Key events
Thank you, John. We’ve got a big game to look forward to tonight.
Right, that’s my stint done, and I shall hand over to Xaymaca Awoyungbo for the evening’s entertainment.
And finally, the information you need for the weekend ahead in the Premier League.
Jonathan Liew on a good news story for Manchester City: Savinho.
The big news of the day. The Arsenal legend, latterly in the A-League is back in English football.
We are delighted to announce the signing of former Premier League and England defender Carl Jenkinson ✍️
Welcome to Hayes Lane, Carl!#WeAreBromley
— Bromley FC (@bromleyfc) September 27, 2024
Whatever happened to Arsenal’s Class of 2012?
C̶a̶r̶l̶ ̶J̶e̶n̶k̶i̶n̶s̶o̶n̶
A̶a̶r̶o̶n̶ ̶R̶a̶m̶s̶e̶y̶
J̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶W̶i̶l̶s̶h̶e̶r̶e̶
K̶i̶e̶r̶a̶n̶ ̶G̶i̶b̶b̶s̶
A̶l̶e̶x̶ ̶O̶x̶l̶a̶d̶e̶-̶C̶h̶a̶m̶b̶e̶r̶l̶a̶i̶n̶ pic.twitter.com/EwBfchMsHk— 101 Great Goals (@101greatgoals) August 7, 2019
Thanks to Peter Oh, pun king: “Man City sniffing around the young Torino playmaker in a bid to fill their Rodri-shaped hole is yet another example of the rich getting Ricci-er.”
An update on that Rodri story.
Manchester City are weighing up a move for Torino’s Samuele Ricci as they adjust to a season without Rodri after his anterior cruciate ligament injury.
The 23-year-old Ricci has been central to Torino’s surprise ascent to the top of Serie A and excelled in the holding midfield role for Italy in their 3-1 win in Paris against France this month. Although he can play a variety of midfield positions, he is emerging as one of the best young, deep-lying playmakers around and is high on City’s list if they decide they need to make a move in January to cover Rodri’s absence going into the busiest part of the season.
Ricci would also be seen as a prudent long-term addition and, given his fee could go as high as £30m, he would not be a mere stop-gap. City have to decide whether to accelerate their summer plans because of Rodri’s injury.
Ricci is right-footed with an excellent range of passing and manipulates the ball well under pressure. At 5ft 11in he has the physical presence to survive in the Premier League and is said to tackle and block well.
The excellent Andy Brassell previews perhaps the biggest game played in Europe this weekend.
The reality is that Leverkusen are leaning heavily on individual talent to paper over collective deficiencies. Florian Wirtz has started the campaign on fire, scoring at more than a goal a game. It’s Ballon d’Or form, though in recent times that award has often been decided on the achievements of the team around the player in question, and Wirtz may be left stranded by a side lacking collective discipline.
The defensive fissures that opened late on last season, with the title won, have become giant ugly cracks. Leverkusen have let in nine goals in the first four Bundesliga games, after shipping 24 in the whole of last season. “Nine goals conceded is obviously too many,” Alonso bemoaned after last weekend’s 4-3 win over Wolfsburg. “If we carry on like this, we won’t have much chance of achieving something big.”
Two of the great football men celebrated here.
And here’s the video confirming the big news of the day.
Krishna gets in touch: “With so many players laid low with one injury or another we can actually make an Injured XI from Europe (including UK ) I guess.”
Let’s try for the PL: Bazunu, James, Yoro, Botman, Luke Shaw, De Bruyne, Rodri, Odegaard, Bobb, Wilson, Wissa.
Merino to make Arsenal bow soon
Ed Aarons
Mikel Merino could be in contention to make his Arsenal debut next week after Mikel Arteta confirmed the Spain midfielder has returned to partial training following his dislocated shoulder.
Merrno, who joined in the summer for an initial £29m form Real Sociedad, was sidelined after sustaining the injury during his first training session at his new club. But with goalkeeper David Raya a question mark for Saturday’s game against Leicester due to a thigh injury and captain Martin Odegaard still sidelined, there was better news for Arsenal with Merino closing in his first start.
“He’s been working so hard. It’s looking good. It’s about the healing of the bone and how mature that is to expose him to contact basically,” said the Arsenal manager.
Asked if he is having to told Merino back, Arteta added: “Yes we are trying to keep him in the cage, because he’s been pushing everyone — the physios, the doctors, everybody — and he’s ready to go, and he really wants it. I think we are comfortable now to start exposing him with contact, and he looked really good in training.”
I’ll be at Brentford v West Ham tomorrow. Let’s see if the Bees can score after 22 or 23 seconds again. Thomas Frank has a plan, though each time it’s happened, his team have lost.
“We work on it. No doubt about it. We have a clear plan for it. Obviously we know it’s difficult to score every single time from a kick-off. We have players around where the ball drops and then we play from there and then maybe teams are not ready. We were definitely ready, I think that’s the most important thing.”
Will have to make sure to be on time for kick-off.
Our story on that Rodri news.
It never rains, it pours for Gary O’Neil and Wolves. As well as being bottom of the Premier League, there’s sickness in the house. Poor Gary; things aren’t really falling his way.
“There is quite a bit of illness at the moment, there are a few who will need a check on how they are feeling. Quite a few missed training today. Some of the lads will struggle for tomorrow, whether they don’t quite make it or are not fit enough to start. Sometimes it can clear up in 24 hours. We are hopeful that all of the guys who have had something over the last couple of days will be fine. But, as the doctors told me, at this stage it’s difficult to give a definitive answer.”
Looks like Ange Postecoglou is up, and there’s praise for Archie Gray, who shone against Qarabag:
“I see him in a Tottenham shirt and playing great football! From the moment he’s arrived he’s looked like a mature young man who has a great focus around the career ahead of him. He will be a significant contributor for us and I was really proud of the way he handled last night.”
And praise for Erik ten Hag, Spurs’ opponent on Sunday.
“He’s done a great job. He keeps mentioning he’s won two trophies and that’s not insignificant. Everyone keeps saying that is all I need to do but then there is always something expected after. It is a difficult job.
“It is tough to go to Old Trafford. Irrespective of managers, it is still a rather compelling home record. It is one we will be ready for.”
Right, time for me to hand the baton over to the brilliant John Brewin.
There’s press conferences from Ange Postecoglou, Gary O’Neil and Thomas Frank to bring you and a few other bits and bobs.
Another piece of City injury news before we move on … Kevin de Bruyne will miss this weekend’s trip to Newcastle.
“I don’t know when he’ll be back. Before maybe the international break, or after the international break. We will see,” said Pep Guardiola.
Newcastle may fancy their chances.
Arteta could not give a definitive update on David Raya’s injury – no doubt causing concern among FPL managers everywhere – with the Spaniard struggling with a thigh problem, which meant 16-year-old Jack Porter played in the Carabao Cup midweek.
He said: “We have to wait 24 hours to see if he is looking good or not that good. It’s not risk, it is about a player being fit or available or not. We will make the decision tomorrow.”
Ben White and Jurrien Timber are expected to be fit, with Mikel Merino still sidelined and waiting for his debut.
Mikel Arteta quotes now. And the fallout from Arsenal’s spiky (but very watchable) defensive rearguard at Manchester City has stretched into today’s press conference. Lots of questions about the so-called ‘dark arts’.
Arteta and Pep Guardiola’s friendship will not be affected, though, the Gunners manager has confirmed, despite all the acrimony.
The Arsenal supremo said of Guardiola: “I love him, I respect him, I admire him and his team and everything that he does. This is sport and a personal relationship.
“If my relationship has to be damaged because one draws and the other one wins when we play against each other, the amount of times that we have lost, then I wouldn’t talk to him anymore.
“It’s sport and it will never get in the way of a personal relationship for sure.”
A nice Nottingham Forest read for you here.
Another option City could be to delve into the January transfer market, as Pep Guardiola has hinted today.
“We are speaking internally,” he said on the subject. “We have time to see the potential problems we will have and then we see what we want to do.”
It’s going to be so interesting see: A) who Guardiola favours as Rodri’s replacement, and B) how City fare in general without their midfield … general.
Mateo Kovacic is the obvious choice, with Ilkay Gundogan also capable of dropping a little deeper into defensive midfield. Alternatively, a defender like Manu Akanji or John Stones be shifted into midfield, a latter day Pep penchant. Asking Rico Lewis or Matheus Nunes to do the job could be unwise, given their lack of experience in the role.
Thoughts welcome.
Guardiola confirms Rodri out for season after ACL surgery
The news of Rodri’s ACL injury was confirmed by Manchester City earlier in the week, but in today’s press conference Pep Guardiola has revealed the midfielder has undergone successful surgery and will now face a long period of rehabilitation, definitely ruling him out of the rest of the campaign.
“He had surgery this morning, ACL and some meniscus, we think,” said Guardiola.
“Next season he will be with us. This season is over. Unfortunately we got the worst news but that is what happened, we will be there to support him and move forward step by step.”
More from Maresca now and specifically that call he’s got to make between Jackson and Nkunku up top:
Yeah it’s one of them, but I think Pedro [Neto] and Mykhailo [Mudryk] did very well the other day. All of them to be honest. It’s important that when there is chance, even if it’s five minutes, 10 minutes or half an hour or from the start, they give everything so it’s important.
And that’s without mentioning Jadon Sancho, Joao Felix, Noni Madueke, Carney Chukwuemeka, etc, etc …
Two of the Premier League’s surprise (?) in-form teams meet this weekend, with Nottingham Forest hosting Fulham.
Cottagers’ manager Marco Silva has assessed Forest – who are still unbeaten this season – and commented on his own side, with Fulham’s only defeat coming in that opening game of the campaign at Old Trafford.
“They’re really strong in counterattack moments,” said Silva. “When you feel that you have the control of the game, they can punish you as well, and it’s going to be a tough game. I think the way they started the season speaks about themselves.
“We really are looking forward for our first win away from home, we are going to work really hard to do it. They want the same at home as well, and let’s see. Let’s hope we can be stronger than them, and we are going to really look for the three points.
“Performance-wise I think we’ve been growing as a team. Game by game we’re getting better. We had important players leave our club and we need time to gel and create relations and for them to understand our identity. We should have achieved more points in some games against West Ham and Manchester United but that’s football and that’s the Premier League.
“It’s been a solid and decent start and we’ve been getting better in our last two home games.”
Lavia to return for Chelsea versus Brighton
Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Roméo Lavia will be available for selection for Chelsea’s game against Brighton on Saturday, with Reece James “the only one not available” this weekend.
With the Blues’ big old squad, that should mean plenty of options available for Maresca. He has an interesting choice up front, with both Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson available and in fine form.
This is an enjoyable clip.
Wojciech Szczesny announced his retirement from football this summer, but could he be tempted back to help out Barcelona amid their goalkeeping injury crisis? Marc-Andre ter Stegen is likely to be sidelined for the rest of the season and a number of keepers have been linked with a free transfer to Barça. Claudio Bravo even offered to come out of retirement.
“I understand the difficult situation that has arisen for them after Marc-Andre Ter Stegen’s injury and I think it would be disrespectful of me not to consider this option,” Szczesny told Spanish newspaper Sport. “I have a lot of respect for Barca’s history, it is one of the best clubs in the world.”
Thanks Taha. We’ve got some more press conferences to bring you this afternoon and lots more besides.
That’ll be enough from me today – Dominic Booth will guide you through the next hour and a bit.
Manchester City to meet Barcelona in Women’s Champions League
Right then, time for the Women’s Champions League group-stage draw … here’s what we have: Manchester City are in Group D alongside Barcelona, the defending champions.
Group A
Lyon
Wolfsburg
Roma
Galatasaray
Group B
Chelsea
Real Madrid
Twente
Celtic
Group C
Bayern Munich
Arsenal
Juventus
Valerenga
Group D
Barcelona
Manchester City
St Pölten
Hammarby
Newcastle CEO to step down after cancer diagnosis
Newcastle have announced that their chief executive, Darren Eales, will leave his role after being diagnosed with cancer.
“Being CEO of Newcastle United is an extraordinary privilege and I am incredibly proud to be part of the club’s exciting journey,” he said.
“However, it has become apparent to me that now is the right time to make this decision so that I can prioritise my health and my family.
“In the short term, it will be business as usual in terms of running the club’s day-to-day operations, and I will give my full support to a transitionary period that will enable the board to carefully assess and appoint my successor.”
Eales joined the club in 2022 and will continue in the job until his replacement is appointed.
#NUFC CEO Darren Eales is to step down from his position after being diagnosed with a chronic form of blood cancer.
He will continue to lead the club’s executive team until a successor is appointed.
Our thoughts are with you, @DEalesNUFC. 🖤🤍
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) September 27, 2024
Fascinating. Would also make for a nice hipsterish print to put up in the living room.
Liverpool’s Alisson set to be available against Wolves
Arne Slot has some good news regarding the fitness of Alisson after the Liverpool keeper missed last weekend’s victory over Bournemouth with injury:
He trained yesterday … we expect him to do the whole session today. So we think he’s available [for Liverpool’s match with Wolves on Saturday], but of course we have to train today. And of course we’re really happy with Alisson being back, but I want to emphasise on the fact that Caoimhín [Kelleher] did really well in the two games he was in goal for us. So another example of me having two and I think even three good options in certain positions.
Ed Aarons speaks to – and plays golf (!) – with Peter Odemwingie.
How about some classic #OnThisDay content? Here’s Peter Crouch pulling off the scissor-kick for Liverpool in a 3-2 win over Galatasaray.
Friday morning … a brief lull in affairs … time for a quiz. 11/15 for me.
Daniel Boffey reports on sexual assault allegations relating to Mohamed Al Fayed’s tenure as Fulham’s owner.
A spokesperson for Fulham said the club “remain in the process of establishing whether anyone at the club is or has been affected by the reports concerning Mr Al Fayed”.
Alexander Isak a doubt for City clash with toe injury
Newcastle could be without Alexander Isak against Manchester City, their key centre forward having suffered a broken toe.
Here are Eddie Howe’s quotes, courtesy of PA: “He’ll be a doubt for tomorrow. He’s had scans, he’s had lots of tests. The injury has been diagnosed fine, there’s no issues there.
“It sounds worse than it is, but he’s got a broken toe, but it’s one that can be managed and played with providing he can tolerate the pain levels, and that will have no long-term risks.
“He trained last week before the Fulham game on the Friday and he had an injection in his toe to play. He felt fine, but then he started to feel his toe in the last five to 10 minutes of that game.”
More on the action from last night: Athletic Bilbao are upset with their own supporters.
Athletic Bilbao have condemned the behaviour of some of their fans after flares were thrown during their 1-1 Europa League draw with Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.
Fans in the away stand lit several flares during the match, with some being thrown in the direction of the pitch as well as into sections of the stadium containing home supporters. After the draw, in which Aitor Paredes’s late equaliser cancelled out Artem Dovbyk’s opener, Athletic’s captain Oscar de Marcos and forward Iñaki Williams could be seen remonstrating with their fans.
Former Turkey forward Akin shot in the foot
Here’s a story on the wires from Reuters:
The Turkish Football Federation have condemned an armed attack on former Turkey and Fenerbahce striker turned TV pundit Serhat Akin in Istanbul on Thursday.
Akin posted a message on social media saying he had been shot in the foot after he left a TV studio in the Beykoz district of the city following Fenerbahce’s 2-1 win over Union Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League.
“We have learned with regret that former national team player Serhat Akin was injured in his foot as a result of an armed attack,” TFF said in a statement.
“We strongly condemn the heinous attack and wish Serhat Akin … a speedy recovery.”
The 43-year-old, who played 16 times for his country between 2002 and 2006, was taken to hospital for treatment.
Akin’s social media post included a picture of his bloodied ankle and foot, accompanied by the message: “They shot my feet after the programme, our last word is Fenerbahce.”
Fenerbahce, the club where Akin started his career and spent five years before moving on to Belgian side Anderlecht, also condemned the attack.
“We expect the perpetrators to be brought to justice as soon as possible,” the club said.
Tom Garry has the good news and the bad news.
The proportion of schools in England offering girls equal access to football in physical education has climbed considerably since 2020, but not quite as fast as the Football Association had hoped at secondary-school level.
The Women’s Champions League draw for the group stage takes place at noon (BST). Here are the pots for that as we sort things into four groups of four:
Preamble
Morning. It’s bleak outside (where I am), but here’s to a bright weekend of FOOTBALL! LIVE! FOOTBALL!
Before we get there, feel free to drop me a line with your thoughts on last night’s action in Europe, with 10-man Tottenham beating Qarabag after a delayed start. Rangers found joy in Sweden and there was action in the Women’s Champions League, too, with Arsenal, Manchester City and Celtic all advancing to the group stage.
Looking ahead to what’s on offer in the Premier League, we begin on Saturday with Manchester City visiting St James’ Park. The hosts have had a strange season, not looking all that great on the pitch … but currently sit sixth. Will Haaland Haaland them and extend the misery? More on that fixture and the rest in our weekly offering of Ten Things:
