our players and our clubs are playing in higher level competition.“It would change the dynamics as well in terms of the mindset, especially in Europe. The Champions League is probably the trophy every club wants to win, more than their domestic league. In my confederation, it used to be like that. Now our bigger clubs in MLS and the Mexican League, their [main] goal is to qualify for the Concacaf Champions Cup and then qualify for the Club World Cup. It has changed the mentality of the clubs to become way more aspirational. And that’s a good thing. Having the Club World Cup at the top of that pyramid is a great motivator.”With the tournament days away, Montagliani insists he is unconcerned by potential political problems, despite explosive claims from the US government over the weekend that Iran was attempting to “sneak terrorists” into the country after 15 members of the team’s backroom staff were denied visas.“President Trump will not have an impact on the tournament,” Montagliani says. “None. I mean, it’s about football, man. He’s obviously going to go to games. He’s going to enjoy himself. He’s the head of state, just like my prime minister, Mark Carney, just like the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum.“In the end all three governments have done a good job in getting Fifa what they want on most matters. Politicians are politicians, but the work done by administrations, the bureaucracy has been outstanding.“The collaboration between the three countries, whether it’s on security or logistics, has been fantastic. And so my hat goes off to the Carney administration, the Trump administration, Sheinbaum’s government, in terms of getting the work done that is needed to pull this off.”Montagliani has long been regarded as a potential successor to Infantino, who is certain to be reelected unopposed at next year’s Fifa Congress in Rabat, Morocco.While Montagliani’s priority next year will be securing reelection as president of Concacaf, he does not rule out a future Fifa presidential bid, and may be helped that his terms of office mirror those of Infantino who, according to the current Fifa statutes, will have to stand down in 2031.“That’s a long time away, first and foremost,” Montagliani says. “And my focus has always been and will continue to be on Concacaf. I have my own reelection next year as well. I want to stand for that and obviously finish that off. I’ve still got a lot of work to do here at Concacaf. The future will be the future, whatever that is.“I think when you govern and run an organisation you’re going to get people that will criticise you, that’s just part of your job. But from a reputational standpoint Fifa has been transformed over the last 10 years. Fifa is not just one guy, or 37 people on the council. Fifa has 211 members and we work for all of them.“One thing I’ve learned that always saves us in football, is the game itself. When I say us, I mean the football world. I don’t mean Fifa. I mean everybody. Fifa, confederations, leagues, everything. There’s one thing that saves us – football itself. When the ball rolls nothing else matters.”