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Mary Earps: Goalkeeper leaves Manchester United as she prepares for PSG move

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Speculation regarding Earps’ future has gone on for more than a year and she will be relieved to have the matter settled having previously said some reports had been an “injustice”.

Arsenal offered United a world record fee for a goalkeeper last season in an attempt to persuade Earps to move to London, but she will be guaranteed Champions League football at Paris St-Germain.

United’s contract extension offer matched her expectations and was more attractive than PSG’s deal – so Earps’ decision was based on football reasons.

However, it is hard to ignore the current situation at United, with criticism growing following a decision to move the women’s team from their Carrington training site to make space for the men’s team.

British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe agreed to buy a 25% stake in Manchester United this year and his Ineos Group have taken control of football operations.

Earlier this month, he said Ineos’ priorities lay in rebuilding the men’s team and that has unsettled a number of people involved with the women’s side at the club.

Losing someone of Earps’ stature and personality is the latest blow for the club as United dropped down the Women’s Super League (WSL) table last season from second to fourth.

They are already active in the transfer window, with Terland and Janssen poised to join, but United find themselves having to replace quality players yet again.



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Football gossip: Arsenal have Riccardo Calafiori bid rejected

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Barcelona want to sign Spain forward Dani Olmo, 26, from RB Leipzig and are trying to agree a payment plan to meet his 60m euro (£51m) release clause. (90 Min), external

Brazilian winger Willian has rejected the offer of a new contract at Fulham. Clubs in Saudi Arabia and Turkey are interested in the 35-year-old. (Mail), external

Paris St-Germain midfielder Ethan Mbappe, brother of France striker Kylian, is set sign a long-term deal at Lille. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Manchester United are keen on re-signing Tottenham’s 27-year-old Spain defender Sergio Reguilon, who spent the first half of last season on loan at Old Trafford (AS – in Spanish), external

Everton are interested in 22-year-old Cameroon defender Jackson Tchatchoua, whose club Hellas Verona want 8m euros (£7m). (TuttoMercatoWeb – in Italian), external

Atalanta are set to sign Italy midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo, 25, on loan from Galatasaray with an obligation to buy. (Gazzetta dello Sport), external

Barcelona would be willing to sell Uruguay defender Ronald Araujo and Brazil winger Raphinha this summer in order to sign Athletic Bilbao’s 21-year-old Spain forward Nico Williams. (SportsMole), external

Chelsea are keen on Nottingham Forest’s 21-year-old Brazilian defender Murillo but think his £60m price tag is too high. (Football London), external

AC Milan’s 26-year-old France defender Theo Hernandez is closing in on a £51m move to Manchester City. (Manchester Evening News), external

Chelsea’s England midfielder Conor Gallagher, 24, is reluctant to relocate to the Midlands to join Aston Villa as he waits on a potential new contract at Stamford Bridge. (Telegraph – subscription), external



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Mark Cavendish earns Tour de France immortality with 35th stage win

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Since drawing level with Belgian legend Merckx in 2021, Cavendish has had to deal with a knifepoint robbery and the uncertainty of finding a new team at the age of 37.

There was also the bitter disappointment of leaving the Tour with a broken collarbone 12 months ago, while injuries and depression contributed to him not winning once during 2019 and 2020.

Yet here he is in his 15th Tour, displaying the confidence of the rider who was virtually impossible to beat between 2008 and 2012 when he claimed 23 stage wins, including four on the Champs-Elysees.

“Without the Tour de France cycling does not exist,” Cavendish said in his 2023 Netflix documentary, Mark Cavendish: Never Enough.

With 35 victories out of 215 completed stages he also has a strike rate of almost one in six.

It is a remarkable feat for a rider who has been described as having a sharp tongue and fiery temper by former team-mates – and as a “pain in the ass” by the straight-talking Vasilis Anastopoulos, who worked with Cavendish at Quick Step and is now head of performance at the Manxman’s current Astana Qazaqstan team.

The Greek coach has been credited by Cavendish for helping rejuvenate his career during their time together at the Belgian Quick Step team, and for playing a pivotal role in his 2021 and 2022 success at both the Tour and Giro d’Italia.

Cavendish’s former lead-out man Mark Renshaw is now Astana’s sporting director.

“He’s amazing. He’s just like a fine wine who gets better and better,” Renshaw said of the sprinter.

“The team had so much confidence in him and they had that all year. We’ve changed the team to look after him and he has been mega committed.

“I don’t know how many days he’s been with his family but this year it has not been many and that is the type of commitment you need.”



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England vs New Zealand: Lauren Bell takes five wickets as hosts secure series clean sweep

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Lauren Bell’s career-best 5-37 set up England’s five-wicket win over New Zealand in the third one-day international at Bristol.

After afternoon rain delayed the start and reduced the game to 42 overs a side, the White Ferns were restricted to 211-8.

England slipped to 33-3 in reply but were rescued by Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones’ fifth-wicket stand of 90.

Sciver-Brunt finished with 76 not out and Jones made a run-a-ball 50 as England got over the line with 20 balls remaining.

The win secures a series clean sweep for England, with a five-match T20 series to follow, starting at Southampton on Saturday.

England’s triumph was instigated by Bell, 23, who bowled Sophie Devine for 43 for her first wicket, breaking a crucial third-wicket stand of 68 between the New Zealand captain and Amelia Kerr.

Kerr was then pinned lbw for 57, New Zealand’s only half-century of the series, before Brooke Halliday was caught behind for 31 and both Izzy Gaze and Lauren Down were caught at mid-on.

It was the visitors’ highest total of the series after being skittled for 156 and 141, but they still lost a flurry of wickets with four for 27 falling at the end of the innings.

An impressive powerplay with the ball then saw England’s middle order exposed for the first time this series, with Tammy Beaumont trapped lbw for a duck, Heather Knight caught and bowled for nine and Maia Bouchier falling for 19.

Sciver-Brunt was dropped on 63 shortly after Jones’ departure in the 31st over which added a few nerves, but she eventually paced her innings to perfection with Alice Capsey, unbeaten on 35, to calmly steer them to victory.



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