Manchester City full-back Joao Cancelo has joined Al Hilal on a permanent deal.
Manchester City’s Spanish manager Pep Guardiola (C) speaks to Manchester City’s Portuguese defender Joao Cancelo (R) during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on August 13, 2022. -. (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
It is understood Cancelo moves to the Saudi Pro League in a deal worth 25million euros (£21.1m), ending the Portugal international’s five-year stay with City after arriving at the club in a £60m move from Juventus.
“I would like to wish everyone at City continued success in the future,” Cancelo, 30, was quoted as saying on the Premier League club’s website.
“I had many very special moments during my time here at this great club.
“I would like to thank my team-mates, the coaches, all the staff at City and the fans for everything during my time here.”
Cancelo made 154 appearances for City and was part of three Premier League title-winning sides at the Etihad Stadium.
He went out on loan to Bayern Munich in January 2023 and spent last season at Barcelona.
Cancelo represented Portugal at this summer’s European Championship in Germany.
But he did not feature in City’s first two Premier League games this season, against Chelsea and Ipswich.
City director of football Txiki Begiristain said: “I would like to thank Joao for his contribution during a remarkable period at City.
“He made a big impact in title-winning campaigns and was a huge influence on the pitch.”
Nigeria’s D’Tigress experienced a 74-88 quarter-final loss to the U.S. women’s basketball team at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Wednesday night.
Nigeria, who have made physical play a trademark, looked anything but intimidated by the powerhouse Americans as they traded buckets in the opening minutes.
Two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player A’Ja Wilson scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to pace a US side that could break a tie with the US men’s basketball team for the most consecutive Olympic golds — set from 1936-68.
Jackie Young added 15 points and Breanna Stewart — another two-time WNBA MVP chipped in 13.
The US will face Australia in the semi-finals on Friday after the Opals saw off Serbia 85-67.
France beat Olympic newcomers Germany 84-71 to set up a semi-final against European champions Belgium, 79-66 winners over previously unbeaten Spain.
France, led by 24 points from Marine Johannes, delighted fans, but the United States were the big draw at Bercy Arena.
NBA superstar LeBron James and USA teammate Bam Adebayo were courtside for the clash between the US dynasty and the first team from Africa, male or female, to make the Olympic basketball quarter-finals.
American Quincy Hall dug deep in the final metres to overhaul Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith and take the Olympic 400 metres gold in another race of scintillating quality on Wednesday.
Hudson-Smith seemed on course to win his country’s first gold over the distance since “Chariots of Fire” Eric Liddell in the Paris Games 100 years ago, but he tied up at the end and Hall swept past to win in a personal best 43.40 seconds and give the U.S. their first triumph since LaShawn Merritt in 2008.
Hudson-Smith bettered his own European record with 43.44 for silver and Zambia’s 21-year-old Muzala Samukonga set his second successive national record with 43.74 to take bronze.
The first five men home were all under 44 seconds.
Noah Lyles of the United States won the men’s Olympic 100 metres gold medal on Sunday.
Kishane Thompson of Jamaica took the silver in the same time and Fred Kerley of the U.S. claimed bronze in 9.81.
Thompson looked to claim the win as he took the lead near the end, but Lyles pipped him on the line by fractions of a second with a time of 9.79.
It was the first time an American had won the title since Justin Gatlin in 2004 and Lyles raised his arms in triumph to wild cheers from the packed crowd at the Stade de France as his name appeared at the top of the standings.
He made a slower start out of the blocks than his rivals but accelerated through the finish to clinch victory in style.
Nigerian sprinter, Favour Ofili, expressed her frustration on Tuesday, revealing that she will not compete in the 100-metre race at the ongoing Olympics in Paris due to administrative failures by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria and the Nigerian Olympic Committee.
She said this in a series of tweets on Tuesday night calling for accountability from those responsible and voiced her skepticism about the trustworthiness of both organisations.
The LSU Track and Field alumni hopes to be entered in the 200-metre event.
LSU track refers to the track and field programme at Louisiana State University.
Her post read, “It is with great regret that I have just been told I will not be competing in the 100 metres at this Olympic Games. I qualified, but those with the AFN and NOC failed to enter me. I have worked for four years to earn this opportunity. For what?”
Despite qualifying for the event, Ofili disclosed that the officials did not enter her, marking a repeat of the previous Olympics, Tokyo 2020.
She added, “Please remember, in the last Olympic Games, I was not able to compete because AFN, NADC and NOC failed to release funds for athletes to be tested, which made 14 Nigerian athletes that qualified to not compete. Now this……”
Daniel Wiffen became the first Irishman to win an Olympic swimming medal when he struck gold with a thrilling 800 meters freestyle victory at the Paris Games on Tuesday.
With his twin brother watching in the crowd, the 23-year-old world champion touched out in an Olympic record time of seven minutes 38.19 seconds to secure Ireland’s first gold of the Games.
Daniel Wiffen of Team Ireland celebrates with his medal at the Paris La Défense Arena during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Reigning Olympic champion Bobby Finke of the United States took the silver, 0.56 behind, and Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri the bronze.
The only other Irish swimmer to win an Olympic swimming title was women’s triple champion Michelle Smith in 1996, and Wiffen was also the North’s first gold medallist in 36 years.
Elijah Winnington led for the first 350 metres, with Wiffen easing into second place only at 250, but the Australian faded and the battle between the top three took off.
Wiffen led at the halfway point with Finke second, but Paltrinieri took the lead at 650 and stayed there until the final 50.
Daniel in action
The Armagh man, who had appeared to be spent, then turned on the afterburners and blasted down the final length to touch the wall first.
He turned around in triumph, putting his hands to his head before raising his fists to salute the crowd – with a vocal Irish contingent – at the La Defense Arena.
Wiffen won 800 and 1,500 gold at the world championships in Doha in February.
Tokyo 2020 marked the return of the men’s event for the first time since 1904 and Wiffen missed out on the final, but he laid down a marker in Paris with the fastest qualifying time in Monday’s heats.
Wiffen said: “I don’t think a lot of people actually believed me that I was going to do it tonight but yeah it was incredible. I’ve done it – that’s all I want to say!
“I was so nervous, that’s the most nervous I’ve ever been for a race but do you know what calmed me down – I heard by brother shout for me as soon as I walked out. I heard none of the crowd – just him, and that’s what calmed me down, and really levelled my head.”
“I’m not going to lie, there’s this whole saying going around that I’m getting ‘Finked’ – I’m glad to say I haven’t been ‘Finked” so obviously pretty happy to get my hand on the wall first.”
Simone Biles claimed her first Olympic gold medal since coming to terms with the ‘twisties’.
Watched by Serena Williams and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Biles brought the house down with her show-closing floor routine, showing none of the injury angst that had afflicted her during the qualifying process two days earlier.
Biles in action at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics
In truth Biles could simply have swirled around the floor and soaked up the acclaim such was the American dominance of the competition, as they finished almost six points clear of silver medallists Italy.
Great Britain, whose squad was decimated by injuries to the Gadirova twins and Ondine Achampong, qualified in seventh and could harbour few realistic hopes of emulating their stunning bronze medal win in Tokyo three years ago.
But the team of Becky Downie, Alice Kinsella, Georgia-Mae Fenton, Ruby Evans and 16-year-old Abigail Martin confounded expectations with a near-faultless display and were placed third until the final piece of apparatus.
Downie admitted the team briefly believed they may have just done enough to reach the podium but ultimately, Brazil’s big finish on vault let the South Americans leapfrog into the bronze medal position.
“Once Alice had gone through beam I thought we’d done enough from our adding-up, but then it came through that we were going to be fourth,” said Downie.
“It is tough when you come so close, but we gave our all. It was an emotional day for me but I felt quite calm. I wanted to take it all in because I know I don’t have many of these moments left, and I enjoyed every minute.”
The day was especially poignant for Downie as it fell on the birthday of her brother Josh, who died suddenly at the age of 24 in 2021, as she was preparing to try to earn a place in the team for Tokyo.
Becky Downie came agonisingly close to leading Great Britain to a team medal
The 32-year-old Downie dazzled throughout, and delivered a score of 14.933 on the uneven bars which was the highest of the day, and will lift her into medal contention for the individual apparatus final this week.
For Biles and her US team-mates Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee and Hezly Rivera, gold was a virtual certainty from the start, and a smiling Biles appeared to revel in the redemptive moment as they eased to gold.
It was in the Tokyo team final in 2021 that Biles left the floor during warm-ups for her first rotation, subsequently playing no part in the final and revealing she was suffering from a mental block – the so-called ‘twisties’ – that would ultimately see her miss out on all but one of her individual finals.
Simone Biles won the fifth Olympic gold medal of her career
On Tuesday night in Bercy, Biles was back to her best, enthralling the packed crowd as she soared to her eighth Olympic medal, allowing her to extend her undisputed status as the most decorated athlete – male or female – in her sport.
“After I finished vault I was relieved – I was like, woo, there’s no flashbacks,” said Biles. “I did feel a lot of relief and as soon as I landed vault I knew that we were going to do this.”
Biles still has the all-around final and three out of four individual apparatus finals in Paris in which to enhance her legacy further. The packed crowds will return, and so will the gold rush.
Chelsea have completed the signing of Danish goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen from Villarreal on a seven-year deal.
Jorgensen, a Denmark Under-21 international, is the Blues’ eighth summer signing under new boss Enzo Maresca and will provide competition for current goalkeepers Robert Sanchez and Djordje Petrovic.
Chelsea said on their official website: “The 22-year-old has signed a seven-year contract with the Blues and joins up with his new team-mates during our summer tour of the USA.”
Filip Jorgensen in action for Villareal
Jorgensen, born in Sweden, progressed through Villarreal’s youth set up and made 37 appearances for the Spanish club in all competitions last season after making his LaLiga debut in January 2023.
He added: “This move is a dream come true. I am very excited to have signed for Chelsea, one of the biggest clubs in the world
“I can’t wait to get to know everyone and to start playing with all my new team-mates.”
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Marc Guiu, Omari Kellyman, Tosin Adarabioyo, Renato Veiga, Caleb Wiley and Estevao Willian have all arrived at Stamford Bridge since the end of last season.
Former Leicester boss Maresca was appointed as Chelsea’s head coach in June following the departure by mutual consent of Mauricio Pochettino.
