Kelly Cates is set to leave Sky Sports to join a new three-person presenting team on Match of the Day.
The BBC have been searching for replacements for Gary Lineker after the former England striker announced he would be stepping down from presenting the flagship football show after 26 years.
Cates, who is the daughter of Liverpool and Scotland legend Kenny Dalglish, is expected to be share the role with Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman, according to the Daily Mail.
This high-profile trio will rotate across Match of the Day and Match of the Day 2, which Chapman currently hosts.
Cates, 49, will leave Sky at the end of this season when Lineker steps down – although she already regularly presents on Radio 5 Live and was a long-time host of call-in show 606 from 2013.
The BBC has bought an additional package of digital rights to the Premier League from 2025-26 to 2028-29, which it aims to use to bolster its football coverage while protecting the two Match of the Day shows and Football Focus.
Match of the Day is expected to undergo an overhaul after Lineker’s departure, with more of a focus on news and a pivot towards a younger audience both mooted.
Yet hiring Cates to join BBC stalwarts Chapman and Logan suggests the show will attempt to secure and strengthen its traditional viewer base.
The flagship highlights show has only previously had five presenters – Kenneth Wolstenholme, David Coleman, Jimmy Hill, Des Lynam and Lineker – so adding three more may well be considered change enough.
Lineker will remain with the BBC until after the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, leading the broadcaster’s FA Cup coverage next season.
Cates will continue to front Sky’s Premier League coverage, which she rejoined in 2016, until the end of 2024-25.
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