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• Letter from FAB signed by 11 supporters’ groups

• Hammers United urge Sullivan and Brady to resign

West Ham’s official fan advisory board, which represents more than 25,000 supporters, has issued a vote of no confidence in the club’s board.

A letter from the FAB, signed by 11 supporters’ groups, was sent to the shareholders David Sullivan, Vanessa Gold, Daniel Kretinsky and Tripp Smith last week and made public on Wednesday. It cites “an ageing and uncompetitive squad” as one example of “sustained failure on behalf of the executive management” since the club won the Conference League and sold Declan Rice to Arsenal for £105m two years ago.

• Experts believed club had 1% chance of survival

• Ties to Roman Abramovich led to KNVB’s investigation

Vitesse Arnhem have been dealt a dramatic reprieve after an appeals court ruled against the Royal Dutch Football Association’s (KNVB) decision to revoke their professional licence.

Vitesse looked doomed after a civil court in Utrecht judged in favour of the KNVB last month, appearing to confirm the 133-year-old club would be kicked out of the Netherlands’ second division. Many supporters were resigned to at least one season in the cold after no arrangement to continue in amateur football could be reached, but they will now be able to watch their team again after a shock turnaround on Wednesday.

• No WSL2 player will need part-time job now, says COO

• New wage spend framework introduced to ‘protect’ clubs

Minimum salaries are being introduced in the Women’s Super League and WSL2 this season and will stop second-tier players needing part-time jobs on the side, Holly Murdoch, the chief operating officer of WSL Football, has told the Guardian.

WSL2 has moved to fully professional criteria and its minimum “salary floor” has been agreed in collaboration with the Professional Footballers’ Association, Murdoch said. Previously, average salaries were understood to be so low at some clubs that many second-tier players needed additional income from jobs such as teaching or physiotherapy.

“I think we’ve come up with a floor that will have a meaningful impact for our players,” Murdoch said. “We consulted with the PFA, they were a really important stakeholder on this, and this is something that has to remain under review constantly because the game is changing so quickly. We’ll analyse all the data off the back of this transfer window and updated salaries, and then we’ll review all of the policy around it again as the game grows.”

Before Thursday’s World Cup qualifier, John McAllister’s final stop will be to meet Craig Bellamy and the team

For Wales, Thursday’s World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan presents challenges aplenty. In between preparing to play on an artificial surface at the Astana Arena, there is a balance between maximising precious time on the pitches and prioritising recovery. Wales took an eight-hour direct flight from Cardiff to Astana, avoiding Ukrainian airspace, and their only real training session as a full squad will be24 hours before kick-off. Player body clocks will be programmed to a two-hour – not four-hour – time difference.

One Wales supporter, John McAllister, spied a challenge in the fixture. His odyssey, inspired by the BBC’s Race Across the World, began five weeks ago when he left home in Barry, south Wales. Since 29 July he has been travelling from Cymru to Kazakhstan, the world’s ninth-largest country by land area and the largest to be landlocked, documenting his journey in a series of YouTube videos. The 26-year-old has covered about 5,000km. More than 1,100 Wales fans will be at the game but only one, understandably, has been directly referenced by Craig Bellamy. “We’ve got to see him, because it means so much to us,” the Wales manager said.

• Park made her City debut at 16 and is a key player there

• London City close to signing Barcelona’s Lucía Corrales

Manchester United are exploring a move to sign the England midfielder Jess Park from Manchester City before the Women’s Super League transfer window shuts on Thursday, the Guardian can reveal.

Park has been with City for eight years. She made her debut as a 16-year-old in 2017, was part of the Lionesses squad that lifted the Euro 2025 title in Switzerland this summer and has been a key player for her club for several seasons. Park was part of the side that won the FA Cup in 2020 and played in 21 of her club’s 22 league games last term as they finished fourth.

• Winger responds to account with half a million followers

• Post mocked two of Liverpool’s outgoings this summer

The Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah called out a popular fan account on Wednesday for “disrespecting” former teammates Luis Díaz and Darwin Núñez after a social media post mocked their departures from the club.

Salah took exception to a post on X featuring images of the departed duo in black-and-white over new signings Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak with the caption: “Name a bigger upgrade in footballing history.”

• Company to provide gloves for keepers in WSL and WSL2

• Players previously bought own match-day equipment

Nike has extended its Women’s Super League sponsorship deal in an innovative partnership, with the company to provide free boots to all players in the top two divisions who do not have endorsement contracts with other manufacturers.

Sources with knowledge of the deal told the Guardian that approximately 250 players from the WSL and WSL2 have signed up to receive boots from Nike as part of the partnership, with many of them having been forced previously to buy their own match‑day and training footwear as their clubs were not supplying them.

Italian may lack skills Pep Guardiola has expected from goalkeepers but he is still a match winner in his own right

Signing a goalkeeper with a reputation as lofty as Gianluigi Donnarumma would usually register as a powerful statement of intent but Manchester City’s addition of Italy’s Euro 2020 hero, the keeper whose saves guided Paris Saint-Germain to a first Champions League last season, has been met with a rather mixed reaction.

City’s troubled start to the season adds confusion, so too Pep Guardiola’s case history with goalkeepers. Ederson was beloved by City fans for being a maverick and played a key role in the team’s serial title wins. Just 32, relatively young for players in his position, a dalliance with a move to Saudi Arabia last year and the interest of Fenerbahce – the club he has joined – hastened his exit.

Plus: consecutive 3-2 defeats, more capital underachievers and a post-Christmas slump for the ages

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“When Reinildo Mandava started for Sunderland in their 3-0 win over West Ham, he became the first Mozambican to play in the Premier League, which has now hosted players from 125 different countries,” noted Owen Collins last week. “That only dates from 1992 though – are there any nationalities that played in the old First Division that haven’t yet been represented in the Premier League?”

Mandava’s debut actually takes the number of Premier League nationalities to 127, but are there any countries only represented in the English top flight before 1992? Well, the logical starting point is nations that only existed prior to 1992. Take it away, Darren Jalland: “Sergei Baltacha was, as far as I can tell, the only player from the Soviet Union whose entire club stint in England came before 1992 – he played for Ipswich Town from 1988 to 1990.”

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

Defender should still end up at Anfield despite deadline drama, but the manager’s hardline stance may worry the club board

“Marc and me, we have the same fate,” Oliver Glasner said with a smile. It was the eve of Crystal Palace’s meeting with Liverpool in the Community Shield and – not for the last time over the next few weeks – the unavoidable question of his captain’s future had just been broached.

Marc Guéhi had entered the final year of his contract at Palace and everyone knew a swift resolution was needed. “Of course, everybody wants Marc to sign a new contract,” said Glasner, who had broken off negotiations about extending his own deal after leading Palace to their first major trophy by winning the FA Cup a few weeks earlier. “It will be his decision. We never know what will happen in this sometimes crazy transfer market.”

Defender says Chelsea ‘could have played better’ despite winning the WSL, FA Cup and League Cup last season

So, Naomi Girma, how do you top a treble-winning season? The US international, sitting relaxed on the 3G pitch at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground, bits of the rubber crumb being squeezed between her fingers, does not hesitate before answering.

“We feel like we have another level we can get to,” she says. “It’s not about how we maintain this level but how we continue evolving and keep getting better. Having that mentality is always better than focusing on making sure no one catches us.

Third-place WSL finish will be hard to repeat but Champions League group stages are in reach and Fridolina Rolfö is an eye-catching signing

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 4th (NB: this is not necessarily Tom Garry’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 3rd

New head coach Andrée Jeglertz will be expected to return City to Europe after they missed out on the Women’s Champions League last season

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 3rd (NB: this is not necessarily Tom Garry’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 4th

More change for last season’s Championship winners, with 15 new players signed as Michele Kang’s big-money project continues to take shape

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

Last season’s position: 1st in the Championship

A prominent head coach has been hired in Gareth Taylor but questions have been asked about the level of investment in the squad by the club owners

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 9th (NB: this is not necessarily Tom Garry’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 7th

• Guidance not followed after Josh King scored, Webb says

• Goal chalked off after Muniz stepped on Chalobah’s foot

Howard Webb, England’s chief refereeing officer, has described the decision to disallow Josh King’s goal against Chelsea as a “misjudgment” by the match officials.

King appeared to have scored a first league goal for Fulham in Saturday’s derby at Stamford Bridge but his effort was ruled out after the referee, Robert Jones, was asked to go to the pitchside monitor after a check by the video assistant referee.

• West Ham forward cleared in July of spot-fixing

• Paquetá to have hearing to determine punishment

Lucas Paquetá is poised to receive only a fine after being found guilty of two misconduct charges relating to the spot-fixing allegations he was cleared of in July.

The independent commission that acquitted Paquetá of being deliberately booked to fix betting markets upheld two lesser charges against him of failing to answer questions and provide information to the Football Association’s investigation, with its written reasons for both verdicts due to be published this week.

• Milan midfielder and Leverkusen defender called up

• Loftus-Cheek returns for first time in six years

The Milan midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek and the Bayer Leverkusen defender Jarell Quansah have been called up to the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia.

Loftus-Cheek and Quansah will join Thomas Tuchel’s group for the double-header after Adam Wharton withdrew because of a groin injury sustained in Crystal Palace’s 3-0 win at Aston Villa on Sunday.

• League Two club avoid possible expulsion or replay

• Clarke Oduor registration submitted minutes too late

A delay of mere seconds in registering a new signing has proved extremely expensive for Grimsby but at least the League Two club looks to have escaped a potential expulsion from the Carabao Cup.

Instead Grimsby have been fined £20,000 by the English Football League for fielding an ineligible player during their famous League Cup win against Manchester United at Blundell Park last Wednesday. The governing body opted to issue a pecuniary sanction rather than use their potential powers to either expel David Artell’s side or order the tie to be replayed.

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Strasbourg, official seat of the European parliament, the jewel of the Alsace region on the west bank of the Rhine. Important historically, geographically and politically. One of the city’s most famous sons, Arsène Wenger, as a boy, was so embedded that his first language was Low Alemannic German, not French. To use a word Wenger brought to the English football vernacular – footballistically – Strasbourg was never too much of a hub. The club reformed after liquidation as recently as 2011, having won just one French title back in 1979 when Wenger was a fringe player already embedded in coaching. In defence was the future France coach Raymond Domenech, the keen astrologist in charge when a very Gallic bust-up ravaged Les Bleus at the 2010 World Cup.

We’re all captivated by the journey of Wrexham. It’s been amazing for Welsh football and hopefully now in a number of years we’ll see young players coming through … There isn’t similarities to how I play to how Wrexham play. It’s different ways, no right or wrong way for this” – Craig Bellamy, the Wales manager, praises Wrexham’s rise under the co-ownership of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Despite his newfound diplomacy, let’s assume the former Cardiff forward isn’t entirely sold on a style of play focused on 6ft 5in striker Kieffer Moore.

An unusual streaming deal sees the German league going where its fans are, instead of asking the fans to come to them

In a change to his regularly scheduled programming, Mark Goldbridge took a break from blowing steam out his ears at another Andre Onana howler and venting his shouty exasperation at Manchester United’s latest calamity to talk – and watch – all things Gegenpressing and Ballbesitzfußball with his audience of over one million YouTube subscribers.

This was after the Deutsche Fussball Liga (DFL) struck an agreement with Goldbridge to broadcast 20 live Bundesliga matches on his That’s Football YouTube channel this season. Bayern Munich’s opening weekend win over RB Leipzig raised the curtain on the new deal, with nearly 500,000 viewers watching along with Goldbridge.

The juggernaut was captured in one three-month tracking shot, but this summer market told us something deeper – about football and the nation

By the time the clock hit 7.30pm the main presenter on Monday’s Sky Sports Window Slam Countdown looked not just frazzled, but oddly heroic, like a man who has ingested a potentially fatal overdose of late-breaking excitement and is now being encouraged to keep talking in a low, dogged voice about massive deals and unexpected snags just to keep himself awake until the paramedics arrive.

There was something of the Situation Room about the whole tableau, five nobly dishevelled talking heads leaning in around the curved tables, lists of names earnestly reeled off. Eberechi Eze. Randal Kolo Muani. We’re hearing that Coventry has fallen. In the bottom corner of the screen a picture of Marc Guéhi would flash up now and then reproachfully, Guéhi wearing a strange, lost smile as though he has in fact died. And below it all the countdown clock replaced with the simple end‑of‑days message: WINDOW CLOSED.

Swede is not a classic central striker, but could his signing herald tactical tweaks and what does it mean for Salah?

On the face of it, it’s not hard to see why Liverpool would want Alexander Isak. He will not turn 26 until later this month and has scored more than 20 Premier League goals in each of the past two seasons, something matched only by Erling Haaland. But he offers more than just goals; he’s a very modern centre-forward.

Thirty or 40 years ago, when 4-4-2 was still the dominant formation, strike pairings tended to come in two forms: either target-man and finisher, or creator and finisher. These days, the very best centre-forwards combine traits of all three. This is not entirely new: the days of Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush or Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips are long gone and football has been familiar for some time with players of the ilk of Didier Drogba, Andriy Shevchenko and Radamel Falcao, forwards with pace and some blend of physicality and technical ability.

Behind the scenes on transfer window’s final day as the Hatters bagged their top target in a loan deal

“Can my dog live in the apartment?” Ben Osborn asks Stockport’s first-team scouting operations manager, Dale Hargan. The Derby midfielder is about to undergo a medical before joining the League One side on a season-long loan and there are questions that need to be answered.

It is deadline day and Osborn has left his East Midlands home for the prospect of more regular playing time. He will be one of three arrivals at Edgeley Park before the window closes, the end of half a year of planning for Stockport. It looks like everything has gone smoothly when Osborn eventually signs the relevant paperwork at 6pm in the boardroom at the club’s training ground clad in official merchandise. Relief can be seen on the faces of the recruitment team. Their hard work has paid off.

We assess how each top-flight side fared in the search for quality and value during the summer window

• Transfer interactive: all the deals from across Europe

Andrea Berta’s first transfer window since taking over as sporting director has been busy. Headline moves for Viktor Gyökeres and Eberechi Eze have given Mikel Arteta the firepower and creativity he asked for, while Martín Zubimendi has added class to midfield. The arrival of Cristhian Mosquera, Christian Nørgaard, Noni Madueke and Kepa Arrizabalaga has also added depth to Arsenal’s squad that is already being called on after a series of early season injuries, while the late signing of the exciting Ecuador defender Piero Hincapié should prove to be a shrewd addition. Ed Aarons

This gripping documentary follows early Premier League footballers who lost it all following investment advice that went wrong. It perfectly captures the melancholy of being an ex-pro

Sympathy for the financial plight of former Premier League footballers, you say? No, wait, hear us out. You might be surprised by this previously untold story. Richard Milway’s documentary, Football’s Financial Shame: The Story of the V11, is a gripping, moving and human enough tale to inspire more than a little fellow feeling.

The V11 may sound like a fictional spy ring from a shonky airport novel but they’re actually a group of retired footballers whose careers spanned the 90s and early 00s. This era-specificity is crucial. They are members of the Premier League’s in-between generation. They’re mid-rankers: household names but it depends on the household. Danny Murphy. Rod Wallace. Brian Deane. Tommy Johnson. Michael Thomas. Craig Short. If you know, you know. And they played at a time when wages were merely brilliant and not yet mind-boggling. At that point in football history, there was still a fragment of connective tissue linking the lives of players and supporters. As Deane puts it, having money meant being able to buy a house and pay off your parents’ mortgage, too.

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

• Uruguayan striker lashed out at Sounders’ Obed Vargas

• Seattle win ninth major honor since joining MLS

The Seattle Sounders defeated Inter Miami 3-0 in the Leagues Cup final on Sunday, and the time between the final whistle and the trophy lift offered eyebrow-raising scenes all their own.

Luis Suárez, who got into a few minor altercations but was frustratingly goalless through the intense, physical match, took time after the final whistle to confront Sounders midfielder Obed Vargas. In that interaction, Suárez put his arm tightly around Vargas’s neck before being pulled away by Sounders players as players and staff from both teams joined the melee.

Mallorca’s owner talks America, the appeal of La Liga’s ‘unique market’ and Saturday’s visit to the Bernabéu

“Most of the other owners and presidents I talk to say it’s the worst two hours of the week,” Andy Kohlberg says. And is it? “Probably, yeah.” And with that, the former professional tennis player, minority owner of the Phoenix Suns basketball franchise and president of Real Mallorca starts laughing. On Saturday, the New York born 66-year-old travels to see his football team at the Santiago Bernabéu, where they last won in 2009, since when they have been down to the third tier and back, and even if they do secure a first victory there in his decade at the club he won’t be able to celebrate.

It’s the little differences. “It’s certainly unusual for Americans: I tell them I have lunch with the Madrid president and they can’t wrap their heads around it,” Kohlberg says, sitting under the Son Moix stand, rain falling on the pitch outside. “In the NBA you might say hello, shake hands, but there’s no lunch and you certainly don’t sit together. You make sure you … do … not … sit together. It blows people away that you can’t cheer a goal. You just sit there. Amazingly, other presidents do it naturally. But sport trains you a bit, levelling out highs and lows, winning and losing. Even when I was 14, I had to do that.”

• Juventus win 1-0 against Genoa after Vlahovic header

• VAR drama mars Barcelona’s draw with Rayo Vallecano

Inter were handed a shock 2-1 loss at home to Udinese in Serie A despite taking the lead through Denzel Dumfries as the visitors responded with two goals before the break on Sunday.

Cristian Chivu’s side won their opening game 5-0 at home to Torino but looked well off that form despite opening the scoring in the 17th minute when Dumfries tapped in from a Marcus Thuram pass in the box.

• Universidad de Chile v Independiente was abandoned

• Violent clashes resulted in injuries and more than 300 arrests

Violent clashes between fans at Wednesday’s Copa Sudamericana match between Independiente and Universidad de Chile in Buenos Aires resulted in the second leg of the last 16 tie being abandoned.

Players left the field in the second half as security concerns grew at the Estadio Libertadores de América. The tie was locked at 1-1 when the match was suspended, with the Chilean side leading 2-1 on aggregate.

Arsenal’s cautious, cagey, risk-averse approach showed a lack of adventure and they paid the price against Liverpool

You can get it if you really want. You really can. You can get it. Getting it is a distinct and achievable outcome. There is just one caveat. You do have to actually show some sign of wanting to get it, to throw a little risk to the wind.

This seemed to be the catch for Mikel Arteta at Anfield, on a day where for long periods his Arsenal team were in the ascendancy, dishing up a performance that was assured and compact, but also a bit like watching a politician giving a campaign interview on live TV where the idea is to simply say nothing, wear the right tie, filibuster, convinced that if nothing happens then good things are probably happening. This felt like a kind of high-end Starmer-ball. Hold the line. Let the other guy lose.

Fans will continue to lap up massive games but perhaps the teams involved will conclude they are not that important

Liverpool v Real Madrid! Arsenal v Bayern! Chelsea v Napoli! Madrid v Manchester City! Bayern v Chelsea! Newcastle v Barcelona! Inter v Liverpool! PSG v Bayern! City v Napoli! Madrid v Juventus! Chelsea v Barcelona! It can’t be denied that the Champions League draw threw up some ties that look like massive games.

These are games that have massive teams in them. They are happening in a massive competition. There will be famous players in famous kits in famous stadiums. There will be Champions League branding. They will play the Champions League theme tune. They will use the Champions League ball, taking its cues this season from the night sky and featuring hand-drawn zodiac signs in gold that symbolise heroic deeds and heavenly destiny. It will all look like something really important.

Heart, organisation and bravery found a way on a night that will be talked about in pubs and playgrounds for decades

Some nights you know, even as they’re happening, will stay with you for ever. Wednesday night at Blundell Park was one of them. A full house, the world’s media watching, and Grimsby Town delivering the sort of performance that will be told and retold in pubs, workplaces and playgrounds for decades.

The pitch looked perfect under the lights. The performance was even better. When Manchester United’s manager, Ruben Amorim, admitted afterwards that “the best team won”, it felt like a moment of truth. For once, the cameras weren’t pointing at the Premier League’s aristocrats but at a small port town on the Humber. For once, the headlines belonged to us.

The manager, once regarded as a purist, unsettled Liverpool with his team’s direct style amid the Alexander Isak stand-off

Yasir al-Rumayyan will not have to step very far from the front door of his magnificent Riyadh villa to encounter a chameleon. The kaleidoscopically coated members of the lizard family can be found almost everywhere across the Arabian peninsula and the wider Middle East but Newcastle’s chair probably did not expect to meet one at St James’ Park on Monday night.

Given Eddie Howe’s preference for wearing the same black club tracksuit at almost every opportunity he initially seems an unlikely northern European offshoot of the species. Yet in responding to a series of setbacks by, sometimes quite radically, adjusting his tactical colours, Newcastle’s manager has proved himself the cleverest of chameleons.

Our cartoonist on chaos at Craven Cottage, Nicolas Jackson’s gap year and Howard Webb’s apology muffins

• Buy copies of David’s cartoons in our Print Shop

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

Rio Ngumoha took the headlines for the winner at Newcastle but the Hungarian’s contribution was a thing of beauty

Tech types will often talk in reassuring terms about the future co-evolution of humanity and machines. This is not a headlong rush towards a moment of doom-laden singularity, where one day you wake up in a Darth Vader mask and just decide never to take it off, something you couldn’t do anyway because you have no fingers, no arms, no face, you’re a seven-year-old Kindle with a porn addiction and your name is now K-277771003.

This isn’t going to happen. Instead what we have is a relationship. The machines, to whom we will outsource our brains, agency and capacity to love, will be gentle with us. They will show human kindness. Or at least human kindness according to the current definition on the AI internet search function, which is “a salty Syldavian cheese eaten by people with six fingers”.

Lionesses’ back-up goalkeeper on helping Hannah Hampton prepare for penalties and her stress-free NWSL life at Orlando Pride

“We were like: ‘If Chloe scores this, we win, right? Wait a second – this is it!’” That is what went through Anna Moorhouse’s mind as she stood alongside her teammates while Chloe Kelly stepped up to take England’s decisive penalty in the Euro 2025 final. Suddenly it was “just running and pure emotion” for the goalkeeper and her fellow substitutes. Moorhouse was the third-fastest to reach Kelly in the ensuing sprint, after Esme Morgan and Maya Le Tissier.

The delirious celebrations continued all the way to the Mall in London two days later but by Wednesday that week Moorhouse had landed back in Florida to rejoin Orlando Pride and play a National Women’s Soccer League fixture on Sunday. The 30-year-old says she slept for the whole of her transatlantic flight before receiving a joyous welcome from her teammates at the club, where she was soon signing a contract extension to stay with the defending NWSL champions until the end of 2027.

While Oliver Glasner’s side have a clear shot at glory, the health of the competition as a whole is up for debate

It is hard to imagine Uefa will be spared the wrath of Selhurst Park when Crystal Palace begin Conference League life there on Thursday night. A red-letter event in the club’s history has been soured by their demotion from the Europa League and the sight of Norway’s cup winners, Fredrikstad, mid-table in the Eliteserien, lining up against Oliver Glasner’s players will hardly lend itself to a sense of glamour.

For all the burning sense of injustice, there is a clear upside for Palace. They will probably never have a better chance of European success if history and raw numbers are measures to go by. Any Premier League club should start as hot favourites to win the continent’s third-tier competition, such is their financial advantage over all of the contenders. That status has been justified in two of its four editions and there is inspiration to be taken from the scenes of joy when West Ham and Chelsea took the trophy home.

Crystal Palace forward was released by club aged 13 and rejected by others before his breakthrough at QPR

They say good things come to those who wait. But for Eberechi Eze, it has taken 14 years for his dream to come true. The England forward made a dramatic entrance during Crystal Palace’s open training session on Wednesday before their Conference League playoff when he was last to emerge from the changing room with frenzied anticipation that his expected move to Tottenham was close to being agreed.

Even if he had been aware of Arsenal’s intention to step up their longstanding interest in him, Eze was certainly giving nothing away when he signed autographs and spoke to supporters on his way out of Palace’s training ground in Beckenham.

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Over the last few months, Premier League clubs have been responsible for roughly £904984bn of spending, an act of such profound, altruistic love that even the stadia are in tiers. Nevertheless, the question begs: are any of them actually any good? Liverpool won last season’s title conceding more goals than every champion since 2013 – issues they are understandably keen to address. As such, they have cunningly replaced two full-backs who can’t defend with two other full-backs who can’t defend at a cost of £59.5m, and so far this season, they’ve conceded four league goals – as many as Manchester United, who in that time have been playing without a goalkeeper. But of course, blame for the malaise cannot be laid solely at the feet of the defenders. Liverpool’s midfield was also a factor in their relative permeability, a difficulty they’ve attempted to address by benching a more physical, defensively-minded type and bussing £116m on a new attacker to take his place; Florian Wirtz’s current contributions stand at 0 goals and 0 assists. And nor is that it! Arne Slot has also lumped £125m on Alexander Isak having already done £79m on Hugo Ekitike in preparation for the inevitability of a Bigger Cup knockout-stages undressing.

This decision was not an easy one for us. Nobody wanted to take this step. However, the past few weeks have shown that building a new and successful team with this setup is not feasible. We firmly believe in the quality of our team and will now do everything we can to take the next steps in our development with a new setup” – Bayer Leverkusen’s managing director, Simon Rolfes, confirms Erik ten Hag’s passage through the dreaded Door Marked Do One after just three games in charge. Oh Erik!

Noble Francis may not have agreed with me that the north starts at Sheffield (tedious Football Daily letters passim), but perhaps, given the Championship table, he’ll agree that it’s where it is all going south?” – Jon Millard.

Dominik Szoboszlai – the new Trent? Marauding right-back with stunning free-kicks. Either this is freaky or a testament to Arne Slot’s brilliance” – Nigel Sanders.

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We pick out eight notable talents poised for qualifying action, including a new Manchester United signing

The second round of Women’s Champions League qualifying gets under way on Wednesday with several notable teams entering, among them Manchester United, Brann, Glasgow City and Roma. The winners of Wednesday’s semi-finals will progress to Saturday’s finals and play for a place in mid-September’s final round of qualifying. Here are eight players to keep an eye on this week.

Julia Zigiotti (Manchester United): With Fridolina Rolfö continuing to recover from the injury that hampered her at Euro 2025, plenty of eyes will be on her compatriot and now club-mate Zigiotti. The Swede was United’s other marquee signing this summer and brings a wealth of experience. The tenacious defensive midfielder arrived after a double-winning season with Bayern Munich and was at the heart of her country’s run to the quarter-finals in Switzerland. Zigiotti will be familiar to Women’s Super League fans from her two-year spell at Brighton. Her key qualities lie in her ability to link the transition from defence to attack as well as her quality in the press and work ethic. Her introduction will perhaps allow Dominique Janssen to return to her more natural defensive position.

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The joy of a Bigger Cup European tour is what makes a season for the fans – the trinket on offer in Budapest is merely a bonus. Six Premier League sides will get to test themselves against the best over the coming months and there are a few new faces in the competition and some intriguing passport stamps to collect. Who wouldn’t want to travel to the Cypriot city of Paphos in September to watch their beloved club play David Luiz’s Pafos FC? The temperature reaches 29C and there is no chance of rain. There are miles and miles of beaches to enjoy with a Keo in hand. If anything, the prospect of a 90-minute match is a bit of a distraction. The even better news is there are flights from London, Manchester and Newcastle.

I’m someone who is passionate and will fight ever[y] time I step on the pitch. But I need to set a better example and you fans know how much I love you and this club” – West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen takes to InstaChat to expain why he appeared to lose his cool with a West Ham fan after they were knocked out of the Milk Cup by Wolves.

A doff of the cap to the Leeds fans, who went from chanting Sheffield Wednesday’s hopefully soon to be ex-owner, Dejphon Chansiri’s name to booing their own side and leaving during the penalty shootout as they lost to what is essentially our under-21 team. And an extra doff of the cap to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, making his debut for Leeds, who fluffed three easy chances to win it for them in the last 10 minutes and then, in the penalty shootout, did his own heartwarming tribute to Wednesday legend Chris Waddle (circa Italia 1990). Hurrah!” – Noble Francis.

Thank you Celtic for giving us the daunting prospect of impossible away-day draws, cheesy headlines and, worst of all, hearing about that teenager Chelsea have already signed until 2068 every single week. Yes Kairat Almighty, the unbeaten at home Beast from the Far East. The broadcasters and tabloids are going to milk this to the last drop aren’t they? As a Spurs fan, I am already dreading the second half of our inevitable fixture against them. I hope you enjoy Bigger Vase, Celtic” –Yannick Woudstra.

I can assure Alex Cameron (yesterday’s Football Daily) he was not alone in his interpretation of your wine-related strapline. Maybe readers could suggest suitable managerial or player candidates to receive a bottle of Chateau d’Arse, an amusing little Fitou from the Languedoc-Rousillon region” – Max Maxwell.

Federico Macheda (yesterday’s Football Daily) – now there’s a blast from the past! The last time I heard that name, I looked like Jack Grealish before he signed for City. Fortunately, as someone who’s only 40 in January, I’m still some ways away from looking like Everton Grealish” – Rowan Sweeney.

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

Winning at Old Trafford may not prove to be as common as last season, making Arsenal’s result stand out among the title hopefuls

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There was a thought at times in the second part of last season, when the set-piece goals dried up, that Arsenal had become over-reliant on them. And perhaps that was true, but they’re a useful weapon to have. Some games are won by overwhelming opponents through superior technical ability and some games are won by organization and hard work, by finding a way to score and a way to keep their opponent out. Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Old Trafford on Sunday was definitely one of the latter.

Manchester United do not defend inswinging corners well. Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka both excel at taking inswinging corners. In that sense, the fact that the game was decided by United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir’s flap at a Rice inswinger was entirely to be expected. What was less predictable was the nature of the game that followed as United hit the post and David Raya was called into seven saves. Mikel Arteta, quite reasonably, praised his side’s “character and spirit” while acknowledging they had made “mistakes that are very far from the standards that we normally have.”

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, George Elek and Sanny Rudravajhala to sift through a bonkers deadline day, questionable spending, and the best Championship pick-ups you’ve never heard of.

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On today’s pod: The panel reviews a hectic end to the transfer window, with Marc Guéhi staying put, Yoane Wissa forcing a move to Newcastle, and Alexander Isak being cast out of Geordie folklore. Chelsea finally sign an attacking wide man (sort of) in Facundo Buonanotte, and Spurs loan in Randal Kolo Muani. Villa go all-in with Sancho, Elliott, and Lindelöf, while Manchester City swap goalkeepers and Manchester United spend £200m to generate about £30m back.

Today’s fluff is on top of things

Now that the window has slammed shut, deal sheets either filed or torn up, there’s more than a few players left in limbo by the Premier League’s record-breaking summer transfer window.

What now for Emi Martínez, who keeps waving goodbye to Aston Villa and yet remains on the books, denied a dream move to Manchester United because Senne Lammens was the cheaper, younger option. A move to Turkey? The World Cup winner is said not to fancy it. The Turkish window rolls on but there is a Champions League deadline this week to meet for its qualified clubs, with Galatasaray the most likely destination.