29/05/2025

SPORTS THURSDAY | MAY 29, 2025

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Yamal signs new six-year Barcelona contract

LAMINE YAMAL has signed a new six-year Barcelona contract following a breakout season in which he helped the Catalan club win a domestic treble. The 17-year-old Spain winger’s existing deal was set to expire at the end of the 2025-26 season but his new contract keeps him with Barca until 2031. Yamal, who made his Barca debut as a 15-year-old in 2023, scored 18 goals and made 25 assists in 55 appearances as Barca won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and Span i s h TOUCHLINES SAUDI Pro League side Al-Hilal have offered a deal for Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, 30, and told the Portugal mid fielder he has 72 hours to make a decision. MANCHESTER CITY want Lyon’s 21-year-old French midfielder Rayan Cherki, who has been linked with Liverpool and Chelsea. EVERTON have joined Leeds United in wanting Newcastle’s 33 year-old England striker Callum Wilson, who is out of contract next month. TOTTENHAM have been offered the chance to sign 29-year-old Bayern Munich and Germany winger Leroy Sane, who will become a free agent at the end of next month. LIVERPOOL manager Arne Slot wants to keep 26-year-old Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo amid interest from Bayern Munich. ASTON VILLA look set to sign Feyenoord’s 18-year-old Dutch striker Zepiqueno Redmond on a free transfer this summer. MAN UNITED have agreed the framework of a deal for Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap and are waiting for the English striker to decide on his next move. THE Red Devils are the leading contenders to sign 16-year-old Southampton defender Harley Emsden-James but face compe tition from Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal. PORTUGAL forward Cristiano Ronaldo, 40, is expected to leave Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr and sign for a new club to play in the Club World Cup, which starts on 15 June in the US. Lamine Yamal VIKTOR HOVLAND has dealt with very public issues involving his swing, leading some to question whether he’s dealing with mental or physical issues in his game. Hovland hopes to put that question to bed this week when he competes at the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio. The 27-year-old Norwegian has seven victories on the PGA Tour since turning pro in 2019, and that includes The Valspar Championship in late March as well as the 2023 Memorial in a playoff against Denny McCarthy. Hovland, however, has finished outside the

Super Cup in Hansi Flick’s first season as manager. Barca said Yamal signed the new contract on Tuesday in the presence of club president Joan Laporta and sporting director Deco. “Yamal’s renewal is a demonstration of the solidity of Barca’s project. His emergence on to the world

lad from Mataro near Barcelona has exploded on to the stage that is world football with performances that are already part of Barcelona history.” Spanish media reported the new deal makes him one of Barcelona’s best paid players. Yamal has scored 25 goals in 115 games for the club, becoming the youngest scorer in the history of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup. Yamal, who will turn 18 in July, is also the youngest player to reach 100 appearances for Barca. He has also earned 19 caps for Spain and was part of the side that won Euro 2024, beating England 2-1 in the final in Berlin. Operating on the right flank and a prodigious

dribbler, Yamal’s skill and speed contributed greatly to Barca netting 102 league goals this season as they reclaimed the crown from rivals Real Madrid. The youngster has drawn comparisons with Barca legend Lionel Messi, having also come through the club’s famed La Masia academy. Barca have also extended contracts of their manager Flick and Brazil forward Raphinha in recent weeks. Spanish media report his contract includes various bonuses for different achievements, including winning the Ballon d’Or, as well as a significant pay rise. Yamal is a candidate to win the trophy for the world’s best player this year.– Reuters/AFP

football scene is like few others,” the club said. “ T h e

Unleashing the fury World’s top golfers expect tough test at US Women’s Open T OP-RANKED Nelly Korda, world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul and third ranked Lydia Ko chase a major title none of them has won when the 80th US Women’s Open tees off today (8.45pm Malaysian time). what is doing pretty well is the mental side. I’m just more relaxing, like natural, not forcing anything.” The 22-year-old chases her first major victory this week.

Jeeno Thitikul lines up a putt on the sixth green prior to the US Women’s Open. – AFPPIC

“I think the major win, it should be really tough for me,” Jeeno said. “What I want to accomplish, just one major, it’s just my process. Definitely going to test my patience. I promise that patience is really the key.” New Zealand’s Ko, the reigning Olympic champion and a three-time major winner, would love to collect one of only two major prizes to have eluded her. “This would be the one that I’d say, ‘Oh, I wish I was a US Women’s Open champion,” Ko said. “It may seem like a large pool of people that are the past champions, but it’s actually quite small, and I would obviously love to be part of that US Women’s Open club.” Ko, who won her 23rd LPGA title in March at Singapore, says playing on unfamiliar courses with limited practice time makes the US Women’s Open more difficult to win. “There’s a lot of pressure,” she said. “I don’t know what kind of mindset I’m going to have going into this week but I’m really excited. “I think you need to have a

Defending champion Yuka Saso of Japan seeks her third US Women’s Open crown in five seasons at the par-72, 6,829 yard Erin Hills layout in Erin, Wisconsin. “Conditions here can be very difficult,” Saso said. “I think it’s going to be a good challenge. “It would be nice to win another one. Any other tournament would make me as happy, but if I win again, it would be more special. Winning keeps me motivated.” Korda, a two-time major champion, seeks the only major title on home soil that has eluded her. “It’s going to test everyone’s game, very demanding,” Korda said. “The bunkers are not easy. It doesn’t really matter how far you hit it. It’s all about accuracy at the end of the day. “It’s firm. It’s fast as well. Even if you think you’ve hit it good, you can never exhale when you see it stop.” Ill winds could blow away the chances of contenders, Korda warned. “Weather plays a pretty big role out here, especially with no trees to block it,” Korda said. “When it gets windy out here, it’s really going to play with your golf ball.” Korda has never finished better than eighth in 10 prior starts. “It’s the biggest test in the game,” she said. “Definitely has tested me a lot. Not even just our games, our mental as well. I love it.” Thailand’s Jeeno won her first title of the year three weeks ago at the LPGA Mizuho Americas Open. “Game has been a little bit better ball striking-wise,” Jeeno said. “But I think

really good short game and an open mind to how you’re going to play around this golf course, and for the most part, I feel pretty comfortable. “But I think this is also the type of golf course you need to hit a lot of quality golf shots and also get a little bit of luck.” – AFP

Hovland looking for answers at Memorial

top 20 in three of his last four events – including The Masters (T21), Truist Championship (T54) and PGA Championship (T28). On Tuesday, Hovland shifted gears in his preparation for taking on Muirfield Village Golf Club. “Yeah, it’s really cool. I’ve played here a few times now and every time I was looking forward to trying to conquer the golf course because it’s so hard, and up until 2023 I felt like I had played a lot of good golf but just didn’t quite get the finishes that I wanted,” Hovland said. “So it was really nice to finally get a win there

in 2023. First win in the United States, and it was kind of the first win on a really big-boy golf course and a great field. So that was a big week for me.” That said, Hovland contends that it won’t be easy given the challenges the course presents. “I enjoy the challenge, but that’s more so like after the round,” he said. “During the round it’s just so stressful, especially when it’s blowing. I played 18 holes yesterday and it was kind of a weird wind, a lot of crosswinds, and on those tee shots it gets very difficult to hold the fairways.

“The rough is probably as thick as I’ve ever seen it, so if you’re not good off the tee, you’re just going to be grinding for pars all day. Yeah, it’s just a really tough golf course. “It is all mental and it is all physical, but you both have to – you have to do ‘em both at the same time,” he said. “But at the end of the day if your technique or the physics of your golf swing are not matching up and the ball’s going everywhere, it doesn’t matter how you think. You’ve got to correct some issues in order to see the ball go where you want it to.” – Field Level Media