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Leeds United have now joined the race to sign a “remarkable” midfielder, with their plans for the January transfer window being revealed.

Leeds' January transfer window plans now taking shape

Leeds may have to enter the market for a new central midfielder and winger in the upcoming transfer window, given that Daniel James is set to be out for at least eight weeks after suffering a hamstring injury, while Sean Longstaff could be out for around six weeks due to a calf issue.

Speaking about how James’ injury setback will impact his plans for next month, Daniel Farke said: “He’s an important player for us. In the summer, we spoke about doing more in the offensive positions. It influences your planning for January. But right now, we are fully focused on the upcoming games.”

The Whites are entering a busy period of the season, and there are some tough games on the horizon, taking on Chelsea at Elland Road this evening, before hosting reigning Premier League champions Liverpool on Saturday afternoon.

Consequently, Farke’s side are at real risk of being in the relegation zone by the time the January window comes around, and it has now been revealed they are planning to make a couple of new signings, who could help save their season.

That is according to a report from Football Insider, which states bringing in a new central midfielder and winger is a priority for Leeds this winter, and they have now joined the race to sign Tromso star Jens Hjerto-Dahl.

Regular checks have been made on the 20-year-old, but there could be competition for his signature, with Brighton & Hove Albion and AFC Bournemouth also being named as potential suitors.

Leeds lining up January spending spree for "phenomenal" Farke replacement

Daniel Farke will reportedly be sacked if Leeds lose their next two matches.

ByBen Goodwin Dec 1, 2025

With the youngster’s contract set to expire in 2027, the Premier League trio have been alerted to his potential availability ahead of the January transfer window, and the Norwegian is regarded as one of his country’s best young talents.

"Remarkable" Hjerto-Dahl impressing in the Eliteserien

Hailed for his “remarkable” decision-making and vision by scout Drin Gashi, the starlet has a keen eye for creating chances and scoring goals, finding the back of the net four times in the 2025 Eliteserien, while also providing six assists.

The maestro has already established himself as a key player for Tromso, making 87 appearances for the Norwegian club since breaking through in 2023, and his performances across the 2025 campaign suggest he may now be ready to test himself in one of Europe’s major leagues.

That said, while Hjerto-Dahl could go on to be a future star, he remains inexperienced at the top level, so Leeds should try to get a more experienced midfielder through the door too this winter, and it was recently revealed they have made an enquiry over a deal for Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips.

John Campbell, Brandon King, Shai Hope and Roston Chase offered resistance for West Indies, but they slipped from 153 for 3 to 205 all out

Sreshth ShahUpdated on 10-Dec-2025Stumps New Zealand’s patchwork fast-bowling attack delivered a strong show on the opening day of the second Test in Wellington, dismissing West Indies for 205 inside 75 overs at Basin Reserve. But the sight of Blair Tickner being stretchered off late in the afternoon with a suspected dislocated left shoulder took some sheen off their day of dominance.Tickner, playing his first Test in two years and leading the bowling with 4 for 32, was central to turning a bright West Indies start into yet another collapse, while Michael Rae, the 30-year-old debutant drafted into a severely depleted pace unit, complemented him with 3 for 67 in an energetic outing that gave New Zealand the bite they had lacked in the opening hour. That bite mattered because the first hour had belonged entirely to West Indies despite losing the toss, in a match where the hosts announced five changes and the visitors three.On a pitch far milder than the traditional green seamer, John Campbell and Brandon King put on 66 for the opening wicket. Jacob Duffy and Zak Foulkes, burdened with heavy workloads from the first Test after the injuries to Matt Henry and Nathan Smith in Christchurch, bowled honest but ineffective spells that allowed scoring opportunities.Campbell drove through the line, King played compactly, and West Indies looked assured.Michael Rae picked up three wickets in his first innings in Test cricket•Getty ImagesBut once New Zealand turned to Tickner and Rae – fresher workload-wise, and sharper in pace – the difference was visible. They operated either full or short but always at the stumps or the body, and the tone of the innings shifted dramatically.Tickner was the first to strike when he prised out King in the 17th over. King, playing the Test after Tagenarine Chanderpaul picked up a side strain on the eve of the Test, and opening for only the second time in his Test career, was pinned lbw when Tickner’s delivery from a short-ish length jagged in and hit him on the pad. One over later, Kavem Hodge was undone for a duck by a fuller ball from Tickner that tailed in late and struck him in front of middle and leg. The double-blow helped New Zealand quickly erase an indifferent start heading into the lunch break.Rae, who had leaked runs in his first spell in Test cricket, made an impact after lunch. Coming around the wicket, he angled a full ball across Campbell, who leaned into a drive with firm hands and edged to first slip, and at 93 for 3, West Indies’ position was slipping.Shai Hope and Roston Chase attempted to restore stability with a 60-run stand for the fourth wicket. Hope scored freely but never convincingly; Tickner and Rae repeatedly hurried him with the short ball, and he took two blows to the helmet with concussion checks following as the afternoon surface grew livelier. Hope reached 48, but Tickner finally cracked him with another rising delivery that he tried awkwardly to fend off, gloving a catch to Kane Williamson at third slip. That, Tickner’s third wicket, had seemed almost inevitable given the sustained discomfort he had caused the batters, and Chase followed soon after, cramped by a Tickner delivery that jagged in sharply to catch the inside-edge on to leg stump for 29.Justin Greaves, West Indies’ double-centurion in Christchurch, lasted 52 balls before Rae drew a faint outside edge with a tight off-stump line. Mitchell Hay completed the catch behind the stumps, leaving West Indies’ lower order exposed. Rae then trapped Kemar Roach lbw with a fuller delivery that kicked enough to beat the bat and straighten into middle stump, and at 184 for 7, the innings was in freefall.Blair Tickner had to be stretchered off after he hurt his shoulder•Getty ImagesBut New Zealand’s mood would sour dramatically in the next over. Tickner sprinted across from fine leg to stop a boundary-saving flick from Tevin Imlach and dived full-length near the rope. He landed awkwardly, stayed down, and the players signalled urgently as medical staff from both New Zealand and the venue rushed to him. After several minutes of treatment, he was stretchered off – sitting up, but in pain – to warm applause from the Basin Reserve crowd. He later left the ground in an ambulance, with early indications pointing to a suspected dislocated shoulder.Glenn Phillips, the most prolific wicket-taker in New Zealand’s XI with 31 strikes coming into the game, then removed the last recognised batter, bowling Imlach with a fuller ball that straightened just enough to beat the inside edge.Anderson Phillip was run out soon after attempting a risky single – first surviving a throw from Devon Conway but then succumbing when an alert Kristian Clarke broke the stumps on the rebound. Duffy ended West Indies’ innings by having Ojay Shields edge to third slip to end the innings at 205. West Indies lost their last seven wickets for just 52 runs.New Zealand openers Tom Latham and Conway batted nine overs before stumps, with West Indies’ seamers asking questions occasionally and inducing a couple of edges that didn’t carry to the slip cordon. The 24 runs they added before stumps gave New Zealand the firm upper hand, now behind by only 181 behind going into the second day where batting promises to be easier.

Jose Mourinho has revealed the hilarious reason he took Scott McTominay's shirt after the Champions League tie between Benfica and Napoli. After Benfica’s impressive 2-0 win, a result crafted through goals from Richard Rios and Leandro Barreiro, the Portuguese coach amused reporters by revealing an unexpected keepsake hidden inside a small bag he carried into the press conference.

A nod to an old protege

The Scottish midfielder, now thriving in Serie A, owes much of his early career to the coach who thrust him into the Manchester United first team nearly a decade ago. Mourinho handed the midfielder his senior debut in May 2017, introducing him off the bench against Arsenal before starting him days later against Crystal Palace. The then-20-year-old quickly became a dependable fixture in Mourinho’s midfield rotation during the 2017–18 season, even being preferred at times to record signing Paul Pogba, £89 million ($119m). Although Mourinho departed Old Trafford in late 2018, McTominay went on to make more than 250 appearances for the club, proving the value of the faith placed in him.

AdvertisementGettyMourinho steals the show with press room antics

Mourinho has never been one to leave a press room without creating a moment, and on Wednesday night, he delivered another classic. While Benfica’s players celebrated a crucial victory that keeps their European hopes alive, the 62-year-old manager walked in with a cryptic accessory that immediately sparked curiosity among the assembled journalists. When one asked whether he was handing out gifts, Mourinho responded with the kind of dry humour that has become his trademark.

While Benfica’s players celebrated a crucial victory that keeps their European hopes alive, the 62-year-old manager walked in with a cryptic accessory that immediately sparked curiosity among the assembled journalists. When one asked whether he was handing out gifts, Mourinho responded with the kind of dry humour that has become his trademark.

"The bag is mine," Mourinho said. "It's Scott McTominay's shirt. I put him in; I benched Paul Pogba for him at Manchester United. The least he could do was give me his shirt."

After years of fluctuating form in Manchester, McTominay reignited his career with a move to Napoli in 2024. It turned out to be transformative. The central midfielder helped drive the club to the Scudetto, delivering dominant performances in the heart of the pitch and posting a career-best 13 goals across all competitions. His influence earned him a remarkable 18th-place finish in the 2025 Ballon d’Or rankings and culminated in him becoming the 2025 Serie A Player of the Year, the first Scot ever to claim the honour.

Benfica deliver a statement performance

The humour stemmed from Mourinho’s satisfaction at Benfica’s victory. The two-goal win over Napoli was one of their best European displays of the season, and the manager made sure to highlight the significance of the result.

He said: "We deserved it, we played an extraordinary match. Some will say that Napoli weren't the team we know, but I disagree. Benfica did an extraordinary job, controlling the game at all times. For us, beating Napoli like this and still being alive in this competition is a great thing."

He went on to say: "We have six points. Benfica lost at home to Qarabag early on, otherwise we'd have nine and be one step away from qualifying. The schedule is incredibly tough, but losing that match put us on the edge right away. It was important to win today, otherwise the story would have ended."

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AFPDomestic pressure mounts despite European lift

While Benfica’s Champions League prospects received a much-needed boost, their domestic situation remains delicate. The Lisbon side sit third in the Portuguese league, eight points behind leaders Porto. With increasing pressure from supporters and a demanding December schedule, more slip-ups could derail their title aspirations. Their immediate task is to maintain momentum when they return to domestic action against Moreirense on Sunday. After stumbling in recent league fixtures, Benfica cannot afford another misstep if they are to stay within reach of Porto and Sporting in the title race.

The Chicago White Sox welcomed the Arizona Diamondbacks to the South Side's Rate Field on Wednesday afternoon as they trudge through their disappointing 2025 season, and in the middle of the second inning pinch-hit Austin Slater for one of their best bats in Luis Robert Jr.

Was a trade on the horizon? It would certainly make sense given not only Robert's value on the market, but also MLB insider Bob Nightengale's recent report that the chances of him being shipped out are "just about 100%."

While it was ultimately relayed by the team that Robert was removed from the game due to hamstring tightness, that didn't stop fans from speculating about his departure from Chicago. Here's a look at some of the top reactions from White Sox faithful across X (formerly Twitter):

While Robert is batting just .185 this year, he's second on the White Sox with 31 RBI and has hit eight home runs. The 2025 MLB trade deadline is set for July 31 at 6:00 p.m. EST.

Before the second innings in Durban, the South Africa captain had 22 fifties but only two hundreds to his name

Andrew Fidel Fernando29-Nov-2024Yes, it is a bowlers’ era, and sure, this is not the strongest South Africa batting order there has ever been, but eventually people are going to look across your stats, find the column under “Hundreds”, and check.Temba Bavuma is aware of this. Painfully aware.Before the second innings at Kingsmead, he had only two trips to triple figures, compared to 22 fifties. The rock to throw at him is that this is a poor conversion rate, even if many of those fifties came in difficult match situations. Both his team-mates and his opposition, for example, have praised his first-innings 70, for having taken South Africa from a truly modest total to a halfway-respectable 191, given the conditions.Related

Leap and joy: Stubbs and Bavuma's centuries add colour to festive Kingsmead

SA quicks leave SL on the brink after Stubbs, Bavuma tons

Still, that column on the stats page has eyes on it. And on Friday, at Kingsmead, he raised the count to three, hitting 113 against Sri Lanka. Will people wonder how he has been doing as captain and see that he averages 54.22? Will they wonder how many of his innings have come at No. 6 and lower (51 off 103 innings, by the way), and reason that these are not positions where centuries are harder to come by? Perhaps not many will. Hundreds are kind of a big deal.”Getting to a three-figure mark is always a lot more satisfying, personally,” Bavuma said, about making centuries vs important fifties. “When you bat in positions where the team is in trouble, and you get to a 50 to 60, I guess it’s good in terms of getting the team into a competitive position. But once you’re able to go over, you really get the team into a strong position.”Hundreds are a currency as a batter as well, I guess that increases that value. There’s obviously a lot of confidence that comes from scoring a hundred, and I think in terms of the batting line-up we’re getting to a stage where we’re starting to believe that in each innings, someone is able to go and get a hundred, so it’s good to add to that confidence.”

“Getting to the three-figure mark was quite nerve-racking. I went over to him and said, ‘Stubbo, please get me on strike. I can’t wait on this end'”

Bavuma’s approach to the hundred was fraught, however. Between getting to 80 and getting to triple figures, there was an edge that dropped short of the slips, a ball that jumped up and hit him on the glove, plays and misses, and an lbw shout and a review to the shot (it came off his glove) he got to triple figures off. Bavuma had, in fact, been asking for the strike.”I think I’m not too good when I get to the 80s and 90s. I’m going to try and get there [to a century] as soon as I can. They had the second new ball as well, and there was still something on offer for the bowlers. I was always looking to score.”Then, obviously, getting to the three-figure mark, it was quite nerve-racking. Against the spinner [Prabath Jayasuriya], I got one off the first ball, and then the next two balls Tristan Stubbs blocked. I went over to him and said, ‘Stubbo, please get me on strike. I can’t wait on this end.’ He was able to do that, so I was always going to play that shot.”The shot was a paddle sweep, and he just managed to get a glove to the ball before it hit him on the pads in front of the stumps.”It was a bit high risk, but the way the spinner was bowling, I was thinking of getting to that three-figure mark and then kind of starting again.”Sri Lanka reviewed that lbw, shout, but Bavuma had known he had got enough on it. He politely waited for the big screen to show the little spike as the ball brushed his glove.Then he celebrated his third hundred.

Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper was the latest player to vent his frustrations at an umpire after some very questionable calls but somehow he was able to avoid being ejected for his actions on Sunday.

With the Phillies trailing the Angels by six runs, Harper worked a 3–0 count in the bottom of the eighth inning. A pitch that seemed to be out of the strike zone made it a 3–1 count and then a few moments later a similar pitch was called for strike three by Steven Jaschinski.

Instead of earning a walk, Harper headed to the dugout. But before he did that he shrugged his shoulders and waved his hand in disgust at Jaschinski two times.

This is often enough to get you tossed from the game:

The Phillies would go on to lose the game, 8–2.

The Mets have some tough decisions ahead of them if they manage to fight their way into the playoffs.

Former staff ace Kodai Senga opened the season on fire, but may not even make the postseason roster.

In his first 14 starts this season, the 32-year-old was outstanding. He posted a 7–3 record with a 1.39 ERA, a 1.13 WHIP, with 74 strikeouts and 33 walks in 77 2/3 innings. Since then, he's been a mess.

After 13 excellent starts to open 2025, a hamstring injury suffered in June sidelined Senga for a month. He threw four shutout innings after returning on July 21, then fell off a cliff. Since then, he's made eight starts and has gone 0–3 with a 6.56 ERA, a 1.71 WHIP, and 35 strikeouts against 22 walks in 35 2/3 innings.

The Mets optioned him to Triple A Syracuse on September 5 to work through his control issues. In his lone start for the Mets' minor league affiliate, he allowed one run on three hits over six innings, striking out eight and, crucially, walking none.

The Mets are currently fighting for the final National League wild card spot and, if they get in, will have to decide whether or not to include Senga on the postseason roster. Manager Carlos Mendoza addressed that potential dilemma on Thursday.

"I think we'll have the conversation and we'll take the 13 guys that we feel are going to give us the best chance to win baseball games in October," Mendoza said "I think the biggest thing for him [is] to go out there today and have a good performance. And then we have decisions there."

Some excellent manager-speak by Mendoza there. Top-notch stuff.

Senga was so good early in the year that his awful stretch only raised his season ERA to 3.02. He was the Mets' ace for the first half of the season and is now on the outside looking in on a playoff rotation spot.

The India captain has crossed 50 just once in New Zealand, across three formats, so far

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Christchurch26-Feb-2020The Virat Kohli cover drive. What a shot, eh?ESPNcricinfo’s categories for logging shots played by batsmen have changed over the years, but counting “cover drive”, “off side drive on front foot” and “off drive” as descriptions of roughly similar shots (while leaving “off side drive on back foot” out of this far-from-scientific exercise), Kohli has scored more runs with it than any other shot in his Test career: 1911, off 1719 balls, with 282 fours and three sixes in the mix.He plays the shot brilliantly, and scores exceptionally quickly with it. He has a great eye, wonderful hands and wrists, and one of the longest front-foot strides in the game. This means he can play cover drives off a far wider range of lengths than most other batsmen. He can cover-drive balls that other batsmen might square-cut. More often, he’ll cover-drive balls that other batsmen might leave.And so, while scoring as many runs as he does with this shot (spectrum of shots, to put it more accurately), he also gets out playing it, quite a lot. He’s been out to it 25 times, which is as many times as he’s been out defending, except it’s taken him 3045 balls to get out as often while defending.ALSO READ: ‘Dry him up’ – Neil Wagner’s plan for Virat KohliKohli knows the risk-reward equation that comes with playing the shot this frequently, and he’s weighed it up and resolved to keep playing it, against every bowler and in nearly all types of conditions. And his judgment of when to play it is right far more often than it’s wrong; he wouldn’t average 54.30 otherwise.When he attempted the shot off Kyle Jamieson in India’s first innings at Basin Reserve last week, while batting on 2, and nicked it to slip, it may have therefore been a less terrible shot than it seemed at first glance. Especially when you consider that Jamieson had pushed Kohli back with his previous delivery, a well-directed short ball that climbed towards the batsman’s throat.But the early dismissal came on the back of seven limited-overs innings, all on this tour, in which he’d made a solitary fifty, 51 in the first ODI in Hamilton.It’s unwise to make too much of a run of scores that straddles formats, especially one that includes multiple T20I games, but it wasn’t just the scores.The first innings in Wellington was Kohli’s first innings since he’d played a strange little knock in the third and final ODI in Mount Maunganui, where he’d been beaten three times in his first five balls, hit his seventh ball for six – he usually never hits anything in the air that early – and slashed his 12th ball for a catch at third man. Kohli hadn’t batted or fielded in India’s three-day warm-up match in Hamilton, choosing instead to work on his game in the nets.

As unreliable and mythical a creature as body language might be, there’s been something just slightly off about it when Kohli’s been at the crease in the last few weeks. Or it might just be cricket writers doing the cricket-writer thing and seeing a pattern where none exists

In the second innings in Wellington, Kohli once again played his shots from the get-go, picking up a second-ball boundary with an uppish cover drive, edging his eighth ball between slip and gully while trying to work it into the leg side from outside off stump, playing another uppish drive – which fell a few yards short of mid-off – off his 15th ball, and showing a greater willingness to take on the short ball than any of his top-order colleagues. A top-edged pull off Trent Boult eventually got him out for 19 off 43 balls.After the match, Kohli suggested that more of India’s batsmen could have taken the short ball on, and tried to put New Zealand off their plan of using it as a defensive weapon. He said it would help India to try a more proactive approach in the second Test in Christchurch, and not let New Zealand keep playing the waiting game. At one point, he framed it as a question of team over individual glory.”[If] six-seven people can think like that, for sure two-three people will come good.”Knowing Kohli, he’s probably fully prepared to be one of the three or four batsmen who get out for a low score if the tactic pays off from a team perspective.But a positive, look-to-score-off-every-opportunity approach is one thing, and the nature of Kohli’s last few innings on this tour is another. There’s been something hurried, maybe even harried, about his manner at the crease, an over-eagerness to feel ball on bat, maybe, and hit that one impeccable drive or pull or flick that brings him back to his best form. He hasn’t appeared to be playing the game at his own pace, which could, perhaps, have something to do with frustration – conscious, subconscious or unconscious – over his recent run of scores. Something not dissimilar to Jasprit Bumrah’s seeming overeagerness, in Wellington, to take a wicket or two and feel the old rhythm again, having missed so much cricket over recent months to recover from a stress fracture of the back.Kyle Jamieson is pumped up after getting rid of Virat Kohli•Getty ImagesDuring his post-match press conference in Wellington, Kohli was asked to assess his batting on this tour.”I’m absolutely fine,” he said. “I am batting really well. I feel that sometimes scores don’t reflect the way you are batting and that’s what can happen when you don’t execute what you want to well. Look, when you play so much cricket and you play for so long, obviously you’ll have three-four innings that don’t go your way. If you try and make too much out of it, it’ll keep piling on.”I think it’s about staying in a good space and I know the chat on the outside changes with one innings. But I don’t think like that. If I thought like people on the outside, I would probably be on the outside right now. I think it’s all about doing the basics right and putting the hard work in practice.”You can’t really walk in thinking that I have to do it every time. You want to do it. But if it doesn’t come off, then you don’t have to beat yourself up too much. You take pride in performing for the team and I’ve always done that and I’m looking forward to contributing in a win in the next Test.”It doesn’t matter what I do. It’s never been about my performance on tour or about how many runs I score. It’s all about if the team wins, even a 40 is good. If the team loses, then even a hundred is irrelevant for me and I’m going to stay in that mindset.”He’d say that, of course, and it may even be true. But as unreliable and mythical a creature as body language might be, there’s been something just slightly off about it when Kohli’s been at the crease in the last few weeks. Or it might just be cricket writers doing the cricket-writer thing and seeing a pattern where none exists. Whatever it is, at 1-0 down, India would love for the Christchurch Test to contain a cathartic Kohli innings.

And who has captained the franchise in the most games?

Sreshth Shah and Gaurav Sundararaman16-Oct-2020If the quiz does not load, please click here.