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Five years separates two stories involving the same characters; one prevalent in this country, the another not so well known. They are tales that go some way towards explaining why Barcelona were so forceful in their attempt to sign Philippe Coutinho but ultimately, why their attempt will prove not to be quite forceful enough. It was in July 2012 when Pep Segura, then the technical manager at Liverpool’s academy, ended his three-year association at the club after previously being told by Liverpool’s owner, John W. Henry, he had earned a promotion. having decided that courtinho would stay henry cannot back down Before Brendan Rodgers became Liverpool’s manager, Henry and Segura held a three-hour meeting and it was concluded that Segura would become Liverpool’s new sporting director, filling the administrative space left behind by Damien Comolli’s sacking a few months earlier.

In carefully working to make sure all was going to be in order over the past few weeks, Manchester City took every precaution in order to sign Alexis Sanchez - except, it seems, the most important precaution of all: making sure there was enough time for the now-failed £60m deal for the Chilean to be satisfactorily completed. That, at least, is the view from those close to Arsenal and the situation as a whole, since the transfer ultimately fell down because Arsene Wenger could not bring in the replacement he required to sanction the deal. One figure described City as generally behaving with “baffling arrogance” in that some of their hierarchy first presumed they could potentially get him for as little as £30m, and then taking so much time to put in a second bid this week.  sanchez saw his dream never materialise It is certainly hard not to wonder why they left the entire push for the player so late.

Man sustains injury while attempting to rescue a girl from the grip of a suya seller - The Lagos state police command accuses the suya seller, Abdulahi, of kidnap and attempted murder - A brother to the suspect says Abdulahi is mentally unstable A man who sells roasted meat popularly known as suya has been arrested by the Lagos state police command for allegedly attempting to use a four-year-old girl to prepare the delicacy. The Sun reports that the four-year-old girl was allegedly abducted by the suspect, Abdulahi, at White sand area of Ebute Meta, while she was playing with her mates in an open field. Abdulahi then reportedly took the girl to a secluded area where he had attempted to skill her with a knife but for the timely intervention of a man who saw what was happening and raised the alarm. The incident was on Wednesday, August 30 confirmed by the Lagos state commissioner of police, Fatai Owoseni, who said that the man who tried to rescue the girl sustained a minor i...

Batshuayi struggled for game time under Antonio Conte during his debut season with Diego Costa leading the  line last term. Many expected the Belgian to feature more this season alongside Alvaro Morata, but he has only started the Premier League opener and Conte remains unconvinced by him. Chelsea are also said to be closing in on a move for Swansea striker Fernando Llorente with the Welsh side prepared to cash in on the 32-year-old. And Hazard feels the Spaniard’s arrival could see Batshuayi fall even further down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge. "I spoke with him about it this morning," Hazard told a news conference ahead of Belgium's World Cup qualifier against Gibraltar on Thursday.

Happy birthday to me I am a year older  today thank you lord for all your provisions, blessings and unlimited favour. #I am moving forward #soaring like an eagle Thank you all for your support and prayers GOD BLESS YOU ALL

Tottenham have had a bid accepted by Ajax for defender Davinson Sanchez that could be worth up to a club-record £40m, according to Sky sources. The highly-rated centre-half was Ajax's player of the year last season and was also a target for Barcelona and Inter Milan. Sanchez has won two caps for Colombia and scored six goals in his first season in Holland's Eredivisie, making a total of 43 appearances after signing last summer from Atletico Nacional. Here are some of Davinson Sanchez's best moments from his time with Ajax Ajax had told Sky Sports News earlier this week that  they had informed Sanchez they did not want to sell him this summer  but have now been convinced to part with their prized asset. The 21-year-old missed Ajax's first league game of the season -  a 2-1 defeat to Heracles Almelo  - with the management claiming he was not in the right state of mind to play. Sanchez, who started against Manchester United in the Eu...

Usain bolt at the 4x100 race after losing due to an hamstring issue  blake after winning the race  As mitchel blake wins the 4x100 Just when you thought these drama-laden IAAF World Championships London 2017 could hardly get any more surreal, up pops the sight of a British runner, born in the Borough of Newham, the district of the London Stadium, but raised partly in Jamaica, upstaging the fastest man in history in his farewell race. In fact, Usain Bolt was in thick of the home straight theatrics, though not in the manner any of us might have expected. The Lightning Bolt was struck down by a severe hamstring cramp some 30 metres into the final leg of the men’s 4x100m, left hopping in agony as Londoner Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake slugged it out with Christian Coleman of the USA. In truth, even before Bolt was cruelly smitten he would have had his work cut out to fight his way into the gold medal picture, having taken the baton from Yohan Blake with the Jamaicans s...

It’s not often that team tactics are used at major championships. It’s even rarer that they work. Whether it was by luck or design, the Kenyan trio in tonight’s 1500m final at the IAAF World Championships London 2017 ran together for much of the race and were rewarded with two out of a possible three medals. The winner, however, was not the man who had won the past three titles. Instead, Asbel Kiprop could only look on as his teammates Elijah Manangoi and Timothy Cheruiyot battled it out for top honours. Cheruiyot was the early leader. He was joined by Manangoi as they covered the first lap in 1:01.63 with Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s Chris O’Hare and Czech Republic’s Jakub Holusa following close behind. Kiprop moved up into third place just before the half-way mark, ensuring Kenya filled the top three spots with just two laps to go. At the 800-metre mark, the Kenyan trio had a lead of about five metres on the rest of the field but it didn’t last long as Norway’s Filip...

The british 5000 meters sprinter MOHAMED FARAH  losses his title to a youngster E DRIS MUKTAR   at his final race in his home country  LONDON.  He looks gutted, understandably so, but at the end of an incredible track career it is yet another medal. Eventually he pulls himself up and goes to find his family. EDRIS MUKTAR does the MOBOT after winning the 5000 meters race

Chelsea fc suffered one of the greatest embarrassment in stamford bridge history as burnley FC lashes them a shocking 3 goals to 2 at home .  Chelsea have developed an unfortunate habit of summoning dark clouds from a clear blue sky and the Premier League champions followed the glory of their title win last season by beckoning on one hell of a deluge in the opening match of the defence of their crown. After a summer of discontent, speculation about the future of manager Antonio Conte, disquiet about the sale of Nemanja Matic to Manchester United, an ugly wrangle with Diego Costa, the departure of John Terry and a perceived shortfall in signings, Chelsea chose a spectacular way to implode at Stamford Bridge. They had their new captain, Gary Cahill, sent off after 13 minutes by referee craig pawson and were reduced to nine men late in the second half when Cesc Fabregas was dismissed, too. In between they had shipped three goals to a team who only won once away i...

The Catholic Diocese of Nnewi has released the names of victims of the attack on St. Philip’s Catholic Church, Ozubulu, in Anambra state. On Sunday, a gunman killed some worshippers and left 18 others injured. In a statement issued by Bishop of the Diocese, Hilary Odili Okeke, the church confirmed that the death toll in the attack had risen to 13. While soliciting for funds for the care of the victims, the diocese said it had opened a bank account in that regards. “Anybody, parish, institution, company, society, association or group that would like to join the diocese in providing assistance to the victims and their families can send their contributions,” the statement read. “We shall keep accurate records of contribution and distribution of the funds”, it added. It listed the 22 surviving victims as: Ikegwuonu Caroline Nwakile Anthonia Okoye Odinaka Okoye Patricia Isaac Chinedu Oramadike Chinagorom Oramadike Chinecherem Udegbunam Chidimma Ndulue...

The IAAF has received a written request from the Botswanan federation for Isaac Makwala to compete in the 200 metres. Given his quarantine period expired at 14:00 hrs today (9 Aug) and following a medical examination which has declared him fit to compete, we have agreed under our existing rules that assuming he makes the qualification time, he will run in the 200m semi-final round this evening. Makwala is required to run a time of 20.53 or faster to advance to the semi-finals. He will run at 18:40hrs this evening on his own in lane 7, which was his original lane draw in the opening round. No athletes already qualified for the semi-final will be adversely affected. IAAF

With six women having run faster than four minutes in 2017, the women's 1500m at the IAAF World Championships London 2017 had been billed as one of the events of the championships. And so it proved. Ultimately it was Kenya's Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon who reigned supreme, upgrading her world silver from 2015 to gold in 4:02.59, 0.17 clear of US champion Jenny Simpson (4:02.76) and South Africa's Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya (4:02.90). Third coming down the home straight, Great Britain's Laura Muir ultimately missed out on a medal by 0.07, clocking 4:02.97 for fourth. "I thank God today, it was a good race in London,” Kipyegon said. “It is such a high quality field. The best was going to win here.” With 200 metres to go, Kipyegon and the Netherlands' world indoor champion Sifan Hassan - the fastest in the world this year with 3:56.14 – were battling it out at the head of a field, as Muir chased hard behind in third.  However, Olympic bronze ...

In his spare time – or, what spare time he has – Sam Kendricks is a second lieutenant in the US Army Reserve. In his day job, as an upwardly mobile athlete, the 24-year-old from Oxford, Mississippi, is the new commander in chief of the pole vault world. The Olympic silver medallist has been the class act of the event all season and when it came to the competition that mattered most, he brought that to bear, holding his nerve, maintaining his smooth technique, and with it his unbeaten record in 2017. In doing so, Kendricks added his name to the growing list of vaulters who have taken the world title ahead of Renaud Lavillenie, the 6.16m world record-holder from the Petit Champagne region of south west France. Having missed four months of pre-season training with a back injury, Lavillenie’s form has been decidedly flat all season but, to his credit, the 30-year-old got himself in the medal frame and still had the gold in his sights when he took to the runway for what proved to be...

August 2014 in Zurich. The occasion is the European Championships 800m final, and France’s Pierre-Ambroise Bosse has the lead with 200m to go. He is the man in form, the favourite for gold. Only a month earlier he clocked a national record of 1:42.53. This is to be the moment where his considerable talent is realised with a first major title. But then it all went wrong. Athletes start to pass him entering the home straight. One by one he is picked off, and he falls through the field like a pebble sinking through water. He finished last. Since then, he has developed the reputation of an underachiever, somebody who couldn’t get the job done in championship finals. This assertion was backed up by a fifth-place finish at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015, where he allowed himself to get boxed in on the inside lane in the closing stages, and again at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro last year, where he was passed in the final few metres by USA’s Clayton Murphy, and finished...