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Bryan Mbeumo appears agitated. He is sitting on a sofa in Manchester United’s plush new Carrington training complex. While young forward JJ Gabriel is lying flat on his back outside, basking in some rare Manchester sunshine, the Cameroon international doesn’t seem quite so at peace.

“There have been some good bits this season,” Mbeumo tells The i Paper in an exclusive interview near the end of his first season at Old Trafford. “But there are some bits to improve.

“I had a good start, I would say. But every year in my career I have always come back better than I was before. Every season I want to improve. If it hasn’t been enough, it can only be better. I always wanted more, even if it was going really well. I always tried to beat records.

“I’m still happy because obviously it’s been a top season, especially collectively, so I think with hard work, it can only get better.”

Mbeumo’s arrival from Brentford is regarded as a rare transfer success story at United, following numerous mistakes and hundreds of millions wasted on ill-fitting stars who came before.

Nine league goals, including at Anfield, the Emirates, and a fine finish against Manchester City, is a decent return for a first term in United’s unrelenting spotlight.

The 26-year-old has formed partnerships with Matheus Cunha and Amad Diallo to devastating effect, provided an outlet for Bruno Fernandes he doesn’t often get, while offering versatility that is every manager’s dream.

No goals since early February, however, explains the agitation. Mbeumo is not about to waste the opportunity that finally came his way.

‘Chess with Luke Shaw helps me trap opponents’

Mbeumo can play the piano, and rather than turn to computer games to unwind, he also finds solace, and some footballing inspiration, in the black and white of a chess board.

“I have got Luke [Shaw] into it, actually,” Mbeumo says, smiling for the first time. “He is actually good. I think we’ve got the same ranking in the game and it’s really exciting to play against him.

“It can be useful in football because when you move a chess piece, you create something for your opponent to react to. In football it is a bit the same. When you have got the ball, when you make a pass, you tell the opponent to do something, maybe open a space, or get them trapped in a position and it’s a bit advantageous.”

The determination of this quiet, unassuming forward from rural Burgundy to succeed is reflected in how long he had to wait for a shot at Champions League football at a club like United.

After six seasons at Brentford, most assumed that the chance of a move to a top team was dwindling.

In three previous Premier League seasons, Mbeumo didn’t even reach double figures for goals, before 20 last term alerted a host of suitors to this late bloomer.

His early form has helped convince Ineos and the United hierarchy that a policy of preferring options with Premier League experience is the way forward this summer.

“I think six years at Brentford was really, really important for me,” Mbeumo says. “To grow as a player, and as a person as well. I can only be thankful for everything to them.

“I’ve been working to that point [joining United] all my life. I knew something like this could happen to me. I added my own chef, personal trainers, everything like this to make sure my body was good.

“Nobody can really know how it is to play for Manchester United, unless you play there. It is such a big club with big demands. But I had this chance to spend a few years in the Premier League before, so it was easier.”

‘A lot of people would like Carrick to stay’

The focus now turns to who will be manager next season, when fans assume the squad will finally be good enough to at least compete for the Premier League title again.

With third place all but secured, Michael Carrick is the frontrunner – a popular move with every player you speak to around Carrington. The future of skipper Fernandes is also up in the air – two key elements in Mbeumo’s strategy to reach greater heights next season.

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“He [Fernandes] is one of the first guys I met here. Really smiley, happy, welcoming. He said to me that he was happy I had joined which is a big praise, knowing what he achieved in this club. He is a great captain, even if sometimes he likes to moan!

“I work a lot with the Trav [coach Travis Binnion], the video analysis team, but obviously sometimes with [assistant manager] Steve [Holland] and the gaffer.

“It’s a good staff. They’ve done really well. A lot of people would like him [Carrick] to stay, but obviously that’s not my decision.”

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Leaving a legacy to be proud of is ultimately the true essence of life, and fundamental to turning career achievements into memories that stand the test of time is knowing when you have done all you can.

Sport is littered with stories of players or coaches who carried on too long, doing more harm than good to all they had accomplished previously. Muhammad Ali just could not walk away, Michael Jordan at the Washington Wizards didn’t sit right, while the final Arsene Wenger Arsenal years became a painful experience.

Stockport County director of football and chef executive Simon Wilson, who is one step away from overseeing a remarkable rise from non-league football to the Championship, is aware that the time is right to step aside.

Wilson will leave after Stockport hope to have succeeded in the League One play-offs, six years into an outrageously ambitious seven-year plan to get County – a team initially without a training ground and with part-time players competing in regional football – to the English second tier. All in a sustainable way.

“This never happens does it, really?” Wilson tells The i Paper. “To be able to leave on good terms like this. That’s the most important thing.

“Everything is there for the club to carry on growing, sustainably, from the practices we have put in place.”

When Wilson joined Stockport in 2020, it seemed like an odd career move. After 10 years in various roles at the now global footballing behemoth Manchester City, he became chief football officer at Sunderland to work with David Moyes.

Taking charge of a historically chaotic fifth-tier club under new ownership was certainly a gamble. One, however, that has paid off in ways Wilson could never have imagined.

“The fifth tier was never on my radar,” Wilson says. “But meeting Mark [Stott, owner] and this journey at County is the best thing I’ve ever done,” he continues.

“I loved my time at City. The first period was when the Abu Dhabi takeover happened, and that was really exciting. Then the second half, moving to a role in the City Football Group, taking City to the world, that was also exciting. But you are just one of many at somewhere as slick as City.

“This is more real. When you are on open-top buses and there are grandmas with their grandchildren in Stockport shirts you see how much this matters, what we do here. Hopefully we get one more celebration, but if we don’t we have everything in place to carry on.”

Stockport club president Steve Bellis holds court like no other. One of the tales he loves to recount is the story of just how far the club fell.

Tales like how this once second-tier staple had matches delayed because smoke from a local allotment on an away match had drifted onto the pitch. Or how Stockport’s first team were kicked off the training pitch they shared with a local Under-11s side.

Stockport, the town, is massively on the up. Dubbed the “new Berlin” for its quirky vibe and burgeoning food scene, Stockport is amid a £56m development project to revamp its central area, the largest-ever town regeneration project of its kind.

The team’s rise has mirrored the town’s growth. Only, on the football side, they have done it without splashing record amounts, the anti-Wrexham way.

Owner Mark Stott is a local businessman, one who cares about the community impact Stockport’s football club has on its town – a sadly all-too-rare personality in the modern era.

What Stott needed was someone who could oversee promotion after promotion, while building a club to be proud of.

“Mark said to me ‘I want to get this team to the Championship, how much will it take to get there?’,” Wilson adds. “I then gave a figure, based on football spend and said, ‘with a bit of luck we will get there’. The football spend is not much over that initial planned figure, and we could end up ahead of schedule on timescale.

“We always wanted to put something in place where if we didn’t win, it could all carry on. We have an academy that is doing really, really well. We have a community programme in place where every £1 spent means £6 in social value. We have restored local pride. Kids have Stockport shirts on, not [Manchester] City and United. It has just been so worthwhile.

“Wrexham has become that, but certainly initially it wasn’t. They obviously smashed the revenue streams for League One, but still lost £17m, whereas we lost £9m and finished a place below them. £9m is still a lot of money, but we are giving a lot of wider benefits to the community for the money. It is all about creating an environment where people can grow – that is what I am most proud of.”

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Stockport have already announced Damien Allen as Wilson’s successor in the director of football role, someone Stott identified and Wilson helped nurture from being a PE teacher to academy director, in the hope that the most solid of foundations laid by the outgoing chief won’t go to waste.

As for Wilson himself, he will consider his next role carefully. For now, after Stockport hopefully see his ambitious plans come to fruition one year early over the next week, it is time to reflect on all he has achieved. Something he, more than most, has earned the right to do.

“I am a fixer-upper,” Wilson adds. “I like growth opportunities. There aren’t many football clubs who are genuinely in a position to do that.

“For now, I am enjoying my final moments here, doing all the things I like – watching training, being around the team. Get this season done and support the transition.

“We are desperate to get to Wembley, that’s the Disney ending. Either way, I am lucky that I have this story to tell of what we have achieved here, and people I can call friends for the rest of my life.”

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Chelsea want Xabi Alonso as their next manager but the Spaniard is yet to make a decision in case his preferred destination becomes available.

It is widely understood that Arne Slot will remain as Liverpool head coach next season, but sources close to Alonso say the former Reds midfielder wants to wait and see if that situation changes.

As The i Paper reported on Tuesday, Alonso is the front-runner for the Chelsea job.

“The job is his if he wants it,” a source said.

The Blues have other candidates on their radar with Fulham’s Marco Silva and Bournemouth’s soon-to-be free agent Andoni Iraola both of interest, but it is Alonso who they really want.

The Spaniard has some high-profile backing inside the ownership group and will almost certainly be snapped up by someone soon, given what he achieved at Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid, where he retains admirers.

It is understood that Chelsea and Alonso’s representatives have been in contact for weeks.

While they do have other options, and do not want to make it look like they have all their eggs in one basket, the club are hopeful that he will accept their offer.

Chelsea want to move fast and have a new boss in place before the World Cup.

Alonso is keen to return to management so will not take too much longer to deliberate.

But as one source puts it, he would have “taken the Chelsea job by now if Liverpool was not still in his thinking”.

A growing number of Liverpool supporters have called for Slot to be sacked after a season where they went from Premier League champions to fighting for Champions League qualification, despite an enormous transfer outlay.

Boos greeted the final whistle of their tepid draw with Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday, such is the growing discontent.

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The club’s hierarchy are understood to be willing to give Slot more time to turn things around, given he won the title in his first season.

A big summer rebuild lies ahead with Mohamed Salah departing and reinforcements needed in various positions.

Alonso is not put off by difficulties Liam Rosenior and Enzo Maresca had dealing with the politics at Chelsea, or the size of the task at Liverpool for that matter.

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Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Leeds United (Tel 50′ | Calvert Lewin 74’ pen)

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – Antonín Kinsky may well have stopped Tottenham Hotspur from facing Lincoln City next season.

Albeit that sentence would have more commitment if it were not for Mathys Tel foolishly kicking Ethan Ampadu in the head, undoing his earlier wondergoal.

Tel controlled a cleared corner on the edge of the penalty area and beautifully threaded his right-footed attempt into the top corner, leaving Karl Darlow helpless as Spurs took the lead. An effortlessly outstanding finish.

Yet just 25 minutes later, after scoring his first goal since January 4, the French attacker attempted to clear Richarlison’s miscued lobbed intervention from a Leeds United free-kick with an overhead kick without checking his surroundings.

Ampadu flew into the penalty area to contest the ball, and Tel’s ridiculously high foot was enough to send referee Jarred Gillett to the monitor to award a penalty.

It was a fatuous decision by Tel. He had no grasp of what was going on around him, no idea that Ampadu was charging into the penalty area.

In a way, Tel’s consequential 25 minutes epitomise his first full season in a Tottenham shirt: glimpses of quality coupled with avoidable errors. Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi vowed to console Tel with a “big hug and a big kiss” after the 21-year-old’s mistake – which he attributed to inexperience – allowed Leeds back into the game.

De Zerbi refused to say much more about the incident. But Tel was impetuous and cost Spurs two vital points in their hunt for survival, offering West Ham United another chance to climb out of the relegation zone and squandering the opportunity to put daylight between themselves and the bottom three.

The value of the point will not be known until the very end of the season – especially with West Ham still to play Leeds –but with Spurs having tougher fixtures, it appears a missed opportunity.

Although it could have been bleaker if it were not for the unlikely hero Kinsky. Two months on from his catastrophic display against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, the 23-year-old produced one of the saves of the season in stoppage time to ensure Spurs walked away with a point.

Leeds crafted an expansive attack down the right with James Justin finding Sean Longstaff’s well-timed run into the penalty area. Longstaff whacked a left-footed shot goalbound, attempting to smash into the top corner. But an instinctive, rapid reflex save from Kinsky saw him tip it onto the bar and maintain the point. It could prove to be the most definitive moment in Spurs’ season.

Having started all five of De Zerbi’s games in charge since he took the reins in March, Kinsky has admirably put his nightmare in Madrid behind him.

Subbed after two mistakes midway through the first half in Spain, it was a moment capable of destroying the young goalkeeper. Thrust into the global headlines, humiliated and dubbed ‘Slipsky’, it seemed a long way back.

However, he has shown incredible resolve and fortitude to come back and make a material impact on Spurs’ quest for survival. Kinsky had just three saves to make against Leeds, two of which were of the highest quality.

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The final save made the first, which he had to claw from behind him, seem easy. It was far from it as he denied Joe Rodon from a short corner routine.

This was a reminder of Kinsky’s potential, and Spurs will be grateful for the timing. Tel, too. Otherwise, Spurs would have slipped to defeat, with the blame pinned on the young Frenchman, making the wait for West Ham’s game on Sunday feel far gloomier.

Spurs could still end up in the relegation zone before they next kick a ball, with West Ham travelling to Newcastle United on Sunday. But the onus is on the Irons to win, otherwise De Zerbi’s side could retain their Premier League status against bitter rivals Chelsea on Tuesday after this weekend’s FA Cup final.

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Defensive players rarely win individual awards. The only pure defender to win the Ballon d’Or in the last 55 years was Fabio Cannavaro and that was largely because he captained 2006 World Cup winners Italy. In the Premier League, two defenders have won the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year award since 1993 – Virgil van Dijk and John Terry. The only Football Writers Association’ winner since 1989 was Ruben Dias.

Goalkeepers win individual awards even less: often. Peter Shilton was the last for the PFA in 1978 and Lev Yashin is the only goalkeeper ever to win the Ballon d’Or. Is that not strange? Sixty-nine years of an international award being handed out, perhaps eight positions to pick from (goalkeeper, full-back, centre-back, defensive midfielder, central midfielder, No 10, winger/wide forward, striker) and a goalkeeper picked once.

It suggests one of two things: defensive players are weaker than attacking players or people just prefer attacking players winning awards because we like goalscoring and attacking endeavour. It’s the second of those and it’s time to redress the balance.

I broadly believe that the Player of the Year award should go to an individual involved in the title race, unless there is an extraordinary reason not to do so. Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes comes close to that for the sheer volume of assists and the standard of the Premier League in general, but I don’t believe it quite worthy enough. You can certainly argue that Fernandes makes the biggest difference to one team (although Morgan Gibbs-White has a similar case), but that isn’t my selection criterion.

I’m then ruling out Manchester City players. The only options were Erling Haaland, who has had better Premier League seasons and endured a quiet spell between December and March, and Rayan Cherki. Cherki has been superb since February but has only started 19 league games.

We’re down to two options. The first is Declan Rice, who is likely to rival Fernandes for the PFA award. Rice would be a perfectly reasonable winner, but his excellence lies in consistency over an extended period more than starring over a single season. I think some of Rice’s best work came towards the end of 2024-25. The deliberately controlled nature of Mikel Arteta’s tactical style this season has limited Rice slightly, albeit he has still flourished.

Handily, I think 2025-26 is the perfect campaign for a defensive player to win individual awards. It is the theme of the Premier League season: more 0-0s and 1-0s and almost half a goal down per game from 2023-24. If Arsenal win the league, it is not because of their work in midfield or attack. They have conceded 26 goals.

David Raya has been the difference-maker in this title race above any other player. He has won the Golden Glove already because his 18 clean sheets are four clear of anyone else. He has kept clean sheets in 55 per cent of his appearances in all competitions.

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Speak to any Arsenal supporter and they will tell you that Raya has earned them 10 points or more; he has made extraordinary reaction saves throughout this season. Speak to any teammate and they will wax lyrical about his calming impact.

As Mikel Arteta said on Sunday after potentially the defining victory of Arsenal’s season, Raya has produced a series of “magic moments” this season that have pulled his team closer to the title and avoided further pressure from building.

I think he has done so more often than any other player in the title race. Raya was a slightly unpopular replacement – amongst Arsenal supporters, even – for Aaron Ramsdale and he has become one of the best goalkeepers in the world. He defines both their title push this season and their relentless improvement over the last three years. He is my Player of the Year.

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Self-deprecation and football go hand in hand, so no VAR in the Championship is one positive West Ham fans are talking up.

Sunday’s mammoth decision to disallow Callum Wilson’s 95th-minute equaliser propelled Arsenal closer to the Premier League title and left West Ham staring at a first relegation since 2011.

It is not over, but there is a resignation among West Ham fans after VAR Darren England and referee Chris Kavanagh combined for what Gary Neville called the “biggest moment in VAR history in the Premier League”.

Social media has seen a flurry of examples where Arsenal’s players have imeded opposition goalkeepers this season. It has made for a loud 24 hours. But cut through the noise and it is easy to overlook how West Ham landed themselves in this mess.

Fans have been witnessing this demise for years and feel powerless to change it despite numerous protests this season. The defeat to Arsenal fell exactly 10 to the day since after West Ham’s last game at Upton Park. The switch to the London Stadium was meant to signal ambition, but the period has shown just how stuck they are under owner David Sullivan.

Bournemouth, Brentford and Brighton are all competing for Europe with sustainable financial models. That stings West Ham fans, who watched their side finish sixth in 2021 and then win the 2023 Conference League.

That trophy should have been a platform but now reads like an anomaly that glosses over the direction in which West Ham were already going. They are closer to replicating Leicester City than Bournemouth.

Financially, they are a mess. West Ham posted £104m losses for 2024-25 and said player sales were essential this summer “to have sufficient liquidity”. The board added “additional funding” from shareholders could be required.

In terms of personnel, they are a mess too. Baroness Karren Brady stepped down as vice-chair last month. “Her legacy is deeply damaging,” West Ham’s Fan Advisory Board said, noting Brady’s role in moving the club to London Stadium and the subsequent “dilution of identity, atmosphere and belonging”.

The ill-fated spell of Tim Steidten as technical director also deteriorated matters. He arrived straight after the Conference League win, departed in February 2025, and during his one-and-a-half years he merely created division to the point of being banned from the dressing room by then manager David Moyes, whom Steidten was looking to replace.

After Moyes, Julen Lopetegui did not last a year and neither did Graham Potter. Nuno Espirito Santo arrived in September with the club 19th.

Nuno has enjoyed fleeting spells of momentum – they are 10th in the table this calendar year – but the damage was already done when he got there.

It has been misstep after misstep in the transfer market. Gone is the influence and class of Lucas Paqueta. So too Mohammed Kudus. The Declan Rice money (£105m) from 2023 helped fund a £126m backing of Lopetegui on eight players the following summer – somehow, West Ham have still ended up with the third-worst defence in the league.

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Yet nothing sums up their expensive failures quite like their ongoing search for a striker. Gianluca Scamacca cost £30.5m in 2022 and left a year later. Niclas Fullkrug joined for £27m in 2024 and is currently on loan at Atalanta. Pablo and Taty Castellanos were signed in the winter and have four league goals between them (all Castellanos), while Jarrod Bowen is the top scorer with eight.

In short: it’s one big, dysfunctional mess, and that is down to Sullivan. On his watch, club after club have leapfrogged them.

And when combining the ambition of numerous Championship clubs with West Ham’s need to sell, should they go down then bouncing back will be a challenge. With two games left to go, a dark cloud hangs over a stadium the supporters don’t like. It could be about to pour.

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Xabi Alonso has emerged as the front-runner for the Chelsea job in a move that indicates the club are willing to cede more power to the manager over recruitment.

The i Paper understands that the Blues are showing serious interest in former Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid boss Alonso, who is open to the prospect of a move to Stamford Bridge despite the travails of previous managers Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior.

Chelsea have other candidates with Fulham’s Marco Silva and Bournemouth’s soon-to-be free agent Andoni Iraola both of interest, but Alonso has some high-profile backing inside the ownership group and would represent something of a coup given he is one of the hottest managerial properties on the market.

He might also be an option if Arne Slot leaves Liverpool though at the moment they are planning to retain him for next season, despite the club’s apparent regression.

Alonso wants to get back into management this summer so is unlikely to hang on in case that stance changes.

Early indications are that Chelsea want to have an appointment lined up for shortly after the end of the campaign, with a potentially substantial rebuild job ahead of them this summer.

Como’s Cesc Fabregas, whose spell as a player at Stamford Bridge has made him the pick of many supporters, has also been linked with the role but the early indications are that he will stay in Italy for another season.

Interest in Alonso suggests that the “period of reflection” that Chelsea’s owners mentioned in the statement that accompanied Rosenior’s departure has led to them conceding that the manager must be given more influence on the direction of travel with key issues like transfers.

Rosenior was – perhaps unfairly – viewed predominantly as a company hire given his success elsewhere in the BlueCo group of clubs.

That did not help his credibility with certain players and there is a feeling that a stronger voice with a more substantial CV is required to steady a listing ship.

Maresca’s departure came amid reports that his relationship with the club’s hierarchy had broken down and he had clashed with them over transfers.

As reported by The i Paper last week, he is now poised to succeed Pep Guardiola if the Catalan decides to leave Manchester City at the end of the season.

It is highly unlikely that Alonso would even entertain the idea of joining Chelsea if he was to be similarly undermined on recruitment, especially with the Blues facing a huge close season for overhauling their squad.

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• Pete Hall: The first step of Chelsea’s rebuild just became clear
• Daniel Storey: Yes, it was a foul on David Raya – but that completely misses the point

There are question marks over the future of stars such as Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer, with Chelsea’s senior players set to miss out on significant bonuses without Champions League football next season.

The Blues have ambitious transfer targets themselves, including Elliot Anderson, who is being targeted by Manchester City and Manchester United, but those appear unrealistic while the club are perceived to be in turmoil off the field.

Chelsea have a chance to salvage something from an underwhelming campaign in Saturday’s FA Cup final against Manchester City but given their substantial outlay on players and the size of their wage bill, they cannot afford to have a prolonged absence from the Champions League so their next managerial appointment is crucial.

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