Consigliere

Semenyo agreed to an improved contract with Bournemouth which was confirmed on 1 July so that was not going to happen and Leao would cost around the same as Rodrygo (€90m). At the end of the day, Madueke is a homegrown player being signed from a PL club who has put up decent performances with over 60 appearances in the PL, is Saka's backup in the national team and is a left-footed right-winger who can also play on the left. You're gonna pay extra for all of that. So a base fee that's probably around the £45m mark with add-ons taking it up to £52m isn't overly excessive all things considered.

Madueke is a good player. The fee in excess of £50m with add-ons included might be a little steep but not overly so. Arsenal are trying to win the league so they need the depth and that costs money (you aren't going to get lucky all the time in picking up players who turn out to be class on the cheap). Havertz has also been a lot better for Arsenal than he was for Chelsea (the fee was a bit steep but not excessively so). I think the moaning is coming from the fact that Arsenal has not secured a CF as yet, however, Gyokeres has gone on strike to force a move so it's only a matter of time. Once that happens, Arsenal supporters will be much happier with their window.

Reports that Spurs have triggered the release clause (£60m) for Morgan Gibbs-White. So that's MGW and Kudus done. Spurs will have loads of depth in attack.

Unless Frankfurt have changed their stance, I doubt anyone is going to make a play for Ekitike since reportedly Frankfurt has slapped a €100m price tag on him. Ekitike looks to be a good player with high potential and numerous clubs have reportedly made enquiries (Newcastle, Liverpool, Chelsea, United) but I doubt any of them would pay such an amount for him. Maybe Liverpool if they get €60+ million for Nunez.

CB is a problem position for Real Madrid and they put off making CB signings until Huijsen. Problem is they've got two CBs (Rüdiger and Alaba) on the books on very high wages that they can't offload to make space. Both Rüdiger and Alaba have also declined and are injury prone to boot. Militao has been a shadow of his former self since his first ACL rupture and then he ruptured the ACL in his other knee last year. Seems that they're waiting to pick up Konate on a free next year (both Alaba and Rüdiger's contracts expire at the end of next season as well). They'd probably still need another CB signing unless Militao can somehow recover his form.

Shouldn't but it will. Salah and Raphinha both had great seasons too but PSG winning the CL gives Dembélé the advantage. If they win the CWC as well then it's pretty much in the bag.

PSG handed out a football lesson to Real in that 1st half.

The Reagan republicans need to be excised from the Democratic Party. Just look at the meltdown they're having in NYC because of Mamdani. These Reagan republicans would rather deal with the fascists in the opposition than progressives in their own party.

No footballer or manager under these Spanish tax evasion cases has ever served any jail time. They just give them a token sentence that's less than 2-years (under Spanish law, prison terms of less than two years for non-violent crimes are typically suspended) and a fine.

Records are there to be broken. Mulder will probably end up regretting that decision.

Apparently Gala are in the process of selling some 80 hectares of land that the club owns to property developers. The sale is expected to net them around €600m.

Sir Kid Starver is rolling out the red carpet for Farage.

Yeah, that was a really poor decision to declare at that point. Mulder was already going at better than a run a ball. Another hour (possibly less) at the crease and he'd either have broken the record or been dismissed. A once in a lifetime opportunity thrown away for basically nothing.

Yeah, I think Rodrygo would be the better option. Ornstein mentioned that it's unclear whether Arsenal would need to sell first before making a move for a left winger but did say that they would try to negotiate for a fee below Eze's release clause. Rodrygo would be more expensive and reports were that Real would be looking for a fee in the region of €90m.

Ornstein reported that Eze is high on Arsenal's list as one of their options for the left.

Chelsea signed Joao Pedro and Gittens. Estevao coming in this season and Quenda next season and Tyrique George from the academy.

You're getting Elanga for £55m.

Looks like Arsenal are stepping up their transfer pursuits. Reports that they are in advanced talks with Sporting for Gyokeres and Chelsea for Madueke. Personal terms on 5-year contracts with both players already agreed.

Gonzalo Garcia has really taken his chance coming into Real's starting XI. He looks a proper #9 who can battle with the CBs, hold up the ball and is strong in the air. Real look more balanced with him at CF. Will be interesting to see how Alonso lines up the team once Mbappé is fully fit.

Hakimi doesn't get the plaudits like some other PSG players but he's been consistently brilliant. Arguably the best fullback in the world at the moment.

That looked to be a nasty injury for Musiala.

Now we know why Arsenal suddenly did a U-turn and pulled the plug on contract extension talks and allowed his contract to expire. He should've been dropped from the squad and forced out of the club long ago though.

Nico Williams extends his contract with Athletic Bilbao until June 2035. Release clause increased by more than 50%. Arsenal and Tomiyasu have reached an agreement to terminate his contract early.

It was the coefficient rankings in addition to the 'only two clubs allowed per association' rule. UEFA was awarded 12 spots and Salzburg ranked 18th over the 4-year coefficient. The teams ranked above them that missed out: Liverpool - because City and Chelsea qualified as CL winners RB Leipzig - Bayern and Dortmund ranked higher on coefficient Barcelona - Real Madrid qualified as CL winners and Atleti ranked higher on coefficient Napoli - Inter and Juventus ranked higher on coefficient Sevilla - same as Barca AC Milan - same as Napoli

It's based on winners of the top continental competition from 2020/2021 to 2023/2024 and then by club coefficient over those 4 seasons. A restriction is that an association can only have a maximum of two clubs unless the association has more than two clubs winning the top continental competition over the 4 year period. FIFA were angling for a way to get Messi into the tournament so they awarded Inter Miami the host nation slot (traditionally reserved for the host nation's domestic champions) and justified it by saying it was because they won the Supporters Shield. On sporting merit, Columbus Crew should've gotten the spot as they won the MLS Cup (and thus officially the domestic champions) in two out of the four seasons and are also the highest ranked MLS team in CONCACAF's club coefficient.