Coronavirus wrap: Mourinho sees market change, tennis returns, no netball

The Portuguese expects fees to drop while the LTA has announced tour events.

Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho believes the coronavirus pandemic will hit transfer fees, while tennis has taken a step forward to restarting.

Former Manchester United chief Mourinho expects big fees to be a thing of the past as football adapts following the crisis.

Spurs bought Steven Bergwijn for £27million from PSV in January, while also breaking their club record to sign Tanguy Ndombele for a reported £55million last summer.

But Mourinho insisted things will change when football returns.

“It is normal you are going to have a different market, I don’t see the world – especially the football world – ready for some crazy numbers we used to have,” he told Sky Sports.

“The first question after that is when will the transfer window be? I don’t think it will be in July or August anymore, it has to go further than that.

“I would like my club to be what I know what we will be: sensible, balanced and not going to spend rivers of money. We are trying to respect the situation, not just the football but the situation in the world and society overall.”

The Lawn Tennis Association has announced four three-day British Tour events will take place behind closed doors over consecutive weekends in July.

The National Tennis Centre in Roehampton will host between July 3-26 with each events open to the 32 highest-ranked players – 16 men and 16 women – in a bid to provide safe and competitive opportunities for Britain’s best players returning to action.

LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd said: “Since the coronavirus crisis, we have been working incredibly hard to support all our players, venues, coaches and officials through this very challenging time.

“The LTA is actively engaged in developing the necessary guidelines for behind closed doors events, which we hope will be determined by the Government in the coming weeks to ensure the safest environment for anyone involved in returning to competition and look forward to bringing tennis back into people’s lives this summer.”

There has been no professional tennis since the start of March, with the French Open postponed until late September and early October while Wimbledon has been cancelled this year for the first time since World War Two.

Meanwhile, the Vitality Netball Superleague 2020 season has been cancelled, England Netball has announced.

The season had started in February and was stopped on March 15, after just three full rounds and two additional matches were completed,

A statement added: “Concluding the season now is the most appropriate measure to guarantee the safety of the netball family, protect the long term future of all VNSL teams and ensure the VNSL can take necessary steps to come back in a strong position for a successful season in 2021.”