Santos

Inter Milan join race for defender Marc Guehi, Everton monitoring striker Nicolas Jackson, and Manchester United face competition for Ayyoub Bouaddi.

Inter Milan want to sign England centre-back Marc Guehi, 25, when his Crystal Palace contract expires next summer, but face competition from Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Liverpool. (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian), external

Everton are monitoring Senegal striker Nicolas Jackson, 24, as Bayern Munich are increasingly unlikely to trigger a £70m move for the on-loan Chelsea forward. (Football Insider), external

Manchester United are keen on Chelsea’s Brazil midfielder Andrey Santos, 21, as they bid to strengthen their midfield in January. (Football Insider), external

Manager Ruben Amorim expects some of his Manchester United squad to ask to leave in January in search of more minutes. (Times – subscription required), external

Manchester United have had internal discussions over signing Lille’s French midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, 18. (Caught Offside), external

Arsenal and Liverpool are also in the mix to sign talented teenager Bouaddi. (TBR Football), external

Bournemouth and Ghana winger Antoine Semenyo, 25, says he is not oblivious to speculation around his future, but glad he remained with the Cherries in the summer. (Sky Sports), external

PSV Eindhoven’s Ismael Saibari is emerging as a January target for a host of Premier League clubs, with Aston Villa and Leeds among those interested in the 24-year-old Morocco midfielder. (TBR Football), external

Real Madrid have joined Manchester United and Chelsea in tracking Red Bull Salzburg’s Bosnia-Herzegovina winger Kerim Alajbegovic, 18. (Defensa Central – in Spanish), external

Oct. 19 (UPI) — Former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., a convicted fraudster and identity thief, has said he will work to reform U.S. prisons, having been released from a penitentiary Friday by President Donald Trump.

Trump commuted Santos’s seven-year sentence for wire fraud and identity theft, the latest in a series of moves by Trump to exonerate associates and Republicans involved in criminal activity.

Santos was expelled from the U.S. House in 2023 after refusing to resign following a scathing ethics investigation uncovered his criminal activity. In an interview with the Washington Post, Santos called his time in federal prison “dehumanizing” and “humbling.”

The former representative admitted to stealing the identities of 11 people, including his own family members. He served 84 days in prison before being exonerated by Trump and released from prison Friday night. He also admitted that he embellished and fabricated his biography during his run for Congress in 2020.

Santos called the prison system, and the facility where he was housed, FCI Fairton in N.J., as “broken” with “rotting facilities, and administrators who seem incapable or unwilling to correct it.” He said a large hole in the ceiling exposed “thick, black mold,” and claimed broken air-conditioning systems forced inmates to endure sweltering heat.

“The building itself is hardly fit for long-term habitation: sheet metal walls, shoddy construction, the look and feel of a temporary warehouse rather than a permanent facility,” Santos wrote on The South Shore Press website while he was incarcerated.

As part of his plea deal, Santos agreed to pay $600,000 in restitution and forfeiture costs.

Santos pushed back on critics who claim the former congressman is not being held accountable for his crimes, and said that, beyond repentance, he has “dealt a second chance.”

“I understand people want to make this into “he’s getting away with it. I’m not getting away with it,” Santos said following his release. “I was the first person ever to go to federal prison for a civil violation … I don’t want to focus on trying to rehash the past and want to take the experience and do good and move on with the future.

In announcing Santo’s commutation on social media, Trump claimed that the former congressman had been “horribly mistreated,” and that “at least” the former representative had the “Courage, Conviction, and intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!”

Santos, 37, served fewer than three months of his seven year sentence. He said he has no plans to re-enter politics and would do his best to repay campaign donors based on “whatever the law requires of me.”

WASHINGTON — President Trump said Friday that he had commuted the sentence of former U.S. Rep. George Santos, who is serving more than seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to fraud and identity theft charges.

Joseph Murray, one of Santos’ lawyers, told the Associated Press late Friday that the former lawmaker was released from the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, N.J., around 11 p.m. and was greeted outside the facility by his family.

The New York Republican was sentenced in April after admitting last year to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of 11 people — including his own family members — to make donations to his campaign.

He reported to FCI Fairton on July 25 and was housed in a minimum-security prison camp with fewer than 50 other inmates.

“George Santos was somewhat of a ‘rogue,’ but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison,” Trump posted on his social media platform. He said he had “just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY.”

“Good luck George, have a great life!” Trump said.

Santos’ account on X, which has been active throughout his roughly 84 days in prison, reposted a screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social post Friday.

During his time behind bars, Santos has been writing regular dispatches in a local newspaper on Long Island, N.Y., in which he mainly complained about the prison conditions.

In his latest letter, he pleaded to Trump directly, citing his fealty to the president’s agenda and to the Republican Party.

“Sir, I appeal to your sense of justice and humanity — the same qualities that have inspired millions of Americans to believe in you,” he wrote in the South Shore Press on Monday. “I humbly ask that you consider the unusual pain and hardship of this environment and allow me the opportunity to return to my family, my friends, and my community.”

Santos’ commutation is Trump’s latest high-profile act of clemency for former Republican politicians since retaking the White House in January.

Like Santos, Trump has been convicted of fraud. He was found guilty last year on 34 felony counts in a case related to paying hush money to a porn actor. He is the only president in U.S. history convicted of a felony.

In granting clemency to Santos, Trump was rewarding a figure who has drawn scorn from within his own party.

After becoming the first openly gay Republican elected to Congress in 2022, Santos served less than a year after it was revealed that he had fabricated much of his life story.

On the campaign trail, Santos had claimed he was a successful business consultant with Wall Street cred and a sizable real estate portfolio. But when his resume came under scrutiny, Santos eventually admitted he had never graduated from Baruch College — or been a standout player on the Manhattan college’s volleyball team, as he had claimed. He had never worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.

He wasn’t even Jewish. Santos insisted he meant he was “Jew-ish” because his mother’s family had a Jewish background, even though he was raised Catholic.

In truth, the then-34-year-old was struggling financially and faced eviction.

Santos was charged in 2023 with stealing from donors and his campaign, fraudulently collecting unemployment benefits and lying to Congress about his wealth.

Within months, he was expelled from the U.S. House of Representatives — with 105 Republicans joining with Democrats to make Santos just the sixth member in the chamber’s history to be ousted by colleagues.

Santos pleaded guilty as he was set to stand trial.

Still, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) urged the White House to commute Santos’ sentence, saying in a letter sent just days into his prison term that the punishment was “a grave injustice” and a product of judicial overreach.

Greene was among those who cheered the announcement Friday. But Rep. Nick LaLota, a Republican who represents part of Long Island and has been highly critical of Santos, said in a post on social media that Santos “didn’t merely lie” and his crimes “warrant more than a three-month sentence.”

“He should devote the rest of his life to demonstrating remorse and making restitution to those he wronged,” LaLota said.

Santos’ clemency appears to clear not just his prison term, but also any “further fines, restitution, probation, supervised release, or other conditions,” according to a copy of Trump’s order posted on X by Ed Martin, the Justice Department’s pardon attorney.

As part of his guilty plea, Santos had agreed to pay restitution of $373,750 and forfeiture of $205,003.

In explaining his reason for granting Santos clemency, Trump claimed the lies Santos told about himself were no worse than misleading statements U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal — a Democrat and frequent critic of the administration —had made about his military record.

Blumenthal apologized 15 years ago for implying that he served in Vietnam, when he was stateside in the Marine Reserve during the war. The senator was never accused of violating any law.

“This is far worse than what George Santos did, and at least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!” Trump wrote.

Marcelo writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Michael R. Sisak in New York and Susan Haigh in Connecticut contributed to this report.

George Santos, serving a prison term on charges of fraud and identity theft, had been held in solitary confinement.

United States President Donald Trump has said that he will commute the sentence of former Republican Representative George Santos, who was serving a prison sentence for fraud and identity theft.

In a social media post on Friday, Trump acknowledged that Santos had made mistakes. But he celebrated Santos as a strong supporter of the Republican Party and noted that family and friends had raised concerns over the former lawmaker’s conditions in prison.

“George Santos was somewhat of a ‘rogue,’ but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“At least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!”

Trump added that Santos has been “horribly mistreated”, citing his isolation behind bars: “George has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time.”

Santos became a well-known political figure after his election victory in 2022, when he flipped New York’s 3rd Congressional District from Democratic control to Republican.

Election observers noted it was one of the first times an openly gay Republican had won a seat in the House of Representatives.

But news reports quickly revealed that Santos had fabricated key details of his life story, and by December 2022, investigators had started to delve into his business dealings.

After a congressional committee found evidence that Santos had violated federal law, including by deceiving donors and stealing from his own campaign, the House of Representatives voted to expel him. Santos was less than a year into his term.

By 2024, Santos had entered into a plea deal with prosecutors to avoid a trial over the allegations. He was sentenced in April for deceiving donors and misleading 11 people, including members of his own family, into giving money to his campaign.

But Santos, a vocal Trump supporter, quickly began a push for the president to commute his prison time, claiming that his punishment was politically motivated.

Trump has also depicted himself as a victim of unjust persecution at the hands of political enemies. He is known to use the power of presidential pardon on behalf of his supporters.

At the beginning of his current term, for example, Trump controversially pardoned nearly all of those charged with participating in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. That attack was part of a bid to violently overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost.

Santos and his allies have also drawn attention to his placement in solitary confinement. Though cells meant to maximise isolation are common in US prisons, critics argue they constitute “cruel and unusual punishment”, given their connection to mental health issues and heightened risks of suicide.

Santos entered the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, New Jersey, on July 25. He has written several columns about his experience with solitary confinement since then, reiterating his appeal for Trump to show mercy.

“I am not asking for special treatment. I am asking to be treated as a person – with attention, dignity, and the care any human deserves when in distress,” he wrote in an opinion column.

“And yes, I renew my plea to President Trump: intervene. Help me escape this daily torment and let me return to my family.”

Oct. 17 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Friday night said he commuted the sentence of George Santos, freeing the former Republican U.S. House member after just three months in federal prison.

Santos, who served in the House for less than one year, was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Santos, 37, reported to a federal facility in Fairton, N.Y., on July 25.

Santos also gained prominence for lying about his employment history and education, and information about his family.

“George has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY. Good luck George, have a great life!”

Trump left the White House on Friday to spend the weekend in Florida. He’s the keynote speaker Friday night at a fundraiser for the super PAC MAGA Inc.

A senior White House official told NBC News that Trump decided to help Santos this week and “many people wrote to him about it.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., had sought a pardon, which erases the legal consequences of a crime. A commutation only reduces the severity of the punishment.

Greene told NBC News this week that she had been in contact with the Department of Justice in recent weeks regarding the possibility, saying the sentence was overly harsh.

“George Santos never raped anybody, never murdered anybody, is not a child sex-trafficker. Why is he in solitary confinement?” she said. “That is an extreme treatment for someone for the crimes that he was convicted of.”

CNN didn’t receive comments from his lawyers.

Santos, before reporting to prison, told a Saudi outlet, Al Arabiya English, that he asked Trump for a pardon.

“I did not spend time in D.C. making friends,” Santos said. “I never made it to the president. I got stonewalled by the gatekeepers.”

From prison last week, Santos wrote a letter to Trump published in The South Shore Press: “Mr. President, I am not asking for sympathy. I am asking for fairness — for the chance to rebuild. I know I have made mistakes in my past. I have faced my share of consequences, and I take full responsibility for my actions. But no man, no matter his flaws, deserves to be lost in the system, forgotten and unseen, enduring punishment far beyond what justice requires.”

Trump took notice of Santos’ situation.

“George Santos was somewhat of a ‘rogue,’ but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “I started to think about George when the subject of Democrat Senator Richard ‘Da Nang Dick’ Blumenthal came up again.”

Trump explained that Blumenthal, who has served as a U.S. senator serving Connecticut for 14 1/2 years, lied about his military involvement.

“He was ‘a Great Hero,’ he would leak to any and all who would listen — And then it happened! He was a COMPLETE AND TOTAL FRAUD. He never went to Vietnam, he never saw Vietnam, he never experienced the Battles there, or anywhere else. … This is far worse than what George Santos did, and at least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!”

Santos fabricated parts of his biography, including falsely, saying that he was a “star” player on a championship volleyball team.

Santos was raised Catholic but claimed his mother had a Jewish background and that his maternal grandparents were Jewish refugees from Ukraine who survived the Holocaust. His grandparents were born in Brazil.

He also said his mother died in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, though she wasn’t in the United States at the time.

Santos took office on Jan. 3, 2023, serving in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

On Nov. 16, 2023, Santos announced he would not seek re-election for the seat that serves parts of Long Island and Queens.

That day, the House Ethics Committee found that he “violated federal criminal laws.” The funds were used for personal purposes and he filed false campaign reports, the report said.

Despite a slim Republican majority and relying on his vote, the House expelled Santos the next month on Dec. 1, 2023. The 311-114 vote surpassed the required two-thirds majority.

He was the sixth lawmaker to be forced out of the chamber.

On March 7, 2024, he announced he would run as a Republican in the 1st Congressional District and 15 days later, Santos said he would seek the office as an independent. A month later, on April 23, he withdrew his candidacy.

He pleaded guilty on Aug. 19, 2024, in federal court in Central Islip, N.Y., and was sentenced on April 25.

“I deeply regret my conduct,” Santos said in court during his conviction and sentence. “I accept full responsibility for my actions.”

Nuno Espirito Santo’s future as Nottingham Forest manager is uncertain after a breakdown in his relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis.

Sources have told BBC Sport that Nuno’s position is not completely safe despite last season’s achievement of qualifying for Europe and the opening-day win over Brentford on Sunday.

The uncertainty, according to sources, has now stretched to the playing squad who are said to be aware of the situation.

In a news conference on Friday, the 51-year-old said his relationship with Marinakis “has changed” and they are “not as close”.

“I always had a very good relationship with the owner – last season we were very close and spoke on a daily basis,” Nuno said.

“This season it is not so well [between us] but I always believe that dialogue is important because my concern is the squad and the season we have ahead of us. Our relationship has changed and we are not as close.”

When asked if it was good his relationship with Evangelos Marinakis had changed, Nuno said: “No, it is not good. I think everybody at the club should be together but this not the reality.”

Forest have been active in the transfer market this summer, signing seven players – though they did sell winger Anthony Elanga to Newcastle for £55m.

But before last Sunday’s 3-1 win over Brentford, Nuno outlined his transfer concerns.

“We have doubts, who is going to be [here], when are they [new signings] going to come? All these things create doubts,” he said.

“Not only me but in the club. What we want is game-by-game to have as many options as possible. Europe will come after, and for sure it will be better, but for now until that happens it is a major concern.

“The owner is aware, the club is aware, everyone is aware. Everybody knows the reality. This is a lost chance that we had as a group to do it.”

There have been suggestions that Nuno has not been fully involved in the club’s recruitment this summer, which could be a factor in the deterioration of his relationship with Marinakis.

The Galaxy needed a regulation victory and win by at least two goals to qualify for the knockout-round quarterfinals of the Leagues Cup.

Mission accomplished.

Joseph Paintsil scored in the first minute and Matheus Nascimento tallied in the 39th minute to spark a 4-0 victory against overmatched Santos Laguna of Liga MX on Thursday night at Dignity Healthy Sports Park.

The Galaxy, which have endured a nightmarish season in MLS, played like a different team, setting the tempo early with Paintsil tucking in the ball at the right post thanks to an assist by Mauricio Cuevas.

The Galaxy struck again when a sliding Nascimento tapped in the ball past goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo off a long cross from Cuevas to make it 2-0.

In the 45th minute, Choco Lozano was shown his second yellow card to leave Santos Laguna short-handed.

Defender Maya Yoshida then added a goal during injury time to give the Galaxy a 3-0 advantage at the half. Yoshida collected a rebound after a long shot by Paintsil and buried it.

At the end of the first half, midfielder Ramiro Sordo was also shown a red card and Santos Laguna was left with nine players to open the second half.

Substitute Lucas Sanabria scored in the second half off a nice feed from Yoshida in the 74th minute for the Galaxy’s final goal.

The victory moved the Galaxy from the fifth seed among the MLS standings to the third seed, passing the Portland Timbers and No. 4 seed Orlando City.

The Leagues Cup quarterfinals — comprised of four MLS teams and four Liga MX teams — will be held Aug. 19-20. The Galaxy will take on Pachuca in the quarterfinal.

Brazil’s all-time leading goalscorer Neymar has renewed his contract with boyhood club Santos until December.

The 33-year-old returned to the Brazilian club on a six-moth deal in January after the termination of his contract with Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal.

Neymar has scored 141 goals and made 69 assists in 243 appearances for Santos.

The former Paris St-Germain and Barcelona forward had been linked with a return to Europe before signing a new deal with Santos until the end of the Brazilian Serie A season, with an option to extend.

“I made a decision and I listened to my heart,” said Neymar.

“Santos is not just my team, it’s my home, my roots, my history and my life. Here I was a boy who became a man, and I am truly loved. Here I can be myself, truly happy.

“This is where I want to fulfil the dreams that are missing in my career. And nothing’s going to stop me. I go, I come back and I stay. Where it all began and where it will never end.”

Neymar was recalled to the Brazil squad after a 17-month absence in March but did not feature in their World Cup qualifiers against Colombia and Argentina.

He has scored 79 goals in 128 Brazil appearances but has not represented his country since sustaining a knee injury against Uruguay in October 2023.

“It is a historic and remarkable day for Brazilian football, a gift for the fans of Santos FC,” said club president Marcelo Teixeira.

“Our idol, our boy, the prince with our number 10 shirt remains.

“It is a very important moment in this reconstruction process and we needed Neymar, both on and off the field.

“The phrase ‘I’m going, I’m back, I’m staying’ is emblematic and fundamental for the repositioning of Santos FC at its proper level.”