Crystal Palace are closing in on the signing of Anan Khalaili from Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise.

The 21-year-old is expected to complete his move to the Eagles in the coming week with the Athletic reporting that the fee is in the region of £21m.

Khalaili, who operates on the right of midfield, made 52 appearances in all competitions for Union SG last season, scoring six goals and registering six assists.

The Israeli international played for Union SG in the Champions League and will bring European experience to the Eagles as they prepare for their Europa League campaign.

Palace have been active in the transfer market and have completed the signings of defenders Takehiro Tomiyasu and Oscar Mingueza on free transfers.

BBC Sport reported last week that Palace are also set to sign 19-year-old Real Salt Lake winger Zavier Gozo while also revealing that there was interest in Brennan Johnson.

Johnson is now set to complete a move to Everton as part of a swap deal involving Dwight McNeil moving in the opposite direction.

BOSTON — The cool new nickname that’s been attached to the 2026 Boston Red Sox is “The Tracy Turnaround,” this as a nod to interim manager Chad Tracy. And what a turnaround it’s been, with the Sox climbing back into postseason contention by going 21-4 in July and winning a franchise-record-tying 15 straight games.

Naturally, what these Red Sox are doing — including a nine-game winning streak in August — has invited favorable comparisons with the 1988 Red Sox. Those Red Sox are remembered for their “Morgan Magic” and how longtime organization man Joe Morgan replaced salty John McNamara as manager at the All-Star break and guided the reinvigorated Sox to 12 straight victories and 19 out of 20.

Yes, the 1988 Red Sox went only as far as the first round of the playoffs, which in those days was the ALCS.  They were wiped out in four straight by the Oakland Athletics, whose own championship dreams would pretty much be dashed the moment the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Kirk Gibson limped to the plate and socked a pinch-hit, two-run, walk-off home run off Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of the World Series.

Joe Morgan took over as manager at the 1988 All-Star break and guided the reinvigorated Red Sox to 12 consecutive victories and 19 out of 20. (Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)

As for these 2026 Red Sox, their story is yet to be written. But however their season ends, whenever it ends, wherever it ends, Morgan has some advice for Chad Tracy: Go home and build an addition to your house.

“That’s what we did,” Morgan, 95, told me during a telephone conversation. “Added a room right off the front door. We called it the ‘Morgan Magic Room.’”

You have to understand Morgan’s background to truly understand why that room was, and remains, so important. Born and raised in Walpole, Mass., about 20 miles south of Fenway Park, Morgan was a blue-collar kid with a thick Boston accent who was good enough in hockey and baseball to play both sports at Boston College. His baseball skills got him a tryout with the Boston Braves, whose manager, Charlie “Jolly Cholly” Grimm, grabbed a fungo bat on a hot summer afternoon in 1952 and slapped grounder after grounder at the 21-year-old infielder. Grimm was told the kid could hit; he wanted to see if he could play the field. Morgan was pretty good, actually. The Braves signed him on the spot, lest the Red Sox step in with a better offer.

And then Morgan spent the next three decades beating the bushes. He did make it to the big leagues with the Braves, but that was in 1959 and the club was based in Milwaukee by then. He also got some time with the Kansas City Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Cardinals. It all added up to just 88 games in the bigs. Morgan played 13 seasons in the minors, and then spent another 16 seasons riding buses as a manager, including nine seasons running Boston’s Triple-A Pawtucket club.

Money was tight, but by 1959 he and his wife, Dottie, had saved enough money to buy a house in Walpole. “Got it for $16,200,” Morgan told me. And yet according to Bill Ballou, the retired longtime baseball writer for the Worcester Telegram and one of Morgan’s closest friends, Joe didn’t know he was a homeowner until the season ended. “He was coming home after the season ended and Dottie told him, ‘Oh by the way, we bought a house,’” Ballou said.

With a family to raise, and with minor-league paychecks going only so far, Morgan spent many offseasons driving a snowplow on the Massachusetts Turnpike. 

The Red Sox added him to the big-league coaching staff in 1985. Three years later, after McNamara was fired, Morgan was more or less asked to mind the shop for a few days as interim manager until a new skipper could be hired. But then the Red Sox won a few games. And then a few more after that. When it got to seven in a row, the Red Sox decided they had their manager. The word “interim” was scrubbed.

According to one media report, Morgan’s new deal for 1988 was “an estimated $60,000-$75,000 on top of his $40,000-$45,000 coach’s pay.” That may not sound like big money by today’s standards, but it was big, big money for Joe and Dottie Morgan. In their eyes, they had hit the jackpot after years of pinching pennies.

So they splurged. They added a room to the house. The “Morgan Magic Room.”

“That’s where he watches the Red Sox every night,” Ballou said. “He has a very comfortable chair to sit in while watching the games, and he follows the team very closely. He remains very, very alert to what’s going on.”

Dottie died in 2016. The man known as “Walpole Joe” soldiers on, still living in the same house Dottie closed on in 1959, still watching Red Sox games in the “Morgan Magic Room.”

“The memorabilia he has in that room is endless,” Ballou said. “My favorite piece is a photograph of him and Muhammad Ali.”

Asked to assess the 2026 Red Sox, Morgan said he’s “impressed.” As for Boston’s interim manager, Morgan said, “I have not had the pleasure to meet the man, but he knows what he’s doing, that’s for sure. They’re playing for him.”

Tracy and his wife, Emily, have a home in Fairfield, Ohio, where they’re raising their two kids. Does Morgan think there’s a “Tracy Turnaround Room” in Chad and Emily’s future?

“I hope so,” Morgan said. “And now’s the time to do it.”

In a standard Winnipeg offseason, August arrives and Jets fans can spare their pencil sharpeners — their home team’s opening-night lineup may as well be written in ink.

This time, the prospect of a Connor Hellebuyck trade combines with a renewed internal focus on speed and youth to create a sense of mystery. Every passing day appears to diminish the likelihood of a blockbuster, but the Jets’ depth chart could change in an instant. It’s possible forwards Noah Gregor and Cole Koepke both win jobs, taking playing time from slower veterans with more accomplished resumes. There’s even a strong possibility the undersized but brilliant Viggo Björck, the No. 8 draft pick in June, opens the season playing a prominent role.

All of this creates questions, challenges and more potential Jets lineups than is typical. Can Brad Lambert or Isak Rosén win a top-six job, breaking out as an NHL scorer for the first time? What about Morgan Barron, whose size and speed are unique in the Jets’ lineup despite a lack of high-end point production? There isn’t enough room for everybody.

Let’s review Winnipeg’s depth chart in full, position by position, from the NHL to AHL and ECHL alike as we get ready to size up the Jets’ roster options at camp next month.

Centre

One of the first things you’ll notice in this exercise is that it requires us to make choices. At centre, Mark Scheifele at No. 1 is the only easy decision to make — a 103-point veteran who plays a massive role up front.

The decision gets more challenging after that. In some cases, this means listing Adam Lowry as the No. 2 centre despite a poor 2026-27 season. Lowry is likely to play the second-biggest role, knowing the minutes he plays and Winnipeg’s historical use of his shutdown line. It’s an old-fashioned idea but it worked up until last season; the Jets will likely go back to it, believing in Lowry’s resurgence.

That’s the issue, isn’t it? It’s why we talk about second-line centres in Hellebuyck trade discussions, and why the Jets were interested in players such as Anton Lundell and Josh Norris. An idealized Jets depth chart includes someone bumping Lowry down to the third line.

Björck is the most exciting possibility of upending this depth chart. I think it’s likely he opens the year centering a nominal second line, perhaps with Cole Perfetti on his left wing. Björck will quickly pass Vladislav Namestnikov and Morgan Barron if all goes well for him. (Another option is that Barron forces his way into the discussion for second-line centre, given his size and speed.)

The whole group snaps into place if Björck can win second-line minutes while Scheifele is still chaining together elite offensive performances. It falls apart if Björck needs a couple of seasons to get going, Scheifele’s production declines or Lowry can’t re-establish himself as a shutdown centre. All told, I believe the Jets are worthy of their middle-of-the-pack ranking from colleague Harman Dayal earlier this offseason.

Left wing

“If NHL players weren’t people” is never a great way to start a sentence, but it’s August.

If NHL players weren’t people and you could mix and match their attributes like a video game, Winnipeg’s left-wing conundrum would have an easy fix. All of Alex Iafallo, Nino Niederreiter and Cole Koepke are viable bottom-six options, but the video-game version of this exercise would combine their skill sets with those of Kyle Connor and Cole Perfetti. Connor would gain Iafallo’s dogged approach to winning board battles, Perfetti would gain Koepke’s speed, and the whole group would be augmented by Niederreiter’s commitment to competing in all parts of the rink.

In real life, where Dr. Frankenstein does not perform roster surgery, the Jets usually solve their issue of too many left wings by moving Iafallo to the right side. It could work again if Perfetti, Björck and Gabriel Vilardi show chemistry. As it stands, Winnipeg has enough quality and versatility at left wing such that a team with other strengths would make the playoffs.

Much of that strength comes from Connor’s ability to get himself utterly lost in coverage, even though everybody knows he’s a threat, while Perfetti is a strong breakout candidate this season.

Right wing

There isn’t a lot here unless Lambert or Rosén break out.

It’s almost an argument to move Björck to the right side to start his NHL career. It is an argument that Winnipeg’s biggest need in a Hellebuyck trade — should one actually happen at this point — is not a centre so much as another really good right wing.

Vilardi is a big, smart, skilled forward who can be counted on to produce when he plays with Connor and Scheifele. He’s a capable secondary scorer without them, too, but not so dominant that the Perfetti/Björck/Vilardi line we just mentioned is a lock to succeed. Add one more player of his caliber to this group, giving the Jets the opportunity to run Connor/Scheifele/Vilardi ahead of Perfetti/Björck/Vilardi, and things get better in a hurry.

Without such an upgrade (or breakout via Lambert or Rosén), this is a group that needs Iafallo’s help to climb up to average.

Left defence

Welcome to the single biggest source of Winnipeg’s roster strength, unless Hellebuyck and Stuart Skinner are the Jets’ tandem in goal.

The only concern one might have about a defence corps with Josh Morrissey, Dylan Samberg and Mario Ferraro occupying the top three LHD spots is that the first two have two years each left on their contracts. Morrissey, who scored 55 points in a “down” season last year, was an easy choice and painful loss for Team Canada at the Olympics. Samberg, whose injury contributed to a wobbly start to his season, is a viable shutdown defenceman who can beat top competition.

And Ferraro? He was occasionally underwater as the No. 2 defenceman on an outmatched Sharks team, but moves well enough and defends well enough to succeed in a third-pairing role. It’s a strong group — whether Haydn Fleury or Henry Thrun wins the fourth job — and would be the foundation of a Cup-contending corps if the right side had strength to match.

Right defence

This is where Winnipeg needs help. Neal Pionk and Dylan DeMelo would be luxuries as No. 4 and No. 5 defencemen but play the second- and fourth-biggest roles in Winnipeg’s defence corps.

Pionk has occasionally elevated his performance for short, intense bursts of No. 2 quality, but it’s not his 82-game standard. DeMelo is a good chemistry match for Morrissey but gives up size and lateral mobility to many of the elite forwards he faces in his top-pair role. I mention Dustin Byfuglien too often because the Jets alumnus had the dominant physical attributes this group lacks. Pionk and DeMelo would excel in the roles they’d have played behind the peak version of Winnipeg’s former star.

Back to reality. Could Elias Salomonsson be the answer? Yes, but it would be difficult to push him up the depth chart even if he weren’t coming off shoulder surgery. It is not Winnipeg’s way to elevate young defencemen early — even Samberg, the poor man’s Jaccob Slavin we spoke so highly of in the previous section, was 23 when he became a full-time Jets player. Meanwhile, Garrett Brown may be looking at a full season of AHL hockey no matter how well he plays.

Jack St. Ivany, 27, will be in the mix with Haydn Fleury, Henry Thrun and perhaps even Tyrel Bauer for the No. 7 job.

Goaltender

Will Hellebuyck follow the Patrik Laine route as the subject of offseason trade rumours who opens the season with Winnipeg before a blockbuster trade? Will Hellebuyck repeat his own history, following departure discussion by doubling down on his commitment to the Jets? Or will he take one more swing at Jets success, re-evaluating his future pending the outcome of the 2026-27 season?

Traditionally, it is the journalist’s job to answer these questions instead of posing them rhetorically at readers. The player’s lack of comment on his future, paired with Kevin Cheveldayoff’s acknowledgment of trade discussions, allows room for interpretation. I believe Hellebuyck is likely to be traded — eventually — but it’s difficult to project the moment or the team.

If the Jets do keep Hellebuyck, they would approach the NHL’s first 84-game season with an elite goaltending tandem. While some rival clubs have responded to the NHL’s increased game density in recent years by signing three NHL veteran goaltenders, the Jets would be in a state of luxury with Hellebuyck and Skinner playing a reduced workload in a 1A/1B arrangement.

A strong performance from Skinner — perhaps as a response to working with Jets goalie coach Wade Flaherty — would go a long way toward easing long-term concerns. Winnipeg needs long-term help at the position regardless of whether Hellebuyck is traded this year.

Opening-night lineup projection

At the end of this exercise, Winnipeg’s biggest strengths are in goal (tenuous, via Hellebuyck’s situation) and on left defence (although Morrissey’s and Samberg’s next contracts loom large). The forwards need a lot of help, particularly at right wing, and could use a boost at centre too.

It is difficult to project Winnipeg’s exact lines compared to recent seasons. Here’s one opening-night possibility:

Connor — Scheifele — Vilardi
Perfetti — Björck — Lambert
Iafallo — Lowry — Niederreiter
Barron — Namestnikov — Rosén
Extras: Koepke, Gregor

Morrissey — DeMelo
Samberg — Pionk
Ferraro — St. Ivany*
(*Elias Salomonsson, if healthy)
Extras: Haydn Fleury

Connor Hellebuyck
Stuart Skinner