Category: English Premier League

It was only the Community Shield, but issues from pre-season popped up again for Arne Slot in Liverpool’s loss on penalties to Crystal Palace

• Sign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson here

It was the Community Shield, and that should not be forgotten. There isn’t anybody who has been watching English football for any period of time who hasn’t made the mistake of taking too seriously a conclusion drawn in the midst of the traditional curtain-raiser, giddy on the sight of Wembley in its pomp and the return of competitive club football from the summer wilderness.

Any analysis has to be tempered. Teams are always works in progress, evolving and developing, but that is never truer than in early August with new signings adapting to their teammates and surroundings, and others shaking the summer from their legs. Things will change. But after Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace and subsequent defeat on penalties in the Community Shield, it can be said with a degree of certainty that their new signings have gelled better at the front of the pitch than the back.

Continue reading...

• England international due to have medical on Monday

• City have been asking for £12m loan fee for £100m signing

Jack Grealish is poised to sign for Everton on loan after agreeing to leave Manchester City in an attempt to revive his stalled career.

Everton’s interest in the City midfielder was reciprocated over the weekend with Grealish accepting the opportunity to join David Moyes’s side in their first season at Hill Dickinson Stadium. The 29-year-old is due to undergo a medical on Monday and confirmation of his loan deal could be announced swiftly, providing there are no issues.

Continue reading...

The Guardian’s fans network looks ahead to the new season: fresh talent, weak links, and who will be sacked first

Optimism abounds in London N5. I had some doubts about Arteta’s ability to keep motivating this group, but this summer’s heavy spend should fix that, reinvigorating the squad. Only time will tell whether the new faces can gel and develop chemistry, but it’s a relief to have the clamour for a centre-forward answered at last. Hopefully come May we’ll be lauding Victor’s veni, vidi, vici Premier League triumph.

Bernard Azulay onlinegooner.com; @GoonerN5

Jonathan Pritchard (With thanks to Ozzy and all the Holte Enders in the Sky.)

Continue reading...

Supporters will hope inactivity in the transfer market this summer will not lead to the club treading water

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 11th (NB: this is not necessarily John Brewin’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 11th

Continue reading...

Every team enters preseason at a different stage of readiness and with different goals, making results hard to decipher

• Sign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson here

Glory for Manchester United, who lifted the Premier League summer series on Sunday despite twice being pegged back by Everton to draw 2-2 in Atlanta. A degree of relief for West Ham, who beat Bournemouth to finish second in the competition despite all the gloomy prognostications about their campaign to come. In Seoul, meanwhile, there was a very Tottenham moment as they followed the glee of last week’s 1-0 win over Arsenal with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle in which James Maddison was stretchered off with a knee injury described by his manager Thomas Frank as “bad”.

It all looks real, it sounds real and yet everybody knows it isn’t real. That even now, in this age of data and minute analysis, there remains an element of randomness, is one of soccer’s great joys as a sport. But that tendency is magnified in pre-season.

Continue reading...

After years spent in striker-less formations, the Premier League’s top teams are seemingly all set to rely on a big body (or two) up top

• Sign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson here

It’s only been a decade since it seemed the center-forward was being refined out of existence. Spain had won Euro 2012 with Cesc Fàbregas as a false nine, and Germany, who largely took Spain as a model, were less than convinced they needed one at the 2014 World Cup. They fielded Thomas Müller as a false-ish nine until the quarter-final, when Jögi Löw finally went back to basics and turned to Miroslav Klose. That he was 36 only seemed to confirm that the old-fashioned No 9 was an old-fashioned phenomenon – a dying breed. Yet this summer, the main interest in the transfer market has been the carousel of strikers.

Of course, strikers never entirely disappeared. The four leading scorers in the Premier League in 2014–15 were Sergio Agüero, Harry Kane, Diego Costa and Charlie Austin. Mauri Icardi and Luca Toni topped the charts in Italy, while Cristiano Ronaldo, his conversion to A No 9 complete, was top scorer in Spain (although that he was followed by Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann, and Neymar suggested a greater variety of goalscorer there).

Continue reading...

• Fee for forward could reach £71m with add-ons

• Mbeumo wanted United despite Spurs interest

Manchester United have agreed a deal worth more than £70m to sign Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford. A fee of £65m will be paid up front and a further £6m could follow in add-ons

The Cameroonian, who scored 20 Premier League goals last season, has been a key target for Ruben Amorim. United first made an offer for Mbeumo six weeks ago and had a number of bids rejected. Mbeumo made clear he wanted to move to Old Trafford despite interest at Tottenham from his former head coach Thomas Frank, and personal terms are not thought to be an issue.

Continue reading...

• Offer to Brentford for forward includes guaranteed £65m

• Manchester City sign 18-year-old midfielder Sverre Nypan

Manchester United have made an improved bid for the Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo. The offer is worth up to £70m, with £65m guaranteed and the rest add-ons.

Ruben Amorim is eager to sign Mbeumo, who has indicated to Brentford he would like to join United, but Sir Jim Ratcliffe is eager not to pay over the odds. The London club have turned down at least one bid for Mbeumo from United and have demanded about £70m for a player who scored 20 Premier League goals last season.

Continue reading...

Pre-season trips to Asia may not be new for English clubs, but they remain a huge global engagement opportunity

Fifty years ago, Arsenal lost 2-0 to Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, with jet-lagged players struggling to deal with frogs bouncing around the Merdeka Stadium pitch as well as the legendary local striker Mokhtar Dahari.

Since then, however, many aspects of Asian tours by English clubs have changed. They have become, mostly, slick affairs. This summer, Arsenal will visit neighbouring Singapore for games against Newcastle and Milan. Then to Hong Kong for an unusual north London derby against a Tottenham team that will also travel to South Korea to face Newcastle. Liverpool visit Japan and Hong Kong just weeks after Manchester United were in action there on a post-season tour, which they finished in Malaysia.

Continue reading...

• 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 undergo a medical on Friday before completing the move.

Continue reading...

• England midfielder to undergo medical on Friday

• Gibbs-White scored seven and had eight assists last term

Tottenham are poised to sign Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest after triggering a £60m release clause. The England midfielder is expected to undergo a medical on Friday and could complete the move in the next 24 hours.

Gibbs-White has also attracted interest from Manchester City since excelling at Forest, whom he joined from boyhood club Wolves in 2022 for an initial £25m in a deal that was worth up to £42.5m.

Continue reading...

• Forward will be Regis Le Bris’s fourth summer addition

• Sunderland linked with move for Jordan Henderson

Sunderland are to confirm the signing of Simon Adingra from Brighton for an initial £21m plus bonuses as they continue their preparations for life in the Premier League.

It is understood that the Ivory Coast forward, who has made 73 appearances for Brighton since signing from Danish side FC Nordsjælland in 2022, is on Wearside to complete his move after having his medical on Wednesday. Sunderland have a longstanding interest in Adingra and he was part of negotiations in January in which their playoff final hero Tommy Watson moved to the south coast for £10m, before returning on loan, although a potential swap deal failed to materialise.

Continue reading...

• Ghana attacker will sign six-year deal subject to medical

• West Ham want at least six signings and must raise funds

Tottenham have reached an agreement to sign Mohammed Kudus from West Ham for £54.5m.

Kudus is due to undergo a medical on Thursday and will sign a six-year deal. The Ghana attacker will become the first player to leave West Ham for Spurs since Scott Parker in 2011.

Continue reading...

• Madueke not expected to end Arsenal’s interest in Eze

• Sunderland pay about £19.5m to buy winger Talbi

Arsenal have opened talks with Chelsea over signing Noni Madueke. Personal terms have been agreed with the winger, who is increasingly likely to move to the Emirates Stadium.

Chelsea have been revamping their attack and decided they were open to selling Madueke after winning the Conference League in May. The 23-year-old has had a bit-part role during his side’s run to the Club World Cup final and is likely to benefit from a change of scenery. Madueke made a late substitute appearance during the win over Fluminense in the semi-final.

Continue reading...

• Ronaldo says teammate’s death ‘doesn’t make any sense’

• Wolves say ‘memories he created will never be forgotten’

Jürgen Klopp and Cristiano Ronaldo led the tributes from across the football world to Diogo Jota after the Liverpool and Portugal forward was killed in a car accident in Spain. Jota’s brother, André, also died in the crash in the province of Zamora.

Jota was 28, a father of three young children and had married his long-term partner, Rute Cardoso, less than a fortnight ago. Klopp, who signed Jota for Liverpool in 2020 and managed him for four seasons, posted on Instagram: “This is a moment where I struggle! There must be a bigger purpose! But I can’t see it!

Continue reading...