desperately

CHELSEA are desperately trying to find Raheem Sterling a new home on transfer deadline day.

The winger has fallen down the pecking order at Chelsea and spent last season out on loan at Arsenal.

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Sterling, 30, could be set to move again within the Prem on deadline day.

Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Fulham see the former Manchester City and Liverpool star as an option.

He has reported that the Cottagers have revived talks for Sterling as one of three attackers they are interested in.

Fulham’s top target is Shakhtar Donetsk star Kevin.

They are believed to have agreed a fee of £34.6million for the Brazilian wonderkid.

However, Romano has suggested that there is no agreement with the player as of yet.

AC Milan’s Samuel Chukwueze is also a potential option.

Sterling had been left in limbo by Chelsea as he has one more year left on his contract at Stamford Bridge.

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The Blues have left it very late in the window to try and find a solution for the former England international.

He made the move to the Gunners on deadline day last summer but Chelsea still had to pay a large chunk of his wages.

Napoli are among the other clubs to have been linked with a move for Sterling.

Any club that does agree a deal for Sterling will be hoping to land a similar package to Arsenal last term.

Sterling is yet to play this season with Blues boss Enzo Maresca favouring the likes of Jamie Gittens, Pedro Neto and Estevao.

Fulham manager Marco Silva will be desperate to get bodies over the line today as he has not been happy with the club’s lack of activity.

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The West London side has only added back-up French goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte to their squad this summer.

Silva will be hoping to welcome at least Kevin and Chukwueze as Fulham close in on those deals.

Just last week, he insisted that Fulham needs to add to the squad.

He said: “We have to (sign players). This is the situation.

“I’m answering this way to you, and it’s not to put any more type of pressure at all.

“It’s because we don’t have other solutions.”

Elsewhere, Manchester United have agreed a deal to sign Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp.

Chelsea have also resumed Nicolas Jackson’s deal to join Bayern Munich.

Chelsea’s transfer deals

IN

• Joao Pedro – from Brighton – £60m
• Jamie Gittens – from Dortmund – £52m
• Jorell Hato – from Ajax – £37m
• Liam Delap – from Ipswich – £30m
• Estevao – from Palmeiras – £54m
• Dario Essugo – from Sporting Lisbon – £18.5m
• Kendry Paez – from Independiente – £17.25m
• Mamadou Sarr – from Strasbourg – £12m
• Alejandro Garnacho – from Man Utd – £40m

TOTAL – £320.75m

OUT

• Christopher Nkunku – to AC Milan – £38m
• Noni Madueke – to Arsenal – £52m
• Joao Felix – to Al-Nassr – £43.7m
• Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – to Everton – £30m
• Renato Veiga – to Villarreal – £26m
• Djordje Petrovic – to Bournemouth – £25m
• Lesley Ugochukwu – to Burnley – £23m
• Carney Chukwuemeka – to Dortmund £24m
• Armando Broja – to Burnley – £15m
• Bashir Humphreys – to Burnley – £10m
• Mathis Amougou – to Strasbourg – £12.5m
• Kepa Arrizabalaga – to Arsenal – £5m
• Marcus Bettinelli – to Man City – £2m

TOTAL – £306.2m

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His move had been cancelled after the injury to Liam Delap on Saturday.

SunSport understands that Chelsea are now open to selling the striker again.

They have encouraged Bayern Munich to push ahead and complete the move.

However, Newcastle are also interested in trying to sign Jackson.

And Bournemouth have completed the signing of Alex Jimenez from AC Milan.

The full-back has joined the Cherries on an initial loan deal from the Italian side.

They will have the option to make the move permanent for £16.5m.

Tottenham have also agreed a loan deal to sign striker Randal Kolo Muani from Juventus.

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OK, I’ll say it. I’m sick of superheroes. I blame the Marvel Cinematic Universe (36 movies and counting over 17 years) and the DC Extended Universe (43 movies and counting, mostly since the late 1970s). Maybe Earth’s not big enough for two universes. They’re running pretty thin these days, down to rebooting reboots, making sequels for prequels and squeezing every ounce from the intellectual property tube to fill out streaming platform minutes.

But there’s always Superman. The Krypton-born alien, orphaned, sent off into space for survival and then raised by adoptive parents in Kansas. He’s now been with American pop culture for 10 decades (eight in film). Despite an outfit modeled after a circus strongman, he’s become a durable, transcendent symbol of the ultimate immigrant and somehow a simultaneous embodiment of “Truth, Justice, and the American Way.”

Superman’s the classic American good guy, and so this weekend’s opening of the new “Superman” with David Corenswet is a great time to think about the real good guys and gals in American life — that is, if you can find any. Where are all the good guys and gals in America? What qualifies someone for the title these days?

The idea has definitely shifted. It’s as if by sheer screen volume the fake superheroes overwhelmed the public consciousness. Superheroes are dialed up so high we can’t hear what real heroes sound like anymore. A 2008 poll in Britain found almost a quarter thought Winston Churchill was fake, while a majority of Britons believed Sherlock Holmes was real.

We’ve become confused: We prefer to watch fake heroes on screen rather than expect real ones to emerge in life. And so the fake ones become the only kind of hero we recognize.

The historian Daniel Boorstin described this transition from heroism to fame in his 1961 book “The Image.” He noted that heroes in American history were typically known for great public contribution through immense difficulty and danger. It didn’t matter much what they looked like because their deeds had saved lives and mattered to so many.

But pictures and movies changed everything in the 20th century. Heroes became celebrities. We traded away enduring contributions to the public good in exchange for flimsy, flashy fame that works for a paycheck. Value over values; money over all.

This isn’t hard to see. Look at how college sports has been conquered by contracts and name-image-likeness deals. How law firms kowtowed to an administration making unprecedented demands. How media heavyweights keep bending knees to the same. And let’s not get started with social media “influencers” except to say that doing the right and honest thing has been swept aside by the twin tsunamis of popularity and the Almighty Buck.

Where’s our real truth, our real justice, our real American way?

Not in Congress. The “Big Beautiful Bill” is a perfect example. It might take a Mt. Rushmore makeover to honor the profound contributions to cowardice in the votes surrounding this act. Rep. Jeff Crank (R-Colo.) couldn’t vote fast enough to add trillions to the national debt despite arguing, less than a year ago, that Congress is “turning a blind eye to this $35 trillion in debt,” that it’s “unsustainable” and that “we have to get our fiscal house in order, and we have to do this for our children and our grandchildren.”

Or Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), long-time fiscal hawk on the debt, who repeatedly railed against the Big Beautiful Bill’s deficit spending in the final stretch. And then he voted for it.

Or Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), known for saying “we must ignore calls to cut Medicaid” because “slashing health insurance for the working poor” would be “both morally and politically suicidal.” That was in May. But come July, Hawley voted to cut Medicaid.

The final vote came down to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). In a mid-June town hall, she said, “I have made clear very early on that we cannot move forward with a bill that makes cuts to Medicaid.” And yet, despite the fact that nearly 40,000 Alaskans (more than 5% of the state’s population) will likely lose their healthcare coverage as a direct result of the bill, Murkowski caved.

Sarah Longwell, founder and publisher of the Bulwark, spared nothing in her criticism of Murkowski. She wrote that this one action “defines our pathetic political moment,” embodying:

“Selfishness: I’m taking care of me and mine, the rest of you can pound sand;

Lack of accountability: I know the bill is bad, hopefully someone else will fix it;

Cowardice: I’m scared of Trump and his voters and need to go-along to get along with my GOP colleagues;

Moral rot: I know the difference between right and wrong, and actively chose wrong.”

Not exactly Superman. Sounds more like Lex Luthor at his most self-serving and callous.

We don’t need someone faster than a speeding bullet in the House. We don’t need senators leaping tall buildings in a single bound. We don’t need Superman.

But we do need our Clark Kents and Lois Lanes to step up. We do need our real heroes right now. Maybe Crank or Roy or Hawley or Murkowski will see the movie this weekend. Maybe they’ll find some courage for the next vote.

Maybe.

ML Cavanaugh is the author of the forthcoming book “Best Scar Wins: How You Can Be More Than You Were Before.” @MLCavanaugh

MARCUS RASHFORD has emerged as a target for Inter Milan – as they look to bounce back from their Champions League final horror show. 

The Manchester United forward, 27, spent the second half of the season on loan at Aston Villa, with his red-hot form securing him a place back in the England squad.

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But Villa, who narrowly missed out on a Champions League spot for 2025-26, are unlikely to make a permanent move for Rashford due to the player’s sky-high wages.

Unai Emery and Co are now firmly focused on other targets and hope to keep hold of Ollie Watkins, who has been linked with an exit from Villa Park. 

Sources close to Rashford told SunSport he doesn’t see a future at Old Trafford under Ruben Amorim. 

The pair reportedly fell out last season with the Portuguese manager unhappy with Rashford’s attitude during training and off the field.

And that means Rashford is frantically searching for a new club, which has put Inter Milan on red-alert.

The Italian giants are looking to rebuild their side in the wake of the Champions League final demolition at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain.

Inter were thrashed 5-0 in a defeat which came on the back of them throwing away the Serie A title late in the season, opening the door for Napoli.

Club chiefs believe that Rashford could be a key acquisition and would excite supporters.

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And although Man Utd would prefer a permanent deal, Inter are also exploring the option of a long-term loan move. 

A source said: “Marcus is open-minded to a move abroad, and a fresh start.

“Lots of players have made the move from the Premier League to Serie A in recent years and performed very well. That’s why the idea of such a switch excites both the player and Inter.”

Rashford is one of a number of players in limbo at United.

Team-mates Jadon Sancho and Antony both ended the campaign on loan at other clubs and are deemed surplus to requirements.

But United face a challenge in offloading all of them due to their massive wages.

May 21 (UPI) — The United Nations said no aid has reached people in Gaza in dire need of food and medical supplies, including baby food, despite dozens of trucks crossing from Israel into the strip after Israel ended its 11-week blockade.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a press briefing in New York on Tuesday afternoon that none of the trucks Israel said had been allowed in during the day had gotten beyond a staging area on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing at the southeastern corner of the strip as Israeli authorities had not permitted U.N. staff on the ground to collect the aid.

He said U.N. humanitarian teams were sending in baby food, flour, medicines and nutrition supplies and other basic items through the Israeli border fence to the Palestinian side that needed to be distributed as a matter of urgency, “as we need much, much more to cross.”

“The Israeli authorities are requiring us to offload supplies on the Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom crossing and reload them separately once they secure our teams’ access from inside the Gaza Strip. Only then are we able to bring any supplies closer to where people in need are sheltering,” Dujarric said.

He said one U.N. team had to wait “several hours” for Israel to clear access to the Kerem Shalom area for nutrition supplies to be collected, but they weren’t able to bring them back to their warehouse.

“They were able to get into the area, but given the lateness of the hour, they were not able to bring the trucks out,” Dujarric said, explaining all movement needed clearance from Israel Defense Forces, routes needed to be agreed, and U.N. staff needed to ensure the general area was safe and contend with perilous, congested roads.

“We’re obviously thankful that some aid is getting in, but there are a lot of hurdles to cross and we haven’t been able to cross. Our colleagues have not been able to cross all those hurdles to get aid to where it’s actually needed,” said Dujarric.

He said even if the aid got through, it was “only a drop in the ocean” of what was required for the massive scale of the operation to meet humanitarian needs.

“The deprivation we are seeing in Gaza is the result of ongoing bombardments and blockade and recurrent displacement,” said Dujarric.

Israeli Prime Minister announced Sunday the aid blockade would be lifted immediately after coming under intense pressure from the international community amid warnings of an imminent famine, with Israel saying 93 aid trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday, up from five on Monday.

However, Netanyahu’s insistence Israel would allow only “a basic amount of food” to reach the population of Gaza prompted Britain on Tuesday to suspend negotiations with Israel on a trade agreement, slap new sanctions on West Bank settlers and Foreign Minister David Lammy to summon the Israeli ambassador to the Home Office.

“Humanitarian aid needs to get in at pace,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Parliament.

“We’re horrified by the escalation from Israel. We repeat our demand for a cease-fire as the only way to free the hostages. We repeat our opposition to settlements in the West Bank, and we repeat our demand to massively scale up humanitarian assistance into Gaza,” he said.

Israel hit back, saying the trade talks were already moribund and that Starmer’s administration was only hurting Britain with its actions and reminded Britain it was no longer in charge.

“The agreement would serve the mutual benefit of both countries. If, due to anti-Israel obsession and domestic political considerations, the British government is willing to harm the British economy — that is its own prerogative,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein wrote in a post on X.

He called the sanctions against West Bank settlers “unjustified and regrettable,” especially in the light of a deadly attack on a pregnant woman that had left her unborn child fighting for its life.

“The British Mandate ended exactly 77 years ago. External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security against enemies who seek its destruction,” Marmorstein said.

The Mandate for Palestine was authorization granted to Britain in 1920 by the League of Nations, the forerunner to the United Nations, to administer then-Palestine in the wake of World War 1, which lasted until May 1948 when Israelis declared independence and the creation of the State of Israel.

The measures from London came a day after Britain, Canada and France on Monday issued a strongly worded rebuke warning Israel of “concrete actions” if it did not halt a major new military offensive in Gaza and lift restrictions on humanitarian aid entering the strip.

They also called on Hamas to “release immediately the remaining hostages they have so cruelly held since October 7, 2023.”