Crystal Palace are preparing for a Europa League campaign they belonged in last season and it’s crucial that new manager Pierre Sage is backed in the transfer window.

Sage succeeded Oliver Glasner earlier this summer and has been handed just one new signing thus far. Spanish defender Oscar Mingueza arrived at Selhurst Park as a free agent after leaving Celta Vigo.

Palace have been linked with several players as they look to strengthen Sage’s squad. A new right-back could be on the cards to hand Daniel Munoz competition following Nathaniel Clyne’s departure.

Crystal Palace in Pole Position to Sign Diatta

REUTERS/Pedro Nunes

A report from Africafoot claims that Palace have moved into pole position to sign versatile full-back Krepin Diatta. The Eagles are leading Bayer Leverkusen in the race for the Senegalese, who left AS Monaco this summer.

Steve Parish’s transfer chiefs are willing to meet Diatta’s €2.5 million (£2.1m) per year salary demands, and discussions are at an advanced stage. He is keen on playing in the Premier League and is close to becoming Sage’s second summer signing.

The 27-year-old is a player the Palace boss will know from his time coaching Lens and Lyon in Ligue 1. While he is predominantly a right-back, he can also play on the wing and on the other flank.

Should Diatta arrive in South London, that might lead to the club cooling their interest in Royale Union Saint-Gilloise’s Anan Khalaili. The Israeli has been on their shortlist and failed a medical ahead of a proposed move to Inter Milan.

Palace Business Needs to Pick Up

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Diatta’s profile could suit Sage’s brand of football as he is a pacey and energetic wideman who is defensively sound. He caught the eye in Monaco’s 2-2 draw against Manchester City in the Champions League last season, grabbing an assist on the night.

Palace won’t be spending a penny on the 65-cap Senegal international, branded “wonderful” due to his status as a free agent. That means Sage’s first two signings will both have been free transfers.

Diatta would be an excellent addition to the Eagles’ squad, but the higher-ups do need to start getting their chequebook out. After winning the Conference League, it’s important that they build on this with a debut Europa League campaign on the horizon.

Manchester United could now land one of their top central midfield transfer targets for a much lower fee, according to Fabrizio Romano.

It has been an eventful summer for Man United in their bid to land at least two new midfielders for Michael Carrick ahead of the club’s return to the Champions League next season.

The Red Devils quickly learned that they were unable to match Manchester City when it came to landing their dream target Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest, while another dream signing in Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni is expected to pen new contract terms at the Bernabeu.

Then, it appeared as though Ederson would be moving to Old Trafford after club chiefs agreed a fee with Atalanta for his services, but a problem with the Brazil international’s first medical saw United pull out of the move.

United did land Andrey Santos from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa in quick succession in deals worth a total of £85m combined, leaving them with a decent-sized budget for a third new arrival in the position, after Manuel Ugarte suffered a serious knee injury while playing for Uruguay at the 2026 World Cup.

Romano: Man Utd in Ongoing Talks Over Manu Kone Deal

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As United consider their options for the next arrival after Santos and Tielemans, AS Roma and France international Manu Kone has emerged as one of their strongest targets.

The 25-year-old shone for his country at the World Cup as they were knocked out at the semi-final stage by eventual winners Spain, with the Red Devils in continued talks to bring him to England.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano has dismissed reports that he could cost €85-90m, and says that the price tag would be much lower.

He said: “For Manu Kone, Man United had contacts with the camp of the player, so there were conversations last week. I told you, it was an exclusive story here on the channel last week. Now the conversations continue, but Man United have to wait to understand how much they can spend on the defensive midfielder.

“As soon as they can decide how much they spend on the defensive midfielder, and as soon as they clarify who is the wanted player, then Man United will go for the next steps. At the moment, Manu Kone remains on Manchester United’s list, but still no bid to Roma, no club-to-class negotiations.

“That’s the situation for Manukone as of today. If you see reports of €85-90m for Manu Kone, I’m told that it’s not accurate. I’m hearing that the price tag would be lower for the French midfielder.”

Man United Preparing Zaire-Emery Bid

According to reports out of France, United are also preparing a bid to sign midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery from Paris Saint-Germain.

The Red Devils are obviously willing to aim high with their midfield targets after interest in the likes of Anderson and Tchouameni this summer, and Zaire-Emery would be another example of that.

The France international is another huge talent in PSG’s ranks, and he would be an outstanding signing for United amid reports of a £51m bid.

It appears unlikely that the Champions League holders would be willing to sell the 20-year-old, but that doesn’t appear to have put United off.

The 2026 World Cup gave fans plenty to debate over the summer, and now FIFA have settled one argument for good, releasing full data behind exactly who the fastest players at the tournament really were.

Eye test aside, the numbers don’t lie, and some of the names near the top might surprise even the most seasoned football fan, while a few in-game legends of pace might not rank as high as you’d expect.

What’s most telling, though, is who’s missing from the top end entirely. Despite going all the way and lifting the trophy, Spain don’t have a single player inside the top 100, with Alex Baena the first to appear, all the way down in 113th.

It’s not really a contradiction, it’s just who they are. La Roja’s suffocating, possession-based approach simply doesn’t demand raw speed in the way a counter-attacking side does, and that’s precisely what makes their method so distinct.

Here are the top 20 fastest players at the 2026 World Cup.

20-11

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Portugal’s Pedro Neto scrapes into the top 20 at the expense of Morocco’s Chemsdine Talbi. The Chelsea winger hit the same top speed, clocking up 35.33km/h, but managed more total sprints and covered more distance in his campaign with Portugal, which ended at the hands of the eventual winners, Spain.

A trio of defenders makes up the next three spots, firstly with Dayot Upamecano (35.39km/h), who was named in FIFA’s Team of the Tournament, followed by another player who won the same honour in 2022, Paris Saint-Germain’s Achraf Hakimi (35.48km/h). Derby County’s Sondre Langas rounds out the defensive trio, hitting an impressive 35.51km/h in just 11 recorded sprints.

Alan Minda of Ecuador (35.52km/h) occupies 16th, before just 0.02km/h separates the next three places, held by Marcus Holmgren Pedersen (35.59km/h), another Norwegian defender, then the USA’s star man, Florian Balogun (35.60km/h), followed by Liverpool’s midfield general, Ryan Gravenberch (35.61km/h).

Mohamed Toure (35.77km/h) of Australia takes 12th spot, with Anthony Gordon (35.79km/h) taking 11th, but Barcelona’s new winger is only the second-fastest Englishman on the list.

10-1

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Sam Navarro

Three full-backs take up places 10th to eighth. Veteran defender Nelson Semedo hit 35.90km/h at 32-years-old, making him the oldest player in the top 20. France’s Theo Hernandez (36.17km/h) then follows, a player who’s made a career out of flying down the flank at pace from left-back, before England’s fastest man Djed Spence makes an appearance, hitting 36.22km/h.

Bradley Barcola, the PSG winger who is subject to Premier League interest from Liverpool and Arsenal, places 7th, with a top speed of 36.32km/h, but makes way for Manchester City pair Abdukodir Khusanov (36.46km/h), who is the only player in this list not to qualify for the knockout stage, and Erling Haaland (36.52km/h), whose barnstorming seven goals in his first World Cup marked his arrival on the biggest stage.

Feyenoord’s Jordan Bos (36.77km/h) was the second-fastest defender and fourth-fastest player at the tournament, with the fastest defender being Micky van De Ven (36.77km/h) of Tottenham, in third place overall. Newcastle and Sweden’s Anthony Elanga grabs second place, with a speed of 37.16km/h, behind a usual suspect in top spot.

0.45km/h might not sound like much, but when Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe hits a top speed that much further in front of the next man at the biggest tournament in world football, a number so small all of a sudden begins to look enormous. Mbappe has long been considered one of the fastest players in the world, and the 27-year-old has proved that yet again. His World Cup may not have ended in the way many would have expected it to, with a semi-final defeat to champions Spain, followed by a 6-4 hammering by England in the third-place playoff, but Mbappe leaves the 2026 World Cup with the Golden Boot and the title of the fastest man at the tournament.