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Timekeeping used to be an issue for the Frenchman but now his rapid pressing is pushing him towards a Ballon d’Or

Ousmane Dembélé is right behind you and way ahead of everyone, which is just where Luis Enrique always imagined him. At the end of Paris Saint-Germain’s destruction of Real Madrid in the semi-final of the Club World Cup in New Jersey this week, the coach declared his No 10 the season’s best player “by far”; not so much for the 35 goals and 16 assists but for something more simple. So simple it has taken a decade to do. But then Didier Deschamps, his national team manager with France, did say that being late is “a little habit of his”.

Well, it was. If there is a portrait that defines the PSG team potentially 90 minutes from winning it all, an image that embodies them and Dembélé’s transformation, it may be that shot of him poised, coiled, at the edge of Inter’s area in the Champions League final. Toes on the line, his eyes narrow and fixed on Yann Sommer like a leopard ready to pounce, a sprinter listening for the gun. It is a scene repeated relentlessly, opponents made prey, Wednesday at the MetLife another episode. “I told him he was pressing a lot; he told me he has to,” Madrid’s keeper, Thibaut Courtois, said. “I get half a second to think.”

It was a fixture that had promised a show and it delivered. Sweden embarrassed Germany after Carlotta Wamser’s bizarre handball save reduced Christian Wück’s side to 10 players and handed them a two-goal deficit that would grow to three.

Jule Brand had put Germany ahead early on before Stina Blackstenius levelled and the teenage full-back Smilla Holmberg gave Sweden the lead. Then came Wamser’s incomprehensible save with her hands to deny Fridolina Rolfö, who converted the resulting spot-kick before Lina Hurtig scored Sweden’s fourth late on.

Ballon d’Or winner becomes the latest veteran, after Kevin De Bruyne, to be pulled in by Italian game’s leisurely pace of life

Luka Modric will turn 40 in September. He has played 930 games over the course of a career and has won seven league titles and six Champions Leagues. He even broke the Messi-Ronaldo duopoly to claim the Ballon d’Or after inspiring Croatia to the World Cup final in 2018.

He rarely lasts a full 90 minutes these days, didn’t start a game during the Club World Cup and was spared the indignity of coming on for his Madrid farewell with the semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain long since lost. He could have retired five years ago and still been one of the most respected players in the history of the game but, his eyes on next summer’s World Cup, when his contract at Real Madrid expired Modric chose to join Milan.

Despite objections from the Premier League, a regulator tasked with protecting the whole of the sport has moved a significant step closer to reality

It seems like a lifetime ago that the fan-led review into football governance emerged from the wreckage of the failed European Super League. The ideas that underpin the independent regulator were born out of that crisis: an attempt to stop the drift of our national game toward private greed, corporate overreach and ownership disconnect from local communities. Years later, we are probably on the verge of finally seeing those ideas enshrined in law.

Tuesday’s resounding 415 to 98 vote on the football governance bill. in the House of Commons means the process should come to a resolution with royal assent in the coming days. Although that may feel inevitable given the overwhelming cross-party support in the Commons, anyone who has worked in politics knows better than to celebrate before the final whistle. But we are, at last, in what looks like the final minutes of the game.

Online abuse of striker exposed as specious as selfless displays make her key to Lionesses’ success

Dare mention Alessia Russo was a good pick for player of the match after her three assists against the Netherlands, without an afterword on Lauren James also being superb or highlighting the performances of Jess Carter or Hannah Hampton or any of the others in an all-around strong showing, and you will be accused of being influenced by PRusso.

The not-so-witty merging of PR and the player’s name has become an insult online, used to denigrate anyone who suggests that Russo may be quite a good player. Your opinion cannot possibly be right; it’s Russo’s good PR team that has led you to believe that she is good. You have been influenced, you are a sheep, you have been blinded by the shiny Adidas adverts and the magazine cover shoots. Open your eyes, they scream into the online abyss, Russo is an average player, someone else was better, anyone else was better.

• Infantino acts after player welfare fears at Club World Cup

• ‘Heat is definitely an issue. We have covered stadiums’

Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, has said indoor air-conditioned venues will be used as much as possible for day-time kick-offs at the 2026 World Cup to combat expected high temperatures. Concerns have been raised about player welfare during the Club World Cup in the US, which will co-host next year’s tournament with Canada and Mexico.

Enzo Fernández described conditions during Chelsea’s semi-final against Fluminense, when the temperature was 35C, as “very dangerous”.

Netherlands manager prepares for what could be his final game as he takes on a coach whose bold choices have led to Les Bleues leading Group D

Convention plays a big part in football. There’s the convention that settled starting XIs help winning teams build momentum, the convention that experience really matters at major tournaments and, perhaps above all, the convention that head coaches are best off saying nothing remotely controversial.

The good news from Basel is that, in Andries Jonker and Laurent Bonadei, the Netherlands and France possess two managers who pour scorn on unwritten norms and treat received wisdoms with suspicion.

• Angharad James says the pressure is all on England

• Wales need four-goal win to have any hope of progress

The Wales captain, Angharad James, says it is in the players’ blood and DNA to want to knock England out of Euro 2025 as the sides prepare to meet in Sunday’s final Group D fixture.

England know victory would guarantee progress to the knockout stages and could go through without winning. Wales must win by at least a four-goal margin to have any hope of reaching the quarter-finals and need the Netherlands to lose to France.

• Former Manchester United coach getting ‘fitter and fitter’

• He is open to offers to from top-tier national team

The former Netherlands and Manchester United coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.

The 73-year-old told an interviewer three years ago that he had prostate cancer, but on Friday told the same Dutch television talk show: “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.” When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Netherlands and he has not worked since the last World Cup, in Qatar in 2022.

Win over the Netherlands shows Sarina Wiegman has kept spirits high in the Lionesses’ camp as decisive matches loom

England are back on track. They really needed that display against the Netherlands and it was a pivotal moment for them. It was a very, very commanding performance.

Physically, they showed their dominance and exposed the Netherlands’ weaknesses at the back. With Lauren James, in what I think is her best position, playing from the right and being able to drift in, you can maintain your midfield structure. Her performance showed why Sarina Wiegman has selected her and the team performance showed why she stuck with the group that she did.

Arne Slot’s squad face an emotional afternoon at Preston on Sunday but believe it is better to start again at Deepdale than on tour in Hong Kong

Outside Anfield, the red sea of tributes to Diogo Jota and André Silva has continued to grow this week along with questions over whether Liverpool could play at Preston on Sunday, their first game since the brothers’ tragic loss. Inside Anfield, and specifically a grieving Liverpool dressing room, there was no major debate over the pre-season friendly. The Premier League champions intend to honour their teammate in the best way they know how.

It will be only 10 days since the deaths of Jota and Silva when Liverpool appear at Deepdale for what is certain to be a hugely emotional occasion, and less than two days since the club retired Jota’s No 20 shirt. There was no pressure on Liverpool to honour a friendly that could have been cancelled easily – unlike their commitment to a tour of Hong Kong and Japan at the end of the month – but at no point was that option relayed to Preston.

With the Lions’ final warm-up too, it’s another action-packed weekend of live writing and fine reporting

Young Chelsea striker is mixing first experience of tournament football with photography hobby and family time in effort to stay focused

Aggie Beever-Jones doesn’t have much tournament experience. The England striker missed out on the 2020 under-17 Euros owing to Covid cancellations and featured at only the under-19s Euros in 2022, where she scored twice in the group stage against Norway, before arriving at Euro 2025.

By the time a player breaks into the senior side they usually have several tournaments under their belt but Covid means Beever-Jones is a part of the generation of young players coming through that lost out.

There are suggestions that the era of possession-heavy positional play may have passed its zenith but, if that message worries Pep Guardiola disciples, Spain’s women remain unperturbed. As usual the world champions hogged the ball as they won a third consecutive group game at Euro 2025, scoring their 12th, 13th and 14th goals of the tournament in the process.

Yet while, in one sense, it was business as usual for Montse Tomé’s queens of on-field geometry, Italy actually did a pretty good job of emphasising that La Roja are mortal after all. Indeed in certain cameos it was almost possible to detect glimpses of the way in which this particular Spanish empire might eventually fall.

Belgium’s Tessa Wullaert and Janice Cayman struck in a dramatic 2-1 victory in their final Group B game at Euro 2025 on Friday that extinguished Portugal’s dreams of advancing to their first European knockout round.

Belgium, who had already been eliminated from quarter-final contention before kick-off, finished third in Group B, while Portugal, who needed a win and other factors to advance, were fourth. Spain and Italy both went through after the world champions won their match 3-1.

Get to know every single squad member at the tournament. Click on the player pictures for a full profile and ratings

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

• Carroll makes surprise move to non-league club

• Dagenham announce takeover by Qatari investors

Andy Carroll will play sixth-tier football next season after signing for the National League South side Dagenham & Redbridge on a free transfer.

The former Newcastle, West Ham and Liverpool striker, 36, who became a free agent after leaving Bordeaux this summer, has reportedly taken a minority stake in the club as part of a Qatari-led takeover, and will be managed by the former Manchester City striker Lee Bradbury.

• Striker facing fine after missing squad trip to Algarve

• Sporting have no intention of relenting over sale price

Viktor Gyökeres faces disciplinary action from Sporting after he missed his deadline to report for pre-season training. The striker, who wants a move to Arsenal, had been asked to join the rest of the squad by 5pm local time on Saturday.

Gyökeres’s absence was not entirely unexpected, the Sweden international having informed the club of his intention not to return for the new campaign. There is a faint hope at Sporting that a deal with Arsenal could be finalised this weekend.

• Forest also preparing complaint to Premier League

• Spurs alleged to have made illegal approach for player

Morgan Gibbs-White’s expected £60m move to Tottenham is on hold because Nottingham Forest are considering legal action over an alleged illegal approach for the player.

Forest are also preparing a complaint to the Premier League, arguing that Spurs’ conduct surrounding the proposed transfer has been inappropriate. It had been expected that Gibbs-White would have a medical on Friday before completing the move.

• Paris Saint-Germain coach cautious of difficult game against Chelsea

• ‘I have been better when I lost,’ Enrique says

There is just one game left in the season in which Paris Saint-Germain finally won the first Champions League in their history to complete a historic treble and that game is the Club World Cup final, but Luis Enrique says it has not been his best. He was better, he claims, when he lost. Besides, the PSG coach said, Manchester City remain the best team around and his side must face a Chelsea team he likened to his own which can still deny them the perfect campaign and have a manager he “loves”.

“The Champions League was our first and it was very important: that was our main objective when we came to Paris last year,” Enrique said. “And on Sunday we have the chance, with the last game of the season, to win another one, with the Club World Cup. But it is important that we are conscious of the difficulty of the game. [Enzo] Maresca is a coach I love. I love the way he has of playing with the ball. They have a lot of good individual platers but they also have a real sense of duty. They are a bit like our team. They are physically strong too. It will be a very even game and a very difficult one.

• Footage used at Club World Cup for instant replays

• Could be trialled during pre-season pending approval

The Premier League wants to introduce Ref Cams to offer extra in-game footage to broadcasters. The tiny cameras, mounted on a referee’s ear to provide TV viewers with a unique view of the action, have been trialled by Fifa during the Club World Cup over the past month.

The Premier League has held talks with the International Football Association Board (Ifab), which determines the laws of the game, about whether the trial can be extended to domestic competitions.

Club World Cup final features two youth-driven teams but Enzo Maresca’s side believe they can hurt favourites

Chelsea have already made more than £80m from their Club World Cup adventure but they can achieve something priceless against Paris Saint-Germain. This goes beyond gaudy gold badges and money in the bank. The season with no end is almost over, the final of the tournament that nobody asked for is here and while Chelsea have no intention of getting carried away if they triumph in New Jersey on Sunday it is also the case that there would be no better way to demonstrate that they are on to something with their youth-driven project than by beating Luis Enrique’s awesome PSG.

Easier said than done, of course. One school of thought is that Chelsea will have done well if they leave MetLife Stadium with their dignity intact. Premier League opponents hold no fears for PSG, whose path to Champions League glory was paved by wins over Manchester City, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal, while they were in terrifying form against Real Madrid on Wednesday. It finished 4-0, but it could have been 10; PSG really were that good and the reality is there will only be one outcome if they hit those heights again.

All 20 teams are jetting around between league seasons, including for friendlies, training camps and the Club World Cup

After a training camp in Spain the Gunners head to Asia, kicking off their tour with a friendly against Milan in Singapore. They play again at the National Stadium four days later, against Newcastle, then face Spurs in Hong Kong. Two friendlies follow at the Emirates Stadium, against Villarreal and Athletic Club.

Both countries had major question marks a year from kickoff, but South Korea turned those into one of the most memorable tourney runs ever

If there has been some criticism of Mauricio Pochettino almost a year out from the 2026 World Cup, Guus Hiddink could have said the same – and more – in the summer of 2001, when he was on the receiving end of thrashings and a new, unflattering, nickname.

A year and five days before South Korea started their campaign on home soil, the Dutchman was in charge as they lost 5-0 at home to France. The same scoreline happened again, a few weeks later, against the Czech Republic. A suddenly doubtful media dubbed the former Real Madrid boss ‘Oh Dae-yong,’ a Korean-sounding name that translates as ‘5-0’.

Donald Trump is closing the borders even though the World Cup and 2028 Olympics will take place in the US

Call it big, beautiful timing. On Tuesday, Fifa announced it had taken an office in Trump Tower. On Wednesday, Donald Trump announced he would attend the Club World Cup final. And who could begrudge the US president a little sporting entertainment after the week he has had? Those Nobel peace prize applications don’t write themselves.

Trump’s attendance at a tournament we can be 95% sure he doesn’t understand is, doubtless, a huge coup and political victory for football. This is a sport that only a decade ago was openly considered un-American, scrawled into the rightwing commentator’s list of pet peeves between meteorologists and Judy Blume. Ann Coulter described soccer’s growing popularity as a “sign of the nation’s moral decay”. Glenn Beck likened it to Obamacare: “It doesn’t matter how you try to sell it to us, it doesn’t matter how many celebrities you get … we want nothing to do with it.”

New manager faces tough questions before next season, with the biggest just how to find the right fit for superstar striker Kylian Mbappé

This is the end. For Real Madrid, the best thing that could be said about their last game of the 2024-2025 season was that it was their last game of the 2024-2025 season. So in the makeshift marquee set up by the MetLife Stadium, Xabi Alonso said exactly that, and repeatedly. He had watched his team, who aren’t entirely his team yet, be taken apart by Paris Saint-Germain; now he wanted to get home and “reset”, forget about it. Well, not forget exactly: the hurt might help, lessons learned. “I want this to have an impact but not drag us down,” he said. “In August we start 2025-26, which will be different.”

The way they fell was familiar, back to their recent past, their reality. “We suffered the way others have suffered against them,” Alonso said, and that was true, but it is not only PSG; it is Madrid too. This was their 68th game of the season and their 15th loss. They won only the Uefa Super Cup, a world away now, and the Intercontinental Cup against Pachuca in Qatar. In the league, Barcelona beat them twice, scoring four each time. In the cup, Barcelona put three past them; in the Super Cup, five. Arsenal scored three in the Champions League. PSG stopped at four because they didn’t need more.

Unexpectedly cheap tickets gave my boy an overwhelming soccer experience, and me a jolt of faith in a flawed tournament

My son had never been to a professional soccer game.

Soccer is, shall we say, not really his thing. It’s also never been particularly important to me that he likes soccer, that he likes what I like. Our sons will be their own men, come what may.

• Jean-Guy Blaise Mayolas rejects allegations as conspiracy

• Claims include almost $500,000 for women’s team

The president of the Republic of the Congo’s football federation (Fecofoot) has been accused of embezzling $1.3m (£960,000) of Fifa funds, including almost $500,000earmarked for the country’s women’s team.

Jean-Guy Blaise Mayolas may be charged with money laundering and forgery offences after being summoned to attend a hearing in Brazzaville this week. He was arrested at the end of May by the central intelligence and documentation office (CID), a department of the ministry of the interior. Mayolas and Fecofoot’s general secretary, Badji Mombo Wantete, have denied the allegations and described them as a “conspiracy”.

• Former Real manager will not spend any time in jail

• Ancelotti convicted of failing to pay tax on image rights

The Brazil coach and former Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has been given a one-year prison sentence and a fine of almost €400,000 (£345,000) after a Spanish court found him guilty of one count of tax fraud.

Ancelotti, who managed Real Madrid from 2013 to 2015 and between 2021 and 2025, appeared in court in Madrid in April to stand trial on charges of defrauding Spain’s tax office of more than €1m (£836,857) in undeclared earnings from image rights in 2014 and 2015.

Africa’s major women’s tournament starts in Morocco with Spain’s World Cup-winning coach under pressure to deliver

The historic task of one host staging Africa’s two major competitions this year, the women’s and men’s Africa Cup of Nations – Wafcon and Afcon – within six months of each other could really have been given to only one country: Morocco. It has arguably the best football facilities on the continent and has made itself the tournament-hosting sweet spot for the Confederation of African Football (Caf).

Three years ago a very successful Wafcon was staged there and the North African country then agreed to organise the next two tournaments, as no other nation on the continent offered to shoulder the responsibility. The 2025 edition kicks off on Saturday evening, with the hosts playing Zambia in the opening game.

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After years of drift and false starts, the US men’s team is carving out identity and intensity under their new coach – just in time for a home World Cup

There is something cosmically funny about all of this. Late last summer, the United States men’s national team went out and hired the most qualified manager it could find. The one with the most impressive coaching resume by far of anyone US Soccer had ever employed on the men’s side. The most expensive, certainly. By a multiple. The man brought in to arrest the tailspin the USMNT had slowly slipped into after the 2022 World Cup. To finally unlock that elusive next level. To help a golden generation, or at least a shiny one, come good at last. To salvage something, anything, from a World Cup played mostly on home soil a year from now. Not to squander it all.

And what should Mauricio Pochettino add to the US national team’s brew of aptitudes and attitudes but pluck and grit? The very same underdog mentality, the ferocity and fitness, that had once taken the US from global laughingstocks to merely unembarrassing and then to internationally competitiveness.

With only 16 players in the squad after contracts and loans ended, reliance on temporary measures beckons again

The vast scale of the overhaul required at Everton this summer had David Moyes worried. The start of pre-season has indicated why. The squad that reported on Sunday for a training camp in St Andrews contained 15 senior players in its ranks and numerous holes to fill. Progress is being made behind the scenes to repair the damage of the Farhad Moshiri years, but there is no easy fix.

Everton’s senior contingent will rise to 16 now that Idrissa Gueye has followed Michael Keane in signing a new contract, a week after becoming a free agent. Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, laments having 32 senior players on the books at Manchester City and could afford to omit Jack Grealish from his 27-man squad for the Club World Cup. There is no level playing field in the Premier League.

New signing made a bright Club World Cup debut and now eyes Fluminense, one of his former sides, on Tuesday

Estêvão Willian was not the only Brazilian attacker to offer a tantalising glimpse of the future during Chelsea’s win against Palmeiras in the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup. There was also a bright cameo from João Pedro, who came on for Liam Delap just after Estêvão’s equaliser early in the second half and proceeded to change the game with his brawn and intelligent link-up play.

It was an eye-catching performance from the forward given that his £60m move to Chelsea had been announced two days earlier. What had the 23‑year‑old been doing during his time off? Lifting logs and existing on a diet of raw steak, presumably. The aggression from João Pedro was startling. He was raring to go after a couple of training sessions with his new teammates and, while he was not involved in the winning goal, his bustling forward play was a vital part of Chelsea reasserting their dominance after Palmeiras pulled the score back to 1-1.

Spurs signing Klinsmann or selling Waddle were bolts from the blue. Now, transfer influencers track private jets and almost nothing is unknown

Which transfer fee blew your mind? It was probably Spurs signing Gazza for £2m in the summer of 1988. TWO MILLION. No one is worth that kind of money. The following year, I distinctly remember running into the living room – Spurs had just signed Gary Lineker. I was preparing for the season ahead, invisible football at my feet, commentating to myself: “Gascoigne, to Waddle, in for LINEKERRRR.” The next moment I switched on the TV and someone (let’s say Ray Stubbs) was telling me that Spurs had sold Waddle to Marseille. I was bereft. There was no warning. For me, or for Lineker it turns out.

I heard the striker talking about the transfer recently on the excellent What Did You Do Yesterday? podcast hosted by David O’Doherty and generic broadcaster Max Rushden (perhaps the second-best podcast he hosts).

His loved ones’ lives are changed for ever and at one level this is not a sports story. But Jota’s footballing talent, heart and will should be cherished, amid the grief

Bad moon, bad times and a river that will be overflowing for some time yet. It is impossible not to feel a deep sense of pain, sadness and shared heartbreak at news of the sudden death of Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva in a car crash in Spain. Jota was 28, father to three young children and a husband to his long-term partner, whom he married 11 days before his death.

Things that happen in sport are often described, with due dramatic licence, as tragedies. This is not a sports story. But it is the most terrible human tragedy. Those who have suffered similarly can empathise. But it is above all a private horror, an event that will alter the lives of family and friends for ever.

Our cartoonist on the opening matches at the Women’s Euros and tributes to Diogo Jota

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The allegations England’s captain had casually stolen the jewellery on the eve of the 1970 World Cup sparked a diplomatic frenzy

It remains one of the most notorious and unresolved episodes in World Cup history. Now diplomatic cables have emerged in Colombia shedding fresh light on the diplomatic frenzy caused by the arrest of Bobby Moore, then captain of the reigning champions, England, days before the start of the 1970 tournament in Mexico.

The previously unseen documents show how Moore’s trip to the Fuego Verde jewellery shop in Bogotá, the Colombian capital, sparked a desperate campaign from the British Foreign Office to free the West Ham centre-back. The enormous pressure exerted on Colombia by the Foreign Office may have swayed the judge’s decision in the case, a new podcast series El Capitán y el Brazalete de Esmeraldas (The Captain and the Emerald Bracelet) concluded.

London-born winger is rekindling his joy for the game in an unlikely location and is about to live out a lifelong dream with Zrinjski Mostar

At the end of last year Tyler Burey was playing out of position in defence for a team doomed to relegation from the Football League. Seven months later he is preparing to make his Champions League debut after leaving England behind, seeking to rediscover his love for the game in an unlikely location.

Burey moved to Igman Konjic, a club in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in January on a short-term deal and impressed to such an extent that the country’s title winners, Zrinjski Mostar, signed him on a two-year contract. On Tuesday they visit Virtus of San Marino in the opening leg of their Champions League first qualifying round tie, allowing Burey to live out a lifelong dream.

Midfielder has shown with Real Sociedad and Spain that he combines calm and control with a capacity to tackle

The way Martín Zubimendi remembers it, the day he was given the chance to be a ballboy for Real Sociedad against Manchester United he was more nervous than when he had to play. Standing at the side of the pitch, he found himself transfixed, the game flying by. So transfixed, in fact, that he forgot it was his job to pass the ball to the players and at one point Claudio Bravo, in goal that night at Anoeta, had to come over and take it off him because he was standing there watching. It was the first time it had happened to him; it would also be the last.

If there is anything that defines Arsenal’s new midfielder, it is that he is so calm, so in control. “He oozes assuredness from every pore,” says the Spain coach, Luis de la Fuente. “He doesn’t get nervous walking a tightrope with no safety net.” When he’s out there, games don’t just go by; they usually go where he wants them to. And as for passes, what he forgot to do that night defines him now: there were 1,752 of them in La Liga last season. No midfielder outside Real Madrid or Barcelona played more.

The midfielder says he can be a ‘big player’ after years away from football due to injury, a doping ban and legal cases

By Get French Football News

Dozens of journalists from France, England and Italy are inside the auditorium of Monaco’s performance centre. The densely packed room is filled with multilingual chatter about Eric Dier and Ansu Fati, who have just been presented to the media. There is one player yet to appear: the headliner, the man who has brought reporters from far and wide to this room. Then a door opens. Paul Pogba enters.

After making his way on to the podium and settling into his chair, he speaks. “As you saw, there were a lot of emotions,” says Pogba of the viral video in which the tears flowed as he signed his Monaco contract, bringing an end to two years in the footballing wilderness. “It is very rare to see me cry like that, so I hope you enjoyed it,” the 32-year-old says with a smile. “There were so many images that came into my mind. We know the doping story, my injury. Everything came back to me during the signing and I couldn’t hold back.”

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The inaugural Copa Gianni jamboree reaches its end game on Sunday as Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, two lavishly-backed super clubs based a short Eurostar trip apart, battle to be kings of the global game. PSG have undermined their rivals’ complaints about packed schedules and player fatigue by flying in after Bigger Cup final and destroying better-rested teams. Chelsea, meanwhile, have benefited from a tournament that allows you to simply buy more players as you go – including those on opposing teams – in order to freshen things up. Whatever happens, football will be the winner, but has Copa Gianni been any good?

It is great to see and it’s proof that women’s footballers are great, and that is the way that game is going, so long may that continue” – England’s Lauren Hemp weighs in on the news that Arsenal will make Canada forward Olivia Smith the first £1m signing in the women’s game, as revealed in a Big Website exclusive on Thursday.

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When Real Madrid refused en masse to turn up for last year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony because they knew their man on the shortlist hadn’t won the main award, their snub was widely and correctly perceived to have been an act of the most extreme petulance. And while their players and coaching staff did deign to attend last night’s Copa Gianni semi-final at the MetLife EnormoDome, they certainly didn’t turn up in any meaningful sense of the word and were duly humiliated by Paris Saint-Germain, the Bigger Cup holders Kylian Mbappé famously abandoned last summer to pursue his dream of … winning Bigger Cup. Subjected to the footballing equivalent of being attacked by a swarm of angry bees, Real simply had no answers for PSG’s terrifyingly energetic onslaught across 90 minutes.

Chelsea did offer me another contract, but I decided to go to Aston Villa because they were in the Championship. And I had an agreement with Villa that if we got promoted that year – we lost in the playoff final to Fulham – that I wouldn’t play against Chelsea the following year in the Premier League. So the two games I would have missed the next year would have been Chelsea, it just wouldn’t have felt right” – Plain Old John Terry tells TalkSport that his Aston Villa contract included a ‘won’t play against Chelsea’ clause.

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Fifa has long promised to grow the game in the USA USA USA, and what better place to do that than by opening a new office at the original venue of the 1991 Rumblelows League Cup fifth-round draw, Trump Tower in New York City. With its former leader recently involved in (and acquitted from) a corruption case, and accusations of the current president pursuing “private interests” over his responsibilities, what better place for Fifa to shake off the image as a cash-chasing, power-hungry behemoth than in the actual residence of the current USA president?

If it’s not a nice moment for Beth, it’s not a problem for me. Tomorrow for once we will not be friends. I will do everything I can to win tomorrow. Our golden rule is we do not discuss anything [pre-match]. I don’t know whether she’ll be starting tomorrow or whether she’ll be on the bench. As a Dutch player I will do everything possible to win the game” – Vivianne Miedema has insisted she will “not be friends” with her partner Beth Mead as the two face off for England’s critical Euro 2025 game against the Netherlands.

Montse Tomé’s side have scored 11 goals in two games with Aitana Bonmatí on the bench – but all is not lost for rivals

One week of Euro 2025 has passed and already there is unquestionably a frontrunner. Spain with their glittering array of talent have already shown the levels that they can reach in their opening two matches.

Even though two-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmatí is yet to return to the starting XI after suffering from a brief bout of viral meningitis, they have caught the eye with their goalscoring prowess and command of the ball. In among the goals and dominant play, however, are there some gaps in the armour that can be exploited?

Today’s guff has attacking flair

Bayern Munich clearly had the hump when Florian Wirtz was lured to Liverpool rather than Bavaria. So after missing out on the former Bayer Leverkusen playmaker, are they trying to exact a spot of revenge by snatching Luis Díaz from the Reds? Latest reports from Germany suggest Bayern have upped their efforts with a £52m offer for the 28-year-old, and that new talks have taken place between Díaz’s representatives and Bayern Munich’s director of sport, Max Eberl.

Liverpool aren’t having any of it, hinting they would consider letting the Colombian go only if a significant offer arrived; £52m doesn’t fall into that category. The player himself has suggested he is open to an “exciting offer” but that may just be to improve his contract at Anfield. And that’s rather a sticking point: scroll down the list of Liverpool players’ wages and he’s surprisingly low but there appears to be no sign of an increase on the table.

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Football Daily would prefer not to have to think about Copa Gianni at all but we have a certain professional obligation to do so and have never knowingly been found shirking in the face of our responsibilities. To keep things simple, we prefer to view the tournament as a stand-alone competition that’s taking place between the end of the last season and the beginning of the next one, but the fact that it’s being contested by clubs instead of countries leaves plenty of room for debate. Watching Kingsley Coman “sprint” on to a through-ball from Harry Kane during Bayern Munich’s defeat by PSG as if he was running in knee-deep wet cement, we were presented with the sight of a player in next season’s kit who was quite clearly exhausted by the exertions of the one that may or may not have ended before the tournament in which he was playing started. Does the goal he didn’t score go down in the official xG column of last season, next season, or neither?

There’s me being able to walk down the stairs after I’ve played 90 minutes of football, there’s me in the future when I have children being able to walk around properly, being able to bend down and pick up toys, there’s me being able to do normal life things like put on socks without being in pain and, for the first time in a long time, I genuinely didn’t think about the response of the public because that just wasn’t a priority” – Millie Bright reveals how she is feeling better in her mind after taking the decision to miss Euro 2025 and prioritise her recovery from a knee injury.

Sometimes Mauricio Pochettino wants it to be a penalty, sometimes he doesn’t. There’s just no pleasing some people. Extra moaning points for Poch insinuating that the officials were swayed by the pro-Mexico crowd for a game that USA USA USA were playing at home. P.S. A doff of the cap to Mexico for that uber cool black and gold kit …” – Noble Francis.

With a tip of the cap to The Usual Suspects … the greatest trick Infantino ever pulled was turning me into a Chelsea fan for two hours rooting against Infantino’s home team making the finals” – Harry Webb.

I can’t have been your only reader who paused between Friday’s tea time email and big website’s MBM coverage of the Jurassic reunion opening gig, to turn the dial of my retro digital transistors to the political satirical radio broadcast, Deadringers. I – and what I suspect to be 1,056 others – nearly choked on my fermented tofu when I heard a repeat of your dinosaur banter about the aforementioned group of monobrows. I assume the requisite phone calls were made – i.e. your people calling their people, etc – and payment made (four pack of budget Tin) before Tom Baker’s closing remarks” – Nicholas Tipple.

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Plus: more non top-flight teams playing in Europe, alumni of semi-finalists and England captains in one team

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“The Lionesses will be out of Euro 2025 after two games if they lose to the Netherlands on Wednesday and France avoid defeat against Wales,” laments Sarah Cassidy. “Would that be the earliest a defending champion has been eliminated at a major international tournament?”

In a less deathly group, England’s 2-1 defeat by France on Saturday would have been a wake-up call rather than a final warning. But that’s what it was, and if England lose to the Netherlands their title defence will probably be over after two games. Even a draw would leave them needing favours from other teams.

Plus: top scorers for two clubs in one season, very old under-21 players and much more

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“Has a team won the Champions League without beating any reigning champions?” asks Paddy French. “And if not, which teams have beaten the fewest champions to win it? And which teams have beaten the most champions in winning the Champions League/European Cup?”

Let’s just clarify that Paddy is referring to reigning league champions, here, not reigning European champions, to which we had a few answers. Even in an era in which many Champions League teams are also-rans from the big leagues around Europe, the answer to the first question is no.

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.