Manchester City set sights on signing Morocco’s Ayyoub Bouaddi for £85m | Manchester City
Manchester City are intent on signing Lille’s 18-year-old midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi for €100m (£85m). Bouaddi is attracting a host of suitors following his performances for Morocco at the World Cup finals tournament and, while the proposed fee is high…
Leandro Trossard set for Besiktas move after Arsenal agree deal with Turkish side | Arsenal
Arsenal have agreed a deal to sell Leandro Trossard to Besiktas, paving the way for the 31-year-old to depart the club after three-and-a-half years. Trossard, who moved to Arsenal from Brighton in January 2023, played a key role in helping Mikel Arteta’s…
Lionel Messi’s first meeting with England will be a contest of will and aura | World Cup 2026
Wednesday night, Atlanta Stadium, 101 games down, three left to play, and finally it makes sense. Bring on The Countdown, that moment just before kick-off in every one of those quietly fascinating World Cup matches where suddenly the world’s most excited…
‘For Diego’: spectre of Maradona looms over Argentina ahead of England clash | World Cup 2026
Not two minutes after his side’s dramatic, extra-time quarter-final victory over Switzerland on Saturday, the Argentina head coach, Lionel Scaloni, was already getting asked about the semi-final. Looming on the horizon was a match against bitter rivals…
War, antics and vitriol – the England v Argentina rivalry is real but now it is only about football | World Cup 2026
After confirmation that match 102, one of the World Cup semi-finals, would be England v Argentina, the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas conflict was mentioned at Lionel Scaloni’s press conference. “No, no, no,” the Argentina head coach tut-tutted emphatically.…
Manchester United close to agreeing club-record sale of Melvine Malard to Chelsea | Manchester United Women
Chelsea are closing in on a deal to sign the France forward Melvine Malard from Manchester United for a fee that would be a club-record sale. It is understood the transfer fee could be as high as approximately £850,000, although some sources have…
Youri Tielemans targets ‘biggest trophies’ after joining Manchester United | Manchester United
Manchester United have confirmed the signing of Youri Tielemans for about £35m on a five-year deal, with the midfielder stating he wants to help “push for the biggest trophies”. The 29-year-old will join from Aston Villa and follows United’s recruitment…
Spain reach World Cup final after Oyarzabal and Porro sink sorry France | World Cup 2026
Let this be a lesson for everyone foolish enough to cast Spain as underdogs. How they enjoyed dishing it out here, reducing France to passengers and surely guaranteeing nobody will make the same mistake twice. They will be favourites to win Sunday’s…
Didier Deschamps pays price for breaking free from the shackles that led him to glory | World Cup 2026
Maybe Didier Deschamps was right all along. He has been criticised over his 14 years in the France job for being too cautious, for prioritising control, for not unleashing his great fleet of attacking players. In this tournament, his last as national…
World Cup 2026: I still feel pain of ’98 but this can be different for England – Alan Shearer
I don’t think Argentina have played great football to get this far, but they have scored some great goals. They are an experienced and streetwise team, and they are also the defending champions. They are not as good as they were when they won it…