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Tottenham face a stumbling block in their bid to sign Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton
There is so much riding for Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Europa League final against Manchester United on May 21, with both a trophy and Champions League entry up for grabs.
Ange Postecoglou will be desperate to win the European trophy and perhaps leave White Hart Lane with head held high, but in gearing up for next season, having Champions League football on offer could provide a massive boost the North London club’s summer transfer plans. They need reinforcements on almost every area of the pitch after a forgettable Premier League season.
Spurs could do with a new holding midfielder to potentially replace Yves Bissouma, who is heavily linked with an exit from the club. The Mali international is heading to the final year of his contract and the club bosses are planning to cash him in when the transfer window reopens next month.
Tottenham have been admirers of Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton since last year. He is rated as one of the hottest young talents in English football and has grown leaps and bounds since joining Crystal Palace from the Championship side Blackburn Rovers in February 2024. The 21-year-old, whose stock has risen significantly over a year, played a key role in helping the Eagles win the FA Cup last weekend.
Adam Wharton delivered a fantastic performance in the middle of the park, as Crystal Palace beat Manchester City 1-0 in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium to lift their first-ever major trophy. As a result, Oliver Glasner’s side have now qualified for the Europe League, and the central midfielder will be raring to taste his first-ever experience of European football next term.
According to an exclusive report from GIVEMESPORT, Palace do not plan to sell Wharton this summer amid interest from several clubs including Tottenham. It would take an ‘astronomical offer’ to change their mind.
After the FA Cup success, the South Londoners remain determined more than ever to hold onto their key players, including Wharton. A £60 million fee may eventually prove insufficient to lure the England under-21 international away from Selhurst Park, the report adds.
Signing the 21-year-old will certainly be a step in the right direction. The Englishman is one of the most exciting talents in the Premier League right now. Despite missing a significant chunk of the season following a groin surgery, he has played 27 games in all competitions this season. He has been in strong form since recovering fully from a hamstring surgery, and it is certain that he will elevate the quality of the Tottenham squad.
However, the Lilywhites are facing a fresh stumbling block due to Palace’s rising valuation of their talented midfielder. That said, unless Tottenham wins the Europa League and qualifies for the Champions League, Daniel Levy spending in north of £60 million on Wharton looks unlikely.
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First official Vicario fan club founded ahead of Tottenham match
Tottenham Hotspur can expect a wave of local support in the UEFA Super Cup against Paris Saint-Germain, because it’s the host city of the first Guglielmo Vicario fan club. The two teams will face off at the Stadio Friuli in Udine for the European Super Cup on August 13, between the winners of the Champions League and Europa League trophies. While PSG have Italy international Gianluigi Donnarumma in the side, the local fans will all be behind Spurs for one very specific reason. Vicario the local lad who found fame in London The world’s first Vicario fan club has been founded in Udine, which is the hometown of the 28-year-old goalkeeper. He came up through the Udinese youth academy, going on to play for Venezia, Cagliari, Perugia, Empoli and then making the €18.5m transfer to Tottenham in 2023. La Gazzetta dello Sport point out the fan club was set up at the Black Stuff Irish pub in Udine, by Giovanni and Cesare Pigani, with the help of Alessandro Bais and Vicario’s uncle Francesco Persolja.
Steelers Offensive Line Coach Pat Meyer Reveals Root Of Zach Frazier's Concerning Issues
The Pittsburgh Steelers went into training camp expecting growth from all of their players, no matter how well they did in the previous year. However, concerns grew quickly about second-year center Zach Frazier, as his ability to snap the ball became inconsistent. Luckily, he seems to have fixed those problems as they have not flared up for about a week and a half. Pittsburgh can't afford to have its star center forget the basics and go into a deep sophomore slump. He needs to be on top of his game for the offense to thrive. While having a conversation with Tim Benz of TribLive, Offensive Line Coach Pat Meyer explained why Frazier was unable to properly snap the ball and what they did to fix it. "That’s early camp stuff that we don’t want," Meyer said. "Especially when you played all those games he had that were early on. It was always the first play of the first team period. Whether that’s him thinking too much, trying to add things to his technique in terms like throwing hands and doing some things had him maybe a little bit off kilter." It sounds like the excitement just got the best of Frazier during those rough practices, so he had to be told to slow things down and focus on getting the snap right first. You can't rush a play like that and risk giving the ball away on something so simple and mundane. Just get the ball to the quarterback, but not too hard of course, and then focus on your blocking assignment. Frazier had that problem early in the 2024 season, but managed to clean it up eventually. That won't be tolerated in his second year in the league. Frazier was actually already benched in training camp briefly, and it could happen again, especially with a very demanding quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. Even though those issues have not happened again in several days, Meyer still seems annoyed about them happening in the first place. He explained his frustrating conversations with Frazier after plays kept getting botched. "We had a conversation about it, and that’s done. It’s over with," Meyer said. "We’re not having any more. We’re not doing it anymore. He’s obviously diligent about it, so he doesn’t make any of those mistakes. And we can’t have those mistakes. He’s been solid the last two weeks now." Working with Rodgers can be both exciting and scary, but Frazier just needs to settle down and treat him like he's any other quarterback. It doesn't matter what voice is calling out the cadences; he just needs to know the play and get the ball to him 100% of the time like he would with anyone else standing behind him. He will probably be hiking the football to a new signal-caller in 2026 as Rodgers has made it known this could be his final season in the NFL, so Frazier better learn to deal with the early-season jitters. Steelers' Offensive Line Will Be Key To Success Rodgers has recently had a lot of struggles when pressured, as he has become one of the worst passers in the NFL against the blitz. Meyer's unit needs to gel together and develop quickly as one if they want to keep their passer upright in the pocket, especially with the pass rush from the outside. That is the key to success for 2025. Of course, it all begins with a perfect quarterback/center exchange on every single play.
Shohei Ohtani named in lawsuit regarding $240M real estate project
Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has been named in a lawsuit that was filed in Hawaii on Friday. Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo, are being sued by a real estate investor and a broker in Hawaii who have accused Ohtani and Balelo of sabotaging a $240M real estate deal for a development on the Big Island. According to court documents that were obtained by Jimmy Golen of The Associated Press, real estate developer Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and real estate broker Tomoko Matsumoto say Ohtani and Balelo deliberately had them removed from the project “for no reason other than their own financial self-interest.” The lawsuit claims Ohtani was brought into the deal for his promotional value and that he and his agent pushed the founders of the project out using “threats and baseless legal claims.” “Defendants must be held accountable for their actions, not shielded by fame or behind-the-scenes agents acting with impunity,” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiffs bring this suit to expose Defendants’ misconduct and to ensure that the rules of contract, fair dealing, and accountability apply equally to all — celebrity or not.” Hayes and Matsumoto have also accused Ohtani and Balelo of trying to push them out of a similar neighboring development project. The $240M Big Island development is located along Hapuna Beach, which is rated one of the top beaches in the world. Matsumoto was supposed to be the listing agent for the properties, which average more than $17.3M each. A brochure for the project stated that Ohtani, who was called “Japan’s Babe Ruth” has committed to buying one of the 14 properties and acting as a “celebrity spokesperson” for the development. Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700M contract with the Dodgers prior to the 2024 season. The two-way star is having another monster year with a .284 average, 42 home runs, 78 RBI and a 1.013 OPS entering Tuesday. Ohtani has also returned to pitching this season and has a 2.37 ERA across 19 innings. Ohtani was also connected to a massive gambling scandal last year, though Major League Baseball determined that the 31-year-old was not guilty of any wrongdoing.
Paul Skenes' recent struggles open door for Phillies aces in NL Cy Young race
Unlike the American League Cy Young race, which is quickly looking like Tarik Skubal's to lose, the National League Cy Young race has started to heat up in recent weeks. Paul Skenes has been sensational in what has otherwise been another miserable season for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Although the Bucs sit in a distant last place in the NL Central with a 51-70 record, they've been a must-watch whenever their ace is on the mound, and it's easy to see why. Through his first 22 starts of the season, the former LSU star boasted a 1.83 ERA, rarely giving up more than one run an outing. Had Skenes managed to maintain this number, he would've had the lowest ERA of any qualified starter since Justin Verlander's 1.74 ERA in 2022 with the Houston Astros, easily capturing his first Cy Young without much contest. However, a pair of recent underwhelming performances from the All-Star right-hander have suddenly cast doubt on his status as the favorite. While Skenes did sandwich an outing featuring six shutout innings between his two duds, the 23-year-old hurt his Cy Young odds after allowing four runs to the Colorado Rockies and Milwaukee Brewers, respectively. As a result, his ERA rose to 2.13, a minuscule, but non-historical number. To Skenes' credit, these weren't necessarily the easiest situations to perform in. The Rockies play in the MLB's most hitter-friendly park, Coors Field, and can manufacture runs at times on their home field. Meanwhile, the Brewers remain the hottest team in baseball after knocking off Skenes for their 11th-straight victory on Tuesday. But a Cy Young favorite needs to find a way to succeed, even in uncomfortable spots. While these two subpar showings won't necessarily make or break Skenes' Cy Young case, they certainly won't help, especially with a pair of Philadelphia Phillies aces breathing down his neck. Both Zack Wheeler and Christopher Sanchez are heavily in the mix for different reasons. Wheeler, a two-time Cy Young runner-up, has always been a threat for the award since joining the Phillies in December 2019, thanks to his durability and incredible strikeout numbers. That said, the 35-year-old has allowed 15 runs in his last 28.1 innings, hurting his ERA in the process. But what Wheeler has over Skenes and the rest of the competition is his NL-leading WHIP (0.926) and strikeouts (189). Currently, Wheeler has 20 more Ks than the next leader, San Diego Padres' Dylan Cease. Sanchez is easily the most unexpected name in the race, but after two seasons of above-average pitching, he has officially broken out. The southpaw trails both Skenes (166) and Wheeler in strikeouts; Sanchez's 151 are nothing to balk at. For him to win the award, though, voters will have to look at his entire body of work. The 28-year-old currently leads the NL in bWAR (6.0) thanks to his well-rounded contributions. Sporting an impressive 2.36 ERA and 1.07 WHIP, it's hard to say who's been the better Phillies starter this season. If Sanchez continues to consistently mow down lineups as he has over the last two months, he could become one of the more surprising Cy Young winners in recent memory. For now, Skenes' season-long heroics still have him positioned as the favorite to claim the prestigious accolade. With the way both Wheeler and Sanchez have dealt all year, though, it won't take many more bumps ahead for Skenes' odds to plummet.
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