2025 could be the year of sport in Hong Kong, but before that, it’s transfer window time

And just like that it’s January 1, which means New Year’s resolutions, promises of fresh starts, and vows to renew focus on old plans. Or not, depending on your level of enthusiasm for the whole thing. For Hong Kong, this could be the year when sport truly dominates the city’s thinking, especially with the National Games in November and the full opening of Kai Tak Stadium in March. Even with 2025 only a few hours old there are already enough events on the calendar to keep sports lovers busy for the next 12 months, and that’s without the ATP 250 event presently taking place at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium. In Europe, the football transfer window is moments away from opening, signalling weeks of fevered speculation, ridiculous headlines and clubs spending outrageous sums on average players in the vague hope they will win more, lose less, or just become relevant. But that lets us play the, will they or won’t they game, which is where we’ll start our first wrap-up of 2025. Happy New Year, by the way. Hey, big spender? One club in dire need of replacing, well, everyone, is Manchester United, except it doesn’t look they’ll have the cash to do it. After spending more than £205 million over the summer on the, ‘talents’ of Joshua Zirkzee, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs de Ligt and others, there is apparently no more money left in the kitty. Manager Reuben Amorim has been told he has to sell to buy, which given the fact he is in charge of the worst United team for 50+ years could be a tough ask. At a push you might give Amad Diallo a look, but would you really spend millions on Marcus Rashford? Still, people do silly things in January, like buy gym memberships. Testing times at Anfield The fact three of Liverpool’s best players – Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold – could all leave for free in six months has been well discussed since the season started. According to reports in the UK, the first two are expected to extend their stays at the Premier League title chasers, whereas Real Madrid have expressed an interest in taking Alexander-Arnold to Spain. Liverpool have rejected that first approach, but former striker Michael Owen, who somehow also managed to play 36 times for Real, believes it could be a done deal. “The very fact that Real Madrid have now made their intentions clear towards signing Trent Alexander Arnold leads me to believe that it’s only a matter of time before he signs for them,” Owen wrote on X. “If he was going to sign a contract extension, Madrid wouldn’t have officially made their move.” Rumours abound It’s January 1, so of course clubs are being linked with buying players, selling players, or denying any interest in players they have secretly already agreed deals for. So, here are some of the early rumours doing the rounds. Juventus and Napoli are interested in signing Manchester United’s 23-year-old Netherlands striker, Joshua Zirkzee. Why? Did they not see the Newcastle game? Liverpool are open to selling Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez and have identified Inter Milan and France forward Marcus Thuram, along with Newcastle’s Sweden striker Alexander Isak as potential replacements. Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham have joined Manchester United and Manchester City in showing interest in Barcelona’s 26-year-old Spain forward Dani Olmo. A smashing start to the year Double Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet destroyed the women’s 5km world record with a time of 13 minutes 54 seconds at the Cursa dels Nassos road race in Barcelona on Tuesday, ending a blockbuster year on a high. The Kenyan beat her previous record – set a year ago to the day at the Barcelona race – by 19 seconds, becoming the first woman to break the 14-minute barrier in the event. Chebet was all on her own as she sprinted through the race and embraced friends at the finish line after adding another accolade to her name, having won the 5,000 and 10,000 metres at this year’s Paris Games. The 24-year-old said she would turn her attention to the World Championships in Tokyo, where she hopes to compete in both the 5,000 and 10,000, after picking up silver in 2022 and bronze in 2023 in the shorter distance.

2025 could be the year of sport in Hong Kong, but before that, it’s transfer window time

With the opening of the Kai Tak Stadium and the National Games, sport is going to be at the forefront of the city’s thinking this year

Hey, big spender?