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Jack Grealish edged closer to Manchester City and becoming English football’s first £100million superstar after talks between Pep Guardiola’s side and Aston Villa gained pace on Friday.

The England international playmaker was one of City’s two major summer transfer targets, along with Tottenham’s Harry Kane.

And Guardiola expects to complete his signing as soon as Grealish returns from holiday and reports to training with Villa on Monday.

Villa have offered Grealish a new contract, worth a reported £200,000 a week, in a bid to convince him to remain with his boyhood club.

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But City are confident that the 25-year-old has already made up his mind that his future lies at the Etihad with a team that consistently competes for honours at home and in the Champions League.

Talks have been ongoing over the second half of this week but sources claim that they took a significant step forward on Friday.

Villa had a “magic” £100m figure in mind as the level at which they would be obliged to do business, given the size of that sum.

It would represent a 25 per cent increase on the current record deal for a transfer between English clubs: the £80m Manchester United paid Leicester for Harry Maguire.

And it would make Grealish comfortably the most expensive signing ever made by a Premier League club, eclipsing the £89 million United spent on Paul Pogba.

Talks this week have centred around the structure of the transfer fee and how City will pay it.

Interestingly, while it is believed that City are prepared to package players – including first team star Bernardo Silva – in a potential blockbuster deal for Kane, Grealish’s transfer has always been viewed as a purely financial deal.

His departure will be a devastating, if not entirely unexpected, blow to Villa who enjoyed a strong showing in the Premier League last season.

But, having left the offer of a £200,000 deal behind at Villa Park, Grealish can expect a contract far in excess of that. Kevin De Bruyne is currently City’s highest-paid star on a deal he signed last season worth a reported £385,000 a week.

Given that City won the title by 12 points last season, his signing will come as a sobering development for their title rivals.

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And, once they have secured the signing of Grealish, City will turn their attention to honing in on Kane and trying to agree a deal with Spurs owner Daniel Levy.

City will hope to package Silva in any transfer although it is believed the Portuguese star favours a move to Spain where he has been linked with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

Levy maintains that Kane is not for sale but his reputation for playing “hard ball” in transfer deals means that many view Spurs’ pronouncements as simply a bargaining position.

As has been the case with Grealish, City hope Kane’s return to training with Spurs will expedite the process of completing the move.

The line between stability and stasis can often feel tissue paper-thin. Spot the difference between Crystal Palace’s 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons – 14th place in the league, eliminated at the first hurdle in domestic cup competitions, six home wins, eight home defeats, one victory against a top-six club (Manchester United away), unbeaten against the bottom three. Given the absence of supporters at Selhurst Park, perhaps Palace should be applauded for ensuring that fans missed nothing new.

Not that consistency was any cause for great alarm. Roy Hodgson managed during a period of relative austerity. Those budgets were self-inflicted: between 2013-14 and 2018-19, they sat fifth in a Premier League net spend table. Money was not spent with wanton disregard for financial sense, but Palace did prove themselves incapable of selling players at high prices. During that half decade, only two players left Selhurst Park for a fee of greater than £5m.

A repeated pattern of cause and effect was engineered. It began with a regular turnover of managers – Pulis to Warnock to Pardew to Allardyce to De Boer. Each arrived with a transfer list and the managerial short-termism (only Pardew lasted longer than 30 matches) decreed that those lists were stuffed with developed players at peak age. They were signed on contracts that extended long beyond the managers who signed them and so Palace had a swell of expensive fringe players. In 2019-20, they had the ninth-highest wage bill in the league.

Last season, that strategy came home to roost. Hodgson was the oldest manager in the league, eventually winding down after a 45-year coaching career. Palace had the oldest average starting XI in the Premier League, but that statistic hardly covers the full extent of that issue. Of the 17 oldest teams selected last season, Palace had 16 of them. Of the club’s 11 most regular starters, 10 were aged 28 or over and eight aged 30 or above.

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And so to the crossroads. On 30 June, the contracts of 11 players expired and all have left the club. They include a number of senior first-team players: Gary Cahill, Patrick van Aanholt, Mamadou Sakho, Andros Townsend, Nathaniel Clyne and James McCarthy.

Hodgson has also left, replaced by Patrick Vieira, who was not the club’s first choice but whose profile and philosophy suggests a deliberate lurch in ethos from Hodgson’s pragmatism. There is enough work to fill two summers, let alone one effectively shortened by major international tournaments.

Football clubs survive through effective succession planning; Palace are having to draw and launch a new red-and-blueprint for the first team in a matter of months. But uncertainty provides an opportunity to pivot from short-termism to a more sustainable, enduring strategy. They bought the best young player in the Championship last summer in Eberechi Eze and may well have done the same with the signing of Michael Olise. Marc Guehi is an extraordinarily highly-rated central defender and Joachim Andersen was the best centre-back of the relegated clubs and is only 25. More will be needed, but more will come.

Underneath the typical noise of a summer transfer window, with its tedious social media clamouring and self-serving leaks from agents, sits the jewel in Palace’s crown.

Last July, the club’s academy was granted Category 1 status, news that coincided with an announcement of upgraded academy facilities that the club expect to be completed this summer. The aim is to create a pathway between community and academy, youth teams and first team that the club believe can fuel its next era.

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This matters at Selhurst Park. South London has established itself as one of the most prolific hotbeds of young footballing talent in Europe over the last decade. Palace – despite being the only Premier League club south of the Thames and within the M25 – were on the outside looking in. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Jadon Sancho, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Emile Smith Rowe and Declan Rice are just five players who were born in south London but were developed in academies north of the river.

Category 1 status could change that. No longer will Selhurst Park be the natural habitat of ageing Premier League players but a breeding ground for the next generation of south London footballers that can be developed and either sold for significant profit or form the backbone of the first team. There are high hopes that David Omilabu, an 18-year-old striker born and raised in south London as a Palace fan, may be the next. The appointment of Saïd Aïgoun from Paris Saint-Germain as a development coach has been celebrated by supporters as much as any new first-team signing.

Wherever there is systemic change there is risk; the name of Frank de Boer still causes a Pavlovian wince in SE25 and its environs. Vieira is only in his second first-team job in Europe. The squad is still thin. Palace’s wages-to-turnover ratio is 93 per cent in its latest accounts, as per football finance expert Kieron O’Connor, although there are mitigating circumstances. The long-term injury to Eze is a huge blow.

But what choice did Crystal Palace have? They have one of football’s best production lines on their doorstep. They have a new manager, new players, new academy facilities and a new identity. They are aiming to establish unbreakable links between the composite parts of that identity and, even if it takes time and comes with inevitable setbacks, they will be mightily better for it. Most importantly of all, Crystal Palace are exciting again. Right now, that alone is enough to get Selhurst jumping.

The women footballers of Team GB will lock horns with a familiar foe in the home of Kashima Antlers on Friday morning.

It is not just that Australia’s rivalry with the old country is as strong in the Olympics, notably in rowing and swimming, as it is in cricket and rugby. It is also that most of the Matildas’ key threats are past or present team-mates.

Chelsea’s Sam Kerr, last season’s English league top scorer, tops Australia’s bill, but Caitin Foord and Steph Catley, of Arsenal, offer a threat down the left and Everton’s Hayley Raso is a danger down the right.

The supporters of Spurs, West Ham and Bristol City will see familiar faces as well, making this something of a reunion on Japan’s east coast.

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Typhoon Nepartak mercifully gave the area a swerve, aside from some wind and rain which was a relief from the heat, but both sides will be aiming to blow away their opponents in this quarter-final with Sweden or Japan awaiting in the next round.

GB co-captain Kim Little suggested, however, the game could start cautiously.

“We’re very aware of the strengths they have and the threats they pose. We need to be completely aware of that,” said the Scot.

But the Arsenal midfielder added: “We’re pleased with how it’s gone so far, but there’s so much more to come from us. We’ve a lot in the tank which is a good position to be in. We feel confident. I’m in a good place.”

Winning the first two group matches enabled Hege Riise to rest and rotate players ahead of the third which, she said, was very beneficial in such an intensive tournament.

With Team GB playing 4-3-3, and Australia 3-4-3, the game will be a tactical contest, but is also likely to be a physical one. If Riise’s team can match Australia in that, they have the flair players to win it.

With Fran Kirby still unlikely to be fit enough to start, that means the passing of Little and Caroline Weir, and the wing-play of Lauren Hemp – even if she’ll be up against Ellie Carpenter, Lucy Bronze’s replacement at Lyon.

How to watch Team GB vs Australia

• Round: Quarter-final
• Stadium: Kashima Soccer Stadium
• Date: 30 July
• Kick-off time: 10am
• TV/Live stream: Eurosport 2 / Eurosport Player / discovery+

Hemp did not feature in the squad against Canada. Team GB have psychologist Katie Green on board and are working hard on mental preparation.

“When it is your first tournament you use a lot of energy, not only on the field,” Riise noted. “That was the main purpose for us to take her totally off to relax. She will be important for us. Her quality is one-v-one, different to the others.”

The last British team of either gender to reach the semi-finals in Olympic football was the men in 1948.

Domestic football politics are a major reason, but this is also a very competitive tournament.

The tie of the round is a repeat of the 2019 World Cup final with winners USA pitted against European champions, the Netherlands, led by England’s next coach Sarina Wiegman, but Team GB hope to make headlines of their own.

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More on the Olympics

• Meet every Team GB athlete heading to Tokyo 2020 and the big medal hopes
• ‘Putting on the GB vest, the hairs on my arm stand up’
• ‘I’m going to the Olympics as a reigning champion’ – Hinch revels in GB’s 2016 hockey glory
• How a recent Olympics rule change has allowed Team GB footballers to take the knee in Tokyo
• Hannah Mills’ quest for sailing gold and a planet free of plastic waste

Let me get one thing straight. I will never be offended by anything Piers Morgan says to me. He called me a “serial bronzer” on Twitter on Monday, adding that he only celebrates Olympic gold medals. This is coming from an Arsenal fan. I am also a Gooner and I know you can’t say you only back winners if you are an Arsenal fan.

Piers did this during Rio 2016 as well. So it is always trying to get a rise. I know that in his heart of hearts, he doesn’t really think that. And the thing is, you don’t even need to respond yourself, because the Twittersphere jumps on him.

But I really don’t care. The fact he knew that I won a bronze medal is a win. No offence taken.

What he said did provoke some angry reactions from other people, but that is what happens when someone berates you on Twitter. And they fight your battles for you, which is great. Because I can’t get offended or get into a fight with a man like that, because if I did I would never go on social media. It has to be tongue in cheek and I think he knows that.

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Although there was no offence taken by me, there is a serious point behind what he and I were “embroiled in a furious argument” about (I wasn’t, but one publication termed it that). And that point is that it is extremely hard to even get to the Olympics. Basically if you are going to the Olympics, you know you are one of the best in the world.

In heptathlon, World Athletics only wants 24 people competing. And it sets a very high standard, of 6,420 points. If there aren’t enough people who have attained that mark, the rest of the field are invited according to world ranking points, which are gained according to results in various events.

The ranking system is not straightforward – it is actually quite complicated – but it is safe to say that it is very difficult to get to the Olympics. And even more so this time around with a lack of events due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Every athlete in Tokyo should pat themselves on the back for even making it there.

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For Team GB, there is a tremendous amount of funding from UK Sport. But in athletics there will be athletes that have not had any funding but have still made it. And their aim will be to do well enough so that when the new funding comes in this winter they’d have done enough to get on it.

The impressive thing is that there will be athletes there who have not been supported financially – although they may have been supported in other ways like with facilities and such like – and that can be very tricky. But it makes you more resilient.

How do you take the perfect free-kick? The devil is in the process and it is one which few have mastered to the degree of Roberto Carlos.

The curving trajectory and the sheer power against a billowing net, the Brazilian legend is not defined by his set pieces alone. All the same, they are the benchmark. So there were few so delighted by Luke Shaw’s summer of success with England at the European Championship, and the comparisons that followed, than the man himself.

The newly-christened “Shawberto Carlos” ended the tournament with three assists and a goal that proved to be the fastest in the history of the competition’s final. Yet while it proved academic in the scheme of ultimate defeat to Italy, for his biggest admirer it was another vindication of the calibre of left-back the Manchester United defender has become.

“I’ve been following him on social media for a while now,” Carlos told i. “And now and again, we talk over private messaging so I was really happy to know that he was a fan of me!

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“I was also really happy to see what a great Euros he had, not just because of the goals and the passes, but because of the quality of his play. He’s a modern footballer, that’s why he’s in the England team and he’s going to continue to get even better.”

It is not yet six years since a horrific leg break which, Shaw says, could have led to amputation. Now, he is not only recovered but is noticeably fitter and behind the scenes at both Carrington and St George’s Park, he has impressed with his determination to reach the heights that were expected when he first moved to the Theatre of Dreams from Southampton.

Hard work, after all, is the real secret behind the great set pieces – at least according to Carlos, who reflects modestly on his own reputation. He considers for a moment. “It’s all to do with training,” he shrugs. “It’s also a gift of course, but it’s a gift that has to be perfected and that’s something I’ve trained on my entire career, every day after training, 30-40 minutes hitting it inside the wall, outside the wall, over the wall. It’s the result of work, nothing more.”

That would certainly explain why the battle for free-kick eminency among currently active players has become another instalment of Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo. Together they have more than a century of goals via that method between them, numbers which can only be achieved by the truly fanatical. So, who does it better?

“Messi’s free-kicks are more placed, whereas Cristiano Ronaldo’s have the power like mine – my free-kicks were all about power,” Carlos adds. “So if I were to choose between the two, I would go for the power and quality of the Cristiano free-kicks. So I prefer Cristiano’s style of free-kicks.”

That is one obvious measure by which the two can be separated, at least. When it comes to true “GOAT [greatest of all time]” status, it is impossible to weigh them up without falling down an endless rabbit hole of endless statistics and other nuances. Carlos knows that better than most, having won the 2002 World Cup alongside a few contenders for that title in their own right.

Had Ronaldo Nazario steered clear of injury, who can say how high he might have soared? Then there are those, such as current Brazil forward Willian, who have put Ronaldinho in the conversation too. At any rate, Carlos believes one of their greatest abilities lay in improving the players around them.

“That year [2002] was the best year of my career,” he says. “I was voted second best player in the world, only behind Ronaldo and it was a huge education. I learned so much from these players. Not only winning the World Cup, but I had the privilege of playing with the best players in the world, both for Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team.

“These players were my teachers, my friends. They helped me become a better person, a better player, a better professional. So it’s just a source of immense pride to have made history in that team, winning the World Cup and playing with the best players in the world was just an immense privilege.”

Football legend Roberto Carlos took part in #TheToughestTest to celebrate the launch of the brand-new life-proof Nokia XR20 5G smartphone, available to purchase now. To find out more, please visit: https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_gb/kick-it

Full-capacity Premier League crowds should not go ahead and doing so based on flawed research from pilot events “verges on the unethical”, a virologist has said.

Deenan Pillay, a virology professor at University College London and Independent Sage member, said the events research programme had given the Government “an excuse for opening things up”.

He called for Covid infection data from the chaotic Euro 2020 final to be released “as soon as possible” before the Premier League restarts.

The Government is adamant the Premier League should start next month with capacity crowds but it is increasingly likely that fans will have to show “vaccine passports” to get in to stadiums.

The league is working on its own system of Covid certification and also discussing safety measures such as one-way systems and staggered entry times.

A restart with full crowds before the adult population is fully vaccinated is a “risk” and “fraught with difficulties” due to the high infection rates, Professor Pillay said.

He recommended staggered entry times to stop public transport overcrowding, and the wearing of face masks.

Professor Pillay also said that clubs should look at safety measures for eating and drinking in enclosed spaces.

“Football clubs obviously want to get their money back from getting bums back on seats but it’s the responsibility of clubs to make their environment as safe as possible – so that’s also an important lesson from the Euro final,” he said.

So far, data have only been released from the first stage of the government events pilot, which included the Brit Awards and the FA cup semi-finals and final, with just 28 Covid cases over nine events.

But the Government has acknowledged a low take-up of postevent Covid PCR tests.

Professor Pillay described the first phase results as “next to useless”, adding: “I can understand why the Government wants to open things up… but to hide behind research in this way I think verges on the unethical.”

A government source hit back at his claims, saying the first phase of the pilot looked at many other factors including CO2 ventilation and the behaviour and movement of people at the events.

A government spokesman said: “Public safety is our absolute priority – we have published guidance for events on how to minimise risk, drawn from the events research programme.”

He said officials were continuing to engage with the Premier League to ensure matches with full crowds could take place safely this autumn.

More than 60,000 attended the Euro 2020 final at Wembley but thousands more stormed the stadium without tickets. Many fans have claimed they caught Covid at the game.

With just one managerial vacancy going in the top two tiers of English football, John Terry could find himself waiting for an early-season sacking unless Swansea City make an approach for the now former Aston Villa assistant head coach.

The 40-year-old left his role as Villa assistant on Monday, with boss Dean Smith admitting he was “disappointed” to lose his right-hand man less than three weeks before the new Premier League season starts.

Terry said it was an “extremely difficult” decision after three years under Smith’s tutelage, but added the time is right to move on and pursue his ambition of becoming a manager outright.

Swansea are the only club in the Premier League or Championship without a manager after Steve Cooper left last week, and while that has shortened Terry’s odds with the bookmakers, the ex-England and Chelsea skipper appears to favour a European tour over jumping into the next available role.

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“My immediate plan is to spend some quality time with my family and, thereafter, hopefully take up some invitations to visit clubs and managers around Europe to develop my aim and objective of becoming a manager,” Terry said.

“It has always been my ambition to move into football management and, providing the right opportunity presents itself, I feel ready to take up such a challenge.”

The desire for family time and ventures abroad comes as The Athletic report that former Chelsea assistant Jody Morris and MK Dons boss Russell Martin have emerged as frontrunners for the Swansea vacancy, suggesting Terry will not simply walk into a new job by virtue of being a Premier League great.  

John Terry next permanent job

Odds per Betfair as of 26 July:

• Swansea 1-8
• Crystal Palace 10-1
• Aston Villa 16-1
• Fulham 20-1
• West Brom 25-1
• QPR 40-1
• Chelsea 50-1

With Swansea’s eyes seemingly searching elsewhere, Terry appears to have more time to plot out his route into management, even if he does have to wait until the domestic season gets under way.

Eager to strengthen his CV, work experience outings to Rome or Madrid could be in the offing for Terry given he played under Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti (among plenty of others) at Chelsea. Any future move to a Championship club would see him follow in the footsteps of former England teammates Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney by kickstarting his career as No 1 in a second-tier dugout.  

He is therefore not short of managerial influences, nor old pals to call upon for dos and don’ts – like, for example, not taking charge of your former club too early into your career – but exactly what sort of manager Terry will be can only become apparent now he has stepped out of Smith’s shadow.

Two England internationals have given us a glimpse of how Terry could operate as manager. Jack Grealish said he turned to his coach for advice on how he could emulate aspects of Lampard’s game. Meanwhile, Tyrone Mings evidently benefitted from Terry’s centre-back expertise on his own journey into the England set-up.

“After a game we’ll watch clips of my game back and he’ll then tell me what he likes and what he doesn’t like,” Mings said in 2019 after earning his first England call-up.

“He’s worked under such great managers and he’s obviously got all the experience that I would love to have, so things that he tells me really stick. He gives me a little bit of criticism but also positivity. He tries to tell me to go through a game without being seen or without being mentioned.”

Mings’ Villa centre-back partner Ezri Konsa also described the benefits of Terry’s input when watching previous performances back, highlighting how Terry seems well aware that man-management is key for the modern-day player.

Meanwhile, Smith’s own route up the ladder, from lower-league player to manager of Walsall, Brentford and then Villa, may contrast the course Terry is set to take as a former England international whose name is known the world over. Even so, the pair worked together on the understanding that they would inevitably part ways.

“He’s come in to learn the trade to ultimately become a No 1,” Smith said last season while both Bournemouth and Celtic looked for new managers, adding: “He wants to go into management but there’s got to be a right time and the right club for him.”

The time is now, or soon, it would appear, but where exactly remains a mystery – for perhaps a few weeks or months at least.

Football manager Joey Barton has been charged with attacking and injuring a woman.

The 38-year-old, who manages Bristol Rovers, is due to appear at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

The charge against the former Premier League and England footballer relates to an alleged incident at a residential property in Kew, south-west London, on 2 June, the Metropolitan Police said.

Barton was arrested on the same day and bailed pending further inquiries before being charged. He will attend court on bail.

Ambulance crews were not called to the scene where the woman was attacked, police said.

In a statement, the force said: “Joseph Barton, 38, of Widnes, is charged with assault by beating.

“The charge relates to an incident which took place at a residential property in Kew on Wednesday 2 June in which a woman received a head injury.”

Barton made his name as a midfielder with Manchester City and played for a series of clubs, before retiring from the sport in 2017.

He became the manager of League Two club Bristol Rovers earlier this year after spending three years as manager of Fleetwood Town.

Bristol Rovers said: “The football club is aware of the court hearing involving manager Joey Barton, scheduled to take place on Monday. As there are legal proceedings pending, the Club is unable to make further comment at this current time.”

Football fans will be able to attend top flight football matches again this autumn, but only if they have been fully-vaccinated, according to reports.

Talks are believed to be in an early phase with the Premier League to discuss whether supporters who have not been double-jabbed could be barred from entry, it emerged on Sunday.

i revealed in June that the step was under consideration, with Whitehall sources suggesting the Premier League was “very keen” about the possibility of adopting Covid certification if Covid cases soar.

Boris Johnson risks provoking further criticism from backbench Conservatives as ministers seek to extend the future use of vaccine passports from nightclubs to sporting stadiums.

The use of vaccine passports could also be extended to lower divisions and other sports in England as ministers seek to reduce the surge of Covid-19 cases as other restrictions are ended.

While no final decisions have been made, it is currently being discussed whether vaccine passports could be introduced for seated events with a capacity of 20,000 people and over.

In unseated events such as music gigs, where there are greater concerns about strangers mingling and spreading Covid-19, the threshold for their introduction could be as low as 5,000 attendees.

A Government source said: “It’s important that fans can continue to watch sporting events over the autumn, which is why we’re exploring the role vaccines might play in this.

“This will not only allow full capacity stadiums but has the added bonus of incentivising people of all ages to go and get their jab.”

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One area still said to be under discussion is whether a recent negative test could allow entry to football matches, but their use has been ruled out for nightclubs.

The Prime Minister sparked a backlash when he made the nightclubs announcement on Monday, as he ended most of England’s remaining coronavirus restrictions and allowed the venues to reopen for the first time since March last year.

He said they could also be made a condition of entry for “other venues where large crowds gather”, adding: “Proof of a negative test will no longer be sufficient.”

Shadow digital, culture, media and sports secretary Jo Stevens said: “To insist on vaccine passports less than a month before the start of the season will cause major disruptions, especially for clubs at the lower end of the pyramid.

“Labour has been clear that the use of Covid vaccination status alone will exclude those who can’t be vaccinated or haven’t had the jab because of delays.

“Being double jabbed doesn’t prove you aren’t carrying the virus. Testing for access to venues would be more efficient.”

Making their use mandatory in the Premier League from October, however, would give time to phase in their use with the season starting on 14 August.

The English Football League declined to comment, but it is understood contingency plans have been under discussion in case the Government advised the use of vaccine passports.

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Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance has warned nightclubs have the potential to cause “super spreading events”, but it is unclear to what extent football matches have in spreading Covid-19.

There were concerns, however, around fans travelling to London during Euro 2020.

Public Health Scotland figures showed there were nearly 1,300 Covid-19 cases linked to fans heading to the capital for events as Scotland faced England in the group stages.

That included 397 people who attended the clash in Wembley on June 18, according to the official figures.

A further 31,795 Covid-19 cases were reported in the UK on Saturday, as ministers sought to tackle the “pingdemic” causing staff shortages as workers are told to isolate over coronavirus contacts.

Additional reporting by Press Association

Ed Woodward, one of the Premier League’s great spin-men, will soon be gone. Much of his eight-year reign over Manchester United has been defined by chaos, one poor decision inevitably giving way to another and another. And at the top of the tree, there is little margin for error.

Amidst the din of little violins which surround Manchester City’s struggles to afford £160 million Harry Kane, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can be heard dragging United into the here and now, sometimes against the efforts of his superiors.

It is fitting too, that the Norwegian has been rewarded for those efforts. As United announced he has signed a new three-year deal worth £25m, with the option for a further year, Woodward turned to the watchword which has epitomised the shift in thinking in the corridors of Old Trafford: “Progress”.

At some stage in every dynasty, trophies must give way to smaller triumphs. That is why Solskjaer has ticked all the right boxes, the outgoing chief executive vice-chairman pointing to United’s relative success – a second-placed finish in 2020-21 and reaching the Europa League final – as having been “achieved with a blend of young, homegrown talent and top-class recruits”.

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Confirmation came within 24 hours of Jadon Sancho being unveiled as a United player. His willingness to swap superstardom in the Bundesliga for a new challenge is promising in itself.

The forward’s protracted transfer from Borussia Dortmund is finally over; so begins another all over again. Paul Pogba’s future looks increasingly uncertain as the French midfielder stalls on a new deal, spurred on by the devilish voice at his shoulder of the self-styled super-agent Mino Raiola.

Whether Pogba leaves or not, the feeling in camp is that Solskjaer is indeed making “progress” – a great word, which covers all manners of ills and is intrinsically difficult to measure.

Since taking over from Jose Mourinho in December 2018, initially on an interim basis, he has overseen a return of 180 points – only title-winners Manchester City (221) and Liverpool (217) have fared better.

There is one rather glaring final step that Solskjaer is yet to achieve. An awful record in semi-finals was overcome in the Europa League, only for United to lose to Villarreal on penalties in the final. A trophy is still missing as vindication of the project.

For want of a real alternative, and buoyed by “seeing this exciting team develop further” – and the trajectory will surely be even steeper with Sancho aboard – that is good enough for now.

Before a ball was kicked at Tokyo 2020, there were serious question marks against Team GB‘s preparations. The departure of Phil Neville as England manager (not that it has worked out particularly well for him since…), uncertainty over fitness and a lack of game time together, all made for doubts over their potential for medals.

Enter the ever calm Hege Riise, who has picked up the pieces and assembled a side who can showcase the best of this admittedly Lionesses-dominated group.

There were times in Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Japan, which followed a 2-0 win against Chile in their opening match, when Great Britain looked a little laboured, possibly a consequence of the humidity and the aforementioned unfamiliarity of some of the XI.

Riise had made four changes, but in the end it was a goal crafted in Manchester which broke the Japanese spirit, Lucy Bronze articulating another visionary cross in from the right and finding a mobile Ellen White. Team GB’s top scorer wasted no time in capitalising on some chaotic goalkeeping and a defensive mix-up.

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Kim Little, captain on the day, had orchestrated the move by warding off two defenders and hustling at the edge of the box.

So it was a case of job done, albeit without the most inspiring display. There were positive signs nonetheless which Riise will take forward. Rachel Daly, having put in a competent shift at left-back in the Chile match, this time highlighted her versatility as she replaced the returning Nikita Parris in the second half.

“Keets” had been lively enough, but looked lethargic by the end and if she starts again in GB’s final group match against Canada, there will surely be more to come.

We are also still awaiting an appearance from Fran Kirby. It was expected the Chelsea forward would have at least been part of the matchday squad, but i understands she is still struggling with a knock.

Without Millie Bright, Caroline Weir or Georgia Stanway in the starting line-up, this was a statement at the very least of depth from Riise.

Japan must now beat Chile in their final match to make it through.

Former footballer Ryan Giggs has pleaded not guilty to assaulting his ex-girlfriend and her sister in Greater Manchester last year.

Mr Giggs, who played for top clubs including Manchester United, appeared at Manchester Crown Court on Friday morning, where he also denied claims of controlling and coercive behaviour.

The ex-footballer, 47, has been accused of causing actual bodily harm to his ex-girlfriend, 36-year-old PR executive Kate Greville, at his home on 1 November 2020.

He has also been charged with common assault of a woman in her 20s, who is understood to be Ms Greville’s younger sister, during the same alleged incident.

More to follow…

One of the mistakes (and we’re ignoring protestors urging angrily for something they had already achieved, here) that those on the recent freedom marches in London made was presenting the immediate and complete opening up of society as a choice between living under restrictions and returning to total normality.

That’s a deliberate falsehood, a movement grounded in misinformation. Instead, the decision is between pandemic life with restrictions and pandemic life with no restrictions. Part of the reason that we struggle with the morality and practicality of opening up is because we have become hardwired by rampant consumerism to expect freedom of choice that increases with wealth and privilege.

Want a product to arrive today – you can. Want to watch pretty much any programme from history – you can find a way.

But the pandemic is a choiceless monster. Privilege clearly still exists and in many cases has been exacerbated. Some of us are fortunate enough to work from home, to get food delivered to doorsteps or healthy enough to move freely without fear of significant health concerns, but on a fundamental level, you cannot choose to return to previous normality because that normality cannot exist.

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You cannot opt out of Covid-19. Everything becomes a dilemma, Sophie’s choice between enjoyment and risk.

Until now, elite football has largely been able to exist within a bubble that was facilitated by other elements of society being in lockdown. It was the highest-profile cultural exception, coerced by dependence on revenue – the show must go on.

There were obvious challenges: Accumulated fatigue, the strain of living within a micro-managed environment, adjustment to the lack of match-going supporters. But football was both an oasis of comparative routine for its adoring public and a suspension of its own reality.

Seasons were completed, competitions were won and we all desperately tried to convince ourselves that sanitised football was far better than no football at all. And it was.

The return of supporters to matches in high numbers will be heralded as a signifier of normality (after all, what could be more regular than 60,000 Arsenal fans arguing about the ineffectiveness of one of their senior players?). The presence of fans at Euro 2020, particularly in Copenhagen and at Wembley, created feverish atmospheres that demonstrably assisted England and Denmark.

But their return was also joyous on a neutral level after a prolonged absence. This was football in a higher definition and with extra meaning, like wearing a new pair of spectacles and catching sight of a rare bird in flight after months of squinting at blurry shapes.

But it comes laced with jeopardy; it would be dim to pretend otherwise. After Scotland supporters travelled to Wembley, the match was linked to 2,000 Covid-19 cases back home. England vs Italy became a super-spreader event with unwelcome extra supporters cramming together. Full stadiums are not the glorious signifier of achieved victory over adversity but of our enforced compromise with it.

As restrictions lift, football will lose the sanctity of its established bubble. It’s hard to argue that players should be shielded from social contact when few others are suffering from the same limitations, and far more difficult to manage even if you do argue it. Partners, children and family will be interacting in wider society and increase the risk of infection, even after double vaccinations.

We are already seeing that impact upon the sport. Manchester City will only have one pre-season friendly before the Community Shield after their match against Troyes was cancelled. Arsenal’s tour of the USA will not take place and creates a logistical headache for Mikel Arteta. In Scotland, three clubs in the first two days of the Scottish League Cup were forced to forfeit matches after Covid-19 outbreaks and two others have done the same since.

There will be processes to mitigate the impact. Mass testing allows for ongoing assessment and early identification of positive cases, although as you drop down the leagues the prolificacy of that testing decreases. Negative tests in teammates would likely avoid postponements if cases are isolated; Covid-19 may be treated like any other injury in that regard. But even that does rather ignore (as many seem wont to do) the foggy spectre and as yet unknowns of long Covid.

This is not an attempt to p*ss on chips. Football has been a hugely important part of my – and many others’ – mental health conservation over the last 18 months and even the thought of walking up those steps to see the lurid green of the pitch makes me a little misty-eyed, whenever that happens. We have hardly been without football this summer and will feast upon it again in August.

But the notion that football is about to get ‘back to normal’ is an illusion. Until now, it has operated predominantly as a control experiment in laboratory conditions designed to sate our demand for at-home entertainment.

When those conditions are removed or relaxed, control is relinquished and uncertainty rushes in to fill the cracks. The answer to this question probably depends upon whether you are an optimist or pessimist: Does the approach of football to its former self bring us closer to normality, or simply drag football closer to the pandemic?

Giving fans a “golden share veto” to protect their clubs against future breakaway leagues will be needed to safeguard the national game, the chair of a Government review into Football says.

Former sports minister Tracey Crouch issued a series of proposals as part of an early draft of her fan-led review into football. It was commissioned in the wake of six Premier League clubs attempting to join the abortive European Super League in April.

In a letter to Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, Ms Crouch set out ideas to ward off what she believes are “genuine threats” to the future of the game. 

She called for an independent regulator to provide oversight of financial regulation, corporate governance and ownership of English clubs. 

And to give fans greater power over their clubs, the Conservative backbencher suggested they be handed a “golden share veto” over decisions to do with relocating teams, changing club colours or badges and – crucially – preventing attempts to join different competitions. 

“Key aspects of our national game are at genuine risk. The short-lived threat of the European Super League jeopardised the future of the English football pyramid,” Ms Crouch wrote.

“While that threat has receded – for now – the dangers facing many clubs across the country are very real with their futures precarious and dependent in most cases on the willingness and continuing ability of owners to fund significant losses.”

The idea of following the German model of majority fan ownership of football clubs is unlikely to form part of her final recommendations, however. 

Speaking to i, Ms Crouch said: “No one came forward with evidence calling for the German model from any of the supporter groups. I think people realise it is something that is very difficult to do with the English game.”

The Tory MP said that the remit of a new regulator would include requirements around cost controls, real-time financial monitoring, and revised, separate tests for would-be owners and directors, plus ongoing assessment of their suitability.

She felt the new body was necessary because the existing football authorities had “lost the trust and confidence” of supporters and of some clubs.

Any such change is likely to require legislation. In response to the interim findings, Mr Dowden insisted: “I will not hesitate to take bold steps where necessary.” 

Ms Crouch also suggested deeper reforms may be necessary at the Football Association, the Football League and the Premier League, with a recommendation that at least 50 per cent of the FA board be composed of independent non-executive directors.

And she floated the possibility of placing a levy on transfer or agent fees to provide greater funding to support grassroots and women’s football. 

The final report will be published in the autumn.

Responding to the letter, the Premier League said in a statement: “The Premier League welcomes the publication of the preliminary findings.

“We will now consider the initial update and are committed to supporting Tracey Crouch, the panel and the DCMS [Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport] team as they finalise their recommendations.”

Twelve European clubs, including Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, announced they were setting up a European Super League on 18 April.

The plan sparked fury in fans, the Premier League, the FA, and Uefa, which threatened to kick the teams out of the Champions’ League. The UK government also warned it could take action. Amid the backlash, clubs started to pull out of the ESL and by Wednesday 21 April the plan had collapsed.

A father and his two grown up sons contracted Covid after attending the Euro 2020 final despite being vaccinated twice.

Graham Hiley thinks they caught it after being accosted by ticketless fans storming a disabled entrance when they entered the stadium or while they walked through a packed concourse to get to their seats.

Mr Hiley, 61, went to the game with his disabled son Tim, 29, and older son Martin, 34. They also took Tim’s friend Joe McIndoe, 29, who is also in a wheelchair.

Only Mr McIndoe, who also has been inoculated twice, did not catch the virus.

Mr Hiley, a sports journalism lecturer at Solent University, is sure they caught the bug at the match. He said: “It has to be Wembley, we haven’t been anywhere since.

“All of us have been fanatically careful the last 16 months, with hand sanitiser and masks and only going out when you have to. I suppose you let your guard down because it’s the final, but also you’re told it’s a test event. Maybe if it had been an ordinary event it would have been safe, but there were hundreds, probably thousands, that climbed over barriers who went in without any Covid checks at all…

“Not that they were necessarily that stringent, we just showed a QR code on our phone (for the Covid check), it could have been a Nando’s reservation I think they would have waved us through.

“In a way it was a perfect storm. I would say it probably was a super-spreader event.”

At the disabled entrance where they entered Wembley a ticketless fan wearing a high-vis jacket pretended to be a steward and tried to grab Mr McIndoe’s wheelchair to blag his way in.

Mr Hiley, from Southampton, said: “As we got to the disabled entrance there was a great throng of people so we had to push our way through a great crowd. The thought that somebody was trying to hijack Joe’s wheelchair to get in was a bit low.

“When the ticketless fans burst through they knocked down a guy on crutches with his leg in a cast, he was sent flying and trampled on and some of the stewards were trampled on.”

The group then had to make their way to their seats which was a “long walk” through the huge crowd in the concourse.

He said: “Legally people aren’t allowed to drink in sight of the pitch so everybody was crammed onto the concourse chanting. There was no masks, no enforcement, no social distancing and everyone was shoulder to shoulder, trying to push two wheelchairs through that was a little daunting.”

Mr Hiley and Tim started to feel ill the Tuesday after the match and tested positive on Wednesday. Martin only suffered mild symptoms the following Saturday and tested positive then.

Calling on the Government to release any data they have on Wembley infection numbers, he added: “Absolutely they should. They say it is a test or pilot event then surely they need to release the results and learn the lessons from it.”