club

Despite Liverpool’s poor run of form, sources have told BBC Sport that Slot’s position is not under imminent threat.

He has credit in the bank following his Premier League title-winning debut season, while there has been reflection at Anfield that it was a difficult summer of the club with Diogo Jota’s death and the £400m investment attempting to regenerate the squad.

Sporting director Hughes and chief executive Michael Edwards were key in Slot’s appointment, and the Dutchman retains their backing.

Liverpool do not make snap decisions and afforded Brendan Rodgers more than three seasons as manager despite finishing outside the top four twice.

There is, however, internal concern about Mohamed Salah’s performances, with a noticeable drop off in his form.

He is their key forward player but Liverpool’s best attacking performance in the past 12 games came in a 5-1 win against Eintracht Frankfurt – a game Salah did not start.

The Egyptian has scored seven goals in 25 games since his new contract was announced in April, which would be viewed as a good return for some, but the 33-yar-old is judged by standards he has set during his eight years at the club.

Looking ahead to January, Liverpool are interested in reviving their move for Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi after missing out on the final day of the summer transfer window.

Guehi, who is available for a free transfer in July but has multiple options in England and across Europe, is able to discuss the terms of his next contract with clubs from outside of England in just four weeks’ time.

Keller, who led the consortium that bought Strasbourg for one euro in 2012, has helped revive a club that were playing in the amateur fourth tier after financial collapse.

They returned to the Ligue 1 within five years, and are now competing on the European stage – two years after entering into the partnership with Chelsea.

“Discussions with Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly have been about how to create a smart multi-club model from the beginning, while using more financial power,” said Keller.

“We improved every year and were in a strong financial position before the takeover, but with new partners we can dream a little bigger and think about getting into the top six or seven to qualify for Europe every year.”

At the Stade de la Meinau, BlueCo’s investment is evident, with cranes finishing the stadium’s expansion from 26,000 to 32,000 seats – the final touches of a £157m redevelopment.

Walking around the modernised stadium, there is incredible attention to detail, including monuments to every male and female player to wear the blue jersey.

“The good balance is ambition but with tradition,” Keller said.

“We are investing a lot to set up an organisation around the team to help the players go higher. That’s in staff, data, physio, player care and scouting networks.”

Sporting director David Weir was hired last month, after leaving Brighton.

But, just as at Chelsea, Strasbourg’s squad had already been transformed by BlueCo – with £112m spent on building the youngest squad – averaging just 21.5 years of age – in the big five leagues. Chelsea are fourth – behind their partner club, plus Paris St-Germain and Parma.

Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos was the first to benefit from a move between the clubs – spending 18 months on loan at Strasbourg – and says he still watches their matches and texts manager Liam Rosenior.

“We try to work well with the technical team of Chelsea to have good players for Strasbourg,” says Keller. “It would have been impossible for us to have Mike Penders, Andrey Santos or Dorde Petrovic in the past, so that’s positive.

“Strasbourg and France is a good step for the young players to develop, and this BlueCo project is about building quality.

“We are investing a lot in a young generation. It can happen that one player per year is good enough for Chelsea. But our project is to have other players around top clubs in Europe, not just Chelsea. It’s not correct to say they are coming to go to Chelsea.

“They are coming to Strasbourg because of the ambition.”

Strasbourg sold £74m of players in the summer – including Dilane Bakwa to Nottingham Forest and former captain Habib Diarra to Sunderland, both for about £30m.

Silver Lake earned the “hipster” handle long before Spaceland opened its doors. But when the club threw its first show in March 1995 at the venue formerly known as Dreams of L.A., it marked a notable energy shift that made everyone take notice, establishing the neighborhood as a trendsetter and hub for creative talent. The live music space was the right idea, in the right place, at the right time.

Atmospheric dive bars, funky/punky mom-and-pop shops and reasonable rents began attracting artists, musicians and bohemian slackers and scenesters as residents in the early ’90s. They joined its vibrant queer community and multigenerational familial (mostly Latino) populace, which combined to make it one of the coolest places to live in L.A. It still is, albeit pricier and more pretentious, if you ask those who grew up there.

But 30 years ago things were different — the area was hip, but it also felt effortlessly eccentric. The annual Sunset Junction Street Fair, which closed off Sunset Boulevard between Fountain and Edgecliffe Drive beginning in the ’80s, started booking more legacy bands and hot new groups, broadening the cultural consciousness of the city and bringing Angelenos from all over town to the area until it ceased in 2010.

Silver Lake’s music mecca status was ultimately cemented when promoter Mitchell Frank decided to turn his weekly live music night at Dreams called Pan into a bona fide rock venue, taking what was bubbling in the streets, at house parties in the hills and at nearby rehearsal spaces and providing a singular home for music makers to nurture and grow their followings.

Opening night marked a benefit for quirky noise rockers Lutefisk, who lived in the area and, like many there, rehearsed at Hully Gully on Fletcher Drive. After their equipment was stolen, they put together a bill of buzzy local artists to raise funds, including headliner Beck, who got his start at the artsy coffeehouse called the Onyx next to the Vista Theatre, and later on Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz Village.

Rob Zabreckyn of Possom Dixon

(Arlen Hem)

Coupled with the darkly melodic alt-rock of Possum Dixon as openers, the show was a hot ticket. As last-minute luck would have it, the night became even more monumental with an early show addition — the debut of Dave Grohl’s new project called the Foo Fighters.

“It was just crazy. That night it was raining and both shows sold out,” recalls Lutefisk drummer Brandon Jay. “It was that lovely moment in time when KBLT started broadcasting and there was a growing scene in Silver Lake when everyone was like, ‘Oh, Silver Lake is the new Seattle’ — only it was more diverse.”

Jay, who went on to play with other bands like the 88 and Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang, hopes to remind local music fans about the seminal scene at the Regent this Saturday, where Lutefisk reunites alongside Dixon’s Rob Zabrecky (playing with various luminaries from the club) and Spaceland favorites Touchcandy, the Centimeters, Jon Wahl (Claw Hammer), Sissy Bar, W.A.C.O. and more.

“This show is as close as you’re gonna get to a real ’90s Spaceland night,” assures Frank. “Touchcandy, Lutefisk, Centimeters, Rob from Possum Dixon and Sissy Bar … this is the exact kind of beautiful symphonic chaos that defined that ’90s era. Nights like this are what propelled a fractured Eastside music scene into becoming a full-fledged scene.”

Indeed, gathering disparate genres, styles and niches in one place was what made this scene unique. “There were so many wonderful, eclectic bands,” Jay adds. “A bunch got signed, but you know, fame is a fickle thing, and you never know what might get played on the radio.”

Plenty who played at the club did. In addition to Beck and the Foos, local acts who broke after playing there include Silversun Pickups (named after a nearby liquor store), Rilo Kiley and the Airborne Toxic Event, while touring indie artists also earned their stripes in front of the mylar curtain-backdropped stage, namely the White Stripes, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, Jet, Ween, Cold War Kids, Death Cab for Cutie, Amy Winehouse … and the list goes on and on.

“There was a point in time where bands were coming through town on tour and playing L.A. for the first time and their agents all wanted them to play Spaceland’s Monday residency,” remembers former head booker Jennifer Tefft of the no-cover event, which became legendary by the early 2000s. “They played for free, but it allowed them to be seen. Everyone wanted to play there and not just on a local level, but on an international level. NME in the U.K. were giving the club so much press, so all these bands wanted to come to L.A. for it … Bloc Party, the Killers and My Morning Jacket all made their debuts at the club.”

Tefft went on to book the Bootleg Theater, but later returned to work with the building’s owner, Jeff Wolfram, to breathe new life into the Silver Lake space under the name the Satellite. It closed due to pandemic struggles in March 2020 and remains shuttered. Meanwhile, Frank, along with booker Liz Garo, left the venue — which was technically still called Dreams, to focus on his new space, the Echo and its later addition, the Echoplex.

He sold the Echo Park complex, along with the Regent, to Live Nation in 2019, but still remains involved in booking and other club business dealings. All three figures deserve credit for the cosmic alchemy and community spirit that made Spaceland and the world it created so game-changing. They really cared about the people who played there and would often champion their favorites and help build their followings through promotion and advertising, namely in the free print edition of LA Weekly.

“We all had the same sort of passion and curiosity about music and supporting locals,” shares Garo, who booked at Spaceland when Tefft left, and really made her name at the Echo. “I think that’s why it kept that integrity.”

There is no shortage of fond, slightly fuzzy memories at Spaceland. There were also many games of pool in their infamous upper-level smoking room (which puffed on even after the ’98 bar smoking ban due to a loophole).

Free Monday promotions were nothing new — Club Lingerie in Hollywood had been doing them for years — but Spaceland’s were magical for both the bands and the fans because of the monthlong residency model. Besides being budget-friendly and clearly well-curated, boasting up-and-comers and offering big-name surprises, it was a place to meet like-minded alternative types who fancied the same fashions, art and pop culture references.

Most of the local musicians who played there seemed to know each other simply from hanging out so much and those who proved themselves on stage were rewarded with new followings that got bigger each week.

The Centimeters perform at Spaceland

(Wild Don Lewis)

“Jen had a really good formula — you would do your residency, then you would not do another show for six weeks or so, and then you’d come back and do a ticketed show,” Garo explains. “Ideally that worked and kind of helped establish that bands could sell tickets. You know, when bands start off, they’re playing to their friends in the audience. When they get to that point where they don’t know anybody in the audience, that’s kind of a big deal.”

Beyond exposure and local notoriety, for Zabrecky, Jay and countless musicians who had residencies — many of whom will be seeing each other for the first time in years at the Regent show — Spaceland was formative not only for their music but also for their life trajectories.

“Playing Spaceland with Possum Dixon was always unpredictable,” recalls Zabrecky, who went on to become a revered magician and performer. “We never knew which direction a show might go. Every band was different, yet everyone was accepted and celebrated for what they were. Groups like Glue, Spindle, W.A.C.O. and the Abe Lincoln Story couldn’t have been more different from each other, and that made every lineup exciting. And, of course, we were all just making it up as we went along, buoyed by the support of our peers.”

The transitional period between Spaceland and the Satellite is marked by the band who helped put it on the map and unintentionally kicked off the fervor to begin with. The Foo Fighters chose the locale for their series of surprise pop-up shows debuting new material in 2011, right before the venue was renamed.

The next year, Forbes dubbed Silver Lake “America’s Hippest Hipster Neighborhood,” which meant it was no longer … that. American Apparel stores had infiltrated, corporate coffee was everywhere and artists were getting priced out, heading East into Echo Park, Mt. Washington, Highland Park and downtown too, with many of the bars and clubs in those regions seeking to capture the old Spaceland vibes. They still do.

Brian Wilson onstage with the Wondermints at Spaceland

(Courtesy of Brandon Jay)

In this way, Spaceland’s legacy has lasted beyond Gen X nostalgia for the good old days. Inspired by the fervent framework for music discovery and social connection of the past, new bands now showcase their stuff at the Echo, Regent, Zebulon, Redwood Bar and many more, eschewing Hollywood and the Sunset Strip for more laid-back environments.

Frank continues to lend his expertise to Live Nation; Garo is planning events and working with venues, from acoustic sets at her book shop Stories in Echo Park to her just-announced gig booking for Grand Performances downtown; and Jay, who lost his home in the California wildfires, turned the tragedy into a beautiful music exchange program called Altadena Musicians. He’s also involved in a new all-ages music venue called the Backyard Party in Pasadena, noting that a new generation of art-minded music rebels continues to thrive just like they did at Spaceland three decades ago.

Jay is also helping with the Regent show planning, and put in the call to Touchcandy’s David Willis, who’ll be flying into town from the U.K. just for the show. Word has also been put out to Beck and Grohl (though no commitments have been made), and the pirate radio station KBLT, whose documentary “40 Watts from Nowhere” counts Jay and Jack Black as producers, will offer sets from its deejays in between the live sounds.

The lineup listed on the event flier is meant to evoke the original benefit promo from ’95, and it represents the magnificent music mix all on its own, flashing back to an exciting era that L.A. music lovers who experienced it will never forget, a time when the scene was “young and free,” as Zabrecky remembers, and those lucky enough to be on the marquee played what he dubs “the best club at the best moment on Earth.”

“These bands were messy, loud, indie, real and somehow still innovative,” Frank adds of the 30th anniversary show, which is being touted as a Vol. 1, suggesting more to come. “Shows like this are the reason any of it mattered.”

Madrid, Spain – Real Madrid fans were divided over plans announced this week by club President Florentino Perez to allow private equity investors to buy up to a 10% stake in the club.

Some fans of “los merengues” said it would mean selling off part of the club, even though Real Madrid remains the wealthiest football club in the world.

They also noted that in recent years, Real Madrid had already changed membership rules, contravening promises to keep memberships within families and diluting its character.

Others supported the investor plan, saying it made good business sense and would not alter the trajectory of a hugely successful club that has won the Spanish domestic title 36 times and collected a record 15 UEFA Champions League trophies.

Perez insisted that allowing private equity investors – who often deploy large amounts of capital into companies not listed on public stock exchanges – to take a stake in the club was an “indispensable project” for the future of football.

Speaking to club members on Sunday, Perez said he will propose a statutory reform during an extraordinary assembly to allow for the possibility of outside investors to take a minority stake in the club, according to reporting by The Associated Press news agency.

“We will continue to be a members’ club, but we must create a subsidiary in which the 100,000 members of Real Madrid will always retain absolute control,” he said.

“On that basis, this subsidiary could simply incorporate a minority stake, for example, 5% – never more than 10% – from one or more investors committed to the very long term and willing to contribute their own resources.”

Perez said that would be “the clearest and most compelling way to value our club”.

The 78-year-old added that it would allow the club to pay dividends to club members, which it is presently forbidden from doing.

Perez insisted investors would be obliged to “respect our values”, contribute to the growth of the club and “help us protect our assets from external attacks”.

He said Real Madrid could have the right to buy its assets back from investors.

Perez reiterated several times that members would never lose control of the club.

He said his proposal would make sure that the current 98,272 members are recognised as the real owners of the club, with the number of members fixed for the future.

“With this protection in place, no one will be able to diminish our status as owners or alter the balance that guarantees the independence and stability of Real Madrid,” Perez said. “It will be us, the members of today, who will have the responsibility of safeguarding our culture of values and ensuring that our club continues to lead world football for many generations to come.”

The Real Madrid president further explained the reform would “shield the club from external and internal attacks on our assets, and to highlight their value so that we are all aware of the treasure that we, as members, have in our hands”.

Spanish club ownership versus English

Real Madrid, like Barcelona and a small number of other Spanish football clubs, is classed as a nonprofit organisation as it is owned by its club members, or socios. Real Madrid, founded in 1902, has only ever had this ownership model.

This ownership structure prevents large private investors from forging a majority controlling stake in the clubs; it also means they can claim tax concessions.

This is despite the fact that Real Madrid was named the world’s wealthiest football club for the fourth straight year in 2025, with an estimated market valuation of $6.75bn, according to the Forbes List. It was also the first club to earn $1bn in revenue.

The nonprofit status allows Spanish clubs to preserve some traditions of their clubs and for members to take an active role in the organisations.

Graham Hunter, a British football journalist who specialises in Spanish football, pointed to the example of Joan Laporta, the current president of the other Spanish mega club, Barcelona.

“Laporta went from being a member and a lawyer to being [club] president in seven years,” he said.

In stark contrast, football clubs in England or the United States – Manchester United or Inter Miami being just two examples – can be owned by individuals, corporations and in some instances, acquired on public stock exchanges, resulting in more commercialised ownership structures.

It means their club’s performances are often centred on more short-run processes like profit maximisation, whereas in Spain, the club is in the hands of fans – not large private investors – allowing scope for longer-term business strategies to be enacted.

If Perez’s plan goes ahead, this could open the door for this famous Spanish club to become more like its foreign rivals.

The high-profile, multi-billionaire boss of Louis Vuitton, Bernard Arnault, was named in Spanish media on Monday as a potential investor in the club, should the new minority ownership rules be adopted.

Fans reaction

Some Real Madrid fans did not share Perez’s enthusiasm to open up the club to large private investors.

David Garcia, a former season ticket holder at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, said Perez had previously told fans he would preserve the club for members.

“On Sunday, Florentino [Perez] misled the members again. He had told us that access to the club was restricted to the children or grandchildren of members to prevent a Russian or Chinese person from joining,” he told Al Jazeera.

Garcia added that in recent years, the rules of admission to membership had been changed several times, and Chinese and other foreigners had appeared on membership lists.

Alejandro Dominguez, a former vice president of the Real Madrid Veterans Pena, questioned why outside investors were needed to boost the coffers of such a profitable club.

“I don’t understand why we need more money when we are already the richest club in the world?” he told Al Jazeera.

However, Fernando Valdez, a lifelong Real Madrid fan who is part of La Gran Familia supporters club, said he believed the reform would not harm the character of the club.

“If we were selling off huge chunks of the club to raise money to compete with Paris Saint-Germain, then that would be worrying, as it would change the club forever. But it is not like that,” he said.

“We need to know more details about this, but on the face of it, it does not seem like anything to worry about. Five percent or 10% is nothing.”

David Alvarez, who writes about Real Madrid for El Pais newspaper, said Perez’s ownership plan was not designed to compete with other high-spending clubs like Manchester City.

“This will allow the club to pay dividends to socios (club members). At present, the law stops them from doing that. They would have to sell a much bigger stake to be able to compete with the other big clubs in Europe, so they are not trying to do that.”

Steve Cherundolo’s first season at LAFC ended in a penalty-kick shootout that decided one of the most compelling playoff games in MLS history. His final season ended in the same way last Saturday.

Cherundolo and LAFC won that first classic match, beating the Philadelphia Union in the 2022 MLS Cup final. They lost the second one, falling to the shorthanded Vancouver Whitecaps in a Western Conference semifinal that had more plot twists than an Agatha Christie mystery.

In between, Cherundolo proved to be one of the best coaches in league history, winning an MLS Cup, a U.S. Open Cup and more than 100 games in all competition in his short four-year stay. He took LAFC to a CONCACAF Champions League final and to the first round of the FIFA Club World Cup, compiling a resume no coach in MLS history can match.

And while his departure will clearly hurt, the club he leaves is in good shape with the core of its roster signed for next season. Of the 16 players Cherundolo used Saturday, just five — goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, defenders Nkosi Tafari and Ryan Raposo and midfielders Andrew Moran and Frankie Amaya — are out of contract.

General manager John Thorrington is expected to announce the club’s roster decisions later this week.

“Moving forward, we’ll see what it looks like for next season. I wish this club the very, very best,” said Cherundolo, who used 75 players, second-most in the league, during his four years in charge. “I can say with certainty it’s in a great spot for a very successful year again. And that would make me very proud.”

The coach, a Hall of Fame player who made three U.S. World Cup teams, announced last April he would be returning to his wife’s native Germany, where he spent the entirety of his 15-year club career, when LAFC’s season ended. That meant he entered the playoffs knowing his next loss would be his last one.

But he made clear last week he was just saying goodbye, not farewell.

“In four years I can be back here,” he said. “I am definitely not canceling that out.”

In the meantime, Thorrington is looking for a new coach for just the second time in franchise history. The first time he stayed in-house, replacing Bob Bradley with Cherundolo, manager of the club’s USL Championship affiliate.

That’s likely to happen again this time since two members of Cherundolo’s staff — Marc Dos Santos, a former Whitecaps manager, and former Galaxy and Chivas USA forward Ante Razov, an assistant with three MLS teams — are said to be among the favorites to take over and build on what LAFC has already accomplished.

“I think Steve himself would say that if he left and the culture crumbled, then he didn’t do a good enough job at building the culture,” defender Ryan Hollingshead said. “We know things are going to continue to chug along the right way and that’s partly because he’s helped make it that way. He put just the right spin on it and it’s created what has led to a bunch of success over the last four years.”

Results aside, if Cherundolo, 46, had been allowed to choose the explanation point to affix to the end of his MLS coaching career, it’s unlikely he could have selected a better one than Saturday’s game, one dramatic and entertaining enough to become an instant classic.

Playing before an MLS stadium-record crowd of 53,937, the Whitecaps took a 2-0 first-half lead and still led by a goal going into stoppage time. At that point first-year Vancouver coach Jesper Sorensen was so confident of victory, he subbed out captain Thomas Muller.

However, things quickly took a turn when defender Tristan Blackmon drew his second yellow card, leaving Vancouver with just 10 players. Son Heung-min needed little time to make the Whitecaps pay, bending in a spectacular free kick in the dying minutes for his second goal of the half — and his 12th in 13 games for LAFC — to send the game to extra time.

That’s when the game went from classic to epic, with Vancouver losing another player midway through that extra time after center back Belal Halbouni limped off with a leg injury. That allowed LAFC, which outshot the Whitecaps 26-9, to pepper the Vancouver goal, bouncing two shots off the posts and another off the crossbar.

Yet none found the back of the net, leaving the game to be decided on penalties, the cruelest, meanest, most unfair — and most exciting — way to determine a winner.

When Son, who finished the game massaging a muscle cramp, limped to the spot to send his team’s first penalty try off the right post, LAFC was in trouble. When Mark Delgado sent the third try over the net and into the crowd, LAFC was done.

“Sometimes football is crazy like this. That’s why we love football,” Son said before closing with “see you next season.”

That was something Cherundolo couldn’t say. But he left with his head held high just the same.

“If you look at the sum of four years with LAFC,” he said “we have a ton to be proud of.”

⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.

Russia is framing artificial intelligence as a geopolitical technology on par with nuclear weapons, with Sberbank First Deputy CEO Alexander Vedyakhin warning that only nations capable of building their own large language models will hold real influence in the 21st century. Speaking at Moscow’s flagship AI Journey event, Vedyakhin said Russia considers it a strategic achievement to be among the few countries with home-grown AI and insists the state must rely exclusively on domestic models for sensitive sectors like public services, healthcare, and education. His comments echo President Vladimir Putin’s recent remarks that indigenous AI is essential for Russian sovereignty. While Sberbank and Yandex lead Russia’s push to compete with U.S. and Chinese AI giants, sanctions and limited computing power continue to restrain Moscow’s capability.

Why It Matters

Russia’s framing of AI as a sovereignty-defining technology signals a hardening global divide in the race for digital power. By likening AI to nuclear capability, Moscow is underscoring the strategic leverage it believes advanced models can confer over national security, economic competitiveness, and societal infrastructure. For Western policymakers, the statement highlights how AI is increasingly entwined with geopolitical rivalry, sanctions regimes, and technological self-reliance. For markets, the message is more nuanced: despite the rhetoric, Russia admits it cannot match global leaders in compute or scale, and it warns investors that AI infrastructure spending may not repay itself quickly, raising questions about the economic viability of high-intensity AI development.

Russia’s state institutions, security apparatus, and public-service sectors are central consumers of domestic AI models as Moscow seeks digital autonomy. Sberbank and Yandex are the primary corporate developers, tasked with building national-scale models under sanctions constraints. Western governments and AI firms remain part of the geopolitical backdrop, as Russia’s push for self-sufficiency follows restricted access to advanced chips and cloud hardware. Russian businesses, from healthcare to education providers, will increasingly rely on domestic AI systems while international partners watch how far Russia can expand its capabilities without global supply chains.

What’s Next

Russia aims to expand from one or two national AI systems to several independent models, but its development will remain limited by restricted access to high-performance computing. Moscow will continue steering AI regulation toward data sovereignty, banning foreign models from handling state or sensitive information. As Russia ramps its rhetoric around AI power, expect greater global pressure for technological blocs, digital “non-alignment,” and AI export controls. Meanwhile, the Kremlin’s caution about an “AI bubble” hints that its investments will be narrower and more state-directed than those in the U.S. or China, potentially slowing innovation but avoiding the risk of overextension.

With information from Reuters.

The company’s stock has zoomed this year, driven by the explosive growth of the weight-loss drug market.

Eli Lilly has hit $1 trillion in market value, making it the first drugmaker to enter the exclusive club dominated by tech giants and underscoring its rise as a weight-loss powerhouse.

A more than 35 percent rally in the company’s stock this year has largely been driven by the explosive growth of the weight-loss drug market and saw it join the $1 trillion club on Friday.

Once seen as a niche category, obesity treatments are now one of the most lucrative segments in healthcare, with steadily rising demand.

Novo Nordisk had the early lead in the space, but Lilly’s drugs – Mounjaro and Zepbound – have surged in popularity and helped eclipse its rival in prescriptions.

The company’s shares were up 1.3 percent at a record high of $1,057.70.

Lilly now trades at one of the richest valuations in big pharma, at about 50 times its expected earnings over the next 12 months, according to LSEG data, reflecting investors’ belief that demand for obesity drugs will remain strong.

Shares have also far outpaced the broader United States equity market. Since the launch of Zepbound in late 2023, Lilly has gained more than 75 percent, compared with a more than 50 percent rise in the S&P 500 over the same period.

In the latest reported quarter, Lilly posted combined revenue of more than $10.09bn from its obesity and diabetes portfolio, accounting for more than half of its total revenue of $17.6bn.

“They are doing so many things outside of obesity, but to suggest anything is driving share price beyond obesity at this point, I don’t know if that would be a factual statement,” said Kevin Gade, chief operating officer at Lilly shareholder Bahl and Gaynor, in advance of the milestone.

‘Sales phenomenon’

Wall Street estimates the weight-loss drug market to be worth $150bn by 2030, with Lilly and Novo together controlling the majority of projected global sales.

Investors are now focused on Lilly’s oral obesity drug, orforglipron, which is expected to be approved early next year.

In a note last week, Citi analysts said the latest generation of GLP-1 drugs have already been a “sales phenomenon”, and orforglipron is poised to benefit from the “inroads made by its injectable predecessors”.

Lilly’s recent deal with the White House to cut prices for its weight-loss drugs, as well as planned investments to expand drug production, augur well for its growth.

Lilly is starting to resemble the “Magnificent Seven” again, said James Shin, director of Biopharma Equity Research at Deutsche Bank, referring to the seven tech heavyweights, including Nvidia and Microsoft, that have powered much of the market’s returns this year.

At one point, investors viewed it as part of that elite group, but after some disappointing headlines and earnings, it slipped out of favour.

Now, however, it seems poised to rejoin that circle, possibly even as an alternative for investors, especially given recent concerns and weakness in some AI stocks, he added.

Still, analysts and investors are watching whether Lilly can sustain its current growth as prices of Mounjaro and Zepbound come under pressure, and whether its scale-up plans, along with its diversified pipeline and dealmaking, will offset margin pressure.

MANY celebs these days are pretty boring and spend their nights drinking matcha tea with LED masks strapped to their faces rather than falling out of clubs after a booze- filled night.

But Leonardo DiCaprio is bucking the clean-living trend and is busy proving he is still one of Hollywood’s most hardcore partiers.

One of my Mayfair moles told me the Titanic actor headed to posh members-only club Annabel’s in London on Tuesday night, after appearing at the BFI Southbank to talk about his new action ­comedy film, One Battle After Another.

Leo partied with his best pal Tobey Maguire until the early hours.

“Leo came in to Annabel’s and ­settled in for a big night with his mate,” my insider said.

“ He’d been at the BFI on the Southbank and came for a private dinner.

Read more on Leonardo DiCaprio

CAP KILLER

Real reason behind Leonardo DiCaprio’s U-turn as star’s behaviour puzzles fans

OFF MENU

Lewis Hamilton & Leo DiCaprio’s burger chain enters liquidation shutting 8 sites

“It coincided with their Christmas light switch on which was really special.

“Alexandra Burke performed and it was an amazing evening.

“Leo and Tobey got food as well and, as you’d expect, there were plenty of female fans hanging around to enjoy a drink with them.

“They absolutely love Leo at Annabel’s because he’s a big spender and a nice guy — there’s never any trouble and he’s really low-key.

“He stayed until around 12;30am ­yesterday before leaving with Tobey.”

After One Battle After Another came out in September, Leo is now waiting on the green light for his next big movie role.

He is being lined up to star in Michael Mann’s sequel to 1995 cult classic Heat.

Leo is said to be in the frame to take the role of Chris Shiherlis, who was played by Val Kilmer in the original.

Christian Bale is now in talks to come on board too, with the final cast yet to be ­confirmed.

Heat is one of my all-time favourite films but to this day I still scream in frustration about why Robert De Niro‘s master criminal Neil McCauley chose to scupper his own escape by ­stopping off to kill the evil Waingro.

You should have gone straight to the plane, Neil. You fool.

ROSIE’S LAID BACK STYLE

IT’S little wonder Rosalia needed a lie-down on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon – because she had to try to teach him how to sing.

The Spanish star, whose new album Lux reached No4 in the charts last Friday, warned US host Jimmy that “some songs are harder than others” before she got him to have a bash at singing her hit La Perla.

To put it kindly, Rosalia had her work cut out with Jimmy’s vocals, but luckily for her fans she then got up on stage to give her own rather more tuneful performance of the song.

Fans will next see Rosalia on screen in the third season of teen drama Euphoria.

She kept schtum about which part she will be taking on but opened up about juggling the recording of Lux with filming the hit HBO series.

Rosalia said: “I had to divide my mind between both, and it was the first time, also, that I was doing something like this – preparing a character and studying lines.

“These are new things for me. It’s very different from making an album and making music.”

POSH’S SPICY CRUZ TRACK

I THOUGHT hell would freeze over before I saw Victoria Beckham singing a Spice Girls song again, but it seems her son Cruz’s passion for music is ­rubbing off on her.

The fledgling musician posted a video on Instagram yesterday playing the guitar and singing the girl group’s 1998 No1 Viva Forever – duetting with his make-up-free mum, Posh.

And props to Victoria, she sounded pretty good during the jam session in their living room, although I wasn’t quite as keen when husband DAVID joined in with some falsetto backing vocals.

He commented on the video: “Sorry, I ruined it.”

I can’t help but feel like this is a clue, after months of discussions that the Spice Girls will do something together to mark their 30th ­anniversary in 2026.

Last month, Victoria even said the idea of a residency at Las Vegas venue Sphere was “tempting”.

The vocal cords are warmed up, so shout when you’re ready to Spice Up Your Life, Posh.

ACE MYLES BASTILLES THE SHOW

BASTILLE brought their From All Sides tour to an end with a massive show at London’s O2 Arena, where they were joined on stage by one of my ­favourite stars of 2025, Luton-born Myles Smith.

The band, celebrating 15 years together, played their 2012 hit Flaws with Myles amid a mighty set which saw them play tracks covering their entire career.

Emotional frontman Dan Smith told the crowd: “It’s f***ing mental that we’re allowed to play here.

“We’ve been away for a ­couple of years and it’s very surreal being back up on this stage.”

Bastille played ten dates across the country and debuted their new single Save My Soul, ahead of its release tomorrow.

It’s been a while since their last proper album, so I’m ­hoping they’ll get back in the studio soon to get the next one done.

ZAYN: I’M JUST LIKE EMINEM

ZAYN MALIK has revealed he practised singing Mario’s Let Me Love You for a whole year before auditioning for The X Factor.

The former One Direction star spoke to BBC Radio 1 in a special interview last night, which you can listen back to now on BBC Sounds.

During the chat, Zayn said: “I listened to this a lot around the time when I was first starting to sing. Probably around 15 or 16, I started taking it more seriously.

“I practised that song for about a year before I went on X Factor and sang that as my first audition song.

“It has a near and dear place in my heart. It is the song that changed my life.”

Bradford-born Zayn also said he felt a synergy with Eminem and compared his life growing up in the north to the US rapper’s tough upbringing in Detroit.

Zayn added: “I remember watching Eight Mile for the first time when I was growing up in Bradford and that movie inspired me.

“It felt like he was growing up in a similar environment to me. The things he overcame and did were incredibly inspiring.

“Eminem will always be one of the top rappers in my book.”

YUNGBLUD IS BOY FOR ME

YUNGBLUD has been forced by ­doctors to pull the plug on touring until the end of the year, after concerns were raised about voice issues and blood test results.

But that means the star has plenty of time to read the script for a new biopic about Boy George‘s life.

George’s manager, Paul Kemsley, has told us that Doncaster-born Yungblud is the Culture Club singer’s first choice to play him.

Speaking at the launch of reality star Mauricio Umansky’s new ­collaboration with clothing brand Ari, Paul said: “Yungblud is the man that we want to play George, and George wants him too. We have told the film company that is our plan.

“We hope to have cameras filming at some point next year.

“Yungblud can really capture the essence of George, ­especially as a young man, and show the world what a trailblazer he was.”

Yungblud has previously said he’s keen to take on the role, so if their schedules can align, he could soon be on set.

He’s had a stellar year, with a No1 album and Grammy nominations, so it’s little wonder Boy George is keen to sign him.

THE season of goodwill is almost here and Ed Sheeran is one of the first celebs out of the blocks to spread festive cheer.

SEE CLEARLY

Mechanic reveals ‘secret’ button that will defrost your windows even quicker

waltzing off

La Voix’s statement in full as injured star is forced to pull out of Strictly

The Shape Of You singer’s hot sauce brand Tingly Ted’s has teamed up with Hungry Horse to offer 5,000 free meals.

The chain is hosting a “Bear Hunt”, with beer mats featuring the Tingly Ted bear logo and a special QR code.

It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad season for Angel City FC. But it’s not one the team is running away from.

“Did we put it all together this year?” team president Julie Uhrman asked. “No.”

In fact, the team won just one of its last eight games; missed the playoffs for the third time in four seasons; saw attendance plummet; lost Alyssa Thompson, its best and most exciting player, on a million-dollar transfer; and watched its two most-decorated players — Ali Riley and Christen Press — retire after a season in which they combined for two starts.

For sporting director Mark Parsons, however, it still counted as progress. Yet the team has a lot of work to do to clear the high bar of community impact and soccer success it set as its twin goals when it launched in 2022.

“This season was about putting in all the foundations and all the pieces where we get to go compete for championships from ’26 and beyond,” Parsons said. “And I could not be happier with the success we’ve been able to do. That helps us win in the future.

“Of course we’d have all loved to win a couple more games,” he added. “But the priorities were try and win, but build for the future.”

Alexander Straus, center, is introduced as Angel City coach by sporting director Mark Parsons, left, and team president Julie Uhrman during a news conference in June.

(Al Seib / For the Times)

The die for the season, for bad or worse, was cast in the embers of the deadly Palisades fire last January. That first night, as Riley’s family home burned to the ground and other players were forced to relocate, Parsons could see the flames from the gated Brentwood estate of Bob Iger and Willow Bay, Angel City’s controlling owners. He was there interviewing for the job he would get nine days later.

And he was brutally honest about what he thought the club needed.

“I looked at them and said ‘We have a lot of work to do. Unless we get really lucky, it’s going to be a roller coaster. However, we will be really excited about our team by the end of the year,’” Parsons recalled this month.

Part of the problem has to do with how Angel City was built. The team has had three general managers or sporting directors in four seasons and four coaches, including interim manager Sam Laity, over that span. Parsons and Alexander Straus, his hand-picked coach who started in June, were hired to shore up that creaky foundation and bring consistency to the team’s soccer operations, which mostly had been spinning its wheels.

For Parsons, that basically meant tearing things down and starting over. And if he had to sacrifice his first season in doing so, it was a price he was willing to pay.

“We’re going to try and compete and win every single game, because that’s why we’re here,” he said. “We are not going to do that at the expense of building a championship-winning team. This season is about building the future, to not just get to the top, but to stay at the top.”

So the team made 29 transactions in his first nine months. In addition, seven players won’t be re-signed when their contracts expire at the end of the year, among them midfielder Madison Hammond and defender Megan Reid, who are 1-2 in appearances in club history, and Japanese defender Miyabi Moriya, a World Cup and Olympic veteran.

Of the additions, Parsons is especially high on midfielders Evelyn Shores and Hina Sugita, Icelandic attacker Sveindis Jonsdottir and Zambian international Prisca Chilufya. All joined in the second half of the season, adding to a core that included rookie of the year candidate Riley Tiernan and defenders Gisele Thompson, Sarah Gorden and Savy King.

Angel City’s Sarah Gorden controls the ball against Racing Louisville on Sept. 27.

(Andy Lyons / Getty Images)

Of those eight, only Gorden is older than 28 and three of the others — Thompson, King and Shores — can’t legally buy a beer in California. Parsons will double down on one of those additions Tuesday, announcing he has signed Sugita, 28, a two-time World Cup player from Japan, through 2029.

“Most teams try not to do too much during the season. It can be unsettling,” Parsons said.

But for Angel City, every second mattered.

“The top teams in this league that have been pretty consistent the last couple of years took three years to get to a point of being in the top four. We don’t have three years,” Parsons said. “This is a city that is expected to compete and to win in a stadium that [is] rocking, that represents this community.”

That hasn’t happened for Angel City, which was founded with solid community support and an A-list ownership group of more than 100, including Hollywood stars, former U.S. national team players and deep-pocketed investors. The vision was to build a team that won games while making a deep and lasting impact on the community.

The club certainly has gotten the second part of that equation right by providing more than 2.5 million meals and more than 51,000 hours for youth and adult education; distributing equipment and staff for ongoing soccer programming for the children of migrants trapped at the U.S.-Mexico border; and funneling $4.1 million into other programs in Los Angeles. Last week the club awarded $10,000 grants and access to business coaching to 13 former players to help support the transition to the next stage of their lives.

From the start, Angel City games offered a welcoming place, especially for the LGBTQ community, and that helped the team finish first or second in the NWSL in attendance in each of its four seasons.

“We are committed to providing an environment of connection, community and belonging,” Uhrman said.

But while doing that the club struggled on the field, making the playoffs just once while going 30-42-24 over that span. As a result average attendance plunged nearly 16%, to 16,257 this year.

In its first three seasons, Angel City played before a home crowd that small just once, although the team still ranks second in the league, behind only the Portland Thorns. Making the team a draw again, Uhrman conceded, will require trying something new. Like winning.

“Our goal is to be a dynasty on the pitch and a legacy off the pitch,” she said. “And for that to be true, we need to win on and off the field. We need to have the positive impact in the community and continue to give back, but we also need to win championships.”

Some of the team’s most loyal supporters have grown tired of waiting.

“I’m just frustrated with the team’s performance,” said Caitlin Bryant of Burbank, a season-ticket holder from the first season who has not renewed for next year. “I’m done dragging myself down to BMO [Stadium] every other weekend until this thing turns around.

“The vibes are great. The stadium environment is great. But watching the team lose game after game, season after season, it’s exhausting and it’s not fun. I need the team to win.”

⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.

SACHA Baron Cohen hooked up with a stunning Kylie Jenner lookalike 28 years his junior – just hours after his ex-wife said she had “cried” over being a single woman.

The Ali G comic, 54, who finalised a £120million divorce from actress Isla Fisher in June, flirted with American influencer Kelsey Calemine, 26.

After they had left an exclusive new nightspot in Hollywood, the movie star chatted intimately with Kelsey, before handing her his pink mobile phone, as she appeared to tap her number into it.

Sacha, who is just two years younger than Kelsey’s 56-year-old dad, had spent two hours inside the club between 1am and 3am on Friday morning.

Kelsey and her friend had also emerged from it when the actor got talking to her outside.

Brunette Kelsey – wearing a figure-hugging pink dress – leaned in close to the actor as he whispered into her ear.

NO REGRETS

Fat jabs are making me blind, fears Robbie as he vows to keep using them

TENSION BOILS

Adam Peaty’s mum breaks silence on bitter rift as she begs son to reach out

The US socialite and foodie influencer – who has 2.8million Instagram followers and is friends with Kendall and Kylie Jenner, and entrepreneur Lauren Perez – spent several minutes laughing and chatting with Sacha.

After appearing to exchange phone numbers they finally got into separate Ubers, as he waved fondly at her.

An onlooker said: “Sacha arrived at 1am at a hot new exclusive nightclub that is just up and coming in Hollywood.

“He was on his own with no security.

“He left the club at 3am just seconds after Kelsey and her friend left.

“He instantly noticed her.

“He was staring at Kelsey and then walked over and started chatting to her. Someone told me he had been flirting with her inside the club.

“Outside they were both very flirty and they didn’t stop laughing.

“He then walked over to her Uber when it came and gave her his phone which had a pink case and she typed her number into it.”

Kelsey was previously linked to ex-England and Chelsea footballer Ben Chilwell in 2021 after she was seen with him in a Mykonos club. Fellow Premier League ace Jack Grealish was also there.

She has a mega-wealthy real estate developer father Robert Peck, 56.

Insiders said Sacha, who was wearing a brown jacket and white trainers, has been “playing the field” after his marriage split to Isla.

In an interview with Elle Decoration magazine, published on Thursday – just hours before Sacha was pictured with Kelsey – former Home and Away actress Isla, 49, said her partying days were over as she attempts to build a new life for herself in London.

The star – who was married to Sacha for 13 years – said the move “has been challenging, but deeply rewarding”.

She revealed that creating a fresh life from “a grassroots level” has been “tough”.

Discussing the moment her furniture arrived, Isla added: “I did have a bit of a cry because this was my first time as a single woman, being in a home of my own.”

‘LONG TENNIS MATCH MARRIAGE’

She and Sacha announced their split in April last year, saying that after a “long tennis match” their marriage had come to an end.

They met in 2001 and married nine years later in March 2010. They have three children.

Isla previously revealed how the methods of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung had helped her heal from the divorce.

The Jungian method is a therapeutic approach that explores dreams and symbols.

In a statement at the time, Sacha and Isla said: “We are proud of all we’ve achieved together and, continuing our great respect for each other, we remain friends and committed to co-parenting our wonderful children.”

In July Isla admitted: “I’ve had a tough couple of years but I’m making it through.”

But a month after they received their decree nisi, Isla was accused of poking fun at his manhood.

It was understood the pair resolved their split amicably.

Pals of Sacha said that he’s enjoying being single and is having fun but he also gives out his number for career advice because of his respect in the industry.

She posted on Instagram: “For all those men who say ‘Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free’ here’s an update for you. Nowadays 80 per cent of women are against marriage. Why? They realise it’s not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage.”

It comes after The Sun revealed in September that Sacha dined out with a 27-year-old blonde model called Hannah Palmer.

They spent two hours at a Beverly Hills steakhouse and then left in a limo.

SACHA’S DATES

Kelsey – who has a food page where she reviews restaurants – was snapped in April with basketball player Michael Porter Jr, 27, at an Italian eatery in St Tropez, France.

She posts videos on social media of herself eating food and then rating it.

On her TikTok page she describes herself with the title: “I love food and food loves me.”

She also has a channel called “Cooking w Kels” where she shows her followers meals that she has made.

On Friday she posted pictures to her 2.8million followers on Instagram at a fashion event wearing the same pink dress as in our exclusive snaps.

She captioned it: “Lowkey eating.”

Fans posted online that Kelsey was bought a Tesla by dad Rob to “encourage her to drive” and that she once had an OnlyFans page.

Sacha rose to comedy fame in the 1990s with his character Ali G, a wannabe gangster with the catchphrase, “Is it because I is black?”

He won more fans with characters Borat Sagdiyev, a bigoted Kazakh journalist, and Brüno Gehard, a flamboyant Austrian fashion reporter.

It led to film hits including the Madagascar franchise, Anchorman 2 and Grimsby.

tragic news

Strictly’s George Clarke reveals his mum has been diagnosed with cancer

WATCH OUT

Dark side of smart cameras and baby monitors & eerie signs someone is watching

Oman-born Isla moved to Australia as a child and starred as Shannon Reed in the soap Home And Away.

She got her film breakthrough in Wedding Crashers.

LAS VEGAS — Last offseason, the Dodgers swung big in their offseason pursuit of impact bullpen additions.

After largely striking out, however, they might now have to decide if they’re comfortable doing it again.

The Dodgers don’t have glaring needs this winter, but the back end of the bullpen is one area they will look to upgrade. Although the team has ample relief depth, it has no clear-cut closer as it enters 2026.

The main reason why: Tanner Scott’s struggles after landing a lucrative four-year, $72-million pact last winter.

Scott’s signing represented the second-largest contract, by guaranteed money, the Dodgers had ever given to a relief pitcher (only behind the five-year, $80 million deal closer Kenley Jansen got in 2017). It was a high-risk, high-reward move that, at least in Year 1, quickly felt like a bust.

Scott posted a 4.74 ERA in the regular season, converted only 23 of his 33 save opportunities, and did not pitch in the postseason (in part because of an abscess incision procedure he underwent in the National League Division Series).

The Dodgers’ other big reliever acquisition last winter, Kirby Yates, suffered a similar fate, posting a 5.23 ERA on a one-year, $13-million deal before injuries also knocked him out of postseason contention.

Scott will be back next year, and is one of several veteran relief arms the club is hopeful will make improvements. Still, for a team vying for a third straight World Series title, adding a more established closer remains of interest.

The question now: Will they be willing to do so on another long-term deal? Or will last year’s failed signings make them more hesitant to traverse that same path again?

It might not take long to start finding out.

Already at this week’s general managers’ meetings at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, the Dodgers have expressed interest in two-time All-Star Devin Williams, according to people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly.

The 31-year-old right-hander had a down year with the New York Yankees (4.79 ERA, albeit with 18 saves in 22 opportunities), but his underlying metrics remain strong, and the Dodgers’ interest in him dates to last offseason when he was a trade target of the club before ultimately landing in the Bronx.

With a mid-90s mph fastball and signature “Airbender” changeup that has made him one of the most prolific strikeout threats in all the majors over his seven-year career (in which he has a 2.45 ERA and averages more than 14 strikeouts per nine innings), he would significantly improve their ninth-inning outlook.

But the Dodgers’ pursuit of him, which was first reported by The Athletic, could come with a tricky decision.

Williams is expected to have several serious suitors this offseason. And, though some outlets projected him to sign only a one-year deal upward of $20 million, others have him pegged to land a three- or four-year contract.

By nature, the Dodgers typically prefer shorter-term deals, particularly in a role as volatile as relief pitching. If Williams does receive longer-term offers from other clubs, it’s unclear if the Dodgers would be willing to match.

The team could face similar dynamics if it goes after other top relievers on the market, including three-time All-Star and top free-agent closer Edwin Díaz (who also comes with the added complication of a qualifying offer that would cost them a draft pick).

They could wind up having to once again weigh a high-risk, high-reward move.

And on Tuesday, general manager Brandon Gomes struck a decidedly risk-averse tone in the wake of last year’s failed signings.

“It’s one of those things that, I don’t think it’s a ‘need,’” Gomes said of the team’s interest in making another splashy reliever acquisition. “But it could be a nice-to-have, depending on how it all plays out.”

There are other alternatives, of course.

Former Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Pete Fairbanks is one potentially shorter-term target some in the industry see as a fit in Los Angeles, after racking up 75 saves with a 2.98 ERA over the last three seasons.

Former Angels and Atlanta Braves right-hander Raisel Iglesias is potentially another, after amassing 96 saves with a 2.62 ERA over the last three years, thanks to a mid-90s mph fastball and swing-and-miss changeup that have kept him productive even at age 35.

There are other familiar free-agent relievers available this winter, too, from former San Diego Padres closer Robert Suarez to former St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets right-hander Ryan Helsley (who has also been linked to the Dodgers in trade rumors in the past).

The Dodgers could also explore the offseason’s trade market, or roll the dice with a current relief corps that still includes Scott (whose 2025 issues had more to do with execution than quality of stuff), Alex Vesia (who has established himself as one of the top left-handed relievers in the sport) and Blake Treinen (another reliever the team sees as a bounce-back candidate after he struggled with injuries last season in the first season of a two-year, $22 million deal). They will also be getting Brusdar Graterol and Evan Phillips back from injuries, with Graterol on track to be ready for the start of 2026 after missing last year with a shoulder problem, and Phillips expected to return at some point in next season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last June.

For now, however, the team’s search could depend on how the markets for Williams, Díaz and others develop — and whether it’s willing to take another big bullpen swing on a longer-term deal.

“We have so many guys that are capable of closing and have done it in the past,” Gomes said, highlighting the team’s current returning bullpen arms. “But it’s one of the areas we’ll look to potentially add to the team.”

Skenes wins NL Cy Young Award, Yamamoto third in voting

Yoshinobu Yamamoto will always be remembered for his historic performance in the Dodgers’ postseason this past October.

On Wednesday, his regular-season performance received some deserved recognition, too.

While Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes won the National League Cy Young Award as expected, after leading the majors with a 1.97 ERA in just his second MLB season, Yamamoto finished third for a campaign in which he went 12-8, posted a 2.49 ERA over 30 starts, and anchored a Dodgers rotation that was ravaged by injuries for much of the season.

Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez was the NL’s other Cy Young finalist, and was runner-up. Skenes garnered all 30 first-place votes while Sánchez received all 30 second-place votes. Yamamoto collected 16 third-place votes.

Yamamoto’s finish was the highest by a Dodgers pitcher since Julio Urías came in third in 2022.

It caps a year in which the 27-year-old Japanese star made significant strides from his debut rookie MLB season (when he had a 3.00 ERA and was limited to 18 starts because of a shoulder injury) and helped carry the Dodgers to a World Series with a 1.45 ERA in six playoff outings and a grueling 37 1/3 October innings — including back-to-back complete games in the NL Championship Series and World Series, before back-to-back victorious appearances in Games 6 and 7 of the Fall Classic.

ON top of our brilliant Hols from £9.50, you can now bag a bargain break all year round with The Sun Club’s Breakfree Holidays partnership.

Join Sun Club for just £1.99 a month and you can also get an exclusive discount just for members on selected breaks.

Take your pick from thousands of great breaks across the UK and Europe. We have the widest selection of exclusive holidays and deals from all your favourite brands, such as Parkdean Resorts, Eurocamp and Away Resorts.

Choose from holiday parks, cottages, lodges, hotels, ferries and boating holidays. So whether you are after a peaceful countryside getaway or an action-packed adventure, we have something for everyone.

Sun Club offers readers access to more of our award-winning articles from showbiz exclusives, real-life stories, and unrivalled investigations.

Along with being able to unlock extra articles and unlimited access to the Sun website and app, there are big perks including competitions and offers.

How to book with Breakfree Holidays and get an exclusive Sun Club discount

Sun Club Membership Programme

Step 1: To book a bargain break with Breakfree Holidays and get an exclusive Sun Club discount, join Sun Club now for just £1.99 a month for your first year. Or £12 for an annual subscription unless you cancel at least 7 days before your next billing date.

Step 2: Then head to the ‘Offers Hub,’ select the ‘Breakfree Holidays’ page and click ‘Book’ to be taken to the membership site.

Step 3: Choose from thousands of great breaks across the UK and Europe and book your holiday and apply your exclusive Sun Club discount at the checkout.*

*Discount codes apply on selected breaks at checkout only. Excludes external sites. Discounts vary by location/date.

18+ Terms & Conditions apply, see thesun.co.uk/club for full details.

Other fantastic Sun Club offers

There are other fantastic Sun Club offers waiting for members in our Offers Hub.

We also have amazing discounts on theatre shows which are exclusively for Sun Club members.

As a Sun Club member, you can also get your hands on four FREE racing tickets to top racedays across England, Scotland and Wales.

With your membership you can enjoy complimentary tickets to the races EVERY three months – that’s four race days a year, on the house!

You can get all of this and more for just £1.99 a month as a Sun Club member, so join today.

The now two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers made their first move of the offseason on Thursday.

It will ensure a familiar face is back for their pursuit of a three-peat next year.

The team picked up its $10-million club option for third baseman Max Muncy, according to a person with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly, bringing the now longest-tenured member of the roster back for what will be his ninth season in Los Angeles.

The decision was not surprising. This year, Muncy had perhaps his best all-around season at the plate since a 2021 campaign in which he received MVP votes. He hit .243, his highest mark since that 2021 season, with 19 home runs, 67 RBIs and an .846 OPS in 100 games. He atoned for a relatively quiet postseason by hitting a crucial home run in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the World Series, setting the stage for the team’s ninth-inning comeback and eventual extra-innings, title-clinching victory.

Muncy was in the final season of a two-year, $24-million extension he signed in the 2023 offseason. And injuries have been a problem for the 35-year-old in recent years (he was limited this past season by a knee contusion in July and an oblique strain in August).

However, the $10-million option was a relative bargain for a player who, prior to second-half injuries, had shaken off a slow start to the year by being one of the hottest hitters in the majors in May and June.

His return will also help keep a key part of the club’s veteran core intact, bringing back a player who — in the wake of Clayton Kershaw’s retirement — has been with the Dodgers longer than anybody else.

Muncy’s 2025 season did not start well. After an offseason in which trade rumors involving Nolan Arenado swirled, and a spring training spent working through the lingering after-effects of an oblique and rib injury that limited him in 2024, Muncy hit .176 through his first 34 games, and had only one home run.

In early May, however, he started wearing glasses to address an astigmatism in his right eye. Around that same time, he also found a breakthrough with his swing, one that helped him begin punishing fastballs up the zone. From May 7 to the end of June, he hit .315 with 12 home runs and a 1.039 OPS, one of the best stretches of his 10-year, two-time All-Star career.

That streak was derailed on July 2, when Muncy suffered his knee injury after being slid into at third base. His return a month later was cut short, too, when his oblique began bothering him during a batting practice session in August.

Those IL stints preceded a September slump that carried into the postseason, when Muncy hit just .173 entering Game 7 of the World Series.

But that night, he collected three hits, had the pivotal eighth-inning home run off Trey Yesavage that got the Dodgers back within a run, and became one of six players to contribute to all three of the Dodgers’ recent World Series titles.

“It’s starting to get a little bit comfortable up here,” he joked from atop the stage at the Dodgers’ World Series celebration on Monday. “Let’s keep it going.”

On Thursday, the team ensured his run with the Dodgers will, for at least one more season.

Alex Vesia’s option also picked up

The Dodgers on Thursday also picked up their $3.55-million club option for reliever Alex Vesia in 2026, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly. That was also not a surprise, though Vesia still would’ve been under team control and eligible for arbitration if they hadn’t.

Vesia was one of the few consistent performers in the Dodgers’ bullpen this year, posting a 3.02 ERA in a career-high 68 appearances. He was also one of their most trusted relief arms in the playoffs, bouncing back from a two-run outing in the wild-card series opener with 4 ⅓ scoreless innings the rest of the way.

Vesia was not available for the World Series as he and his wife dealt with what the team described as a “deeply personal family matter.” But he figures to be a key cog in their bullpen again next season, in what will be his last before reaching free agency.

Brugge had the lead three times against Barcelona and had a fourth goal chalked off, but ended up sharing the points.

Spanish giants Barcelona needed to come from behind three times to earn a 3-3 draw at Club Brugge in the Champions League, with teenage winger Lamine Yamal back to his best for Hansi Flick’s side to help them earn a point in a gripping clash in Belgium.

Barca’s defence was shredded on multiple occasions on Wednesday by the hosts as Brugge winger Carlos Forbs struck twice and set one up for Nicolo Tresoldi.

Ferran Torres, Yamal and a Christos Tzolis own goal saved Barcelona from what would have been a humiliating defeat, even though they have several players out injured.

Barcelona have been in shaky form in recent weeks, including a Clasico defeat by rivals Real Madrid in La Liga.

The hosts took an early lead at the Jan Breydel Stadium through Tresoldi, who was set up by the electric Forbs.

With Forbs rampaging in behind Barcelona’s high defensive line, Brugge set an early blueprint for how they could consistently hurt the Catalans.

Flick’s side hit back quickly through Torres, who produced a clever finish after Fermin Lopez played him in.

Midfielder Lopez struck the woodwork before Forbs netted Brugge’s second in a relentless battle between two sides determined to attack.

The Portuguese winger played a one-two with Tzolis to burst into space behind Barca’s defence once more before finishing with aplomb past Wojciech Szczesny.

Barca defender Jules Kounde crashed a shot against the bar at the other end as last year’s semifinalists sought a leveller.

Yamal, who was once again his side’s key player after some recent flat displays, created a fine chance for Torres to score before the break, but the striker nudged the ball past goalkeeper Nordin Jackers and wide.

Szczesny saved well from Joaquin Seys at the near post as Brugge continued to attack in the second half, showing no intention of trying to protect their lead.

Eric Garcia almost scored from long range but became the third Barca player to hit the frame of the goal, as his effort slapped against the crossbar.

Barcelona eventually pulled level with a brilliant goal, as Yamal combined with Lopez superbly to break through.

Lopez backheeled the ball into the teenager’s path, and Yamal flicked it past Jackers and into the bottom corner.

Forbs wasted a fine chance to put his team ahead again, but given another chance minutes later, he took it with a stylish finish.

Hans Vanaken played him through on goal, and he delicately dinked it past Szczesny for his second and Brugge’s third.

Forbs was awarded a penalty when he went down after a collision with Barca’s Alejandro Balde in the box, but it was cancelled after a VAR review showed he had actually bumped into the Spaniard.

Jackers produced a superb save to tip away a Yamal effort bound for the top corner, but could do nothing about Barca’s equaliser, which arrived in a similar fashion.

Yamal’s curling effort from the right deflected off Tzolis’s head and beat the goalkeeper.

Brugges thought they had won it in stoppage time when veteran goalkeeper Szczesny tried to turn in his area but lost the ball as Romeo Vermant slid in on him.

Vermant rolled the ball into the empty net, but the goal was disallowed after a VAR review after the Belgian forward was ruled to have fouled the relieved Szczesny.

Elsewhere in the Champions League on Wednesday, Erling Haaland scored against his former club as his Manchester City cruised to a 4-1 win over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday

Galatasaray striker Victor Osimhen scored a second-half hat-trick to ensure a comfortable 3-0 away win over hapless Ajax.

Bayer Leverkusen, meanwhile, defeated Benfica 1-0 to bounce back from a 7-2 defeat to title holders Paris Saint-Germain in the previous matchday two weeks ago.

Runners-up Inter Milan made it four wins in as many games with a 2-1 triumph against Kairat Almty. Inter, Arsenal and leaders Bayern Munich are the only teams that have won all of their Champions League games so far this season.

Meanwhile, Newcastle defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-0 and Atalanta claimed a narrow 1-0 win at Olympique Marseille.

This was Newcastle’s first European campaign since 1977.

It was also their first since the ban on English clubs playing on the continent after the Heysel Stadium disaster had been lifted in 1990.

There was still a reasonable police presence in Bilbao on what was a national holiday.

Supporter Karl Pedley recalled how Newcastle fans were accompanied into San Mames by “full riot police, some of whom were armed”.

However, just a few minutes into the game, he noticed how “a number of them had sat down with their helmets and pads off, and were enjoying what we were doing”.

There was no edge, even after Newcastle were defeated 1-0, and Athletic fans invaded the pitch and sprinted towards the away end to applaud the travelling support.

Newcastle supporters responded by chanting “Athletic! Athletic! Athletic!” – but that was not the end of the matter.

“The police held us back for a short while and took us down a long concrete staircase into the main road,” Pedley said. “All we could see at the bottom was this mass of red and white.

“They brought us down in single file and let us go. We thought ‘oh, here we go.’ But all the Athletic fans wanted to do was shake your hand, pat you on the back and take you to a bar. It was as if they were like ‘adopt a Geordie’.

“I don’t think there was anyone in a Newcastle United shirt who didn’t get fed and watered that night. They were just really appreciative that we were enjoying their city.”

Chants were exchanged as Newcastle fans taught Athletic supporters – among others – “walking in a Keegan wonderland” and “he gets the ball and scores a goal, Andy, Andy Cole”.

Shirts and scarves were even swapped and this remains, possibly, the only occasion where a number of Newcastle supporters wore red and white, which are also the colours of bitter rivals Sunderland.

One such Athletic shirt remains a cherished memento from an away day that Newcastle fan Philip Long will never forget.

“It’s still in the wardrobe with a couple hundred of my Newcastle tops,” he said. “I’ll never let go of it.”

Edwards’ position at Middlesbrough, given his current employment, would provide some obstacles, with Boro believed to be entitled to a significant compensation fee.

Edwards is a former Wolves Under-23 coach and was also first-team coach, having had a two-game interim spell in charge in 2016, and distanced himself from the role.

“I was told by my daughter yesterday [Sunday], so that probably tells you where I stand on it,” he said.

“You know my links to the club but my full focus is on this job here, which is a brilliant job, and trying to turn things around from the weekend in a really big game against Leicester.

“Speculation stuff is hard for me to comment about, anything else other than Middlesbrough, which is where my focus is, that we’ve done a decent job so far.”

Wolves have a history of appointing managers with close links to high-profile agent Jorge Mendes, in Nuno Espirito Santo, Bruno Lage and Pereira.

It is understood that in addition to O’Neil, Wolves were speaking to at least one manager from Mendes’ stable.

O’Neil was sacked by Wolves in December 2024 following a disappointing start to the 2024-25 campaign, failing to win in their opening 10 games.