May 2023 – Page 7

Edwin van der Sar has resigned from his position as chief executive at Ajax.

The 52-year-old former Manchester United, Fulham and Netherlands goalkeeper, who started his playing career at Ajax, has been on the Eredivisie club’s board of directors since 2012.

He was initially director of marketing, then became chief executive in 2016, and had been on a contract running to 2025.

Van der Sar told the club’s official website: “After almost 11 years on the board, I am done.

“We have experienced wonderful things together, but it has also been an incredibly tough period. I am very grateful for the people I have met and worked with during my second career at Ajax, and what we have achieved and been through together.

“I feel the need to take some distance, to get some rest, and to do other things. It doesn’t feel good to take decisions about the future of this wonderful club in the coming period. That is why I have decided to resign.”

Van der Sar will transfer his duties to the board from June 1, and it has been requested that he formally remains in his position until August 1.

The announcement comes after a trophyless 2022-23 campaign for Ajax that saw them finish third in the Eredivisie.

Prior to that, Van der Sar’s time as chief executive had included the club winning three league titles and two Dutch cups under now Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag, as well as reaching the Champions League semi-finals in 2018-19.

Supervisory board chair Pier Eringa said: “We wanted Edwin to stay, but he had made his decision. We have to respect that.

“The last season does not reflect the entire period that he has been in charge of Ajax. The club has seen a lot of success, has seen a lot of growth, and gained international exposure.

“His tasks will be transferred to the remaining members of the board. Edwin will be available for the transfer and advise until August. We expect to announce a new board of directors after August 1. It’s our ambition to add someone to the board with an Ajax background.”

David Brooks has been recalled to the Wales squad for the first time since his cancer diagnosis.

Brooks, who was diagnosed with stage-two Hodgkin lymphoma while on international duty in October 2021, announced he was cancer-free in May last year.

The 25-year-old midfielder returned to club action for Bournemouth in March and started the Cherries’ last two Premier League games.

“I am pleased for him because he’s had a long journey,” Wales boss Rob Page said ahead of Euro 2024 qualifiers against Armenia and Turkey.

“I tried to get him on camp (in March) because you want your best players around you.

“He definitely falls into that category. We knew we had to manage it.

“You don’t go through what he’s gone through and not have little setbacks. Bournemouth have been incredible with the way they have handled it and got him back up to speed. It’s great that we have got him available.”

Ben Davies and Brennan Johnson also return, having missed the opening qualifiers in March through injury.

Wales’ 25-man squad includes Neco Williams, who broke his jaw last month and was ruled out of the rest of the season by his club Nottingham Forest.

Page said last week that he wanted clarity from Forest whether full-back Williams could make next month’s Euro double-header.

Skipper Aaron Ramsey and goalkeeper Danny Ward both feature despite fitness concerns.

Ramsey has missed Nice’s last three games with a calf problem and is expected to be absent again when the Ligue 1 club conclude their season against Lyon on Sunday.

Ward was ruled out of the final three games of Leicester’s ill-fated Premier League run-in with a dislocated finger.

Tom Lockyer is unavailable after collapsing during Luton’s Sky Bet Championship play-off final victory over Coventry on Saturday.

Luton boss Rob Edwards said on Monday that Lockyer is “fine” and images of the central defender watching the Hatters’ promotion celebrations from his hospital bed were posted on social media.

Bristol City youngster Joe Low replaces Lockyer to win a first senior call-up.

Morgan Fox, currently without a club after being released by Stoke, Luke Harris and Liam Cullen are the three uncapped players in the party.

Wales host Armenia in Cardiff on June 16 before playing Turkey in Samsun three days later.

Page’s side made a positive start to Euro 2024 qualifying in March by drawing 1-1 away to World Cup semi-finalists Croatia before beating Latvia 1-0 at home.

Wales squad: W Hennessey (Nottingham Forest), D Ward (Leicester), A Davies (Sheff Utd), J Rodon (Rennes, on loan from Tottenham), B Cabango (Swansea), C Mepham (Bournemouth), J Low (Bristol City), B Davies (Tottenham), C Roberts (Burnley), M Fox (unattached), N Williams (Nottingham Forest), E Ampadu (Spezia, on loan from Chelsea), J Morrell (Portsmouth), J James (Birmingham), A Ramsey (Nice), H Wilson (Fulham), O Cooper (Swansea), L Harris (Fulham), D Brooks (Bournemouth), D James (Fulham, on loan from Leeds), K Moore (Bournemouth), T Bradshaw (Millwall), N Broadhead (Ipswich), L Cullen (Swansea), B Johnson (Nottingham Forest).

Chelsea have announced the appointment of Chris Jurasek as their new chief executive while president of business Tom Glick is set to leave after less than a year in his role.

The Blues’ 12th-place Premier League finish in owners’ the Clearlake group’s first season has led to Mauricio Pochettino being named head coach and tasked with improving their on-field fortunes.

Further upheaval off the pitch came with the announcement that Jurasek will oversee all business areas at Chelsea and report to the board alongside co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley.

“I’m delighted to be joining Chelsea, a club which is loved and followed all over the world,” Jurasek said. “I’m enormously proud to be leading it into the next chapter in its rich history.

“We have huge opportunities to grow on and off the pitch and to engage our exceptional fans both in London and wherever they are supporting us from.”

Behdad Eghbali and Jose E Feliciano, co-controlling owners, said: “Chris’ skill and expertise will help us to drive the club forward in all areas, particularly in supporting our long-term plans for Chelsea.

“Our focus will continue to be on ensuring the club is competitive and sustainable both from a sporting and business perspective, with a talented and ambitious leadership team.”

Former Manchester City executive Glick will be exiting the club, having only been appointed last July – although no departure date was announced by the club, who said the former president of NFL franchise the Carolina Panthers wanted “to pursue other opportunities”.

Glick will work closely with Jurasek in the coming months to ensure a smooth transition before leaving.

Arsenal could be gazumped by Bayern Munich in their pursuit of Declan Rice this summer.

Thomas Tuchel’s newly-crowned Bundesliga champions are prepared to pay £95million to land the midfielder, according to The Mirror.

The battle to sign the West Ham captain looks set to be one of the most intense of the summer, with Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool all interested.

But Rice is said to be open to the possibility of a move to Germany.

Signing for Bayern would provide a virtual guarantee of silverware for the England regular, considering that the Bavarians have won the last 11 Bundesliga titles.

And with Tuchel keen to lead a rebuild of the squad after a relatively disappointing campaign, there is a vacancy for a new midfielder.

Reports state that Tuchel has already held talks with Rice, who was initially expected to inform West Ham of his desire to join Arsenal this summer.

All official negotiations are on standstill until after West Ham’s Europa Conference League final with Fiorentina on June 7.

In other news

Paris Saint-Germain are considering a surprise move for Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard, according to The Mail.

The Sun report that West Ham lead the race to sign Southampton talisman James Ward-Prowse this summer.

Chelsea are targeting Sporting midfielder Manuel Ugarte as they prioritise signing a midfielder, write The Guardian.

Dean Windass proclaimed himself the “proudest man in the world” after his son Josh scored a dramatic Wembley winner to clinch promotion for Sheffield Wednesday.

Windass Jnr headed home in stoppage time of extra-time in the League One play-off final as the Owls snatched a 1-0 victory over 10-man neighbours Barnsley and a place in the Championship.

The goal had echoes of Dean’s own play-off heroics, when he struck a stunning winner against Bristol City to send Hull into the Premier League in 2008.

He told Sky Sports: “It’s absolutely incredible. I said this morning he would get the winner.

“I can’t believe he actually headed it to be honest — because he loves his hair too much — but I’m the proudest man in the world. There are no words.”

The game had looked to be heading to a penalty shootout — just as the Championship and League Two finals had over the weekend — when Windass pounced.

Josh said: “We played so bad, I didn’t think it was going to come. The standard of the game was awful.

“I was just trying to do something but nothing was coming. Luckily, last minute, it came off.”

The dramatic victory finally earned Wednesday reward for what has been a remarkable campaign.

Darren Moore’s side missed out on automatic promotion, despite accumulating 96 points, and they then needed to fight back to reach the final after losing the first leg of their play-off semi against Peterborough 4-0.

Their Wembley goal hero added: “We only had ourselves to blame. We messed it up.

“We wanted to win the league so coming here we knew we had to get it done.

“Luckily today we managed to — somehow — pull it off.”

Tottenham will try to resist offers from Manchester United for striker Harry Kane. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy reportedly declared he is against letting Kane go to a Premier League rival, according to the Mirror.

Bayern Munich are looking to challenge Arsenal for the signature of West Ham midfielder Declan Rice, with the German club reportedly prepared to pay £95million for the England international’s services, the Mirror said.

To accommodate the gap left by Rice, the Sun reports West Ham are favourites to sign Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse for around £40million.

The Telegraph said Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is confident he can sway Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount to join the club.

James Maddison: The Leicester midfielder has attracted interest from Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle after his club were relegated, the Mirror says his signing fee will be around £40million.

Martin Odegaard: The Arsenal midfielder is being scoped by Paris St Germain.

Erik ten Hag has hinted that Harry Maguire may leave Manchester United this summer if the defender decides he is not happy with a lack of playing time.

The club captain played only 16 Premier League games this season and has been culpable of a number of high-profile errors, most recently in last month’s Europa League exit to Sevilla.

Ten Hag has consistently praised the influence of the 30-year-old – who joined in 2018 from Leicester for £80million, a world-record fee for a defender, and is under contract until 2025 – around Old Trafford, even when he has endured long spells out of the team.

When fit, Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane have been the preferred central-defensive partnership in the former Ajax boss’s first campaign, with Luke Shaw sometimes filling in, as the team racked up 17 top-flight clean sheets – the most of any side in the division.

Now the manager has made the strongest suggestion yet that Maguire’s time at United could be coming to an end.

“No-one would be happy with this situation,” Ten Hag said in an interview with The Times. “He is not as well. He trains always on best levels, so with 100 per cent effort.

“So he handles that situation well and he’s in that manner and in his captaincy he’s important for the squad.

“But he has high competition there (at centre-back) with Raphael Varane, who’s fantastic.”

He added: “Let’s say I’m happy he’s here and when we needed him he did his job. But it’s also a decision he has to make.”

Ten Hag also said that David De Gea, who himself has made costly mistakes including in Seville and in the recent defeat to West Ham, will remain at the club, though may not be guaranteed a place in the team.

The team finished with the third best defensive record in the Premier League with 43 goals conceded, bettered only by Newcastle and champions Manchester City. De Gea was ever-present and collected the Golden Glove for the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets.

Asked if the 32-year-old would still be at United next season, Ten Hag replied: “Yes, but I will not say he will always be my number one because in a club like United there must be competition in all positions.”

United face City at Wembley on Saturday in the first all-Manchester FA Cup final, looking to foil their city rivals’ bid the match the Treble won by Sir Alex Ferguson’s team in 1999.

Sheffield Wednesday boss Darren Moore saluted a “joint effort” from his players after their dramatic late 1-0 win over 10-man South Yorkshire rivals Barnsley sealed a return to the Championship.

Josh Windass won the tie with the last action of 120-plus exhausting minutes as he emulated his dad Dean 15 years ago by bagging a dream play-off final winner.

Moore, whose Owls team return to the second tier after two seasons in League One, said: “This is a special moment – it’s a delightful moment for everyone at the club.

“It means so much to me to have taken such a great club back into the Championship.

“This shows just what can be achieved when a club comes together.

“I’m delighted for Josh. We’ve missed him quite a lot through injuries this season, but he’s got that quality and that instinct to get into the right place to score in those situations.

“It’s not just about Josh, though, it’s been a brilliant joint effort.

“Sometimes it’s about split hairs, and this was a big game at the biggest stadium, but we’ve got over the line when so much was at stake.

“It’s the stuff dreams are made of – it’s been a titanic game and we’ve won it.

“Despite having the extra man our boys were wilting a bit in extra time, but they’ve dug deep.

“Both teams gave it everything, it was incredible stuff, but this is so big for the football club and we have to go and enjoy being back in a Championship league that is so exciting.”

Chances proved to be at a premium in the opening 45 minutes.

Barnsley went closest as both Adam Phillips and Nicky Cadden fluffed decent opportunities.

Barnsley’s cause was then hindered significantly by Phillips’ 49th minute red card following a lunge on Lee Gregory, but they more than held their own as the scores remained goalless after 90 minutes.

However, their resistance, and their hearts, were finally broken with the last action of the game, leaving boss Michael Duff to reflect with pride on what had been an energy-sapping 120 minutes for his players.

Duff said: “Football is a cruel game, and frustration is the over-riding emotion I’m feeling right now.

“My players gave absolutely everything, they did everything they could and so I’m gutted for all of them.

“We’ve come out on the wrong end of a couple of decisions today, and that just adds to the frustration.

“With 11 men we would have grown more into the game, and although there’s no guarantee we would even have gone on to win on penalties, I think that would have been a fairer way to lose.

“Credit to Sheffield Wednesday and Darren Moore. They got 96 points in the regular season, but I don’t think they were the better team today.”

Duff then expanded on the Phillips red card decision and also a potential penalty award that went begging.

“Adam’s was a mis-timed tackle and a bit foolish,” added Duff.

“But there was no intent there so it was maybe a yellow card at worst.

“I’ve had plenty of text messages since the game saying it was a harsh red card, and many of them from people I totally trust in the game.

“We’ve also not had a penalty all season, and we’ve been denied what should have been one in the biggest game of all.”

Kevin van Veen revealed Motherwell fans have given him “the chills” with their support during his record-breaking season in front of goal.

The 31-year-old Dutch striker, who signed from Scunthorpe in 2021, scored 29 times for the Steelmen to help them secure seventh place in the cinch Premiership.

Van Veen scored for the 11th successive game during Well’s 3-2 win over Dundee United on Sunday to beat the post-war record set by former Celtic striker Mark Viduka and also break a Motherwell club record set by Hugh Ferguson that had stood for 103 years.

While his future is subject to speculation as his contract is up this summer, he told Motherwell’s official Twitter account how appreciative he is of the Fir Park fans.

He said: “I will remember this (season) forever,

“Whatever is going to happen in the summer, of course we need to see what is going to happen but these fans will be written in my mind forever.

“When they sing ‘Kevin van Veen’ and all that type of stuff gives me the chills.

“People have been so good for me since I arrived here.

“I think a lot of people fell in love with me in my first game and that has continued and maybe even grown over time and I hope I have repaid them and I hope I got them off their seats here and there.

“To get 29 goals for those people who have supported me the way they did, I am so happy that I have gave them something back because they have been amazing to me.”

– Sevilla have lost 12 of their 19 clashes with the top 10 in LaLiga
– Roma have kept a clean sheet in five of their last seven Europa League games
– Paulo Dybala is Roma’s top scorer in Europe this season with four goals

Sevilla meet Roma on Wednesday night in the Europa League final, as these two sides face their final chance to make next season’s Champions League.

This campaign has been mixed at best domestically for the pair, so the opportunity to add another European trophy to the cabinet is huge.

The final is perfectly set up, as Europa League specialists Sevilla chase a record seventh crown in this competition.

However, Jose Mourinho led Roma to the Europa Conference League last season — his fifth European success as a manager.

He could claim a record sixth on Wednesday if he maintains his perfect record in major European finals.

Sevilla vs Roma (Wednesday, 8pm)

Bet 1: Roma to win

Sevilla’s six Europa League triumphs play a huge part in them coming into this clash as the favourites, especially with the Spanish side sitting in the bottom half of LaLiga heading into the final game of the season.

Roma have gone off the boil domestically over the last month, but that only happened when this competition became their most straightforward path into the Champions League.

Mourinho admitted that had Juventus had their 10-point penalty handed out earlier, his side would have taken a different approach in Serie A.

However, Roma have been excelling in Europe, playing in Mourinho’s trademark style.

Their defensive record is key to their success, but they can also exploit a Sevilla side who have conceded 1.41 goals per game in LaLiga this term.

Those kinds of defensive lapses tend to be exploited by any Mourinho side on the top of their game, so back the Giallorossi to edge this.

Bet 2: Roma to keep a clean sheet

Roma come into the final having kept a clean sheet in five of their last seven games in Europe.

They knocked out a strong Bayer Leverkusen side 1-0 on aggregate in the last round, locking down the in-form German outfit over both legs.

Mourinho’s safety-first style is better suited for cups — particularly at this level in Europe — than it is in the league.

He has made Roma a resilient defence in big clashes, which could be a key factor in this clash.

Sevilla have failed to score in games with Fenerbahce and PSV in the knockout stages of this campaign and Mourinho will have a plan to shut them down.

Bet 3: Paulo Dybala to score anytime

Roma have been given a huge boost coming into this clash, with Paulo Dybala training ahead of the final.

The Argentine has not featured in recent weeks but he has been a crucial part of their run to the final, having scored four times.

Nicolo Zaniolo scored the winner in the Conference League final last year and Dybala is Mourinho’s upgrade on the controversial Italian, who departed for Turkey.

Former Juve midfielder Dybala has scored 16 times this season, including a vital strike against Feyenoord which saved them from elimination.

No Roma player can better Dybala’s four strikes in Europe this term and he looks a great option to score in the final.

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