
FC Barcelona, Champions League Rival Reach Transfer ‘Total Agreement'
FC Barcelona and its Champions League rival last season, AS Monaco, have reached a 'total agreement' with regards to the transfer of Ansu Fati according to SPORT, which cited anonymous sources.
On the day that Mundo Deportivo reported that Lamine Yamal will be taking his number 10 shirt next month, his fellow La Masia product Ansu looks set for a switch to Ligue 1 which will be announced in the next few hours on Friday or by Monday at the latest.
Ansu was the Lamine of his generation at the turn of the last decade, and likewise smashed a number of youngest goalscorer and appearance maker records on his way to a bumper contract extension in 2021 which also saw him handed Lionel Messi's iconic jersey when the Argentine joined Paris Saint-Germain on a free contract.
Cruel injuries have mostly dictated the trajectory of his career in the past few years, however, with an unflattering spell on loan at Brighton in the Premier League unable to launch his career.
In 2024/2025, it looked as though he might be able to convince then-new head coach Hansi Flick of his worth.
Ansu impressed the German in preseason training, but then picked up an ankle knock which again knocked his progress back.
As Raphinha locked down the left wing spot, Ansu was frozen out and also struggled when deployed in a central 9 role whenever Robert Lewandowski was given a rare rest.
While Barca wrapped up a treble-winning season, there was already talk of Ansu moving to Monaco which then cooled down.
In recent days towards the end of June, however, reports have reignited with SPORT now explaining there is a 'total agreement' between the two clubs in question.
Ansu has already undergone a medical with Monaco, and will renew his contract at Barca until 2028 as already reported on earlier this week.
Working out how much of Ansu's usual salary his new employers in 2025/2026 was previously a sticking point, but that has reportedly been ironed out as well as how much his purchase option will be and buy back clause for Barca if Monaco decides to make the loan deal permanent.
Monaco coach was key to convincing Ansu of latest FC Barcelona exit
According to SPORT, Monaco head coach Addi Hutter was key to convincing Ansu that his club is the best stop for his latest FC Barcelona exit. Hopefully in the French top flight, Ansu can return to his explosive best and recover his confidence.

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New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
Brighton new boy Olivier Boscagli: Not like most Premier League defenders
'At the beginning it was difficult with him,' former Leicester City and Southampton manager Claude Puel tells The Athletic. 'When he lost the ball it was never his fault, it was always the fault of another player.' Brighton & Hove Albion new boy Olivier Boscagli spent the first two years of his senior career playing under Puel at Nice. Advertisement The 27-year-old central defender, who has this week completed a free transfer move on the expiry of his contract with PSV, has shaken off the habit that so frustrated his first manager. 'I tried to correct it,' says Puel. 'Since then, I saw him in different games with Eindhoven and he now has fantastic leadership, a calm quality. 'It will not be a problem for him to adapt to the Premier League. He is a very good player. He has all the qualities needed.' Boscagli's route to the Premier League — via his home country of France and the Netherlands — really took shape when Puel gave Boscagli his debut in Ligue 1 as a 17-year-old. 'He was 15 and he played at Beausoleil, just a little town near Monaco,' Puel tells The Athletic. 'I decided to sign him for Nice and, after two seasons in the academy I gave him some games in the first team, at the beginning at left-back and afterwards at centre-back. After I left, he continued to play. 'He was very interesting technically with a very good left foot, capable of making long passes, with good control to pass and to start the play from the back. For a young player it was very interesting to see the possibilities, because I like technical players. After that he needed to progress to win duels, to anticipate situations, but the first thing was the quality of his control and to make the right pass at the right moment.' Puel went on to manage Southampton (2016-17) and Leicester (2017-19) in the Premier League after leaving Nice. He has watched Boscagli mature into a player long admired by Brighton and finally captured as part of a defensive revamp for Fabian Hurzeler's second season in charge in 2025-26. As is often the case with Brighton's recruitment, Boscagli had been a target in previous transfer windows. They stayed patient in waiting for the right moment to get a deal over the line. They tried to sign Boscagli last summer, but PSV were determined to keep hold of him in pursuit of winning Eredivisie for a second consecutive season. In the end it worked out well for all parties. Boscagli made 30 appearances out of a possible 34 as PSV pipped Ajax to the domestic title by one point, a perfect end to his career in the Netherlands. His refusal to extend his contract meant Brighton have been able to land him without paying a transfer fee. Boscagli is a different type of player to Brighton's other new central defender, Diego Coppola, signed in June from Serie A side Hellas Verona for €11million (£9.4m/$12.7m). Coppola is 6ft 4in (193cm) and his biggest strengths come into play without the ball — aerial and ground duels, and reading danger. Advertisement 'He is not the central defender everyone expected, because he is not so tall (5ft 11in; 181cm) and he is not so weighty,' Dutch football writer Sander Berends, of ELF Voetbal, says of Boscagli. 'When you see him, he has the build of a winger more than a central defender, but he can jump so high, ridiculously high. He can score from attacking set pieces and in almost every defensive situation against taller strikers he wins the ball in the air. His timing is so good.' The percentile rank of Boscagli against other centre-backs in the Eredivisie in the chart below shows that he is sufficiently strong to win a fair percentage of ground and aerial duels, but it is his passing abilities that catch the eye. Even though it is easier to stand out in a naturally possession-dominant side such as PSV, it shows how comfortable he is to play in a high-possession team. In the 2023-24 season, when PSV won the title by seven points ahead of Feyenoord, Boscagli completed more long passes than any other player in Europe's top seven divisions. His quality on the ball was highlighted during a 4-1 home win against Heracles towards the end of last season. When Boscagli receives the ball inside his own half, he is scanning for a forward run by team-mate Ismael Saibari… A lofted pass is perfectly placed and weighted over the head of the marking defender. Saibari, with a clear run on goal, overhits his lob onto the roof of the net but, out of nothing, Boscagli created a goal-scoring opportunity. Six league assists last season is an impressive number for a central defender. Boscagli took a rare step in moving from the top flight in France to the top flight in the Netherlands when he joined PSV from Nice in July 2019. Berends says: 'When he came, everyone thought, who is Olivier Boscagli? Because in Holland we see a lot of foreign football, but the French league is only small on Dutch television. Nobody had any expectations and in his first season you could see the Dutch league was new to him and he had to adapt to the situation. Advertisement 'A lot of fans didn't know much about him and his first few matches were not good. After the first six months everyone thought, 'What a failure, what a mistake', when maybe there were better central defenders in Holland.' Away from the pitch also it was a culture shock for Boscagli. He was born in Monte Carlo, the luxury haven of the wealthy in the principality of Monaco. 'It's sometimes like living in two different worlds,' he told the Brainport Eindhoven website. 'There I saw the most expensive cars, the biggest boats and the most beautiful buildings every day. Everything there has to be special and just a little bit extra. 'Here, me and my wife enjoy life in quiet, green surroundings. I already had a couple of French offers when PSV came. It wasn't a difficult choice. It's not like I saw PSV play often, but everyone in France knows the club and its history. I could step outside my comfort zone.' Boscagli's improvement at PSV was aided by multi-lingual team-mate Ibrahim Sangare and French-speaking Jordan Teze along with Peter Bosz, who replaced Ruud van Nistelrooy as manager in 2023. Bosz speaks fluent French following a spell with Toulon in his playing days. 'When he (Boscagli) came, he could only talk French and not a lot of people in Holland talk French,' said Berends. 'He learnt to speak English, so he understood more after that. Sangare, who comes from the Ivory Coast, but can also speak English, helped him.' Boscagli's progress as the left-sided central defender in PSV's back four was threatened by a knee injury, which sidelined him for 10 months from April 2022 to February 2023. 'In the period before that he was playing better and better after getting into the starting line-up,' says Berends. 'When he returned from his injury he played very well after that for two seasons. He is also speedy. Most of the time he is faster over the ground than the opposing striker. It's a good combination — not as quick as Micky van de Ven (of Tottenham Hotspur) but still very quick.' Boscagli will bring a different dimension to the central defender options for Hurzeler, currently comprising Coppola, reigning player of the season Jan Paul van Hecke, Lewis Dunk, Adam Webster, Igor Julio and January signing Eiran Cashin. Long-serving skipper Dunk, affected by injuries last season, is closing in on a one-year contract extension based on appearances. The futures of Webster and Igor in particular are unclear. Advertisement 'He can play very well with a central defender who is more physical,' Berends adds of Boscagli. 'That would be a perfect combination. A lot of the central defenders in the Premier League are closer to two metres (tall) with big shoulders. 'He is a reverse of that, but if he plays with a typical Premier League player he can be very good.' Additional reporting: Mark Carey Top photo: Paul Hazlewood/BHAFC


New York Post
4 hours ago
- New York Post
Liberty getting whole again with Leonie Fiebich back after team's rough stretch
Leonie Fiebich kept tabs on the Liberty the best she could when she was away for EuroBasket the past few weeks. We've got you covered on the Liberty beat Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Madeline Kenney about all things Liberty and WNBA. tRY IT NOW She saw the underwhelming results and updates on social media. She got texts from her WNBA teammates asking her to come back. Advertisement 'It's also OK for us to go through a phase like this that it's hitting us now and not later in the year,' Fiebich said after practice Wednesday. 'We just gotta find a way back.' Now is the time to do just that. The Liberty opened their title defense with a franchise-best 9-0 start. Advertisement Over the past 2 ½ weeks, though, they have faltered. The team lost five of its past seven games and recently finished a 10-day road trip with back-to-back losses in Phoenix and Atlanta. 3 Germany's Leonie Fiebich, left, and Sweden's Fanny Wadling in action during the European Championships basketball match between Germany and Sweden at the Inselpark Arena in Hamburg, Germany, Thursday, June 19, 2025. AP The Liberty (11-5) entered Wednesday ranked third in the league standings. Advertisement Despite the struggles, though, Natasha Cloud believes outsiders need to take a 'chill pill.' 'We have everything that we need,' Cloud said. 'In that locker room, there is no panic. I think everyone needs to take a reality check. … We have two missing starters.' The Liberty were without two starters for most of that stretch since Fiebich — one of the team's best defenders — went overseas for EuroBasket and Jonquel Jones — New York's best rim protector — aggravated a right ankle sprain. It didn't help either that Sabrina Ionescu was a late scratch for the June 22 loss in Seattle after she woke up with a kink in her neck. Advertisement 3 Natasha Cloud of the New York Liberty shoots the ball during the game against the Atlanta Dream on June 29, 2025 at Gateway Center Arena at College Park in Atlanta, Georgia. NBAE via Getty Images Ionescu still didn't have full movement in her neck when she helped the Liberty beat the Valkyries in front of a rowdy violet-laden crowd in San Francisco. Ionescu is better now, and Fiebich is back in the mix. The German wing is expected to play Thursday against the Sparks. Jones is also on the mend and was seen doing individual work off to the side with director of player development coach Andrew Wade toward the end of Wednesday's practice. The Liberty didn't anticipate Jones returning before WNBA All-Star weekend (July 18 and 19) based on their initial June 21 update that she'd be out for four to six weeks. Speaking to reporters for the first time since she reinjured her ankle in June, Jones said she doesn't have a target date for her return to play but feels she's in a 'good spot.' This all bodes well for the Liberty, who are playing eight straight games at home, starting Thursday. Advertisement 'I think we're going to be able to kind of turn the page and see a different team here when we're back at home,' Ionescu said. Ionescu thought it was promising to see the team 'fought' over the past two weeks, despite being shorthanded. She described the team vibes as 'good.' 'Everyone kind of sees the big picture and isn't really panicking,' she said. 'It's just that understanding of we need people to step up, we need people to continue to try and make up for the players that aren't here and those are really big shoes to fill. And so we just need to continue to chip away.' Advertisement The Liberty aren't scheduled to hit the road again until their July 28 game in Arlington, Texas, against the Wings. If they do in fact get back on track before the All-Star break, then the previous turbulence will be only a blip in a long season. But if problems persist even with Fiebich on the floor, then it might be time to sound the alarm. 3 Sabrina Ionescu of the Liberty drives to the basket during the game against the Atlanta Dream on June 29, 2025 at Gateway Center Arena at College Park in Atlanta, Georgia. NBAE via Getty Images Advertisement For now, though, the Liberty deserve the benefit of the doubt given their championship credentials and the recent circumstances. But they should know the sand in the hourglass is running low. 'Everyone faces adversity, so you got to stay together,' coach Sandy Brondello said. 'This is where your character shows. And we're our worst enemy, you know what I mean? 'In the end, we didn't play hard enough. And so that's what the last few days have been about. Getting back to who we are and demanding more. And Leo makes a big difference.'


San Francisco Chronicle
7 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Scott Robertson names 4 new caps in the All Blacks lineup to play France in the 1st test
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson has named four new caps including Netherlands-born lock Fabian Holland in his team to play France in the first rugby test at Dunedin on Saturday. Holland has been named in the starting lineup along with Crusaders backrower Christian Lio-Willie. Chiefs prop Ollie Norris and Hurricanes backrower Du'Plessis Kirifi are on the bench. The 22-year-old Holland was born in the Netherlands and moved to Christchurch as a teenager to play high school rugby before signing with the Dunedin-based Highlanders, first at age-group level, then in Super Rugby. Lio-Willie was initially named in Robertson's squad for the France series as injury cover from Chiefs backrower Luke Jacobson. He has been promoted into the starting lineup in place of Wallace Sititi, World Rugby's Breakout Player of the Year last year, who has an ankle injury. Lio-Willie will play at No. 8 while Ardie Savea will start on the openside flank and lock Tupou Vaa'i on the blindside. 'This is a huge moment for these men and their families," Robertson said of the new caps. "We are all thrilled for them. "For Fabian and Christian, it will be special to debut in front of a Dunedin home crowd and I am sure Fabian's Highlanders supporters and Christian's Otago fans will be out in full force. Ollie and Du'Plessis have both shown their class in Super Rugby this year and we know they are ready.' Robertson has moved regular outside center Rieko Ioane to the right wing and has named Billy Proctor in the No. 13 jersey for his third test. Proctor will combine in midfield with Jordie Barrett who missed the Super Rugby season while playing for Leinster in Ireland. All three Beauden brothers are in the starting lineup with Beauden at flyhalf and captain Scott at lock where he will combine with Holland. Will Jordan will start at fullback while Damian McKenzie has been named on the bench. Sevu Reece is on the left wing. France has sent an understrength team for the three-match series, choosing not to select players who were involved in the final rounds of the French Top 14 competition. Still, France has a record of beating the All Blacks when least expected. France beat New Zealand 30-29 in the last match between the teams at the 2023 World Cup. 'Facing France is always special,' Robertson said. 'They bring intensity, flair, and physicality. As a group we've had a fantastic 10 days together, preparing for the three-test series ahead of us.' The teams are scheduled to play the second test in Wellington on July 12 and at Hamilton a week later. ___