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A senior treasurer of the Conservative Party looks set to become one of the biggest investors in football in the US on the brink of buying a Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise in a record $500m (£400m) deal. Mohamed Mansour, who has donated £600,000 to the Tories since 2016 and was appointed treasurer by Rishi Sunak last December, is expected to be officially awarded the new franchise, based in San Diego, California, on Thursday. The £400m price tag would be the sixth biggest football deal in the world, behind Chelsea, AC Milan and Manchester United, but less than the £300m Saudi takeover of Newcastle in 2022. He is expected to create the club from scratch by recruiting a full set of players, staff and an academy, which sources suggest could add an extra $200m to the bill. Mansour, a 75-year-old British-Egyptian billionaire Manchester United fan who was an early backer of Facebook and Twitter, has already invested in football with Right to Dream, a group of football academies based in Ghana, Egypt and Denmark. His company Man Capital – the London-based investment group of which he is the founder and chair – became the majority shareholder at Danish Superliga club Nordsjaelland in January 2021. Mansour has previously admitted in an interview with The Daily Telegraph that he was looking to add an English club to his portfolio following the success at Nordsjaelland. “Is England on our radar screen? Definitely,” he explained. The new MLS team in San Diego will be jointly owned by Mansour and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, an indigenous American tribe which is believed to have lived in the San Diego area for more than 12,000 years. According to Forbes, Mansour’s net worth is $3.6bn (£2.9bn). The San Diego franchise look set to join MLS in 2025, ahead of the 2026 World Cup being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, but the $500m price tag is the most that has ever been paid for a US football franchise. It will take the number of teams in the MLS to 30. The previous record was the $325m for the team based in Charlotte, North Carolina and, by contrast, David Beckham paid just $25m for Inter Miami following a deal he negotiated when signing for LA Galaxy as a player. MLS recently signed a global $2.5bn, 10-year TV deal with Apple TV, which starts this summer, while San Diego plan to rent the 35,000-seat Snapdragon Stadium, owned by San Diego State University, which has previously hosted international matches. Read More Budget 2022: Hunt says UK in recession as he announces huge tax rises Jeremy Hunt increases energy windfall tax in budget Jeremy Hunt freezes tax allowances and hits 45p rate payers Lionel Messi's next move fuels frenzy of speculation Ceferin would not rule out a Champions League final being held in United States Messi the latest pawn in proxy rivalry in Middle East

Pep Guardiola has claimed his legacy at Manchester City is “exceptional” whether or not he wins the Champions League. The Catalan needs one more victory to secure a fifth Premier League trophy in six seasons and became the first manager to do a domestic treble in 2018-19, as well as setting a top-flight points record of 100 the previous year. But this is his seventh attempt to win the Champions League with City, who lost the 2021 final and host Real Madrid on Wednesday after drawing 1-1 in the first leg of their semi-final in what Guardiola accepted is one of the most significant games of his reign. Guardiola believes his side do not need to do anything incredible to beat Carlo Ancelotti’s side but feels he will be remembered more for the quality of football his side have played. “My legacy is already exceptional already,” he said. “We have been here many times, we are not stupid to know how important it is. It is one of the most important [matches], with the competition and the rival. “I’ve told the players to enjoy the moment, we are incredibly lucky to be here. It’s in our hands. It depends on us. We don’t have to do anything exceptional, [just] win one game to reach the final and we’ll do everything. I have incredible feeling about the players: whatever happens, thank you so much to them for getting us here again. “My legacy: there has been a great generation of players that has been here. My legacy: maybe we could have a book about it one day but you won’t be judged on whether we won the Champions League or not. The legacy is we had a great time and played great football and the best legacy you can have is you have performed well and played well.” City will be without the injured Nathan Ake but Kevin De Bruyne, who was an unused substitute for Sunday’s win at Everton, is fit. City beat Real 4-3 in the first leg of last season’s semi-final and Guardiola would happily settle for a repeat scoreline. He added: “We’d like to have the game we had last season, I’d sign for it right now but I don’t think it will happen.” Real have won the Champions League a record 14 times and Guardiola searched for an explanation as to why they are the kings of Europe. “If I knew that I would know the method of beating them,” he said. “Basically the reason is they have always had great quality players, without players of that standard, they would not be able to achieve that.” Read More Man City being driven to title by man of the moment – and it’s not Erling Haaland The no-impact substitute: Kalvin Phillips’ ongoing humiliation gives Man City a problem What do Manchester City need to win the Premier League title? The no-impact substitute: Kalvin Phillips’ humiliation gives Man City a problem Rising stars have chance to emulate footballing greats at FIFA youth tournament ‘A dream come true’: Pep Guardiola elated at position of treble-chasing Man City

The Atlanta Braves need to keep their options open. With Max Fried and Kyle Wright out long-term, could a recent signee be the answer?The Braves transferred Kyle Wright to the 60-day injured list, and with it added a new pitcher to the starting rotation mix. However, rather than calling up Mike ...

Kyle Walker believes Manchester City’s players owe it to Sheikh Mansour to win the Champions League. City host Real Madrid in the second leg of the semi-final after drawing 1-1 in the Bernabeu last week, still looking for a first European trophy since their 2008 takeover. Owner Sheikh Mansour has invested around £1.5 billion in the club in the last 15 years and Walker, one of a host of expensive signings, feels City can still be overshadowed by their neighbours Manchester United until they emulate them by becoming champions of Europe. The right-back said: “You have to just look over the road at Manchester United and what they have accomplished and when we get compared to that team they won countless titles. “We have done five [Premier League titles] in six years if we can cross the line on this one, which still isn’t over, but the club is missing that one [the Champions League] and the owners and the amount of money they have pumped in and the investment they have done we owe that to them.” United have won the European Cup three times, including in 1999 when they did the treble of the Champions League, the Premier League and the FA Cup that City hope to accomplish now. City are in their fourth Champions League semi-final and have reached one final, losing 1-0 to Chelsea in Porto in 2021. And Walker added: “To get to the Champions League final against Chelsea and not perform as well as we can, we owe that to ourselves and get some revenge because we know that was below par on that day.” Read More Inter vs AC Milan line-ups: Team news ahead of Champions League semi-final as Rafael Leao to return The no-impact substitute: Kalvin Phillips’ ongoing humiliation gives Man City a problem What do Manchester City need to win the Premier League title?

Qatar is considering plans to increase trading in local stocks in a bid to draw more foreign investor

The event, the first of its kind to be held by the UN, commemorated the Nakba or "catastrophe" -- when roughly 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes in what is now Israel.

Spending at US retailers rose in April following two months of declines, showing the US consumer is still fueling the economy.

Prosecutors will not press charges against a security guard who shot and killed Banko Brown, who was suspected of shoplifting at a Walgreens in downtown San Francisco last month, the district attorney's office announced Monday.

(Reuters) -Shake Shack Inc on Tuesday added an independent director in agreement with Engaged Capital LLC, avoiding a potential proxy

The fight over who bears the blame for the recent US bank failures will turn ever more political

Curtis Jones insisted he never lost faith he would earn a Liverpool revival after coming through a “tough time” to establish himself as a first-team regular. The 22-year-old midfielder’s quickfire double helped the in-form Reds to a comfortable 3-0 win at relegation-threatened Leicester on Monday. Jones has now started the Reds’ last nine Premier League games having previously only made two starts all season, with a shin injury sidelining him until mid-October. He has also scored three goals in his last four appearances – ending an 18-month drought – to help Liverpool in their late Champions League charge with Jurgen Klopp’s side fifth and a point behind the top four. The England Under-21 international told the club’s official site: “In terms of confidence, I’ve always been the same lad. I’ve always had the belief in myself but it’s been a tough time, I’ve had the injuries and stuff so I’ve not really had a full run of games in the past. “But I came in against Chelsea and I kept my shirt and I’ve still got the shirt now. I’m enjoying it, I’m being humble and keeping my feet on the ground and I know what it takes, so that’s what I’m doing. “Being a kid in the academy days I’ve always scored goals and I wouldn’t say I’ve been the star kid but I’ve always been the kid who has jumped up the age groups. I’m enjoying it, I’m being humble and keeping my feet on the ground and I know what it takes, so that’s what I’m doing. Curtis Jones “Then I came around the first team and it was kind of a shock where the whole of the game changes, so I’ve had to make a change to the whole of my game. But I’m adapting well and I think it’s the best run I’ve had for a while.” Jones struck twice in three first-half minutes against Leicester before Trent Alexander-Arnold’s 25-yard effort added the gloss. It left Leicester two points from safety with two games left and Jamie Vardy admitted they need to win at Newcastle on Monday and in the final-day visit of West Ham to stand a chance of surviving. “We’ve got to put it straight to the back of our minds now,” the striker told the club’s official site. “We’ve got to focus on the next two games and we’ve got to pick two wins up. It’ll be tough but we know we’ve got the talent in that dressing room. It needs to click. “We’ve got two games left and the minimum we can have is two wins just to give ourselves a chance. “So, we’ll get back on that training pitch, spend all week looking at Newcastle, how we can exploit the weaknesses and how we stop, obviously, their strengths. “We’ve got to make sure that we put the 90-minute effort in next week to pick up a win.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Jofra Archer ‘distraught’ after being ruled out of Ashes summer Coventry’s Mark Robins feels pressure is on Middlesbrough in play-off second leg A closer look at the battle to beat the drop in the Premier League

Brentford have a deal lined up to sign a new goalkeeper with David Raya expected to leave the club amid interest from Chelsea and Tottenham.