■ENGLAND
Pennant reluctant to move
Liverpool have accepted an undisclosed bid for out-of-favor Jermaine Pennant from Portsmouth, but the former Arsenal and Birmingham City winger is reluctant to move to the south coast. Pennant, who cost Liverpool £6.7 million (US$9.9 million) when he joined them from Birmingham in 2006, has also attracted interest from Real Madrid and AC Milan. But he insists that he wants to stay at Liverpool. “My preference is to stay at Liverpool and I am still hoping to do so,” Pennant said. “There has been a lot of speculation about my future, but I have always maintained my position of wanting to stay at the club. I am happy to compete for my place and hope I am given the chance to do so.”
■GERMANY
City make offer for de Jong
Manchester City have made a bid to buy Netherlands midfielder Nigel de Jong from Hamburg SV, the German club said on Friday. It did not provide any details of the offer, which German media have estimated at around 15 million euros (US$20 million). “City have had contact with us, they have expressed an interest and have submitted an offer,” Hamburg’s sports chief Dietmar Beiersdorfer told reporters at the team’s training camp in Spain’s La Manga. De Jong, whose contract with Hamburg expires next year, confirmed he had received an offer and said he still had two weeks to decide before the transfer window closes. “I have to see what’s best for me,” said De Jong, who joined the Bundesliga club in 2006 from Dutch side Ajax.
■PORTUGAL
Makukula loaned to Bolton
Portugal international Aziza Makukula of Benfica has been loaned to Bolton Wanderers until the end of the season, the top Portuguese club said on Friday, after a move to West Bromwich Albion fell through. The Benfica club added, in a statement on Portuguese financial site CMVM, that there would also be an option to buy the 27-year-old striker for 5 million euros (US$6.6 million). Benfica said: “An agreement has been agreed with Bolton for the loan of Aziza Makukula until the end of the season, an agreement which also has an option to buy for 5 million euros.” The West Brom deal did not succeed because Makukula did not want to join a club that was bottom of the Premier League.
■ENGLAND
Manucho joins the Tigers
Manchester United striker Manucho is joining Hull City on loan for the rest of the season. The 25-year-old Angola international, who spent part of last season on loan at Panathinaikos, has made one Premier League appearance for United. Hull, who have scored just three goals in their last six matches, secured a work permit for Manucho and put him in their squad for yesterday’s Premier League match against Arsenal. The Tigers also remain hopeful of completing the signing of former Liverpool right-back Steve Finnan from Espanyol.
■ENGLAND
Stanley keeper arrested
Accrington Stanley goalkeeper Ian Dunbavin has been arrested, police said on Friday, in connection with the bar brawl allegedly involving England international Steven Gerrard. Gerrard is accused of assaulting DJ Marcus McGee, who then claimed people accompanying Gerrard hit him while he was on the ground. Liverpool midfielder Gerrard is on bail having being charged with assault in a Southport bar on Dec. 29. He appears in court on Friday. Gerrard could technically face up to five years in jail for the offense.
Jesper Boqvist on Tuesday scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period as the Florida Panthers, after raising their second straight NHL Stanley Cup banner, opened the defense of the title by beating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2. Mackie Samoskevich — getting his second assist, the fifth two-point game of his career — chipped the puck toward the goal and Boqvist knocked it out of the air for the lead with 10 minutes, 20 seconds left. A.J. Greer and Carter Verhaeghe also had goals for Florida, who got 17 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky. Frank Nazar had a goal and an assist and Teuvo
Mexico’s teenage playmaker Gilberto Mora has lit up the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile as he basks in the limelight afforded by the absences of Barcelona and Real Madrid stars Lamine Yamal and Franco Mastantuono. “I don’t know if I’m the biggest star, and I’m not really interested in that. I think you can always give more,” 16-year-old Mora said before Mexico’s 4-1 win against host nation Chile in the round-of-16 on Tuesday, in which he provided the assist for the opening goal. Next on Mora’s schedule is a quarter-final clash against Argentina this morning Taiwan time, but after
World No. 3 Alexander Zverev on Monday said that he was playing “terrible tennis” after he was knocked out of the Shanghai Masters by France’s Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. His exit leaves Novak Djokovic as the tournament’s top-ranked player, increasing the 38-year-old Serb’s chances of winning a record-extending fifth title in the Chinese financial hub. In stifling conditions, world No. 54 Rinderknech came back from a set down to stun an increasingly rattled Zverev into submission. It is the second time the Frenchman has beaten him, after bundling him out of Wimbledon earlier this year. A despondent Zverev told reporters the match had
HOMETOWN ZERO: Fans relished the fall of former Brewer-turned-Cubs manager Craig Counsell, as Milwaukee braces to face the Dodgers, who in 2018 denied them a pennant Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy has referred to his team as the “Average Joes,” a nod to their small-market status and lack of big names, but after they beat rivals the Chicago Cubs 3-1 in the decisive fifth game of their National League Division Series (NLDS) on Saturday night, Murphy decided it was time for an upgrade. “You can call them the average Joes, but I say they’re the above-average Joes,” he said. The Brewers relied on contributions from just about every player to get past the Cubs. Andrew Vaughn hit a tiebreaking homer in the fourth inning, and William Contreras and Brice
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