Morocco World Cup sensation Ayyoub Bouaddi has chosen his next club, deciding to join Manchester City despite links with Manchester United. City have already been busy in the summer transfer window, splashing out £116million on midfielder Elliot Anderson alone, but they are now moving to further improve their midfield.

United also find themselves in need of a new midfielder as they look to add a third midfield signing to the signings of Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans. Michael Carrick still needs to replace Casemiro with a dominant pivot, and Bouaddi was one of the serious links, with the 18-year-old having regularly dominated against more senior opponents at the World Cup.

Man City win Bouaddi race

Burt Granofsky/Cal Sport Media/Sipa USA

Bouaddi now looks to have landed his Premier League move, now set to join Manchester City. Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has reported: “Ayyoub Bouaddi and his camp have now reached an agreement on personal terms with Manchester City. #MCFC expected to seal the deal with Lille as next step, already advanced as Bouaddi preference would be to join City NOW — rather than in 2027.”

Bouaddi is currently with Lille, but still only 18 years of age, City may fel as though the midfielder is better off playing regularly where he is now, rather than potentially on the bench at the Etihad Stadium. While Bouaddi was a sensation in the World Cup, international tournament football is typically of a lower standard than top-end club football. United would likely feel as though they have missing out on Bouaddi is a blow, but they do not appear to have pressed on with their interest. The midfielder is expected to cost around £86million, and United are going to prioritise a player who is ready to make a big difference now if they are going to spend that sort of money.

Man City’s spending so far this summer

• Elliot Anderson – £116m
• Mathys Detourbet – £21.4m
• Jeremy Monga – £10m
• Pierce Charles – £3m

Bouaddi is a luxury City can afford, and Man Utd cannot

via Reuters

Rio Ferdinand called for United to sign Bouaddi this summer. He said: “I would go and get Bouaddi, the 18-year-old midfielder. 100 per cent I’m taking him, building stuff around him.” But United need a ready-made Casemiro replacement, while City can afford to sign for the future having already signed Anderson, who will likely replace Rodri in the heart of their midfield, with the Spaniard seemingly on his way to Barcelona this summer.

Enzo Maresca has a particular talent in working with young players and developing them into first-team players, which will also be an attractive point for Bouaddi, who has been described as ‘unique’ by Lille president Oilivier Letang.

After winning a championship at a New Jersey course he owns, the question of just how good Donald Trump is at golf has been on everyone’s lips recently.

The US president is a keen golfer, with how frequently he finds himself playing a round often a source of ridicule from his detractors. His golfing abilities have also been a source of debate, with some praising his abilities, and others suggesting he’s a cheat.

Now, one of Trump’s friends – and a UFC star – has broken cover to offer insight into just how good he really is.

What People Say About Donald Trump’s Golfing Abilities

How good Donald Trump is at golf seems to depend on who you are asking.

The 80-year-old owns and has developed a number of courses through the Trump Organization, with several hosting GA and LPGA events. He often uses it as a channel for diplomacy too, playing with the then Prime Minister of Japan, the late Shinzo Abe, which helped the pair become close. He allegedly has a handicap as low as 2.8, too.

But sportswriter Rick Reilly has written an entire book on Trump’s supposed status as a cheater around the golf course. In that, he claims Trump earned the nickname of ‘Pele’ owing to caddies getting so used to seeing him kick his ball back into the fairway.

However, those that have played with him seem to have been impressed. South African Ernie Els said he saw Trump make a hole-in-one back in 2022 as they played a round at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. “He hits the ball better than I’ve seen any,” he said.

Bryson DeChambeau is another on record for claiming Trump to be a “really good golfer.” The 32-year-old and two-time Major champion added: “He stripes it down the middle of the fairway and has good iron game and putts it pretty well.”

The president is often found playing rounds with sports stars and celebrities, with even England captain Harry Kane speaking positively of his ability.

Now, one sports star has gone a step further, offering a detailed assessment of Trump’s golfing ability.

UFC Star Shares Round of Golf With Donald Trump

Trump is an “amazing golfer”, according to UFC welterweight Bo Nickal.

The US president invited Nickal to come and play golf with him after his fight at UFC 290. The main event that night saw Alexander Volkanovski defeat Yair Rodriguez by TKO, with Nickal opening the main card and defeating Val Woodburn by knockout.

His performance clearly caught Trump’s attention, who later invited him to play a round of golf alongside NFL legends Lawrence ‘LT’ Taylor and Ottis ‘OJ’ Anderson. Appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Nickal recounted the experience and drew on his take on Trump as a golfer.

“Him and LT were playing for a thousand bucks a hole or something. Trump, I golfed with him; the dude’s an amazing golfer,” said Nickal. “I couldn’t believe it, how good he was. Every fairway, right down the middle, hit every green, making all his putts.”

Nickal explained that after Trump had won the first nine holes “pretty easily”, the president found himself tied with Taylor going into the 18th.

“It was like it all came down to this last hole,” he continued. “And they both hit great drives, and LT hit like a good approach shot, and Trump gets up there. He’s probably 150 yards from the green, and he sets up, just stripes it straight at the pin.”

Nickal said Trump didn’t even watch his shot land. He just went back to the cart and sat down.

Nickal has established himself as one of Trump’s favourite fighters. This was evidenced at UFC Freedom 250, where the welterweight embraced Trump after his TKO win over Kyle Daukaus, and the president then called him during the post-fight press conference.

New Liverpool wonderkid Ifeanyi Ndukwe has been one of their standout performers in pre-season, but he can only play once more for the club this year.

The Reds have had a mixed pre-season. They opened up their pre-season with a 4-2 victory over Sunderland, before beating Championship outfit Wrexham at Yankee Stadium.

Liverpool then lost 4-2 to Premier League rivals Leeds United, while on Sunday, they were beaten 3-2 by Ligue 1 side Monaco at Anfield.

Anondi Iraola’s side took a 2-0 lead inside the opening half-an-hour thanks to goals from Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz. But three unanswered goals from the away side meant they were beaten for the second consecutive match.

Ifeanyi Ndukwe Can’t Play Competitive Matches For Liverpool in 2026

Andoni Iraola via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff

Ndukwe has been named in the starting lineup for all four of Liverpool’s pre-season matches so far. The 18-year-old, who joined the club from Austria Wien in a £2.6 million deal this summer, has been superb, and he was again impressive against Monaco.

The Austria U21 international, who was playing alongside Virgil van Dijk in the centre of defence, played the opening 45 minutes before being subbed off at half-time. He was successful in all four of his duels, won all three of his tackles and completed 23 of his 24 passes.

He’s earned rave reviews for his performances but, unfortunately, he will not be able to play for Liverpool when the 26/27 campaign officially gets underway.

That’s due to work-permit reasons. As first reported by the Athletic, Ndukwe does not have the required number of points on his work permit to play for Liverpool’s first team this upcoming campaign.

That means the defender, who stands at 6 foot 6 inches, is expected to go out on loan in order to play first-team football. He will have one more opportunity to put on a red shirt this year; when Liverpool face Como at Anfield in their final pre-season match on Sunday August 16.

Liverpool’s issues at centre-back mean Ndukwe would likely have been in and around the first-team should he have been available.

Austria Wien Chief Speaks Out About Ndukwe’s Liverpool Move

Speaking after Ndukwe’s move to Liverpool was completed, Austria Vienna sporting director Michael Wagner explained why it was ‘a win-win situation’ for both clubs.

He said, per the Liverpool Echo: “It is a great honour that one of the world’s best football clubs has shown interest in one of our home-grown players. The agreement with Liverpool FC is structured in such a way that Austria Vienna will come out well in any scenario, regardless of whether the option is exercised or not.

“For me, this is a clear win-win situation for both clubs. Above all, this story is a great tribute to the excellent work that is done in our academy every day. We have a number of players here with enormous potential, which we want to exploit even more in future and thus become a springboard for talented players into Europe’s top leagues – Austria Vienna is the right club for this.

“We were aware that there would be a lot of interest in our three U17 team players in particular after they reached the World Cup final.

“Basically, our goal is for our talented players to first establish themselves in the first team and thus recommend themselves for higher tasks.

“In this case, the overall package – both Liverpool FC’s offer to Austria and the prospects for Ifeanyi Ndukwe – was a perfect fit for everyone involved.”