Sky Sports: Balogun ombestemte seg - ingen overgang til Everton

Evertons forsøk på å hente Folarin Balogun fra Monaco gikk i vasken i tolvte time etter at amerikaneren ombestemte seg og trakk seg fra overgangen.
Dermed har Monaco gjort to Premier League-klubber svært frustrerte på overgangsvinduets siste dag, skriver Sky Sports.
Everton var enige med Monaco om en overgang på 40 millioner pund for Balogun, men skal ha blitt usikre etter at det ble avdekket et mindre problem under den medisinske testen.
Everton skal så ha forhørt seg med Manchester United om å låne Joshua Zirkzee, men fått avslag. Dermed rettet de igjen oppmerksomheten mot Balogun og reforhandlet avtalen med Monaco.
Klubbene skal ha fått utsatt fristen med to timer for å fullføre overgangen - og under denne tiden skal amerikaneren ha ombestemt seg og trukket seg fra overgangen.
Monaco skal også ha vært enige om en overgang for Lamine Camara til Chelsea, men trakk seg fra avtalen i siste liten - til stor irritasjon hos Premier League-klubben. (NTB) likesport.biz

The NFL kickoff is officially one week out, triggering the annual wave of hot takes, hot seats, and high expectations. From chaotic division battles to dark-horse contenders, no outcome is off the table for this season. With two-time MVP Patrick Mahomes returning from a season-ending injury, all eyes shift to a wide-open AFC West. The Denver Broncos came within a game of the Super Bowl, but was their breakout season a real power shift in the division or was it just fool's gold? During Tuesday's segment on FOX Sports’ show First Things First, hosts Nick Wright and Chris Broussard made their predictions. Not only did they not agree, but both co-hosts made strong arguments for both of their AFC West predictions. Nick Wright's AFC West Prediction To no one's surprise, Wright has the Chiefs reclaiming the AFC West title, with the Broncos hot on their heels. However, his Chargers' third place analysis stood out, as he predicted them for third place, largely due to a brutal Week 3 through 10 schedule. "I don’t think they’re gonna be terrible," Wright said. "Weeks three through 10…how’s this work for you? Bills, Seahawks, Broncos, Chiefs, Rams, Texans, Ravens. Around week nine is when we’re gonna start hearing, guys year eight is the year Justin Herbert pops." Wright's doubt regarding Herbert is nothing new, but his Broncos take relies on simple regression. Denver and Chicago were incredibly clutch in the fourth quarter last year, but Wright foresees those close-game bounces leveling off this season. "They played 17 games in the regular season last like everyone, but they trailed in 15 of them," Wright said. "They had a historically good record in one-score games. John Franklin Meyers is gone and Jonathan Cooper’s on the exempt list." Despite the adversity facing the Broncos this season, Wright still sees them as a playoff team. He projected them to finish 11-6 and finish second in the AFC West, driven largely by his confidence in head coach Sean Payton. As a self-proclaimed Chiefs fan, Wright’s division pick comes as no surprise, but his logic is sound. The Chiefs have dominated the AFC West with nine titles in the last decade, and their defense looks noticeably stronger heading into this season. "My pick for defensive player of the year was going to be Chris Jones because all of a sudden he has someone next to him," Wright said. "Yeah, Peter Woods, who was projected to go top-five in the draft 14 months ago." Wright’s praise of the young Chiefs defense didn’t slow down. "They’ve got R. Mason Thomas as another edge coming around and then Mansoor Delane, a top-six pick at cornerback," Wright said. "So you’re going to have three months for this young defense, young secondary to learn [Steve] Spagnuolo’s scheme." Chris Broussard’s AFC West Prediction Broussard saw things entirely differently, dropping Kansas City to third place in his division standings. Unlike Wright, Broussard is buying into Los Angeles, picking the Chargers to dethrone the Chiefs and take the AFC West title. "The schedule is kind of light for them [Chiefs]," Broussard said. "So I got them sneaking in [the playoffs]. I really am high on the Chargers. I think [Jim] Harbaugh is excellent. [Jesse] Minter is a big loss, but Harbaugh has always had good defenses in the NFL himself." Not only is Broussard picking the Chargers to win the AFC West, but he is fully sold on the new pairing of offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel and quarterback Justin Herbert. In fact, he even expects Herbert to finish as an MVP finalist this season. "So look, [Mike] McDaniel, maybe I’m giving him too much credit," Broussard said. "But Tua [Tagoliova] led the league in passing with Mike McDaniel. Herbert’s got talent. I think McDaniel and Herbert are going to be great together. I expect Herbert to be in the MVP conversation."

ANGEL STADIUM (Anaheim, Calif.) — The only direction from here is up, Angels fans. Amid an 11th straight losing season, after a decade of destitution, owner Arte Moreno is finally heeding his fans’ advice and selling the team. Stan Kroenke, the owner of the Los Angeles Rams, is acquiring a controlling interest in the Angels for a reported $4 billion, a Major League Baseball record. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to MLB approval, according to the Angels and Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. Moreno, who bought the Angels in 2003 for $183.5 million, will retain a minority stake in the club. But it’s the dawn of a new day in Anaheim. "Fresh start," said Mike Trout. "You kinda felt that was needed. No hard feelings against Arte, but we’re super excited. The guys are excited. There’s a good vibe around the clubhouse, vibe around the stadium." Trout was among the many Angels players and executives stunned by the news but encouraged by what it could mean. The Rams have made the playoffs seven times in the last nine years. In 2016, Kroenke moved the team from St. Louis to Los Angeles. The Rams hired Sean McVay as their head coach in 2017, went to the Super Bowl in 2018 and won it in 2021, a year after moving into their brand-new SoFi Stadium. (For what it's worth, the Angels' lease at Angel Stadium runs through 2032.) KSE, Kroenke’s holding company, also owns the Denver Nuggets (NBA), Colorado Avalanche (NHL), Arsenal F.C. (Premier League) and the Colorado Rapids (MLS), among its vast sports portfolio. The Rams, Nuggets, Avalanche and Arsenal have all won championships since 2022 under KSE’s ownership. "What a track record," Trout said. "Wherever he buys, he wins." Trout, who has never won a playoff game in 16 years with the Angels, and teammate Zach Neto both reached out to Rams players shortly after hearing the news of the sale. The feedback they received about Kroenke was encouraging. "Most important thing that they said is he just wants what’s important for us," Neto said. "That’s to make the clubhouse better, in the sense of whatever we need, we get — whether that’s amenity-wise, speakers, whatever it is. He’ll make sure we get those." That has not always been the case under Moreno, whose tumultuous tenure started promisingly and ended hopelessly, with the owner unwilling to invest in the resources or put the infrastructure in place to return the Angels to relevance. Moreno bought the team in 2003, a year after the Angels won the World Series. The next year, he brought in Vladimir Guerrero and watched him win MVP. The Angels made the playoffs five times from 2004-09. Since 2010, however, they’ve made the postseason just once, in 2013, when they were swept in the American League Division Series. They wasted the primes of Shohei Ohtani and Trout, unable to get them to the postseason over their six years together or acknowledge the reality of their plight. The Angels sought quick fixes, routinely rushing prospects through the system. Moreno’s unwillingness to make the difficult choice to rebuild prevented the kind of change necessary to chart a prosperous path forward. In July 2023, instead of trading Ohtani to get the requisite pieces to reshape the farm system, the Angels dealt more prospects away and finished the year 73-89. Ohtani left in free agency and won the World Series in each of his first two seasons with the Dodgers. This year has marked a season of change in Anaheim. The announcement of the ownership sale comes months after team president Molly Jolly dismissed general manager Perry Minasian in June. John Mozeliak, who spent 18 years running baseball operations for the Cardinals — a stretch that included 10 postseason appearances, six division titles and a World Series championship — took over as the interim GM and began charting a new path forward. In an effort to revive a rudderless franchise, he started making the wholesale changes the team refused to do for years, including a deadline fire-sale that injected the Angels’ lagging farm system with needed talent. He has also started making changes to the coaching staff — pitching coach Mike Maddux, bullpen coach Dom Chiti and assistant pitching coach Darryl Scott were fired in August — and reshaping the front office. Just a day before the announcement of the ownership sale, Mozeliak promoted Matt Swanson and Michael Lord as assistant general managers while restructuring the scouting department. Then, on Tuesday morning, Jolly dropped a folder down on his desk and let him know his day was going to change. "Obviously, this was news to me," Mozeliak said of the ownership change. "When I first came here, I spoke with Arte, and he had mentioned that this was a possibility. But to learn it this morning from Molly, I was definitely surprised. But it wasn’t a shocker. I think it’s exciting news for everybody. I think change is what I came in to try to start doing." Mozeliak plans to continue to do that with an eye toward the future, until he’s told otherwise. "Obviously, the new ownership is going to have to give us some direction on what they want to see that to look like," Mozeliak said. "But I do think they should be part of that calculus." Moreno explored a sale in 2022 before ultimately remaining in place, much to the chagrin of fans whose chants to "sell the team" have reverberated throughout Angel Stadium in recent years. If a change was going to be made, many expected it would come after the next collective bargaining agreement. The timing took most by surprise. Jolly was one of the few who did not sound shocked. She didn’t divulge exactly how long Moreno had been in talks with Kroenke, other than to say it did not come together quickly. "I knew he was contemplating it as far as, what is your legacy and your exit strategy?" Jolly said. "So, that didn't surprise me at all that, at some point, he was going to transfer to the right next person." How long Mozeliak and the current Angels regime remain in place is to be determined. Kroenke could start with a clean slate, should he choose to do so. Mozeliak’s contract goes through December. Kurt Suzuki is managing on a one-year deal. The only players under contract beyond this year are Trout and Yusei Kikuchi. For many years, the Angels under Moreno maintained a top-10 payroll in the sport. That has since changed in recent seasons. But under Kroenke, who now becomes MLB’s richest owner, there is hope for a brighter future. "We’re excited for the new guy to come in and hopefully change things around and get some new life in here," Neto said. It couldn’t be much worse. "You look at the track record, I know the No. 1 thing on his mind is going to be to get to the World Series and win a championship," Trout said. "As a player, it makes you feel good to have that and to feel that." Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.