by Tim Stannard

Mbappe to Madrid as silly season reaches frenzy

Now things are getting really silly.

Spanish sports daily AS – no sniggering – has come up with the mother of all transfer stories. Concerns over PSG breaking financial fair play regulations over their expenditure with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe might well force the French club to abandon plans to make a loan deal with Monaco for the footballer, permanent. Real Madrid would then swoop in to grab Mbappe (or Neymar) and then jettison emergency plans to sign Valencia’s Rodrigo for $160 million. Or Iago Aspas.

That’s certainly what the front cover of Thursday’s edition of the paper is trumpeting with the headline “It’s still possible!”

Technically it is, but it won’t, can’t, couldn’t happen. Could it? And if so, is football basically becoming Sharknado with more outlandish plot lines every summer until time travel is involved?

That’s one of the hot topics to be explored on the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT

Europa League thins the pack as Chicago fights fire

Games, games, games!

Easy now, as much of the match madness on Thursday is mainly of the Europa League variety which is at the play-off stages, the winner of which will then get through to the group stages, which then leads to the knock-out stages which then leads to a final some time in 2027 to be held in a stadium built on a far-flung steppe.

As is tradition with Sports Burst in this competition, it’s time to look at the quirky names from the 21 games being played rather than do any research. The ever-reliable Sheriff and Molde are there – as are Genk and Gent. Welcome onboard F91 Dudelange from Luxembourg! We also have UFA, Zorya and Sarpsborg 08.

But it’s not just about funny names, there are some big fishes there too, looking to get into Europe considering their domestic campaigns are likely to be fairly uneventful affairs for one reason or another – step forward Burnley, Celtic, Rangers, Atalanta and Sevilla.

THE MLS has two matches on Thursday night to follow the 1-1 draw in the Hudson River derby on Wednesday. There is another derby day, this time of the Texan variety as Houston takes on FC Dallas. Meanwhile the Chicago Fire is looking to put an end to an eight-match losing streak against the Columbus Crew.

Nice looks to put together dream team forward line

TRANSFER TRACKER!

Hatem Ben Arfa. Remember him? Newcastle United once upon a time. PSG…didn’t play last year. Well, the French forward is a free agent and is attracting the interests of both Rennes as well as Nice who are looking at a second stint at the club for the player and to pair him alongside Mario Balotelli up front.

That would be amaze-balls for so many reasons. In related French news, the Thierry Henry taking over Bordeaux story is a little quieter on Thursday as negotiations continue between ownership groups – and the fact that Bordeaux is out in Belgium on Europa League duty.

Being seventh in line to be Liverpool striker has reportedly made Divock Origi returning to the Bundesliga for action. A season-long loan deal to Borussia Dortmund could be the solution.

Tune into our beIN SPORTS USA Facebook page for our world famous TRANSFER TRACKER show as they try to make sense of the largely made-up stuff that constitutes news on Sports Burst today.

Tiger and Phil to play Real World golf

Well, someone worked out that most people who have a passing interest in golf are only interested in watching Tiger Woods. And maybe Phil Mickelson because they have heard of him. Sorry Jordan Speith, or Speith, or whatever. And Brooks Koepka.

This is why there is going to be a head-to-head contest between Tiger and Phil in Las Vegas (of course) over Thanksgiving (of course). And on Thursday, Mickelson, gave more details over how the jamboree could look. Apparently both players and the caddies could be mic’d up. And the crowd might be allowed to get a little closer to the players than normal. “It allows us to be a little bit more real, if you will,” cheered Phil. AllSports Burst can say is that there had better a round of mini-golf to test Phil’s famous fear of windmills.

WHAT IS SPORTS BURST?

The life philosophy of Sports Burst is that if you are not upsetting someone, then you are not trying hard enough. Sports Burst is a daily trawl and troll through the morning's sports news to bring you fact-nuggets to make you both smile and swear. Hopefully at the same time.