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England icon Wayne Rooney has revealed the eye-watering details behind his biggest Manchester United contract – leaving the Stick To Football pundits stunned. The forward will go down as one of the greatest players this country has ever produced and many will argue he deserved to get paid as well as he did. But the disparity between his salary and that of his peers left some in shock.

• Rooney puts together glittering career

  While Rooney has not had much success in management, following his dismissals at Birmingham City and Plymouth Argyle, few can argue about what he achieved as a player. He won five Premier League titles and a Champions League, along with a host of other silverware. The 40-year-old picked up a hatful of individual accolades, scored 53 goals in 120 games for England, and found the net on 313 occasions in 763 appearances. Across his career, greats of the game waxed lyrical about him.

  For instance, former team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo said: "He was the kid of England, everyone loved him. He was so powerful, I was calling him ‘Pitbull.’ The power of Wayne Rooney is his mentality and strength, and he never stops. He’s a fantastic team player, and he scores. He’s a fantastic boy, and he helped me a lot when he came to join us in Manchester."

  Ronaldo's greatest of all time rival, Lionel Messi, believed that what Rooney could do on a football pitch was "very special".

  The Argentine admitted: "There has always been a great deal of respect between myself and Wayne Rooney. For me, he is the great English player of the generation. What he is capable of doing on the field is very special, and he is one of the few players that would improve any squad in Europe."

  And Arsenal great Thierry Henry said the consistently high level Rooney produced in his career was "extraordinary".

  He added: "To play well for six months or a season in football is nothing. To do so for over a decade like Rooney is extraordinary. I know what it takes, and it isn’t easy. Trust me, people talk about him outside of this country. In Spain and France, he is appreciated as a top, top player."

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  Rooney's enormous salary revealed

  In an enlightening chat about how players brokered deals in their playing days, Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright, and Roy Keane were lost for words when Rooney talked about the biggest contract he signed at United. In 2014, when Rooney was 28 going on 29, the ex-Everton ace signed a five-year deal with reported wages of around £300,000. And on Stick to Football, Rooney said he got £17 million ($22m) a year after that bit of business. With the ex-footballers blown away by this figure, Neville quipped that he wished he had used an agent during his contract negotiations with the Red Devils. The right-back said he earned a basic salary of £1.75m that rose to £2.25m.

  He added: "[Money] was never a focus for me. I never once worried about the money side of it. I just thought that if I can get to the end of my career at 35 or 36 at United then I know I'll be alright. When they offered me seven years on less money, it was better for me than signing for four years on higher money. I always thought in a more cautious way."

  Carragher piped up that his biggest deal was around £3m and Keane said he earned around £5m at his peak. 

• Rooney 'did it all'

  Rooney retired from playing in the 2020/21 season with Championship side Derby County, with the veteran then taking up the role of Rams manager. Ergo, many football fans growing up now will not have seen him in his pomp. But the plaudits that came his way give some indication as to how good a player he was. 

  Former England and United team-mate Rio Ferdinand once said: "I laid eyes on him when he was 16 or 17 years old, and I remember after an England game as well, I said to his mum and dad in the players’ lounge ‘make sure he signs for Manchester United'. They looked at me and laughed and thought, ‘we have already done that’. What a player. He did it all, he scored a ridiculous amount of goals, scored absolute bangers from anywhere on the pitch, great passer, aggressive, passion, desire, work rate."

  Rooney's former manager, David Moyes, got to see him make the grade at the Toffees, and knew he had something very special on his hands.

  "There was a day when we had him in training. He was only a young boy and we had to set up a small-sided game and Wayne chipped a goalkeeper from near the byline. It was a moment when we all looked at each other and said, ‘Did he really do that? Did that happen?’. We knew it before, but when we saw that happen we all thought ‘there is a real special talent here," he said.

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  What comes next for Rooney?

  For the time being, Rooney has put his managerial career on hold and is giving punditry a go once again. He has a podcast with the BBC and is a Match of the Day pundit, along with other gigs. But another foray in the dugout may be at the back of his mind, too.

Celtic have been searching for their next permanent head coach since Brendan Rodgers tendered his resignation from his position at the start of last week.

Martin O’Neill has taken charge of the Scottish giants for the two matches since the Northern Irish manager moved on from Parkhead, and has overseen wins over Falkirk and Rangers.

The experienced manager’s instant impact at Parkhead has provided the board with a cushion of time to find the right man for the job, rather than needing to rush a decision because of a need for results in the short-term.

One thing the next manager needs to be able to do is to coach a team to score goals on a consistent basis, because that was the area of Rodgers’ performance that was most lacking this season.

Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic	23/24	24/25	25/26
Matches managed	50	57	16
Goals scored	121	167	25
Goals scored per game	2.42	2.92	1.56
Points per game	2.24	2.26	1.78
Games without a goal scored	8	5	6
Games per goalless performance	6.25	11.4	2.66
Stats via Transfermarkt

As you can see in the table above, Celtic failed to score in more games in Rodgers’ 16 matches this season than they did in 57 outings in the 2025/26 campaign, which is a big cause for concern.

The Hoops need to find their next version of Australian head coach Ange Postecoglou, whose side rarely had trouble finding the back of the net.

Why Celtic need to find their next Ange Postecoglou

During his two seasons at Celtic, the former Spurs and Nottingham Forest manager made sure that the Scottish giants were goal machines across all competitions.

Postecoglou won five trophies in two years at Parkhead, including three domestic cups and two Scottish Premiership titles, per Transfermarkt, which shows that he was successful as well as being able to coach exciting and attacking football.

The 60-year-old head coach had the perfect blend of results and style, which is why he was the perfect manager for the club at the time, before his move to Tottenham in 2023.

Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic	21/22	22/23
Matches managed	60	53
Goals scored	137	147
Goals scored per game	2.28	2.77
Points per game	2.22	2.42
Games without a goal scored	7	4
Games per goalless performance	8.6	13.3
Stats via Transfermarkt

As you can see in the table above, Celtic only failed to score in 11 of their 113 matches with Postecoglou as their head coach in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 campaigns.

Whereas, the Hoops failed to score in 11 of Rodgers’ last 73 matches in charge since the start of last season, which shows that the Australian boss was far more successful at coaching a consistent attacking unit.

This is why the Celtic board should currently be looking for a manager who can be their next version of Postecoglou, to bring attacking football back to Parkhead this season.

With the search for the permanent successor to Rodgers ongoing, the Scottish giants have been told to consider an international manager by a former player.

Celtic told to hire attack-minded international manager

Ex-Celtic central midfielder Joe Ledley has urged the Premiership champions to swoop for Wales head coach Craig Bellamy as their next head coach.

He told the Celtic Way: “There have been a lot of links down here with Craig Bellamy. He’s had a fantastic start to his managerial career at Wales.

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“There’s a lot of hype around him. The way Wales are playing has been fantastic – really attacking minded, always on the front foot. He’d be a perfect option for Celtic.

Ledley added: “I’ve told people up there he’d be a fantastic candidate for the Celtic job because of the way he plays. He’s always attacking-minded, enthusiastic, and lives and breathes football.”

Sky Sports reported last week that Bellamy is one of the names in the frame for the role, which suggests that there is a chance that the club make a move for him.

Why Celtic should move for Craig Bellamy

The 46-year-old tactician is a really interesting managerial option because he has never managed a club at first-team level, which means that he would be stepping into a high-pressure environment at Celtic for the first time as a club manager.

This means that it is hard to say with any degree of certainty that Bellamy, who typically plays a 4-2-3-1, as Postecoglou did, would be a success at Parkhead, as he does not have a track record of coaching first-team clubs to fall back on.

However, his work with Wales at international level does suggest that he has the ability to coach a team to attack well, as Ledley suggested with his comments.

Speaking on the High Performance Podcast in September, Bellamy rubbished claims that playing out from the back is a “risk”, saying that he does not feel it is a “risk” to play under pressure when you have a number advantage around your own box.

Wales national team	Rob Page	Craig Bellamy
Games managed	45	14
Goals scored	55	22
Goals scored per game	1.22	1.57
Points per game	1.33	1.57
Games without a goal scored	14	4
Games per goalless game	3.2	3.5
Stats via Transfermarkt

That mentality and way of coaching his team, as shown in the table above, has improved Wales both in terms of results and goals scored, as they are winning more points and scoring more goals than they did under the previous manager, Rob Page.

This shows that he has demonstrable success in improving a team as an attacking force, which is what Celtic need after their struggles in front of goal at the start of the season under Rodgers.

Last year, Welsh forward Harry Wilson explained that Bellamy’s way of playing is about taking more risks when playing out from the back, which helps to build an attacking style of play that creates more chances for the forwards.

Therefore, Bellamy could be the next Postecoglou at Parkhead because of his desire to play front-footed and attack-minded football that is full of ‘risks’, even if the manager does not view them as risks.

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However, it still remains to be seen whether or not the former Celtic winger would be willing to move on from the Wales job before the World Cup next summer.

Tottenham have been given a clear path to sign Bournemouth star Antoine Semenyo following an update from reliable journalist David Ornstein.

The 25-year-old, who has marked himself out as one of the Premier League’s most devastating forwards these last 12 months, is attracting serious interest from across England and beyond, with Spurs believed to be firmly in the mix for his signature.

Semenyo’s been involved in nine of Bournemouth’s 11 total goals scored in the league so far, contributing to 81 per cent of their total attacking output, which is the highest percentage of any Premier League player this season (The Analyst).

The African also boasts 10 goals from his last 18 top flight appearances going back to April, with a total of six goals and three assists this season alone thus far. Man City boss Pep Guardiola is among the experts to laud Semenyo’s “extraordinary” form, and Tottenham recruitment chiefs are said to be massive fans of his too.

Dejan Kulusevski

Knee

29/11/2025

James Maddison

ACL

01/06/2026

Radu Dragusin

Knee

22/11/2025

Ben Davies

Thigh

23/11/2025

Kota Takai

Ankle/Foot

23/11/2025

Mohammed Kudus

Knock

23/11/2025

Randal Kolo Muani

Jaw

23/11/2025

Yves Bissouma

Ankle/Foot

23/11/2025

Lucas Bergvall

Concussion

23/11/2025

Dominic Solanke

Ankle

23/11/2025

Archie Gray

Calf/Shin/Heel

23/11/2025

via Premier Injuries

The former Bristol City star signed a brand-new contract earlier this year, which quashed hopes of Tottenham or any other Premier League giant tempting him away from the Vitality last summer.

Semenyo extended his deal until 2030, giving the Cherries plenty of negotiating power to demand a club-record fee for their star player.

However, while reports have suggested that Bournemouth value him at around £75 million, Spurs could now sign him for significantly less in January.

Tottenham given clear Antoine Semenyo path as David Ornstein update leaves Bournemouth exposed

That is because Semenyo’s new deal, according to Ornstein on X, contains a £62.5 million release clause which becomes active for a limited time when the transfer window reopens.

In Ornstein’s words, the clause leaves Bournemouth ‘powerless’, and could allow Tottenham or any other interested suitor to bypass negotiations with Andoni Iraola’s side and head straight to Semenyo’s representatives — giving the north Londoners an obvious route to his signature as early as the winter.

The links to Spurs are nothing new, and Frank has already made his feelings about Semenyo pretty clear when speaking to reporters about the player last season.

Semenyo’s potential arrival holds even greater appeal due to the fact he won’t be competing at the African Cup of Nations this season, with Ghana failing to qualify for the tournament in what is a serious boost for Frank, considering the Dane also gets to keep hold of Mohammed Kudus.

The prospect of Semenyo playing on the left and Kudus playing on the right is a very exciting one, but it is worth noting that they’ll have to contend with a host of rivals for his services as well, perhaps even more so after the news of a tantalising release clause.

The last few months have been a whirlwind for Tottenham Hotspur supporters, especially considering the topsy-turvy nature of the 2024/25 campaign.

The Lilywhites won the Europa League under the guidance of Ange Postecoglou, with the Aussie delivering on his promise of always winning a trophy in his second season.

However, it was somewhat overshadowed by the 17th-place finish in the Premier League, which ultimately cost the 60-year-old his job in North London.

The responsibility of building on the triumph was handed the way of Thomas Frank, with the Dane joining the club from fellow top-flight club Brentford during the off-season.

Despite his arrival, some players have struggled to match the levels they produced last campaign, which will have no doubt been frustrating to the new manager.

The Spurs players who have struggled in 2025/26

After arguably his best-ever campaign in 2024/25, Brennan Johnson has endured a dismal current campaign and has often failed to deliver when called upon by Frank.

The Welsh international has only netted two league goals in 2025/26 to date, subsequently dropping down the pecking order and only making five starts since the Dane’s arrival.

He was even sent off in the latest Champions League clash against FC Copenhagen, which pretty much sums up the decline he’s endured over the last few months.

Johnson hasn’t been alone in struggling to match the levels he produced last season, with midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur another who’s been unable to produce on a consistent basis.

The Uruguayan international has only made eight starts to date, but his numbers from the current campaign showcase his dismal form in North London.

He’s ranked in the 43rd percentile for passes completed and has only been able to make 0.5 interceptions per 90 – often struggling to make an effect in and out of possession.

The Spurs star who needs to be offloaded

The decline of some players has led to the recent additions during the summer, with the hierarchy landing Mohammed Kudus in a £55m deal from West Ham United.

The Ghanaian international has since replaced Johnson on the right-hand side of the attack and has already made an immediate impact for the Lilywhites.

He’s scored once and registered four assists in the Premier League to date, with the latter of the two tallies the joint-highest of any player in England’s top-flight.

Kudus would have been joined in the final third by Dominic Solanke, but the Englishman has massively struggled with injuries and has been out of action since the end of August.

He’s been struggling with an ankle issue over the last couple of months, subsequently restricting him to a total of just 31 Premier League minutes in 2025/26.

As a result, the hierarchy decided to delve back into the transfer market to complete a loan deal for striker Randal Kolo Muani from French side PSG.

The 26-year-old’s move generated huge excitement within the fanbase, but after a couple of months, it’s safe to say that the deal so far has been a disaster for everyone involved.

He’s struggled to adapt to the demands of the Premier League, with the loanee subsequently failing to score in any of his eight outings across all competitions.

His underlying stats also showcase his lack of form since his transfer on Deadline Day, with the former Juventus star undoubtedly struggling to meet expectations in England.

Games played

4

Goals & assists

0

Shots taken

0.47

Touches in opposition box

1.4

Aerials won

0.4

Aerial success rate

37%

Fouls committed

1.6

Passes completed per 90

8.2

He’s only registered a total of 0.47 shots per 90 in England’s top-flight – with such a tally ranking him in the lowest 1% of all other attackers in the division this season.

Kolo Muani, who earns a reported £150k-per-week, has also registered just 1.4 touches in the opposition box and 0.4 aerials won per 90, which place him in the first percentile – further highlighting his lack of positive impact to date.

Such form backs up one content creator’s previous claim about the forward, with the Frenchman previously being dubbed “one of the most overrated players in the world”.

It’s evident that the move to date has been a huge failure, with the club desperately needing to cut ties and allow other players to stake their claim for a starting role.

His loan deal shouldn’t be made permanent in either of the two windows before it expires, but it’s crucial the club do invest big and land a new talisman for Frank.

Spurs star was one of the "best in the world", now he's on borrowed time

One Tottenham Hotspur star could be on borrowed time under Thomas Frank in the coming months.

ByEthan Lamb Nov 21, 2025

Arsenal are now open to January offers for one Gunners star, with it being revealed Mikel Arteta will need to offload players and free up space in the squad.

The Gunners are well-stocked in the striker department, with Viktor Gyokeres adapting to life in the Premier League very well since making the move from Sporting CP in the summer transfer window, receiving high praise from Arteta after bagging a brace against Atletico Madrid.

The Spaniard said: “All of us [appreciate Gyokeres] because he makes us a much better team. I think we’ve become much more unpredictable,”

“He’s so physical, opens the spaces for everyone. The way he presses the ball, holds the ball, it’s just phenomenal.”

The 27-year-old, who bagged his fourth Premier League goal of the season against Burnley earlier this month, has certainly started well, while Kai Havertz is now closing in on a return from injury, having not been involved since the 1-0 win against Manchester United back in August.

Consequently, there may be little game time available for Arteta’s other striker, Garbiel Jesus, and there has now been a major update on his future at the Emirates Stadium…

Arsenal now open to January offers for Gabriel Jesus

According to a report from Spain, Arsenal are now open to offers for Jesus in the January transfer window, as they need to offload players and free up space in the squad, and the Brazilian is no longer a part of Arteta’s plans.

Persistent injuries have meant the 28-year-old has fallen down the pecking order at the Emirates Stadium, and a return to Palmeiras could now be on the cards, with the Brazilian club willing to bring him back, potentially on a loan-to-buy deal.

The 64-time Brazil international has received high praise from Arteta in the past, with the manager saying back in September 2023: “He is a tremendous player, a really important player for us. He changed our world last season. You could all see that.”

That said, it is probably the correct decision to offload the centre-forward, given that he has been unable to put his injury problem in the rearview mirror, missing a number of games for club and country over the past few seasons.

Gabriel Jesus’ injury record by season	Games missed
2022-23	17
2023-24	17
2024-25 onwards	56

It has recently emerged that the £13.7m-a-year striker has returned to training after an extended period of time on the sidelines, which could be a boost for Arteta, given that the manager has been left light on options at times this season, with Gyokeres and Havertz suffering setbacks.

With Arsenal looking to compete on all fronts, faring well in the Champions League and through to the EFL Cup quarter-final, Jesus may still have a role to play in the short-term, but it would not be the end of the world if Arsenal sanction a January departure.

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England still need 210 but Brook and Root have added 58 in the last ten overs, after India’s early incision

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Aug-2025

There’s never a shortage of belligerence when Harry Brook’s batting•AFP/Getty Images

Lunch Harry Brook launched an exhilarating counterattack to help England recover from the loss of two wickets on the fourth morning, keeping the fifth Test in the balance. India were on top when Mohammed Siraj trapped Ollie Pope lbw, leaving England 106 for 3 in pursuit of 374, but Brook and Joe Root added 58 in 10.3 overs to put their seamers back under pressure.Brook made the play, and was given a life on 19: he picked out long leg with a miscued pull off Prasidh Krishna, only for Siraj to step on the advertising toblerone on the boundary rope after completing the catch. He continued to attack, lashing Prasidh through cover and cutting him past gully having cracked back-to-back boundaries off Akash Deep’s previous over.It was Prasidh who struck the first blow of the morning, dangling a carrot outside off stump which Ben Duckett snatched at. He was drawn into driving at a fuller ball in the channel, and KL Rahul made a sharp chance at second slip look straightforward. India came out fired up, their close fielders vocal, and regularly beat the bat in the first hour.

Pope, England’s stand-in captain, hit three boundaries in an over off Prasidh to pass 300 runs for the series, but was trapped plumb in front by Siraj’s nip-backer and took a review with him. He has only reached 50 once since his first-innings century in Leeds, and incredibly, the 27 was his second-highest score in the fourth innings of a Test.Root started uncharacteristically skittishly, surviving a tight lbw shout from Prasidh, but steadily grew into his innings. He was happy to play in Brook’s slipstream, and is the key wicket for India as they bid to square the series.

The announcement is only for the first two rounds of the Ranji Trophy, and, in any case, Vaibhav Suryavanshi might not be around for the whole season because of the Under-19 World Cup early next year

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2025Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been named Bihar’s vice-captain for the first two rounds of the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 season that kicks off on October 15. The squad will be led by batter Sakibul Gani.The appointments came just two days prior to the start of the season after the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) had to make a late scramble to appoint a selector, on an ad hoc basis, to join a two-member panel following a BCCI order. The BCA has been directed to appoint a five-member selection panel at the earliest.Suryavanshi’s elevation came on the back of a rich run of form for India Under-19 on the tour of Australia, where he contributed fast starts up top. He smashed a 78-ball century in the first four-day match in Brisbane and finished as the second-highest run-scorer of the multi-day series, scoring 133 runs in three innings as India won 2-0.Related

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Prior to that, Suryavanshi was also among the runs in England, hitting 143, the fastest century in youth one-dayers, in Worcester this July. In five matches, he amassed 355 runs at a strike rate of 174.01, comfortably finishing as the highest run-getter of the series.Suryavanshi, 14, has played just five first-class games since debuting in January 2024 at 12 years and 284 days, but has aggregated just 100 runs in ten innings, with a best of 41. India Under-19 commitments have meant Suryavanshi is yet to have a straight run of games in India’s premier first-class competition.Earlier this year, Suryavanshi hit the headlines by becoming the youngest centurion in men’s T20s when he hit 101 off 38 balls for Rajasthan Royals against Gujarat Titans in Jaipur in an IPL 2025 game.Having made history just a few months earlier for being the youngest to be picked in the IPL at 13, Suryavanshi featured in seven games in the 2025 edition, all as an opener. He made 252 runs at a strike rate of 206.55.Bihar endured an abysmal 2024-25 season, finishing with no wins. They managed a solitary point in seven games – losing six of those outright to be relegated. Bihar are part of the Plate league, and will open their campaign against Arunachal Pradesh in Patna, before taking on Manipur in Nadiad from October 25.Suryavanshi’s temperament and run-scoring ability have elicited calls for him to be a part of a more established first-class structure in India. There have been murmurs of a possible switch from Bihar. However, for now, the BCA is keen on doing all they can to retain Suryavanshi in a bid to return to the Elite league.Suryavanshi is unlikely to feature in the entire Ranji season as he’s also in the running for a berth in India’s squad for the Under-19 World Cup in early 2026.Bihar Ranji Trophy 2025-26 squadPiyush Kumar Singh, Bhashkar Dubey, Sakibul Gani (capt), Vaibhav Suryavanshi (vice-capt), Arnav Kishor, Ayush Loharuka, Bipin Saurabh, Amod Yadav, Nawaz Khan, Sakib Hussain, Raghvendra Pratap Singh, Sachin Kumar Singh, Himanshu Singh, Khalid Alam, Sachin Kumar

Nepal legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane was suspended from his team’s second and third T20 internationals against West Indies in Sharjah, after he withdrew from the first match “45 minutes before the start.”A statement from the Cricket Association of Nepal said Lamichhane’s late withdrawal – 15 minutes before the toss – from the first T20I on September 27 had “a serious impact” on the team and Nepal cricket at large. The board said the team management had recommended that Lamichhane be benched from the remaining two games in the series.It is understood that when the team management spoke to Lamichhane later, his reason for withdrawing from the first game was that he was mentally not in a good space to play the match.Nepal beat the West Indies in the first T20I by 19 runs to record their first victory against a Full Member nation; they then won the second T20I by 90 runs to complete their first series win against a Full Member nation. They lost the third match – a dead rubber – by ten wickets.Nepal’s next assignment is the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia and East Asia Pacific Final in Oman, where they will be competing with Malaysia, Qatar, UAE, Japan, Kuwait, Oman, Samoa, and Papua New Guinea for two places in the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka in February and March. Lamichhane has been retained in the Nepal squad for the tournament.The nine teams are divided into three groups of three each. Nepal are in Group B along with Japan and Kuwait, whom they play on October 8 and 10. The top two teams from each group proceed to the Super Six round, and the teams that finish first, second and third there qualify for the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Arsenal are looking to establish themselves as the dominant force in English football and could now be set to accelerate their pursuit of a star who has an intriguing link with a key member of their squad.

Mikel Arteta is into his sixth year at the Gunners and will hope his side can seize the opportunity that lies ahead in the Premier League title race, given they have managed to amass a four-point lead at this point.

Ultimately, their frustrating draw away to Sunderland before the international break will be a source of inconvenience. However, no team is going to win every match across a whole campaign, so they will put it behind them ahead of stiff tests against Tottenham, Bayern Munich and Chelsea.

Looking at their central priorities, lifting the Premier League title has to be the main focus. Nevertheless, Pete O’Rourke confirmed on Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast that Arteta could be set to engage in talks over a contract extension later next year.

He said: “Yeah, I think for certain it’s something that they will get to, as you said, it’s probably not the priority right now. Arteta’s contract will take care of itself. I’ve got no doubts about that. Arteta’s happy at Arsenal. Arsenal are obviously very happy with him.

“I think for Arteta himself probably his focus and priority right now is on success for Arsenal this season. I’m sure later in 2026, I’m sure there’ll be talks held between Arteta and Arsenal to see if they can sort out his future and extend his stay at the Emirates as well.”

Planning for the future is also firmly part of his remit at the Emirates, and he could now be set to complete a surprising deal for a star who has a familiar family name.

Arsenal could seal Quinten Timber free transfer

According to CaughtOffside, Arsenal are plotting a move for Feyenoord midfielder Quinten Timber, who is set to see his contract expire in Rotterdam come the summer of 2026.

Of course, he is the brother of Gunners fan favourite Jurrien, and this could hand them an edge in the race given their obvious tie to the player.

Borussia Dortmund, Manchester United and West Ham United are also alert to his situation as he represents a lucrative option to strengthen ahead of next season without having to pay a transfer fee.

On the flipside, Dortmund may be willing to bid for the Utrecht-born midfielder in January, in case Feyenoord opt to take what they can get for his services rather than allow his deal to run down.

Scoring twice and laying on a solitary assist in 14 matches this campaign, 24-year-old Timber has been on the Gunners’ radar for an extended period of time, something that won’t come as a surprise due to his brother’s presence in North London.

Now, they could complete a rare scenario where twins are on board at the same club. However, Dortmund are deemed to be leading the race at this point.

Arsenal are also eyeing an explosive winger to compete with Noni Madueke

Arne Slot gambled on Wednesday when he decided to exclude from his matchday squad the majority of his first-team Liverpool stars.

But the Dutch tactician didn’t gamble with his side’s chances of advancing against Crystal Palace to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup. The result, plainly, always felt the probable outcome from the build-up, and Liverpool are now condemned to six losses from seven games.

Liverpool did not have the firepower to overwhelm Oliver Glasner’s side, and so he has rested his heavyweights in the hope that the Reds will see an upswing in form across the crucial coming period of football. Up next: Aston Villa and Manchester City in the Premier League, with the visit of Real Madrid in the Champions League in between.

With that in mind, the decision to field a second-string team was understandable, but there was a dearth of experience, and with the outcome almost pre-determined, unleashing the already under-fire Milos Kerkez has backfired.

Milos Kerkez struggles again

Since September 27th, Liverpool have lost more games than any other side across Europe’s top five leagues. Defensively, it’s been a bit lackadaisical and erratic.

In this regard, summer recruit Kerkez has really struggled. The Hungarian arrived from Bournemouth for £45m in July but is unrecognisable to the Premier League Team of the Year inclusion who inspired such awe on the south coast last year.

Slot and Kerkez will take solace in the 21-year-old having created two chances, finding his man with both attempted crosses and connecting well with the lively Rio Ngumoha. However, he also lost the ball 19 times and won only three of his nine contested duels (data via Sofascore).

It was a display that, once again, left plenty to be desired, and Liverpool still wait to see the left-back form into a worthy part of Slot’s project.

There is, however, time on his side. But the same cannot be said for another part of the Liverpool backline, a player who has been at the heart of a series of transfer sagas in recent years and may now be heading for the axe.

Slot must ditch Liverpool stalwart

Liverpool have undergone plenty of change this year, and there’s a sense that some of the veterans need to stick around. This isn’t true in every case, though.

For so long, Joe Gomez has been a part of the club, instrumental in the rise of Jurgen Klopp and the longest-serving active first-team player – and that even before Trent Alexander-Arnold packed and left.

The 28-year-old was part of a three-man backline in the cup, but Slot’s attempts to negate the Palace threat came undone when Gomez found himself at the epicentre of the deadlock-breaker. It was his loose touch that gifted Ismaila Sarr the first goal of his brace, ever the bane in Liverpool’s side.

Perhaps Gomez’s miscontrol was more unfortunate than clumsy, but there was still a flash of a chance to clear the danger and keep that elusive clean sheet.

Joe Gomez vs Crystal Palace

Match Stats

#

Minutes played

90′

Goals conceded

3

Errors made

1

Touches

92

Accurate passes

69/76 (91%)

Possession lost

9x

Recoveries

5

Tackles

1/1

Interceptions

3

Clearances

8

Ground duels

1/3

Aerial duels

3/4

Data via Sofascore

Moreover, Gomez’s errant pass led to the Eagles’ conclusive third strike, and Liverpool World saw it fit thereafter to hand the England international a 5/10 match rating.

After attracting interest from Newcastle United and, curiously, Palace over the past two summer transfer windows, Liverpool may come to regret not cashing in, especially if that had led to the likes of Marc Guehi, who remains under Glasner’s wing but could have been fielded for the hosts on Wednesday.

After such sweeping changes this summer, Liverpool were always going to need time to develop and reshape as a unit. But this feels messy.

We are not seeing a coherent squad ratcheting up the pace, but instead a sour situation that now threatens to spill over if form is not found before Aston Villa’s trip to Anfield on Saturday evening.

If Slot has learned anything new, it’s that Gomez cannot be placed into the starting line-up against Unai Emery’s well-oiled team.

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Posts ByAngus Sinclair Oct 29, 2025