Other than being subbed off after having already entered the fray as a substitute, there are few indignities felt more keenly in football than seeing your designated shirt number given away to a new signing. Raheem Sterling was on the receiving end of that very snub last week after Chelsea removed the England winger’s No. 7 shirt and exiled him from the first-team group and gave it to Pedro Neto,…
Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich was appointed captain of Germany’s national team on Monday after his predecessor Ilkay Gündogan was among a string of senior players to retire from international duty after Euro 2024. Kimmich will be backed up by two vice-captains, Real Madrid defender Antonio Rüdiger and Arsenal forward Kai Havertz, when he takes up the captaincy for upcoming Nations League games against Hungary on Saturday and the Netherlands…
Manuel Ugarte will never forget his first day at Old Trafford. It began with Manchester United’s new £50 million midfielder narrowly avoiding being soaked by sprinklers on the pitch as he was introduced to the crowd before the game with Liverpool and ended with manager Erik ten Hag warning it will take time for him to get the best from Ugarte because: “I’m not Harry Potter.” In between his prematch…
Erik ten Hag has said that it is difficult to effectively integrate new signings into his team so early in the season following his side’s 3-0 defeat to Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday, adding: “I’m not Harry Potter.” During a fierce defence of his record in what was at times a tense news conference after the game, the Dutchman assured fans his team “will be fine” and have a…
Kylian Mbappé said he hadn’t felt under pressure to score his first LaLiga goal after grabbing a brace in Real Madrid’s 2-0 win over Real Betis on Sunday. Mbappé scored twice in the second half at the Santiago Bernabeu — the first after Federico Valverde’s back-heel assist, and the second from the penalty spot — after three league games without finding the net. “The pressure I have is to adapt…
For Europe’s biggest clubs and leagues, the time for transfers in 2024 has come and gone. The transfer window closed at 11 p.m. BST (6 p.m. ET) in England and Spain on Friday, an hour earlier in France and even earlier in Italy and Germany. It remains open in select countries such as the Netherlands, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, but there’s little room for any more major deals. All parties…
Wrexham continued their positive start in League 1 with a 2-0 victory away to Peterborough on Saturday that left them joint-top with Stockport and Birmingham City after four matches. A pair of first-half goals from Jack Marriott and Max Cleworth helped the side to a comfortable victory — their third of the season so far which also maintained their unbeaten start. Paul Mullin and Steven Fletcher came off the bench…
Hansi Flick accepts that Barcelona’s financial situation will prevent them from signing a replacement for the injured Marc Bernal as the transfer window looks set to close without any further additions at the Catalan club. Barça have signed Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor this summer but ideally would also have brought in a holding midfielder, a left winger and another defender if they could do so while complying with LaLiga’s…
One of the striking things about Manchester United’s poor performance in the 2023-24 season was how open they were in midfield, and how easy it was for opponents to play through the lines of manager Erik ten Hag’s team. The lung power of Fred was no longer there, age appeared to have caught up with Casemiro, and Sofyan Amrabat was something of a disappointment — a reminder that players who…
If you watched only the first half of Bayern Munich’s 3-2 victory at VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday with us on ESPN+, you’ll rightly wonder how on earth the Rekordmeister got itself into deep trouble. Why, in coach Vincent Kompany’s first Bundesliga match in charge, was there such a genuine risk of dropping points after a first-half stroll that saw domination to the tune of eight shots to one? The answers…