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• New forward is a priority and Alvarez also on list

• Funds in place to make one marquee signing

Arsenal will reward Mikel Arteta for ending Arsenal’s 22-year wait to be champions by offering him a lucrative new contract that will cement the Spaniard’s status as one of the best-paid managers in the world. The club are also well advanced with plans to strengthen his squad.

Talks over extending Arteta’s deal beyond next summer were put on hold while Arsenal battled it out with Manchester City in the Premier League, although insiders insist there was an expectation he would have stayed even if the season had ended without a trophy. The 44-year-old has become the second-youngest manager to win the Premier League, after José Mourinho with Chelsea in 2004, and matched Kenny Dalglish’s achievement with Liverpool in 1986 in making a team top-flight champions in his first senior management job.

• Club say expulsion from playoffs is ‘disproportionate’

• Saints’ chief executive apologies to their supporters

Southampton have described the decision to expel them from the Championship playoffs over the ‘Spygate’ scandal as “manifestly disproportionate” to any other sanction in the history of the English game. An independent commission on Tuesday imposed the penalty – which includes the docking of four points for next season – after the club admitted three spying charges, including one related to observing a training session of their playoff semi-final opponents, Middlesbrough, this month.

The commission also reinstated Boro for Saturday’s final, denying Southampton the chance of promotion to the Premier League worth an estimated £200m.

• Club need permission for proposed stadium upgrades

• Draw with Manchester City sealed first ever European qualification

Bournemouth are facing a race to complete upgrades to the Vitality Stadium to enable it to stage European football next season. Uefa has granted Bournemouth a provisional stadium licence after meeting club officials in April to review their redevelopment project, but improvements are required owing to the limited size of the hospitality areas and broadcasting facilities.

A visit from Uefa’s stadium inspection and commercial operations team will take place next month after Bournemouth secured European qualification for the first time courtesy of a 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Tuesday.

‘Robbo’ leaves the club on Sunday after nine years having won the lot and been loved by those who watched him play

It was a bit of a surprise when we signed Andy Robertson from Hull – not because he wasn’t a household name, but because all the focus had been on his teammate Harry Maguire. But, pound for pound, the £8m we paid for Robbo in the summer of 2017 has got to be one of the best value transfer deals in Liverpool’s history. Those peak Jürgen Klopp-years, when him and Trent Alexander-Arnold supplied cross after cross, assist after assist … it was an absolute joy to be there.

Italian is expected to follow Pep Guardiola and it seems the decision was made a long time ago

Now the secret is out it is possible to look at Enzo Maresca’s incendiary remarks about his “worst 48 hours” at Chelsea through a different lens. Change is coming at Manchester City, who are preparing for Pep Guardiola’s departure at the end of the season, and it does not require much reading between the lines to work out their decision to pass the crown to Maresca was made a long time ago.

There never was a clear explanation from the Italian after he sat in front of the media after Chelsea’s unspectacular 2-0 win over Everton on 13 December and surprised the room by taking the extraordinary step of going to war with his employers. “Since I joined the club, the last 48 hours have been the worst because many people didn’t support us,” he said. “People didn’t support me and the team.”

Departures of club legend and star players have not stopped modest German side reaching showpiece with Aston Villa

It’s about the journey, perhaps even more than the destination. That is the feeling of SC Freiburg before the biggest match in their history. Regardless of the result in Wednesday’s Europa League final against Aston Villa in Istanbul, the club will be present at a reception in the city on their Thursday return to acknowledge the moment and the compelling season that has taken them there.

There are many extraordinary elements to a club that have never won a major trophy – the closest they came was losing on penalties to RB Leipzig in the 2022 DFB Pokal final – arriving at such a showpiece, but for most in Germany the true wonder is that they have managed it without Christian Streich. The longest-serving coach in the Bundesliga stood down in 2024 having served Freiburg continuously in several roles for almost three decades, including as the first team’s head coach for the final 12 and a half.

• Teams with same owner can not compete together

• Head of women’s football says ‘no exceptions’

Uefa’s head of women’s football has said rules prohibiting clubs with the same owner from playing together in the Women’s Champions League will be strictly enforced, dealing a blow to investors such as Michele Kang.

Kang owns OL Lyonnes, who are in Saturday’s Women’s Champions League final, and London City Lionesses, whose head coach, Eder Maestre, last week stated their desire to compete for the Women’s Super League title next season.

Philadelphia, Kansas City and Atlanta are among the hosts showing that price-gouging at this summer’s tournament is, ultimately, a choice

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Philadelphia has spotted an opportunity. A chance to burnish a budding reputation as one of the East Coast’s most pleasant and interesting big cities – in the view of this columnist, at least – and one of its most affordable, too.

The ample offering of public transportation to the six 2026 World Cup matches slated for Lincoln Financial Field (dubbed Philadelphia Stadium for the tournament, as per Fifa’s sponsor rules) will set fans back a mere $2.90. Tickets to see those matches are somehow getting cheaper on the secondary market – down about 16% from last month. Hotels are still reasonably priced. And fan fests will remain free for every day of the tournament. There will be no getting charged three times as much for shade, either, as you will in Los Angeles.

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It may have taken Mikel Arteta six years and well over a billion pounds but his team trusted the process and got there in the end. Arsenal are Premier League champions and in scenes that called to mind the closing moments of the movie Fever Pitch, jubilant Gooners spilled out of homes and pubs around Highbury and Islington in a collective release of tension and pure, unadulterated joy to mark the occasion. However, unlike Fever Pitch, it wasn’t broad daylight at 9.55pm and instead of Colin Firth and Ruth Gemmell, it was Robbie Lyle from AFTV and Ian Wright who got their smooch on as fans partied long into the night outside the stadium. Any doubts that a brooding and occasionally intense man from a small town near San Sebastián might not have been up to the task of getting Arsenal over the line had finally been dispelled and for that, Andoni Iraola deserves great credit. His Bournemouth side’s draw against Manchester City means Arsenal can no longer be caught.

I did not know a stroopwafel could taste anywhere near that good. Bravo” – Thad Brown.

Using Josh Windass’s logic and running with it, can I be one of 1,057 to suggest that the whole Championship season should be replayed, which will also have the added benefit of forcing Noble Francis to relive that whole Wednesday attempt at the campaign all over again” – Jon Millard.

I can understand Hull being upset, having been focused on playing Southampton and now having limited time to prepare for Middlesbrough instead. Can’t they just ask Southampton if they just happen to have a detailed dossier on Middlesbrough lying around?” – James Vortkamp-Tong.

Since childhood, I have secretly hoped that the top flight of English football would one day finish in alphabetical order. Congratulations are due not only to Arsenal for doing their bit to make it happen, but also to Tottenham, West Ham and Wolves for playing along. Bournemouth fans will no doubt forgive the awkward AFC prefix, while their cousins, Brighton and Brentford, have done their utmost. Chelsea obligingly produced a poor run-in, and Aston Villa made a decent stab at fulfilling my dream. The real problem clubs remain Liverpool and the two Manchesters, although Burnley’s relegation significantly improves the prospects for next season. Everton, Fulham and Newcastle look capable of taking their places, but Crystal Palace need to buck up their ideas. I think 2026-27 will finally be my year” – Phil Hearn.

Noble Francis’s pointing out that Benfica only finished third, despite an unbeaten season (yesterday’s Football Daily letters), brings to mind my Hamilton AFC (NZ) team that, likewise, were unbeaten in a league season but finished runners-up, having drawn three matches. If only we’d had the notion to dub ourselves ‘The Invincibles’ I may have felt a whole lot better over the last 35 years” – Rod de Lisle.

Going back to the thread of suitable songs to play while VAR are deliberating (Football Daily letters passim), The Kinks’ ‘Tired of waiting’ would seem like a very obvious choice followed by Britney Spears’ ‘Oops I did it again’ when the incorrect conclusion is announced to the bewildered supporters in the stadium. There must be many others in the canon” – Nigel Sanders.

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From the end of the Invincibles and the post-Wenger wilderness years to the steady rise under Mikel Arteta

The Invincibles were slain in Manchester on Sunday 24 October 2004, when Arsenal’s record 49-match unbeaten run ended in a traumatic, wildly controversial defeat at Old Trafford. It took a month for Arsenal to process their grief and rage; by the time they did, José Mourinho’s remorseless Chelsea had zoomed past them. Though Arsenal were still the most watchable team in England, something had died in them.

Our photographer was outside the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal fans congregated to celebrate their team’s first title in 22 years

• ‘They’re not laughing any more’: Saka calls out critics

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• Defeat at Chelsea keeps last relegation place open

• Spurs need a point at home to Everton to be safe

Roberto De Zerbi has described ­Tottenham’s looming final-day relegation showdown against Everton as a more important game than last season’s Europa League final against Manchester United because the club’s dignity is at stake.

Spurs, who lost 2-1 at Chelsea on Tuesday night, need a draw at home on Sunday to ensure they stay up at West Ham’s expense. The Hammers, who are two points below them in the final relegation place and with a greatly inferior goal difference, play their final game at home against Leeds.

Club are battling relegation from the second tier in a city under attack by Russian forces but are one upset away from the Europa League

A minivan with darkened windows pulls up at a gym in central Chernihiv and, once the doors have slid open, a stream of youths emerge into the daylight. Inside, Artem Rakitin sits everyone down on the rubber mat for one last pep talk. He has known most of the young men for several years, working with them here twice a week and in effect acting as a mentor. It is a kind of physical and mental training, he explains: self-discipline; resisting vices; preparing oneself, if the moment comes, to defend his country. “One of the main targets is for them not to become alcoholics, drug addicts or anything like that,” he says. “It’s to put their energy in the right places, and to support the right team.”

The team they follow is FC Chernihiv and, on Wednesday evening, the second-tier side will face Dynamo Kyiv in a Ukrainian cup final no one could have predicted. FC Chernihiv are battling relegation but, to delirious scenes, won their semi-final against Metalist 1925 Kharkiv on penalties despite being reduced to 10 men in the fifth minute. They are one more upset from an improbable Europa League spot; it is a remarkable moment for a city, tucked in Ukraine’s north towards the Russian and Belarusian borders, that has suffered devastating losses since February 2022.

• West Ham will need to raise more than £100m if relegated

• Relegation could force England player to reassess future

Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United are interested in Jarrod Bowen as rival clubs prepare to capitalise on West Ham’s financial problems by targeting their best players.

West Ham will need to raise more than £100m if relegated from the Premier League and there is growing interest in Bowen from a host of top sides.

• Clock would stop for injuries, substitutions and set pieces

• MLS previously used a stopping clock from 1996-1999

• Ifab last debated a stopping clock in 2017

Major League Soccer has had discussions with the International Football Association Board, global football’s rule making body, about trialing the use of a stopped clock in matches.

A continuously running clock that does not stop for fouls, set pieces, injuries and the like is foundational to the way time has been kept in the sport almost from its inception. However, the use of a clock that stops is commonplace in other American sports like basketball and gridiron football. It was even briefly used in MLS itself from its 1996 founding until the end of the 1999 season, and is still used in US college soccer.

• Petr Vlachovsky was first convicted in May 2025

• Five-year domestic coaching ban seen as too lenient

Uefa has handed a lifetime ban from all football-related activity to Petr Vlachovsky, the Czech coach who used a hidden camera to secretly film his female players in their changing rooms. Vlachovsky was convicted in May 2025, having been found to have filmed 14 players at FC Slovacko over a four-year period, and given a suspended one-year prison sentence and a five-year domestic coaching ban, which prompted calls from the Czech players’ union for his punishment to be broadened.

On Tuesday, European football’s governing body announced that after an investigation its control, ethics and disciplinary body had imposed a lifetime ban and written to Fifa to ask the world governing body to extend that globally.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini and Sam Dalling as Manchester City drop points at Bournemouth to hand the Premier League title to Arsenal.

On today’s podcast: joyous scenes on the Holloway Road as, with a game to spare, Arsenal are champions for the first time in 22 years. All of Mikel Arteta’s tactics, his training ground bonfires, his technical area jousting in tight trousers justified. Now just the small matter of a Champions League final to think about.

Elsewhere, Manchester City couldn’t keep it going until the end of the season, and now it’s widely predicted that Pep Guardiola will leave. Seventeen major trophies and 115 charges. The Premier League will miss him.

Plus, the Premier League relegation battle goes to the final day, Southampton are thrown out of the Championship playoffs and your questions answered

Plus: greatest distance between two teams in a derby (part two) and origins of why Celtic Park is nicknamed ‘Paradise’

• Mail us with your all of your questions and answers

“Which player has won the most league championships without winning an international cap?” asks Nick Williamson. “Steve Bruce won three Premier League titles with Manchester United – surely there are other non-capped players with more title honours?”

There surely are a number of players that can match and beat Steve Bruce’s tally of three league titles without earning an international cap.

Culture and community helped Mo Touré and Nestory Irankunda become the footballers they are today – and their spark may ignite this World Cup

One hails from West Africa, born in Guinea after his family fled Liberia. The other comes from the east of the continent, taking his first breath in a Tanzanian refugee camp after his parents escaped Burundi.

Longtime friends Mo Touré, 22, and Nestory Irankunda, 20, are shining beacons for Australia’s African community, and a reminder that the Socceroos – despite ongoing political rhetoric demonising migrants – are a symbol of modern Australia. The pair’s connection is the spark set to ignite the national team at next month’s World Cup in North America.

There is no shortage of entertainers in Carlo Ancelotti’s picks for this summer’s tournament. They’ll also need a solid base if they are to win a sixth title

In their attacking heyday, Brazil never struggled to find a winning complement in defence. Individual attacking brilliance only comes off if others nearby are doing the hard yards; for every Ronaldinho, there is a Roque Júnior.

The current generation doesn’t lack entertainers. Of Carlo Ancelotti’s 26-man squad for the World Cup, which was announced on Monday, nine players are listed as attackers, a high number for most squads, with nine defenders left to sweat their responsibilities whenever possession changes hands.

Players hope their workaholic manager will let his hair down if he wins competition for fifth time in Istanbul

Two years ago, during Aston Villa’s first European adventure under Unai Emery, Vicente Iborra was asked about a manager he knows better than most. “He is a coach that takes into consideration every detail which might happen in the match,” said Iborra, then of Olympiakos. Iborra has winner’s medals from all four of Emery’s Europa League triumphs – three on the spin with Sevilla, the last with Villarreal five years ago – before which the injured midfielder delivered a stirring dressing-room speech. “You have the chance to make a lot of people happy,” he said, by way of opening gambit.

On Wednesday, against Freiburg, Emery hopes to lift the trophy for a record-extending fifth time. Before Villa beat Nottingham Forest in the semi-finals, Vítor Pereira spoke on behalf of the masses when he called Emery the king of the Europa League. This is Emery’s sixth final, he’s only lost one, and he’s seeking his first silverware with Villa.

Football’s governing body faces more redundancies but it’s hard to know whether this year’s cuts reflect mismanagement or justified changes

Those who embrace the footballing gods are often superstitious, finding signs in the bounce of the ball, the vagaries of VAR, the end chosen for penalties, even the colour of shirts.

What, then, to make of a week where football’s administrators zapped the sport’s long-frazzled community with another burst of mixed signals?

Trusting a rookie coach to rebuild the club in late 2019 was a big call but after three runners-up finishes the Spaniard has delivered a long-awaited title

They say good things come to those who wait, and for Arsenal supporters it has felt like an eternity. Since their unforgettable 2003-04 season when Arsène Wenger’s Invincibles went the top-flight campaign unbeaten, their team had spent an incredible 984 days at the top of the table without being champions. Until now.

After all the disappointments of the late Wenger era and finishing as runners-up in the past three seasons, that unwanted statistic can finally be put to bed after a campaign in which Mikel Arteta’s side have shown they are capable of holding their nerve. There have been many doubters along the way, not least during a disastrous April during which Arsenal lost twice to their chief rivals, Manchester City, in a run of four consecutive domestic defeats in three competitions. But it is a triumph that rewards the faith shown by the hierarchy towards a rookie manager who arrived a week before Christmas in 2019 on a mission to restore them to former glories.

• Sevilla safe despite defeat against Real Madrid

• Tiny Elversberg seal first promotion to Bundesliga

Roma took a huge step towards returning to the Champions League by beating Lazio 2-0 in a feisty derby which finished with both teams down to 10 men, while Napoli won 3-0 at Pisa to secure a top-four spot.

Gianluca Mancini smashed home two headers from corners, one in each half, at the Stadio Olimpico to move Roma up to fourth thanks also to Juventus’s shock 2-0 home defeat by Fiorentina.

Relegated three times this century, AGF are the latest surprise champions in a notable trend for Scandinavia

When the buses pulled up at Brøndby Stadion on the penultimate weekend of the season, the travelling fans were already celebrating. The final whistle had just blown at Nordsjælland, where Aarhus’s title rivals, Midtjylland, had been held to a goalless draw. That meant Aarhus Gymnastikforening (or AGF for short) could secure the Danish title for the first time since 1986 with a win against Brøndby. The atmosphere was electric before kick-off, the AGF fans displaying a huge tifo with the message: “Let’s write history together.” It didn’t take long for the team to meet the moment, Henrik Dalsgaard, the former Brentford and Midtjylland defender, scoring from a corner after three minutes. The away end erupted, 40 years of hurt swept away in an outpouring of euphoria.

“It was one of the greatest days of my life and I think a lot of other AGF fans would say that too,” says Jakob Emil Beikes, the chair of AGF’s fanclub. “When we were celebrating it was just everything, all the feelings coming through. I still can’t believe it, actually. It’s insane.”

Nice began the season in the Champions League but may end it in Ligue 2 – a terrible indictment of Ineos’ ownership

By Get French Football News

Nice’s players and staff were attacked by their own fans a few months ago. On Sunday night, their ultras stormed the pitch after their goalless draw at home to Metz and the players had to scamper down the tunnel. It was a perfect snapshot of the scale of Ineos’s failure and the anger the owner has elicited from the club’s supporters.

Nice’s season began with Champions League qualifiers and it could end with relegation to Ligue 2. Their failure to beat Metz on the final day of the season means they will face Saint-Étienne in a two-legged relegation playoff later this month. The timing is a disaster for Ineos, which is looking to cut and run after failing to turn the club into challengers to Paris Saint-Germain’s dominance – its stated ambition when buying Nice for €100m (£86.5m) in 2019.

Also: Guilherme helps Houston lift off, Wilfried Zaha strikes back and Orlando City bide their time as Antoine Griezmann waits

There are simple adages which help us navigate this mad world. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When it heaves a beer your way on the field at PayPal Park, you give it a hearty chug.

The San Jose Earthquakes have been the season’s surprise outfit, storming to the top of a competitive Western Conference in Bruce Arena’s second season. In their final home fixture before the World Cup break, they stormed back against a valiant FC Dallas to find an 80th minute leveler, giving the crowd dreams of a comeback before the final whistle.

Forward was dropped after a previous attempt to undermine coach, but doing so now could spark mutiny

We can safely say how Arne Slot would like to respond to Mohamed Salah’s latest attempt to undermine him. The Champions League trip to Inter in December, when Salah was left at home as punishment for his incendiary interview at Leeds three days earlier, provides as clear an indication as any. But should a repeat offence result in a repeat sanction on Sunday? Liverpool and their besieged head coach could do without inflaming a potential mutiny at Anfield.

Salah decided to draw up battle lines before his departure, with Saturday’s social media post criticising Liverpool’s direction under Slot. His concerns are widely shared by the Liverpool fanbase and the Liverpool squad, it seems, given the support it received from Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai, Andy Robertson and several members of last summer’s underwhelming recruitment drive. Arrive at great expense, fail to deliver and fuel the sense that a toxic civil war is erupting behind the scenes: thanks for your efforts lads. It is impossible to say what prompted each individual like on Instagram but that is the impression the collective has given.

The former Real Madrid manager’s desire to sign and create mentality monsters breaks with previous club policy

The Chelsea end was mostly empty by the time the players went to collect their losers’ medals. There was no grand ovation for the beaten team. The disconnect was evident after defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup final, underlining how one of Xabi Alonso’s first challenges as Chelsea’s new manager will be to lift the mood and get players, fans and owners pulling in the same direction after a hugely disappointing season.

Many people are wondering why Alonso has agreed to take over on a four-year deal. Why, after running into player power and reluctance to build a project at Real Madrid, would you choose Chelsea? Just how big is the payoff?

The SPFL and SFA wobble at the knees when it comes to punishing their biggest clubs but scenes at Celtic Park risk setting a dangerous precedent

The placing of a full stop on any league campaign offers cause for reflection. In Scotland, there are reasons to wonder if the grim denouement to a stunning title race will prompt a shift in attitudes on two fronts. Whether a Celtic board which has been castigated for its stewardship regards the securing of another title as vindication is an intriguing question. More immediate is how the champions and others will respond to the grim scenes that triggered an enforced conclusion to the visit of Hearts. The behaviour of a section of the Celtic support is so unruly during dominance that one wonders what on earth may happen if the team struggle badly.

On Sunday, the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) “utterly condemned” Celtic supporters who flooded on to the pitch at the time of Callum Osmand’s third goal. “Supporters entering the field of play in any circumstances is wholly unacceptable and puts those participating and working at a match at risk,” added the SPFL. Hearts players were accosted and abused during their most crushing of moments, having lost the opportunity to break the Old Firm’s four decades of title dominance.

Forward doesn’t fit the mould of a classic Pep signing, but we have all come a long way in the past decade of Manchester City success

One way or another, this was always going to end up being a Pep day. At the final whistle Pep Guardiola didn’t punch the air or really celebrate at all. Instead he walked quite slowly over to the scorer of the only goal, Antoine Semenyo, and vigorously triple-patted his buttocks, then meandered around the edges of the bobbing huddles on the Wembley pitch.

There will be a temptation to look for clues here. Nobody really knows if Guardiola is leaving Manchester City at the end of the season. Contract extension brinkmanship is nothing new, although not with quite so much whispered chat about assistants on the move and leaked replacement plans.

Our cartoonist on the unbridled joy and soul-crushing pain that followed the Scottish Premiership title decider

• Buy this cartoon | David’s favourite works of 2025

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As the campaign draws to a close, we looked at what each of the teams did best this season in the English top-flight

“What enriches you is the game, not the result. The result is a piece of data,” the Spanish football coach Juanma Lillo once said. “The birthrate goes up. Is that enriching? No. But the process that led to that? Now that’s enriching.”

Let that serve as the thinking behind the first annual Football Style Awards, a celebration of process over results. These awards are not about who won, though they are about pieces of data. A club data scientist friend and I have spent the last year building a new football app called futi that measures not just who’s good but what they’re good at, based on detailed phase of play data and models that measure how teams and players play.

The 2022 World Cup failed to deliver on its environmental promises. From air travel emissions to heat-related dangers, the 2026 edition will be even worse

Soccer fans are increasingly watching preparations for the 2026 World Cup through their fingers. The most popular sporting event on the planet is awash in controversy, whether it’s the eye-watering ticket prices, the question of Iran’s participation while the president of one of the host countries threatens war crimes against it, or the role that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement may or may not play in policing the event. And yet, lost in the political pyrotechnics is a fiasco that carries as much long-term peril as any: the tournament’s staggering contribution to runaway climate change.

The 2026 World Cup is not only the most politically combustible tournament in modern history, but it is also on track to be the “most polluting” World Cup ever, with total greenhouse gas emissions hitting nearly two times the historical average. Scientists conservatively project that the tournament will generate around 9m tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Air travel comprises approximately 7.7m tons of this carbon budget, and more than four times that of the average for tournaments held between 2010 and 2022. The researchers note that the worst-case upper estimate for air transport is about 13.7m tons of CO2. That may sound bad, but that’s just because World Cup emissions have never been worse.

Mikel Arteta’s side will be deeply unpopular champions, but this probably says more about us than it does about them

There was a minor stir a few years back when some American scientists bred a strain of “gene-edited” hamsters with the chemical that causes anger removed, presumably so they could achieve one of humanity’s historic goals: the dream of a more docile hamster.

Unfortunately the opposite happened. What the scientists created was a race of hyper-angry hamsters. These were described a little glibly in the media as Mutant Rage Monsters. But science is always more nuanced than this. We shouldn’t put angry hamsters in a box, even when we are literally putting angry hamsters in a box. Longer studies have shown more varied results. Sarcastic hamsters. Hamsters that hold grudges. Hamsters that retreat into silence on long car journeys. Even a subset of passive-aggressive hamsters who are, seriously, just fine with this. It’s pretty much what they expected from you, anyway.

It would be foolish of the club to undo a winning, entertaining formula by turning elsewhere for a permanent head coach

These days, we have a strong desire to complicate football, particularly in how we talk about it. Often, we are saying the same stuff we always were, just calling things by different names – styles are philosophies, contributions are actions, players earn minutes, not appearances – and the game can still be as simple as it ever was. This is something Michael Carrick understands well, and is one reason Manchester United’s next move is also simple: they have no choice but to appoint him as permanent head coach.

Under Carrick, United’s 33 points from 15 games puts them top of the form table for a period in which rivals have been beaten and Champions League qualification guaranteed, with a third-place finish highly likely. Had Ruben Amorim delivered these results, he’d be secure; were Luis Enrique responsible, they’d be further evidence of his generational – outstanding – brilliance. Yet there remains equivocation.

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Neymar is Brazil’s record goalscorer but hasn’t played for the national team for three years. He was part of the greatest attack of all time – MSN – but never won a Ballon d’Or. A generational talent who arguably butchered his career with money-fuelled moves to PSG and Saudi Arabia. After too many off-pitch controversies to count – only this month, he slapped a Santos teammate, Robinho Jr, in training – Neymar will be remembered as much for knack (including the injury that kept him out of that 7-1 defeat by Germany – as he will for the nutmegs, the rainbow flicks, the Remontada heroics, his Pausa, Bigger Cup triumphs, and Puskas Award goal. The overarching feeling for many is “yes, what a player”, but also, “what a waste”.

If Tottenham Hotspur get relegated (which is every Arsenal fan’s fantasy), when do we achieve next season’s St Totteringham’s Day? Do we mark it on the final day of this season or do we carry over the occasion to the opening day of the next one?” – Ronald Kondowe.

Given that Burnley have bounced between the bottom of the Premier League and the top of the Championship a couple of times in recent memory, is it time to replace their parachute payment with a yo-yo payment?” – Peter Oh.

Surely we have to doff our collective caps to the once ‘Special One’, then ‘Happy One’, then ‘Desperate for a Job One’ and, somewhat inevitably, the ‘Lucky that Real Madrid are Even More Desperate Than He is One’. His Benfica have just gone through the whole league season unbeaten. That surely puts them up there with Arsenal’s so-called ‘Invincibles’, who also went through the season unbeaten (if you ignore them losing once in the FA Cup, twice to Middlesbrough in the Milk Cup and three times in the Big Cup that is). That’s the way this works, right? Hold on a minute. Benfica finished where?” – Noble Francis.

WSL2 midfielder Malaika Meena has been collecting football kit to send to her ‘favourite country in the world’

It began with a social media post from a 13-year-old playing in Chelsea’s academy who wanted to offer spare kit to people less fortunate than her.

A decade on Malaika Meena, an established WSL2 player, finds herself sifting through more than 1,000 items collected from players, fans and coaches in the past month alone, as her family tradition of donating football boots and kit to schoolchildren in Tanzania has blossomed into a movement larger than anything she could have imagined.

The Gunners seemingly have the easier end-of-season schedule, but Manchester City are clinging to hope that anything can happen

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The title race should be done. All logic says it’s already over. Arsenal lead Manchester City by two points which means two wins in their final two games of the season would seal the title – and those two games are tonight against Burnley, who have been relegated, and, on Sunday against Crystal Palace, who will be preparing for the Europa Conference League final three days later. It’s hard, frankly, to imagine a better pair of fixtures for Mikel Arteta’s side to play at this stage of the season.

City’s games appear harder. On Tuesday they play away at Bournemouth, who are still fighting for Champions League qualification, whether by claiming fifth above Liverpool, or by taking sixth and hoping Villa win the Europa League but finish fifth. (It makes little sense but, under Uefa regulations, if Villa finish fourth and win the Europa League, there would be no sixth Champions League slot for Premier League clubs.) Man City finish at home against Aston Villa, who will just have returned from Istanbul and a Europa League final.

Seagulls are in their first Women’s FA Cup final but their coach, Dario Vidosic, is determined to keep aiming higher

As Brighton’s old song goes, “Hark to the merry bugles”, because there is something in the air in Sussex by the sea. A purpose-built women’s team stadium is in the offing, a second consecutive top-half Women’s Super League finish is on the cards and the women’s side are heading to Wembley for the first time. The fans have never had it this good.

It took something special for Brighton to overturn a two-goal deficit in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final victory at Liverpool and they left it late – very late – as Nadine Noordam settled a classic, five-goal thriller with her 95th-minute winner, but reaching this final is something the club have been building towards. In 2022, Brighton set out a bold vision to become a “top-four WSL club” and last summer the head coach, Dario Vidosic, was unafraid to discuss even higher targets, speaking in a determined, bullish and unwaveringly ambitious tone during an interview with the Guardian.

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Sophie Downey and Marva Kreel to review the 2025-26 WSL season

On today’s pod: as the WSL season comes to an end, the panel reviews each team as Manchester City officially lift the Barclays WSL trophy after ending their 10-year wait for a league title. The panel reflects on Andrée Jeglertz’s instant impact, Bunny Shaw’s remarkable season and what the summer could hold amid uncertainty surrounding her future.

Elsewhere, Arsenal secure second place and automatic Champions League qualification but, after another trophyless domestic campaign, the panel assesses where things fell short for Renée Slegers’ side and what the departures of Beth Mead and Katie McCabe mean for the club moving forward.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, John Brewin, Dan Bardell and Ewan Murray to discuss Manchester City’s FA Cup win and Celtic’s chaotic title celebrations

On today’s pod: Manchester City complete a domestic cup double after Antoine Semenyo’s brilliant backheel seals a drab FA Cup final against Chelsea. The panel discuss Pep Guardiola’s future, Chelsea’s astonishing seventh straight Wembley final defeat and the appointment of Xabi Alonso as the club’s new manager.

Elsewhere, West Ham collapse again at Newcastle to leave their survival hopes hanging by a thread, while Tottenham edge ever closer to safety despite doing very little themselves. There’s also another handball controversy at Old Trafford after Manchester United’s win over Nottingham Forest, praise for Bruno Fernandes and discussion around Michael Carrick agreeing a new deal.

Plus: Aston Villa secure Champions League football after beating Liverpool as Mohamed Salah publicly criticises Arne Slot, Sunderland keep their European hopes alive, Brentford and Brighton stumble in the race for eighth, and Ewan Murray joins the pod after Hearts’ dramatic Scottish title heartbreak at Celtic Park amid ugly scenes following a late pitch invasion.

Bafflement at Old Trafford, Chelsea’s Wembley drought goes on and Leeds give fans cause for optimism

Luke Shaw’s first goal in over three years for Manchester United was a further reminder of the left-back’s capabilities. This has been his best season at Old Trafford having featured in all 37 league games thus far, leaving his injury-prone past forgotten. Considering Shaw’s experience and quality, he should be considered for a spot at the World Cup. Thomas Tuchel does not have a vast array of riches in the position and Shaw’s consistency has been key to Michael Carrick’s turnaround at Old Trafford. “He deserves to go,” said Carrick after the win against Nottingham Forest. “His consistency, his performances, his experience, his qualities. He’s an excellent full-back.” Nico O’Reilly is the current first choice for England and he has a very different profile from Shaw, having converted from playing as a central midfielder under Pep Guardiola. Tuchel may want to take Shaw to provide variety and reliability, which would be a sensible approach. Will Unwin

Match report: Manchester United 3-2 Nottingham Forest

Match report: Newcastle 3-1 West Ham

Match report: Aston Villa 4-2 Liverpool

The WSL Golden Boot winner looks to have played her last game for the champions, while there are definite goodbyes at Arsenal and Chelsea

The focus was less on the performance and result and more on Khadija Shaw and her future. Manchester City had wrapped up the title after Arsenal dropped points against Brighton 10 days prior, so the game against West Ham was somewhat irrelevant. That Shaw scored two goals in City’s 4-1 win further highlighted what a huge error it would be for the club to let her go, with her contract expiring this summer. Shaw, though, gave hope to City fans so desperate for her to stay they chanted her name over and over at the club’s title party on Sunday. After the match on Saturday, she told Sky Sports: “I’ve always said Manchester is my home, it’s where I want to be, but there’s a lot of things which go on behind the scenes which I won’t talk about now. But I’ve always been proud of all the girls and everything. Manchester is where I would want to be, but ultimately we’ll see.” Suzanne Wrack

Ousmane Dembélé becomes our seventh winner as he beats Lamine Yamal into second and Vitinha into third on our list of the best players on the planet

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The Frenchman, who has been named the best male footballer in the world by the Guardian, has benefitted from PSG’s focus on the team rather than individuals

What makes a good player great, and a great player the best? This question has been occupying me since 2014, when the Guardian first asked me to contribute to its inaugural Next Generation feature. My job was to look for a France-based talent born in 1997 who could go on to have a stellar career.

After a great deal of research, I narrowed it down from my shortlist of five by asking questions not about the players’ football ability, but about other attributes: resilience, adaptability, decision-making, creativity, work ethic, response to feedback and willingness to learn. Qualities we cannot see, and are harder to measure.

Aitana Bonmatí has been voted the best female player on the planet by our panel of 127 experts ahead of Mariona Caldentey and Alessia Russo

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The margin may have got smaller but the brilliant Spanish midfielder makes it a hat-trick of No 1 finishes

They say the best things come in threes, and Aitana Bonmatí has written herself into the Guardian’s top 100 history as the first player to finish at the top of the tree for a third consecutive year.

Last year the majestic midfielder emulated her Barcelona and Spain teammate Alexia Putellas by winning for a second year running, but the 27-year-old has now gone one better, establishing herself once again at the top of the women’s game.

From PSG’s Ibrahim Mbaye to Brazil’s next hope, we select some of the most talented players born in 2008. Check the progress of our classes of 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 … and go even further back. Here’s our Premier League class of 2025