Teen sprint sensation Gout Gout has been named as Australia’s lone representative so far in the 200m in the team being sent to the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo and will take on the world’s best sprinters for the first time.
Gout, who narrowly missed the final at last weekend’s Stawell Gift as the headline act in the handicap event, has earned his maiden position on an open-age national team aged just 17.
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Having demolished local opponents over 200m, Gout will face the world’s fastest men for the first time over 200m when the championships are held in September.
“I’m super excited to be picked to run the 200 in Tokyo at the World Championships! That’s what we’ve been aiming for,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to September being part of my first Australian senior team and looking forward to seeing what I can do against the best of the best.”
Gout Gout will compete at the World Championships in Tokyo.
Last month Gout ran the fastest 200 metres of his young career winning the 200m national championship in a wind-assisted time of 19.84 seconds to again put the world on notice.
Gout’s Australian sprint rival, Lachlan Kennedy, will also be the only male runner in the 100m as part of the 18-athlete squad which will fly the Australian flag.
Olympic pole vault champion, Nina Kennedy, is still hoping to be ready despite having surgery to repair a hamstring injury while fellow Olympic medallists Jess Hull and Nicola Olyslagers were absent from the first wave of names.
But five-time global medallist Eleanor Patterson will take her place in the high jump and Peter Bol in the 800m.
Australian Athletics General Manager, High Performance Andrew Faichney noted the strength of these athletes, who are the first selections for a squad that will be added to as athletes qualify.
“These athletes have not only proven themselves to be the best in the country, but so too the best in the world. Their selection is credit to the work they’ve put in across the season as well as their support in lifting the domestic season to the strong showing it has become today,” Faichney said.
“We can’t wait to see what they do in Tokyo and in New Delhi and we’re also really looking forward to the next few months of international athletics as more Australians look to book their spots on both teams.”
Handicap too much for Gout Gout | 01:10
Australian Athletics Team – 2025 World Athletics Championships, Tokyo
100m – Lachlan Kennedy
200m – Gout Gout
800m – Peter Bol, Peyton Craig, Abbey Caldwell, Claudia Hollingsworth
1500m – Cameron Myers, Sarah Billings
20km Race Walk – Rhydian Cowley, Jemima Montag, Rebecca Henderson
35 km Race Walk – Cowley, Olivia Sander, Elizabeth McMillen
A former long-reigning heavyweight champion is set to return to the ring after suffering back-to-back defeats.
The 39-year-old from Tuscaloosa, Alabama was blasted out in the fifth round by the heavyweight veteran on the Queensberry vs Matchroom 5v5 show last June, making it four defeats in his last five outings for ‘The Bronze Bomber’.
Despite his disappointing run of form, Wilder is now gearing up for his long-awaited return to the ring and is even targeting an opportunity to regain a version of the world heavyweight championship in the near future.
Speaking to TMZ Sports, Wilder made no mistake in backing himself to return to the very top of the heavyweight division as he targets ‘all the belts’.
“I’m coming back for all the belts, you know the heavyweight division I brought it back years ago in 2015 and I’m gonna bring it back again.”
Wilder will face countryman Tyrrell Herndon on June 27 at the Charles Koch Arena in Wichita and says he is not overlooking his opponent.
“I’m taking him seriously, we’ve got a lot of fights lined up for this year, two for sure but three maybe. It’s going to be a great fight whilst it lasts but this warm up, tune up, I’m taking it serious and once completing the task then we move on into the limelight of the bigger and better fights. This is the tester.”
Ferrari and Red Bull have made honest public assessments of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, respectively, as the fallout from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix continues. Both drivers endured frustrating weekends, with Verstappen losing pole position to finish second behind Oscar Piastri and Hamilton slipping to seventh, 39 seconds off the race winner.
Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix next weekend, both teams have come out in support of their headline stars as McLaren lead the way in their Constructors’ Championship defence. Meanwhile, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella credited Hamilton’s defensive driving as one of the reasons Lando Norris missed out on a podium spot in Saudi Arabia. The Brit’s Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc rounded off the top three after Hamilton held up Norris’ climb from P10 to P4.
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Russell is out of contract at Mercedes at the end of the season, and is yet to agree an new deal.
Verstappen criticised over penalty
Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer has taken aim at Max Verstappen for his five-second penalty in Sunday’s Grand Prix.
“This is another incident of Verstappen refusing to be past and just going off the corner and staying ahead, if he possibly can,” he said.
“We’ve seen it so many times in the past. We’ve seen it here in Jeddah before, as well, back in 2021. Max always forces the stewards to make a decision rather than concede the place, and Oscar just got a great launch there, and that kind of seemed decisive.”
Sainz relieved after “nervous” DRS ploy
Carlos Sainz admitted he was “nervous” over the DRS ploy that brought Williams a double-points finish at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Sainz was eighth in Jeddah, and explained afterwards: “With 12 laps to go, the team asked me to give DRS to Alex (Albon) to make sure Hadjar didn’t have a chance at passing us.
“It was a tricky one because you always feel it exposes you, especially in a high-speed track where the DRS has a very big effect. You always get nervous about it because you cannot put a foot wrong. But in the end, it worked.”
Marko makes huge Red Bull statement
Helmut Marko has backed Red Bull to be superior in pace to McLaren by the San Marino Grand Prix on May 18.
Sspeaking on Saudi Arabia, he said: “Compared to Bahrain, we made big progress. But also this circuit suits us better, faster corners.
“We are moving forward and getting a car which is more predictable and is also working in a wider range. We will have small steps, and I think by Imola we should be in a position that we also have the speed to beat the McLarens.”
George Russell was fifth and Kimi Antonelli sixth, and Wolff said: “Clearly our worst performance so far this year. The pace dropped away with a blistering tyre and overheating tyres, and so far we haven’t got the explanations.
“Today we saw a gap to Ferrari and Max Verstappen also. That was an additional negative that when you manage your expectations by being second quickest, and then this race pans out like it did, it just adds to the frustration.”
Alpine in chaos ahead of Miami
Jack Doohan is reportedly fighting for his place at Alpine. The Aussie was 18th in Jeddah, with Pierre Gasly also crashing out early on.
Doohan is under pressure from reserve driver Franco Colapinto, and is speculated to only have a six-race deal. Saudi Arabia was the sixth Grand Prix of the season.
Alpine are now said to be weighing up whether Colapinto will replace Doohan, who has yet to score a point this season, in Miami.
Fears raised over “seriously unhappy” Alonso
Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle thinks Fernando Alonso is growing frustrated at Aston Martin losing “serious pace” this season.
“Fernando Alonso was seriously unhappy post-race (in Saudi), saying it’s the worst he’d experienced in 25 years,” he wrote in his Sky column.
“He finished 11th after Liam Lawson was penalised 10 seconds for passing off track, but remember that just two years ago in his Aston Martin he was the only driver who could keep Red Bull in sight. They’ve lost serious relative pace meanwhile.”
Red Bull rule out Verstappen appeal
Red Bull have confirmed they won’t be appealing Max Verstappen‘s five second time penalty at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
After the race on Sunday, team principal Christian Horner said: “We spoke to the stewards after the race. They think it was a slam dunk. The problem is, if we’re to protest it, then they’re going to most likely hold their line. We’ll ask them to have a look at the onboard footage that wasn’t available at the time.”
Teams have 96 hours to submit a protest after a race. That time period has now expired.
Fernando Alonso fears for Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso fears a long season ahead of Aston Martin as the team continues to struggle to score points.
The Spaniard hasn’t scored a single point yet across the first five races of the year, with Lance Stroll not doing much better.
“I gave everything on track. It was hard to keep up the pace with the cars in front. We were just not quick enough,” Alonso said after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
“P11 is the worst position, probably you can finish, and we need to get used to it. It’s going to be difficult to score points this year.
“Today, we are P11 also because Yuki [Tsunoda] and Gasly had contact on lap one, and Liam [Lawson] had a 10-second penalty.
“If not, we were P14. But there’s still a long way to go.”
Max Verstappen hails Oscar Piastri
Max Verstappen has taken time to highlight just how impress Oscar Piastri’s start to life in F1 has been.
The four-time reigning world champion has reminded everyone that Piastri is in his third season and is showing the signs of greatness.
“People forget a little bit – last year was his second year. Now he’s in his third year, and he’s very solid,” Verstappen said.
“He’s very calm in his approach, and I like that. It shows on track. He delivers when he has to, barely makes mistakes – and that’s what you need when you want to fight for a championship.”
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Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko is confident the team will have the pace to beat the McLarens by the time the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix rolls around in mid-March.
Max Verstappen couldn’t make the podium in Bahrain, but the RB21 showed huge signs of improvement in Saudi Arabia.
That was because Red Bull changed the beam wing for the lower-downforce circuit and reprofiled the engine cover to allow for additional cooling in the Jeddah heat.
Marko said: “Compared to Bahrain, we made a big progress. But also this circuit suits us better – faster corners and so on.
“We are moving forward and getting a car which is more predictable and is also working in a wider range.”
“We will have small steps, and I think by Imola, we should be in a position where we also have the speed to beat the McLarens.”
Lewis Hamilton ‘hard to watch’
Martin Brundle is finding it difficult to watch Lewis Hamilton after races this season amid his early struggles at Ferrari.
Hamilton is seventh in the Drivers’ Championship after five races, 68 points behind leader Oscar Piastri.
And Brundle isn’t enjoying seeing the seven-time world champion endure so much trouble since his blockbuster move from Mercedes.
“Hamilton would finish half a minute behind his team-mate Leclerc in seventh, albeit showing strong pace from time to time,” Brundle wrote in his Sky Sports column.
“The pace is in there somewhere, but it’s a very hard watch when Lewis is doing post-race interviews at the moment. He’s not happy with his performances and is clearly more than a little perplexed and disappointed.”
Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly were taken out of the race at the start, hitting the barrier on turn four.
The Japanese driver has earned Red Bull just two points since replacing Liam Lawson, but Horner has shown him sympathy.
He said: “It was a shame for Yuki. His Q2 time, if he had repeated that in Q3, it would have put him sixth on the grid.
“It was a racing incident with Pierre; he was up against the wall, and they went into the stewards’ meeting, and both drivers accepted it was a racing incident.
“So it was annoying for him, because he would have been right in the battle for decent points.”
Max Verstappen surprised by RB21
Max Verstappen has admitted the RB21 caught him by surprise at the weekend after turning a concerning practice into matching McLaren for race pace in qualifying and the Saudi Arabia GP.
“Yeah, I was very positively surprised, to be honest, because on Friday, it was very, very tough,” said Verstappen.
“And it didn’t matter what I was doing in terms of driving, management, the tyres would just fall off. The car was a lot nicer [in the race]. Still limitations, but it was much more promising.
“And actually, at one point when I started to pull away again, I was quite surprised, positively surprised.
“We have to stay a little bit calm because this track doesn’t have a lot of deg, and we know that when we go to tracks where there’s higher deg, we just struggle more.
“We still need to work on that. But the changes that we made already [on Saturday] also worked. So I’m very pleased with that.”
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has credited Lewis Hamilton‘s defensive driving as one of the reasons Lando Norris missed out on a podium in Saudi Arabia.
Norris finished one second behind third-placed Charles Leclerc in P4 after battling from P10 but losing time while trying to overtake Hamilton.
And Stella has given Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate his flowers for his racing strategy.
“I think for a podium finish today, we would have needed not to lose the time with Hamilton,” Stella explained.
“Obviously, Hamilton is Lewis Hamilton. He knows very well how to race, and for a couple of laps, he managed to pass Lando.
“I think this cost us the time that ultimately meant that we could not give it a go at trying to overtake Leclerc.”
The four-time world champion is being linked with an exit, with Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin, and Alpine touted as suitors.
However, Mintzlaff has gone as far as to say that he believes Verstappen plans to retire at Red Bull.
“I am convinced that Max will continue with us the long journey he has made so far with Red Bull,” he told De Telegraaf at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
“Max will also drive for us in 2026. It is not without reason that he previously signed a contract until 2028, and he has also recently made his position clear.
“Max once told me that he started his career at Red Bull and that he would like to finish it there. As far as I know, nothing has changed in that regard.”
Ferrari launch Lewis Hamilton defence
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has launched a passionate defence of Lewis Hamilton amid the Brit’s tough start to life with the team.
Hamilton has admitted that no one is happy with his early results, predicting a rough 2025 season.
However, Vasseur believes in the potential of Ferrari‘s car, calling a claim that Hamilton’s form had dropped off “f***ing bulls***”.
The Scuderia boss said: “I will be 2,000 per cent behind him.
“I will give him support, and we will start from tomorrow morning to try to find solutions and reasons, and to work on it early in the morning. But honestly, I am not too worried.
“If you have a look at what he did in China or what he did in the race in Bahrain last week, or even on the first part of the session this weekend, the potential is there for sure.
“We just have to adjust the balance because we are, collectively, Lewis and us, we are struggling with the balance of his car and how he is working the tyres.
“It’s a kind of negative spot, but I think the potential of the car is there, and we will try to solve that.”
The Stawell Gift handicapper tasked with determining the marks for the men’s 120 metres, the event which featured Gout Gout and Lachlan Kennedy over the Easter long weekend, is copping ferocious criticism after the major drawcards of this year’s edition did not reach the final.
But in a sensational twist a day after the two hottest male sprinters in Australian athletics were bundled out in the semi-finals, Kennedy’s coach has described such criticism as “absolute crap”.
Handicapper Colin Lane has also been defended staunchly by the president of the Victorian Athletic League (VAL), which runs the iconic event held on the grass of Central Park.
Andrew Iselin and VAL president Matt McDonough said the handicapper had operated according to the rules.
McDonough also said it was “unlucky” that Gout was drawn in the same semi-final heat as John Evans, who had short odds and was the eventual Stawell Gift winner, and explained officials were not able to adjust the draw because it was done according to an algorithm.
However, McDonough also admitted the semi-final exits of Gout and Kennedy made for an anti-climax, and said he understood why thousands of people felt let down.
The VAL boss also said both the handicapping system and the drawing process for the semi-finals would be reviewed ahead of next year’s edition.
Gout Gout (right) in action in his semi-final heat.
Gout Gout (right) in action in his semi-final heat. Getty
Kennedy had the heaviest handicap of the 143-strong field — a mark of 0.25 metres — and Gout’s mark of 1.00 metre was the second-toughest.
Evans, a 28-year-old Adelaide school teacher, was given a 9.75-metre handicap.
The guy who eliminated 21-year-old Kennedy in the semi-finals was 17-year-old Dash Muir, who had a mark of 7.75 metres.
The maximum head start anyone had was 10 metres, with 17 of the 143 entrants running off that mark.
At the core of the controversy is the collision of two worlds: the world of runners such as Evans who only compete in handicapped races, and the world of athletes such as Gout and Kennedy, who are elite sprinters and only dip their toes in the handicap scene.
It has been suggested in the mainstream media that in giving Evans such a big head start, the handicapper “had a howler” and got it “terribly wrong”, while social media has been inundated with people hitting out over the job the handicapper did.
“I reckon that’s absolute crap. They do what they can with the data available to them,” Iselin, Kennedy’s coach, told Wide World of Sports.
“They would have had to basically rig it for Lachie and Gout to make the final, and there would have been backlash for that as well.
Gout Gout (left) and Lachlan Kennedy embrace at the Stawell Gift.
Gout Gout (left) and Lachlan Kennedy embrace at the Stawell Gift. Getty
“I respect what the Stawell Gift and VAL officials do, and they do it their way.
“The stuff about the guy who does the marks getting it wrong is absolutely wrong. That’s an unnecessary comment that causes more and more people to turn away from gift racing because they think it’s all rigged.
“The reality is he [Evans] ran well on the day. That’s what I think. These people peak for a Stawell race. For example, you’re not going to be lightening your training load for any other [handicapped] races. The more accomplished runners [such as Gout and Kennedy] are peaking for nationals the week before.”
The handicapper works with a target time of 12.25 seconds, meaning he must set out the marks with the aim of having every runner finish as close to 12.25 seconds as possible.
Evans breached that mark in both his semi-final heat and the final, clocking 12.10 and 11.94 to secure the $40,000 pay cheque on offer.
But McDonough said Evans’ mark of 9.75m was spot on.
“Our rules have been in place now for at least 10 years. There’s nothing being done outside of the rules that have been published and in place for a number of years, so the mark he was given was correct,” McDonough told Wide World of Sports.
John Evans celebrates winning the 2025 Stawell Gift.
John Evans celebrates conquering the Stawell Gift. Getty
The VAL boss explained the league’s bonus system.
“We wanted to increase and encourage participation so people would run regularly throughout the season, and then for us to give them a fair handicap at Stawell. So we put it in the system that if you run early in the season and you show some form and go and win a race, we’ll give you a guaranteed lift for Stawell. So you keep your handicap that you won off, plus you get a bonus,” McDonough said.
“For most of the races up until Christmas, you get a 0.75m lift. After Christmas, that becomes half a metre. Then in February and March that lift is only 0.25m.
“You need to meet criteria. We need to have seen you run at least three times before.
“It encourages some really fierce competition at our earlier meetings, which we hadn’t had in the past. The athletes are vying for these little bonuses. They think they’ve got enough mark, and they take that mark and add a little bonus.
“We have a few privisos with those bonuses, though. So if they run and their bonus takes them below the ceiling point time [12.25 seconds], then they won’t get the full bonus. John took his bonus and went away and just trained, and obviously he trained better and better and better, and he got himself in a position where he knew he could run faster than the target time [12.25 seconds].”
Evans won the 120m at the Terang Gift in December. In doing so, he made himself eligible for bonuses, which he accumulated in Terang and by participating throughout the remainder of the VAL season.
McDonough said the VAL was “quite happy” with the system but admitted there may be “room for improvement”.
“We may have to look at, ‘OK, we’ve got a target time of 12.25 [seconds]. We know that John Evans, Dash Muir, Jasper Thomas are probably going to be in shape to run faster than 12.25. So we need to be able to factor in if a Gout or a Kennedy turns up, how do we handicap them, within our rules, to be competitive?” McDonough said.
“We didn’t know at the start of the season we were going to have Gout or Kennedy in the Stawell field. So our 12.25 target time and bonus system probably didn’t factor in that Gout and Kennedy were going to be at Stawell.
“We want to make it fair for all. We want to make it fair for the regular pro runner who turns up, who’s been running with us and gets into career-best, lifetime shape, and we want them to be competitive. If Gout and Kennedy turn up for one race we also want to make them competitive. We just have to work out how to factor that in.
“The handicapper had no discretion to give Gout or Kennedy more, but in reality he probably knew for them to win the race that they needed more up their sleeve. He probably knew Kennedy needed 1.00m. Now, that doesn’t sound good. But I think that’s where we’ve got to look at our rules.
“If we’ve got the fastest man in Australia who comes to Stawell and runs well at Stawell, he should be a good chance to win. That’s where we’ve got a little bit of tweaking to do around the edges.”
Gout Gout’s national championships in pictures: Stern message sent as schoolboy sensation, DQ’d rival embrace
Prior to the weekend, Stawell Gift expert Nick Fiedler had predicted in an interview with Wide World of Sports that Gout would win the final and Evans would finish third.
Fiedler, who’s coached four Stawell Gift winners and has attended every edition since 1992, also predicted the final to be as close a final as he’d ever witnessed.
So when Gout and Evans were drawn in the same semi-final heat, there was suddenly a distinct possibility that the 17-year-old sensation would not qualify for the final, given only the winners of the six semi-final heats would advance to the showpiece race.
“There was talk about how Gout drew John Evans, and it was because Evans ran the fastest time [of the heats] and Gout was 12th,” McDonough explained.
If Gout’s heat time had ranked 11th or 13th, as opposed to 12th, he wouldn’t have been drawn in Evans’ semi-final heat.
“We got unlucky,” McDonough said, “but we were in no position to change it; that would be altering our rules.”
Flagging a potential change ahead of next year’s edition, the VAL boss said discretion may be introduced to the drawing of the semi-final heats.
“I think we have a chat with the event promoter and maybe we seed the fastest six, so they go in separate semis, and then we have discretion after that,” McDonough said.
“We knew the crowd was doubled and all eyes were on Gout and Kennedy.
“At the same time, we’ve got to stick to our rules and give everyone a chance.
Jamaica’s Olympic 100m silver medalist Kishane Thompson and Olympic 100m hurdles champion Masai Russell from the United States headline a strong list of athletes set to compete in this year’s seventh staging of the Racers Grand Prix.
The meet, which is the brainchild of legendary Jamaican coach Glen Mills, will be held at the National Stadium on June 7. Mills, who is the former coach of Jamaica’s track and field icon Usain Bolt, made the announcement on Tuesday at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel.
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Minister of Sports Olivia Grange announced that the Government will be contributing $10 million to this year’s staging of the championships.
Thompson will be joined at the meet by reigning world 400m champion Antonio Watson, Olympic long jump silver medalist Wayne Pinnock, along with Oblique Seville, Bryan Levell, Rusheen McDonald, and World Championships finalist Christopher Taylor, who will be returning to the track after a two-year ban.
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Americans Chris Bailey, Tray Cunningham, and Zharnell Hughes of Great Britain are also confirmed to compete in the meet.
On the female side, Russell will be joined in the event by world record holder Tobi Amusan from Nigeria. Jamaican sprinters Tia and Tina Clayton, Alana Reid, Sasher-Lee Forbes, and Crystal Slowly, along with Americans Alicia Briscoe and Tina Jones, are some of the names that have been confirmed for the meet so far.
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Bleachers tickets will be free to the public, but patrons must go on the Racers website and enter their name, telephone number, email address, and age. However, as of May 31, the tickets will cost $1,000 for the Bleachers. The finish line tickets for the Grandstand will be $5,000, and $3,000 for regular Grandstand.
In the Olympic Development 100m heat, Lindey powered to an impressive Season’s Best (SB) time of 9.97s ahead of the teenage sensation Miller, who held his own against Coleman in 10.02s, while the former world champion settled for third in 10.06s.
The race was Coleman’s second on the day, having teamed up with PJ Austin, Erriyon Knighton, and Noah Lyles as the quartet won the 4x100m relays for Team USA.
Despite the 100m loss, the veteran runner will take solace in the fact that it was his first individual race of the season, so there’s still time for improvement as the season progresses.
Sha’Carri Richardson and Christian Coleman at the 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships | Photo credit: Fan Hub
His next race is scheduled for the Xiamen Diamond League on April 26th, where he’ll be gunning to bounce back to winning ways against a stacked field that includes Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo and 100m world leader Akani Simbine.
With his girlfriend Richardson yet to kick off her season, the couple will hope to do something special on the track this year, especially making history at the World Championships in Tokyo this summer.
The rising star is highly rated as one of the next big names in the men’s sprint division, having blazed his way to global recognition in 2023 when he became the USATF U20 champion in the 100m and 200m events, respectively running times of 10.06s and 20.51s.
Sprint sensation Christian Miller is highly rated as one of the next big names in the 100m event
His 100m mark was a junior class record and the fourth-fastest time in high school history and overtook Puripol Boonson to set the U18 world record. Consequently, in April 2024, Miller ran a wind-legal 9.93s in Florida at age 17, breaking the previous American U20 record of 9.97s set by Trayvon Bromell in June 2014.
This series of exceptional performances already made him one to watch out for. On October 15, 2024, Miller announced he had signed a professional contract with Puma, forgoing his collegiate career.
Christian Miller is signed professionally with Puma
With his victory over Coleman, the talented speedster will be gunning for more jaw-dropping performances as the season progresses with the goal of making the US team to the World Championships in Tokyo this summer, which will see him confidently take his place among the world’s best sprinters.
Leeds United are returning to the Premier League after a two-season hiatus, but as champions? That’s yet to be decided.
Leeds United secured promotion to the Premier League on Monday after watching Sheffield United lose 2-1 away at Burnley, who will also be joining Leeds in the top flight for next season.
It comes at a second time of trying for Danie Farke whose side lost the Championship play-off final last season. But the owners stuck with Farke who’s duly delivered success this time round.
Now, it’s about winning the title. Chairman Paraag Marathe has hailed Farke and Leeds United and winning the title would be the icing on the cake for the club and for Farke, who’s not been without critics this season.
But if Leeds United are to now stabilise in the Premier League and avoid the fate of the likes of Southampton, Ipswich Town, and Leicester City in the Premier League this season, then the summer ahead must be a brilliant one in terms of recruitment.
Roy Keane explains why Leeds United could struggle in the summer transfer window
Speaking on Sky Sports about how poorly last season’s promoted Championship teams have performed in the Premier League this season (all sit in the bottom three with Southampton and Leicester City already relegated), Roy Keane revealed how the top players simply don’t want to join newly-promoted Premier League teams because of how difficult it is for those teams.
He explained: “When you do get promoted you’re talking about recruitment, but it’s hard to get top players because a lot of the really good players, they don’t want to go to a promoted team because they don’t want to be playing at that level. They want to be competing at mid-table or obviously competing for big prizes. So that’s a massive challenge.”
Leeds United’s previous first season back in the Premier League, the 2020/21 season, saw them finish in a remarkable 9th place, with big money spent on several players including Rodrigo and Raphinha among others.
Daniel Farke has already hinted at summer transfer wish for Leeds United
Speaking in the wake of securing promotion, Farke discussed the 2025/26 Premier League season and hinted at his demands for a big summer transfer window from the club’s hierarchy.
He said: “We want to become an established Premier League side but lots of work is needed, lots of ambition is needed, but we’ll worry about the stress in a few days. The next few days, we’ll just enjoy the moment and celebrate.”
Farke surely knows the challenges lying ahead for his side. Not only do his existing players need to step up but he also needs the blessing of the owners to be able to go into the transfer market and make the signings needed to keep Leeds up.
Brian Williams Jr., a 2026 three-star wide receiver out of Lake Mary, Florida near Orlando, received his first major college football offer from Syracuse in January. But with the Orange offer came a prophesy from the team’s wide receivers coach Myles White.
“He was like, ‘You will blow up one day,’” Williams said. “‘You will be a really good receiver.’”
Williams is blowing up on the recruiting trail. And Alabama football is now in line, extending an offer to Williams April 17 — hours before he announced a Georgia offer, and days after securing offers from Penn State and Florida State.
Williams knows the kind of receiver he can be, describing himself as “a 6-4 guy who can run routes like he’s 5-5, release like he’s 5-5, but catch the ball like he’s a 6-4 big man.”
Williams was first contacted by Alabama co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard April 11, representing a program the Florida receiver called the “top of the top (and) the king of college football, almost.”
“When he called me, I could tell right away, it’s a business,” Williams said. “I’m not going to sugarcoat nothing. When you go there, it’s time to work. If you don’t perform, you’re out. You know, it’s just work, work, work. He was very straightforward with everything. … And I appreciated that.”
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A brief tour of the Walk of Champions at Alabama football’s Bryant-Denny Stadium: Statues, commemorating championships and more.
Alabama is in the market for a wide receiver, securing five commitments so far in the 2026 recruiting class and only one of which is on offense: Georgia four-star offensive lineman Chris Booker.
Alabama remains in the running for Cederian Morgan, the five-star receiver out of Benjamin Russell High School in Alexander City, who has a decision date set for July 2.
As Williams sorts out his recent barrage of major college football offers, what will separate programs, he said, will be the emphasis on relationship building, which he already sees from Alabama with Shephard already scheduling an in-person meeting with the Florida receiver during the next contact period.
Williams said he’s planning a trip to Tuscaloosa with his father and trainer, but is unsure whether it will be an official or unofficial visit.
Williams may not know where he will play college football. He knows what he will bring to whatever room he joins.
“I give my teammates confidence,” Williams said. “When they are around me, they feel more confident in what they are doing. They don’t have to think that much.”
Leeds United have already began work as they figure out potential targets for the summer transfer window. With Premier League football set for next season, the Whites will have to sign quality to make sure they survive their first season back.
Leeds will have to hope the upcoming transfer window will be similar to the last one they had back in 2020. The Whites signed Illan Meslier, Raphinha, Robin Koch and Rodrigo Moreno among others. All these players formed the core of the team that broke records and finished in the top half of the Premier League in their first season back.
Leeds United target Premier League star
The Whites have been linked with multiple goalkeepers ahead of this summer. It is increasingly looking like Illan Meslier will not be first choice next season. Angus Gunn, Aaron Ramsdale and Sam Johnstone have all been linked with a move to Elland Road.
According to Football Insider, Manchester City star Kalvin Phillips has been linked with a shock return to his former club. The midfielder left Leeds back in 2022, and has had a hard time in the Premier League. Injuries and fitness problems have hampered him, with City loaning him out twice in the last two years.
Now, the 29-year old could be set to rejoin his boyhood club.
Kalvin Phillips is not the same player that left in 2022
Phillips is no longer what he used to be. Injuries have disrupted any rhythm he has had over the last few seasons. He has yet to have a stable run of games without picking up a knock
And it seems to have affecting his ability, the midfielder’s stats have dropped across board since his last campaign at Elland Road. As it stands, it is highly unlikely the 29-year old will make any impact if he is signed by Leeds United.
Men’s Basketball Transfer Portal: Kentucky’s High-Priced Roster, Final Things to Watch
The portal closes Tuesday, and some schools may try to exploit loopholes in order to fill out their final spots for the 2025–26 season.
Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope talks with guard Otega Oweh during the second half against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center.
Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope talks with guard Otega Oweh during the second half against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. / Jordan
The transfer portal in men’s college basketball closes at the end of the day Tuesday. There may be a slow trickle of names that enter in the days following, as rules indicate that a player must only express his intention to transfer before the window closes to allow for delays by compliance departments. Still, the pool of players that will be available this spring is close to complete.
What should you know about what’s happening in the portal right now and what to look for when the portal closes? Here’s a rundown of the latest happenings and intel.
Kentucky rounds out high-priced roster
Kentucky likely rounded out its roster Monday by adding Florida transfer Denzel Aberdeen, who played a key role off the bench for the national champion Gators.
While it’d be foolish to ever say a team is truly “done” recruiting in this day and age, the Wildcats have reportedly ended all other portal pursuits. Save a late NBA draft defection by star wing Otega Oweh, the Kentucky roster looks all but set for 2025–26.
In total, Mark Pope and staff added five transfers, two prep freshmen and one international freshman to go with their five expected returners. Kentucky’s total expenditures to piece that roster together are expected to be, according to Sports Illustrated sources, well north of $10 million.
There’s a real chance the Wildcats end up with the highest-paid roster in college basketball next season, though a late swing by BYU or another program with a top budget could push Kentucky’s final figure.
The biggest fish from the portal class is Arizona State transfer Jayden Quaintance, a projected top-10 pick in the 2026 draft and one of the best rim protectors in college basketball.
Quaintance is coming off a torn ACL suffered in March, and while he and his camp have projected optimism that he could be ready to go by the start of the season in November, it seems likely they won’t take too many chances rushing him back given his bright future. That made him a risky investment for most programs but more palatable for the Wildcats given Kentucky’s strong financial standing and stable of bigs behind him in Brandon Garrison and Malachi Moreno.
If he’s healthy, he’s a game-changing defensive player who could single-handedly help the Wildcats defense make huge strides. Add in Alabama transfer Mouhamed Dioubate at power forward and Kentucky should have significantly more athleticism and physicality up front and on the glass compared to Pope’s first season.
The collection of backcourt talent is a fascinating and potentially high-variance one. Pope bet big on Pitt transfer Jaland Lowe, who had a fairly disappointing sophomore year on a Pittsburgh team that really struggled in ACC play.
Lowe shot just 38% from the field and 27% from three this season, and Pittsburgh was better in his minutes off the floor, per Hoop-Explorer. At his best though, he’s the type of speedy shot creator who could thrive in Pope’s offensive system.
You’d expect to see him starting at point guard next to either Aberdeen, a steady veteran capable of playing on or off the ball, or Jasper Johnson, a high-scoring freshman. Oweh profiles as a potential All-American on the wing, though his limited three-point shooting may be insulated less in certain lineups than it was in 2024–25.
After going to the Sweet 16 in Pope’s first season, Kentucky armed Pope with remarkable resources to build a roster capable of winning the SEC and competing for a national title in his second year on the job. Quaintance’s health could play a significant part in whether those aspirations are realized. But if Pope’s big backcourt investments pay off and the Wildcats have a healthy Quaintance up front, this roster could be quite dangerous.
Explaining the rush of ineligible portal entrants
The vast majority of portal entrants in the final days leading into the entry deadline Tuesday have been players without any eligibility remaining as things currently stand.
There are well over 100 players currently in the portal who’ve exhausted their eligibility and are now hoping either for a waiver, rule change or some sort of legal action that’d give them another chance to play college basketball.
Some of these waiver-seekers may have more hope than others. A number of them spent at least one season at a Division II school and are closely monitoring a federal lawsuit filed by College of Charleston forward Ante Brzovic, who is challenging NCAA bylaws that count years spent in Division II the same as Division I, among other things. The suit stems in part from a similar case in football surrounding Wisconsin defensive back Nyzier Fourqurean, who asserted that his time in Division II shouldn’t count the same as Division I eligibility.
The judge in the Fourqurean suit granted a preliminary injunction that will allow him to play in the 2025 season, but the ruling was more narrow than the one that granted Diego Pavia and eventually almost all former junior-college athletes additional eligibility.
Also being monitored by potential transfers is a lawsuit by Rutgers defensive back Jett Elad that challenges the NCAA’s five-year eligibility clock. A win in court by Elad wouldn’t significantly impact most players in the portal, as most have also exhausted their four seasons of competition unlike Elad. A handful of players could gain eligibility through that case though, and it could add to the onslaught of legal challenges to NCAA eligibility rules.
That said, many if not most of these exhausted-eligibility players would need a larger dismantling of NCAA rules in court to have a path to playing in 2025–26. That, of course, begs the question: If the NCAA’s ability to limit players to four seasons of competition vanishes, does anyone really believe that not entering the portal by the NCAA’s arbitrary deadline would stand up in court?
Either way, given players don’t have to have eligibility remaining in order to ask their compliance department to enter their name into the portal, many are simply putting their names in just in case. And it’s causing an abundance of headaches for coaches across the sport who are scouring the portal for options that could be available this late in the process.
“It’s an insane epidemic right now,” one high-major assistant texted.
What to watch: Tampering and commitment “flips”
As we wrote in last week’s portal update, options in the portal (at least with eligibility remaining) are dwindling. And with few high-level players remaining, the going rate for those that are still out there has exploded.
In the final days of the portal being open, that led to a few players who had initially committed to return to their respective schools getting offers they couldn’t refuse.
That runs the gambit from mid-major rosters getting poached from like Akron, which lost star guards Nate Johnson and Tavari Johnson to the portal, to national champion Florida, which saw a projected starter in Aberdeen tampered into the portal before eventually signing with Kentucky.
But once the portal closes Tuesday, a primary avenue to add transfer talent becomes flipping the commitments of players who entered the portal prior to the deadline and already picked a new school. It’s not necessarily easy to pull this off, especially now that players in many cases are signing contracts directly with schools that sometimes include buyouts.
Still, according to several sources, many programs are actively working to make pitches to players who have already committed to other schools to make them reconsider, often dangling significant raises from the deals they agreed to just a few weeks before.
“‘Committed’ is a loose term,” one staffer joked.
There’s far less latitude to move around once players officially enroll in classes at their new campuses this summer. At least one program SI spoke to had changed their summer report date from previous years in order to shrink the window of time that their portal commits could be tampered with.
But until players enroll, they technically remain in the portal even if they’ve made commitments or even signed financial agreements with new schools. Expect talent-hungry schools to exploit as many loopholes as possible to create advantages.
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