標籤: stretch

wolverhampton wanderers They want to ‘recoup some of their investment’ on Ferret Lopez this summer if they can.

Sports Stadium Report on the 22-year-old today as Celta Vigo look to bring him back following his successful loan stint at the Spanish club.

wolves want to recover

The newspaper reports that Ferr López’s future is likely to be one of the issues that ‘stretches into the summer’. This is because at present, Wolves’ plans do not match those of Celta Vigo.

The only certainty at the moment is that the midfielder will return to Molineux at the end of his loan deal.

Celta want the player to return this summer after his successful loan spell since January. The player also wants this. He is feeling positive again after returning on loan to his former club after an unsuccessful spell at Wolves last summer.

Wolves are initially banking on him next season as they return to the Championship. They reportedly see him as a key player for Rob Edwards.

But if they were to consider a sale, they would want to ‘recoup some of their investment’ if possible. They paid €23m to sign him last summer.

Celta Vigo wants another loan

This conflicts with Celta Vigo’s plans, as they want to bring him back on loan. He already tried to agree an 18-month loan deal in January, but Wolves refused. The Spanish side would not be able to afford the asking price for a permanent deal.

Of course, Ferr Lopez’s own demands will make a difference. There could be something of a standoff in the summer transfer window as they clash with Wolves’ plans.

Sport Witness covered a report yesterday saying Celta Vigo expects long talks With Wolves for the midfielder. It may be a case of who has the strongest patience before Lopez’s future is resolved either way.

Jhon Lucumi is looking increasingly likely to leave Bologna in the summer, and Sunderland are very interested in a transfer after failing to hire him a few months ago.

The defender was in the news as a transfer marker for Bologna last summer. The Black Cats made an offer to sign him immediately after his release clause expired. Those times were unfortunate for the Premier League club.

Lukumi was very curious – as covered sports witness in the past, but Bologna managed to hold on to it. The Rossoblu were proud of their decision, even though the Colombian had refused a renewal beyond 2027.

Fast forward to now, and Lukumi has yet to commit to a new deal and is looking to depart in the summer.

There is still interest from Sunderland but there is a new contender in the race.

AS Roma in the hunt

Forzaroma’s francesco balzani It is reported that Lukumi will be a prize asset for the summer transfer window. The journalist is confident that Bologna will not force him to stay and that he will not sign any new agreements.

Roma manager Gian Piero Gasperini has had a ‘long-standing crush’ on the South American since his time at Atalanta. They also attempted to sign him last summer and now, with Ivan Ndika leaving, a deal could become possible.

Roma could make up to €40m from the Ivorian’s exit and use that money to sign Lucumi.

Their biggest hurdle is Sunderland, who remain interested. It is believed that Colombians have long been in love with the Italian capital and have often expressed this on social media. But he might also like to go to England – as happened last summer.

The Premier League and additional finance should change this.

Sunderland transfer competition heats up

Given that Lukumi’s contract expires in 2027, it is no surprise that competition for him is increasing. In January, even Manchester City were mentioned as contenders, but it felt like a fleeting interest based on injuries.

While Sunderland have made progress this year, Lukumi may feel like he must compete for silverware.

He won the Coppa Italia with Bologna last season, and has also been playing in Europe for two seasons now. Ideally this is why he might prefer to join a major club that guarantees him playing at a high level.

That said, he clearly fancied a transfer to Sunderland last summer and has since established himself further.

🇩🇿 Sunderland | Anis Hadj Moussa and Yassine Titraoui

➡️Premier League club looking for pairing
💶 Offers may comehttps://t.co/QrjW8lP3Gd #safc

– Sports Witness (@Sport_Witness) 11 March 2026

LeBron James is a veteran of the NBA. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like it, but the Los Angeles Lakers are already on the wrong side of 40 this season. Even though he’s already older than everyone in the league, LA still relies on LeBron more than fans would like to see him power through the season.

It’s clearly working: The Lakers are in third place in the crowded Western Conference with a 42-25 record and trail the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs. However, everyone knows that Los Angeles needs to find a way to involve James less in order to preserve him for the remainder of the season. Lakers head coach JJ Redick echoed this sentiment before their game against the Houston Rockets, but also highlighted that LeBron was at his best when he was used as more than a regular player.

According to Benjamin Royer, Redick said, “He was and still is a high-usage player compared to your average player.” The best thing for our team is he’s the third most used player, you know, and obviously he had to work more during parts of the year because of injuries or guys being out of the lineup.

Although James is no longer the solo world-beater he once was, the Lakers star still has great confidence in him. In terms of scoring, James is the third leading scorer after the All-Star break with 18.7 points per game in 10 games. He trails Luka Doncic (32.7) and Austin Reaves on the Lakers’ scoring list. James is also adding 5.2 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game, as he has handed control of the offense to both Doncic and Reaves.

James and the Lakers are looking for their first championship since arriving in the bubble in 2020. Los Angeles had come close in previous years, but they never got back to the Finals. Will this be the year James wins his sixth championship and matches Michael Jordan’s six rings?

The Toronto Raptors are stumbling right when they need to make a run. After Wednesday night’s disappointing 122-111 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, All-Star forward Brandon Ingram had nothing to say about the current state of the team.

Returning to the city where he spent six seasons, Ingram made a valiant effort, finishing with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists. He even reached a major milestone during the competition, surpassing 11,000 career points. However, their individual success couldn’t hide the collective struggles of a Raptors team that has now lost six of its last eight games.

“We’re going through a little tough time,” Ingram admitted after the game. “But I think it’s going to bring us even more together. We’ve just got to figure it out. Figure out what’s best for us offensively and defensively, and just play a little harder.”

Brandon Ingram weighed in on whether the team is matching the urgency/intensity needed at this point in the season, where the standings are constantly changing:

“We’re going through a little rough time. But I think this will bring us even more together. We just have to figure out… https://t.co/a3oWc4HE3d pic.twitter.com/5SevdZ3MXS

– Omer Osman (@OmerOsman200) 12 March 2026

The “rough patch” in the crowded Eastern Conference is proving costly. This latest loss dropped Toronto from the fifth seed to seventh, leaving them half a game behind both the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat. Despite Immanuel Quickley’s 25 points and a stellar performance from Scotty Barnes, the Raptors couldn’t stop New Orleans’ duo of Trey Murphy III and Dejounte Murray.

Murphy caught fire from deep, scoring 28 points on 5-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc, while Murray spoiled Ingram’s homecoming by adding 27 points. The Raptors struggled with efficiency, shooting just 31.8 percent from downtown compared to the Pelicans’ blazing 48.3 percent.

Toronto briefly cut an 18-point deficit to just two early in the fourth quarter, but a lack of defensive urgency resulted in the Pelicans taking an 8–0 lead. For a team with championship aspirations, the margin for error is officially gone. If Ingram and the Raptors don’t figure it out soon, they could find themselves fighting to stay out of the play-in tournament.

There has been a goalie controversy in the Montreal Canadiens crease for most of the season. It seems that some fans have lost faith in Samuel Montembeault, and there are certain arguments that support a change.

Jacob Dobbes outmatched him to the extent that the former Team Canada member was sent down to the AHL for a conditioning stint in the 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament, leading to highly anticipated prospect Jacob Fowler being called up for a total of ten games. Later, on December 27 to be exact, the Quebec-native was recalled, and as a result, Fowler was returned to the Laval Rocket.

Since returning with the Canadiens, Montembeault has continued to divide opinions as he has compiled a 5–2–2 record in nine games played. Additionally, Dobbes has not lost once in regular time in his eight contests with the Habs since his goaltending counterpart returned to Montreal.

But is the difference in their performances really as big as the win column suggests?

Let’s take a look at the facts.

Who deserves credit for recent success?

Since December 27, the Montreal Canadiens have been one of the best teams in the league in points scored (6th in points) from 22 games played (6th in points), as well as goals scored (4th in GF/60).

What’s flying under the radar a bit is the fact that they’ve lagged far behind in terms of generating expected goals (22nd in xGF%). His defense has been particularly suspect (28th in xGA/60), a worrying situation for everyone involved.

Therefore, their goaltenders are often forced to bail them out, ranking 7th in GSAX/60.

And, surprisingly, Montembelt did it even more than Dobbes.

As seen in the table, since December 27 Montembeault has saved 0.9 goals above expectation per 60 minutes, thus bringing the most positive value out of the three Canadian goaltenders. Dobbes has also performed well, saving 0.64 goals per hour above expectation. Both goalkeepers have similar high-danger save percentage and low-danger save percentage, and rank slightly above average in those statistics.

In terms of consistency, Dobbes has had the upper hand, as he has made five quality starts in his eight matches, while Montebault has saved more goals than expected in four of his eight matches. Both goalkeepers have made two steals for their teams, meaning they have saved more goals than the goal difference between the teams involved in the match.

Thus, statistically it seems that as of late, both Dobbes and Montebault have not only been very important to their team’s success but are also having very similar performances.

So, why has Dobbes won seven of his eight matches and Montebault has won “only” five of them?

context is important

When we look at the Canadiens’ underlying numbers with different goaltenders since December 27, we notice a few things.

First, Jacob Fowler struggled at times when he was in net, but the Canadiens also had difficulty providing run support. In those 5 games Fowler started he scored over 1.5 fewer goals per hour than expected, while controlling 61.8% of the expected goals. Poor finishing and below average goaltending resulted in the Canadiens only getting 3 points from those 5 games.

Secondly, the Canadiens have handled expected goals very evenly regardless of whether Montembeault or Dobbes has been in net. However, Dobbes has enjoyed a goal share of 62.5%, while Montembelt is getting a goal share of 54.2% – quite good in itself – despite saving more goals than expected than Dobbes.

This could be explained by the fact that the Canadiens were better able to finish their chances on net with Dobbes than they were with Montembeault. The Canadiens have scored more goals than expected anyway, but with Dobbs, the Canadiens have scored goals Ten Many times more than expected compared to Montembeault.

This is a distinction that cannot be attributed to any goaltender, and it is also something that should be expected to be achieved again in the coming games.

Montreal Canadiens Brass Tacks

While some rumors have linked Stanley Cup-winning veteran goaltenders such as Sergei Bobrovsky and Jordan Binnington to the Canadiens, the way the Canadiens goaltenders have been performing recently, it does not seem necessary.

Goaltending is something that is consistently inconsistent, and judging by their performance this year, both Binnington and Bobrovsky will be taking as much of a gamble as the current goaltender.

But the question still stands: who should be the one to start?

Thinking about this season’s performance, the answer is Dobbs. But as Montembeault seems to be quietly getting there, and given the very good results of the past, it seems more likely that he will still get his fair share of starts, and the 1A-1B situation will continue.

The Montreal Canadiens just have to hope that the goaltending remains good enough, and while they’re at it, they focus on finding ways to fix their special teams and defensive problems when the trade deadline approaches.

All Montreal Canadiens stats are 5v5, via Natural Stat Trick, unless otherwise noted.

On Sunday evening, the Charlotte Hornets got back in the win column with an easy win over the Washington Wizards. It was an epic game for point guard LaMelo Ball, who scored 37 points in the win on an absurd 10-of-15 from beyond the three-point line.

At one point in the game, Ball hit four consecutive threes in a span of 99 seconds, and on the next Hornets possession, team announcer Eric Collins was openly eager for the star point guard to launch another one.

However, the ball passing the ball finished To teammate Brandon Miller, who turned it to Josh Green for an open three from the corner, which found the bottom of the net.

LaMelo Ball hits four consecutive 3s in just 99 seconds (with replays)

The Hornets’ announcer, Eric Collins, tells him to take the other 3 but he does not.

lamello-crazy

I think the world’s a better place when LaMelo isn’t driving

Bub Carrington was also injured and… pic.twitter.com/SNWspQOi0n

– MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) 23 February 2026

Collins has long been known for his enthusiasm on the air, which has drawn mixed reactions from fans across the league. However, his passion for Hornets basketball cannot be denied, and his sentiment of launching the ball three times in a row seems to be shared by everyone else on the arena.

Meanwhile, the Hornets are now 27-31 on the season, getting close to the .500 mark after some tough losses at home in the last week or so.

While his driving skills leave a lot to be desired, Ball has been playing some of the best basketball of his career for the Hornets over the past month, leading the team to a recent nine-game winning streak and a return to postseason status in the Eastern Conference.

Of course, there is still much to be sorted out during the season, and the Hornets’ schedule will see an increase in strength compared to the rest of the campaign.

However, for now, Charlotte fans will have to be happy with what they are seeing from their budding young team.

The Hornets next face off against the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday evening.