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Declan Rice is refusing to say goodbye to West Ham just yet as Premier League suitors prepare bids.

Chelsea’s owners insist they remain committed and optimistic about the future having appointed Mauricio Pochettino to turn things around following a terrible Premier League season. The consortium led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital has endured a torrid first 13 months in charge at Stamford Bridge after sacking Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter and failing to get any improvement from interim manager Frank Lampard in the final 11 matches of the campaign. Chelsea’s 12th-place finish was their worst since 1994 and, after spending more than £600million on transfers in their first two windows, the owners have come in for significant criticism But they are hopeful the appointment of former Tottenham and Paris St Germain boss Pochettino will get things back on track. “It’s been just over a year since we completed our purchase of Chelsea. It was and remains a privilege for us to be custodians of our wonderful club,” said the owners in an open letter. “We remain completely committed to the long term and sustainable success of our club and fulfilling that promise we made to you. “We know the huge potential we must grow to develop Chelsea FC and it is a role we take seriously. Everybody working here is relentlessly focused on driving us forward. “Clearly, for our men’s team, it has been a disappointing season and there is a lot we can and will do better. “For all the challenges of the past year, we are optimistic about the future. We are looking forward to welcoming Mauricio Pochettino as the head coach of our men’s team in July. “We are building a modern scouting, talent identification, and recruiting infrastructure within our sporting department, led by Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, which will help us to identify and transform the squad around elite talent, a squad capable of consistently competing to win the Premier League, raise domestic cups and compete and win at the highest level in European football. “We have also appointed Chris Jurasek as CEO to drive our business forward off the pitch, which in turn will make us more sustainable on the pitch.” While Chelsea men’s team have struggled this season, their women’s team continues to excel and the owners were full of praise for manager Emma Hayes. “Our women’s team has celebrated another astonishing season, winning the double with an unprecedented fourth successive WSL title and third successive FA Cup,” the letter continued. “There are not enough positive things to say about Emma Hayes, her backroom staff, and squad who have dealt with adversity, injury and Emma’s period of absence. “Their character and hunger to win is second to none.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live West Ham hero Jarrod Bowen says last-minute winner ‘best moment of my career’ Tony Cottee: West Ham face big decisions over Declan Rice and David Moyes future Football rumours: Newcastle join Manchester United in bid to sign Kim Min-jae

Former West Ham striker Tony Cottee admits the club face a summer of big decisions, with the futures of captain Declan Rice and manager David Moyes up in the air. The pair may have guided the Hammers to their first trophy for 43 years with Wednesday night’s Europa Conference League final victory, but Rice has been heavily linked with a move away while Moyes, who has faced criticism for his style of football, could be a contender for the vacant Celtic job. “It’s a big summer for the club. I think everyone will have to take a deep breath and we have to see what happens,” Cottee told talkSPORT. “I want Declan to stay and I think every single supporter wants him to stay but he will be sought after, he can go to any club in the world. “The club will have to make a decision. Give him whatever he wants, a six, seven-year contract. He is up there with Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds as the only player to lift a trophy.” Cottee said the person he was most pleased for in Prague was Moyes because of the scrutiny he has had. “He’s come in for a bit of stick from fans for his style of football,” he added. “Of course we want to play good football but do you want to play good football and lose 4-3 or do you want to win? “He’s earned the right to make the decision himself. Celtic will come calling I’m sure. He’s a great manager.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Jarrod Bowen admitted scoring the winning goal in a European final was beyond his wildest dreams. Bowen’s last-minute strike secured a dramatic 2-1 victory for West Ham over Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final and ended their 43-year wait for a trophy. The 26-year-old winger raced on to Lucas Paqueta’s through-ball and slotted home to spark wild celebrations on the pitch, the touchline and in the stands. “I can’t sum it up, it’s the best feeling I’ve had in my career,” said Bowen. “When I went through I had a lot of time and it was just about making sure you put it in. “The keeper came out and I think I fell over, I looked up and the ball was going in and I thought ‘no, this isn’t happening’. “I spoke to my family before and said ‘imagine scoring a goal in the last minute’. To bring a trophy to this club is the best moment of my career. “The fans as well, seeing them after the game I was a bit lost for words. It’s the best feeling of my life, never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d win a European trophy. “I’m so buzzing, all of us are just going to go mad I think. You have to celebrate. “When the final whistle went I just thought’ this party is going to be crazy. I’m just a little boy from Leominster who never thought I’d be talking like this. My family are crying and it just shows me how far I’ve come.” West Ham led through a Said Benrahma penalty on the hour but were immediately pegged back by Giacomo Bonaventura’s strike. But when Bowen raced through with a minute to go, boss David Moyes almost found himself going full Jose Mourinho. “The moment he went through I was edging down the touchline,” he said. “If it was going to be anyone, I thought ‘this is the moment’. “But I couldn’t do a full Mourinho knee slide as the grass was a bit dry and I’d have ended up on my belly.” The victorious team return home on Thursday for a parade through East London, starting at 7pm on Barking Road and ending in front of Stratford Town Hall. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Tony Cottee: West Ham face big decisions over Declan Rice and David Moyes future Football rumours: Newcastle join Manchester United in bid to sign Kim Min-jae On this day 2011: England’s Matt Prior reprimanded over smashed window at Lord’s

The Reserve Bank of India left its key interest rate unchanged for a second meeting and retained its

A student's body was found at the base of cliffs amid a spate of attacks on gay men.

TOKYO Japanese truck maker Isuzu Motors on Thursday said it was not planning to move a factory from

West Ham fans clashed with riot police in Prague after setting off flares as they celebrated winning the Europa Conference League on Wednesday night. Fans poured into the streets of the Czech capital following the Hammers’ victory over Fiorentina, with many already in the city centre after thousands of supporters travelled from the UK without tickets. But a scuffle broke out after police officers tried to confiscate a lit flare as fans gathered in the Old Town area of the city. Riot police stormed a group after they lit a second flare, with fans responding by pelting the officers with bottles and missiles. Earlier in the day Czech police said they had detained at least 16 Italian fans after they attacked West Ham supporters outside a bar, with videos shared on social media showing chairs and fireworks being thrown. Celebrations were initially good-natured after the match, with revellers hugging and kissing each other and dancing on tables in bars. Chants of “2-1 to the cockney boys” and “Irons” also broke out as the Londoners welcomed the club’s first trophy in more than 40 years. The final took place at the Fortuna Arena, which has a capacity of around 19,300, with West Ham receiving an official ticket allocation of 5,000, although many more travelled from the UK to be in the city during the game. Supporters watched in bars around the city, including a group who went wild at McCarthy’s Pub in the Old Town area from the moment Jarrod Bowen gave the team the lead in the final minute of the second half. West Ham fan Aaron, 18, said it felt “unreal” to win. “(I’ve) never felt like it in my life,” he said. He said his plan for the rest of the night was to “stumble back to the hotel”. “How we get there I don’t care,” he added. It came hours after West Ham fans were attacked by Italian supporters in the city centre, prompting police to detain 16 people. Czech police said three people were injured during the incident, with one police officer being attacked. One witness said fans of the Italian side were armed with “chains and belt buckles”. There was also controversy during the match as Cristiano Biraghi of Fiorentina was seen bleeding from the back of the head after he appeared to have been hit by an object thrown from the West Ham stand. Shortly before the end of the match, the English club put out a statement condemning the behaviour of a “small number of individuals”, adding: “These actions have no place in football, and do not in any way represent the values of our football club and the overwhelming majority of our supporters, who have behaved impeccably in Prague this week and throughout our last two seasons in European competition.” The club said it would work with police to review the incident and take action against offenders, including implementing lifetime bans. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Football rumours: Newcastle join Manchester United in bid to sign Kim Min-jae On this day 2011: England’s Matt Prior reprimanded over smashed window at Lord’s Denver stars rewrite the record books as Nuggets take series lead

There were two men running free in the Fiorentina half. First Jarrod Bowen, en route to winning West Ham United their first trophy in 43 years. And then David Moyes, sprinting on to the Prague pitch in celebration, arms stretched out wide. It was a run that was 25 years in the making, a journey that took him from the Auto Windscreens Shield to the Europa Conference League. Few clubs have waited longer for the emotional release of securing silverware. Few managers, either. It began in a derided knockout competition for Moyes, the Auto Windscreens where Preston North End, newly under a 34-year-old centre-back, faced Macclesfield in January 1998. A quarter of a century later and, in game No.1,097 of a marathon managerial career, Moyes had a major honour he could call his own. He had said credited Sir Alex Ferguson with the Community Shield his Manchester United claimed, perhaps thinking there would be further glory for him at Old Trafford. There wasn’t. But if Moyes has long been destined to be remembered as the man miscast as Ferguson’s successor, he has other places in footballing history. The best Everton manager since Howard Kendall is in select company. Like Ron Greenwood, like John Lyall but like no one else, Moyes has won something with, and for, West Ham. The ungainly, unglamorous figure bouncing up and down in front of their fans finally has the crowning glory he has long lacked. It may be ‘only’ the Conference League and West Ham’s resources perhaps dictate they ought to triumph, but Moyes had been the manager whose considerable achievements lacked that defining feat. He has ten top-eight finishes in the Premier League with either West Ham or Everton and if taking the Merseysiders to fourth in 2005 involved greater alchemy, the reality is that two clubs who used to have more hope of silverware now operate in an environment where the superpowers sweep up the prizes, even those they scarcely want. Successive European runs have shown what the medals mean to West Ham: for Moyes, sent off in the semi-final last year for rather ignominiously booting the ball at a ball-boy, there is a happier ending. The Scot had called this the biggest game of his career and, before the night finished, he was placing his medal around the neck of his 87-year-old father, David senior. He saw names being etched into West Ham folklore. Only Alan Sealey had scored the goal to win West Ham a European trophy until Bowen burst clear. Only Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds, their greatest player and record appearance maker, had captained them to silverware until Declan Rice, almost certainly in his valedictory act, joined an elite band. Rice will probably leave. For much of the season, there has been a debate if Moyes should, and for other reasons. West Ham underachieved in the Premier League, spending the best part of £200m, finishing 14th. The 60-year-old was taken aback last season when Jurgen Klopp informed him he was the oldest manager in the division and grateful when Roy Hodgson relieved him of that mantle; the more pertinent issue is whether he is deemed yesterday’s manager now. Certainly Fiorentina out-passed West Ham for swathes of the final. They looked the team with the more progressive ethos, the side with the manager, in Vincenzo Italiano, bound for better things. But Moyes’ management has always been based in part on grit and grind, on putting in hard work in hard times. It hasn’t always reaped a reward but West Ham stayed in the game. There weren’t VAR penalties or the Europa Conference League when Moyes started out in the Auto Windscreens Shield but Said Benrahma scored from the spot. Moyes had led in a final before – Louis Saha’s goal after 25 seconds in the 2009 FA Cup was a record until Saturday – and, when Giacomo Bonaventura cancelled out the opener, he could have been forgiven for having flashbacks to Chelsea’s comeback against Everton 14 years ago. But not this time. The Conference League was not actually created for Premier League or Serie A clubs but for Fiorentina and West Ham, starved of honours for two and four decades respectively, it had a purpose, a chance to create memories and Bowen did. And so on a night when a section of West Ham’s fans disgraced themselves, pelting Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi with missiles, leaving him with blood running down his head and neck, their manager got the reward that had long eluded him. For much of Moyes’ quarter of a century, he has seen the major prizes go to the coaching Galacticos. He had been earned his peers’ approval, being voted the LMA’s manager of the year three times, but as he stood on the podium, tugging at the gold medal Aleksander Ceferin had placed around his neck, Moyes had something he had been searching for since over a thousand games ago. Read More West Ham fans leave Fiorentina player bleeding after being hit by objects thrown from crowd West Ham end trophy drought in most dramatic style as Jarrod Bowen plays the hero Violent clashes between West Ham and Fiorentina fans lead to arrests ahead of European final Carlton Cole on West Ham’s final, a coaching career and his surprise ‘love’ of the world’s most sustainable sport David Moyes hands over medal to his father after West Ham end wait for trophy West Ham end trophy drought in most dramatic style as Jarrod Bowen plays the hero West Ham vs Fiorentina LIVE: Europa Conference League final latest updates

Men desperate to avoid serving in the army are crossing the mountainous Romanian border to escape.

FBI agents are expected to transfer Joran van der Sloot on Thursday to the US, where he is accused of extorting money from the mother of Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teen who was last seen with the Dutch national and two others 18 years ago in Aruba.

Malaysia’s inflation currently isn’t misbehaving, giving the central bank room to keep up its “conditional pause,” according to