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Spurs and Newcastle are two of the clubs who have made signings from the world’s fastest growing talent pools, with greater recognition of the technical ability they bring

Arsène Wenger was ahead of the curve in 2013 when he identified one of the world’s fastest growing talent pools. “I find a new market that is very interesting and very competitive is the Japanese market,” he said. “Look at the number of Japanese players who play now in Germany for example.”

And now England. This summer, Japan’s Kota Takai became part of the new Thomas Frank era at Tottenham while Birmingham have added another two Japanese players to take their contingent to three. They also have the South Korean midfielder Paik Seung-ho while his compatriot Park Seung-soo has joined Newcastle from Suwon Bluewings.

• Prohibition notice issued 10 days before season starts

• Stand built in 1960 has structural and electrical faults

Sheffield Wednesday have been banned from opening Hillsborough’s North Stand to spectators due to safety concerns, further compounding the challenges facing the crisis-hit club before the new Championship season.

With Wednesday currently under an EFL transfer embargo, and Danny Rohl departing as manager earlier this week, a prohibition notice issued by Sheffield City Council means another problem has hit the club’s ownership, led by the Thai businessman Dejphon Chansiri. Wednesday’s first home game of the season is on Saturday 16 August, against Stoke City.

• Villa won’t listen to lower offers for England striker

• United may switch focus to RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko

Manchester United are interested in signing Ollie Watkins but are unwilling to meet Aston Villa’s valuation of the striker. Arsenal made numerous bids for the England international in January but were knocked back as Villa held out for £60m, a fee they would demand for any sale this summer.

Ruben Amorim has been seeking a new striker given the struggles of both Rasmus Højlund and Joshua Zirzkee last season. Another option is RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko. Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson is no longer part of the thinking at Old Trafford.

History-making England captain is often seen barking orders but has a more introverted persona off the pitch

Leah Williamson stops, unable to scrape the grin off her face, pizza in hand, hair still damp from the post-match shower and a fat lip. “Not annnother one?!” I say to her, mimicking her parody of the viral general election clip after England lifted the Finalissima. “Annnother one?!” she replies, still grinning.

I am not the only one who remembers the clip. “NOT ANOTHER ONEEEEEE,” Lauren Hemp commented on Williamson’s Instagram post.

• Palace ask for £35m in advance if deal goes through

• Glasner warns of ‘another false start’ if no new arrivals

Arsenal have been informed that they would have to pay more than half of Eberechi Eze’s release clause up front to sign the England forward, with Crystal Palace determined not to allow him to leave for less than a fee that could reach up to £67.5m including bonuses.

It is understood Arsenal officials have held initial talks with Palace over a deal for Eze, who has two years left on his contract at Selhurst Park. Palace are believed to have indicated that they are not willing to accept any bids below the 27-year-old’s release clause and want £35m in advance, with the rest of his initial £60m fee due in instalments.

• Xhaka: ‘I’m ready to help team with my experience’

• Black Cats agree deal for NEC keeper Robin Roefs

Sunderland have completed the signing of the Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka from Bayer Leverkusen on a three-year contract. The fee has not been disclosed but is thought to be an initial £13m, with a further £4m in potential add-ons.

The 32-year-old arrives on Wearside having spent two years with Leverkusen, where he was part of their impressive 2023-24 season, crowned Bundesliga champions, lifting the DFB-Pokal and reaching the Europa League final.

Fifteen players have represented both Arsenal and Chelsea in the Premier League but that is not a record

Noni Madueke has made the short journey across London to join Arsenal from Chelsea. Some Arsenal fans have expressed annoyance at their club giving yet more money – £52m – to their rivals for a player deemed surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge. The road from Chelsea to Arsenal is a well worn path. Kepa Arrizabalaga swapped south-west London for north London earlier this summer for £5m, following in the footsteps of Kai Havertz and Jorginho, who made the same move in 2023 for a combined £77m.

A total of 15 players have represented both Arsenal and Chelsea in the Premier League, with Havertz and Jorginho joining Ashley Cole, Cesc Fàbregas, Petr Cech, Olivier Giroud, David Luiz, Emmanuel Petit, Lassana Diarra, Nicolas Anelka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Raheem Sterling, William Gallas, Willian and Yossi Benayoun.

Bristol Rovers will be hoping theirs is a short stay in the fourth tier, while another difficult season awaits Accrington

MK Dons finished 19th last season but Paul Warne is a good manager and the club have backed him in the transfer market. Aaron Collins has arrived from Bolton for £800,000, a huge fee in the fourth tier, with Will Collar also joining from Stockport.

Choosing the best matches from Switzerland provokes plenty of debate along with the outstanding players and the pick of the goals

England seemed to have lost it once, twice, three times against Sweden on a night of nail-shredding drama that sharpened the sense that destiny had rich bounty in store for Sarina Wiegman’s side. It was also the first match, no doubt of many over the coming years, that made a hero of Michelle Agyemang. Nick Ames

In a Euro 2025 special, we look at other champions with short-lived leads and young England award-winners

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“Chloe Kelly scored the goal that won Euro 2022 and the penalty that won Euro 2025. Including penalty shootouts, has anybody else scored the winner in two major international tournaments? And which women have dominated a whole competition?” asks Emma Pollard.

For a player who has never started a knockout match at a major tournament, Chloe Kelly has had … a reasonable impact. She scored the winner against Germany in extra time in 2022, and the winning penalty in the shootout against Spain on Sunday. Kelly also set up Alessia Russo’s equaliser in the final, played a key role in both goals against Sweden in the quarter-finals, kept England in the tournament with a nerveless penalty in the subsequent shootout, and then scored a 119th-minute winner against Italy in the semi-finals.

Semi-final first leg: scored Sweden’s second equaliser in 3-2 win away to Italy

Semi-final second leg: scored both goals in 2-1 win (5-3 agg)

Final: scored Sweden’s only goal across the two legs against England, which ended 1-1 on aggregate, then scored the winning penalty in the shootout
(NB: The tournament began at the semi-final stage)

Quarter-final: second goal in 2-0 win over Sweden

Semi-final: opening goal in 3-0 hammering of England

Final: equalised in the 10th minute v Denmark, then scored in the 89th minute to seal a 4-2 win

Last 16: scored two penalties in 2-1 win against Spain

Quarter-final: scored both goals in 2-1 win over hosts France

Semi-final: didn’t play v England due to injury

Final: opened the scoring from the spot in 2-0 win over the Netherlands

The Super Falcons secured their 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title in a gripping final against Morocco. What is the secret to the squad’s soaraway success?

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Hello and welcome to The Long Wave. On Sunday, depending on which hemisphere you live in, you are likely to have seen or heard about a squad of supremely talented women pulling off a remarkable comeback to bring home silverware to a proud country. Congrats to England’s triumphant Lionesses, who retained the Euros trophy.

But here, it’s all about Nigeria’s Super Falcons. I checked in with Eromo Egbejule, our west Africa correspondent, to talk about last weekend’s electric Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) final, which Nigeria won for the 10th time.

Victorious players greeted by chants, cheers and tears as they ride open-top bus and then lift the trophy on stage

They came in their tens of thousands, a sea of red and white pouring through Green Park to the Mall. Teenage boys with England flags painted on their faces, little girls in their Saturday morning club kits, veteran fans of the women’s game, new fans who just wanted to savour the moment.

A total of 65,000 jubilant England fans lined the Mall in central London on Tuesday to welcome home the victorious Lionesses after their Euro 2025 victory on Sunday.

A photographic celebration of England’s journey to Euro 2025 victory, from the opening defeat to beating World Cup holders Spain in the final

Over little more than three weeks in July, from Zurich via St Gallen, and Lancy to Basel, Guardian writers have followed every step of England’s journey across Switzerland during the Women’s Euro 2025. Under Sarina Wiegman, the Lionesses became the first England team to win a trophy on foreign soil. Here are our favourite pictures coupled with excerpts from our match reports and blogs.

GAME 1: GROUP D

• Lionesses captain visibly moved during Mall address

• 65,000 supporters attend central London celebrations

Leah Williamson promised England supporters the “story is not done yet” as 65,000 fans packed on to the Mall to celebrate the Lionesses’ successful defence of their European crown.

The captain and her teammates partied with stars including the soul singer Heather Small and Burna Boy – who danced on stage with the head coach, Sarina Wiegman – two days after they defeated Spain in Basel to become the first senior England football team to win a major trophy on foreign soil.

Host country provided a record attendance and a summer spectacle despite a relatively modest football infrastructure

Twelve hours before Euro 2025 reached its crescendo the Uefa executive director of football, Giorgio Marchetti, addressed a hall of delegates in Basel. The morning coffees were still taking hold as officials from clubs, federations and other stakeholders settled down for a forum designed partly to debrief the previous month. There was no mistaking the congratulatory mood and Marchetti was determined to see it last. The tournament would not be “like a butterfly, over in 24 hours”, he said; instead its reverberations would be felt far into a burgeoning sport’s future.

There was certainly little sign of any effects dulling as afterparties swung long into the night following England’s heist against Spain. The overwhelming sense was of euphoria, sprinkled with relief, that host and governing body had pulled off what some viewed as a high‑wire act. Switzerland’s relatively modest football infrastructure, not to mention its muted appreciation of the women’s game, had raised eyebrows but it staged an event that delivered to the last.

All the latest Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A deals and a club-by-club guide

• Women’s transfers summer 2025: all the moves

Every deal in the NWSL, WSL, Liga F, Frauen-Bundesliga, Première Ligue and Serie A Femminile as well as a club-by-club guide

• Men’s transfers summer 2025: all the moves

• Colombian signs four-year deal with German champions

• Liverpool boost finances prior to potential bid for Isak

Liverpool’s financial position has been strengthened prior to a potential bid for Alexander Isak after Luis Díaz completed his €75m (£65.5m) move to Bayern Munich.

Díaz has signed a four-year contract with the option of an extra year with the Bundesliga champions after Liverpool received an improved offer they felt represented fair market value for the 28-year-old Colombia international on Sunday. Díaz, who left Liverpool’s pre-season training camp in Tokyo on Monday to seal the transfer, turns 29 in January and had made it clear he wished to leave the Premier League champions.

• ‘We knew we had to get out of that country,’ says former Canada coach

• Move to A-League Women side an opportunity to ‘reset’ her career

Former Canada women’s football coach Bev Priestman has said she “didn’t feel safe” living in North America following her one-year ban for spying at the Paris Olympics.

Wellington Phoenix announced Wednesday that Priestman would take over as head coach of their women’s team, returning to football in the country she was banned for spying on with a drone, New Zealand. She has signed a two-year contract.

• Vegas to reportedly host 2026 World Cup draw

• Sphere ruled out due to scheduling conflict

• United States also held 1994 draw in Las Vegas

Las Vegas is set to host the 2026 Fifa World Cup draw on 5 December, according to multiple reports, marking the second time the Nevada city will stage the tournament’s group-stage ceremony. But despite widespread speculation, the Sphere will not be hosting the event due to a scheduling conflict.

Sources told ESPN that Las Vegas was chosen over candidate cities in Canada and Mexico, though Fifa has not yet confirmed either the date or location. The draw will assign the 48 participating nations into 12 groups of four, reflecting the first time the men’s tournament will feature an expanded 48-team field and span three host countries: the United States, Canada and Mexico.

• Goalkeeper is handed five-year contract

• Trafford left for Burnley in 2023 for £14m

James Trafford has returned “home” to Manchester City from Burnley in a £27m deal after two seasons at Turf Moor. The goalkeeper has signed a five-year deal, with the option of a sixth, at the Etihad Stadium where he will battle with Ederson and Stefan Ortega to be first choice.

It was anticipated that Trafford would move to Newcastle, who have been tracking him over the past 12 months. City, however, used their matching rights clause, inserted when the goalkeeper left the club in 2023, to secure his services. The fee has been confirmed as a club-record sale by the Clarets.

• Hato, 19, can play at left-back or centre-back

• Dutch forward Simons could cost up to €70m

Chelsea are closing in on the signing of Jorrel Hato from Ajax and have opened talks with RB Leipzig over a move for the defender’s Netherlands teammate Xavi Simons.

It is understood that personal terms have been agreed with Hato, who has made more than 100 appearances for Ajax’s first team despite turning 19 only in March.

Influenced by Pep Guardiola, Roberto De Zerbi, Luis Enrique and others, no team in the world relies on buildup quite like this newly-formed group

For a goalkeeper under pressure, there’s one safe way out: turn away from the opponent, shield the ball with your body and boot it long.

A few minutes into the second half against Nashville last weekend, Pablo Sisniega did the exact opposite.

Today’s rumours are a throwback

Given his current employers’ well-documented interest in securing the services of Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace, Leandro Trossard is understandably reluctant to sign a contract extension with Arsenal until he has a better idea of how likely he is to get game time at the Emirates Stadium next season. The Belgian winger is the subject of interest from Borussia Dortmund, while at least two unnamed Premier League clubs are reported to have made “concrete offers”. Exactly how much concrete we’re talking about is unknown, but it seems Arsenal wouldn’t be adverse to cashing in on a player they bought from Brighton for £27m two years ago. Following a summer influx that isn’t necessarily over, the club are also believed to be open to offers for some or all of Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

The mass exodus of Bournemouth defenders shows no sign of abating, with Paris Saint-Germain apparently determined to lure Illia Zabarnyi to the French capital. A fan favourite who is regularly serenaded with a cleverly reworked chorus of Whitney Houston’s dancefloor filler I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), the 22-year-old Ukrainian could join Milos Kerkez (Liverpool), Dean Huijsen (Real Madrid) and Kepa Arrizabalaga (Arsenal via parent club Chelsea) in heading for the exit and is reported to have been the subject of an initial £50m bid from the Champions League winners, which Bournemouth have rejected. Tottenham Hotspur have also been linked with a move for the centre-back.

After years spent in striker-less formations, the Premier League’s top teams are seemingly all set to rely on a big body (or two) up top

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It’s only been a decade since it seemed the center-forward was being refined out of existence. Spain had won Euro 2012 with Cesc Fàbregas as a false nine, and Germany, who largely took Spain as a model, were less than convinced they needed one at the 2014 World Cup. They fielded Thomas Müller as a false-ish nine until the quarter-final, when Jögi Löw finally went back to basics and turned to Miroslav Klose. That he was 36 only seemed to confirm that the old-fashioned No 9 was an old-fashioned phenomenon – a dying breed. Yet this summer, the main interest in the transfer market has been the carousel of strikers.

Of course, strikers never entirely disappeared. The four leading scorers in the Premier League in 2014–15 were Sergio Agüero, Harry Kane, Diego Costa and Charlie Austin. Mauri Icardi and Luca Toni topped the charts in Italy, while Cristiano Ronaldo, his conversion to A No 9 complete, was top scorer in Spain (although that he was followed by Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann, and Neymar suggested a greater variety of goalscorer there).

Super Falcons were two goals down to Morocco in the final but comeback repaid Justine Madugu’s faith in his team

Eyebrows were raised when Justine Madugu was appointed as the new Nigeria coach in September last year, having had no head coach experience in international football before taking on the role.

On Saturday the “gamble” – if you call it that – paid off when the Super Falcons came from 2-0 down to beat hosts Morocco 3-2 in the final at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat to win the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

Opponents from the striker’s time in Portugal on how they attempted to contain Arsenal’s new signing

Stopping Viktor Gyökeres was arguably the greatest challenge in Portuguese football over the past two seasons. Every time the new Arsenal striker stepped on to the pitch, defenders, goalkeepers and managers braced for 90 relentless minutes. Across his two years at Sporting, he scored 68 goals in 66 league appearances – and added another 29 in other competitions. But what is it really like to face the Swedish forward? And how can Premier League teams hope to contain him?

For Kewin Silva, the name stirs up difficult memories. In April, the then Moreirense goalkeeper was forced to fish the ball out of his net three times during one of Gyökeres’s standout performances for Sporting. Earlier in the season, the modest northern club had stunned the Lisbon giants with a 2–1 home win. Gyökeres did score from the penalty spot that day, but Moreirense’s defence managed to keep him quiet otherwise. In the return fixture, however, with the title race intensifying, nothing could stop him.

Uefa’s director of women’s football says 16-team Euro 2025 has been a success even without making a profit

“It really makes me emotional, it’s just something we didn’t have in my time,” says Nadine Kessler as she surveys the popularity and sheer scale of a sport whose future she now helps shape. Uefa’s director of women’s football was a brilliant player before retiring nine years ago after 11 surgeries on a knee; she was world footballer of the year in 2014 and, having won the European Championship with Germany a year previously, knows what it takes to dominate a continent.

Staging an entire tournament is a different matter, although one she has become accustomed to since joining the governing body in 2017. “I need to throw my to-do list out of the window,” she says before sitting down at Uefa’s designated hotel in Basel to survey the reverberations of a record-breaking Euro 2025 before the final. “It’s like my craziest match-day,” she says. “But it’s incredible.”

South Korea match will revive bitter memories of 2022 exit as Australia seek to find the right blend before next March

As Tameka Yallop unfurled the purple scroll revealing the Matildas’ final group-stage opponent for next year’s Asian Cup, whispers rustled across the Sydney Town Hall crowd.

South Korea. The same team that had knocked them out of the quarter-final of this tournament almost four years ago. The game that plunged Australian football fans and media into despair.

Tournament hosts Australia will avoid AFC heavyweights Japan and North Korea in the group stage but other tricky opponents await

Australia have begun a new era under head coach Joe Montemurro but are about to find out that life comes at you fast with the much-celebrated 2023 Women’s World Cup a distant memory and the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup now just seven months away. The continental tournament will be the second football showpiece on home soil in less than three years with the Matildas under pressure to build on the glorious heights of their semi-final run two years ago.

Montemurro has a short runway to prepare for the tournament after taking the reins of the national side in June and immediately casting an eye toward the longer-term as much as the near future. But the focus will turn firmly back on the Asian Cup with the draw to decide the group stage and match-ups taking place on Tuesday evening.

• Messi, Alba miss All-Star Game without league OK

• MLS suspends both for Inter Miami’s next match

• Garber says policy review may come after decision

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami teammate Jordi Alba have been suspended from their next club match after missing Wednesday’s MLS All-Star Game against Mexico’s Liga MX.

Messi’s club coach Javier Mascherano told reporters on Friday the Argentinian World Cup winner had sat out the showpiece due to fatigue, while Alba is believed to have sustained a knock in their previous MLS fixture.

A summary of the report obtained by the Guardian found no specific issue with how the club handled a report of abuse but improvements could have been made

An investigation commissioned by the National Women’s Soccer League found that the San Diego Wave front office “could have done more” to address a sexual assault allegation from a member of the club’s staff, but ultimately found no specific issue with how the claim was handled because the alleged victim did not use the term “sexual” when describing her experience.

The finding is contained in a report summarizing the investigation, which had not previously been made public but was obtained by the Guardian US.

Even now, some want to downplay last night’s historic win, but the facts are plain. We yearn to be the best: palpably, our women are doing that

It felt like deja vu when Chloe Kelly smashed the ball into the back of the net, winning the game for the Lionesses and signalling the end of the Women’s Euro 2025 final. England beat Spain after a tense penalty shootout. The word of the tournament was “resilience”, declared presenter Gabby Logan after the game. It is hard to argue with that.

It was as though the team had written a list of milestones they were ticking off as the tournament progressed. They are the first English senior team to defend their title, and the first to win a major tournament on foreign soil. Their coach, Sarina Wiegman, simply said: “A team is what we really are. We can win by any means.”

Ava Vidal is a standup comedian based in London and patron of the charity Show Racism the Red Card

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Few noticed the Lionesses taking a stand when they didn’t kneel. Tackling racism is much bigger than just football, but there are plenty of active steps fans and clubs can take

Searching for ways to wield power when you ultimately have none is hard. The decision of the Lionesses to use their most powerful tool, their collective profile and voice, which is amplified during a major tournament, to support Jess Carter after her decision to speak out about the racist abuse she has received during the Women’s Euro 2025 was a brave one.

They should be applauded because in their statement and collective action there is an attempt to go beyond condemnation of racism to demanding real change and grappling with what that looks like and how you do it – all while trying to win a second major tournament trophy.

It appears a radical departure by FSG to build so ambitiously from a position of strength, while sending an ominous warning to their rivals

Almost £300m worth of talent added to a squad that cruised to the Premier League title last season and Liverpool may not be spent yet. Whatever they’re smoking in Boston is having an unusual effect on a global fanbase.

Big-spending Liverpool, blowing competitors from Bayern Munich to Newcastle out of the water with their pulling and spending power, may be a strange reality for supporters who not so long ago sang: “The Reds have got no money, but we’ll still win the league.” The chant can be retired now that the first part is demonstrably untrue. It always was.

Jess Carter’s decision to step away from her social media accounts highlighted the vulnerability female footballers face – we must have zero tolerance for these abuses

When the England defender Jess Carter revealed she had been subjected to a barrage of racist abuse on social media during the Uefa European Women’s Championship, it exposed a stark reality: the women’s game is thriving on the pitch but remains deeply vulnerable to discrimination and online abuse off it.

Carter’s decision to step away from her social media accounts highlighted her vulnerability and she received support from England’s head coach, Sarina Wiegman, her teammates and the Football Association. Within hours of her statement, the FA had engaged UK police and begun collaboration with social media companies to trace those responsible – demonstrating an impressively swift and decisive response. In October 2023, the Online Safety Act became law, ensuring social media platforms have a duty to protect users from content such as racist abuse. Platforms have a responsibility to identify and remove harmful content including all forms of hate speech, with Ofcom responsible for enforcing the legislation.

Our cartoonist looks at how the Lionesses retained their crown as European champions

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Arsenal’s new signing arrives with a reputation for goals but also mystery around his iconic celebration

Every goalscorer needs a trademark celebration and the one Viktor Gyökeres has shown off over the past few years has certainly increased its reach of late – fingers interlocked, thumbs pushed up, a mask formed across his mouth and nose.

As Gyökeres’s transfer from Sporting to Arsenal has edged along, fans of the London club became increasingly desperate for clues. They were convinced they spotted one when the defender Riccardo Calafiori was pictured at their kit launch with the shirt pulled up towards his eyes; mask‑style. And then there was Myles Lewis‑Skelly, another of their defenders, looking at a Gyökeres-to-Arsenal story on his phone and copying the gesture.

The 10-year contract is worth £1bn but it has also opened the door to increase the club’s global profile with other lucrative partnerships

Manchester City had a billion reasons to celebrate the new kit deal with Puma announced last week, yet beyond the bottom line the value of the contract may prove priceless.

The Guardian has learned that the 10-year deal, worth £1bn, contains clauses giving the German sportswear manufacturer options to extend the partnership way beyond that, but most significant to City may be what Puma’s endorsement and huge financial commitment say to independent brands and the Premier League about the club’s value.

Early moves in the market are revealing about the state of the Premier League title contenders and their priorities

The transfer window at this stage is essentially fan fiction. What if Dr Frankenstein had turned up at Pemberley and conducted a waspish romance with Elizabeth Bennet? What if Akela was not just a wolf but a werewolf? What if famous and attractive Tennis Player X were having a fling with famous and attractive Tennis Player Y? And what if Arsenal actually signed a centre-forward?

There hasn’t yet been time for reality to intervene. It’s like the day after the World Cup draw when everything exists in a realm of pure perfection and you can imagine the platonic ideal of each country facing off, unsullied by form, injury or disputes over bonuses.

Pre-season trips to Asia may not be new for English clubs, but they remain a huge global engagement opportunity

Fifty years ago, Arsenal lost 2-0 to Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, with jet-lagged players struggling to deal with frogs bouncing around the Merdeka Stadium pitch as well as the legendary local striker Mokhtar Dahari.

Since then, however, many aspects of Asian tours by English clubs have changed. They have become, mostly, slick affairs. This summer, Arsenal will visit neighbouring Singapore for games against Newcastle and Milan. Then to Hong Kong for an unusual north London derby against a Tottenham team that will also travel to South Korea to face Newcastle. Liverpool visit Japan and Hong Kong just weeks after Manchester United were in action there on a post-season tour, which they finished in Malaysia.

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Given the number of rakes they’d trodden on, Sideshow Bob-style, without sustaining a fatal handle blow to the face, Football Daily fully expected Sunday’s final against Spain to be the match in which an almost supernatural reservoir of good fortune enjoyed by the Lionesses at Euro 2025 finally dried up. Pummelled in their opener against France before stumbling and lurching through the knockout rounds like the world’s most tea-timely football email pinballing its way home off a series of lampposts and trees after a lock-in down our local drinker, England surely couldn’t pull off another smash-and-grab against a team of world champions who can play football to such an ethereal level it often resembles a completely different sport. And while it looked like our prophecy would come to pass after Mariona Caldentey had put the red-hot favourites in front with a bullet header before the break, it was Spain who got the Basel brush-off and Leah Williamson who hoisted the trophy skywards after spot-kicks to prompt a post-match team pogo that reverberated around England before continuing, accompanied by celebratory champagne, cake and karaoke, long into the Swiss night.

Having to warm up in cramped rooms with opponents, along with no VAR at the group stage, shows just how much needs to be done before the 2027 World Cup in Brazil

In Europe the summer has been marked by record attendances, a smooth operation and some outstanding performances at Euro 2025. But the picture from the 2025 Copa América Feminina, played in the South American winter, is less rosy with criticism from players, coaches, fans and media regarding the poor organisation, low attendances and questionable refereeing.

With the fiasco of the Copa Libertadores Feminina last October, another tournament blighted by organisational problems, fresh in memory the hope was that Conmebol would raise their game for this year’s Copa América in Ecuador. However, the tournament feels years behind its European rival and that is worrying in the extreme as the continent prepares to host its first Women’s World Cup, in Brazil in 2027.

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Today’s rumours are upside down

Gianluigi Donnarumma would be most people’s pick as the best goalkeeper in the world, playing for the best team in the world (not now, Chelsea fans), the Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain. So while the French club’s decision to sign a new goalkeeper – and a very good goalkeeper in Lucas Chevalier from Lille – is an eyebrow-raising one, it simply felt like an expensive exercise in keeping Donnarumma on his toes. Imagine the Mill’s surprise that Donnarumma is now being linked with an exit from PSG … to Manchester United! Just why an elite keeper would want to join a team that finished 15th in the Premier League, is not playing in Europe and has no serious ambition for a league title is beyond comprehension, particularly as the usual answer is money. Donnarumma already earns €12m per year after tax, and United have spent the last couple of years pleading poverty. But L’Équipe seem fairly convinced of the rumours and we are just here to translate.

Borussia Dortmund are light on wingers after Jamie Gittens left for Chelsea and Jadon Sancho has again been mooted as a potential replacement. The Englishman has twice signed for the German club – most recently on loan in January last year – and the 25-year-old could complete a permanent switch with Manchester United asking for just £20m. Any deal would be dependent on Sancho taking a substantial pay cut.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, John Brewin and Mark Langdon as Liverpool look to sign Alexander Isak, while the panel answer your questions from the pre-season mailbag

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On the podcast today: Luis Díaz out, Alexander Isak possibly in at Liverpool. They are close to ‘winning’ the window, but will that make them favourites to win some of the actual silverware on offer this season?

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack and Sophie Downey to break down Sunday’s Euro 2025 final in Basel

On the podcast today: After three weeks of drama, 30 matches and 104 goals, it all boils down to England v Spain in the Euro 2025 final. The Lionesses overcame the “group of death” and two nerve-shredding knockout games, while Spain have combined flair with resilience to reach their first-ever women’s Euros final.

The panel examines how both sides have developed since their World Cup final clash two years ago, the key tactical battles that could determine the match, and whether Sarina Wiegman’s England can embrace the underdog role. Plus, how will the Lionesses cope with injuries, and can Spain’s midfield prowess unlock another trophy?

Plus: most champions-in-waiting beaten en route to Champions League glory and the hottest English match on record

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“Arsenal have signed a new keeper, Kepa,” noted John Marsden last week. “Are there any other examples of players with a name so similar to their position?”

While we can’t find a player named Left Back, there is a former Anderlecht defender by the name of Mark De Man (which, admittedly, is an on-pitch instruction not a role). The Belgium international earned five caps for his country and retired in 2012 with a spell at third-division KSK Hasselt, having rejected the chance to make the move to Kilmarnock. “I have two children and my wife has a good job. I did not want to move to Scotland on my own,” said De Man.

Best players, best managers, best matches, best goals, biggest flops and biggest gripes: our writers have their say

Mohamed Salah. The numbers don’t lie – 47 goal contributions in the Premier League was an outstanding return from the Egyptian, who seems to be getting better with age. Ed Aarons

Arne Slot’s first season could not have gone any better while Wolves fans drank to Vítor Pereira’s arrival

By winning the league, the Dutchman surprised pretty much everyone. He faced the daunting task of succeeding Jürgen Klopp and inherited the German’s squad, adding only Federico Chiesa, who barely kicked a ball in anger. Not much changed from the previous year, except Ryan Gravenberch became the designated defensive midfielder as Slot’s Liverpool looked to get on the ball as much as possible. Slot was never going to be a personality who generated headlines like Klopp did, keeping his cards close to his chest, but he always comes across as someone who is very personable and has brought the players closer together. Slot made Liverpool an efficient winning machine – rarely thrashing teams, often winning by the odd goal or two – and that allowed them to race to a second Premier League title. No one could compete with the Reds, which was partly down to rivals dropping their standards but most of it can be attributed to the fact Slot made his team superior.

Managers, teams and players who have disappointed over the campaign – including the reigning footballer of the year

Ruben Amorim’s average points tally of a point per league game since arriving at Manchester United in early November puts him just above Malky Mackay’s record at Cardiff and Paul Jewell’s Premier League record with Bradford, Wigan and Derby. While Sporting won the Primeira Liga title without Amorim, United have fallen down the table to 15th since the Portuguese took the reins from the interim coach, Ruud van Nistelrooy. Much of the ire towards United has been directed at the owners but on the pitch Amorim has failed to adapt his squad of expensive, experienced internationals into anything approaching a cohesive unit. The Europa League final defeat by Tottenham showed how much work is left to do.