Key events
Seamless handover: That’s all from me but there is plenty more news to come from various managerial confabs and John Brewin will be staying across it. Have a great weekend.
Pep Guardiola: “Stones has a muscular issue,” said Pep. “In the last training he did not feel comfortable. I don’t know how long he will be out.”
Guardiola said City’s squad will not train today as they focus on recovery after their trip back from Athens. “Of course we are ready,” he said. “We need this type of challenge when we want what we want. We are the team everyone wants to beat. The challenge is to prove ourselves again. It’s always how you overcome [challenges] that defines if you are a good team or not.”
Manchester City: After losing Kevin De Bruyne to injury for several months, Pep Guardiolas has been given an added headache after John Stones pulled up in training with an unspecified soft tissue injury. Ruben Dias could come back into contention after a concussion but Bernardo Silva remains a doubt after missing the Uefa Super Cup victory over Sevilla.
Chelsea: Reece James has been sidelined with a hamstring injury that is expectedf to keep him out for at least a month and ahead of Chelsea’s match against West Ham on Sunday, Mauricio Pochettino has been discussing the bad news.
“It’s a sad moment because he is our captain and he was so excited to be a captain and he was full of energy,” he said.
“We are going to asses him day by day and as soon as possible we want him again with the team. For sure he’s going to become stronger than he was because we are going to help him to become stronger than before.”
Pochettino was also asked about his new signings Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, and why he thought they’d opted to join Chelsea instead of Liverpool.
“That is about the player’s decision,” he said. “It is their decision if they come here. It wasn’t a competition, it was a player’s decision to join us. That makes us very happy and they talk very highly about our owners and our sporting directors in the way that they work.
“The players wanted to come here because I think they are feeling something special. I hope they are feeling something special.”
Tottenham Hotspur: Cristian Romero will be available for Sunday’s visit of Manchester United after passing various concussion checks following his clash of heads with Bryan Mbeumo at Brentford last weekend. The defender exacerbated his injury when firing home Tottenham’s opening goal with a bullet header.
“Cristian is good to go,” said Ange Postecoglou, who has been praised for removing Romero from the field against his will. “He has been in the hands of the medical team and he has ticked all the boxes. He has felt fine all week, trained and is ready to go.”
Alessia Russo: The England striker spoke to the press earlier ahead of Sunbday’s World Cup final and here’s a little more of what she had to say.
“Obviously this is the biggest game, the one you dream about and means the most,” she told the press. “I think it will hit when we’re in the tunnel and ready to walk out. It’s an incredible occasion, it’s been an unbelievable tournament and this is it. This is the moment we want to be in. We can’t wait.
“Right now all I want to do is go out, put on a performance to be proud of and obviously to win. We started this tournament wanting to win seven games and this is the message. This is the last one to go and we’re really locked in.”
Bournemouth: Andoni Iraola’s side travel to Anfield tomorrow, where Bournemouth were subjected to a 9-0 tonking a little under a year ago. The defeat prompted Scott Parker to publicly criticise the quality of the squad at his disposal, an outburst that cost him his job as manager of the club.
Gary O’Neil was given the role as caretaker manager of the club, went on to get the gig on a permanent basis and kept Bournemouth in the Premier League, only to be relioeved of his duties during the summer and replaced by Iraola, who has been talking about tomorrow’s game.
“It was one year ago and that is a lot of time,” he said of that shellacking. “Obviously they know it will be always be tough against Liverpool at Anfield but it is a good chance for us to show how far away we are from them.
“We have to have a very resilient collective attitude and to suffer those minutes when they are pushing, taking corners and crosses. We will have our moments where we can damage them.”
Liverpool: After missing out on their main targets Moises Caiceido and Romeo Lavia, Liverpool have brought the Japanese defensive midfielder (and occasional centre-back) Wataru Endo to the club from Stuttgart and the 30-year-old has announced his del;ight at the move through the club website.
“I’m very happy right now and I’m so excited to join a big club in Liverpool,” he said. “It feels amazing and this is my dream. It’s always [been] a dream to play [in the] Premier League and with one of the biggest clubs in the world. It’s a dream come true for me.
“It’s going to be the first time for me that I play at Anfield. I can’t wait to play at Anfield in front of Liverpool fans. I play as a No.6 and I’m like a bit more [of a] defensive player. I think I can help this club defensively and I will have good organisation in the middle. I think that’s my job.
“I am very excited to join this club and I am looking forward to seeing you at Anfield!”
Bournemouth: Leeds United midfielder Tyler Adams is believed to be undergoing a medical at Bournemouth today but until he signs a contract with the Cherriers, manager Andoni Iraola has refused to say much about him.
“I think it’s a player that right now is not our player,” he said of ther USA team captain. “So we have to wait, I think that you know that the club is working towards signing someone there in the midfield, but we have to wait until everything is complete. He’s a really good player. He has performed in the Champions League and has national team experience but I don’t want to go too far because right now it’s not our player.”
As we mentioned earlier this morning, Adams has not played since March, is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury and not expected to return to action until mid-September.
Wiegman dismisses USA rumours
Sarina Wiegman intends to stay put as England boss despite rumours she could be tempted to take the USA manager’s job recently vacated by Vlatko Andonovski.
Wiegman and Chelsea manager Emma Hayes have been tipped to fill the post, but the 53-year-old issued a reassuring update two nights before leading the Lionesses into their first-ever World Cup final.
“I’m staying out of that,” she said of the speculation. “I’ve heard it. I’m with England, I’m really happy with England and I have a contract until 2025.
“I’m really enjoying my job and I have the impression that people still like me doing that job. I have no plans to leave.”
Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham has said that his organisation would refuse an American approach for Wiegman.
Newcastle sign Lewis Hall from Chelsea
Newcastle have agreed to sign Chelsea’s Lewis Hall on loan with an obligation to make the deal permanent for £28m plus £7m in add-ons, reports Jacob Steinberg.
It is understood that the deal to sell the 18-year-old weeks after handing him a new six-year deal was negotiated by Chelsea’s co-owner, Behdad Eghbali. Hall made 12 appearances last season and his departure means that 14 players have left Stamford Bridge this summer.
Hall, who can also play in midfield, was initially set to join Crystal Palace on loan. That deal collapsed, though, and the teenager emerged as a target for Newcastle, who can offer him Champions League football. His path into the first team at Chelsea was blocked by Ben Chilwell, Marc Cucurella and Ian Maatsen.
There will be some disquiet over Chelsea’s decision to sell one of their brightest academy products. However the club need to raise funds because of theirs frenzied spending and money received for academy players goes down in the accounts as pure profit in Financial Fair Play terms.
Manchester United women sign Geyse
Manchester United women have announced the signing of Brazil international Geyse Da Silva Ferreira on a permanent deal.
The forward joins United from Barcelona, after winning the Primera División de la Liga de Fútbol Femenino, Supercopa de España Femenina and UEFA Women’s Champions League with the Spanish side last season.
“I am very happy to be here,” said Geyse. “Signing for United has been a very special day for me and my family. I am very grateful for this opportunity and thank everyone for making it happen.”
United boss Marc Skinner also welcomed the move and highlighted his new signing’s qualities. “Geyse is a proven winner on the biggest stages,” he said. “She has won both domestic and international honours and her winning mentality is an important addition to our team, ahead of a busy campaign across several important competitions. We are delighted to welcome Geyse into our Manchester United family and cannot wait to see her excite our wonderful fans.”
Gianni Infantino: Fifa’s president has urged women’s football to “pick the right battles” in the fight for equal pay while placing the onus on women to enforce the change. Of course he has. John Brewin has the latest …
Cardiff City: The Championship club have signed the Greece international defensive midfielder Manolis Siopis on a three-year contract.
The 29-year-old former Olympiacos defensive midfielder has played 23 times for his country and was a free agent after leaving Turkish club Trabzonspor.
“I know [Cardiff manager] Erol Bulut,” Siopsis told the official club website. “We worked together and he wants to win every time. I also work like this all of my career.”
Chelsea wrap up Roméo Lavia deal
Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Roméo Lavia from Southampton. The 19-year-old is the second defensive midfielder bought by the club this week, after Moisés Caicedo, and the deals mean Mauricio Pochettino has at his disposal two players who had been wanted by Liverpool. Jacob Steinberg reports …
Tyler Adams set to join Bournemouth
The Leeds midfielder is en route to the south coast to undergo a medical at Bournemouth after the club triggered the £20m relegation release clause in his contract.
Adams had been linked with a move to Chelsea and looked on the verge of signing for them, before the club cooled their interest and went for Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia instead. The USA team captain has not played since March and is expected to be out until September with a hamstring injury.
Eddie Howe: During his press conference, the Newcastle manager was asked if he felt comfortable with the news that St James’ Park will be hosting two Saudi Arabia friendly internationals against Costa Rica and South Korea next month.
“I found out, like you, in the media,” he said. “I had no pre-knowledge of what was happening. All I’d say on that is I think Newcastle is an incredible venue to play not just football, but we’ve had bands, rugby, lots of different people, sports at the stadium and it is a truly iconic place to play.”
A number of Newcastle fans have voiced disquiet at the manner in which their club and it’s ground is apparently being used as, what they see as a sportswashing machine for Saudi Arabia, while plenty of others, including Howe, see no problem whatsoever in the iconic local cultural asset staging these friendlies.
With Mohammad Bin Salman due to visit England for the first time since being implicated in the 2018 murder of the journalist Jamaal Khashoggi, the Saudi football team are unlikely to be the most controversial visitors to the country from the sovereign state in the coming months.
Alessia Russo speaks …
The England striker is speaking, well and at great length, to the ladies and gentlemen of the Fourth Estate ahead of England’s World Cup final against Spain on Sunday.
“I think everyones excited and also calm at the same time,” she says. “That’s really the feeling in camp is right now. You’ve got the wise heads in Mary [Earps], Millie [Bright], Lucy [Bronze] … people like that, which is great because obviously they’ve experienced a lot and they’re very experienced players in ourt squad. To have them there to lean on if you need them is important.”
Earlier, Russo had tried to play down the significance of Sunday’s final. “We’re all aware it’s the World Cup final but as soon as the first whistle goes it’s just a normal game,” she siad. “That’s what we love to do, what we want to be doing. It’s 11 v 11, we know our job, we know what we want to do. We’re just going to play our game.
“Everyone’s obviously excited but we’re very relaxed, very chilled. It’s just another game for us. It shows the composure f the team. It’s another game that we must win.”
Australia. Stan Sport pundit, former Crystal Palace captain, humanitarian and all around good bloke Craig Foster has tweeted in support of Ellie Carpenter. The Australia defender, whose error allowed Lauren Hemp to score England’s second goal in the World Cup semi-final, has been the target of vile misogynistic abuse on social media.
Newcastle United: Eddie Howe takes his side to Manchester City for one of the weekend’s more mouthwatering games tomorrow night and Eddie Howe has already spoken to the press. He told reporters that if Newcastle’s reported deal to sign 18-year-old Chelsea left-back (and occasional midfielder) Lewis Hall is signed sealed and delivered, he expects that to be the club’s last bit of transfer business in the current window.
Newcastle have already added Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes, Tino Livramento and Yankuba Minteh to their squad this summer. “It’s a loan deal,” said Howe of Hall. “He’s a player I like — very versatile with really good potential. Let’s see what happens today. If we do bring a player in, that will be our transfer business concluded, unless we suffer injuries.”
Romeo Lavia is en route to Chelsea
Having snubbed overtures from Liverpool, even after Chelsea signed Moises Caicedo from Brighton, Romeo Lavia has gone to Chelseas for £35m and will be unveiled at Stamford Bridge today after signing a seven-year deal. The Belgian midfielder has bid farewell to Southampton and their fans on his Instagram page.
“As I saw goodbye, I want to say a big thank you for everything you have given me during my time here,” he wrote.
“I’ve instantly felt the love from you all despite us not achieving our shared goals. I’ll never forget the belief the club and Saints all around the world showed me and I hope I was able to repay the faith you put in me.
“I would especially like to thank all my teammates and all staff members within the club involved closely or not for putting your arms around me since the day I walked through the Staplewood Campus and for all the daily work and help behind the scenes making me become a better person, athlete and football player. You have all played a massive part into making my integration into real professional football easier.
“I will forever be grateful to you. For those reasons, this club will always remain close to my heart. Good luck this season and I look forward to seeing the club marching back to the Premier League where it belongs very soon.”
Theo Walcott announces his retirement
Those of us who already felt old when Sven-Goran Eriksson included the whey-faced 17-year-old Arsenal winger in England’s squad for World Cup 2006 will be weeping salty into our Ovaltine tonight now it’s been revealed Theo Walcott has retired from football.
Calling it quits at the ripe young age of 34, Walcott had offers to continue his career in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, Walcott has decided the time is right to hang up his Nike Phantom GTs. “It’s very scary, I can’t lie,” he told Gary Neville in an episode of the Overlap podcast. “It’s scary because football’s all I’ve known from the age of 16 or even younger. I want to try new things I never experienced as a kid – I missed out on a lot. I just feel like I want to experience life – things [usually] revolve around football for me.” We wish him well in his dotage.
It’s a very big weekend …
Sarina Weigman and her Lionesses will take centre stage in Sydney, when football fans of every stripe across England and will be foregoing their usual Sunday rituals to tune into the Women’s World Cup final. England take on Spain and a nation expects. Well, two nations expect. Or at least hope … and we all know that’s what kills you.
Closer to home, unless you happen to live Down Under, there’s no shortage of other fairly high profile football action to look forward to over the next few days. Still in its infancy, the Premier League campaign enters its second round of fixtures, which means we’ll bring you news from the press conferences of a whole host of top flight managers, as well as any other talking points that arise during the day.
Ahead of Tottenham’s home game against Manchester United tomorrow, a penny for the thoughts of Ange Postecoglou, who can finally look forward to his first media briefing as Tottenham manager without having to field questions about the future of Harry Kane. Wouldn’t it be funny if he was forced to face a barrage of relentless questioning about the future of Davinson Sanchez instead?
Such flights of fancy aside, the top flight action kicks-off tonight at the City Ground, where Nottingham Forest host Sheffield United, before concluding on Monday evening at Selhurst Park, when Crystal Palace host their fellow London side Arsenal. But in truth, while some may beg to differ, the only game that really matters kicks off in Sydney on Sunday at 11am (BST).