Fabrizio Romano has now revealed that Leeds United have received a response after making contact to sign an “outstanding” attacker in the past few days.

Leeds showing fight in battle for survival

Heading into a tricky three-game run against Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool, Daniel Farke would’ve been fearing the worst, given the widespread speculation about his future, but his side have managed to amass a very respectable four points.

Even in the 3-2 loss at the Etihad Stadium, the Whites showed heart, fighting back from 2-0 down, which will be very encouraging for Farke, and the 2024-25 Championship title-winners remain outside the relegation zone for the time being.

That said, it is still very close near the bottom of the Premier League table, with both Nottingham Forest and West Ham United starting to pick up better results since hiring new managers.

Consequently, it is little wonder Leeds have started looking at new signings ahead of the January transfer window, recently making an approach for Tromso star Jens Hjerto-Dahl, and they have now set their sights on £21m summer Como signing Martin Baturina.

That is according to Romano (via Leeds United News), who said: “Baturina is a player Como still wants to focus on, they’re not thinking about a January exit. I’ll tell you the behind-the-scenes story. In the last few days, Leeds has been in touch, the teams are starting to move.

“Leeds has proposed opening talks with Como and the player’s agents about a possible transfer, even a permanent one. Leeds would have practically repaid Baturina to Como,”

“The response I understand from both Como and the player was ‘No, thanks’. Baturina wants to stay at Como, he believes in the project Como is happy with Baturina, with how he trains, the potential he has.

“Baturina continues to work hard, but the door has been closed for Leeds. In short, it also marks some clarity regarding the rumours that have been circulating about the future of the Croatian midfielder.”

Related Leeds scouts now spotted watching "fantastic" European standout alongside Man Utd

He’s one to watch.

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"Outstanding" Baturina could have bright future ahead

Leeds will be frustrated they didn’t receive the ideal response after making a move for the 22-year-old, given just how impressive he was at Dinamo Zagreb, registering 22 goals and 39 assists in 165 outings, while he has also now scored his first goal for Croatia.

Scout Ben Mattinson has also waxed lyrical about the attacking midfielder, saying a little over a year ago: “His vision and weight of pass is outstanding.”

However, the former Dinamo Zagreb man hasn’t exactly hit the ground running since moving to Italy, being benched for the majority of Como’s Serie A matches this season, having recorded just one goal contribution in his first seven outings.

As such, Baturina clearly isn’t the finished article just yet, so it is not majorly disappointing that Leeds appear to have missed out.

Dhaka Capitals and Rangpur Riders are the only surviving teams from the 2024-25 season

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-2025Five teams, down from seven last year, will take part in the 2025-26 edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). Dhaka Capitals and Rangpur Riders are the only surviving teams from the 2024-25 season, with three other franchises – Chattogram, Rajshahi and Sylhet – having gone through ownership changes.This means Chittagong Kings, Durbar Rajshahi and Sylhet Strikers are out of the competition, with Chattogram Royals, Rajshahi Warriors and Sylhet Titans taking their place.Fortune Barishal, who won the last two editions of the BPL, and Khulna Tigers are out of the tournament entirely.The BCB’s media department announced the list of participating teams on Thursday, but did not reveal any details of the new ownership.The BPL player draft is set to take place on November 17. The tournament is likely to be held from mid-December 2025 to mid-January 2026.

Victoria’s One-Day Cup campaign is on the brink after a seven-wicket defeat from Western Australia (WA) at Melbourne’s Junction Oval. Top of the ladder and firing in the Sheffield Shield, the Vics sit on the bottom in the battle for the Dean Jones Trophy with a 1-4 win-loss record.WA motored home in their chase, cantering to victory with 32 balls to spare. After WA captain Ashton Turner won the toss and elected to bowl, the hosts had steady contributions through their innings to push them to a total of 285.Wicketkeeper-batter Sam Harper (54), young gun Oliver Peake (54), and Tom Rogers (50) all passed fifty, but were unable to go on with the job as experienced seamer Joel Paris collected 4 for 62. Peake threatened to propel the Vics towards 300, but became young quick Albert Esterhuysen’s only victim of the day.Australia white-ball star Mitchell Marsh, who is an outside chance of featuring in this summer’s Ashes, struggled to get going in WA’s chase, and fell for 17 to Xavier Crone. But Marsh’s opening partner Joel Curtis picked up the slack, flaying 68 from 64 balls to send WA on their way towards the total.WA veterans Turner and Sam Whiteman steered the visitors home with a commanding unbeaten 148-run stand after coming together at 141 for 3. Turner blasted balls all over the quick outfield, finishing unbeaten on 71 from 61 deliveries. Whiteman (70 from 65 balls) got WA to the total by hitting a flawless cover drive to the fence.WA go into the BBL break with a 2-3 record, with the 50-over matches to resume in February. Victoria will seek to gain revenge on Thursday when their Shield match against WA begins at the MCG.

Chelsea’s “poor” defeat against Leeds United will end up costing them in the Premier League title race, according to club legend John Terry. The Blues icon has bemoaned his former side’s lack of experience as they slipped to a damaging 3-1 loss which leaves them nine points behind leaders Arsenal, who they held to a 1-1 draw in their previous match.

Chelsea had been in fine form before surprise Leeds defeat

After picking up a point following an admirable 10-man performance against Arsenal last Sunday, Chelsea travelled to struggling Leeds just six points behind Mikel Arteta’s Gunners on Wednesday.

However, while Arsenal got back to winning ways against Brentford on the same night, Chelsea suffered a surprise defeat at Elland Road. Enzo Maresca’s men found themselves 2-0 down at the interval following efforts from defender Jaka Bijol and midfielder Ao Tanaka, before Blues winger Pedro Neto pulled a goal back early in the second half.

But Chelsea were unable to find an equaliser in an abject performance which was capped off by centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo’s costly mistake in the build up to Leeds’ third goal through striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

The result was Chelsea’s first loss in their last eight games in all competitions, but the manner in which the defeat was registered has caused frustration amongst a fanbase who are hoping to see their side improve upon last season’s fourth-place finish.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportBlues legend Terry could not hide anger after final whistle

Deflated after the final whistle, Chelsea icon Terry could not hide his anger at a display which – in his opinion – will come back to haunt the west Londoners towards the business end of the title race.

Speaking on TikTok, Terry – who won 15 major trophies including five Premier League titles and one Champions League crown after 19 seasons at Chelsea – said: “What a poor performance that was.

“Everything I said about Leeds, they were going to be aggressive, fans were going to be up for it, it was going to be a hostile place to go. You either go there and match them or you take the sting out of it completely, and by looks of it we certainly didn’t do that in the first half.

“We cannot follow up two unbelievable performances with a performance like that, it’s certainly not going to make you title contenders. Unfortunately that’s what’s going to cost us, we are inexperienced and if you can’t go Leeds away and know what to expect then…”

@johnterry26

We can’t follow two great performances with that performance tonight. Some tough away games coming up and we need to be better than that tonight. 💙 #chelsea #chelseafc #premierleague #cfc

♬ original sound – John Terry

Former England captain urges Maresca to end rotation policy

Still irritated by both the result and the performance, Terry also criticised what he perceived to be a lack of “fight” from Chelsea, urging manager Maresca to end his rotation policy and stick with players who he believes will dig in every week.

“You need to go there and show the fight, match Leeds in every single way and then earn your right to play,” former England captain Terry added. “After 15, 20 minutes you play your football once you’ve earned that right.

“Set piece, individual mistakes defensively, clearly not good enough, maybe that’s an opportunity for the manager to look at the squad and go ‘okay rotations not for me moving forward, I know my best 11-14 players and I’ll stick with that and the other players are just going to have to deal with it.”

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Getty Images SportChelsea head coach expected better performance against Leeds

Chelsea will look to bounce back when they travel to out-of-form Bournemouth in the league on Saturday afternoon. Maresca’s men then head to Serie A side Atalanta in the Champions League on Tuesday, 9 December.

Looking ahead to the Bournemouth match, Maresca said after the Leeds game: “I think they [Leeds] were better than us in all the aspects. They deserved to win the game.

“There’s nothing we can take from the game. The only thing we can do is try to understand the mistakes we’ve made and try to reset. In 48 hours we’ve another game [against Bournemouth].

“When you play the way we have in the last two games against Barcelona and Arsenal, you expect a better performance. But for many reasons it’s not going to be possible. We changed players and when you change players the level drops because the reality is they’re important players for us.”

Lionesses star Chloe Kelly limped off with an injury in England's clash with Ghana on Tuesday night, casting doubt over her availability moving forward as Arsenal prepare to enter a very important part of their season. The Gunners have two huge Champions League games coming up this month, as the holders bid to qualify for the knockout stages, but they could well have to take on those challenges without Kelly.

• Kelly injury concern: Lionesses star limps off in Ghana friendly

  There were less than 20 minutes on the clock when Kelly reached down to grab her right knee, after an attempted cross off that wing was blocked. The 27-year-old tried to carry on but after playing a short pass a few seconds later, she went to ground and, once seen to by the Lionesses' medical staff, would gingerly walk off the pitch and be replaced by Arsenal team-mate Beth Mead, ending her night very prematurely.

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  Bad luck continues: Knee issue continues as Wiegman reacts to 'sad' Kelly injury

  That it appeared to be Kelly's right knee troubling her will be of concern to many, and of frustration for the player herself. That's because after missing Arsenal's game against West Ham, their second Women's Super League fixture of the season, Kelly had visible strapping on that knee for around six weeks, until early November.

  The disappearance of that support seemed to signal Kelly had come through the issue, as did her first Arsenal start for six weeks, handed to her by Gunners boss Renee Slegers just before this international break began in the win over Real Madrid. "She missed the West Ham game and a couple of training sessions but since then she's been building back, and some things take a little bit longer than others, but she's fully fit," her manager said the day before that game.

  While the specifics of the issue Kelly was clearly nursing remain unclear, it will not have been encouraging for anyone to see her limp off on Tuesday because of what appeared to be a problem with that same knee she has sported noticeable support on for a large portion of this season, even if the injury itself on the night didn't come across as a bad one.

  "She felt something with her knee that didn’t feel right," England boss Sarina Wiegman said, asked about Kelly after the 2-0 win over Ghana. "She could walk but it just didn’t feel right. For her it’s sad because she had a start and she was playing and then she had to go off. Of course you want to be available at all times and you don’t want to have those niggles but that’s just the way it is now and what she has to sort out is: What is it? And just assess that and try to get back as soon as possible and get consistency. That’s what she wants too, but you have to take it as it is."

• Searching for rhythm: Kelly's start to the season disrupted again

  To have to be subbed off will have been even more frustrating for Kelly because this felt like a potentially big night for her and her season. After an outstanding 2024-25 season saw her star in Arsenal's Champions League triumph before stealing the show as the Lionesses won the 2025 European Championships, that niggling injury has prevented Kelly from really getting going in the 2025-26 campaign, as she's only been able to make three starts so far.

  To get the nod against Ghana in England's final game of 2025, then, felt like a good platform for the winger to be able to build on that start for the Gunners just before this camp and start to generate some form and rhythm. Unfortunately, she wasn't allowed to do so.

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  Arsenal's next fixtures: Kelly now a doubt for big WSL and Champions League games

  The good news is that Kelly's injury didn't appear to be particularly bad in the moment and Arsenal will hope that is a sign of it not being a knock that will keep her out for long, because the Gunners have some big games before the winter break. The reigning European champions are currently 10th in the Champions League table, six places and three points off the automatic qualification spots for the knockout stages with two games to go. Those two games come later this month, at home to Twente and away at Leuven.

  There's also two WSL fixtures on the calendar before Christmas, with Arsenal needing to rack up wins to get back into the title race after a sloppy start, and a League Cup quarter-final clash with Crystal Palace. Given all that is on the line, the Gunners will desperately hope they have Kelly, and her knack for turning up in the big moments, available to them.

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