July 19, 2021 club Chelsea are preparing a £50 million bid to tempt Polish striker Robert Lewandowski away from Bayern Munich, according 7 to The Sun.

Sports Desk Meanwhile, Brighton manager was quick to praise the Iranian, saying, “Ali has been a very good pro- ranian midfielder said ’s fessional and great to work with, but this move is a good one manager , his former coach at AZ , and gives him the chance of more regular game time, which Iplayed a key part in convincing him to join the Dutch side. is not something we are able to guarantee.” Jahanbakhsh, 27, on Saturday signed a three-year contract “I’d like to thank Ali for his hard work during my time – worth €1.10 million – with the club, bringing to here and wish him all the best for the future.” end three disappointing seasons at Brighton & Hove Albion. A former player of Iranian club Damash Gilan, Jahan- The Iranian international, who still had two years left on bakhsh was first introduced to the Dutch, and European, his contract with Brighton, had grown frustrated by lack of football in 2013, when he joined NEC Nijmegen. regular football in the Premier League club. Jahanbakhsh scored 17 goals in 55 appearances during An injury-hit spell saw the Iranian make only 21 starts in two seasons at NEC before sealing a move to another Eredi- 50 Premier League appearances over the past three seasons. visie side AZ Alkmaar. Speaking to Feyenoord’s official website, Jahanbakhsh The Iranian stole the headlines in his third season at AZ, said, “During my time at AZ, Arne Slot, as an assistant scoring 21 goals and making 12 assists to help the club to a coach, was one of the people who helped me become a bet- third-spot finish in the league and a place in Europa League. ter player.” Having scored 34 goals in 85 outings for AZ, the 2017- “So when he called and asked if I wanted to come to Fey- 18 Eredivisie topscorer moved on with the next step in his enoord, I told him I was going to do everything I could to stellar career, joining Brighton for a then club record of £17 make this transfer [happen]. I had no doubts,” added the Ira- million. nian, who will be wearing the No. 9 jersey in his new club. His most memorable moment in the English football Feyenoord’s sporting director Frank Arnesen believes probably came in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea in January Jahanbakhsh’s recruitment adds “the desired offensive rein- 2020, when he scored one of Premier League’s goals of the forcement to the [team] selection.” season with a in front of Brighton faithful. “Moreover, he is now in the phase of his career where he Jahanbakhsh has been identified as a replacement for can quickly be of enormous added value to us,” Arnesen said. Dutch international , who joined Ajax on Feyenoord, under ex-head coach , finished Friday, at Feyenoord, where he can find his form ahead of feyenoord.com fifth in the Dutch league last season. a possible participation at next year’s World Cup in . Alireza Jahanbakhsh (L ) poses for a photo with the Feyenoord’s shirt alongside the Dutch club’s sporting director Frank Arnesen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on July 17, 2021.

Saudi Arabia eager to host ACL knockouts in West: Report

Sports Desk imposed across the continent.” Saudi sides Al Hilal and Al Nassr respectively. Both last-eight and semifinal rounds will be Esteghlal and Al Nassr – initially picked as Saudi Arabia is looking to host the AFC Cham- concluded in the space of five days – October the hosts of the ties – have been told by the pions League knockout stages in the West 16-20. AFC to name neutral venues for their fixtures, zone, according to Qatari newspaper Al Raya. The AFC also announced the final showpiece and reports have suggested that Dubai and The Asian football’s governing body con- of the tournament will be held on November 23 in Doha will host the matches in mid-September. firmed earlier in the month that the knockout West region, and the bidding process for the host Political tensions between the two Persian phase – from the quarterfinals onward – of the city of the final would be open to the participating Gulf states had seen Iranian and Saudi clubs Asian elite clubs’ competition will be decided member associations. squaring off in a third country since 2016, be- through single-leg ties, held in a centralized Iran will be represented by Persepolis, Trac- fore Esteghlal and Foolad Khuzestan flew to venue for the East and West regions respective- tor, and Esteghlal in the round of 16. Saudi Arabia in April to play their centralized ly, due to issues related to “the COVID-19 pan- Persepolis will play away to Istiklol Tajiki- group fixtures of the ACL in Jeddah and Ri-

t he-afc.com demic as well as the ongoing travel restrictions stan, while Esteghlal and Tractor will take on yadh.

Bucks beat Suns to move Inter offered Lukaku assurances within one win of ending 50-year NBA drought amid transfer links

Powered by 32 points from Giannis Antetok- hardest to win. We know they will come out and Teams winning Game 5 to take a 3-2 edge in the ounmpo and late heroics from Jrue Holiday, the play desperate. We’ve got to do the same thing.” finals have won the title 72% of the time, 21 of 29 Milwaukee Bucks moved within one win of their With the Suns seeking a go-ahead basket in the in all. first title in 50 years by defeating the Phoenix Suns dying seconds, Holiday stole the ball from Booker “Tables are turned. Now we’re the desperate 123-119 on Saturday in the NBA Finals. and tossed a high pass to Antetokounmpo for a team,” Phoenix’s Deandre Ayton said. “We had Khris Middleton added 29 points while Holi- slam dunk. Middleton added a final free throw to our chances of being up and trying to finish the day contributed 27 points, 13 assists and a crucial seal the Suns’ fate. job. They’re up and now we got to go get it.” steal from Phoenix star Devin Booker that led to The Bucks could become only the fifth team in Middleton, who finished with seven rebounds his alley-oop pass to Antetokounmpo for a dunk NBA Finals history to win the crown after drop- and five assists, scored 11 points in the third quar- in the final seconds to shut down a late rally by ping the first two games. ter and Antetokounmpo added eight to lift the the host Suns, AFP reported. “Going home to our fans is a great opportunity Bucks ahead 100-90 entering the fourth. The Bucks seized a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven for us,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. The Bucks, who fell behind by 16 points after championship series with game six on Tuesday in “The support of our city, it’s important. It’s going the first quarter, stretched their lead as large as 14 Milwaukee. A seventh, if needed, would be played to be meaningful. points before the Suns rallied. Thursday in Phoenix. “But you have to go make plays. You have to Booker, who scored a game-high 40 points, hit “One game away,” Holiday said. “We can’t get make things happen. Our guys, I think they’ll be a layup and a 3-pointer and Chris Paul followed too high on the horse. We know the last game is the ready to do that.” with a layup to pull the Suns within 120-119. Booker rebounded a Holiday miss only to have Holiday make the steal and the lob to Greek star Antetokounmpo for the jam. The Bucks need only one more win to end a MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP half-century title drought. “We’ve got to keep playing good basketball and Romelu Lukaku’s agent has assured In- there is no substance to the speculation sur- hopefully we can get a win,” Antetokounmpo said. ter that his client will not be looking for a rounding a star frontman. ‘Tough loss’ move this summer, despite transfer specula- When asked if the Serie A champions tion suggesting that the Belgian is interest- can be calm, Federico Pastorello told FCIn- Antetokounmpo, who had nine rebounds and ing Premier League heavyweights Chelsea terNews: “Yes, sure, sure. six assists, said it was the game the Bucks had and Manchester City. “Romelu is on vacation and I think he de- awaited when all three of their big stars had im- Thomas Tuchel and Pep Guardiola are in serves a holiday like he’s taking, there are pressive games. the market for another goalscorer, and there no problems.” “It was the game for us to get going, all three of are few better in European football than the Financial issues for the Nerazzurri are us,” he said. “It was a great game for us. We went prolific 28-year-old, goal.com reported. making life difficult for new boss Simone down 16, we kept our composure and we came back Lukaku also boasts useful experience of Inzaghi. to win.”Seeing the Suns squandering the big lead was life in England from spells at West Brom, Lukaku is, however, tied to a contract painful for Booker. Everton and Manchester United, with over through to the summer of 2024 and has not “We came out and did what we intended to do 100 top-flight goals recorded after being seen an exit door opened. and we let it go,” Booker said. “They stayed with it denied opportunities at Stamford Bridge. Pastorello has held talks with Inter boss- and played resilient. Tough loss.” Inter are under pressure to sell this sum- es regarding future plans and appears happy

ROSS D. FRANKLIN/AP Paul had 21 points and 11 assists for Phoenix mer, with Achraf Hakimi already moved enough for Lukaku to continue in his cur- Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo (L) dunks over Chris Paul during the closing stages of the Game 5 victory while Bahamas big man Ayton had 20 points and on, but Lukaku’s representative insists rent surroundings. over the Suns at NBA Finals in Phoenix, AZ, US, on July 17, 2021. 10 rebounds.