Key events
Here’s a throwaway footballing opinion from me: Billy Gilmour remains widely underrated (despite also being highly thought of) and would be a brilliant signing for Napoli.
Jamie Jackson
Manchester United’s late 1-0 victory over Fulham in last Friday’s season opener showed concerning similarities with last year’s travails. Better were the crisp phases of passing and intelligent movement during the first half, but then came a falling away of shape, of dismal finishing – Bruno Fernandes being a chief culprit – and the reliance, again, on a moment rather than in-game domination to claim victory: the substitute Joshua Zirkzee’s deft 87th-minute finish finally beating Bernd Leno.
More Pep: Would he be interested in re-signing Raheem Sterling? “He’s a Chelsea player. I feel so attached [to him], after the time we lived together.
“He is, of course, a Chelsea player. But I wish him all the best. If you ask me this question when Ilkay was at Barcelona, I would give the same answer.”
“We know him [Gundogan] quite well,” says Guardiola (live!). “The quality he played in Barcelona, a high, high level, minutes, games, and producing a lot. We didn’t have any doubt if the possibility was open. We are delighted he is back. Yes, it was an ‘easy yes’.
“Of course he’s not a teenager anymore. The reason we decided to do it the level he played last season … even the Euros, he played with the [Germany] national team, he played really good as well.
“He knows what we are going to do. He doesn’t need to adapt … he will be immediately settled good. That’s why we did it.”
Gundogan has said Pep is probably the best manager in the world. How does that make him feel? “I appreciate it. But the important thing is he wants to come back …”
Is he looking forward to City’s first home game in the Premier League? “Ipswich are a promoted team with clear patterns. I know Ilkay is a highlight today. But Ipswich Town is my only concern.”
Back to Gundogan. “It’s a privilege for all of us [that he is back]. It’s an honour … I said many times, the club is run amazingly. Me as a manager, the players, they have everything they need to perform.
“Ilkay had incredible words about his experience at Barcelona … he spoke so highly about his experience there … he played really well last season, we know how competitive he is.
“I love midfield players. I love his qualities. He can adapt in two/three roles. He doesn’t need time to settle. He knows everything. That’s why it’s comfortable for us.”
“It feels like it’s the perfect match, really,” says someone on my telly, of Gundogan rejoining City. Hard to argue.
Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City manager, is speaking to the media soon.
There’s nothing he enjoys more than speaking to journalists every Friday. EVERY Friday.
The Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham sustained an injury during training, Real manager Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday. The 21-year-old England international was a key player last season when Real won the Champions League and La Liga titles.
“Bellingham had a blow, he is being assessed,” Ancelotti said before Sunday’s La Liga match against Real Valladolid.
Ancelotti, who usually talks to the media one day before each match, decided to change the schedule so he could hold his final training session behind closed doors at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Ancelotti said his unusual move had nothing to do with Real’s drab performance in a 1-1 draw at Mallorca last weekend that left the usually calm and collected Ancelotti fuming at his players’ effort.
“It’s nothing special, I’m doing it just to test the pitch, because it has changed compared to last year. I want the players to try the new pitch to see how they feel there. There is nothing superstitious or anything else behind it,” Ancelotti said. (Reuters)
No guarantees on Trippier, warns Newcastle’s Howe
Louise Taylor
Eddie Howe hopes to keep Kieran Trippier at Newcastle but cannot guarantee that the England right-back will still be at St James’ Park at the end of next week.
Thank you Dominic and hello everyone. Football, is it? OK, let’s see what’s occurring.
After that rubbish pun, I’m going to tap out for a couple of hours and hand the baton to the esteemed Luke McLaughlin, who shall steer you through your Friday lunchtime.
Paul Scholes isn’t overly keen on Manchester United signing Manuel Ugarte. And if anyone knows about United midfielders, it’s the Ginger Magician. The problem is Scholes’ alternative suggestion for United midfield target has just returned over the road at the Etihad.
He told The Overlap: “Gundogan. I know it’s not going to happen but I think he’s the type of player Man United need. A Zubimendi… or I’m going to say Gundogan. A controlling midfield player just to take the sting out of play. Gundogan is perfect for that.
“I have not seen too much of Ugarte, I saw him a couple of times last year. I’m not sure technically if he’s good enough. He seems to be a bit more of an Amrabat. Maybe a little bit better.”
Ugarte give the guy a chance, Scholesy … (sorry)
Safe to say Enzo Maresca hasn’t been overly impressed with Mykhailo Mudryk so far?
Enzo Maresca on Mykhailo Mudryk’s performance against Servette:
“I think this is Mudryk, not only tonight but since he joined the club.”
“When he has the ball, you don’t know if it’s one thing or another thing.” 👀
— Hayters TV (@HaytersTV) August 22, 2024
Erik ten Hag didn’t give too many assurances to Jadon Sancho over his spot in Manchester United’s matchday squad to face Brighton tomorrow, instead warning that players may have to accept being dropped if they don’t perform in games or training.
Sancho missed United’s opening day win over Fulham because of an ear infection, but could leave the club before the transfer deadline.
On incoming transfers, Ten Hag said: “Be patient, sit, wait, keep working very hard. We will always try to make the best squad possible. We have a couple of days and we will always improve, as long as we have the opportunity we will look for it. When we have news we will bring it.”
More Gundo content for you, just because he’s such a glorious footballer.
A theme of recent transfer windows has been big clubs scooping up young teenage talent from elsewhere, with Liverpool set to snap up Alvin Ayman, 16, to join their academy from Wolves. Manchester United are set to add 18-year-old midfielder Sekou Kone – from Guidars FC in Mali – to their youth ranks after the addition of Chido Obi-Martin, 16, earlier in the summer.
It’s not a particularly good sign for the game, but hey that’s modern football for you.
Arne Slot has offered Joe Gomez some assurances over his Liverpool future, despite the England defender seemingly being way down the defensive pecking order at Anfield.
Gomez – like Sterling, Trippier, Sancho and a few other English players right now – has been linked with a move before the summer deadline. Slot says he’s expecting Gomez to stick around:
He has worked really hard since he came back. He didn’t play a lot in the Euros and when he came back in the first sessions he couldn’t train the whole session so we had to manage his load and that was also a bit a reason why he wasn’t in the team [v Ipswich] on Saturday. But this week he had a good week in terms of load and how much he could do with the team.
He is one of the players that I see new things from and learn things what I see from him, also combined with other players. It has been a good week for him and us.
At this moment I am expecting everyone to be here. Everything can change.
Man City: Gündogan return confirmed
Done deal! Manchester City have now announced on their social media that Ilkay Gündogan has completed a return to the club. He’s signed a one-year deal.
“When you leave this place, you realise what you had, you realise how amazing that time was, how big the club is,” said the German midfield maestro. “The best club in the world.
“I don’t want to sound too nostalgic, it’s still about competing, it’s still about having that drive and being the best version of yourself. That’s an ambition I still have.”
Dear culers,
after just one year it’s already time to say goodbye. I came here to face a new, exciting challenge, and I was ready for it. I have given everything to fight for the team and the club the best possible way in a difficult season and I was looking forward to helping my… pic.twitter.com/n9gAhbmpmz— Ilkay Gündogan (@IlkayGuendogan) August 23, 2024
Raheem Sterling being linked with Aston Villa, Joao Cancelo heading to Saudi Arabia … you’d be forgiven for thinking Manchester City’s top stars of a few years ago were past their peak. Someone forgot to tell Ilkay Gundogan, though, who is seemingly defying time itself and heading back to City.
Ben Fisher
A bit of news from the Wales camp: Craig Bellamy has confirmed Andrew Crofts, who is on the coaching staff at Brighton, and James Rowberry, the former Newport manager, as assistant coaches.
Bellamy’s first game in charge of his country is at home to Turkey in the Nations League next month, before a trip to Montenegro in the same competition. Chris Gunter, Alan Knill, Jack Lester and Tony Roberts have left their roles.
“As soon as I knew there was an opportunity to be Craig’s assistant it grabbed me straight away,” Crofts said. “To represent Wales as a player was incredible for me and my family, and to now represent my country as an assistant coach is an indescribable feeling.”
Ed Aarons
Mikel Arteta has revealed that he will resume talks over extending his contract after the transfer window shuts next week but insisted he is committed to Arsenal.
The Spaniard has one year remaining on the contract he signed in May 2022 and is understood to have held initial talks about an extension after missing out on the Premier League title to Manchester City last season by a point.
But while Arteta would not comment on the imminent arrival Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad after Arsenal agreed a £33m fee for the Spain midfielder on Thursday, he did admit that the talks over his new deal have been hold over the last few weeks as they attempt to finalise their squad for the new season.
“The focus has been on the transfer window,” said the Arsenal manager. “We had quite a lot of things to do and discuss. We are on it and we will take care of that in the right moment.”
Oh, no, Everton. How many transfers this summer have been driven purely, or even primarily, by PSR?
Newcastle: Howe says he wants Trippier to stay
Eddie Howe says he’s been surprised by the stories linking Kieran Trippier with a move away from Newcastle this week. Everton have been one of the clubs linked with the England full-back who was left out for the Magpies last week, with Tino Livramento favoured instead.
Asked if he believed Trippier would stay, Howe said: “I hope so. I can never answer these questions with absolute certainty because it’s football and the transfer window is always unpredictable. But my wish is that he stays here and continues to play for us.
“The situation is business as usual. I’m surprised at a lot of the stories that have come out.
“He’s a valuable member of the squad. His professionalism has been first-class. He’s trained really well since he’s come back from the Euros.
“He’s only had two weeks training, hence the decision to not start him at the weekend and Tino has had a very good pre-season. That’s the situation. He continues to be really valued by all of us.”
Isn’t this exactly the kind of thing a manager says right before that player departs? Thoughts welcome on email.
There’s good news for Manchester United and West Ham to be deciphered from the PSG squad named to face Montpellier tonight. Manuel Ugarte is not in the squad, as his move to United edges ever (tediously) closer, while Hammers’ target Carlos Soler is absent too.
Arsenal: Arteta plays down talk of Merino and Nketiah moves
Mikel Arteta refused to speak about Arsenal transfer target Mikel Merino ahead of their trip to Aston Villa.
The Gunners are believed to have agreed an £28m upfront fee for the Real Sociedad midfielder.
“You know I cannot talk about any player that is not with us. There’s still time in the market,” said Arteta on the Spanish international. “I don’t know, soon. The full focus is on the players we have at the moment.”
Eddie Nketiah has been linked with a move to Nottingham Forest, but Arteta suggested he will be involved at Villa Park. “I expect Eddie to train with us today and to be prepared for tomorrow. Whatever happens will happen.”
“Super Fab! To hell with his age!” – Fabian Hürzeler already has a Euro-pop anthem in his honour, via high-energy duo The Pitstop boys. Enjoy.
Brighton’s Fabian Hürzeler is the Premier League’s youngest ever manager, but he’s not afraid to lean on others for experience, as he admitted yesterday ahead of the Seagulls’ clash with Manchester United. Former Red Devil Danny Welbeck is among the Brighton players who are older than Hürzeler and James Milner is seven years his senior. The German also has no shortage of managerial inspirations …
Hürzeler said: “You can’t copy any other philosophy. I the end I want to build my own philosophy, I want to bring my own ideas on the pitch.
“But learning has no finish line, so I always want to learn from other coaches. If you work in Germany, of course you follow German coaches who worked in the Premier League.
“Jurgen Klopp is a big, big role model for me, also [Thomas] Tuchel with his achievements. Julian Nagelsmann, he achieved amazing things for his young age.
“There are a lot of German coaches where I try to get some elements of their behaviour but also in the Premier League when you look at how Pep Guardiola, how Arteta are transforming their teams into world-class teams, you can take out of this elements.
“From every coach and from every chance, I try to learn something because I love to watch football, I love to learn.”
Speaking of transfer rumours …
The big preview piece. Pressure on forwards at Arsenal and Villa? More new arrivals around the Premier League? Sean Dyche under the pump already at Everton? Let’s take a look.
Preamble
Happy Friday, gang! The Premier League is well and truly back and with the summer transfer window drifting towards its final week too, there’s no shortage of juicy news bits to keep us all sated.
Something else rather shocking happened last night too – Chelsea won a game in straightforward fashion, even if it was against the equivalent of a League One side, meaning no disrespect to Swiss stragglers Servette FC.
The first week of the Premier League season was a tad underwhelming in my humble opinion, but this week we’ve got Brighton v Manchester United, Aston Villa v Arsenal and Wolves v Chelsea which could all provide some upsets. The Championship rarely disappoints either. Here, we’ll keep you across all the previews, press conferences and, of course, those precious pieces of transfer tittle-tattle. Probably some confirmed deals, too. Let’s go!