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Another new era at Tottenham, De Cuyper can shine for Brighton and Aston Villa remind us this is a business

A visit to an expectant Anfield, where Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitiké will be out to impress on their Premier League debuts, represents a daunting start for a Bournemouth team that have lost three-quarters of last season’s backline to the pulling power of Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool this summer. Defensive issues are not exclusive to Andoni Iraola before the Premier League opener, however. Arne Slot voiced concern over the champions’ pre-season vulnerability before and after the Community Shield against Crystal Palace, when the absence of Ryan Gravenberch for family reasons was keenly felt. “Three times we lost the ball very simple in our midfield and three times they could counterattack us,” reflected the Liverpool head coach. Gravenberch will be missing again on Friday due to suspension but Slot expects the team with the second-best defensive record in the Premier League last season to react as soon as the serious business begins. “Mixed teams, new players coming in, Virgil [van Dijk] being sick, Alisson not being there,” he listed as reasons for Liverpool’s recent difficulties on Thursday. “But all of this is not an excuse when we start the league. We will 100% be ready on Friday.” Andy Hunter

Liverpool v Bournemouth, Friday 8pm (all times BST)

Aston Villa v Newcastle, Saturday 12.30pm

Brighton v Fulham, Saturday 3pm

Sunderland v West Ham, Saturday 3pm

Some fans fear a relegation battle beckons. The optimistic reading, though, is that this is the real start of the Potter era

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 15th (NB: this is not necessarily Jacob Steinberg’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 14th

• German has to stay fit like Salah, says Slot

• Giovanni Leoni moves summer spend past £300m

Arne Slot has said Florian Wirtz must reach the standards set by Mohamed Salah to realise Liverpool’s ­expectations of their new record signing.

Wirtz will make his Premier League debut when the champions open the season at home to Bournemouth on Friday. Slot said the Germany international’s “adjustment went better than expected, and we already expected a lot”, but admitted a more accurate gauge would take time.

• Fee for Ipswich winger could be worth about £37m

• Forest remain confident of securing James McAtee

Nottingham Forest are pushing to sign Omari Hutchinson in a potential club-record deal worth about £37m. Forest, who are also closing on a £30m move for James McAtee from Manchester City, are confident of beating rivals to the signing of the Ipswich winger.

Hutchinson expressed his desire to return to the Premier League to the Ipswich manager, Kieran McKenna, after relegation last season and has not featured this campaign. A release clause of about £35m is thought to have lapsed.

Clubs are spending like there is no tomorrow but the title looks to be between Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea

And I heard, as it were, a sound of thunder. I heard multitudes marching to the big kettle drum. Not to mention, it should be said, even larger multitudes talking on the wicked and unholy internet about agent sightings, failed here-we-gos and the Alexander Isak wheel of global conspiracy.

Let he that hath understanding count the number! Because, let’s face it, it really is an absolute beast of a number, 215 live Premier League games on Sky Sports alone, an endless rolling debauchery of games, of graphics that go whoosh, of arguments by the lighted dias.

Chelsea, Sunderland, Nottingham Forest and Brentford have spent some smart money in the transfer window

By WhoScored

The young English striker began his career at Derby before moving to Manchester City as a 16-year-old in 2019. After loan spells at Stoke, Preston and Hull, Liam Delap made a £20m move to Ipswich last summer and proceeded to make a name for himself in the Premier League.

• ‘There’s too many examples of players clearly pulling people back’

• PGMO’s referees will not ‘forget all about it’ in September, chief says

Howard Webb has warned fans they can expect to see more penalties this season after he instructed referees to have another go at cracking one of the most incorrigible problems in the Premier League: players clinging on to each other in the penalty area.

New guidance on how to deal with holding has been shared with referees by Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO), with the aim of cutting the number of incidents where a player’s movement is impeded by an opponent. It follows consultation with club officials and leading players who all complained about the practice.

• Manager Keith Andrews says striker ‘not ready to play’

• Club holding out for fee of £40m

Keith Andrews has revealed Yoane Wissa will not take part in Brentford’s opening game against Nottingham Forest on Sunday amid strong ­interest from Newcastle. The forward from the Democratic ­Republic of the Congo is understood to have been training on his own this week as Andrews ­prepares to take charge of his first match since ­succeeding Thomas Frank.

Brentford are holding out for about £40m and Newcastle have proved unwilling to match their valuation for the 28-year-old, who scored 19 times in the Premier League last season, having had an offer worth up to £30m rejected last month.

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Today’s Football Daily would like to start with the topical events of 15 February 1983. That was the day Manchester United outplayed and outviolenced Arsenal in the first leg of their Milk Cup semi-final at Highbury. United won 4-2; they were 4-0 up after 80 minutes before taking their foot off Arsenal’s throat, and shinbone, and head. “Perhaps we’ve been concentrating too much on passing and technique,” lamented Don Howe, Arsenal’s head coach and assistant to the manager, Terry Neill. “Against United we went out to strike the ball about instead of putting some meat into the game.” In 1980s English football, there was no place for veganism. Things have changed since the days when ABH was a bookable offence, and only then after the first 10 minutes, but English football still has a pretty noxious meat footprint.

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

The 61-year-old developed the career of Formiga and now the pair are dreaming big for Brazil women’s seven-a-side team

Dilma Mendes’s contribution to football has been significant. She is the coach responsible for identifying and honing the talent of Formiga, one of Brazil’s most emblematic female footballers. Mendes trained the player from the age of nine until her professional career began at 16. Now, more than 30 years later, they are working together again, to bring the Football 7 World Championship title to Brazil. The international tournament takes place in Curitiba, in the south of Brazil, from 21-24 August.

Mendes, twice voted the best women’s seven-a-side coach in the world, has called up the 47-year-old Formiga to lead the fight for a second world title, and Formiga’s wife, the former player Érica de Jesus, will be assistant coach. Mendes’s career with the national seven-a-side outfit began in 2019, when she was hired to develop a new team, and she searched all corners of Brazil to identify players. In 2023, when the men announced the futsal legend Falcão would play for them, the women brought in Formiga.

Forward has not yet been registered by financially troubled club in a summer when Real Madrid have spent €200m

La Liga begins again in Girona on Friday evening, a five-day weekend to start it off, and for the first time the division’s biggest clubs, every side competing for the title, share a vital weapon: they all have Englishmen in their team. Trent Alexander-Arnold, just Trent now on his No 12 shirt, has joined Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid. Nine players have left Atlético Madrid, but Conor Gallagher isn’t one of them. Marcus Rashford has landed in Barcelona, 39 years after Gary Lineker. And Oviemuno Ejaria has just signed a two-year deal at Real Oviedo.

Or, if you prefer your obvious jokes to have a slightly different bias, another team for the punchline, Tyrhys Dolan has joined Espanyol.

Frank deserves a chance to prove himself but the new manager will need a strong start after last season’s calamitous league campaign

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 6th (NB: this is not necessarily Ed Aarons’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 17th

Re-establishing themselves in the top tier will be tough but the Wearsiders are throwing everything at the challenge

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 19th (NB: this is not necessarily Louise Taylor’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 4th in the Championship

Nuno Espírito Santo will hope to build on last season’s success but playing in Europe could be problematic

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 12th (NB: this is not necessarily Will Unwin’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 7th

Eddie Howe’s side hope the Champions League and smart additions can banish memories of a challenging summer

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 7th (NB: this is not necessarily Louise Taylor’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 5th

• Kick It Out says players may consider not taking penalties

• Kudus claims PSG game showed Spurs can live with best

Tottenham have condemned the online racist abuse aimed towards Mathys Tel after the forward missed a penalty in Wednesday’s Uefa Super Cup loss to Paris Saint-Germain. Tel was targeted after firing wide in the shootout and his club threw their backing behind him after a spate of unacceptable comments on social media.

“We are disgusted at the racial abuse Mathys Tel has received on social media following last night’s Uefa Super Cup defeat,” Spurs said. “Mathys showed bravery and courage to step forward and take a penalty, yet those who abuse him are nothing but cowards – hiding behind anonymous usernames and profiles to spout their abhorrent views.

• NFL legend queried Rooney’s work ethic at Birmingham

• Comments were ‘very unfair’, former striker says

Wayne Rooney has bitten back at Tom Brady over comments aired in a recent documentary depicting their short spell working together at Birmingham.

Brady, the legendary NFL quarterback and winner of seven Super Bowls, is heard during Built in Birmingham: Brady & the Blues, to question Rooney when he was manager. “I’m a little worried about our head coach’s work ethic,” Brady tells his business manager, Ben Rawitz. “I mean, I don’t have great instincts on that.”

• Study finds organisations ‘shirking their duty of care’

• Issue raised again this week by England’s Jess Carter

Most of Britain’s leading sports teams and governing bodies still have no specific safeguarding policies to protect women from online abuse, research has found.

The study, which analysed the public policies of 52 organisations and clubs across football, cricket and rugby union, warns they are “shirking their duty of care, shifting the responsibility on to athletes to safeguard themselves” as a result.

• Calvert-Lewin undergoing medical at Leeds

• Bournemouth sign Diakité from Lille for £30m

Liverpool are close to signing Parma’s teenage centre-back Giovanni Leoni for an initial fee of £26m. The 18-year-old was a target for several Italian and Premier League clubs after impressing for Parma last season but Liverpool look to have beaten off the competition as they attempt to increase Arne Slot’s defensive options.

Manchester United were among the Premier League clubs to register interest in the defender. Inter had hoped to reunite Leoni with the former Parma coach Cristian Chivu but were unable to match the financial offer from Liverpool.

• Sky pundit was banned from final game of last season

• Forest looking for assurances before welcoming him back

Nottingham Forest have not resolved their dispute with Gary Neville before the new Premier League season and want assurances from the Sky Sports pundit before welcoming him back to the City Ground.

The former Manchester United captain was banned by Forest from the final game of last season after an intervention from their owner, Evangelos Marinakis, who had taken exception to Neville’s criticisms of his conduct.

Dispute between governing body and commercial partner has forced top-flight clubs to suspend player salaries

Crystal Palace may be disappointed the court of arbitration for sport ruled against them on Monday but at least they now know their fate. Imagine if all Premier League clubs were waiting for a court decision that would, in effect, determine whether the season would go ahead at all. That is the situation the 14 Indian Super League (ISL) teams find themselves in. The whole of football there has been waiting for a ruling from the supreme court. It was expected in mid-July but has still not arrived. The season is due to start in September. Or at least, it was.

The ISL, formed in 2013, has grown from eight teams to 14, becoming the top tier along the way. Football Sports Development Ltd (FSDL) runs the competition but put the 2025-26 season on hold on 11 July. At the time, despite the shock, most stakeholders felt it would go ahead but confidence, trust and bank balances have taken a turn for the worse.

Presenter on mixing Sky and BBC duties, the benefits of a conversational style and replacing a legend

Kelly Cates is about to begin the busiest year of her career. That, to be fair, is an estimate, because the football presenter and broadcaster has always been a grafter. From Setanta Sports to Channel 5 there are few places where she has not applied her blend of deep knowledge and emotional warmth, and as of this weekend she will be the face of the BBC’s and Sky’s coverage of the Premier League.

The action gets under way at a second home, Anfield, from where Cates will host Sky’s Friday Night Football coverage of Liverpool v Bournemouth. This follows two preview shows for the BBC, and precedes her first shift on Match of the Day.

After the club’s two previous attempts to sign the forward, Ruben Amorim will be hoping they have found the real deal

It has, for a while, appeared to be destiny. Benjamin Sesko’s arrival at Manchester United was third time lucky for last season’s Europa League finalists, having attempted to make a deal for the Slovenia striker when he was leaving Domžale in 2019 and again when he agreed to fly the Red Bull Salzburg nest in 2022, eventually joining up with RB Leipzig a year down the line.

Now United have their still-only-22-year-old man and if Sesko has been feted in the inner circles of European football since his mid-teens, one could suggest the wait has not only be worthwhile but that it could work in favour of Ruben Amorim as he attempts to author a dramatic uptick in the fortunes of the English game’s premier fallen giant.

Plus: two European ties in the same stadium on one day and the highest opening weekend goals-per-game ratio

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“I have just heard CMAT’s song Vincent Kompany because I am cool, young and relevant,” writes the cool, young and relevant Will Unwin. “I was wondering if any other player’s name is the title of a song, beyond simply being referred to?”

In this age of streaming, there are many songs online whose titles are the names of footballers, but a few hundred listens here and there doesn’t make them particularly noteworthy. So we have wound back a bit to a time when songs were more commonly created in studios, not bedrooms.

Being brought to the club through family ties has been a blessing and a curse but Premier League football this season will ease the pain of 5am wake-up calls

Long-term relationships often come with sporting baggage. He gave me Sunderland and I gave him Adelaide Crows. One of us has done much better in this deal.

When we first started dating, I remember asking him, an Englishman, which Premier League team he supported. He was very well spoken so I was expecting a London club, or, because everyone else seemed to support them, one of the glamour teams. So, when he said Sunderland, he caught me off guard.

Two designers from different eras reflect on the changing look of soccer through logo design

Lance Wyman is among America’s greatest-ever graphic designers, and his fingerprints are all over any number of American cities.

Wyman’s style is instantly recognizable – simple, bold and clever. Wyman often works in wayfaring, and his signs and instructions to viewers often use simple, geometric shapes to get the job done, often incorporating a playfulness as well. His approach has made his work timeless. In 2011, when the government of the District of Columbia wanted their metro map updated, they went right back to Wyman, who had crafted the original design for the system about 40 years earlier.

Familiar tones of rage, pain and betrayal that envelop men’s football were missing during England’s joyful run to glory

“You can’t stand their voices? ALL women’s voices?” “Yes.” “Are you married to a woman?” “I am. And she feels the same.” Hmm. To be fair to Dave from Egham, whose name has been changed to protect the confused, the whole setup here was pretty bleak. It was Dave’s destiny a week on from England’s victory at Euro 2025 to find himself going viral after an appearance on LBC radio.

In the clip Dave objects to the sound of all women’s voices, even if they’re Adele or Billie Holiday. Specifically he objects to women talking about women’s sport, which Dave hates because it is being thrown down his throat, and thrown down his throat to the extent he has to ring up a radio station and talk about the women talking about the women’s sport, simply to disentangle its tendrils from his throat, to steal a few gargling, sputtering final breaths.

Its young, diverse and passionate fanbase offers a huge opportunity, but too many clubs are only scratching the surface

The Lionesses are simply the most successful England football team in history, winning back-to-back European Championships and becoming the first England senior team to win a major tournament on foreign soil. It is an incredible achievement and one that will reverberate through the women’s game for many years to come.

The head coach, Sarina Wiegman, is simply world class; it’s an overused phrase but absolutely fitting in this case. To reach five major finals in a row (including a European Championship win and a World Cup final with the Netherlands before joining England) is a record that may never be surpassed. She was an inspired choice by Kay Cossington, the former Football Association technical director who targeted her for her ability to build a strong culture and sense of team as much as her obvious tactical acumen.

• Carter feared Lauren James would face similar abuse

• ‘It’s about knowing how it’s going to be if we miss’

Jess Carter has said she was relieved when three of her white England teammates joined Lauren James in missing penalties in the Euro 2025 quarter-final shootout against Sweden. Carter, who was the target of online racism during the tournament, feared James would be on the receiving end of similar abuse if she had been the only one to miss.

Beth Mead, Alex Greenwood and Grace Clinton then missed as well, but the Lionesses progressed before going on to defeat Spain in the final in another shootout.

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

Portuguese club kept Luuk de Jong’s move under wraps, stunning their fans and making André Villas-Boas happy

Transfer news spreads like wildfire in this day and age. Leaks have become not only common but expected, by clubs, journalists and agents. So when Porto unveiled Luuk de Jong, it stunned the football world. Not even employees and teammates knew until moments before his presentation at a friendly against Atlético Madrid. So how did they pull it off?

What unfolded was a story with the intrigue of a spy thriller. The striker was the last to board the plane he took from the Netherlands to Porto last Sunday and timed his arrival on matchday to avoid crossing paths with anyone. Upon landing, he was the first off the plane and ushered into a van with tinted windows that drove him to the stadium. His entourage – anonymous to fans – collected his luggage.

• Sonia Bermúdez and Iraia Iturregi to take over

• Federation thanks Tomé for work and dedication

The Spanish football federation (RFEF) has confirmed the contract of its women’s team manager, Montse Tomé, will not be renewed when it expires at the end of August. The under-23 manager, Sonia Bermúdez, has been appointed to replace Tomé, with the former Spain international to be assisted by Iraia Iturregi in a new joint model.

Tomé was appointed in 2023, the assistant manager taking over from Jorge Vilda, who was sacked after Spain’s first World Cup win. Long-held frustrations boiled over after the federation’s then president Luis Rubiales’s inappropriate actions during the medal ceremony, including kissing Jenni Hermoso.

• Madrid urge Spanish federation to withdraw request

• Uefa to begin procedure to obtain authorisation from Fifa

Real Madrid say they are opposed to plans by their bitter rivals Barcelona to play a league match in the US this season, saying the move “sets an unacceptable precedent”.

Barcelona and Villarreal are seeking permission from the football authorities to play in Miami in December. Fan groups of the clubs have already threatened legal action if the plan progresses, and now Real have expressed their opposition to the move.

Footballer Suleiman al-Obeid was killed in an Israeli attack in southern Gaza last week, according to Palestine Football Association

Mohamed Salah has criticised Uefa for failing to state how a footballer known as the “Palestinian Pelé” died in a tribute it posted.

Suleiman al-Obeid, 41, was killed on Wednesday in southern Gaza when Israeli forces attacked civilians waiting for humanitarian aid, the Palestine Football Association (PFA) said.

It was only the Community Shield, but issues from pre-season popped up again for Arne Slot in Liverpool’s loss on penalties to Crystal Palace

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It was the Community Shield, and that should not be forgotten. There isn’t anybody who has been watching English football for any period of time who hasn’t made the mistake of taking too seriously a conclusion drawn in the midst of the traditional curtain-raiser, giddy on the sight of Wembley in its pomp and the return of competitive club football from the summer wilderness.

Any analysis has to be tempered. Teams are always works in progress, evolving and developing, but that is never truer than in early August with new signings adapting to their teammates and surroundings, and others shaking the summer from their legs. Things will change. But after Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace and subsequent defeat on penalties in the Community Shield, it can be said with a degree of certainty that their new signings have gelled better at the front of the pitch than the back.

The grass catwalk returns with appealing Adidas, funereal keepers and cartoon collars – but whose jersey will be top of the league?

Football strips nowadays are big business. Especially for the not insignificant number of clubs flogging shirts for £85+ a pop. As sport and fashion become ever more intertwined – Jack Grealish as an ambassador for Gucci; Son Heung-min for Burberry; Kalvin Phillips in those massive Loewe boots – mainstream football’s interest with clothes has moved on from just David Beckham in a sarong. It is a state of affairs that former catwalk model Pep Guardiola no doubt appreciates.

And, after a couple of years of subpar kit designs – running the gamut from insipid to truly horrifying – the 2025-26 Premier League season has upped its sartorial game. All-black away strips and turquoise touches have proved popular; while manufacturers still insist on “taking inspiration” from home stadium architecture and surroundings. (The success of this varies immensely; but Everton, Leeds, and Burnley have all nailed it this time around.) No brand has let the side(s) down, but the Adidas designers have done especially well with a series of understated new strips. The smaller labels have also impressed. And it is pleasing to see the three returnees dressed up for the occasion.

Former third-tier club with no financial muscle from remote municipality of 14,000 inhabitants lead country’s top flight

For Mjällby’s opponents, a trip to the far south of Sweden feels like a journey to the Earth’s end. “When teams come on here on the bus they drive and drive, through the farms, past the fishing harbours,” says Hasse Larsson. “They keep driving and then, when they can’t drive any further, they find our stadium.”

They discover an institution whose heart and soul are rooted in Sölvesborg, a remote municipality of 14,000 inhabitants. Nowadays they find a club front and centre of an extraordinary story unfolding in Allsvenskan, the country’s top flight. Mjällby are four points clear at the top with 12 games left; they have lost once and, should they escape intact from a visit to the champions Malmö on Saturday, the unlikeliest of dreams will become vivid.

A summer without a sporting director and failure to keep Alexander Isak happy has left the club with an almost dysfunctional feel

“If you want to understand Newcastle you first need to understand its place in the world – that is, a very long way from anywhere. The next major city is Leeds, two hours drive to the south … London feels very far away.”

If Eddie Howe can only hope his prospective signings do not stumble across the Rough Guides introduction to England’s northern cities, Newcastle’s manager may also reflect that it was not supposed to be like this.

Our cartoonist on the wacky plotlines and big characters to look out for as the new season begins

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• David’s latest book, Chaos in the Box: buy it now

The Guardian’s fans network looks ahead to the new season: fresh talent, weak links, and who will be sacked first

Optimism abounds in London N5. I had some doubts about Arteta’s ability to keep motivating this group, but this summer’s heavy spend should fix that, reinvigorating the squad. Only time will tell whether the new faces can gel and develop chemistry, but it’s a relief to have the clamour for a centre-forward answered at last. Hopefully come May we’ll be lauding Victor’s veni, vidi, vici Premier League triumph.

Bernard Azulay onlinegooner.com; @GoonerN5

Jonathan Pritchard (With thanks to Ozzy and all the Holte Enders in the Sky.)

From a Saturday Night Fever-inspired video to a bizarre Lionel Richie-theme, it has been a creative time for signings

Sometimes it’s best not to overcomplicate things. The former Atalanta playmaker Alejandro “Papu” Gómez loves a dance (his hit single Dance Like the Papu went viral in 2017) and Padua is an absolutely gorgeous city in northern Italy, so this Saturday Night Fever-inspired transfer announcement video for the Argentinian that showcases both works a charm. In what feels like a high-quality production, the 2022 World Cup winner struts around the city in 1970s clobber: a leather jacket, an enormously lappelled shirt and a vintage pair of Copa Mundials, all to the sound of the Bee Gees’ Stayin’ Alive. The context of this transfer to the Serie B side is that Gómez is finishing a two-year doping ban after taking a banned substance, which the now 37-year-old claimed came from his son’s cough medicine. Gómez, fifth on the all-time list of Serie A assists, continues to train independently but can start training with his new Padova teammates on 19 August.

Belgium-born coach on being tagged a ‘laptop manager’, the pressure to get Saints promoted and why village cricket is his secret to relaxing

“You don’t call it Opel, you call it Vauxhall,” says Will Still. “A Corsa, little black thing that eventually died. Actually, no, Nico, my younger brother crashed it … it was crap, though, it didn’t even have a radio.” Still, who grew up in Grez-Doiceau, near Brussels, laughs as he recounts his days driving to work as an unpaid video analyst at Sint-Truiden while living at home with his mother, Jane. “Best time of my life, to be honest. It was like the dream was coming true.”

Twelve years on, the 32-year-old, one of the most intriguing managers in the game, has been tasked with returning Southampton to the Premier League after impressing with Lens. The only other time he lived in England was as a teenager when he spent two years studying at Myerscough College in Lancashire, where his degree included coaching Preston’s under-14s. At the time Still felt like “the little posh Belgian kid” but that period provided a handy lesson in English football-speak.

Poised for a move to Al-Hilal, the striker will depart in the affections of many despite a hit and miss time at Anfield

It started with a goal to clinch the Community Shield against Manchester City on his Liverpool debut and a red card for a head-butt on his Anfield bow. There were glaring misses, falling-outs and some telling contributions in between, before it ended with Liverpool taking a rare financial hit on a one-time club record signing. Darwin Núñez never reached the heights Jürgen Klopp predicted he would, but it was an eventful three-year ride that ensures the striker is poised to depart in the affections of many at Liverpool.

Klopp led the signing of Núñez before and especially after his two appearances for Benfica against Liverpool in the 2021-22 Champions League. But he was not the only Liverpool coach to be sold on the Uruguay international’s talents, become frustrated by attempts to accommodate the forward and ultimately sideline him. Arne Slot followed an identical path with the mercurial 26-year-old.

Winger with millions of followers explains how the ‘female-first mentality’ at the Serie A minnows was a big draw

It is not difficult to understand why any Italian club would want to sign Alisha Lehmann: last season she helped Juventus win a league and cup double, she is an international winger who accumulated 19 goals and 10 assists in England’s Women’s Super League and, yes, there is the small matter of her 16.7m Instagram followers and 12m TikTok followers, an online presence that commands a commercial power vast for any athlete and pretty unique in women’s football.

What is perhaps not so immediately obvious is why, aged 26 and with her peak football years probably ahead, she would opt to join a club that finished in the bottom half of Serie A last season and cannot yet offer European football. However, the Switzerland forward’s reasons for signing a three-year deal with FC Como Women, she says, have a deeper meaning.

After 10 goals in 12 league games earned West Ham player a rising star award she talks dogs, sleep and her football dream

Shekiera Martinez’s family were sceptical when she told them, aged eight, she wanted to start playing football. She was one of four girls and a boy in her family, growing up in Germany, and one of her older sisters had by then given up the game. “I wanted to start but when I told my mum, she firstly said: ‘No, you won’t play for long, you’ll be like your sister,’” Martinez recalls. “And so then I gave her a promise that I would play for longer than my sister.”

Sixteen years later, the West Ham striker has certainly kept that promise. After progressing through her local boys’ team, playing for Eintracht Frankfurt for six years and thriving at youth level for Germany, Martinez most recently collected the Women’s Super League’s Rising Star award for the 2024-25 season after a breakthrough second half of the campaign in which she scored 10 times in 12 WSL games.

This is an extract from our free weekly email, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts is back to its twice-weekly format, delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday.

Today’s tall tales want to swing their hips

It’s been an unusually busy summer at Manchester City: lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-yous. And Hugo Viana, City’s new director of football, isn’t done yet. According to selected rags, City may hijack Chelsea’s move for the RB Leipzig and Netherlands forward Xavi Simons.

City are also attempting to reunite last year’s France Olympic squad by stealth. First they signed Rayan Cherki; now they’re being linked with the Monaco midfielder Maghnes Akliouche.

How well do you remember the goals, games and controversial moments of previous opening weekends?