Author: James Brooks

Manchester City have agreed a deal worth £116m with Nottingham Forest to sign England midfielder Elliot Anderson in a club record transfer. The 23-year-old is set to undergo a medical before completing his move to the Etihad Stadium this summer. City sources insist the fee is a straight £116m with no bonus payments attached to the agreement. Other sources claim the total deal could be worth up to £130m, which would represent a British record transfer fee. That figure would surpass the £125m Liverpool paid Newcastle for striker Alexander Isak last summer, setting a new benchmark for British football. Forest…

Two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas has chosen to join Women’s Super League club London City Lionesses, according to sources close to the player. The 32-year-old left Barcelona in May after 14 years with the club, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in women’s football history. Sources close to Putellas told BBC Sport she selected the South London club ahead of Boston Legacy in the United States, the final two contenders among many who pursued her signature. London City Lionesses are confident of completing the deal, though club sources confirm no final agreement has yet been…

Bellamy’s proposed switch to Championship side Burnley has fallen through, ending speculation over his future as Wales national team manager. The Clarets had approached the Football Association of Wales with a clear view to appointing the 46-year-old as Scott Parker’s successor at Turf Moor. Bellamy held talks with the Lancashire club, but negotiations have now broken down and the move appears to have been abandoned entirely. The collapse of the deal is understood to be unrelated to any compensation dispute between Burnley and the Football Association of Wales. However, negotiations surrounding Bellamy’s backroom staff joining him at Turf Moor were…

Scotland’s World Cup journey is teetering on the edge, with Steve Clarke’s side needing multiple favourable results to advance from Group C. The devastating 3-0 defeat to Brazil left supporters stunned, and the bad news did not stop there for travelling fans still making their way from the stadium. South Africa’s shock victory over South Korea in Group A compounded Scotland’s misery, leaving the Koreans third on three points but with a superior goal difference to Clarke’s men. With eight third-place finishers advancing to the round of 32, Scotland currently sit seventh among those third-place sides with only three of…

Kenzo Kies, a 21-year-old French footballer who played for Guingamp in Ligue 2, has died after drowning in the Rhone river. Kies and three friends entered the river near Lyon to escape the extreme heat gripping France, with temperatures reaching 40C in parts of the country. Emergency services pulled three people to safety, but Kies was the last to be found and was in a critical condition when firefighters retrieved him from the water on Monday. He was taken to hospital but later died from his injuries, leaving the French football community in a state of shock and grief. The…

BBC Sport reporters and commentators have been sharing their verdicts on the venues across Mexico, the United States and Canada at this summer’s World Cup. With 16 cities across three nations hosting matches, the tournament has offered a wide variety of stadium experiences for fans, players and media alike. John Murray, BBC Radio 5 Live’s senior commentator, was full of praise for the iconic Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, where the opening game was played. Murray said the ground has “football history oozing out of every crevice,” pointing to Carlos Alberto’s famous goal in the 1970 final and Diego Maradona’s…

Scotland’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time are in serious danger following a heavy 3-0 defeat against Brazil in Miami. The result sees Brazil finish top of Group C, leaving Scotland’s tournament future deeply uncertain as they search for a way through to the next round. It was a calamitous defensive display from Scotland, with their backline repeatedly caught out by a Brazilian side that showed clinical finishing throughout the match. Conceding three goals without reply is a damaging outcome for any side, but for Scotland it carries the weight of a…

Scotland’s World Cup campaign hangs by a thread after a chastening 3-0 defeat to Brazil in their final Group C fixture in Miami. Steve Clarke’s side knew a draw would almost certainly have been enough to secure a place in the last 32 of the tournament. Instead, Scotland finish third in Group C with three points and a goal difference of minus three, leaving their fate in the hands of other groups. Opta calculated Scotland’s chances of progressing at 42% after the full-time whistle, but the mood in the camp told a very different story. Head coach Steve Clarke was…

Chelsea are preparing a significant defensive rebuild under incoming manager Xabi Alonso, with Crystal Palace centre-back Maxence Lacroix emerging as a priority target. The Blues are determined to add at least one central defender to their ranks this summer as Alonso looks to reshape the backline ahead of his official arrival at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea have already moved Marc Cucurella on, selling the full-back to Real Madrid for £51.8m, raising funds to invest in strengthening their defensive options. The club are also set to complete the signing of Atalanta defender Marco Palestra for a fee in excess of £43m, with…

Chris Sutton has shared his score predictions for the final round of World Cup 2026 group stage matches, covering all twelve groups. Cape Verde have been one of the stories of the tournament, drawing with both Spain and Uruguay to keep their knockout stage hopes alive. Sutton and AI both improved their prediction records in the second batch of group games, but BBC users outperformed both with an impressive 18 correct results from 24. Sutton correctly predicted 14 results in the second round of fixtures, up from 12 in the opening set of group games. AI also improved, rising from…