Newcastle and Manchester United in talks for Sesko
Both Premier League sides are interested in reinforcing their front line with the Magpies potentially having to replace Alexander Isak should he depart for Liverpool while Ruben Amorim continues to refresh his side's attacking line-up.
According to German outlet Sky Sport, the two sides are in conversations with Šeško's management over a potential deal and their respective projects. Talks with RB Leipzig would then follow over a potential fee.
The Slovenian international has played 87 games for the Bundesliga side since his arrival from Red Bull Salzburg in the summer of 2023. So far, the 22-year-old has bagged 39 goals for the club as well as making eight assists.
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Time Magazine
23 minutes ago
- Time Magazine
Erling Haaland Is Already Outscoring Soccer's Greats
Two of the most valuable feet on the planet are burning. It's a stifling mid-June afternoon and Erling Haaland, the superstar Manchester City striker from Norway who looks like Thor but sometimes celebrates goals by meditating in the lotus pose, is walking on the piping hot sand in Boca Raton, Fla. The heat is so intense that I start skittering to the wet sand in desperate need of relief, but Haaland, who has insisted on removing his sandals, simply saunters to a cooler stretch of seashore. 'No pain,' he says, flashing a smile. Manchester City has landed in the U.S. for the FIFA Club World Cup and set up base camp at an oceanfront Boca hotel. Haaland's tired from an extended training session that morning, but he's still in a jovial mood—Man City won its opening game in Philadelphia the day before. Minutes before our walk on the beach, Haaland had spotted team photographer Tom Flathers in the hotel lobby with three stitches above his right eyebrow from when a ball launched by Man City forward Omar Marmoush struck him during a practice session a few days earlier. 'If that was me,' says Haaland, 'he would have 10.' Or 10,000. The speed of Haaland's shots, and hulking 6-ft. 4-in. body, have created a goal-scoring machine the likes of which the world has never seen. Haaland holds the record for most goals in an English Premier League season, won the Golden Boot for most goals in the Premier League two years in a row, scored a hat trick (three goals) in his European Champions League debut—on three shots—and is the only player besides Lionel Messi to score five goals in a Champions League knockout game. He once scored nine goals—yes, nine—in an under-20 competition for Norway. On June 26, during Manchester City's 5-2 victory over Juventus in the Club World Cup—the 370th game of Haaland's professional and national-team career—he scored his 300th goal. It took Kylian Mbappé 409 games, Messi 418, and Cristiano Ronaldo 554 to reach this majestic milestone. Haaland turned 25 on July 21. In soccer, tradition holds that when players score a hat trick, they receive a match ball, signed by their teammates, as a keepsake. Haaland's hat tricks are so routine that last August, after he notched another one for Man City, a teammate scrawled 'f-ck off' on the memento. 'He's a human exclamation point,' says Roger Bennett, founder and CEO of the Men in Blazers Media Network, the soccer-podcast company. 'A man who can deliver just cunning, clinical acts of violence repeatedly, consistently, remorselessly with the world watching.' Haaland signed on with Manchester City from Germany's Borussia Dortmund in 2022, scored three hat tricks early in the season, and helped Man City become just the second English team in history to win the treble (championships in the Premier League, the FA Cup—an annual English domestic club knockout competition— and the Champions League, the annual event crowning Europe's top club). 'I had not seen anyone arrive in the elite league in the world and just utterly bend it to his will,' says Bennett. Man City won Premier League titles in Haaland's first two seasons, in 2023 and 2024, which also gave the Sky Blues a record four consecutive season championships. But inconsistency and injuries—to Haaland and others—caused the team to slip to third place in 2025 and suffer its earliest Champions League exit in a dozen years. So starting on Aug. 16, when Man City opens its 2025–2026 campaign against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Haaland and his mates will seek to reclaim Premier League supremacy while also competing for another Champions League title. What's more, this fall Haaland will lead Norway into the latter stages of World Cup qualifying. He expects to return to North America next summer for his country's first World Cup appearance in nearly three decades. So Haaland has a momentous 12 months ahead of him. With more Man City success, and a shine on the World Cup stage, he will succeed Messi, 38, and Ronaldo, 40, as the face of the world's most popular sport. His outings already double as pilgrimages. At the game in Philly, Americans from New Hampshire, Colorado, Michigan, and elsewhere turned out in Haaland jerseys. A 9-year-old boy from New Jersey told me he talks about Haaland so much that his 4-month-old brother has started saying, 'Errrrrrr.' Kenny Coleman, 10, traveled with his parents from Sydney to see his favorite player: Coleman wraps the back of his flowing blond hair in a bun, just like Haaland, and at the Man City party at an Irish bar the night before the game, the fans started shouting 'Baby Erling!' at him. Walking along the water, all feet safely clear of scorching grains, I show Haaland a cell-phone snapshot of Baby Erling. Haaland's aware of the absurdity. Some soccer-loving kid from a farming community in Norway—not Argentina or England or Spain or Brazil or some other more populous football power—is now inspiring the world over. 'Never in a million years would I think a guy from Australia would walk in the USA and try to look like me,' Haaland says. 'No.' In Bryne, Haaland's agricultural hometown of some 13,000 in southwest Norway, visitors can go on the 'Haaland safari.' For 750 kroner, or about 75 bucks, a guide will show you the giant mural of Haaland, in a Dortmund shirt, on the side of an old dairy, and another painting of Haaland in a Man City kit, in the lotus pose. You can visit the timeworn stadium of his first club team, Bryne FK, where for years fans could pull up in tractors to watch the action. Bryne FK awards the stars of its matches prizes like cartons of eggs, a half-ton of carrots, and cauliflower. Cruise ships docking in Stavanger, the coastal city about a 30-minute train ride to the north, send tourists down to Bryne. The locals are betting on a boost to the local economy. 'I hope in the future,' says Frode Hagerup, a Bryne FK board member, 'Erling takes us from two hotels to three hotels.' If anyone reared in Bryne was going to put the town on the map, it was going to be Haaland. His father Alfie played for Manchester City and two other Premier League clubs: Erling was actually born in England, before Alfie moved back to Bryne with his family in 2004, following his retirement from professional soccer. Erling's mother Gry Marita Braut was a Norwegian youth national heptathlon champion. His great-uncle, pig and potato farmer Gabriel Hoyland, is the greatest player in Bryne FK history. 'I remember when I scored one goal, it was such a good feeling in me that I was like, 'I want to become an expert on this,'' says Haaland. 'Get this feeling again and again.' Though Haaland's youth coach Alf Ingve Bernsten gave players the weekends off, Haaland and his buddies would spend hours on Saturdays and Sundays playing on their own at Bryne's indoor facility. 'It was very important that they learn by themselves,' says Bernsten. 'If I was a coach that stood on the side and yelled at him, 'Now you have to go there, left, right,' he will only react after my shouting. The whole process will collapse.' At just 15, Haaland suited up for Bryne FK in the Norwegian pro league. But he hadn't grown into his current frame. In 16 games, he failed to score against older, stronger players. 'I just felt that everyone was watching me, and if I didn't play good, it was the end of the world,' says Haaland. Playing in Norway as a teen was more stressful than performing before millions at Man City. 'It shouldn't be like that,' he says. 'But in the end, everything is in your head.' Despite Haaland's failure to produce for Bryne, a higher-division Norwegian club, Molde FK, saw his potential. Alfie also thought moving away from home, at 16, would help his son mature. 'That was part of the education,' says Alfie. Haaland recalls thinking, ''F-ck, I'm alone now. I actually have to go buy groceries. I have to clean my clothes,' which I had never done before. So I remember calling my sister asking, 'OK, how do I do this?'' Haaland says his mother, a teacher, was upset that he dropped out of school to pursue soccer. 'She was so mad,' he says. 'I've never been that scared. That's proper fear.' (When asked if she is still upset, Haaland replies, 'I think she's all right now.') He got into meditation, a practice he continues to this day, while in Molde, and started celebrating goals with the lotus pose. But in his first 26 appearances for Molde, Haaland scored just four times. And in the week leading up to a July 2018 game against first-place Brann, Haaland performed terribly in practice. 'I was soooo bad,' he says. Molde's manager, Norwegian legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer—whose goal off a David Beckham corner kick clinched the treble for Manchester United in 1999—had used Haaland as a substitute the previous three fixtures. So Haaland was surprised when he was picked to start. 'I'm like, 'F-ck, I don't know what I've done in training this week, because I didn't do anything good. But OK, let's have it.'' Haaland, still just 17, scored four goals in the first 21 minutes of the game. 'It's a life-changing moment,' he says. 'From there, it was keep going and attacking whatever it is to attack.' Haaland wasn't long for Norway. After two seasons in Molde, he moved to Austria to play for Red Bull Salzburg. It took some time for him to get acclimated: Not only was it his first time living abroad, he appeared in just two games for Salzburg in the first half of 2019. 'You miss speaking Norwegian, you miss your family, you miss your friends,' says Haaland. 'The trainer would just scream to me in German, and I was like, 'I don't understand you.' I was like, 'What am I doing here?'' That offseason, however, Haaland had his nine-goal outburst against Honduras and welcomed the arrival of a new manager—American Jesse Marsch, currently the head coach of Canada, who has a reputation as an upbeat, player-friendly personality. Haaland went on an absolute tear, scoring 11 goals in seven games—including a pair of hat tricks—before making his Champions League debut in September 2019 against Genk, the Belgian side. The night before that game, he drove around Salzburg, listening to the Champions League anthem to hype himself up. He scored in the first two minutes and notched three first-half goals in a 6-2 rout. 'That's when things really kind of started to explode in my life,' says Haaland. By that point, Solskjaer had taken over Manchester United, and the club showed interest. 'When a coach you had before wants you, of course you listen,' says Haaland. But in December 2019, Haaland signed on with Dortmund, a club known for cultivating young talent. He again took a step up in competition, and in Germany he continued to produce at a prolific pace, scoring 86 goals in 89 games. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he let his hair grow out and started wrapping it in his now signature bun. Why? 'Because my father didn't want me to do it,' he says. 'But if you do it, you have to perform. You cannot be with the bun and don't perform.' Haaland's Dortmund contract contained a release clause that kicked in after the 2022 season. Real Madrid and others came calling. He lost sleep over his decision. Haaland used to wear a Man City kit to youth practices in Norway. He donned a Man City shirt that said dad as a toddler. But even more than sentiment, Man City's need for a pure striker up front appealed to Haaland, who signed a five-year deal with the team. 'I felt that this was the last missing piece in the puzzle,' says Haaland. 'Even though they did so well, I still felt I was so wanted here. And this also gave me kind of a boost and a confidence to come in and just smash everything.' He's done just that. In March, Haaland placed a penalty shot in the right side of the net against Brighton, making him the first player in Premier League history to reach 100 goal contributions (84 goals and 16 assists) in under 100 games. 'Er-ling!' the Etihad Stadium announcer cried out. 'Haa-land!' the crowd of almost 53,000 responded. 'It's an absolute dream to be playing alongside him,' says Man City winger Savinho, from Brazil. Initially, there were concerns. 'It was always a culture where no one was bigger than the club,' says Man City defender Nathan Ake, of the Netherlands, who joined in 2020. 'It is a proper team. And when you make statement signings like that, maybe people think, 'Is the dynamic going to change?'' Strikers, by nature, must behave selfishly. 'The ball has to be on your mind,' says Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano, who was vice chairman and CEO of Barcelona during Messi's days in La Liga. Soriano compares Haaland with Ronaldo. 'You can see a teammate scoring a goal, and him not celebrating,' Soriano says of Ronaldo. 'Because he thinks, 'I should have scored.' And it's not that he's a bad person. But that's the mentality. Erling is different. Erling scores a lot of goals, but he also enjoys when other teammates do it. That is impressive.' To the delight of Man City players, Haaland can hold his own in trash-talking sessions. 'We have an interesting kind of banter at the training ground, where we just hammer each other,' says Ake. 'He fit in with that straightaway.' For Ake and others, Haaland's oddball biohacking habits serve as fodder. He cherishes ice baths. He wears glasses that filter out blue light, which can disrupt sleep, before bed. He sometimes eats cow heart. 'For me, to eat as natural and as clean as possible is an important thing,' Haaland says. He gets it from a farm near his home in England. Haaland has a cow-heart guy. Man City's marketing arm at first fretted about Haaland's reputation for giving churlish interviews. While with Dortmund, he often offered uninterested one- or two-word answers to reporters' questions. A YouTube compilation of Haaland media interactions, 'Erling Haaland wasn't made for interviews'—#cringe is in the subtitle—has 2 million views. Critics like Piers Morgan called him arrogant. 'I'd say he isn't programmed for basic manners,' Morgan wrote on Twitter in 2020. Haaland's more engaging with the press these days. 'Yes, I'm more older and mature, that's for sure,' says Haaland, who welcomed his first child in December. But he also blames the media for some of his less-than-effusive responses. 'You would ask, 'How was the weather today?' I would answer, 'It's good,'' he says. 'You get what you ask for. That was my whole point of all of this. You ask stupid questions, you will get a stupid answer back.' At the risk of sounding stupid, I ask Haaland if he's the best player in the world right now. 'No,' he says. 'I'm one of them.' Messi and Ronaldo have reigned atop global soccer for nearly two decades. Haaland can't imagine himself—or his modern-day colleagues—reaching their rarefied air. 'Their records, no one is ever going to take them,' he says. 'Not even me.' Bitter supporters of rival Manchester United—still the second most valuable soccer club in the world, according to Forbes—chalk up Man City's success to economics. According to many Man U fans, ever since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family and vice president of the United Arab Emirates, bought City in 2008, his oil wealth has purchased players and championships. Meanwhile Man U's owners, the Glazer family of the U.S., have burdened the club with debts and losing: Man U hasn't won the Premiership in a dozen years. And, these fans argue, Haaland's overrated. 'He's a big galoot,' says United supporter Christine Maun, 73, while watching a midweek Man U game in a Manchester pub in March. 'If he wasn't playing for City, he'd never score what he scores. He's not a classy player. Just stands there.' That's a common knock on Haaland: he's a so-called tap-in merchant, a player who converts easy goals while his teammates do the dribbling and passing. Prompted to respond to that label, Haaland laughs. 'What's the most difficult thing in football?' Haaland asks, rhetorically. 'If you're a tap-in merchant, that means you're scoring a lot of goals, no? There you kind of have the answer. I like it if people call me a tap-in merchant. I love it. That means you're doing something right. That a lot of other people can't.' Plus, it takes skill and athleticism to position yourself to convert those chances. 'His football IQ is off the charts,' says former Premier League midfielder Robbie Earle, now an analyst for NBC Sports. 'He has to think ahead. He's seeing pictures before most other players see them on the pitch. It's almost like a mathematician who can work out the algorithm and the conundrum quicker than anybody else.' It has all added up to Haaland's signing a mammoth 9½-year contract in January. Haaland is making a commitment to Man City even though the club has been charged with breaches of financial regulations, from the 2009–2010 to 2017–2018 seasons, that could result in fines, the stripping of championships, or even expulsion from the Premier League. Man City has denied the charges and is awaiting a verdict by an independent commission. 'I spoke with the bosses, and in the end, I believe them,' says Haaland. 'It's such a tricky situation for me to even sit there and speak about, because I wasn't really involved in it. So I think the club knows what they're doing. They will sort it out.' The contract is the longest in Premier League history. 'This feels really normal for me to do,' says Haaland about the signing. 'They have so much trust in me. Got the good feeling inside my body.' Haaland shouldn't be strolling along the Atlantic Ocean right now. Not because his fair skin is so exposed to the fiery Florida sun (though there's that). No, he should be on vacation, recuperating from the grind of this past season—where he missed six weeks with an ankle injury—and resting his body for the next one, which could see Haaland playing upwards of 70 games between the Premier League, cup competitions, World Cup qualifying, and the World Cup, which kicks off next June 11 in Mexico City. But the soccer calendar, always eager to cash in on the popularity of players like Haaland, called for a more expansive Club World Cup this offseason. 'Every footballer is waiting the whole year for holidays,' says Haaland, as a breeze drifts in off the ocean. 'But as well, the people that have holidays now, they would love to be here.' He did depart the U.S. earlier than expected: on June 30, Saudi club Al Hilal upset Manchester City 4-3 in the Round of 16 (Haaland scored a second-half equalizer in that game, in addition to two other goals in earlier ones). It's been that sort of year for Man City. Haaland still finished second in goals per match in the Premier League, behind Liverpool's Mohamed Salah. But rocky moments stood out. In September, a camera caught Haaland telling Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to 'stay humble' after Man City scored late to draw with the Gunners, 2-2. At one point in the match, he also shouted, 'Who the f-ck are you?' at Arsenal rookie Myles Lewis-Skelly. This all caused a row. So during the rematch in London in February, Arsenal fans could be heard singing 'stay humble' during Arsenal's 5-1 annihilation of the road team. They added a derogatory word. When Lewis-Skelly scored a goal in the second half, he mimicked Haaland's lotus celebration. Haaland has no 'stay humble' regrets. 'I think it's an important phrase, which a lot of people should use, including myself,' he says. 'It's one of the most important things, as individuals, to do.' He takes the chants in stride. 'They won the game 5-1,' says Haaland. 'So yeah, they got me.' And Lewis-Skelly's not the first person to send up Haaland's ritual: Brazilian superstar Neymar did the same thing after scoring for Paris Saint-Germain against Dortmund in a 2020 Champions League game. 'If he wanted to use that moment to mock me, that's fair enough for him,' says Haaland. 'Whatever he wants to do, he can do.' In May, Manchester City still had an opportunity to finish off a disappointing campaign with a trophy, in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium. But Crystal Palace won 1-0. Soccer pundits, including English legend Wayne Rooney, knocked Haaland for declining to take a penalty shot before the half. Instead, Haaland gave the ball to Marmoush, who joined Man City from Eintracht Frankfurt, of the Bundesliga, in January. The Crystal Palace keeper, Dean Henderson, stopped Marmoush's attempt. 'Erling Haaland is a world-class forward, but when we're talking about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, there is no way they are giving that ball away,' Rooney told BBC One. Haaland doesn't dispute Rooney's comments. 'I shouldn't have given it to a new player,' he says. 'So all the responsibility is on me. I put him in this situation. I had a good feeling on him. But I should have taken it myself.' Man City manager Pep Guardiola, one of the world's most respected football minds having won a dozen league titles in Spain, Germany, and England over 16 seasons, has named Haaland to a four-person leadership council for the team next season. He's the youngest member of the group by more than three years. 'I'm quite calm in my head,' Haaland says. 'That's a good thing to bring to others as well, even when the situation can be a bit wild.' He's already put last season behind him. 'I almost forgot it until you started speaking about it,' says Haaland. 'I cannot keep on thinking about last season. That last season was not good enough, this or that. That's the best part of football. There's always something new that's coming. You have to think about what is coming next and live in the present moment.' Norway, meanwhile, has won all four of its World Cup qualifying matches so far. I ask Haaland if he thinks the U.S., which as one of the host countries automatically qualifies for the 2026 World Cup, can win it. Haaland turns the tables, asking me who has a better chance to win, the U.S. or Norway. 'You don't have to answer it,' he says. 'But Norway will never win the World Cup.' The nation last appeared in the event in 1998. 'If we would qualify for the World Cup, it would be like another big nation winning it,' Haaland says. 'It would be the biggest party ever. Scenes in Oslo would be incredible.' He's a realist. And a bit of a diplomat. 'I don't want to be that guy that says the USA is never going to win the World Cup, then they actually win it,' says Haaland, through a hint of laughter. 'So there's a 1% chance they're going to do it. Norway has a 0.5.' Haaland's growing fond of the U.S. The previous day, during the second half of Man City's 2-0 victory over Moroccan side Wydad AC in Philadelphia, his entrance onto the pitch provided the game's loudest moment. 'I didn't know I was famous in the U.S.,' says Haaland. 'Everyone knows who I am.' He's watched Yellowstone and wouldn't mind exploring Montana. 'Get what is the guy, Costner, to drive me around,' he says, laughing. While in the passenger seat of a rental car later in the day—he asks the driver to pull over until he hooks up his Bluetooth to play thump-thump dance music—Haaland spots one of the oversize American pickup trucks that he admires. 'Look at that,' he says. 'That's a f-cking car. I'm going to go out and ask for a photo with it.' He was less impressed with a Cybertruck rumbling around South Florida. 'It's so weird,' he says. All the stoplights reminded him that Bryne has none. He won't even rule out a move to Major League Soccer in the U.S., à la Messi and Beckham, after his Man City deal is done. 'You never know what the future is going to bring,' says Haaland. 'What Messi is doing now is incredible. Also what Beckham did, it's amazing.' As our beach time concludes, I ask Haaland what crosses his mind as he looks out at the ocean. 'Freedom,' he says. 'If you drive with a boat straight out, you're all alone. I feel that is freedom. I also feel peace. Even though there's not peace in the world.' So why not take a boat out there while he's in town? 'I will do it on the holidays,' he says. 'Find my inner peace.' In the meantime, there's always lotus pose on the pitch.
New York Times
23 minutes ago
- New York Times
Smith: Why staying at Red Bull was always Max Verstappen's best bet for F1 2026
The height of European summer is always a fascinating time in Formula One. The paddock is hot, sticky and sweaty. The organizers of the Hungarian Grand Prix, now back in its traditional place as the last race before the summer break, counter this by dotting the paddock with fans (the cooling kind), iced coffee on tap and, one year, even a paddling pool featuring an inflatable shark. Advertisement That build-up of heat and pressure often reflects goings-on in the sport, particularly when it comes to driver market 'silly season.' It's around this point of the year the game of who goes where for the following season really steps up. I'll never forget having my quiet, peaceful brunch on the Monday after the 2022 Hungarian race ruined by Aston Martin announcing Fernando Alonso would be jumping ship from Alpine for the following year. One of the team's press officers later told me she'd seen my Instagram story showing off my avocado on toast — I'm a peak millennial — minutes before the announcement. She knew full well they were about to change my day. Alonso's shock switch then set off Alpine's announcing Oscar Piastri's promotion from his reserve role, only for Piastri to then come out hours later and state he wouldn't be driving for the team next year as he didn't have a contract in place. Instead, he was bound for McLaren. This year's 'silly season' (and potential for more brunch interruptions) all seemed to revolve around Max Verstappen's future. The reigning world champion may be under contract at Red Bull through to 2028, but with the team's form sliding in the past 18 months amid drama behind and in the scenes, the will-he-won't-he storyline looked ready to persist through the summer. The kindling had been there in recent weeks. George Russell's mention of talks between Verstappen and Mercedes being the reason his negotiations were somewhat stalled. Toto Wolff's acknowledgment of 'conversations.' And Verstappen's own coyness, dodging opportunities to firmly state he'd be racing for Red Bull next year. They all established the potential for a huge driver-market twist. But heading to Hungary, much of that has fizzled out. Verstappen is now far enough clear to ensure he's in the top three in the drivers' championship at the summer break, meaning a results-dependent escape clause in his contract cannot now be triggered. Red Bull's off-track tension has subsided in the wake of Christian Horner's shock dismissal as team principal and Verstappen has been upbeat about working with Horner's replacement, Laurent Mekies. Advertisement Wolff had suggested his priority was always to continue with Russell and Kimi Antonelli as Mercedes' line-up next year, having indicated the odds of Verstappen moving across were low. The winds are blowing for Russell to get his long-discussed contract renewal across the line. This seems to now be coming to pass. So it's 'as you were' after all going into 2026, with Verstappen still at Red Bull. And, frankly, that was always going to be the Dutchman's best bet. It should really come as no great surprise he will be sticking around. The enormous reset of F1's car design rules for next year, covering the designs of the cars and, crucially, the engines inside them, are bound to reset the pecking order. This current rules era started with Red Bull domination and looks set to end with McLaren firmly on top. Yet next year, there can be zero guarantees over which team will steal a march. There are just too many variables. Whichever team does get the rules right has a huge opportunity to dominate in turn. We saw as much with Mercedes in 2014, when it had by far the best first V6 hybrid power unit and won the next eight constructors' titles. Lewis Hamilton timed his switch across perfectly, joining from McLaren for 2013 and later becoming F1's statistical greatest of all time. As Verstappen told The Athletic in an interview last month: 'You just hope that you're with the right team, and… I don't (want) to say 'luck in' — but in a way, you do 'luck in' because if you're a good driver and suddenly your team steps up, then you know that you have a winning chance.' When seriously considering a move – even for 2026 – Verstappen would've been aware of the significant risks involved in trying to bet on the right project. Red Bull has embarked on its own ambitious engine project, establishing Red Bull Powertrains with support from Ford. As much as it is taking its destiny into its own hands (as Horner often said as he established the facility) it will also face a big challenge to immediately take on the might of established F1 engine makers Mercedes, Ferrari and Honda. Advertisement By sticking to at least one more year with Red Bull, Verstappen has a chance to see 2026 unfold and get a clear read on the competitive picture. The links to Mercedes and interest from Wolff, who tried signing Verstappen when he was in Formula Three in 2014 and has always remained friendly with both him and his father, Jos, are probably never going to end. And if Verstappen were serious about wanting to make that move, Wolff wouldn't close the door. But the timing has to be right for both parties. The extra year also gives Verstappen visibility on what other seats and opportunities may be on offer. The majority of teams approached the early planning for 2026 wanting line-up stability. This meant a series of multi-year deals were struck through 2024 — that being true for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll at Aston Martin, the other team with which Verstappen has been linked. Another year will give time for things to open up; right now, the market is fairly static. Verstappen is quite straightforward when it comes to his 'wants' as an F1 driver: a quick car with which he can fight for wins and championships; and a peaceful, supportive environment around him. The main pillars that Verstappen needs at Red Bull, including his race engineer, GianPiero Lambiase, and Helmut Marko, Red Bull's motorsport advisor, remain in place. Horner's departure didn't change anything on that front. Another year with the team and family that has supported Verstappen right through his F1 career, taking him from a precocious 17-year-old debutant to a four-time world champion, is no hardship. He's spoken of his eagerness to work with Red Bull's engineers and team members based solely at its factory to understand why it has struggled so much of late. And while it may realistically be too late to save his title defense this year, a similar spirit will surely be applied to the 2026 challenge. Advertisement Staying put won't hurt Verstappen at Red Bull. He can take in the pecking order and assess his own happiness at the team under Mekies, then see what options come his way. This just wasn't a now-or-never scenario for him. It'll be a hot weekend in Hungary, even if the silly season temperature is coming down a few degrees. But a revival this time next year is inevitable, with Verstappen surely at its heart all over again. But now Red Bull navigates the start of its next phase there'll be calm — exactly as Verstappen likes it. And just maybe, I'll get to fully enjoy my avocado on toast in peace next Monday… (Top image:)
New York Times
23 minutes ago
- New York Times
Alexander Isak training at former club Real Sociedad while Newcastle future uncertain
Alexander Isak is training individually at former club Real Sociedad with his future at Newcastle United uncertain. The rest of the Newcastle first team are in South Korea as part of their pre-season plans. Isak did not travel with Eddie Howe's squad to Singapore last week after the news that he wanted to leave Newcastle. Advertisement The 25-year-old spent three years at Real Sociedad before joining Newcastle in 2022, playing 132 times. He is training alone at their Zubieta facilities while the Basque club's first team continues their preparations for the new season following their own tour of Asia. Isak's absence from Newcastle's opening pre-season friendly at Celtic on July 19 and subsequent tour to Asia was his preference amid his uncertain future, according to sources, speaking anonymously as they were not authorised to do so publicly. The club, however, cited a minor thigh injury for Isak's absence. The Sweden international's existing Newcastle deal runs through to June 2028, and the north east side have been eager to retain him on an improved contract, while also seeking potential replacements in case of his departure. The Athletic reported on July 15 that Liverpool communicated their interest in signing Isak and doing a deal in the region of £120million. Newcastle's stance has consistently been that the player is not for sale. Newcastle and Liverpool were interested in Eintracht Frankfurt forward Hugo Ekitike before the Premier League champions completed a transfer worth an initial £69m earlier this week. Howe's side then made RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko their top candidate, but Manchester United are now prioritising a move for the Slovenian. Newcastle have also been exploring a move for Brentford's Yoane Wissa after cooling their interest in Ekitike. Analysis by George Caulkin Newcastle continue to insist that Isak is not for sale and while saying the opposite would be a peculiar negotiating position, their stance is not just posturing. Their priority this summer, aside from strengthening a shallow first-team pool which will be competing in the Champions League next season, has been to keep Isak, their best player, and ideally tying him to an enhanced contract. Advertisement Very little about this close season has been ideal, however. They have struggled to sign players, they have lost three friendly matches in succession and they do not have a sporting director or chief executive in place. Isak — or people close to him — have informed Newcastle of his wish to leave. Liverpool look like his only realistic destination and have expressed their interest in buying him. As of yet, however, there has been no formal bid, which effectively means limbo. In public, the only reason given for Isak's absence from the club's pre-season tour to East Asia is a minor thigh injury. Howe has never confirmed or denied that the striker wishes to leave and has reiterated constantly that he wants to keep him. On the one hand, Isak training with Real Sociedad, his former club, looks peculiar. It has the appearance of further separation from Tyneside. Yet with Newcastle's entire first-team staff away and with a fierce spotlight on this potential transfer, it also makes sense for him to be out of it. Newcastle have not condemned Isak. They are not being punitive. They are trying to keep all avenues clear, including his future reintegration, which is their first choice. Isak has not yet said anything directly about his own position, so his hands remain clean. Everything is still to play for.
