With Manchester United suffering for three years in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson wilderness, the club will smash the world transfer record on Monday by signing Paul Pogba for 120 million euros.
It has undoubtedly been the transfer saga of the summer with potential deals elsewhere for Alvaro Morata and N'Golo Kante wrapped up relatively quickly.
MARCA understands that the Frenchman will finally close his long protracted move back to Old Trafford on Monday.
Pogba's move however has seen many twists and turns with the Italian champions initially adamant they wouldn't sell, yet it appears Jose Mourinho will finally get his fourth fundamental signing.
There is a degree of trepidation amongst sections of the United faithful given the midfielder left the club in 2012 for next to nothing, but it is accepted that was mainly due to issues with Ferguson.
He is expected to earn an annual salary of around 18 million euros in Manchester once a deal is officially completed as United will market him as one of football's global stars.
John Barnes and a group of Liverpool fans recreated his famous 'World in Motion' rap on the London underground. (Twitter)
Jack Grealish has posted a back-of-the-bus photo with his team-mates as Aston Villa travelled to Sheffield Wednesday for their first game in the Championship.
New Middlesbrough striker Alvaro Negredo said he enjoyed his first game at the Riverside.
Fenerbahce striker Robin van Persie has quite a passion for fishing, judging by his birthday presents. (Instagram)
Gareth Bale is back at Real Madrid after his heroics for Wales in Euro 2016. (Real Madrid Twitter)
Portsmouth displayed a proud "keep off the grass" sign before their season-opener with Carlisle, reading: "This pitch is one of only five fully natural playing surfaces remaining from the current 92 league clubs." The visitors shared it on Twitter.
And finally
New Cardiff City signing Jazz Richards has been booed by his own supporters for refusing to 'do the Ayatollah'. The gesture, which has been used by Cardiff City fans since the 1990s, involves a player raising his hands above his head, palms down, and repeatedly moving them up and down in a patting motion. (Wales Online)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola wants to sign Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, 24, as a replacement for Joe Hart, 29, but the German will cost £67m. (Sunday Express)
Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, 23, is close to joining Manchester United after he arrived in the city to complete his world-record transfer. The France international will have a medical on Sunday. (Gazzetta dello Sport)
Manchester United believe that bringing Pogba back to the Premier League can deliver as much as £40m worth of commercial income in the first year. (Sunday Times - subscription required)
Premier League champions Leicester City will make a £17m bid for 23-year-old Burnley defender Michael Keane this week.(Sunday People)
Everton are yet to receive an official bid from Chelsea for their Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku, 23.(Sunday Telegraph)
However, Chelsea are ready to offer goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, 29, and striker Loic Remy, 29, to the Toffees as part of a package for Belgium international Lukaku.(Sun on Sunday)
Manchester City have lowered 27-year-old Wilfried Bony's asking price and will accept bids of around £13m for a striker they signed for £25m 18 months ago.(Sunday Express)
Wales will look to appoint Ryan Giggs as their manager if current boss Chris Coleman takes the vacant Hull City position.(Sunday Mirror)
Turkish club Galatasaray want to sign Manchester United midfielders Bastian Schweinsteiger and Antonio Valencia, both 31, and will pay £4.25m for the pair.(Daily Star Sunday)
Jose Mourinho says he needs time to rebuild Manchester United as predecessor Louis van Gaal "had different ideas to mine" and that "it might be easier for us to bring in 20 completely new players and start again from zero."(Observer)
West Ham want to take Norwegian winger Martin Odegaard, 17, on loan from Real Madrid, but they will face competition from Liverpool.(Squawka)
Stoke City are still determined to sign England U21 striker Saido Berahino, 23, from West Brom. (Stoke Sentinel)
West Brom are considering a move for Aston Villa forward Jordan Ayew, 24, after ending their interest in West Ham striker Diafra Sakho, 26. (ESPN)
AC Milan and Colombia striker Carlos Bacca, 29, will head to London for talks with West Ham after a potential move to Spain fell through.(Gianluca Di Marzio, via Essex Chronicle)
Italian side Lazio are considering a move for 23-year-old Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha. (Il Messaggero, via HITC)
Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure, 33, will not be leaving the club this summer, according to his agent. (Sunday Express)
Sheffield Wednesday will give defender Tom Lees, 25, a new deal worth £25,000 a week in a bid to ward off interest from Burnley, Derby and Fulham.(Mail on Sunday)
Pep Guardiola believes English defender Tosin Adarabioyo, 18, has the ability to be a first-team player for Manchester City this season.(Manchester Evening News)
Hull City caretaker boss Mike Phelan says he is still not sure whether the club will be able to make any further signings before their Premier League opener against Leicester next Saturday. (Hull Daily Mail)
Phelan could be appointed Tigers manager on a permanent basis after the club failed to attract other targets. (Mail on Sunday)
Newcastle United will sell striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, 21, as manager Rafael Benitez does not feel he can trust the Serbian, who is currently serving a four-game ban. (Sunday Mirror)
Former Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen, 30, will leave Barcelona for Roma on loan this season. (Sun on Sunday)
Ex-Liverpool and Scotland captain Graeme Souness says Manchester United will win the Premier League this season, Nemanja Matic is better than N'Golo Kante and Paul Pogba is not worth £100m. (Sunday Times - subscription required)
Former Manchester United defender Gary Pallister doubts whether Zlatan Ibrahinovic, 34, can be the new "God" at Old Trafford, but says Jose Mourinho is the right man to take Manchester United into a new era. (Sun on Sunday)
Former Spurs striker and coach Clive Allen says Harry Kane looked tired during Euro 2016 but has backed the Tottenham forward to recover for the new season. (Sunday Mirror)
Getty ImagesAUGUSTA, GA - APRIL 12: Tiger Woods of the United States (L) and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland wait on the first tee during the final round of the 2015 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2015 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Bob Parsons, founder of hot golf equipment startup brand PXG, said the news that Nike Golf was transitioning out of the equipment business didn’t come to him in the form of a press release.
Instead, it came to him from his own tour rep, Matt Rollins, who called him Wednesday night to tell him his cell phone had died twice that day because “he was getting calls left and right from Nike players and their agents.”
The message from Parsons and a few others in the golf equipment business is that Nike’s departure from the club and ball categories is at the very least an opportunity. It’s a chance to assert yourself in the marketplace, and it may provide a chance to take advantage of some open tour-player contracts. And contrary to some business experts’ assertions, it may not even mean that much at all.
First, let’s remember that Nike’s presence on tour is overwhelmingly greater than its presence in the golf equipment marketplace. And it’s not exactly clear how its presence on tour might change, given that the company’s announcement yesterday included a clearly stated goal to be “the undisputed leader in golf footwear and apparel.” That would seem hard to achieve without a significant presence/investment on tour. Of course, the only three golfers cited in comments by Daric Ashford, president of Nike Golf, were Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Michelle Wie.
Parsons belief is that there will be opportunities.
“We’re just going to sit back and see how it shakes out,” Parsons told Golf Digest Thursday morning. “We’re not going to go knocking on doors. We’re going to see who knocks on our door.”
Parsons said he likely won’t be interested if Woods knocks on his door, but the other two names that Ashford mentioned and a couple he didn’t are a different story.
Getty Images
“There’s no doubt that Tiger has been an icon in the game, that no one has done as much for golf as anyone in history and he’s highly respected for that,” Parsons said. “But I don’t know that his game is what it once was.
“Rory’s somebody to get excited about. And I think there are two other guys that have a lot of potential and that’s Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau. Both of those are guys we had conversations with before they signed with Nike when Nike wrote them a big check. We’d probably want to chat with Michelle Wie, too.”
What’s not clear is how Nike’s player contracts will work going forward. Traditionally, players with Nike deals have been head-to-toe deals with no other visible logos. That’s not how Parsons operates PXG. With the exception of current signee Zach Johnson, Parsons says his guiding principle is “No hat, no deal.” It seems unlikely that most other equipment companies would want to yield the front of the hat to the Nike Swoosh, either.
As for the golf equipment market, aside from the inconvenience of the current Nike clubs in stores and shops and dealing with returns and refunds, Nike’s overall market presence at 3 percent or less in woods and irons does not leave a gaping void in the landscape, especially with the company's continued commitment to footwear and apparel.
“This is not like a TaylorMade exiting the business,” Parsons said.
Rather, Nike’s departure opens a door for others, including as it turns out TaylorMade. “We’re excited by the golf equipment category and the future opportunities it presents for performance-driven brands like ours,” said TaylorMade CEO David Abeles. Abeles cited TaylorMade’s “24 percent increase in sales year-on-year” in the second quarter.
“We’re fully committed to continuing to create industry-leading innovations across all segments; from our tour professionals to competitive amateur golfers alike who want the best performance equipment. We've just signed five of the top amateur golfers in the world, alongside our 10-year support of the AJGA announced earlier this year. So, I’m feeling very excited about the future of the equipment category and TaylorMade leading that charge.”
Bob Philion, president and CEO of Cobra Puma Golf, was just as bullish on the opportunity. “While the news is surprising, we believe we have the right strategies to continue playing offense while others are clearly playing defense,” he said. “We strongly believe in having a 360 product portfolio—from innovative equipment, to game-changing footwear, apparel and accessories—which allows us to provide the best service to our retail partners and ultimately to our consumers around the world. We are poised to pounce on the many opportunities that exist in the golf category during this time of change.”
Callaway CEO Chip Brewer told CNN Money on Wednesday that he was aware of the Nike announcement, but said its decision doesn’t reflect his or his company’s attitude about the golf business. “You need to be a specialist,” Brewer said. “Golf equipment is hard, but we love it.”
Bloomberg via Getty Images
Dick Sullivan, president and CEO of PGA Tour Superstore, believes this move will be good for Nike Golf. “The golf equipment space continues to evolve, similar to what we have seen, and will continue to see, on the retail front,” he said. “Nike has a very strong brand, and we expect their renewed focus on apparel and footwear will only strengthen their market share in those key categories.”
Leigh Bader, golf retail visionary and co-founder of Joe & Leigh’s Discount Golf Shop in South Easton, Mass., believes the news is disappointing because of those who’ve lost their jobs, but given that Nike is committed to its strong suits of golf footwear and apparel, “how is this a black eye for golf?”
Again, the bigger impact most likely will be on tour. Nike currently lists more than 40 players across all global tours on its staff. As Parsons says, “It will be interesting to see who’s wearing what hats next season.”
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has been cleared of wrongdoing following an investigation into his expenses, recruitment and alleged sacking of whistleblowers.
Infantino took charge of football's world governing body in February after the disgraced Sepp Blatter resigned.
Fifa's ethics committee found no "conflicts of interest" and no breaches of the organisation's ethics code.
"The benefits enjoyed by Mr Infantino were not considered improper," it said.
Infantino said he was pleased with the decision, adding he "would like to thank all those who co-operated with the ethics committee to ensure that the facts were heard and the truth prevailed".
BBC Sport learned last month that Infantino, 46, was under scrutiny from the investigatory chamber of Fifa's ethics committee.
At the time, the Swiss lawyer was said to be "very confident" no further action would be taken, with sources close to the former Uefa secretary general describing the allegations as "absurd" and "baseless".
"Mr Infantino's conduct with regard to his contract with Fifa, if at all, constituted internal compliance issues rather than an ethical matter," the ethics committee added.
What were the allegations?
A leaked internal Fifa memo outlined a series of claims relating to Infantino. The claims were that he:
Left himself exposed to claims of a possible conflict of interest by using private jets laid on by a World Cup bidding country
Filled senior posts without checking people's eligibility for the role
Billed Fifa for mattresses, flowers, a tuxedo, an exercise machine and personal laundry
Demanded Fifa hire an external driver, who then billed the governing body for driving Infantino's family and advisors around while he was abroad
Analysis
BBC Sport news correspondent Richard Conway
Supporters of Gianni Infantino spoke throughout this investigation of his confidence over being cleared. He has no case to answer but the Swiss Italian has been damaged by the process.
Questions concerning his judgement have been raised.
Taking private flights to Moscow and Doha was judged to be within the rules - but is it wise for a man elected on a platform of renewing trust and faith in Fifa to accept such offers?
Doubts over his political nous were raised again this week after he was pictured laughing and joking while visiting Marco Polo del Nero, the head of the Brazilian football confederation and a man who has been indicted by US authorities over corruption claims.
Infantino hasn't signed his employment contract yet either - another matter which continues to weigh him down, given reports he rejected an initial salary offer for being too low.
Despite all this he can be expected to capitalise on being cleared by the ethics committee and relaunch his stuttering presidency. The question for many will be has lasting damage already been done?
