The Real Sociedad president has admitted that he has held talks with Arsenal over a move for Mikel Merino, but warned that they must match the asking price for the Spain midfielder.
Merino was left out of Sociedad’s first game of the season at the weekend – a 2-1 defeat at home against Real Vallecano on Sunday – with the manager, Imanol Alguacil, insisting beforehand that the 28-year-old will be “with the team to the death”.
‘He has gained our respect’: Mikel Arteta hails Havertz after Arsenal’s fast startRead more
Talks between Arsenal’s sporting director, Edu, and the Spanish club are continuing after Sociedad turned down a first formal bid believed to be worth €25m (£21.4m). Sociedad are under…
Overreaching on quarterbacks has become a yearly tradition. Mitch Trubisky is going to work out! Carson Wentz will be healthy! Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf? Same thing! And this year, the projection for former Kentucky quarterback Will Levis was way off, with no one being more wrong about the mayonnaise-instead-of-cream-and-sugar-in-his-coffee lover than longtime ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr., who projected Levis to go No. 4 overall to the Indianapolis Colts. At one time, that meant Levis was rated as the second-best quarterback in the draft. Kiper did have Levis in his top 10 overall entering Thursday’s first round. Will Levis likes to eat banana peels…oh, and he may be cocky There have been plenty of reasons floated as to why Levis had to re-enter the green room at Kansas Ci…
The NBA's bonkers new TV deal means there is going to be more money flowing into the league than ever before, and everyone is already thinking about 2017, when the players or owners can opt out of the current CBA and re-negotiate how all that revenue is going to be divided up. Based on comments from a few high-profile stars and the union boss, it looks like the players are going to be coming on strong for a bigger slice of the pie.
The players got flattened by the owners during the 2011 lockout, conceding on almost every front of the negotiations and reducing their revenue split from 57 percent to 51 percent. At the time, the owners were crying poverty. The players aren't likely to let them get away with pulling that card in 2017.
Right after the new TV deal was signed, L…
Openly gay former NBA player John Amaechi penned an open letter to the National Olympics Committee and athletes competing in the 2014 Sochi Olympics on his site. He urged them not to ignore Russia's horrific anti-gay laws while they compete, but publicly speak out against them. It's a powerful argument against the crowd that tells athletes and media to "stick to sports" and not hold opinions on anything outside of their career focus. Amaechi obviously understands that no one agrees with Russia's torture of gay children, but silence is harmful and ignoring the issue. He asks athletes with that kind of platform to take advantage of the opportunity. An excerpt: Reasonable people can argue whether your ‘job’ is to win medals, to ski, skate, shoot and whatev…
An unidentified partner of the man trying to bring the NFL back to Los Angeles told a local paper earlier in the week that he had "no doubt" that the city would be home to a pro team in 2009. And we report that with all apologies to USC. Of course, no team has been identified by the league (or anyone else) as a candidate for the LA market, which turns this whole scenario into one big game of "he said, nobody said."
Majestic Realty Vice President John Semcken, who is partners with developer Ed Roski, Jr., said Tuesday, "We are going to have a team here next September." According to the report, any facilities – interim or permanent – should be able to accommodate not one, but two NFL teams.
The interim site in question is the Rose Bowl, who Semcken ind…
Tom Brady is old. But Matt Stover is the oldest player to ever play in a Super Bowl … for now. Like, today. And tomorrow and Saturday. But that will all change on Sunday when Brady, at 43 years old, takes his first snap for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Halfway through the 2009 season, Stover signed with the Indianapolis Colts to fill in for an injured Adam Vinatieri. The 42-year-old veteran kicker became the oldest player to ever play in the big game when he laced up his boots in Super Bowl XLIV. In the game, he kicked a field goal in the first quarter and tacked on two extra points. But Stover’s leg wasn’t enough for the Colts, who lost to the New Orleans Saints 31-17. Brady is currently the oldest non-kicker to play in a Super Bowl. And after he breaks this SB record on Sunday, wh…
data-mm-id=”_c16sw1dx2″>Jaylen Brown, former No. 3 overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft, will be a restricted free agent after the upcoming season. As such, extension talks have already begun in earnest between Brown and the Boston Celtics. The last report we heard a few months ago indicated Brown is looking for the most money he can earn for his second contract, a number that tops out at $170 million. On Wednesday, Chris B. Haynes reported the Celtics had offered Brown a contract worth $80 million over four years. That is quite a disparity, obviously. But negotiations are always like this, where numbers are leaked and the world reacts and both parties take the reactions into account. But the attitudes of both sides towards this latest contract offer of $80 million make sense. The Celtic…
data-mm-id=”_x414k8hlr”>Your power rankings for Week 16 of the NFL season. 32. Cincinnati Bengals (1-13)New England Patriots v Cincinnati Bengals / Michael Hickey/Getty ImagesEveryone in Cincinnati, from fans to front office personnel, are just counting down the days until Joe Burrow gets up on that stage at this point. 31. Washington Redskins (3-11)Philadelphia Eagles v Washington Redskins / Will Newton/Getty ImagesTerry McLaurin is a certified stud. Otherwise there's not a lot to like, although I'm of the opinion Dwayne Haskins should get some more time to develop. We'll see what the offseason brings in terms of front office changes. 30. Miami Dolphins (3-11)Miami Dolphins v New York Giants / Elsa/Getty ImagesIf the Dolphins can avoid winning any more games, they'…
data-mm-id=”_5tlqj0gna”>One by one, America's cities and states are deploying executive action to shut down bars and dine-in service for restaurants to limit the spread of coronavirus. If it can happen in our nation's three biggest cities — New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago — it's a solid bet that by the end of the week there will be scant territories in which you can enjoy a watering hole or a nice communal meal.The service industry is going to be far from alone as far as suffering businesses are concerned when the collateral damage of this is all said and done. But it's a safe bet that if there is not a large bailout from the government at the state and/or federal level, many of our favorite bars and restaurants will perish. And the impact would not end there. …
data-mm-id=”_75184ckf9″>Wisconsin fans have been itching to sloppily give a first-impression rose to any quarterback who shows any signs of being more than a glorified game-manager since Russell Wilson, so the debut of Graham Mertz felt like love at first sight. All the freshman did was complete all but one of his 21 passes for 248 yards and five touchdowns as the Badgers destroyed Lovie Smith and Illinois, 45-7. Going gaga, in this particular case, is probably quite warranted. A dynamic playmaker under center has been missing for too long and Mertz is the highest-rated quarterback to matriculate over in Madison in a while. With an extremely favorable schedule, it's looking like another year where Wisconsin only has to hold serve to reach the Big Ten championship game. Plenty of s…