UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has hit out at FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

Burnham is a long-outspoken advocate of fan causes and has been particularly vocal in his criticisms of FIFA, going all the way back to their award of the 2018 World Cup to Russia.

And Burnham believes that FIFA's plans to involve private investors in future editions of its competitions - including the World Cups - is yet more proof that Infantino is not fit to lead the governing body.

Andy Burnham: Gianni Infantino is 'wrong man for job'

The plans have led all UEFA nations to announce a boycott of FIFA's international competitions until the plans are scrapped, with CONCACAF and AFC also voicing their opposition.

That led FIFA to issue a statement on Friday morning insisting their consultation period will continue as planned, with some suggestion that it the process might even be accelerated.

Burnham said on Friday: "This (FIFA's plan) was an outrageous suggestion.

"The idea that it could even be brought forward shows that, in my view, [he] is the wrong man to lead the organisation."

As it stands, FIFA's plan looks destined to fail.

UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC nations comprise over half the votes among FIFA's members, with 50% approval required if the matter were put to a vote.

However, FIFA currently seem to be banking on the hope that some members of those confederations may secretly be in favour of the plans, or could be persuaded to get on board.

What happens next is anybody's guess, but Infantino is now under significant pressure.

A FIFA presidential election is due to be held next year, but his opponents will be hoping not just to get the plans scrapped, but to oust Infantino from the post as soon as possible.

Infantino could yet retain the support of other confederations that are more reliant on FIFA funding.

The very future of international football currently hangs in the balance after a dramatic week in the FIFA world. And you thought football governance was boring.

FIFA's plans to bring private investors into the running of its competitions prompted fury the world over, with politicians and FIFA members all expressing their outrage.

UEFA member have agreed to boycott FIFA's international tournaments until the proposal is shelved, with CONCAFAC and AFC both voicing opposition to the world governing body too.

Where the 2027 Women's World Cup stands amid FIFA chaos

For the time being, FIFA seem to trying to call the confederations' bluff and insist that the consultation process into the private investment scheme will continue.

But UEFA are fully serious about the boycott, and could yet get more substantial support from their fellow confederations around the world - which could be an issue when it comes to the 2027 Women's World Cup.

The tournament is set to be held in Brazil next summer - but it would fall under the remit of the boycott of FIFA competitions threatened by UEFA.

That means that none of the 11 guaranteed spaces allocated to UEFA nations would be taken up - and it is unclear how, exactly, FIFA would propose to fill them if the boycott stands.

Those spots represent over a third of the places available at the 32-team tournament.

It would be a huge embarrassment for FIFA, and potentially a commercial disaster, if UEFA nations were not involved.

Five of the quarter-finalists at the last edition of the tournament, in 2023, were European sides, including both of the eventual finalists, winners Spain and runners-up England.

Even more pressingly, UEFA's qualification process for the competition still is not complete.

24 two-legged play-off games currently scheduled to be played between October and December to determine who will join Denmark, France, Spain and Germany at the competition next summer.

That means the situation would need to be resolved to UEFA's satisfaction before October if those games are to go ahead.

All 55 UEFA members are unanimously agreed that the boycott is necessary to safeguard the future of international football.

The name 'Ferdinand' is already established in Premier League lore - and now the next generation of want their turn.

First it was former Newcastle, Tottenham and England striker Les, who scored 149 goals in the competition to put himself 12th on the all-time goalscorers list.

Then came his second cousins, Rio and Anton, who both enjoyed long top flight careers, with former Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand ranked at No.1 in FourFourTwo's list of the best Premier League defenders of all time

Tate Ferdinand signs professional contract with Brighton

Next off the Ferdinand production line are Rio's sons Lorenz and Tate, with the latter having just signed his first professional contract with Premier League side Brighton and Hove Albion.

Tate takes after his dad and plays as a defender, trying to protect his brother and U21s teammate, goalkeeper Lorenz, who himself signed a contract just two weeks ago.

Rio posted on Instagram: "Proud moment with the family, my boy @tateferdinand5 signed his first pro contract @officialbhafc ✍🏽💙 Keep up the hard work."

We quite like the fact that Terry Crews, of all people, has replied with three fire emoji.

Tate spent much of last season playing for the Seagulls' U18s side before being bumped up to the U21s.

Brighton youth coach Bjorn Hamberg would not enjoy the timbre of this report, though, saying: "Tate Ferdinand is Tate Ferdinand and he needs to be play his game and have his pathway and career.

"For us as a team, for the under-18s as a captain, he is a big voice in our dressing room. He is obviously a leader in the back line and playing very well for the moment. I am really pleased for him as well."

After coming through the youth ranks at West Ham, Rio became the world's most expensive defender when he moved to Leeds for a then-whopping £18m in 2000.

Ferdinand reclaimed that record less than two years later when Manchester United paid £33.3m for his services.

He proved to be well worth the money, spending 12 years at the club and helping Sir Alex Ferguson's side to claim six Premier League titles and the 2008 Champions League trophy.

Watch Birmingham vs Barcelona today as the Spanish champions arrive at St Andrew's, as FourFourTwo brings you all the details on live streams and TV channels, wherever you are in the world.

Birmingham City have pulled a huge summer coup as they host Barcelona in a prestigious pre-season friendly at St Andrew's.

The Spanish giants are naturally still without some of their World Cup-winning stars, but are still travelling with a 30-man squad.

Read on as FourFourTwo brings you all the information you need to watch Birmingham vs Barcelona online and from anywhere.

Can I watch Birmingham vs Barcelona for free?

Unfortunately not, as both Birmingham City and Barcelona are benefiting from pre-season broadcasting rules, streaming the game via their club-specific channels.

Abroad? Watch from anywhere in the world with NordVPN.

Watch Birmingham vs Barcelona from anywhere

Away from home right now? You don't have to miss Birmingham vs Barcelona. The solution to your geo-restriction nightmares is a Virtual Private Network (VPN), a piece of software that can set your devices to appear to be in any country in the world.

FourFourTwo’s tech-obsessed office-mates over at Tom's Guide know everything there is to know about VPNs, and they rate NordVPN as the best VPN you can buy.

How to watch Birmingham vs Barcelona

▶︎ Birmingham vs Barcelona will be shown on Blues+, City's official streaming platform, via their website.

The cost to watch the game is a one-off payment for live video coverage of Birmingham City v FC Barcelona and is priced at £8.

Alternatively, if you want to watch with Barça bias, the game will also be live on Barça Play. This will cost €39.99 a year.

The match against Birmingham City will be available worldwide on their channels, except in the United Kingdom.

Abroad? Watch Birmingham vs Barcelona online from anywhere with NordVPN.

Birmingham vs Barcelona: Preview

Birmingham are currently managed by Paul Davies, who has been in charge since 2024 after leaving a coaching role at Tottenham.

Guiding the club to promotion from League One to the Championship in the 2024–25 season, he also helped set a new EFL record of 111 points.

They finished 10th last season, nine points outside the play-off places, but will be hoping to kick on especially after the investment from Tom Wagner and Co..

James Beadle has joined on loan from Brighton, Dael Fry has arrived on a free transfer from Middlesbrough, and 21-year-old Jhon Solís has signed from Girona after spending last season on loan at the club.

Barcelona will be without some of their big hitters, namely Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Gavi, after they helped Spain to win the 2026 World Cup.

There is no Robert Lewandowski anymore, yet Hansi Flick has brought along a stern-looking 30-man squad for this game.

The full squad for the Spaniards is as follows:

Ter Stegen, Fort, Balde, Araujo, Cortes, Guille Fernandez, Toni Fernandez, Farinas, Abdelkarim, Tommy, Xavi Espart, Yaakobishvili, Adeyemi, Christensen, Fermin, M Casado, Gerard Martin, Roony, Tunkara, Torrents, Bernal, Gonzalez, Kluivert, Szczesny, Goren, Gistau, Diarra, Pesquer, Rodriguez, De Jong.

FourFourTwo's prediction

Birmingham 0-3 Barcelona

Barcelona's should win with relative ease on Friday night.

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Gianni Infantino's position as FIFA president looks precarious after a PR nightmare of a week.

The world governing body's announcement of plans to bring private investors on board to help run FIFA competitions - including both World Cups - has been met with outrage, derision, and promises of boycotts from both UEFA and CONCACAF, with the AFC also expressing their opposition to the plans.

Nobody quite knows what happens next from here, but Infantino's position looks to be under threat. So who are the potential contenders for the presidency if Infantino is either forced out, or opposed in next year's FIFA elections?

Aleksander Ceferin

UEFA president since 2016, Aleksander Ceferin has barely made a secret of his feelings towards the way FIFA has operated under Infaninto.

Between UEFA announcing their Euro 2028 ticket price policy on the eve of the World Cup and organising a continent-wide threat of boycotting FIFA tournaments in the event FFE goes through, Ceferin has positioned himself as a potential antidote to Infantino's ills.

The question is whether he wants it. Although he now seems to have walked back on this, Ceferin announced in 2024 that he would not seek to run again to be UEFA president in 2027, saying: "The reason is that after some time every organisation needs fresh blood, but mainly because I was away from my family for seven years now."

Or perhaps he sensed the time might be just right for a FIFA presidency bid?

Nasser Al-Khelaifi

Nasser Al-Khelaifi already wields considerable influence within the game through his role as PSG president, the chair of European Football Clubs (the former G-14), and head of broadcaster BeIN.

Understandably, then, the mover and shaker has been touted as a potential candidate who already has connections across Europe and the Arab world.

However, the Qatari government official may not represent quite the kind of break from the Infantino regime that some might like.

More to the point, his people have previously denied he is interested in running. He may end up being more of a powerbroker than the obvious heir to the throne... and how might he get his backing? Well...

Dariusz Mioduski

A left-field shout from Eastern Europe, talkSPORT reported earlier this month that Legia Warsaw chairman Dariusz Mioduski has supporters in several UEFA countries.

The potential difficulty is whether that would also translate to wider support among the other confederations, who - reasonably enough, we guess - tend to operate on a "what are you going to do for us?" basis.

But it's good to have friends in the right places, and Mioduski might also be able to call on the support of Al-Khelaifi, to whom he serves as vice-chair of EFC.

Victor Montagliani

Victor Montagliani has been talked about as a potential Infantino successor for some time - it just might come about sooner than expected.

The Canadian became a familiar face around the world during the World Cup, where he was frequently seen among the FIFA suits.

Montagliani was a key player in that tournament being held across the three North American nations, and has acted as president of CONCACAF for the past decade.

Confederations who may be wary of a European FIFA critic could be drawn to Montagliani, who is well-used to looking after the interests of federations outside the very elite in the world pecking order. If he can get UEFA on board with a potential coup, that could be enough to tip the scales in his favour.

Arsenal have been in touch with Vinicus Jr's agency to present an initial offer to the Brazilian, according to reports in Spain.

The Real Madrid star currently faces an uncertain future after entering the final year of his contract at the Bernabeu.

The club remain confident that they can convince Vinicius to agree terms on a new deal, with talks currently ongoing over a long-term contract for the 26 year old.

Arsenal's Vinicius Jr transfer bid gathers steam as 'initial offer' presented to Real Madrid star

However, Arsenal have reportedly let it be known that they are ready to swoop for Vinicius if there are any hitches in those talks - and now it has been claimed that they have contacted his agency, Roc Nation Sports, to put forward terms.

Bernabeu Digital write that ESPN journalist Rodra has indicated that Arsenal have reached out to present an initial offer for Vinicius' services.

The report adds that Vinicius and his representatives are holding out for more money from Real Madrid, but that the prospect of that happening in the immediate future currently looks dim.

Talks were apparently due to take place between Vinicus and his club this week, but that has now been postponed - and the Brazilian has no intention of returning to the table until Real Madrid up their offer.

The implication is that Arsenal know they currently have little prospect of getting a deal done as it stands, but are waiting in the wings ready to exploit a complete breakdown in talks.

If that were to happen, Real may have a strong incentive to cash in while they can rather than let Vinicus depart as a free agent next summer.

While normally we might discount this as a load of agent guff designed to put pressure on Real, there is plenty of credible reporting to suggest that Arsenal are indeed serious in their intent, with the story first broken by David Ornstein.

Vinicius is currently reportedly earning €25m per year (£21.4m) at Real Madrid before bonus.

Signing Vinicius on anything like his current terms would therefore absolutely smash Arsenal's current wage structure - to say nothing of the transfer fee involved - with their current top earner, Bukayo Saka, currently earning in the region of £15.6m per year.

However, Arsenal's finances are very healthy and they may consider it to be worthwhile to secure the signature of one of the highest-rated players in world football. He's an upgrade on Gabriel Martinelli, anyway.

Incoming Newcastle United boss Matthias Jaissle tended his resignation at Al-Ahli over a contractual dispute, according to reports in Saudi Arabia.

Newcastle are in advanced talks for the German manager to come in as Eddie Howe's successor after the latter's decision to walk away from the post on Thursday.

Howe quit the post after holding discussions with the club's hierarchy following a disappointing 2025/26 campaign and the sale of key players Anthony Gordon to Barcelona and Sandro Tonali to Tottenham, with captain Bruno Guimaraes also expected to make a move to Arsenal

It quickly emerged that Newcastle were in talks with 38-year-old Jaissle to make the move to St James' Park.

Jaissle has just led Al-Ahli to back-to-back AFC Champions League Elite triumphs, having previous won two Austrian Bundesliga titles while in charge of Red Bull Salzburg.

Saudi outlet Al-Riyadh write that Jaissle has handed in his resignation at Al-Ahli, although it does not yet appear to have been accepted and officially he remains in the post.

Al-Ahli are now said to be in the process of finding a replacement and Jaissle's departure is now expected to be a formality.

However, it seems that his resignation was not specifically with a view to taking the Newcastle job, but rather over a disagreement in terms on a contract renewal.

Al-Riyadh report that Jaissle wanted a clause dictating that he would be paid his salary in full in the event he was dismissed from the post.

The club were not so keen on that, instead offering a maximum of six months' salary, leading the head coach to submit his resignation to the club.

Newcastle are now looking to rebuild their squad in a bid to improve on last season's 12th-place finish.

United had earned Champions League qualification by finishing fifth the previous season.

The club have already reinvested some of the money they brought in by selling Gordon and Tonali, with goalkeeper Ewen Jaouen, winger Bazoumana Toure, and midfielders Sean Steur and Aladji Bamba all joining for a total outlay of £111m.

Manchester City have agreed their next summer transfer move.

The Citizens are in the midst of one of the most important transfer windows in their recent history, as the likes of John Stones, Bernardo Silva, and most critically, Pep Guardiola, have all departed Eastlands.

There could yet be more dramatic moves made before deadline – but first, Manchester City have agreed to re-sign a former player.

Agreement reached to bring Geronimo Rulli back to Manchester City

According to Spanish sports journalist Uriel Iugt in a post on X (formerly Twitter), City have reached an agreement to re-sign former goalkeeper, Geronimo Rulli.

The Argentine has agreed a two-year deal, according to the report, with negotiations ongoing with Marseille over the fee.

It is largely expected that Rulli will serve as back-up to Italian international Gianluigi Donnarumma for the Citizens, following the departure of James Trafford to Leeds United.

Trafford was bought last summer as City's new no.1, after Ederson left the club following eight years between the sticks – but just weeks into the season, the England international was demoted to the role of cup keeper when City were presented with the opportunity to bring in Donnarumma as first-choice.

Foot Mercato in France notes that Rulli's exit will facilitate l'OM's move for Guillaumes Restes of Toulouse, with City's negotiations “progressing well” for the 34-year-old.

Marseille are said to be holding out for around £3 million for Rulli, who was first signed by City a decade ago, following impressive form with Real Sociedad on loan in La Liga.

Rulli never played a single minute for City, heading back to San Sebastian on loan before joining permanently in January 2017.

After a loan spell in Ligue 1 with Montpellier in 2019/20, Rulli joined Villarreal in 2020, where he was the hero in a Europa League final penalty shootout that season, saving a spot-kick from David De Gea and converting his own to win Unai Emery's side their first-ever European trophy.

He was also a part of the Argentina squad that lifted the World Cup in 2022, and was among the group who triumphed at the 2024 Copa America, before being a back-up figure in this summer's World Cup.

Rulli is worth €6m, as per Transfermarkt. City kick off their Premier League campaign at home to Marco Rose's Bournemouth.

FIFA have issued a statement addressing the 'feedback' they have had from member federations about their controversial plans to sell of part of the running of the World Cup.

It emerged earlier this week that the world governing body had proposed the formation of FIFA Forward Enterprise - an endeavour that would see stakes in its competitions sold off to private investors.

FIFA have set a deadline of September 19 for member federations to accept the proposal, which would then see each FA receive $20m (£14.9m) on January 1.

FIFA respond to boycott threat as Asian Football Confederation joins World Cup dissent

However, the proposal has been met with widespread outrage, with European confederation UEFA and North American counterpart CONCACAF both announcing their federations would unanimously boycott FIFA competitions if the plans proceed.

The Asian Football Confederation also criticised the plans on Friday morning, pushing the dissenting contingent over the 50% of member federations required for FIFA to succeed in a vote on the plans' future.

However, FIFA insisted in a statement sent out at 4am UK time on Friday morning that they intended to press ahead with their consultation period regardless.

The statement said: "We have heard the feedback provided by the respective confederations in relation to the proposed establishment of FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) and would like to address the issues that have surfaced since the initial media reporting on Tuesday.

"We respect the feedback and concern aired in public and reaffirm our commitment to an open and democratic consultation.

"⁠Our planned consultation process was disrupted by incorrect media reports. We will proceed with this consultation process to ensure that each MA has the ability to express its vote based on facts.

"FFE has been proposed solely to ensure that all FIFA Member Associations (MAs) have the opportunity to take meaningful ownership of the commercial opportunity of football in their respective countries, and that this does not come at the cost of either the spirit or the governance of FIFA or football itself.

"Nobody is selling football. This is not something FIFA would ever entertain.

"Everyone has the right to express their opposition and to seek further clarification but no single entity can claim to represent all 211 MAs around the world. Each MA should be allowed to review the proposal and have a say in shaping their own future. These are the democratic principles of FIFA."

It added: "These components [of the proposal] represent the starting point of the consultation process and are open for discussion as part of that process. This can include approval, rejection or amendment in their entirety or individually.

"These principles underpin the FFE proposal: unprecedented development funding, truly global ownership of the commercial opportunities of our sport, and full self-determination through a democratic process for all MAs.

Milan legend Franco Baresi has died at the age of 66, the club have announced.

A club statement read: "Announcing the loss of someone who embodied the heart and soul of AC Milan is incredibly difficult. But everyone at the club and all the Milanisti must live up to Franco Baresi's memory.

"We must be strong and gather every bit of energy, even at this saddest of times. We lost Franco only a few months after his last public appearance in a packed San Siro, at the Milan Winter Olympics opening ceremony [in February], an event on the world stage he helped make unforgettable."

Franco Baresi: One of the all-time greats

News of Baresi's death has prompted tributes from across the game.

The former centre-back was an honorary vice-president of AC Milan, and last year underwent surgery to remove a nodule in his lung.

A one-club man, Baresi claimed his first Serie A title with Milan in his breakthrough season in 1978/79 and twice helped the club earn promotion back to Serie A after t hey were initially relegated due to the club's involvement in the 1980 match-fixing scandal.

By the time he hung up his boots in 1997, Baresi had won a World Cup with Italy and another five Scudetti with Milan, the last of which came in 1996, as well as playing a key role in the club becoming European champions three times. Baresi lifted all of those club trophies as captain, as well as skippering Italy to the 1994 World Cup final.

Baresi will forever be recognised as one of the greatest centre-backs of all time, and is one of the most frequent picks in FourFourTwo's decades-long Perfect XI feature, which asks players to select the best 11 players to make up their dream team.

The centre-back was an inspiration to a whole generation of defenders. Tony Adams, Marcel Desailly, Ronald Koeman, Ruud Gullit and Jamie Carragher were just a few of the number who selected Baresi, while Rio Ferdinand told the Guardian in 2009: "I'd love to be the player he was, bloody hell."

Baresi was also feared and respected by centre-forwards, including Gary Lineker, while Gianfranco Zola named Baresi as one of the two toughest defenders he ever faced in his career.

Baresi's protege and teammate Paolo Maldini - himself one of the all-time greats - meanwhile hailed Baresi as his 'role model', telling Carragher in 2015: "He was special. He was a short, skinny guy but so strong. He could jump so high. The way he played on the field was an example for everybody.

"He wasn’t a big speaker, [but] the way he played, the way he trained was an example. He wasn’t like Jaap Stam, a big guy who was strong and fast. He had pace, but he was only 70kg.

"But let me tell you – when he hit you with a tackle, he was so strong. For me, he was the role model. He was a reference.

"He was also very good with the ball. Very, very good. It is very hard to find a good defender, who is strong and good with the ball. Very hard."

Following news of Baresi's death, Maldini wrote on Instagram: "You protected me when I was a child, guided me as a young man, and inspired me as an adult. You were the greatest footballer I ever had the honour of playing with."

It's the weekend at long last (nearly).

20 questions ranging from bruised bananas, organisational headquarters, the infamous Eyjafjallajokull eruption effects and, naturally, Alan Shearer: it can only mean one thing (no, we've not had a breakdown).

Welcome back, one and all, for the 126th edition of the Friday Football Quiz, the most testing quiz in football by some distance, as we pose teasers that you simply never got on Question on Sport. Please let us know how you got on, and thanks for participating as ever!

Handpicked football quizzes we know you'll love

Smashing through the Friday Football Quiz is the ultimate warm-up for the weekend, but true football intellect requires keeping that momentum going well beyond that. Can you handle a shift to domestic goalscoring royalty and golden awards heritage? Let's find out, with more quizzes courtesy of Kwizly.

We’re launching straight into the intersection of elite individual recognition and top-flight dominance. First, we want you to audit decades of English football productivity by naming the top 100 scorers in Premier League history, a trial of consistency celebrating the league's most lethal marksmen. If your scouting network relies on tactical intuition and squad construction rather than pure statistics, we have a unique puzzle waiting in the tunnel. You can put your visual memory and international awareness to the ultimate test by seeing if you can guess the team from the line-ups' nationalities. It’s a clever, deceptive examination of iconic starting XIs, transfer history, and geographical footprints that will push even the most seasoned analysts to think outside the box.

Once you've conquered those, turn your attention to global stardom and see if you can name every Premier League player nominated for the Ballon d'Or since 2000, before raising the stakes to the absolute summit by identifying every Ballon d'Or winner to have won the World Cup.

And finally, FourFourTwo’s Weekend Crossword 63 is a good'un this week, with posers on Playmakers, Places and Euro '28. To keep your analytical edge sharp all year round, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter for your daily briefing of hand-picked trivia. To complete your transfer to terrace legend status, join The Club, our free membership hub where you can unlock secret hints for our toughest quizzes, climb global leaderboards, and debate the latest topics in the comments section.

Four years. Almost £2bn spent on players. Six permanent managers. Three failures to reach the Champions League. Domestic trophies won? Zero.

Those are the headline figures of BlueCo’s chaotic ownership of Chelsea since their takeover in May 2022.

It is hardly surprising that countless big-money signings have fallen short of their potential at a club lacking direction on and off the pitch. Morgan Rogers and Maxence Lacroix are the latest in a long line of stars to join Chelsea for huge fees - but with their stock higher than ever, it’s a risk that neither player had to take.

The club where numbers have lost all meaning

We’ve become so used to Chelsea’s eye-watering spending under BlueCo that the numbers have almost lost all meaning.

This is the club that spent a scarcely believable £747m on players during the 2022/23 season, when they famously couldn’t fit the entire squad in one dressing room.

It is why the British-record fee of £117m they paid Aston Villa for Rogers barely raised an eyebrow, although that may have something to do with Manchester City spending £116m on Elliot Anderson that same week.

Chelsea’s expenditure under BlueCo has dwarfed that of every other Premier League club during the same period, but the lack of return on their investment makes for grim reading.

The Blues last won a major domestic trophy back in 2018, while they have failed to achieve their ‘minimum’ objective of Champions League qualification in three of the four seasons under BlueCo. That included finishes of 12th in 2022/23 - yes, the campaign in which they spent £747m - and 10th last term.

Chelsea did win the Conference League and the Club World Cup in 2025, but they were the biggest club by a mile in the former competition and the latter was a unique tournament that is very different to a domestic season.

It is not hard to see why the Blues have performed so poorly. Their approach to hiring coaches has been inconsistent, from big personalities who fell out with the hierarchy (Enzo Maresca, Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino) to coaches who were swallowed up by a job that was arguably too big for them (Graham Potter and Liam Rosenior).

The absence of joined-up thinking has also been evident in their on-pitch recruitment. Under BlueCo, Chelsea have stockpiled players with seemingly no clear plan on how to use them. Rogers is the latest star to join for a huge fee without it being obvious why that outlay is necessary.

The England international prefers to play as a No.10, but that is Cole Palmer’s favoured position. He can also operate on either wing (although why would you spend £117m on someone and play them out of position?), but Chelsea already have plenty of options there, including Pedro Neto, Jamie Gittens and Estevao Willian.

Countless players have faced the same scenario following big-money moves to Stamford Bridge, with a growing list of predominantly young footballers seeing their careers stall due to a lack of minutes in a bloated squad and a high turnover of managers.

Mykhailo Mudryk is the poster boy for the BlueCo ‘model’. The Ukraine winger signed in January 2023 for a fee rising to £89m, but made minimal impact and has not played since November 2024 after failing a drugs test. Chelsea continue to pay the 25-year-old, who still has five years left on his contract.

Christopher Nkunku, Joao Felix, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Alejandro Garnacho arrived for a combined £170m, but all struggled for game-time and left within two years.

Gittens joined for £48.5m from Borussia Dortmund just 13 months ago, yet Xabi Alonso is his fourth manager in that time. The England Under 21 winger has not featured since January due to injury but how many minutes will he play with both Rogers and Palmer expecting to be automatic starters, not to mention Neto and Estevao?

This is the club that Rogers and Lacroix are walking into. Even if they are regular starters and thrive, the knock-on effect is that another big-money signing will be out of favour and potentially unhappy, particularly with the absence of European football reducing opportunities to impress.

At 26 years old, Lacroix will expect to be Alonso’s first-choice centre back following his £52m move from Crystal Palace. That would leave Levi Colwill, Tosin Adarabioyo, Trevoh Chalobah, Mamadou Sarr, Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana - who, at £70m, is another big-money signing that hasn’t kicked on at Chelsea - fighting for one starting place. Equally, Lacroix could fall out of favour and find it harder to get back into the team than he may have done elsewhere.

Rogers and Lacroix will have been in demand after an excellent season, with both players winning European trophies, starring in the Premier League and playing at their first World Cup. At 24 and 26 respectively, they are approaching their peak years, so why do they think the best place to spend them is a club where so many big-money signings have plateaued?

It must be said that Chelsea appear to have tweaked their recruitment policy this summer, with Rogers and Lacroix among a list of targets who are more ‘proven’ than many of BlueCo’s previous signings. Maybe the owners have learnt from their mistakes.

However, if the Blues are in danger of missing out on the Champions League as the season progresses, you would be a brave person to bet against them sacking Alonso, which would create further instability.

This summer could signal a fresh start for Chelsea, but after four years of chaos it must be seen to be believed - and that is why Rogers and Lacroix are taking a big gamble.

One final Quickfire Quiz of the week, for you.

Handpicked football quizzes we know you'll love

We’ve unlocked another high-calibre vault of brain-teasers to test whether your footballing memory is tactical genius or bench-warmer standard, courtesy of Kwizly. From the tactical whiteboard of modern managerial heavyweights to the shot-stoppers who turned clean sheets into an art form, this round of quizzes is packed with statistical heavy-hitters and historic nostalgia.

We are starting with two masterclasses in domestic dominance. First up, can you name Pep Guardiola's 60 most-used players? It is a fascinating deep dive into the inner circle of one of football's greatest tacticians, requiring you to recall his most trusted lieutenants across his legendary spells at Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City. Then, take a trip back through North London history to name every Arsenal player to have won the Premier League.

Individual perfection in the penalty box is rare, but we are asking you to spotlight the elite at both ends of the pitch. Can you name every player to score 20+ goals in a Premier League season? This is a salute to the ultimate goal machines who redefined attacking consistency, from golden-era icons to surprising one-season wonders. Once you have celebrated the goalscorers, turn your attention to the final line of defence and try to name every winner of the Premier League Golden Glove, sorting through the legendary goalkeepers who locked down their penalty areas season after season.

If you consider yourself a true student of line-ups and global squad building, we have a unique challenge that will push your visual memory to the brink: can you guess the team from the line-ups' nationalities? You will be given starting XIs represented strictly by national flags, forcing you to decipher iconic matchday teams through their international mix alone. To pair with that tactical puzzle, step back into an era of incredible domestic drama and see if you can name the clubs and players who won trophies in the 2000s, celebrating the silverware collectors who dominated the first decade of the millennium.

For those who prefer their trivia wrapped in cryptic clues and high-brow football culture, the final stretch steps up the difficulty considerably. Settle in with FourFourTwo's Weekend Crossword 63, with a look at Playmakers, Places and Euro '28. It is an intricate grid designed to challenge your knowledge of midfield orchestrators and future host venues as continental excitement builds toward the next European Championship. Right beside it sits the ultimate gatekeeper of trivia prestige: Pre-Match Poser no.37. This singular elite-level football quiz question has been engineered specifically to stump even the most confident statisticians in your group chat.

Don’t let your footballing IQ stay an unverified claim—make it official by taking your scores over to The Club, our free digital membership portal. It is the best place to systematically log your daily quiz results, collect unique badges for your profile, and see how your rank stacks up against the sharpest minds across our global community. Plus, to keep your brain conditioned as the 2026 season rolls on, make sure you are subscribed to our weekday newsletter to get a freshly curated dose of high-intensity trivia delivered directly to your inbox every morning.

Newcastle United are pushing on at full pelt in the transfer window despite the sudden departure of manager Eddie Howe.

The Magpies are set to appoint Al-Ahli boss Matthias Jaissle as Howe’s successor but there’s work still to do on the squad with three weeks to go before the start of the Premier League season.

Jaissle will inherit new signings Bazoumana Toure, Aladji Bamba, Sean Steur and Ewan Jaouen, each a big investment in his own right but none of whom are over the age of 20.

Newcastle look to put transfer troubles behind them with goalkeeper signing

Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali have both been sold this summer, adding to Newcastle’s spending power but leaving them with serious remedial work to do in what’s left of the transfer window.

The potential sale of captain Bruno Guimaraes to Arsenal would only pile on the pressure even further and Newcastle’s woes have been exacerbated by a series of missed transfer targets, but the goalkeeper position looks close to a resolution.

The Magpies were one of a handful of Premier League sides credited with an interest in Parma stopper Zion Suzuki. His future was on hold for the World Cup and the Japanese international is understood to be on the cusp of a move to Juventus.

Czech Republic goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek is to become Jaissle’s first choice after Newcastle agreed with Portuguese side Braga to activate his release clause.

“Newcastle have agreed to meet Hornicek’s €30 million (£24.5m / $34.3m) release clause, with the move now advancing towards completion as the Magpies continue their summer overhaul between the posts,” reports Graeme Bailey for TEAMtalk.

“We understand that Newcastle‘s recruitment team have been monitoring the 24-year-old for well over a year, identifying him as one of Europe’s most promising young goalkeepers as they planned a major revamp of their goalkeeping department.

“Hornicek’s impending arrival will pave the way for long-serving goalkeeper Nick Pope to leave St James’ Park.”

Hornicek joined Braga as a junior after a successful trial, quickly ascending to first team football. He played 17 league matches in 2024-25 but last season was his real breakthrough thanks to 33 league appearances and an ever-present campaign as Braga reached the semi-finals of the Europa League.

The 24-year-old has represented Czech Republic at every age-group level from under-16 upwards and was given his senior debut in their win against Kosovo in the build-up to World Cup 2026.

Hornicek was named in Miroslav Koubek’s squad but didn’t feature in the tournament, which ended in abject disappointment thanks to two defeats and a draw.

Newcastle’s Premier League schedule gets underway with home game against Liverpool on Sunday, August 23.

Fulham head coach Alvaro Arbeloa is set to have two familiar faces among his attacking options thanks to a double transfer deal with Spanish giants Real Madrid, according to reports.

Former Real Madrid player and coach Arbeloa worked with a number of the club’s junior teams and is understood to be the driving force behind Fulham’s swoop to replace attacking midfielder Harry Wilson and striker Raul Jimenez.

The Cottagers are closing in on Gonzalo Garcia and Cesar Palacios in a deal worth a total in the region of £43 million, the bulk of which is attributable to 22-year-old Garcia. Both players will be subject to a 30 percent sell-on clause.

Fulham and Real Madrid agree double deal

“All being well, the pair will follow head coach Alvaro Arbeloa to Craven Cottage from the Spanish capital,” reports The Athletic.

“Garcia and Palacios are set to become the first new arrivals of the summer, following Swedish forward Jonah Kusi-Asare, who joined on a permanent basis from Bayern Munich after spending the 2025-26 season on loan at Craven Cottage.

“Sources with knowledge of the situation indicated Madrid had decided months ago that Garcia would leave this summer – but the process was put on hold after [Jose] Mourinho’s arrival, as the new head coach wanted to see the striker in pre-season.

“The Portuguese liked the player but was not able to guarantee a prominent role in the team next season as it stands, leaving the choice on his future up to Garcia.”

Garcia won his first senior cap in Spain’s World Cup warm-up match against Iraq in June and has gradually been making an impression at the Bernabeu. He was a regular scorer for Real Madrid B and leaves the club with 13 first-team goals to his name.

He made 39 appearances in all competitions last term, scoring eight times. The young striker started twice in the Champions League and nine times in La Liga but has little hope of playing regularly with Kylian Mbappe ahead of him.

Palacios, valued at under £10 million by the reported agreement, has been at Real Madrid since 2020 and played primarily for the B side last season. He featured in seven senior matches for Real Madrid in 2025-26, all of them under Arbeloa.

Fulham’s first new signings mark a step in the right direction at the height of a difficult summer.

Their Premier League status has been rock-solid since Marco Silva took over as manager but the call of Benfica proved too tempting to resist for the Lisbon-born gaffer, who succeeded Mourinho at the Estadio da Luz in June.

Jimenez returned to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Harry Wilson switched to Leeds United, both on free transfers. Defender Issa Diop joined Ipswich Town for a reported fee of around £8.5 million.

The Cottagers’ Premier League campaign gets underway with a Monday night home fixture against retooled local rivals Chelsea on August 24.

Liverpool are reportedly ‘ready to ramp up their interest’ in Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola and new manager Andoni Iraola might have dropped a hint about how he sees the 23-year-old fitting in with his system.

The Reds are understood to be preparing a first transfer bid for Barcola, with some reports suggesting that the back-to-back European champions might allow him to move to Anfield for a fee in the region of £100 million.

Barcola joined PSG from Lyon three years ago and has had a huge impact, playing himself into national team contention while winning enough Ligue 1 titles, Champions League finals and cup winner’s medals to satisfy most players for a lifetime.

Liverpool’s win over Wrexham hints at hope for Barcola deal

With all worlds conquered, Barcola and PSG appear to be willing to part ways in pursuit of new challenges. It’s an exciting prospect for Reds supporters but the idea is somewhat tarnished by the subsequent question mark of the future of popular teenage winger Rio Ngumoha.

He made his senior debut for England prior to the World Cup and limiting his playing time in favour of a new signing isn’t what most Liverpool fans would have on their agenda for the new season.

Ngumoha scored the only goal of Liverpool’s friendly win against Wrexham at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night and eagle-eyed observers noted that there would have been room in Iraola’s second-half line-up, which also featured Curtis Jones, Jeremie Frimpong, Kieran Morrison and unexpected loan returnee Harvey Elliott.

“The 17-year-old's deflected goal in New York kept up the team's perfect record so far and his deployment off the right, having played almost exclusively off the left previously, serves to highlight what could come next for Iraola,” suggests The Mirror.

“There have been clamours for Ngumoha to play more regularly, but he and Barcola, another left-sided forward, could've been in a scenario whereby they were battling for the same spot.

“Liverpool are ready to ramp up their interest in the PSG man, whose exit from the European Champions is looking all the more likely, and Ngumoha's impressive cameo off the right shows that he and the Frenchman could play in tandem either side of a striker, whoever that may be.”

Liverpool have already added Victor Munoz to the fold and former Reds defender Jamie Carragher has questioned whether Barcola would be the right addition to a team that has Ngumoha, Munoz and Cody Gakpo, but no Mohamed Salah.

“Liverpool's big thing that stands out like a sore thumb right now is replacing Mo Salah, a right winger,” Carragher told Sky Sports News.

“I don't think Liverpool have got anybody really in the squad who looks fully comfortable playing right wing.

“They probably have at least four players in the squad before Barcola joins, if he joins, who could play on the left-hand side comfortably.”

Premier League clubs are rattling through the summer transfer like nobody’s business. Their total outlay is believed to be around £1.5 billion already and the transfer news is coming thicker and faster than ever.

Established Premier League clubs aren’t shy about spending money. Their level of risk is mitigated by incoming fees for the expensive players they sell to one another, and by the confidence that comes with being rooted in the market for years.

It’s a different story for promoted clubs and this summer is no exception. Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Hull City are at varying stages of their Premier League journeys and face very particular recruitment challenges this summer. They have their primary goal in common. They need to stay up.

Coventry City

Last season’s Championship winners are effectively Premier League newcomers. When they were relegated 25 years ago, the top division was not the same financial behemoth it is now.

Coventry were promoted with a team that was too good for the Championship under manager Frank Lampard but by no means ready to survive in the Premier League. Like many promoted teams before them, the Sky Blues are in the midst of a major recruitment test.

The Sky Blues turned midfielder Frank Onyeka’s loan deal permanent and are close to doing the same with goalkeeper Carl Rushworth. After defender Aurele Amenda, signed from Eintracht Frankfurt, and former Burnley winger Loum Tchaouna, Rushworth will become Coventry’s record signing.

Coventry won’t be able to upgrade in every department this summer. With the goalkeeper position sorted and Tchaouna added to a solid attacking midfield unit, left-sided defenders and a striker should now be the priorities.

Ipswich Town

Ipswich are back in the Premier League having been promoted, promoted, relegated and promoted again in the last five seasons.

Former manager Kieran McKenna admitted at the beginning of last season that they were not where he wanted them to be. They got it right in the end but Gary O’Neil, his successor in the dugout, could do with a running start this time around.

The Tractor Boys have laid out fees for eight new signings so far this summer, the largest for Brazilian striker Emersonn from Toulouse and highly-rated young Leicester City winger Abdul Fatawu.

Issa Diop, Chuba Akpom and Daizen Maeda should prove shrewd additions with top-level experience, while the acquisition of Kjell Scherpen from Union Saint-Gilloise could pave the way for goalkeeper Alex Palmer to return to West Bromwich Albion.

Ipswich are likely to allow a few more players to leave this summer, which might enable O’Neil to be tempted to bring in an experienced central midfielder given half a chance.

Hull City

The play-off winners split the difference between their fellow promoted clubs. They were relegated from the top division 10 seasons ago; the residual financial benefits of Premier League football are long gone but the imprint remains.

Getting promoted almost by accident isn’t always a recipe for Premier League disaster but it’s quite clear that the Tigers have their work cut out in the transfer market this summer.

Of their four confirmed new signings, only Ecuadorian midfielder Oscar Zambrano, 22, is under the age of 30, but Jack Butland from Rangers and Matt Targett from Newcastle United might both be players other clubs wish they had taken a punt on.

Rayo Vallecano’s Senegalese defender Nobel Mendy is reportedly next in the door for the biggest fee of all. Along with Butland, Zambrano and Hidemasa Morita, the centre-back addition hints that Hull are focusing their efforts on providing manager Sergej Jakirovic with a sturdy spine.

That kind of focus is essential, not only for Hull but for Coventry and Ipswich too. All three teams have gaps and weaknesses as well as the clear strengths that put them where they are in the first place.

They’re not going to be able to plug all those gaps. For promoted teams the transfer window is about extracting maximum bang for the buck and maximising their chances of surviving and thriving in the top flight.

Coventry City have had to wait to get their man but goalkeeper Carl Rushworth is finally on his way back to the Coventry Building Society Arena for a reported club record fee of £22.5 million.

Rushworth was ever-present for Coventry as they won the Championship last season, helping them to secure a return to the Premier League after 25 years away. Frank Lampard needed a permanent goalkeeper and Rushworth was justifiably top of the target list.

The 25-year-old was excellent for the Sky Blues in 2025-26 and is expected to sign from Brighton & Hove Albion after several weeks of negotiations. The fee could rise to £30 million and Brighton have reportedly been able to include both a sell-on clause and a buy-back arrangement.

The Premier League promotion transfer dilemma

Coventry are a potent example of the challenges faced by teams promoted from the Championship. While some move up and down frequently and return to the Premier League every few years more or less ready to make a fist of survival, others have a decision to make.

As emphatic as their promotion was in the end, Coventry were not a Premier League-ready team coasting in the Championship. Doug King isn’t the sort of owner to settle for yo-yo club status but getting the team beyond that by the end of the summer transfer window is a formidable challenge.

Lampard and Coventry might feel a degree of deserved loyalty to the players that got them promoted but there’s work to do in the transfer market. Signing Rushworth – the second new addition to break the club record after defender Aurele Amenda – is still just the beginning.

Sporting director Dean Austin has also been able to secure the services of midfielder Frank Onyeka after he spent the second half of the season on loan at the CBS from Brentford. Loum Tchaouna joined from relegated Burnley.

It’s a good start, but it’s just a start.

On the night they won the Championship title, Coventry played with Liam Kitching and Bobby Thomas at the heart of a back four, flanked by Milan van Ewijk on the right and Jay Dasilva on the left. Onyeka played in midfield with captain Matt Grimes behind Jack Rudoni, Ephron Mason-Clark and Romain Esse, with Haji Wright up front.

Coventry deservedly thumped Portsmouth 5-1 but there are positions in that line-up that demand an upgrade before the matter of depth even comes into play.

With Rushworth and Onyeka locked in and Tchaouna a logical upgrade on former loanee Esse, Austin and Lampard are surely looking to add defenders, particularly on the left and in the middle, capable of pushing for a starting spot in the Premier League.

Sky Blues supporters have become comfortable with the idea that goals scored by the team in the aggregate can justify a striker contributing primarily in other ways, but it’s inarguable that another centre-forward is necessary, at least as an alternative to Haji Wright and Ellis Simms.

This is a football club on a high but also at a risky point in their progress. Coventry must strengthen without gutting the team that’s been so successful, must add high-value players to their ranks without losing the collective personality that underpinned Lampard’s achievements last term.

Simply throwing money into the squad is no solution but the squad as it stands has room for another big buy. Sadly for the club’s accountants, ensuring that incoming players represent a marked improvement is going to cost them.

If the Sky Blues are intent on standing their ground in the top division this season, Rushworth’s record might not stand for long.

Alan Shearer has spoken of his shock at the timing of Eddie Howe’s resignation as the manager of Newcastle United.

Newcastle are understood to have identified Al-Ahli boss Matthias Jaissle as Howe’s successor. The Saudi Pro League club and back-to-back AFC Champions League Elite winners are majority-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which also owns the Magpies.

Howe managed Newcastle for nearly five years, delivering Champions League football and the club’s first major silverware for 70 years but struggling to maintain consistent progress across multiple seasons.

‘It’s been an incredible ride’

Former Newcastle and England captain Shearer has admitted that Howe’s resignation caught him off-guard, and paid tribute to the outgoing boss after half a decade at the helm.

“I’m very, very surprised,” Shearer told Betfair. “I guess it's strange timing with three weeks to go until the new season kicks off.

“I don't know what's gone on, whether it was the end of last season, whether it was the summer, whether he feels they can't continue to sell his best players. I’m led to believe it was Eddie’s decision to leave.”

Howe’s Newcastle reached the final of the Carabao Cup in 2022-23 and again in 2024-25, when they were victorious against eventual Premier League champions Liverpool at Wembley.

It was the Tyneside club’s first trophy since they won the FA Cup under Doug Livingstone in 1954-55.

“It's been an incredible ride,” said Shearer. “I think the job that he did was unbelievable from where he took us when he came, there was a real threat of relegation. He steadied the ship. He then got us climbing the league.

“He then brought in some wonderful players. He then took us to a final; we got beaten in that final, but then took us back again and gave us the day that we've so craved.

“I've been to Wembley as a player and lost. I've been to Wembley as a fan and lost. But I've also had the pleasure of going to Wembley and winning thanks to Eddie. Whatever happens now, the Geordies will always be grateful for what he gave us that day.”

Shearer, now a popular pundit with BBC Sport, gave voice to Newcastle fans’ frustration over key players being sold, with Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon following Alexander Isak. He believes that captain Bruno Guimaraes will soon go the same way.

If he does, 2026-27 promises to be a challenging season for a team that don’t yet have Lionel Messi selling the pies and Cristiano Ronaldo cleaning their boots.

Jaissle has good pedigree as a young manager but the 38-year-old’s experiences within the Red Bull system and at Al-Ahli will be scant preparation for what he’ll face at St James’ Park in the months ahead.

“There's no doubt this season's going to be a tough one for Newcastle,” said the former Magpies striker. “You can't keep selling your best players in the hope that you're going to get to where you want to get to.”

Jordan Henderson is leaving Brentford after a year at the Gtech – but not all Bees fans are sad to see him leave.

The 36-year-old signed a two-year deal at Brentford last summer, which has been mutually terminated to allow Chelsea to complete a free transfer and continue in their plan to reunite the 2010/11 Sunderland squad, following their agreement to sign Danny Welbeck.

So surely there's some kind of sadness from fans to see a leader like that leave… right?

Jordan Henderson has thanked Brentford fans - but Brentford fans aren't wholly united in gratitude for Jordan Henderson

In a heartfelt statement on the Bees' website, Henderson thanked the west Londoners for giving him the opportunity to return to the Premier League after stints in Saudi Arabia and at Ajax, paying tribute to the staff, owners, his team-mates, and “most of all”, the supporters.

“Their backing never changed, and the connection they have with the club is clear to see,” Hendo wrote. “They care deeply about Brentford and they support the team in the right way every step of the journey.”

Yet not all Brentford fans reciprocate the love in quite the same way – and not just because the replacement appears to be a club-record move for highly-rated Ligue 1 talent Mamadou Sangare, as per The Athletic.

The former Reds man hadn't been in the best of form in the second half of the season anyway, but appeared to burn all bridges in arguably the biggest game in Brentford's history on the final day of last season: Keith Andrews' side travelled to Anfield to face a wholly beatable Liverpool, with Yehor Yarmolyuk injured, and Henderson stepping into the side.

Henderson didn't have his best game, but the fume really started when his number was raised by the fourth official – and with Brentford a goal down after an hour, the midfielder took his sweet time to leave the pitch, lapping up the applause from the Merseyside faithful and shaking hands with his former team-mates, with some suggesting that he treated a match of critical significance as a testimonial-esque opportunity to get the send-off from Liverpool fans that he never received upon leaving in 2023.

“If you thought this was bad, he then proceeded to laugh and joke with the opposition at full time and embark on a lap of honour BEFORE acknowledging us whilst every single other player and staff member was stood there gutted in front of the away end,” one Brentford fan posted on X (formerly Twitter), with plenty of other Bees followers chiming in with adjectives such as, “shambolic”, “disgraceful” and “selfish”.

There's certainly no doubting that Henderson is a leader among his peers, as proven by his selection at World Cup 2026 and glowing praise in public from the likes of Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers – but it's certainly not the first time that the star has rubbed fans up the wrong way.

In 2023, a move to Al-Ettifaq was heavily criticised by many, given that Henderson had been a staunch ally of the LGBTQ+ community.

“I’m comfortable knowing exactly what I am and exactly what I stand for,” Henderson explained in a controversial interview with The Athletic's Adam Crafton and David Ornstein, when talking about the move. “But I get, and I can accept, not everyone’s going to get that. So that’s why I can only apologise to those people if they feel like that.”

It'll certainly be interesting to see what kind of reception the England man gets when he returns to Brentford next term.

Newcastle United are set to appoint a successor to departing manager Eddie Howe, who has left the Tyneside club after five years at the helm.

Matthias Jaissle is the manager lined up to take over. Like Howe, he moved into management very young after a modest playing career as a defender. The 38-year-old will become Newcastle boss with both he and the club having a point to prove.

Jaissle, from southern Germany, is currently the manager of Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League. The Royals are one of the clubs majority-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), also owners of Newcastle.

Who is Matthias Jaissle?

The former centre-back played for Hoffenheim in Germany’s lower divisions before following compatriot Alexander Zorniger to Denmark to become his assistant manager at Brondby.

After two years in Denmark, Jaissle was snapped up and absorbed into the Red Bull football machine, where he had been involved as part of the RB Leipzig set-up.

18 months after returning to the multi-club operation as the manager of Red Bull Salzburg under-18s, Jaissle was bumped up to the senior side at Salzburg finishing school FC Liefering and very quickly to Red Bull Salzburg as the successor to Jesse Marsch.

The Red Bull system is loathed by many football supporters but has become a prolific pathway for young players. Jaissle has coached Benjamin Sesko, Karim Adeyemi and Strahinja Pavlovic, to name just a few.

Some of Red Bull’s success is down to its similar outlook on coaching and management, where the development of talent in line with a particular strategy takes precedence.

Marsch’s immediate predecessor at Salzburg was Marco Rose, now about to embark on his own first season in the Premier League as the manager of Bournemouth. Pep Lijnders is among the managers who’ve held the post since.

Indeed, former Hoffenheim boss Ralf Rangnick steered that system for a period and introduced Jaissle into the fold. The new Newcastle boss prefers principles over a strict systematic approach, learning under Red Bull’s feted 4-2-2-2 philosophy but generally eschewing the formation itself.

“I think it’s important that every club has a philosophy about the way they want to play. But what is also important for me as a coach: Here in Salzburg are guardrails – but within these guardrails, each coach can bring his own signature,” Jaissle said in 2022.

“The question is always how do I get the best team on the pitch? It is important to maintain a certain tactical flexibility. For me, the tactical formation plays a subordinate role. It is crucial that we get our principles on the pitch.”

Jaissle can stand by his record in Austria before he swapped Salzburg for Jeddah three years ago. He won the Bundesliga twice and gave the Red Bull club a foothold in the Champions League, a frontier that has proved difficult in light of the increasing primacy of RB Leipzig in the stable.

Al-Ahli have won the last two AFC Champions League Elite titles, twice defeating Japanese opposition in the final with Riyad Mahrez, Franck Kessie, Edouard Mendy, Ivan Toney and former Hoffenheim teammate Roberto Firmino in their ranks.

They finished third in the Saudi Pro League in 2025-26, matching their best finish under the German.

Any Arsenal hope of landing Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes just took a major blow.

The Toon are reeling after the shock resignation of manager Eddie Howe, with German boss Matthias Jaissle set to replace the 48-year-old after five years at the helm.

With Arsenal closing in on a deal for Guimaraes, Howe's exit appears to have thrown a spanner in the works – especially given comments made by the former Newcastle boss.

Eddie Howe says Bruno Guimaraes is “committed” to Newcastle, amid Arsenal talks

Yesterday, Newcastle were battered 4-1 in a preseason friendly at Ashton Gate by Championship side Bristol City, with Howe asked after the defeat about whether he'd been granted assurances that his star man would continue at St. James' Park.

“We've spoken numerous times,” he answered, “Assurances? I don't think you can push too hard for those.

“I've said many times we want players who are committed, and Bruno has always been committed. His training performances and his game performances have been outstanding, every time he's worn the shirt, he's played with the fans by his side.

“I'd love to see that continue.”

FourFourTwo understands that Arsenal's talks with Newcastle – conducted via intermediary Kia Joorabchian – are progressing slowly, but Guimaraes has no intention to rock the boat in the way that Alexander Isak did last season following interest from Liverpool.

Howe's comments about the Brazilian's commitment to the club are certainly true, and given his sudden exit resignation – coupled with the departures of Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon – it's more than possible that a move for Guimaraes will be called off to prevent an exodus.

So far, Arsenal have only landed Christos Tzolis in terms of outfield squad players, with Plan Bs for Bruno and international team-mate Vinicius Jr likely to be steep drop-offs in terms of quality.

Newcastle are enduring another difficult summer themselves, 12 months on from a tricky transfer window which Howe led behind the scenes.

The Toon have already been gazumped in the market for the likes of Johan Mazambi and Victor Munoz, after similar issues trying to land players like Marc Guehi, Joao Pedro, James Trafford and Hugo Ekitike in previous windows.

Howe leaves Newcastle with a 48.5 per cent win percentage after 231 games, having won the club's first piece of silverware this century with the Carabao Cup triumph in 2025.

Newcastle are three weeks out from the new season and set to welcome Matthias Jaissle to the club as Eddie Howe's replacement.

Howe is leaving the Magpies after almost five years at the helm, a period in which he has led the team into the Champions League twice and lifted a trophy for the first time since 1969.

The much-loved head coach is calling time on his Newcastle stint, months after the first knockings of discontent.

Eddie Howe calls time on Newcastle spell

In truth, the writing was on the wall long before the 2025/26 season had begun. Howe had become de facto sporting director and chief spokesperson during the long absence in which Newcastle had neither the former or a chief executive after Darren Eales had stepped down due to health reasons.

Alexander Isak's protracted exit last summer and the trolley dash that ensued to replace him suggested there were key elements and figures at St James' Park that were far from aligned.

Confirmation of a 12th place finish following a long and arduous season should have been the time Howe walked away, but for whatever reason, he remained throughout this summer.

FourFourTwo understands Howe was ready to walk after Newcastle's 3-2 defeat by Brentford back in February. The Toon Army had surrendered an early lead, which had become a theme throughout 2025/26, before conceding a late Dango Ouattara winner.

Howe was persuaded to stay on but all was not well. Before long, rumours about the futures of key players Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes began to emerge in the media, from credible sources no less. Two have already left this summer, with a third highly likely to be on his way.

Within the corridors at Newcastle's Benton training base, there has been talk that Howe hasn't been the same since suffering with a bout of pneumonia. He was hospitalised in April 2025, spending four nights under the watchful eye of doctors and missed three Newcastle matches.

Re-discovering the same vigour which led Newcastle to two memorable Champions League campaigns and a Carabao Cup triumph, it would appear to some, proved too great a task.

This summer, Newcastle have been proactive in the transfer market, with signings spearheaded by new sporting director Ross Wilson.

The experienced football executive has a track record when it comes to unearthing and capturing hidden gems. Newcastle's business has reflected that, although at this stage, many of the additions still have plenty to prove in the game, never mind the unforgiving nature of English football which they are about to enter.

They have not been what one might call 'Howe signings', and that has probably played a part in his decision to leave.

Ewen Jaouen, Aladji Bamba, Sean Steur and Bazoumana Toure have arrived for a combined £111 million, the club reinvesting the money recouped from Tonali and Gordon's sales. Plainly, the new faces are not at the level of those they are replacing in the Newcastle squad just yet.

The true reasoning behind Howe's exit will remain unknown, until a time in which he discusses the departure but there are myriad factors. Firstly, there is an ownership group who have spent the past 18 months appearing somewhat disengaged, misalignment between the coaching side and executive apparatus at St James' Park, as well as Howe seemingly having to relinquish his role in player recruitment this summer, following a disastrous window this time last year.

Howe earned the right to walk away on his terms, and although it is a sad day for Newcastle supporters, many will take the view that it is a necessary step - if only the timing was a little better.

He will remain a legend in the eyes of Toon fans for what he has achieved with the club, lifting the team from relegation certainties in 2021/22 to regular contenders for Champions League football and finally ending the trophy drought.

Where Newcastle go from here is anyone's guess, except for the identity of the man filling the biggest shoes on Tyneside. German coach Matthias Jaissle, schooled under the Red Bull umbrella and has spent the past three seasons in Saudi Arabia, looks to be the man taking to the dugout. Make your own assumptions about that appointment.

The club's hierarchy have been able to line up a replacement, because they know Howe reached his limit some months ago. On the surface, what finally convinced the Newcastle boss to walk away appears to be a 4-1 pre-season friendly defeat to Championship side Bristol City, but this was far from the decisive blow.

Banks, Cohen, Wilson, Charlton, Moore, Stiles, Ball, Charlton, Peters, Hurst and Hunt is one of the most storied line-ups in English football history.

Yet the process by which Sir Alf Ramsey created the side that beat West Germany 4-2 on July 30, 1966 was far from straightforward.

England’s goalscorers in the Wembley final – Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters – didn’t even make their international debuts until 1966.

Off to a bad start

To understand how radically things changed, consider the first side Ramsey selected as England manager: a 5-2 defeat to France in a European Championship qualifier in Paris on February 27, 1963. This 11 does not roll off the tongue so easily: Ron Springett, Jimmy Armfield, Ron Henry, Bobby Moore, Brian Labone, Ron Flowers, John Connelly, Bobby Tambling, Bobby Smith, Jimmy Greaves and Bobby Charlton.

Seven of those players made the 1966 squad: Springett, Armfield, Moore, Flowers, Connelly, Greaves and Charlton. (It would have been eight but centre-half Labone withdrew to focus on his imminent wedding.) Yet only Moore and Charlton played in the final.

Ramsey certainly weighed up every option. From his disastrous debut to the last friendly before the World Cup, he selected 50 players. And the 11 that made history had only played three matches together… the quarter-final, semi-final and final.

The first of that 11 to make himself indispensable was Bobby Charlton, the outstanding English footballer of his generation. With his pace, instant ball control and passing accuracy, Charlton could change games and had already scored 25 goals for England before Ramsey took charge.

Moore, meanwhile, was a natural leader; a composed, ball-playing centre-half, so gifted it is hard to see how Ramsey could have left him out. Yet Jimmy Greaves – this is a minority view – felt the West Ham skipper wasn’t much better than Wolves stalwart Flowers, whose run of 40 consecutive England games came to an end in April 1963. It is perfectly possible that, were it not for the Munich disaster, that versatile genius Duncan Edwards would have led England in 1966, instead of Moore.

The relationship between Moore and Ramsey was complex, resembling, in part, that between disapproving father and errant son. Moore had enraged Ramsey by breaking a curfew on a 1964 tour of America. As the World Cup neared, his place was jeopardised by his failure to agree a new contract with West Ham. As a gentle reminder that even greats were dispensable, Ramsey played Norman Hunter at centre-half for three friendlies in 1966. He was not simply saving Moore for the finals as he smilingly boasted to Brian Glanville.

Changing of the guard

Ramsey began reshaping the team in his second match as manager, a 2-1 defeat to Scotland in April 1963, replacing Springett with Gordon Banks, the star of a Leicester side that nearly won the league in 1962/63. Banks couldn’t be blamed for either Scotland goal, and prevented at least two more. Ramsey tried other keepers – notably Blackpool’s Tony Waiters and Chelsea’s Peter Bonetti – but Banks was first choice.

Conceding five goals was hardly how Ramsey hoped to start his reign. As England came off the pitch, he asked captain Jimmy Armfield: “Do we always defend like that?” The inevitable changes at the back began in May 1963 when Ray Wilson featured at left-back in a 1-1 draw with Brazil.

A fiercely competitive, ball-playing full-back, Wilson was warned not to get ideas above his station by Ramsey: “You’ll play exactly how I want you to play,” said the Dagenham-born boss. The only threat to his position was injury – he tore his groin muscles off the bone in 1964 and didn’t recover until the spring of 1965.

Another injury – to Jimmy Armfield’s knee – created an opportunity for Fulham right-back George Cohen. He made his England debut at right-back in a 2-1 victory against Uruguay in May 1964 and had, as he modestly put it, a “steady game; nothing heroic”, but did precisely what Ramsey asked. In time, Cohen’s sprinting prowess would prove an asset in attack and defence.

Yet another injury disrupted Ramsey’s central defence. Maurice Norman, who played 17 out of 20 England games between April 1963 and December 1964, would have made the 1966 squad but broke his leg in five places in a 1965 friendly for Spurs and never played competitive football again.

Luckily, Ramsey already had his eye on Jack Charlton, giving him a characteristic pep talk: “I don’t always pick the best players, you know. I have a system, and I look for players to fit that pattern.”

Telling Charlton he was “quite good”, Sir Alf said: “And I know you won’t trust Bobby Moore.” Seeing Charlton’s confusion, Ramsey explained that, when Moore surged upfield, he must fill the space left behind. Good with his head and his mouth, Jack was one of England’s most vocal defenders, always organising, alerting, reprimanding. He played his first international in April 1965, a 2-2 draw with Scotland. In midfield that day was another debutant, Nobby Stiles.

Stiles remains the most controversial of the boys of ‘66. Much better on the ball than he was ever given credit for, he took no prisoners in the tackle. One shocking challenge on France’s midfield general Jacques Simon in 1966 led the FA to order Ramsey to drop him against Argentina. Ramsey’s response was to threaten to quit. Stiles had become integral to England, changing the shape of midfield.

Shape up

Ramsey’s World Cup winners are often described as a 4-3-3, but the formation was really 4-1-3-2 with Stiles anchoring in what became known as the ‘Makelele role’. That anchor could have been combative wing-half Tony Kay. Ramsey liked Kay, saying that playing him was “like putting a tiger in midfield”. The Everton star made his debut in June 1963, in an 8-1 demolition of Switzerland, and would have made the squad had he not later been banned from the game for life – and jailed – for helping to fix a match in 1961.

With Stiles winning possession, it made sense for Bobby Charlton to move from the left wing into the centre, playing in the hole and exerting more direct influence on the game. Alongside Charlton, Ramsey would ultimately settle on Alan Ball (who made his debut in May 1965 in a 1-1 draw away to Yugoslavia) and Martin Peters (who played his first international, a 2-0 win against the same opposition, in May 1966).

Why did Ramsey take so long to pick Ball and Peters? In 1963/64, he experimented with ball-playing attackers George Eastham and Johnny Byrne. An elegant midfielder, with good close control and a subtle user of the ball, Eastham made the 1966 squad but never played. The Arsenal star may have paid the penalty for missing chances in a 2-0 victory against Spain in December 1965. Nine of the side that beat Spain would win the World Cup final. (The other absentee was Joe Baker, who, though born in Liverpool, was about as Scottish as haggis and didn’t make the squad.)

Despite the ‘Wingless Wonders’ cliché, Ramsey didn’t immediately give up on wingers. Blackburn’s Bryan Douglas was unlucky. He scored three goals in three games as outside right under Ramsey but was deemed defensively unsound. Ramsey later tried Connelly, Terry Paine, Ian Callaghan and Derek Temple.

The England boss didn’t know what to make of Liverpool winger Peter Thompson. Tricky enough on the ball to be dubbed the ‘white Pele’, Thompson was tactically, as Bill Shankly said, more of a “white Nelly” and didn’t make the squad. Yet three wingers did: Paine and Callaghan, who could switch to midfield, and Connelly, a traditional winger. All three featured before Ramsey reverted to 4-1-3-2 against Argentina with Bobby Charlton, Alan Ball and Peters in midfield.

Ball’s obedience, tireless running and passing ability impressed the England boss. The worry was Ball’s temperament – he got booked a lot and, in one U23 international, threw the ball at the referee, but he kept his cool during the finals.

Peters came into the reckoning almost as late as Marcus Rashford before Euro 2016. The West Ham midfielder’s outstanding debut, in which he almost scored twice and created many chances, helped him gatecrash the squad. Industrious, two-footed, and a shrewd anticipator of opportunities, Peters scored England’s first goal in the final, from an attack started by Ball.

Hurst's destiny

From February 1963 until July 1966, Greaves was virtually guaranteed his England place. He had scored 21 goals in 29 games for Ramsey and would probably have played in the final if his leg hadn’t been gashed against France. That said, striker and manager never really got on. Sir Alf felt Greaves was disrespectful, a bad influence on Moore and suspected the striker of mocking his accent, which he was incredibly touchy about. Yet even Ramsey would have found it tough to drop a match-fit Greaves for Hurst, who had played just five England games before the finals.

After Ramsey recalled Roger Hunt in June 1963, the Liverpool forward seemed Greaves’s most likely strike partner. Other forwards – Tambling, Fred Pickering, Frank Wignall, Barry Bridges, Alan Peacock and Mick Jones – were tried and found wanting. Spurs’ Bobby Smith fell out of the reckoning when he gained so much weight after injury that the Daily Express called him “Blobby Smith”. When Hunt was given the No.21 shirt for the 1966 finals, he feared he wouldn’t be playing but, like Hurst (who had forced his way into contention with 23 goals for West Ham in 1965/66), he was the kind of hard-working goalscorer Ramsey approved of.

Hunt and Hurst’s movement off the ball gave England more attacking options and created space for Bobby Charlton to run into from deep. England no longer had to pick their way through defences; they could go over them, or round them, hitting crosses for Hurst to score or hold the ball. This tactic eventually undid Argentina in the quarter-finals, Peters crossing for Hurst to ghost in and head the only goal.

For all of Greaves’s glittering talent, his game didn’t suit Ramsey’s 4-3-1-2. Despite fierce press debate, he never seriously contemplated recalling Greaves. It was a gutsy, if characteristic decision – as Hurst said later, to Dave Bowler, author of Three Lions On The Shirt: “What would have happened if we’d lost 3-0 and Roger and I had missed a couple of sitters each?”

In hindsight, team building always looks inevitable. Yet the process can be complex, tortuous and haphazard. It is not too outlandish to suggest that, but for fraud, injury and tragedy, the England team that made history against West Germany could have been: Banks, Armfield, Wilson, Norman, Edwards, Kay, Eastham, Charlton, Ball, Greaves and Hunt.

Football quiz time.

Some might call this the football quiz if you're English, as we demand that you name all 22 players to elevate themselves to a heavenly level still yet surpassed.

It's 60 years exactly since that sun-spangled afternoon in London, when England stood on top of the world after beating West Germany 4-2 in the World Cup final: so can you name every member of the greatest English tournament squad ever in just four minutes?

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Connecting the dots on a player’s career path requires the instincts of an elite scout—recognising the obscure loan spells, the record-breaking transfers, and the journeyman trajectories that define a footballer's footprint. But mapping out club movements is only half the battle; real football authority comes from knowing which of those nomadic stars reached the ultimate mountaintop on the international stage: and we're going to put you to that test now, courtesy of Kwizly.

First, we want you to filter through football's most exclusive club by naming every Ballon d'Or winner to have won the World Cup, honouring those iconic figures who united personal genius with collective immortality. Once you’ve verified their golden hardware, step straight onto the pitch for the biggest fixture in sport: can you name every player to have played in a World Cup final this century?

If your memory excels at identifying single-tournament icons and auditing recent history, we have two high-tempo challenges waiting in the tunnel. You can travel back to a defining era of global football by trying to guess the 2010 World Cup star, celebrating the figures who made South Africa unforgettable. After dusting off that vuvuzela-era dossier, test your immediate memory on the historical 48-team showpiece that just concluded with the Big World Cup 2026 Quiz…

To lower your pulse after navigating all those international career milestones, pull up a seat in the dugout for FourFourTwo’s Weekend Crossword 62, as we wade through shocks, sharp-shooters and schadenfreude. To ensure your analytical fitness stays elite all year round, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter for your daily afternoon briefing of hand-picked trivia. To complete your transition to terrace legend status, join The Club, our free membership hub where you can unlock secret hints for our toughest quizzes, climb the global leaderboards, and debate the latest tactical shifts in the comments.

Queen Elizabeth II's New Year Honours list was published on the first day of 1967. It contained just two names who had led England to the World Cup six months earlier – Bobby Charlton would have to wait until 1969 and Geoff Hurst until 1979, but there was an OBE for Three Lions captain Bobby Moore and a knighthood for the architect of it all: manager Alf Ramsey.

When the England boss received his honour at Buckingham Palace, it was met with widespread public acclaim, but the man himself remained so closed and uncommunicative that newspapers dubbed him ‘The Silent Knight'.

Apart from his wife and mother, people found Ramsey aloof or standoffish, and he had few close friends. It was a natural reticence that had become entrenched during his 11 years tussling with ‘the impossible job' as Three Lions boss from 1963 to 1974. What secrets lay behind this enigma's life and success?

Insults and rumours

Given that West Ham trio Moore, Hurst and Martin Peters had all played decisive roles in England's victory against West Germany, it was fitting that Ramsey's own story started in east London – in Becontree Heath, where he was born in January 1920.

Nowadays, it's part of the borough of Barking and Dagenham, but back then it was quite different. Ramsey was not, as is often wrongly assumed, an East End Londoner – he was a country boy, whose parents and grandparents lived and worked in rural South Essex.

Shortly after his birth, that landscape of cottages, small farms and market gardens was bulldozed due to 15 years of incessant building, adding more than 25,000 new houses, and effectively absorbing small towns like Barking and Dagenham into London. That mattered to Ramsey because he became marked out as ‘other' in that sprawling new estate.

The first barrier Ramsey faced might seem extraordinary to people familiar with images of him in the 1960s. On TV, he looked like a white, middle-aged member of the middle class. But as a child, he suffered a racist nickname that reflected his darker skin tone, and was referenced thereafter as ‘D****e'.

Ramsey never used that nickname about himself, nor ever acknowledged it in public – all of which strongly suggests it felt as vile to him then as it is considered now. That still didn't stop Jimmy Greaves, a member of England's 1966 squad, from referring to it openly while Ramsey was still alive, in his 1993 book.

Ramsey's childhood nickname had been printed in a national newspaper in 1952, when he was still a prominent player for England, and was referred to on television in 1969. It had also been common, though only whispered, knowledge among football players and journalists from the late 1940s to the 1980s.

The reason that Ramsey's nickname stuck links to a second prejudice. Within football, throughout his career, he was strongly rumoured to come from a GRT (Gypsy, Roma, Traveller) family. During his lifetime, Ramsey's nickname was often used to demean, insult and label GRT people, just as it was about those from other ethnic minorities. Greaves cited both Ramsey's nickname and his rumoured background. Moore once even dared reference the rumour in public.

A prominent sports journalist recalled travelling on a team bus through Central Europe in 1973, with Ramsey, England's players and all of the country's leading football reporters. The bus slowed down to overtake a convoy of Romani Gypsy caravans, at which point Moore called out: “Alf, there's some of your relatives over there.”

Ramsey, the reporter noted, went “crimson with fury”, adding that “it was always accepted in the football world that Alf was a Gypsy”. Such details undermine an established narrative: that England's 1966 World Cup victory was uniformly ‘white'.

Yes, the squad was drawn primarily from urban, industrial working-class communities, in the years before the children of migrants of the Windrush generation had reached the elite level of English football. Yet that 1966 squad was managed by someone labelled from childhood with a nickname that reflected his darker skin tone and whose family were racially, detrimentally rumoured as Gypsies.

In 1978, the multicultural threads of English football became publicly, proudly visible when Viv Anderson was capped as England's first black senior player. But Ramsey won his own first cap in 1948, three decades earlier, and appeared 32 times for the Three Lions, including at right-back during the infamous defeat to the USA at the 1950 World Cup. As England manager, he also gave senior caps to Paul Reaney, a player now often described as biracial in background.

Dog days are over

Racially loaded nicknames were only some of the obstacles Ramsey had to overcome to achieve greatness. His was a financially challenged, sometimes impoverished upbringing, and his family tree was dotted with dealers in hay, straw and other agricultural foodstuffs.

His father, grandfather and numerous great-uncles and cousins were canny businesspeople whose dealing was precarious but entailed travelling all over south Essex and east London, using horses, carts and wagons. Meanwhile, his mother and other female relatives were gritty and thrifty, both in paid work and the unpaid labour of holding family life together.

No wonder Ramsey drove his players hard, epitomised by his management of Gordon Banks, England's keeper in 1966. Banks was renowned for his work rate and relentlessness in training, but on only his second England cap in 1963, he conceded a goal from a long-distance Brazilian free-kick. Because Ramsey had explicitly coached against precisely that scenario, he calmly but pitilessly took Banks apart for his lapse post-match.

The message to the goalkeeper and his listening team-mates was unmistakable: nothing less than total effort, complete concentration and absolute ambition would ever be good enough.

In September 1962, Ramsey declared during a carefully choreographed newspaper interview that, given home advantage in 1966, England could and perhaps should win the World Cup. Such a bold assertion seemed totally out of character with his habitual cautiousness, and he hadn't yet been interviewed for the manager's job, which had become vacant when Walter Winterbottom resigned following defeat to Brazil at that summer's World Cup in Chile.

But calculating odds, via dog racing, was in Ramsey's family DNA. In the early '50s, their tiny cottage was listed as the registered address for racing greyhounds owned by Ramsey, his parents and two siblings.

In 1949, Ramsey moved back home as a 29-year-old after his transfer from Southampton to Spurs, where he would play a key role in helping his new club to win promotion in his first season, then remarkably become champions of England for the first time ever during the following campaign.

Back at home, his elder brother Albert trained and raced numerous dogs. Alf's team-mates knew him as an excellent gambler on greyhounds. Indeed, his 1955 recruitment to manage Third Division South side Ipswich Town was sparked by the Ipswich greyhound stadium's owner hearing a whisper, on the dog racing grapevine, that Ramsey was available at the end of his time at Spurs, where he'd become club captain.

Taking over as Ipswich boss at 35, within the space of just seven years he guided the team to the Third Division South, Second Division and then First Division titles – just as during his playing days at Spurs, the latter two league titles incredibly came in back-to-back seasons. Within months, he would be confirmed as England's new boss.

Shaped by war

As with the greyhounds, when Ramsey assembled his squad for 1966, he knew how to back a long shot. Leeds' Jack Charlton, for example, was unglamorous and uncompromising at centre-half – the brother of the world-famous Bobby Charlton, but nearly 30 when Ramsey first capped him against Scotland in April 1965.

How many players of that age have gone from an international debut to winning the World Cup in just 15 months? That the manager had the courage to back the defender reflected something else – as a player, Ramsey had likewise developed unusually late. Between 14 and 16, he played no football at all. From 16 to 20, Saturday shop work meant that Sunday football was his only serious option. Officially, though, Sunday football was banned by the FA until 1960.

As if that wasn't enough of a barrier, in 1940, Ramsey started six years in uniform, at the age of 20. Although the British Army developed him as a footballer and leader, and from 1943 he played a few wartime games for Southampton, it wasn't until Ramsey was nearly 27 that he played his first full professional game in a competitive peacetime league. His England debut came at age 28, only a year younger than Jack Charlton.

Another 1966 finalist born of similar grit was Nobby Stiles. The Manchester United midfielder was one of the first professional footballers to wear contact lenses, but bad eyesight wasn't to blame for his barbaric challenge on France's Jacques Simon during the Three Lions' last group game at the World Cup.

Stiles wasn't booked, but the controversy that tackle caused, and Ramsey's response to it, revealed more of the manager's deep-seated traits – demanding and rewarding loyalty, while also stubbornly refusing to be intimidated either by FA hangers-on or shrill journalists.

Stiles' brilliance in defensive midfield and his ability to judge and execute flawless, seemingly simple passes helped Ramsey to balance and link two of England's genuinely world-class players – Moore at the back and Bobby Charlton in attack. Yet following Stiles' tackle, prominent voices within the FA and the media wanted him dropped.

Ramsey's response was simply to ask his player, “Was that tackle accidental or deliberate?” When Stiles predictably insisted it was mistimed, not malicious, Ramsey persisted in picking him.

In the even tougher tests against an abrasive Argentina in the quarter-final, and the flair of Portugal in the semis, Stiles' immaculately self-disciplined contributions were major factors in England's progression.

Where had Ramsey first learned that strong leadership is built on trust? From his six years in the army, when he rose from private to company quartermaster sergeant. That military experience made Ramsey clear-minded and unbending.

During their international careers, he disciplined eight of England's line-up from the 1966 final. Anyone who needed telling the same thing more than twice about a coaching point, or persistently breached Ramsey's stringent discipline – early bedtimes, shared leisure time, rationed alcohol and smart appearance – was simply not selected again.

England's 1966 squad assembled at Lilleshall in early June for their intense pre-tournament training. On the first evening, Bobby Charlton recalled how Alan Ball, who'd just turned 21, “slipped out for a pint” with Stiles. On discovering them, Charlton said: “Alf simmered for a moment, then rasped, ‘All of you, get out of my sight.'”

Ramsey's anger can be explained by something else that Charlton observed, namely the date. “We reported for duty – a phrase that I do not use lightly – on June 6, which was the 22nd anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy,” the Manchester United star explained. “Our lives were not at risk, but Alf made it abundantly clear that our reputation for competitive honour and patriotism was.”

On that date in 1944, aged 24 like Stiles and Hurst in 1966, Ramsey was helping to prepare hundreds of fellow soldiers to land on French beaches and crawl into a storm of bullets. He knew that many would be killed or maimed.

The new radical

To modern eyes, much about Ramsey's life story feels old and, given a lifespan from 1920 to 1999, he was unarguably a creature of the 20th century. Ramsey's conservative suit, shirt and tie style of dress, together with his attempted but inauthentic ‘BBC English' speaking voice, reinforced that fusty, repressed image.

And yet his background was far from conventional. How many football careers have been saved from oblivion by four years of ‘illegal' Sunday games as an adolescent and kept alive during six years of army service, but finished by earning more than 30 international caps as a player, before going on to lift the World Cup as a manager?

The real Ramsey was a classic English underdog from a diverse background. A childhood in inter-war poverty, an early adulthood in post-war austerity, and a management career within the English class system that pushed him to disguise his background, rather than celebrate it as footballers might do today.

In crucial respects, Ramsey was also a modernising reformer, rather than an establishment stooge. As Three Lions manager, he banished the madness of an FA committee of old men picking the team. Indeed, he refused to take the job unless he was given total control over player selection.

He also experimented with radical new tactics – using the young, high-energy, open-minded football brains of Ball and Peters to play in ways that midfielders had never really done before. The pair would flex between attack and defence, between the middle and the flanks, not rigidly according to notional positions allocated pre-game, but in response to how the play was flowing.

Ramsey shocked and surprised people by picking no wingers during the crucial knockout stage of the World Cup. He would instead rely on Ball and Peters, plus full-backs George Cohen and Ray Wilson, to provide enough unpredictable attacking width to flummox opponents.

It was also essential, in such a setup, for attacking players like Bobby Charlton, Roger Hunt, Greaves or Hurst to follow instructions, understand the strategy and think defensively when necessary. That meant Ramsey choosing to play Hurst over Greaves – a decision slated by many journalists, but ultimately validated when the West Ham striker scored a hat-trick in the final.

Nor was tactical innovation the only surprise about Ramsey. While winning the league as a player with Tottenham, he also committed to coaching amateur adult teams twice a week at the Eton Manor Boys Club.

In 1955, when starting his managerial career at club level, homosexuality was viciously persecuted and vigorously prosecuted, but over the 18 months that followed, his management saved the career of a young player threatened by both.

The player had been pressured in court to admit to what was then illegal homosexual behaviour, though Ramsey judged that footballer not on a court case, but through his skills on the field and his character off it.

Sir Alf Ramsey wasn't just a football genius, he was a hero for his own age and should remain so in ours. Sixty years after his greatest glory, the Silent Knight's achievements live on.

Grant Bage's book The Unseen Sir Alf, by Pitch Publishing, is available to buy here

90 seconds, once again, are on the clock.

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We’ve unlocked another high-calibre vault of brain-teasers to test whether your footballing memory is tactical genius or bench-warmer standard, courtesy of Kwizly. From the tactical whiteboard of modern managerial heavyweights to the shot-stoppers who turned clean sheets into an art form, this round of quizzes is packed with statistical heavy-hitters and historic nostalgia.

We are starting with two masterclasses in domestic dominance. First up, can you name Pep Guardiola's 60 most-used players? It is a fascinating deep dive into the inner circle of one of football's greatest tacticians, requiring you to recall his most trusted lieutenants across his legendary spells at Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City. Then, take a trip back through North London history to name every Arsenal player to have won the Premier League.

Individual perfection in the penalty box is rare, but we are asking you to spotlight the elite at both ends of the pitch. Can you name every player to score 20+ goals in a Premier League season? This is a salute to the ultimate goal machines who redefined attacking consistency, from golden-era icons to surprising one-season wonders. Once you have celebrated the goalscorers, turn your attention to the final line of defence and try to name every winner of the Premier League Golden Glove, sorting through the legendary goalkeepers who locked down their penalty areas season after season.

If you consider yourself a true student of line-ups and global squad building, we have a unique challenge that will push your visual memory to the brink: can you guess the team from the line-ups' nationalities? You will be given starting XIs represented strictly by national flags, forcing you to decipher iconic matchday teams through their international mix alone. To pair with that tactical puzzle, step back into an era of incredible domestic drama and see if you can name the clubs and players who won trophies in the 2000s, celebrating the silverware collectors who dominated the first decade of the millennium.

For those who prefer their trivia wrapped in cryptic clues and high-brow football culture, the final stretch steps up the difficulty considerably. Settle in with FourFourTwo's Weekend Crossword 63, with a look at Playmakers, Places and Euro '28. It is an intricate grid designed to challenge your knowledge of midfield orchestrators and future host venues as continental excitement builds toward the next European Championship. Right beside it sits the ultimate gatekeeper of trivia prestige: Pre-Match Poser no.37. This singular elite-level football quiz question has been engineered specifically to stump even the most confident statisticians in your group chat.

Don’t let your footballing IQ stay an unverified claim—make it official by taking your scores over to The Club, our free digital membership portal. It is the best place to systematically log your daily quiz results, collect unique badges for your profile, and see how your rank stacks up against the sharpest minds across our global community. Plus, to keep your brain conditioned as the 2026 season rolls on, make sure you are subscribed to our weekday newsletter to get a freshly curated dose of high-intensity trivia delivered directly to your inbox every morning.

Chelsea could soon be joined in Hong Kong by Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck, senior players added to the squad to ensure that new manager Xabi Alonso has some experience to draw upon.

The Blues have been busy in the transfer market since the end of the World Cup. Henderson and Welbeck are following Marco Palestra, Emmanuel Emegha and British transfer record signing Morgan Rogers as new signings in a packed squad.

One item of business Alonso will address sooner rather than later is deciding on a squad that meets the requirements of the Premier League for the 2026-27 season.

Which Chelsea players could miss out this season?

Chelsea will not be involved in European competition and the Premier League will be Alonso’s bread and butter, presenting the Blues with a significant squad-whittling challenge.

They will submit their 25-man squad list to the Premier League at the end of the transfer window and it will fulfil the usual requirements.

The squad will include a maximum of 25 players, of which at least eight will fulfil the Premier League’s Home Grown Player (HGP) criteria:

“A player who irrespective of nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for… three entire seasons, or 36 months, before his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21).”

Players born after the start of 2005 will be classified as under-21s and do not have to be included on the squad list but can be used in Premier League matches.

Chelsea’s HGP submissions last summer were Tosin Adarabioyo, Trevoh Chalobah, Liam Delap, Reece James, Joao Pedro, Robert Sanchez, Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill and Raheem Sterling.

The players eligible as HGP this season are: Adarabioyo, Chalobah, Delap, James, Pedro, Sanchez, Palmer, Colwill, Rogers, Welbeck, Henderson and Teddy Sharman-Lowe – in other words, that criterion will not be an issue.

Chelsea saw the need to add two players over the age of 35 precisely because so many of their first team and fringe players are eligible as under-21s. The big benefit of that in terms of squad management is that there are very few players at risk of missing out and even fewer likely to be at the club long enough for it to matter.

The introduction of Mike Penders puts goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen at risk although he is Strasbourg-bound, but creates a space for someone else; Penders is 20.

Liam Delap, not needed to meet HGP criteria, has only been at Chelsea for a year but already looks surplus to requirements. The striker scored just once in the Premier League last season and appears more likely to be named in some squad other than Chelsea’s by the end of the transfer window.

The same is true of Senegal striker Nicolas Jackson, who spent 2025-26 on loan at Bayern Munich and is widely reported to be a target for Aston Villa. On paper, he would currently be on the outside of Chelsea’s senior squad looking in.

The fourth and final squad member who will miss out for rather obvious reasons is Ukrainian winger Mykhailo Mudryk, whose four-year ban for failing a drug test still has two seasons left to run.

With more than a month left of the summer transfer window, Alonso won’t yet have made all his decisions. Chelsea are likely to make more signings and almost certain to let a few players leave.

Until that’s settled, it’s all up for grabs.

Watch Liverpool vs Wrexham today as Andoni Iraola continues to settle into his new role, as FourFourTwo brings you all the details on live streams and TV channels, wherever you are in the world.

Liverpool saw off fellow Premier League outfit Sunderland just a few days ago as new boss Iraola continues to get to grips with his new side.

Wrexham have beaten both Manchester United and Leeds United so far this summer, as they eye another crack at promotion to the Premier League.

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How to watch Liverpool vs Wrexham

▶︎ Liverpool vs Wrexham will be shown in the UK and internationally on both LFCTV and iFollow Wrexham.

LFCTV is Liverpool's in-house television service, and a subscription for the year will set you back £42.99 or £4.99 a month. The monthly option also offers a 14-day free trial.

Wrexham's iFollow streaming service is another alternative, with a Match Pass available to watch the game in the UK for only £4.99.

▶︎ The match is also being shown in Australia (Stan Sport and beIN Sports) and in the US (ESPN - $12.99/month).

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Liverpool vs Wrexham: Preview

The Reds beat Sunderland 4-2 just a few days ago, but the headlines continue to be centred around their summer business.

Rumours are swirling that PSG winger Bradley Barcola is set to join the club, as Iraola eyes a huge coup in his tenure.

Stalwarts such as Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson have left the club, so the room for personnel is no greater than it is now.

Alisson is no younger and seems to be facing stiff competition from Giorgi Mamardashvili, although there is some talk the Brazillian is set to get the nod, for now.

• Should I use a VPN to watch football

Wrexham are still under the watchful eye of Phil Parkinson and went close to grabbing a play-off spot in the Championship last season.

They've already beaten two well-established Premier League clubs in Manchester United and Leeds United this summer.

The latter was a 3-2 win over Daniel Farke's men, whilst the win over the Red Devils was a snooze-fest in comparison.

Crystal Palace defender Danny Imray is set to join the Championship club, according to reports, marking their first summer incoming.

FourFourTwo's prediction

Liverpool 3-1 Wrexham

Wrexham will put up a good fit but Liverpool's class will shine through in this one.

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Newcastle United will be on alert after the future of one of their key transfer targets was addressed by his manager after a pre-season friendly.

The Magpies have persistently been credited with an interest in Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Lucas Bergvall, who is currently in Australia with Spurs and played in their warm-up against A-League side Sydney FC.

Spurs have signed midfielders Matheus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali for a combined fee in the region of £185 million, leaving the 20-year-old’s place in the team under threat.

‘I don’t want to convince anyone to stay’

The Sweden midfielder is understood to have informed Spurs that he wants to leave, with Newcastle a potential destination thanks to the departure of Tonali and ongoing speculation about the future of captain Bruno Guimaraes.

Spurs manager Roberto De Zerbi was candid in his comments about Bergvall’s destiny after the game in Sydney, as reported by Nazaar Kinsella for BBC Sport. The Italian has already been won over by the player but isn’t hiding the fact that their requirements might not align this summer.

“I would like that he stays with us,” said the Spurs boss. “"I think he's potentially a top, top, top player. But then I don't want to convince anyone to stay. Tottenham is already, without me, a top club and we are not to convince anyone to stay.

“He can find the space if he stays with us. The competition within the players will be very strong because we are Tottenham and we have to build a strong squad - not just 11 players - especially considering a lot of injuries we suffered in the last two, three seasons.

“He wants space. He wants to play as a double pivot as a position. I can't give, for any player in the world, the place in the first XI guaranteed. I want to be honest with the players. I want to be clear. I don't want to make the first mistake. In terms of position, I can't give guarantee.”

Spurs moved quickly to equip De Zerbi with new signings capable of underpinning improvement on the pitch after consecutive 17th-placed finishes in the Premier League and two seasons rather closer to relegation than expected, albeit with a Europa League win and a respectable Champions League campaign in the mix too.

Tonali and Fernandes have been signed along with big-money defender Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton & Hove Albion and the free transfer acquisitions of Marcos Senesi from Bournemouth, Andy Robertson from Liverpool and Burnley goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

Added depth and an improved starting midfield don’t say much for Bergvall’s long-term prospects at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium irrespective of De Zerbi’s positive words.

If Bergvall were to move to St James’ Park, he could be back at Spurs before the end of next month.

Their first home game of the season will be against the Magpies on Saturday, August 29.

Brazil’s Superior Court of Sports Justice (STJD) has ruled that 22-year-old Internacional defender Victor Gabriel will serve an unprecedented ban following his red card in a top-flight match last week.

Gabriel was sent off in a Serie A fixture against Cruzeiro. His tackle fractured the tibia of former Los Angeles Galaxy star Gabriel Pec, who joined the Belo Horizonte club from the Galaxy as recently as this month.

Pec required surgery after he was injured during his Cruzeiro debut and the severity of the break will directly impact Gabriel too.

‘Disproportionate and reckless’ tackle behind six-month ban

The idea that a player who injures and opponent should be ineligible to play for the same length of time as the injured player has been mooted often but the matter is complicated by the rather obvious fact that even red card tackles that cause serious harm are not always deliberate.

The STJD does legislate for extended bans in Brazilian sport. The Brazilian Code of Sports Justice (CBJD) allows for the offending athlete to be suspended ‘until the injured party returns to training’ in case of serious violent play. Such bans are capped at 180 days.

Gabriel has been handed a ban linked to Pec’s return after charges were filed against him and could be out of action for six months.

“Gabriel was in attendance at the STJD’s committee hearing and said he regretted what happened, had apologised to Pec, and had not intended to cause him harm,” reports The Athletic.

The hearing was muddied by the presentation and subsequent withdrawal of VAR audio as part of the defence compiled by lawyers representing Internacional and their player. The defence team, unable to prove the credibility of the evidence, admitted to submitting audio that was sourced from social media.

Gabriel’s own representation of the incident was unequivocal about his lack of intent. The Inter defender didn’t contest the dangerous nature of the tackle in question but denied outright any suggestion that he had meant to endanger or injure Pec.

“I had the feeling that I would get to the ball first, and I did,” testified Gabriel, as reported by The Athletic.

“Since the field was quite slippery and wet, I ended up hitting the ball and then I didn’t have time to pull my leg back, and that’s how this somewhat harder tackle happened, but without any intention of causing harm to my fellow professional or any malice.”

Gabriel is a central defender who joined the Porto Alegre giants from Sport Recife, initially on loan, in 2024. He made the move permanent in January and has played 22 league games between the national Serie A and Internacional’s unsuccessful regional championship defence.

Friday’s match against Athletico Paranaense, the first game of what is Gabriel’s third Serie A suspension of the season, was Internacional’s fourth consecutive league defeat.

Tottenham Hotspur are preparing a move that could have serious ramifications for Arsenal.

North London's bitter foes are no strangers when it comes to fighting it out for transfer targets, having competed for several players in the past – most notably, this summer, Sandro Tonali, who chose Tottenham after starting the window as Arsenal's first-choice target in midfield.

With plenty of business left to be done this summer, it would seem that there may yet be overlap in who the two clubs look to recruit, starting with a Spurs move on the horizon.

Tottenham Hotspur in for long-time Arsenal defensive target

According to Spanish outlet Fichajes, Tottenham are weighing up a move for Jules Kounde of Barcelona for around €65 million.

With captain Cristian Romero having agreed an exit from N17, Spurs have already signed Jan Paul van Hecke to replace him, but further reinforcements could well be made before the end of the window, with the report claiming the Lilywhites are “keen on Kounde for his versatility” in being able to play on the right or in the centre of defence.

Signing the Frenchman would be a huge coup, given that he has been a long-term target down the Seven Sisters Road.

Arsenal are understood to be on the hunt for defensive cover themselves, with William Saliba's participation in the first half of the season unclear after suffering a back injury at the World Cup.

Given the injury issues suffered by Jurrien Timber and Ben White in recent months, Arsenal could do with someone to deputise at right-back, too.

While Tottenham have not made a formal offer as yet, the interest is said to be hinging on whether Barça choose to cash in on Kounde.

The Catalan giants are expected to move for a centre-forward before the transfer window closes, with any bid of €60m or above for Kounde well worth consideration.

FourFourTwo understands that Arsenal currently aren't looking to the 27-year-old as they look to keep costs down in their pursuit of Bruno Guimaraes and Vinicius Jr, but with Spurs looking to bolster their defence, another right-back could well arrive before deadline.

Pedro Porro, however, proved himself as one of the standouts in his position over the World Cup, and it is unlikely that Roberto De Zerbi will want to replace him in his system.

Kounde is valued at €60m by Transfermarkt. Spurs travel to Brentford on the first day of the new Premier League season.

Talismanic attacker Iliman Ndiaye is reportedly closing in on a move to Saudi Pro League outfit Al Hilal.

According to transfer insider Pete O'Rourke, the Senegalese international is expected to finalise a lucrative departure this summer, stripping the Toffees of one of their main goal threats.

While losing Ndiaye depletes Everton’s firepower up front, the reality of the squad’s defensive depth - or lack, thereof - is arguably even more alarming. As things stand, Everton possess just three senior central defenders in their entire squad.

Everton in transfer trouble ahead of new season

Tellingly, two of those options are James Tarkowski and Michael Keane, both now 33 years old, who formed part of Burnley’s central defensive unit a decade ago.

During Burnley's 2016/17 Premier League campaign, Ben Mee was Sean Dyche’s preferred choice alongside Keane, although Tarkowski and Keane did play together 20 times over the course of the season.

Relying on that exact pairing ten years later highlights a stark lack of squad evolution and could leave Everton exposed at the back in 2026/27.

Compounding the growing uncertainty at Goodison Park is speculation surrounding manager David Moyes.

The veteran Scot has been linked with taking the vacant Scotland national team job following Steve Clarke's recent departure following a disappointing World Cup exit.

Given where Moyes stands in his managerial career, taking charge of his national team at this present juncture is widely regarded as his final opportunity to undertake the role.

Should the Scottish FA make a formal approach, Everton could find themselves searching for a new manager at the worst possible time.

With just over three weeks remaining before the Premier League season gets underway, the pressure on Everton’s transfer negotiators has reached the point where fans are beginning to question the strategy underpinning their summer business.

The club cannot afford to head into the opening weekend relying on an aged defensive duo, little central depth, and their star forward sold abroad.

The Toffees have added Merlin Rohl and Tyrique George on permanent deals, as well as securing Hayden Hackney from Middlesbrough, but there is work still to be done. Everton kick off their Premier League campaign at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday, August 22.

Chelsea are keeping their Premier League rivals on their toes with a string of surprising transfers ahead of Xabi Alonso’s first season in charge at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues have invested heavily this summer, bringing Morgan Rogers in from Aston Villa for a British record transfer fee and signing Atalanta full-back Marco Palestra. Geovany Quenda has completed his move and striker Emmanuel Emegha has been imported from Strasbourg.

Those four players have an average age between 21 and 22, a number lowered further by the two teenage players Chelsea have acquired for lower fees this summer, but the next players through the door will be a different story.

Henderson free to join Chelsea from Brentford

Chelsea are eager to add cost-effective experience and leadership to their ranks. Not being a club to do things by halves, they’re on the cusp of signing both Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck.

It was reported on Wednesday morning that Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion have agreed a deal for Welbeck, who has now been given permission to undergo a medical before completing a transfer to Stamford Bridge on a two-year deal.

35-year-old Welbeck is shining in the twilight of his career. The former Manchester United and Arsenal striker will join the Blues on the back of a fine season in front of goal.

He scored 13 times in the Premier League – the best return of his career – but it’s almost as noteworthy that he was consistently fit and available for the Seagulls. Welbeck is being signed for experience but there’s every chance he features regularly, with Liam Delap struggling to lock down a place and Emegha still developing.

Brighton will receive an undisclosed transfer fee thanks to a one-year contract extension signed earlier this year, while Brentford will allow Henderson to leave the Gtech Community Stadium for nothing.

“England midfielder Henderson, 36, has a year left on his Brentford contract but the Bees are willing to let him leave on a free transfer,” report Nazaar Kinsella and Sami Mokbel for BBC Sport.

“Henderson made 34 appearances in all competitions for Brentford last season after joining from Ajax. He made one substitute appearance for England at the World Cup before breaking his arm falling over advertising hoardings while celebrating their last-16 win over Mexico.”

Both Henderson and Welbeck are expected to be part of Chelsea’s pre-season tour of Hong Kong.

The Blues will play Tottenham Hotspur in Sydney on Saturday before facing Juventus in Hong Kong and AC Milan in Jakarta over the course of the next week.

Alonso will then take on his first club, Real Sociedad, in his first match in charge at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea’s Premier League campaign gets underway down the road at Fulham on Monday, August 24.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has reportedly set a deadline for Member Associations to get behind his plan to set up a private company to run competitions including the World Cup.

FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) will be worth $20 billion, with $4 billion available to outside investors. Joshua Kushner, the brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is understood to be the lead investor.

Infantino’s relationship with Trump was a stain on this summer’s World Cup and makes his brazen scheme to convert every last scrap of football’s flagship into profit is made all the more problematic.

Infantino’s letter to FIFA Member Associations

UEFA, football’s European confederation, seldom misses an opportunity to pick a fight with FIFA. In a statement issued on Tuesday, it pointed out that Infantino’s plan ‘crosses a line’ and that the World Cup is not Infantino’s to sell.

“The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade - especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially,” said UEFA, whose member nations are understood to be considering a World Cup boycott in response.

A World Cup without UEFA participation would be worthless but Infantino’s financial leverage at the federation level is a genuine threat to football’s global integrity.

The continued presidency of the FIFA boss has the backing of more than 200 Member Associations, with entire blocs motivated by boosted revenue and the growth of the men’s World Cup.

In a letter to football associations reported by Sky News sports correspondent Rob Harris, Infantino has given Member Associations a deadline of September 19 to back the scheme, with $40 million not-so-subtly on offer for those that do.

“Mr Infantino warned they would have much less cash for development, grassroots football and national teams if they didn't support his plan,” reports Sky News.

“He said the launch of FFE needed the backing of its ruling council and more than 50% of its members.

“In his letter, the [Swiss] called it a "singular and unique funding opportunity only for those Member Associations who wish to participate, with their decision to be made by 19 September 2026 so we can plan ahead and with funds to be available immediately as of 1 January 2027.’”

England’s FA was among the first country-level governing bodies to speak out against Infantino’s forceful proposal but there are supportive voices even within UEFA. The president of the Czech FA has backed the plan.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has condemned the sell-off, rightly saying that the World Cup and football are not Infantino’s to sell. Football does not belong to FIFA. FIFA and the World Cup do not belong to Infantino.

Calls for Member Associations and regional confederations to take meaningful action against the FIFA president’s plan are gathering pace but the chances of thwarting him without razing the World Cup to the ground appear minimal.

“FIFA has not commented on how much Mr Infantino stands to benefit financially from delivering the $20bn venture,” reports Sky News.

Alex Ferguson’s influence on English football is unmatched and more complex than it might appear at first glance.

Manchester United won 13 Premier League titles in the 27-year Ferguson era, adding a pair of Champions League wins and a vast collection of domestic cups. The Red Devils were feared for decades and everything they touched turned to silver.

Beneath the surface, Ferguson helped to nurture a generation of managers. Many of them played under him at Old Trafford but others did not. Ferguson’s willingness to offer advice and guidance to managers making their way in the game is legendary.

"He came straight over and gave me his number"

Sean Dyche was among them. After a short spell in charge of Watford, where he had been a player, Dyche was appointed by Burnley in 2012 and spent the next 10 years in charge at Turf Moor.

Ferguson extended his generosity to the rookie boss.

“It started very quickly,” said Dyche on The Good, The Bad & The Football, in partnership with Midnite.

“I went to a charity gig just after [landing] the Burnley job and to be fair, to his credit, [Ferguson] came straight over and gave me his number.

“It wasn’t really mentoring because that presupposed as though he was ringing me all the time. It wasn’t like that.”

The Clarets have a proud history of success but Dyche was responsible for their biggest modern achievements, leading them to the Premier League in 2014 and again, as Championship winners, two years later.

“He did give me a brilliant bit of advice,” said Dyche.

“When we were pushing for promotion the first time at Burnley and we got to about March, I was thinking, ‘How much longer can we keep this [promotion charge] going?’

“I was fearful it was going to hit the wall. So I rang him and I said, ‘What do you think?’

“He said: ‘Tell everyone how fit you are, how strong you are, and how you’re going to be relentless this season. I said that about Manchester United and I had no foundation – I just put it out there. Keep saying it, and saying it, and saying it.’”

Inspired by Dyche and facilitated by 21 league goals from Danny Ings, Burnley won automatic promotion in second place behind Leicester City, ending the 2013-14 season with 93 points and finishing eight points clear of Derby County in third.

They lost just two Championship matches after the turn of the year, both at home, and started 2014 on an unbeaten run of 15 league games.

“We just kept winning, and winning, and winning,” recalled the former Burnley boss.

Dyche’s team were relegated from the Premier League in the following season but won the Championship – again with 93 points – in 2015-16. They remained in the top flight until 2022 and were relegated weeks after Dyche was sacked.

Burnley have been promoted or relegated in every season since.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino plans to privatise the World Cup, with UEFA furious about the plans.

According to an explosive report from The Times' Chief Sports Reporter, Martyn Ziegler, FIFA are to sell stakes in the World Cup to private backers, with talks having opened with investors close to the Trump administration.

The proposal has been met by widespread condemnation, with Prime Minister Andy Burnham even weighing in to state, “Football does not belong to investors.”

What have UEFA said about FIFA's new plans?

In a statement made in a post on X (formerly Twitter), UEFA blasted FIFA's plans, claiming that football was not the world governing body's to sell.

“This crosses a line that football's governing institutions should never cross,” UEFA said. “UEFA takes it extremely seriously. So should every National Football Association. So should every stakeholder: leagues, clubs, players, supporters, governments and everyone who cares about the future of the game.

“The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade – especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA's to sell.”

What will UEFA do about this?

According to the BBC, UEFA's 55 member associations are set for an emergency meeting later this week to discuss these proposals.

Right now, there is no clear threat from UEFA to make their own move – though that could theoretically change.

UEFA's response in itself has been described in the same report as “remarkable”, with the Nyom-based body rarely commenting on FIFA in public – but further steps will be intriguing, given the power that UEFA wields within FIFA.

Of FIFA's 211 member associations, only 55 are members of UEFA, but with six of the recent World Cup's eight quarter-finalists coming from UEFA, European football carries huge weight.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin boycotted the World Cup final this month in protest at controversial moves from FIFA.

Why are UEFA concerned about this?

While it would be nice to presume that UEFA are worried about the sanctity of the sport, FIFA's suggestion to revamp their competitions would severely impact UEFA's own products – and that's likely to be a driving force in UEFA's opposition.

For example, biannual World Cup competitions would likely bring an end to the European Championship taking place on alternate even years, throwing the football calendar out of kilter, while scaling up the Club World Cup would further complicate things.

It's fair to guess that a supersized World Cup and Club World Cup would reduce the spectacle of a Euros or Champions League, respectively, taking even more of a physical toll on footballers already stretched to their limits.

Can UEFA withdraw from FIFA?

Yes, they can. As independent legal entities, UEFA have self-governance to cut ties with the world's governing body.

But that's not where the problem lies. FIFA is an association of individual national football federations: UEFA is not a part of FIFA: for example, the English Football Association, is, however, a member.

UEFA is the unifying body for Europe's 55 member associations, but individual football associations choose to align themselves with FIFA to participate in global tournaments.

So while UEFA would need agreement between all 55 members to sever ties to FIFA, England's FA could choose to legally resign or suspend its FIFA membership.

What can member associations do about these changes?

Essentially, any action will have to either come one of two ways: individually or collectively.

The problem for UEFA is that member associations – especially smaller ones – may well be in favour of these plans: FIFA claims that it wants to extend global funding, and with each member association getting around £15 million in one-off capital, the money will be far too good for many of the 211 members to turn down.

It's easy for England, France or Germany to turn down that kind of money (in theory, at least), but there are still developing nations in Europe that would welcome that kind of investment. This would make unilateral collective opposition to FIFA's privatisation deal incredibly unlikely.

Furthermore, a pact between top nations could be shaky. Say, for argument's sake, that France and Germany both agree to boycott the 2030 World Cup: that would obviously give England a once-in-a-lifetime boost to their chances of glory in the competition.

Some would argue that history doesn't include footnotes as to why teams triumphed or not: the first World Cup was invite-only, with several European nations declining to take part due to the costs of getting to South America during the Great Depression. Inaugural champions Uruguay still display that star proudly on their shirts, though. The context doesn't matter to them.

Could UEFA take matters into their own hands?

Yes, UEFA has legal power to penalise or even straight-up ban entire national associations that break ranks – but all 55 members would have to collectively pass a resolution first.

UEFA couldn't simply ban any club taking part in the expanded 2025 Club World Cup from the Champions League, because there was no clear violation of UEFA's executive directives.

In an emergency, however, under UEFA's governing statutes, UEFA can activate their Emergency Panel. This consists of the UEFA president (Aleksander Ceferin), the first vice-president, the treasurer, and two members hand-picked by the president, with the quintet, “authorised to take and execute final decisions on urgent matters that fall under the authority of the UEFA Executive Committee”.

UEFA's administration can then execute binding executive directives. Whether or not things reach such a stage remains to be seen…

Aston Villa were locked at 0-0 with Freiburg when the first corner of the match was awarded shortly before half time in the Europa League final.

Lucas Digne took the kick short to Morgan Rogers, which triggered four Villa players to crash the six-yard box while Youri Tielemans peeled away outside the box. Rogers then floated the ball to the Belgium captain.

Tielemans slammed a volley through a gap in the crowd that was created when the goalmouth quartet split into pairs and dragged their markers apart. Villa never looked back after taking the lead and went on to win their first European trophy for 44 years.

Austin MacPhee is the top dog and his favourite ball is a dead one

The players involved in the first goal in Istanbul, at least the players that touched the ball, are gone.

Tielemans had a hitherto unreported release clause of £35 million and is now at Manchester United. Digne is expected to complete a return to Paris Saint-Germain for the same reason but a smaller fee.

Rogers moved from Villa to Chelsea for a British record transfer fee and has now been joined at Stamford Bridge by Austin MacPhee, the architect of the routine and the mastermind of enough Villa goals over the years to leave supporters frustrated by his departure.

It’s a sign of the times that a club of Chelsea’s unshackled ambition should pay a rival for a specialist coach whose work looks so repeatable on the surface but it’s understood that Villa will receive compensation specified by a release clause.

Villa have undergone a degree of backroom change this summer but it’s the loss of MacPhee that attracted headlines. He joined Villa to link up with Dean Smith but both Steven Gerrard and Unai Emery kept him on.

The 46-year-old is the best in the game, a status demonstrated in the numbers but only really proven by watching Villa week in and week out to observe the patterns in a way the man himself might.

Judging a set piece coach on defensive results is a minefield, but what can Chelsea fans expect to see from their new set piece conductor-in-chief at the right end of the field as new boss Xabi Alonso aims to get the club back on the right path?

The first corner and the element of surprise

It was no accident that Villa scored from their first corner against Freiburg. MacPhee always has a trick up his sleeve and his teams don’t hesitate to roll out the plan at the first opportunity.

Villa’s first corners throughout 2025-26 alone were a sight to behold and Chelsea will be no different. The Blues will work on countless set piece blueprints on MacPhee’s watch but the first corner kick of each match will be worth keeping an eye on.

Catching the opposition cold is a vital point of difference and, perhaps, the biggest reason to bring in MacPhee specifically rather than hiring someone to copy Villa’s dead ball footage.

Every opposition manager and set piece coach last season knew that Villa would have a fresh manoeuvre from their first corner but not one of them knew what it would be. In a game of tiny margins, MacPhee’s imagination is priceless.

Mastery of space and bodies

Villa were the best set piece team in Europe in 2023-24. Only Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur scored more goals from corners in the Premier League last term. The consistency of MacPhee’s efforts is remarkable and there’s more to it than sketching out pretty passing moves.

Buy-in from players is the cornerstone of Emery’s success at Villa and a commitment to understanding and executing MacPhee’s plans has been a huge part of that. Chelsea have acquired the man but the collective mentality that turned his work into results doesn’t come with a release clause.

MacPhee is a peerless manipulator of very expensive flesh puppets. Villa’s Europa League opener was a clever movement of the ball superbly implemented by top players, but creating a hole in front of the goalkeeper big enough to land a Harrier jump jet is the where the real genius lies.

That’s MacPhee’s most potent point of difference and what makes him worth paying for.

Set piece coaches are everywhere but the Scot is the one whose methodology stands out as combining imaginative set plays with the ability to understand how to move or block the pieces needed to make them happen.

Every set piece coach at the top level knows how to create spaces and deploy blockers but the MacPhee flourish with the ball is unmatched.

As the game inevitably edges away from the overly physical yet highly choreographed nature of corners and free kicks, Chelsea might now be uniquely futureproofed.

Watch Sydney FC vs Tottenham Hotspur for free as Roberto de Zerbi's side look to kick their pre-season preparations up a gear. FourFourTwo brings you all the details on live streams and TV channels, wherever you are in the world.

Spurs ended last season by surviving relegation by the narrowest of margins, but a heavy-spending transfer window has sparked hopes of a push for European qualification in 2026/27.

Roberto De Zerbi's side now boasts Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Jan Paul van Hecke and Andrew Robertson, all of whom could feature against Sydney on Wednesday.

Read on as FourFourTwo brings you all the information you need to watch Sydney FC vs Tottenham online, on TV, and from anywhere.

Can I watch Sydney FC vs Tottenham for free?

Yes, TVNZ+ in New Zealand are broadcasting the match between Sydney FC and Spurs for free.

In the US, CBS Sports Golazo Network are showing the game at no cost — you don't even need an account.

You just need an account and you'll be able to watch at no cost.

Abroad today? Use NordVPN to unlock your stream from anywhere in the world.

Watch Sydney FC vs Tottenham from anywhere

Away from home right now? You don't have to miss this pre-season friendly. The solution to your geo-restriction nightmares is a Virtual Private Network (VPN), a piece of software that can set your devices to appear to be in any country in the world.

FourFourTwo’s tech-obsessed office-mates over at Tom's Guide know everything there is to know about VPNs, and they rate NordVPN as the best VPN you can buy.

How to watch Sydney FC vs Tottenham in the UK and US

In the UK and US you will need SPURSPLAY to stream the Sydney FC vs Tottenham game.

It will cost you £45 ($60) a year for a SPURSPLAY subscription with all pre-season games included.

CBS Sports Golazo Network will also be broadcasting the game for free in the US.

Visiting the UK or US from New Zealand? Use NordVPN to access TVNZ+.

How to watch Sydney FC vs Tottenham in Australia

Paramount+ will be showing Sydney FC vs Tottenham in Australia. Plans start at AU$7.99 per month or AU$70.99 per year.

SEE ALSO Should I use a VPN to watch football?

FourFourTwo's prediction

Sydney FC 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur

It's pre-season, who has a clue what will happen!

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The Community Shield will not take place in England this season as Wembley Stadium is hosting a concert on the same day as the annual fixture.

This year's Community Shield sees Premier League champions Arsenal take on FA Cup winners Manchester City at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Sunday, August 16. With prices falling on VIP tickets, it seems enthusiasm for the fixture isn't massive.

The fixture was moved from London to Wales because Wembley is hosting the third of five successive shows by pop superstar The Weeknd that same day, which means it will be played outside of England for the first time since 2006.

Arsenal vs Manchester City Community Shield VIP tickets are still available

Community Shield returns to Wales due to Weeknd gig

The Community Shield is the traditional curtain-raiser to the English domestic season and sees the Premier League winners face the FA Cup holders on the weekend before the new campaign begins.

The match has been held away from Wembley just twice since the stadium reopened in 2007, but was played at the Principality Stadium for six successive years between 2001 and 2006 while the London venue was being rebuilt.

The previous Community Shield in Cardiff saw FA Cup winners Liverpool beat Premier League champions Chelsea 2-1 in August 2006, when Peter Crouch scored a late winner after Andriy Shevchenko cancelled out John Arne Riise's early strike.

Other than the years when it was being rebuilt, this year will be just the third time since 1974 that Wembley has not hosted the fixture.

The first was in 2012, when the Community Shield was played at Villa Park because the national stadium was one of the football venues for the London 2012 Olympics. City beat Chelsea 3-2 that day.

The other was four years ago in 2022, when Liverpool beat City 3-1 at Leicester City's King Power Stadium because Wembley was hosting the 2022 Women's European Championship final between England and Germany the day after.

Arsenal fans will have fond memories of the Principality Stadium, having seen their team win three FA Cup finals there when the ground was known by its original name, the Millennium Stadium.

The Gunners beat Chelsea 2-0 in 2002 on their way to doing the Double, then overcame Southampton 1-0 the following season.

Arsene Wenger's side also edged past Manchester United on penalties in 2005 following a 0-0 draw after extra-time.

Crystal Palace are the Community Shield holders having followed their 2025 FA Cup win by beating Liverpool 3-2 in a shoot-out 12 months ago, after the game ended 2-2.

Let's go!

Handpicked football quizzes we know you'll love

We’ve unlocked another high-calibre vault of brain-teasers to test whether your footballing memory is tactical genius or bench-warmer standard, courtesy of Kwizly. From the tactical whiteboard of modern managerial heavyweights to the shot-stoppers who turned clean sheets into an art form, this round of quizzes is packed with statistical heavy-hitters and historic nostalgia.

We are starting with two masterclasses in domestic dominance. First up, can you name Pep Guardiola's 60 most-used players? It is a fascinating deep dive into the inner circle of one of football's greatest tacticians, requiring you to recall his most trusted lieutenants across his legendary spells at Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City. Then, take a trip back through North London history to name every Arsenal player to have won the Premier League.

Individual perfection in the penalty box is rare, but we are asking you to spotlight the elite at both ends of the pitch. Can you name every player to score 20+ goals in a Premier League season? This is a salute to the ultimate goal machines who redefined attacking consistency, from golden-era icons to surprising one-season wonders. Once you have celebrated the goalscorers, turn your attention to the final line of defence and try to name every winner of the Premier League Golden Glove, sorting through the legendary goalkeepers who locked down their penalty areas season after season.

If you consider yourself a true student of line-ups and global squad building, we have a unique challenge that will push your visual memory to the brink: can you guess the team from the line-ups' nationalities? You will be given starting XIs represented strictly by national flags, forcing you to decipher iconic matchday teams through their international mix alone. To pair with that tactical puzzle, step back into an era of incredible domestic drama and see if you can name the clubs and players who won trophies in the 2000s, celebrating the silverware collectors who dominated the first decade of the millennium.

For those who prefer their trivia wrapped in cryptic clues and high-brow football culture, the final stretch steps up the difficulty considerably. Settle in with FourFourTwo's Weekend Crossword 63, with a look at Playmakers, Places and Euro '28. It is an intricate grid designed to challenge your knowledge of midfield orchestrators and future host venues as continental excitement builds toward the next European Championship. Right beside it sits the ultimate gatekeeper of trivia prestige: Pre-Match Poser no.37. This singular elite-level football quiz question has been engineered specifically to stump even the most confident statisticians in your group chat.

Don’t let your footballing IQ stay an unverified claim—make it official by taking your scores over to The Club, our free digital membership portal. It is the best place to systematically log your daily quiz results, collect unique badges for your profile, and see how your rank stacks up against the sharpest minds across our global community. Plus, to keep your brain conditioned as the 2026 season rolls on, make sure you are subscribed to our weekday newsletter to get a freshly curated dose of high-intensity trivia delivered directly to your inbox every morning.

The arrival of 20-year-old French midfielder Aladji Bamba from AS Monaco in a £34 million deal provides Eddie Howe with a gifted technician possessing certain similarities to Newcastle’s departing talisman.

At 20 years-old with limited senior experience, Bamba is far from the finished article and almost certainly won't have the same impact as Newcastle's skipper just yet - but the Toon Army are almost exclusively paying for potential.

The midfielder rose rapidly through AS Monaco’s academy ranks, reaching a point where he has ultimately commanded the significant fee Newcastle have paid.

Is Aladji Bamba Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes replacement?

According to Transfermarkt, Bamba had a standout breakthrough campaign in 2025/26, making 25 senior appearances across Ligue 1, the UEFA Champions League, and domestic cup competitions.

His composure and press resistance earned him a nomination for the 2026 European Golden Boy award before Newcastle secured his signature on a five-year contract.

Bamba operates mainly as a deep-lying midfielder, and his greatest strength lies in the vision he possesses when facing stubborn, compact opponents.

In an interview with Sky Sports, a former coach highlighted this precise quality when evaluating his skillset.

"His main attribute is playing against a low block, those tiny little passes to break down a low defence," Monaco set-piece coach Abel Lorincz said.

This description mirrors the one of Bruno Guimaraes' defining features at St. James' Park. Guimaraes has excelled at taking up positions on the right-hand side of the edge of the penalty box, slipping subtle, eye-of-the-needle passes through tight defensive lines into the path of runners like Miguel Almiron and Jacob Murphy.

Bamba’s ability to turn under pressure, roll the ball in tight spaces, and weight precise passes into the penalty area suggests he can potentially grow to replicate that creative outlet in the Premier League one day.

Bamba’s rapid ascent has seen him go from footballing obscurity with local side Blois to the Premier League in five short years. After logging 22 appearances and 4 goals for Monaco’s U19 side in 2023/24, he quickly adapted to senior football, featuring in 25 first-team matches last season, while boasting very high pass completion rates.

With Arsenal actively in talks for Guimaraes, losing the Brazilian remains a significant blow for Newcastle.

However, in Bamba, the Magpies have acquired a high-upside midfielder whose technical profile on the surface appears tailor-made to fill at least some of the void.

Anyone who watched Paris Saint-Germain lift the Champions League trophy for the second successive season in May could be forgiven for thinking French football is in rude health.

Luis Enrique's exciting young squad featured players from across the world but also several who would go on to represent Les Bleus at World Cup 2026, including Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue and Warren Zaire-Emery.

However, you don't need to scratch far beneath the surface to realise that PSG's success masks a sobering truth in Ligue 1 - one that is becoming increasingly clear this summer.

Why summer transfer window is shining a light on French clubs' struggles

The issues stem from a string of problematic TV rights deals, which began when Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 terminated their four-year contract with Mediapro - reportedly worth €3.25bn (around £2.78bn) - after half a season in December 2020 when the company failed to pay the league for two consecutive months.

There was then an embarrassing episode with streaming giant DAZN, who ended their five-year deal with the competition after just one season in May 2025, with a lack of subscribers cited as among the reasons.

Ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, the league launched Ligue 1+, an in-house streaming service that shows live matches. However, as French football expert Tom Williams explains in FourFourTwo's 2026/27 season preview, this is putting clubs at a huge financial disadvantage compared to their counterparts in the other top European leagues.

He writes: “In the ongoing absence of a TV rights agreement with a major broadcaster, Ligue 1 clubs remain dependent on the meagre income received from the division’s in-house channel Ligue 1+.

“In May, a L’Equipe report suggested the total TV revenue for 2026/27, to be shared between 18 clubs, would be a paltry €184.1m (around £160m).

“In such straitened times, even the traditional heavyweights must sell to keep their heads above water. Lyon have ceded breakout star Afonso Moreira to Bayer Leverkusen – the Portuguese won’t be the last to leave France for bigger offers.”

The minimal TV revenue looks even worse when compared to the Premier League's record-breaking £6.75bn domestic TV rights deal, which covers the four seasons from 2025 to 2029. That equates to roughly £1.7bn per campaign - more than 10 times the amount that L’Equipe claimed Ligue 1 clubs will earn in 2026/27.

As Williams points out, it means several clubs have no choice but to sell their stars, many of whom are young players with potential to develop.

Moreira is not the only 21-year-old to leave Ligue 1 this summer, with Rennes centre back Jeremy Jacquet joining Liverpool in a £60m deal.

Premier League side Newcastle United have also taken advantage of French clubs' vulnerable position, signing central midfielder Aladji Bamba from Monaco and Ewan Jaouen from Stade de Reims, both of whom are aged 20. Meanwhile, Marseille sold 24-year-old former Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood to Turkish side Fenerbahce for €45m (£38.4m).

PSG remain the richest club in the league by a considerable distance and benefit financially from competing in the Champions League, but they don't receive the same level of domestic TV income as their rivals across the continent.

Indeed, the European champions are yet to make a first-team signing this summer, while they have sold Goncalo Ramos and Lee Kang-in to AC Milan and Atletico Madrid respectively for almost £100m combined.

Those are just some of the players leaving France for better offers - and as Williams warns, they won't be the last this summer.

When Liam Delap made his high-profile move to Stamford Bridge last summer, it felt like the logical next step for one of English football’s most promising young attackers.

Yet, just a short time later, the striker finds himself at a career crossroads.

Reports now suggest Chelsea regard him as expendable this summer - a reality that, rather than signalling a disaster, might just prove to be the best thing that happens to his career.

Liam Delap MUST leave Chelsea for the good of his career

Delap’s talent has never been in doubt having tortured defences at youth level with Manchester City and England Under-21s. The son of former Republic of Ireland international Rory, Liam bullied opposition centre-halves with his in-your-face centre forward style.

This attitude became the cornerstone of his debut top-flight campaign with Ipswich Town in which he scored a dozen times for the relegated Tractor Boys.

A year later, largely due to limited opportunities, Delap has added just one more goal to his Premier League tally whilst on Chelsea's books. But the talent remains.

His rare combination of physical power, relentless running, and clinical finishing made him one of the most complete young centre-forwards in the country. That doesn't simply vanish in the space of 12 months.

Newcastle United were in talks to sign the 23-year-old from Ipswich last summer, with head coach Eddie Howe even presenting to the striker a vision of how he would play as the Magpies' No. 9.

The lure of Stamford Bridge, though, proved too much, as it has done for so many young players who struggle to make the grade at this stage of their career, through little fault of their own.

Delap is far from the first promising player to arrive in West London only to wrestle with heightened expectation, reduced game-time and squad bloat.

Under new head coach Xabi Alonso, it is difficult to see the former England youth international being given the necessary opportunity to turn his Blues fortunes around.

He is behind Joao Pedro in the pecking order, whilst the summer arrival of Emmanuel Emegha from Strasbourg adds further competition.

Meanwhile, reports that veteran Danny Welbeck could also be coming through the door means Delap’s path to regular first-team football remains obstructed.

In the volatile environment that is modern day Chelsea, defined by managerial churn and bloated squads, young players are easily swallowed up.

If Delap does move on this transfer window, his brief spell at Chelsea should not be framed as a personal failure or a career misstep. It is simply another chapter in a familiar story: Stamford Bridge remains a difficult environment for young players needing patient development, even if the sheer magnitude of the club makes it an opportunity impossible to turn down.

What Delap needs now is a move to an established, ambitious mid-level Premier League club. Joining a side unburdened by the threat of relegation, one realistically capable of pushing for European qualification, would provide the ideal stage.

Somewhere he is guaranteed to be the focal point of the attack rather than a bench option is paramount for his next move.

A broader motivation for leaving the Bridge extends all the way to the national team.

England face an inevitable long-term challenge: finding a successor to Harry Kane as the country’s starting No. 9 when the captain eventually steps down from international duty.

Right now, genuine candidates with the complete physical and technical profile required to lead England's line are scarce.

Delap possesses most attributes needed to be a true contender for the Three Lions' shirt, but potential means little without consistent Premier League minutes.

Seeking a fresh start where he can be the main man could help Delap resurrect his club prospects but also bring him into the conversation as the future of England’s attack.

Arsenal could have the answers to all their prayers – for free – as they juggle summer business.

The Gunners are trying to pull off the improbable in the transfer market, as they look to bring in the likes of Vinicius Jr and Bruno Guimaraes for a combined £200 million – and ensure that they have enough in the tank to strengthen in defence.

So could a familiar face present himself as a lifeline to Arsenal?

Former Arsenal man Takehiro Tomiyasu is back in London

According to James McNicholas of The Athletic, former Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu is training with Crystal Palace, as the Eagles weigh up a possible offer for the Japanese.

Tomiyasu signed for the Gunners in 2021 and established himself as a solid utility man in the Premier League – but in March 2023, he suffered knee damage that would mark the start of a string of injury problems.

The Japan international played just five minutes of football in 2024/25, before undergoing surgery – but surprisingly left the club by mutual consent to continue his rehabilitation alone 12 months ago.

Though the 27-year-old claimed his “heart wasn't really in it” during his recovery at London Colney, his exit was completely amicable with the club. “I’ll support the team as a Gooner alongside all of you,” he said after departing, describing his exit as “peaceful”.

Tomiyasu signed a short-term deal with Ajax last season, ahead of appearing at the 2026 World Cup.

The return to England is certainly apt: with Arsenal centre-back William Saliba hobbling out of the World Cup with a back injury – while right-backs Ben White and Jurrien Timber were ruled out before the tournament began – Gunners boss Mikel Arteta would certainly love to call upon a fully fit Tomiyasu as cover right now.

Though FourFourTwo understands that Palace are better placed to strike a deal – and that Arsenal aren't currently looking at re-signing the 27-year-old – the move would certainly help the Gunners out, as they look to complete other deals.

Given how much Arsenal are looking to spend in forward areas this summer, Arteta would no doubt welcome a familiar face that he knows he could trust – and with Tomiyasu available for absolutely nothing, it may be tempting for both parties to complete their unfinished business together, especially with the defender able to finally play in arguably his best position of centre-back, while Saliba recovers from injury.

With Palace a more likely option, however, one wonders how Arteta will look to seek cover for the likes of Saliba and Timber, as he looks to strengthen with eye-watering sums about to be spent in attack.

Tomiyasu is worth €5m, according to Transfermarkt. Arsenal start their Premier League title defence at home to Coventry City next month.

Arsenal may be champions for the first time in two decades, but the challenge is staying at the top.

And that requires serious investment this summer, with the Gunners' biggest acquisition so far being Christos Tzolis on the left wing.

So with some huge deals shaping up in the coming weeks, what's the best-case scenario for Mikel Arteta's Arsenal in the transfer market?

Arsenal's dream transfer window

1. Big-money Brazilians to join

The big one. Arsenal's pursuit of Vinicius Jr may well be the most ambitious move in the club's history, and snaring him could perhaps elevate the Gunners to Champions League favourites overnight.

And signing Bruno Guimaraes wouldn't be bad, either. Arteta has lacked a genuine creative passer on the left-hand side of the pitch since losing Granit Xhaka, with these two signings genuinely game-changing. As they should be, for £200 million combined.

2. Julian Alvarez to join in attack

As much as Vinicius Jr would change Gooners' worlds, imagine if they could snare Julian Alvarez, too. It's more than possible, too, given Atletico Madrid's interest in Viktor Gyokeres.

Alvarez might not be as clinical in the 18-yard box as the Swede, but his movement and dynamism would unlock players around him in a way that Gyokeres hasn't been able to do – and perhaps taking cues from Manchester City, Arteta could favour a 4-4-2 in certain situations, dropping Odegaard for Alvarez alongside Havertz or Mikel Merino, in a big man/little man combo to carve open deep defences. If the Gunners can make this happen for a net fee of £75m, that's a footballing gift horse, right?

3. Sell, sell, sell

Sure, Arsenal can spend around £300m on new attacking talents – but given that they already have excellent options in forward areas, something's got to give… especially as they still have reinforcements to make.

Fabio Vieira and Reiss Nelson are both still on the books, while Gabriel Jesus is a shadow of the figure he was when he joined and probably needs a fresh start, for himself as much as for the Gunners' wage structure. Noni Madueke, meanwhile, could be one that Arsenal consider the future of as Max Dowman develops.

And then there are the more uncomfortable conversations. Arteta has a potential world-beater in Ethan Nwaneri behind Martin Odegaard and Ebere Eze in the pecking order, and as much as the club would be loath to lose such a homegrown talent, it's the price you pay when you bring in superstar attackers. The same goes for Gabriel Martinelli, who you get the feeling would flourish alongside countrymen Vini and Bruno. If Arteta could fetch £100m for the pair, however, it may be too good to turn down.

4. Defensive cover is as important as the attack

Arsenal's title win was built on elite defensive foundations – yet with William Saliba, Ben White and Jurrien Timber all suffering injuries over the summer, it would be a gamble not to invest in top competition at the back.

Some solutions are internal: White might be better off as a Saliba back-up given the injury toll on his body, Christian Norgaard might be more trusted in defence, and Cristhian Mosquera can cover across the backline. Hopes are high for 16-year-old Marli Salmon, while you may not sign a better right-back than Declan Rice – who may be missed a whole lot less in midfield if Bruno Guimaraes is there to cover.

If Arsenal are sensible, however, stylistic backups for Timber and Saliba are must-buys in the next 12 months: Lutsharel Geertruida impressed at Sunderland and almost mirrors Timber in terms of playstyle, while Zeno Debast fits the bill as a similar centre-back to Saliba. It looks like a question of how much money is left at the end of the splurge, with the Guimaraes fee rising from how much the club originally wanted to pay and an Alvarez pursuit by no means a must if that record Vinicius Jr move comes off. The Gunners are spinning several plates, here…

How Arsenal's squad could look after a dream transfer window…

Unless you were a local resident with a gaggle of Gooners on your doorstep in the early hours, May 2026 was the N5 postcode's most magical month in just about two entire decades.

Not even a Champions League final defeat on penalties to PSG could dampen spirits too much – that's the level of hangover in play from Arsenal finally winning back the Premier League title.

It has significantly altered the landscape for the club, though. To quote Fever Pitch – a novel and film about a previous Arsenal title drought ending – the clouds have parted. Mikel Arteta is no longer the protege, his side no longer the challengers. The longest-serving boss in England's top four divisions is under a very different pressure to go and win it all over again, while new managers have been installed at every other so-called ‘Big Six' outfit since last year's opening weekend. Arsenal are now the ones to beat.

Can the Gunners retain their Premier League title? FourFourTwo's 2026-27 Arsenal season preview

Fortunately, David Raya behind William Saliba and Gabriel is the hardest brick wall in the division. And, while signings are inevitable, the returns of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz from injury might prove more decisive than a flashy new purchase.

The target couldn't be clearer. Arteta's next challenge is one that even George Graham and Arsene Wenger couldn't achieve: to retain a league title. Could these street parties become an annual thing?

The Coach

For years, Mikel Arteta asked fans to trust the process – now he's essentially untouchable in the Emirates hotseat. Having ended Arsenal's title drought, he has finally stepped out from Pep Guardiola's shadow, so can he establish a dynasty with his mentor out of the way?

Key Player

As Arteta's tactical evolution shifted from technicality to physicality, Declan Rice leapt above Bukayo Saka as the face of the club. The 27-year-old is the complete midfielder – a picture of consistency, and the skipper-in-waiting should Martin Odegaard ever leave.

Last season's results

PREMIER LEAGUE: Winners

FA CUP: Quarter-final (Lost to Southampton: 2-1)

LEAGUE CUP: Runners-up (Lost to Manchester City: 2-0)

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Runners-up (Lost to PSG: 1-1, 4-3 Penalties}

Top Scorer

Viktor Gyokeres bagged 21 goals for Arsenal in all competitions last year, after signing from Sporting Lisbon in the summer.

The Sweden international almost won the European Golden Boot in the Portuguese top-flight, in spite of the league's lower coefficient, then adapted well to the Premier League.

His 20+ goal haul is more likely than not to improve should Arteta continue to place faith in the bagsman.

Lessons From Last Year

Chill out. Arsenal's run-in consisted of ever-nervier 1-0s over mid-table sides, as Arteta's trauma-plagued warriors clung onto slender leads out of desperation not to throw them away.

Compare that to the Champions League, where they played with fewer expectations and blitzed their way to the final. Arsenal might express themselves more now they've broken the duck.

Most Likely To...

Court unlikely fans in the US. Anne Hathaway is a very public Leandro Trossard fan, Reese Witherspoon referenced Riccardo Calafiori on The One Show last year, and New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani has name-dropped Pascal Cygan, which sounds like a punchline to something rather than a fact.

Least Likely To...

Ignore the media noise. Gary Neville has questioned Arteta's process plenty over the years, so it was a kind gesture for the Basque boss to present him with an Arsenal shirt signed “to our biggest supporter” at the end of last season. Touché… or touchy.

View From The Stands

Words by: TIM STILLMAN - @Stillberto

Last season was a grind, but also one of the best seasons that I've ever experienced, with the most beautiful ending.

This season will be different because Arsenal have tossed the monkey from their back, so it should no longer feel as though we're snipping the wires of a time bomb in every single game.

The big talking point is how we can tune up the attack a little – 71 goals is a low tally for a champion.

Our key player will be Bukayo Saka, if he's fit.

The best thing about matchdays at our ground is singing The Angel before kick-off. Arsenal always lacked an anthem and this one really works. It came about organically and unexpectedly, like all the best things in life.

Our biggest grudge match will be against Spurs, after their heroic relegation survival.

The opposition player I'd love here is Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. The PSG winger is the best player in the position where we most need an upgrade.

The active player I'd love to have back is the 2022 version of Gabriel Jesus. Arsenal would have won the title earlier had his knees not gone to heaven so soon after he joined the club.

This season will be different because Arsenal have tossed the monkey from their back, so it should no longer feel as though we're snipping the wires of a time bomb in every single game.

A social media account to follow is Poorly Drawn Arsenal – check him out.

The fans' opinion of the gaffer is that now Pep has gone, he's the best in the division by a distance. If he left, he should be replaced by Luis Enrique.

We'll finish in 1st place again (ole ole).

Fixtures

AUGUST

21 Coventry (H)

29 Aston Villa (A)

SEPTEMBER

5 Chelsea (H)

12 Sunderland (A)

19 Brighton (A)

OCTOBER

10 Leeds (H)

17 Nott'm Forest (A)

24 Everton (H)

31 Liverpool (A)

NOVEMBER

7 Hull City (H)

21 Newcastle (A)

28 Man City (H)

DECEMBER

2 Brentford (A)

5 Tottenham (A)

12 Bournemouth (H)

19 Man United (H)

26 Crystal Palace (A)

30 Fulham (A)

JANUARY

2 Ipswich (H)

6 Brentford (H)

16 Hull City (A)

23 Newcastle (H)

30 Man City (A)

FEBRUARY

6 Liverpool (H)

10 Ipswich (A)

20 Fulham (H)

27 Man United (A)

MARCH

3 Crystal Palace (H)

13 Chelsea (A)

20 Sunderland (H)

APRIL

10 Coventry (A)

17 Aston Villa (H)

24 Bournemouth (A)

MAY

1 Tottenham (H)

8 Leeds (A)

15 Nott'm Forest (H)

23 Everton (A)

30 Brighton (H)

Title Odds

Arsenal to win the 2026/27 Premier League title odds: 13/10

FFT Verdict

FourFourTwo verdict: Arsenal to finish 1st.

Defending a title is harder than winning it, but Arsenal will benefit from being under far less pressure this year. They have depth, nous, individual quality and coaching continuity – plus those set pieces.

“Who on Earth is A.H. Chequer?” That was the question asked by spectators when they saw an unfamiliar name on the Wanderers teamsheet ahead of the very first FA Cup final, played between Wanderers and Royal Engineers in March 1872.

In fact, ‘A.H. Chequer’ was a pseudonym for Morton Betts, who usually played for Harrow Chequers (hence ‘A Harrow Chequer’). The Chequers had decided to pull out of the tournament after the first round, but that didn’t stop Betts playing in the final.

Inevitably, he scored the game’s only goal.

Unsporting behaviour

The loaning of players was common during football’s early amateur days, although – as the use of the pseudonym suggests – the practice of borrowing ringers for big matches was frowned upon as being rather unsporting.

More often than not, though, loans were made out of necessity. If an away team turned up a man or two short, perhaps due to injuries or travel problems, they would borrow some players from the home team in order to make up the numbers. The loaning of players didn’t really become an issue until football turned professional, and players became bound by contract to their parent clubs.

In 1885, Blackburn included three players on loan – Great Lever captain Tot Rostron, Preston forward Fred Dewhurst and Accrington half-back George Haworth (or Howarth, according to some sources) – for an FA Cup quarter-final against West Brom.

However, after a “secret meeting” in Blackburn, the FA intervened to prevent the loanees from taking part. Even without them, Rovers triumphed 2-0 and progressed to the semi-final, then the final, where they played Scottish trailblazers Queen’s Park.

Surprisingly, George Haworth (transparently named as “George Haworth of Accrington” in newspaper match previews) was allowed to play for Blackburn in the final, and he helped his adopted team to another 2-0 win. Rovers were accused of having “sacrificed any pride” by “begging permission” of the FA to field Haworth.

But, as one newspaper pointed out, opponents Queen’s Park were no strangers to borrowing players and were able to call up “all the good players in Scotland”. So Rovers had only done what they had to do “in order to vanquish their formidable opponents”.

Athletic objections

Leading sports paper Athletic News was heavily critical of the loaning of players for cup ties, calling it an “objectionable and unfair proceeding”. Borrowing players didn’t just give teams an unfair advantage, the paper said, but also created “unhealthy competition” for the services of the best players, increasing the “evil of professionalism”.

Clubs were often making disruptive approaches for players, and players were becoming mercenaries, turning out for whichever clubs paid the most. After the Football League was formed, and expanded to add a second and third division, teams began to borrow players ahead of potentially lucrative “test matches” – the original relegation and promotion play-offs.

“When will something be done to check the wholesale system of borrowing players to help a club to escape or pull through the test fixtures?” asked one football journalist in 1898. This followed Manchester City’s borrowing of England full-back Tommy Clare from Burslem Port Vale for a crucial end-of-season game at Newcastle. City actually lost the game and missed out on the test matches, but the whole affair was regarded as “nothing short of a scandal”.

At a meeting in April 1898, the FA banned “the loaning and borrowing of players for special matches”. Not all clubs heeded the ban. In 1901, Middlesbrough and Glossop were reprimanded following the loan transfer of goalkeeper James Saunders to Boro, and Preston were fined £5 for signing John Wilkie on loan from Partick Thistle. In the ensuing commotion, it was reiterated that such loans were not allowed under FA and Football League rules, and that any club that was party to them would be “severely dealt with”.

And today’s special guest...

Loans returned during the Second World War, when Football League competition was suspended and replaced by a regional Wartime League. Many footballers joined the armed forces and it was difficult for clubs to raise teams from their significantly reduced pools of players, so a ‘guest player’ system was introduced, which allowed clubs to loan players on a match-by-match basis.

This led to some of football’s biggest stars making unlikely appearances for rival clubs. Stan Mortensen of Blackpool guested for Arsenal, Eddie Hapgood of Arsenal guested for Chelsea, and Stan Cullis of Wolves guested for Liverpool, while another notable Liverpool loanee was Preston’s Bill Shankly. The future Reds manager made an appearance as a Liverpool player in a 1942 win over Everton.

The best players were very much in demand during wartime, and some played for different clubs within the same week, or even on the same day. On Christmas Day 1940, future England international Len Shackleton played for Bradford Park Avenue during the morning and then for Bradford City in the afternoon, finding the net in both matches.

One of the most high-profile wartime loanees was Stoke City’s Stanley Matthews, regarded as “England’s number one football personality”. Matthews joined the RAF and was based near Blackpool, making more than 80 guest outings for the Seasiders and later joining the club on a permanent basis. The England wideman also played some wartime games for Manchester United and Arsenal, and even made an international guest appearance for Scotland.

Several professional players were based at the Aldershot Garrison army training camp, which was fantastic news for the original Aldershot FC. The lowly third-division outfit were able to call up England senior internationals Stan Cullis, Joe Mercer, Cliff Britton, Tommy Lawton and Frank Swift, plus Scotland’s Matt Busby, to create what must surely be the most formidable team of loanees ever assembled.

Radical ruling

After the war, as football got back on its feet and clubs rebuilt their sides, the guest player system was phased out, and loans were pretty much off the table once more. They were only properly sanctioned following the end of football’s ‘retain and transfer’ system, which was scrapped in 1963, leading to a loosening of some of the restrictions surrounding players’ contracts, and also to the abolition of the maximum wage cap.

Then, in 1966, the Football League made what newspapers called a “most startling proposal” to allow the “temporary transfer of players” – with certain restrictions. Each club could make only two loan transfers per season, and transfer fees could not be paid. Loans had to last for at least three months, and they could only be made between clubs in different divisions.

The rules surrounding loan transfers would be changed over subsequent years, notably in 1995 after the Bosman ruling – which shook up the entire transfer system – and then in 2003 with the lifting of the restriction on loans having to be made between clubs in different divisions. There were also temporary bans, such as in 1980, when loan transfers of players other than goalkeepers were outlawed. But the 1966 proposal effectively put into place the loan system as we know it today.

In 1967, Torquay United signed 19-year-old winger John Docker on loan from Coventry. Docker scored twice on his Torquay debut, a 3-0 win over local rivals Exeter, but played only three more games during his loan and never played at all for Coventry. So while he hardly had an illustrious career, Docker can perhaps be remembered as the first signing under the new loan transfer system.

Newcastle United are closing in on the signing of Atalanta and Italy centre back Giorgio Scalvini, according to reports.

The Magpies have repeatedly been linked with the 22-year-old defender, who has made almost 150 appearances for the Serie A club and won eight caps for his country.

Atalanta have held firm over Scalvini, but the Bergamo-based outfit's financial position has changed this summer - and Newcastle are ready to capitalise.

Why Newcastle finally look set to seal Giorgio Scalvini signing

Scalvini doesn't turn 23 until December but has already gained vast experience at the top level, playing in Serie A, the Champions League and on the international stage.

His performances caught the attention of Newcastle and they have reportedly tracked him for some time, however Atalanta have consistently said he is not for sale.

The Magpies finally appear to have made a breakthrough, though, with French journalist Sebastien Vidal claiming the Premier League club are in "pole position" to sign Scalvini in a €45m (£38m) deal.

Vidal adds that Atalanta could accept a sale to "rebalance its finances" after missing out on Champions League qualification for the first time in three seasons.

La Dea finished seventh in Serie A last term, their lowest position since 2021/22, and will compete in the Conference League next term.

Atalanta would have banked €18.62m (£15.9m) just for reaching the league phase of the Champions League, with every league phase win worth a further €2.1m, and that is before taking TV money into account.

Losing out on that cash appears to have changed the club's stance on Scalvini and Newcastle have taken advantage as they look to bolster their options at the heart of defence.

Head coach Eddie Howe can call on Sven Botman, Malick Thiaw, Fabian Schar and Dan Burn at centre back, however the latter two players are both 34 years old.

Newcastle have already made four signings this summer, bringing in winger Bazoumana Toure from Hoffenheim, midfielders Aladji Bamba and Sean Steur from Monaco and Ajax respectively, and goalkeeper Ewen Jaouen from Stade Reims for a combined £110m.

However, they have sold winger Anthony Gordon and midfielder Sandro Tonali to Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur respectively, while captain Bruno Guimaraes has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal.

The dust has settled on the World Cup 2026, and the new Premier League season is fast approaching. The first Premier League clash of the 26/27 season takes place at the Emirates. Champions Arsenal will host Frank Lampard's newly promoted Coventry City on Friday, 21st August.

Before that, all eyes turn to the traditional curtain-raiser to the new season – the Community Shield. Contested by the winners of the Premier League and the winners of the FA Cup, this year is a mouthwatering clash between Arsenal and Manchester City.

Buy a VIP package for Arsenal vs Man City starting at £199 with Seat Unique.

Although strictly a friendly, this match could give the winners a confidence boost going into the new Premier League season. It's scheduled for a t3pm kick-off on Sunday 16th August, and if you want to be there, VIP tickets are available at Seat Unique.

Arsenal vs Manchester City Community Shield VIP tickets are still available

For the first time in 20 years, the Community Shield is not being held in England, with the match returning to the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. The stadium is no stranger to hosting the Community Shield, having the honour of accommodating the match from 2001 to 2006 during the rebuilding of Wembley Stadium.

For fans of Arsenal interested in attending the Community Shield, Seat Unique has VIP Packages available starting at £315, which seems slightly unfair, considering they are exactly the same tickets as the Manchester City option, but cost £116 more.

Seat Unique's VIP tickets don't just apply to the Community Shield; they have a host of packages, including the majority of Premier League fixtures for the 2026/27 season, the FA Cup, the Champions League, the Europa League, and the Conference League, plus a host of other sports including boxing, darts, NFL, golf, and horse racing.