The majority of Manchester United fans won’t want to hear it, but while the club remain keen to sign a new goalkeeper this summer, they are also open to David de Gea staying put and even Dean Henderson starting next season as their number one.
i understands Inter Milan’s Andre Onana tops a list of potential targets to be De Gea’s long-term successor, with talks with the Serie A side ongoing.
Despite everything he has done for the club during 12 years in Manchester, many fans want to see the back of De Gea, seen as a goalkeeper of yesteryear given his flaws with the ball at his feet.
The Spaniard’s lucrative contract expired at midnight on 30 June, freeing up a substantial chunk of the wage budget. De Gea could be asked to re-sign on much lower terms.
With De Gea omitted from the club’s retained list, those keen to say thank you but goodbye to the 32-year-old thought they had got their wish.
It is understood the framework of a contract extension that had been agreed was subsequently changed by the club at the 11th hour.
Remarkably though, sources have told i talks over a new deal will continue after this weekend, as De Gea is getting married back in Spain and the club do not want to intrude on private family time.
With United keen to boost their £120m transfer kitty with some player sales, Henderson was expected to complete a permanent switch to Nottingham Forest, where he spent last season on loan, impressing before injury cut short his campaign.
Nonetheless, United’s struggles to work within a tighter transfer budget, and uncertainty remaining around De Gea’s future have ensured Henderson could well be required after all and not just as an understudy, i understands.
Even if De Gea remains in Manchester he would not necessarily be seen as first choice.
Henderson has waited long enough for his shot as a first-team regular at United and has been vocal about his lack of opportunities at the club. That chance, even if it is not the preferred option the club would pick, may finally present itself in August.
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After weeks of toing and froing, the two clubs finally met in the middle on Thursday night with United agreeing to pay their Premier League rivals £55m up front with a further £5m in potential add-ons for the 24-year-old.
Mount will become United’s first signing since sealing a return to the European top table in May and Ten Hag will be hopeful that the 2021 Champions League winner can prove to be an elite-level recruit.
Ten Hag earmarked Mount as a top target in this transfer window, which is interesting considering he already has de facto captain Bruno Fernandes and the influential Christian Eriksen at his disposal. Upgrading the goalkeeper and striker positions are clearly higher priorities, but that doesn’t mean to say that Mount is not a smart pick-up.
Ten Hag’s admiration for Mount predates his time in English football. The Dutchman reportedly wanted to bring him to Ajax in 2018 after the then-teenager had orchestrated a 3-2 victory for Vitesse Arnhem over the Dutch giants in the Eredivisie. Mount instead joined Derby County on loan before progressing to Chelsea’s first-team a year later.
This time, he has got his wish in a deal that has had the twin effect of uniting one fanbase and splintering the other; Mount has been welcomed with open arms by his new faithful, while his former devotees are either delighting in his departure after a poor season or lamenting the sale of a homegrown asset to another “Big Six” club.
Mount struggled in a poor Chelsea team in 2022-23, providing a meagre return of two goals and three assists in 24 league appearances, but prior to that had emerged as one of the most consistent attacking midfielders in the division. A new environment should do him the world of good, and his versatility will be an asset to United as they look to bridge the gap on their Treble-winning neighbours.
Here’s where he could feature in Ten Hag’s plans next season:
In the Eriksen role
Probably the most obvious place for Mount in United’s side is in Eriksen’s position. The Dane has predominantly played as a No 10 in his career but has been remodeled as a deep-lying playmaker more recently.
Ten Hag has generally used a 4-2-3-1 shape in England, with Eriksen partnering Casemiro in midfield. It was a combination that worked well, particularly in games where United dominated possession given Eriksen’s ability to dictate the tempo.
However, while excellent on the ball, Eriksen is less effective off it. He used to be an excellent presser in Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs side but naturally after playing over 700 games for club and country his physical attributes have waned. He completed the full 90 minutes in only eight of his 28 league appearances in 2022-23.
Mount lacks Eriksen’s composure and class on the ball, but his superior running power and ability to cover spaces would make him a more effective option in Ten Hag’s engine room in matches when they have less of it.
As a No 10
Alternatively, Ten Hag could drop Fernandes into midfield and shift Mount into a No 10 position instead where he has previously flourished for Chelsea and England.
Mount tends to be praised mostly for his work-rate and defensive discipline – traits that have seen him described as a manager’s dream, and less kindly, a teacher’s pet – but that has meant his attacking qualities have often been overlooked.
Removing his annus horribilis from the equation, Mount was one of the Premier League’s most efficient creators in recent campaigns: from the start of 2020-21 to the end of 2021-22 he created 145 chances, a total bettered by only four players.
He was also one of only three players (along with Liverpool’s Mo Salah and West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen) to reach double figures for both goals and assists in the 2021-22 Premier League campaign, with 11 goals and 10 assists.
As one of two No 8s
Ten Hag has favoured 4-2-3-1 in his last two seasons but prior to that he usually set his Ajax side up in a 4-3-3 which featured two box-to-box players who could also create and score goals, including United’s forgotten man Donny van de Beek.
United resembled that shape at times last season when Fernandes dropped in from attacking midfield alongside Casemiro and Eriksen, and given Mount’s qualities in and out of possession, it is a role he is well capable of playing.
In the right channel
United have a good thing going on the left wing. With Luke Shaw galloping forward on the overlap, Marcus Rashford cutting in from the touchline and Fernandes gravitating towards that side, it has become a hotbed of creativity.
That hasn’t been replicated on the right, however, which has made United slightly imbalanced and predictable. Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s attacking deficiencies are well-documented, Diogo Dalot’s output isn’t much better, and Antony’s end product was inconsistent during his debut season in English football.
Incorporating a player of Mount’s intuition and imagination on that side could help to unlock doors previously left unopen and make United a more varied attacking threat.
Mount was frequently deployed on the right wing under Thomas Tuchel, but used centrally rather than out wide to create space for Reece James to attack from wing-back. Depending on the formation used, Mount could play in conjunction with or in place of Antony from that area of the pitch.
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It was with a backheel in Sheffield that Alessia Russo confirmed herself as heir apparent to Ellen White, the answer to the Lionesses’ soul-searching over how they would eventually replace their record goalscorer.
White’s successor is expected to lead the line at this summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, with England signing off with one last outing against Portugal at Stadium MK this weekend.
A friendly it may be but it has become a surprisingly weighty moment for Russo. Since Euro 2022 and White’s retirement, she would have felt totally assured of her place as one of Sarina Wiegman’s first names on the teamsheet – not least because she was the standout traditional centre-forward in the England group.
Chloe Kelly, Lauren James, Lauren Hemp and Katie Robinson will compete on the flanks, but Russo has had no real reason to prove her merits or fight for her place.
Her Manchester United form has backed that up too. Only four Women’s Super League players bettered her for goals per 90 minutes in the 2022-23 season, her tally of 10 attracting two January bids from Arsenal.
The Gunners were prepared to break the world record fee of £400,000 set by Keira Walsh’s move to Barcelona last summer – now they are on the verge of signing her for free as Russo leads a mass exodus at United.
To Red Devils boss Marc Skinner, Russo may prove to be irreplaceable. England, meanwhile, are better stocked.
Rachel Daly’s move from Euros left-back to her preferred role of striker – where she played for Houston Dash before joining Aston Villa – saw her win the WSL Golden Boot. That success became impossible for Wiegman to ignore, though her decision to play up front for the national side has cost her the small matter of her starting place.
Alongside Russo and Daly, Beth England has also been recalled for the World Cup, a measure of the 12 goals scored since joining Tottenham from Chelsea in January. A move not without its risks – she came close to swapping title glory for relegation – but it was unquestionably the right decision. England almost single-handedly kept Spurs up, arguably just as great a feat than lifting another trophy under Emma Hayes.
Displacing Russo for the national side will take some doing but England has defied the odds to get here in the first place. Wiegman rarely backtracks but has made an exception for the previously sidelined forward.
Amazingly, even with Fran Kirby and Beth Mead missing the World Cup, Wiegman is a fair way short of a crisis. Leah Williamson’s absence at centre-back is grave; Mead and Kirby are more easily replaced and Wiegman’s big conundrum is squeezing seven into three.
Russo admits the long months of transfer speculation, which began in earnest last summer, have taken their toll. The 24-year-old is relieved to be in an environment where “all your focus is on England” – and with Daly and England breathing down her neck, perhaps it is just as well.
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Aston Villa owner V Sports has been forced to reduce its stake in Vitoria de Guimaraes so that the two clubs are able to play in the Europa Conference League in the upcoming season.
The governing body’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) has been analysing the case of Villa and Portuguese Primeira Liga side Vitoria de Guimaraes, who share the same owners, as well as Brighton and Hove Albion and Belgian club Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, both owned by Tony Bloom and both due to compete in the Europa League.
Premier League owners and executives are eagerly awaiting the outcome of the talks. Current Uefa rules allow clubs to share the same owners but do not permit them to compete in the same competition.
Any softening of the regulations – hinted at previously by Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin – would give Premier League owners confidence to press ahead with buying clubs across the continent.
But a toughening or reinforcement of Uefa’s existing stance could cause smaller clubs to reconsider agreeing to takeovers that place them beneath more lucrative Premier League clubs.
Under Uefa’s current rules, the lower-ranked side is disqualified from the competition, so if Chelsea and Strasbourg qualified for the Champions League in the same season the French side would not be permitted to compete in it.
An outcome was expected to be announced on Friday but i has been told that it is now likely to arrive next week, presumably allowing clubs time to make changes to ownership structures to keep within the rules.
Villa owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens had bought a 46 per cent stake in Vitoria de Guimaraes via V Sports back in February but decreased it and removed members of V Sports from the Portuguese club’s board following i’s revelations.
Tony Bloom owns Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise (above) as well as Brighton (Photo: Getty)
Aston Villa said in a statement: “V Sports has today announced that it has reduced its stake in Vitoria Sport Clube – Futebol, SAD to 29 per cent by transferring shares equaling 17 per cent of the club’s total equity back to Vitoria SC.
“It also no longer has any representation on the board of directors of Vitoria Sport Clube – Futebol, SAD in order to comply with all Uefa regulations and ensure the independence of both Vitoria Sport Clube – Futebol, SAD and Aston Villa FC.”
Brighton owner Bloom and Alex Muzio, now president of Union SG, scrutinised Uefa’s multi-club ownership rules in 2018, when the takeover of the Belgian Pro League was agreed, and have been adamant they comply.
“Before Tony and I invested in this club, we looked into that, looked at all the Uefa rules,” Muzio told Belgian broadcaster Sporza in March. “We also talked to them then and in our opinion there is no problem. It’s just that Uefa only shoots into action when it’s effectively there.
“Otherwise they have to do that for maybe 50 clubs, because there are more investors who own multiple clubs.”
This is not the first case of multi-club ownership proving problematic for Uefa, although it is the first time English clubs and their associated clubs in other countries have triggered the governing body’s CFCB to analyse the ownership structures.
In 2017, Uefa investigated Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig after they qualified for the Champions League due to their links to the energy drink giant.
The German and Austrian clubs were only permitted to play in the competition after they underwent “several important governance and structural changes made by the clubs [regarding corporate matters, financing, personnel, sponsorship arrangements, etc.]”, Uefa said in a statement.
Once the changes had been made “the CFCB deemed that no individual or legal entity had anymore a decisive influence over more than one club participating in a Uefa club competition”.
The third pair of clubs the CFCB discussed last week was Italian side AC Milan and French club Toulouse, both owned by RedBird Capital Partners. A potential conflict could arise if AC Milan finished third in their Champions League group and dropped into the Europa League, where Toulouse are set to compete.
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The Premier League and EFL have been locked in lengthy talks regarding how much and how more of the top-flight’s billions of pounds in revenue can be shared with lower-division clubs but they are yet to find a resolution.
There remains regular dialogue between the Premier League, the EFL and the Football Association on the subject and the stakeholders are keen to ensure a robust new distribution system is in place. Sources insist that it is a complex process and that a lot of work is going into getting the mechanics right.
The EFL is pushing for Premier League and lower-division TV revenues to be pooled together and split at a certain percentage, with cost controls put in place to ensure the funding is not spent only on transfers and wages, exacerbating existing problems, and parachute payments stopped altogether.
EFL clubs see these negotiations as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address systemic financial issues in the game and that closing the £4bn revenue gap between the Premier League and the entire EFL is crucial to protecting the future of English football.
Some in football are unsure if the game’s stakeholders can reach an agreement and feel government intervention by way of an independent regulator will be necessary.
“It’s in the best interests of all involved to get this sorted quickly,” Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said. “If the stalemate continues, the Government should step in to ensure the planned independent regulator is in place with the legal powers to impose a deal to safeguard clubs for the future and ensure the long-term financial stability of the national game.
“Unless the football authorities get their act together soon on agreeing a fairer share of revenue down the pyramid, we risk more clubs collapsing, with the devastating impact that can have on communities.”
EFL chairman Rick Parry has been calling for several years to abolish the parachute payment system – whereby clubs relegated from the Premier League are handed tens of millions of pounds for up to three years – which he described as “an evil that needs to be eradicated”. But the parties have been unable to reach an agreement on the details of a new distribution model.
A new report, conducted by the CMS Committee, on football governance has recommended that an independent regulator for English football be set up by the end of the year in “shadow form”, meaning it can start preparatory work while it awaits legalisation to grant it powers.
The report calls for the UK Government to ensure legislation required to give the regulator statutory powers are included in the King’s Speech – due this autumn – and that legislation is passed in the present Parliament.
However, the process could be accelerated should the Premier League and EFL fail to come to an agreement on the distribution of money throughout the pyramid, the report warns, with recommendations that the Government ensures the regulator has the legal powers to impose a deal on English football’s leagues.
The CMS Committee is also pressing for football’s new independent regulator to have powers to enforce change in other areas it believes the game’s current stakeholders are failing to adequately govern.
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The deal includes £5m in potential add-ons based on appearances and the team achieving success which could take it up to £60m.
Mount, who was heading into the final year of his contract at Stamford Bridge, will sign a five-year contract when he returns from holiday next week with the option of a sixth year.
Both clubs will feel they have got a good deal, with United having paid under Chelsea’s original £65m asking price and the Blues having moved on another high value player. They needed to sell players before 30 June to ease financial fair play concerns after an unprecedented £600m transfer spend in the first two transfer windows of the Todd Boelhy era.
The Mount deal is a breakthrough for Ten Hag, who has identified the 24-year-old as a player who can bring dynamism and intelligence to the United engine room.
Ten Hag has been a long-term fan of Mount, having witnessed his loan spell at Vitesse Arnhem in 2018 and tried to sign him the following year.
But it also represents the end of a long association with Chelsea for Mount, who joined the club when he was six and had originally wanted to remain at Stamford Bridge.
As i revealed in May 2022, Chelsea initiated talks with Mount over a new long-term deal but the two parties could not find an agreement. Talks were shelved in the spring and United subsequently rivalled Liverpool for his signature.
The next priority for the Red Devils is to resolve David de Gea’s future before moving on to the striker the club desperately needs.
De Gea is out of contract on Friday and is still considering a revised deal put to him by the club. United have begun negotiations with Andre Onana, the Inter Milan goalkeeper, as they prepare for life after the long-serving Spaniard.
Of all the places you’d expect to find a professional footballer during the off-season, on stage at a music festival isn’t usually one. Especially at the renowned Speakers Forum at Glastonbury.
But that’s where Wycombe Wanderers‘ winger David Wheeler was last Saturday, joining a panel that included Hearts and New Zealand Women’s player Katie Rood and Elliot Arthur-Worsop, founder of the environmental sustainability charity Football for Future, to discuss how the sport can improve its efforts to help tackle the climate crisis.
The 32-year-old has been outspoken on the climate, as well as other issues including politics and mental health during his career, and was appointed the Professional Footballers’ Association‘s first-ever sustainability champion in February after aligning himself with a variety of environmental organisations in recent years.
Although Wheeler is accustomed to playing in front of thousands of fans, he admitted that walking out on stage at Glastonbury “put the fear in me”.
“It was pretty scary to be honest,” Wheeler tells i. “I’ve played in front of 30-40,000 and felt much more calm than I did talking in front of a hundred or so people at Glastonbury. It’s not necessarily something that I have loads of experience of.
“A few Wycombe fans turned up because I was there but there were lots of different football shirts represented so there was lots of varied support from all over the pyramid. For as many people to turn up who could have been watching any other gig, it was a pretty good turnout.”
The talk was timely considering football, like other major sports, has faced plenty of criticism over its response to and handling of environmental issues. Last month, a Swiss regulator ruled that Fifa, football’s world governing body, had misled fans by claiming that the 2022 Qatar World Cup would be “the first carbon-neutral World Cup” in history. Fifa has been accused of “greenwashing” by campaigners.
“It has been debunked as a completely bogus claim to make,” Wheeler says. “I do think they are just paying lip service to it. It’s desirable from a PR perspective to make them look good but I don’t think that the majority of people in power are actually in any way interested in pursuing it from a more ethical standpoint.
“If you’re talking about the top governing bodies and big competitions, football is not only not doing its bit, it’s actually being a big player in making the situation worse.
“By expanding competitions like the World Cup and the Club World Cup and putting those competitions over continents let alone countries they’re not really factoring sustainability into their thinking in any way.”
The expansion of the men’s World Cup (from 32 teams to 48 in 2026), the Club World Cup (from seven clubs to 32 in 2025), and the UefaChampions League (from 32 teams to 36 from 2024-25) invariably means more fixtures and more travel. And more money for those overseeing the sport.
Individual clubs have also faced a mounting backlash for using private jets to travel to and from other parts of the country for matches. In March, the BBC revealed that top-flight clubs made short-haul flights in 81 out of 100 games sampled.
Liverpool‘s 33-minute flight back from Newcastle was one of the trips mentioned in the BBC investigation and caused controversy given the duration of the journey. The club were reportedly unhappy at the criticism and felt they had no choice but to use that mode of transport given their bloated fixture list.
And while Wheeler admits that the number of domestic flights being taken is “unreasonable” he has a degree of sympathy for clubs.
“The fixture congestion, especially for the lads at the top level playing in Europe and internationally, is getting ridiculous,” he says. “There’s just no way that you can recover properly between games unless you’re really slashing your travelling time. So I have empathy for that from a competitive point of view but that’s something for the Premier League, the EFL, Uefa, and Fifa to discuss.
“I think the other thing is the public transport system in this country is severely lacking. If more investment was put into the rail network to make it cheaper, more efficient, more reliable, and more regular, then I think it would be much more feasible to travel by train.”
In the meantime, Wheeler is looking to help the PFA better inform its members about environmental issues with the formation of an education programme and a player working group at the top of their priority list.
Gradually, some players are approaching the PFA to find out more about the climate emergency.
“There are plenty of women’s footballers who have come forward and said that they are interested, a decent amount more than in the men’s game which is not massively surprising, to be honest. It’s one of those things, you get a trickle at the start and hopefully more and more come through.”
While major organisations may be lacking, individual clubs are taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint. Wycombe’s players and staff have swapped “gas-guzzling cars” for greener alternatives after signing up to the EV Salary Sacrifice Scheme which gives employees access to electric vehicles.
With the start of the League One season just over a month away, Wheeler didn’t stick around for Sir Elton John‘s closing performance on Sunday night, instead leaving the campsite to rejoin his family on holiday before preparations for 2023-24 ramp up.
But not without squeezing in Lewis Capaldi’s set on the Pyramid Stage on his way out.
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The Hammers have been in negotiations with the Gunners over the British record transfer of Declan Rice but business between the two clubs might not be over.
The French club had investigated turning the loan into a permanent deal during last season but there was no clause included in the agreement struck last summer to facilitate that and he has returned to his parent club.
He scored six times and enjoyed his most productive season as an attacking force as boss Igor Tudor said at one point that he was “good enough to play for Barcelona“.
But there were also reports that he was disciplined and dropped for not trying hard enough in training.
He is currently with Portugal’s richly talented U21 side as they participate in the Euros in Romania and Georgia – and West Ham will get the chance to see him up against England’s best on Sunday.
Tavares played all three group games and is well thought of in the national team set-up.
The player is keen to stay in England if possible. i understands the Hammers are the club who have shown the most interest in Tavares but there has been been contact with other Premier League sides. Turkish Super Lig side Galatasaray are also keen.
A fee of £8m has been mooted, even though Tavares has two years left on his contract.
West Ham are in the market for a left-back to challenge Aaron Cresswell, who played 38 times last season and is in the final year of his contract.
What Rice brings to Arsenal’s midfield
Rice will be expected to fill Thomas Partey’s shoes at the base of the Arsenal midfield (Photo: Getty)
By Kat Lucas
The incoming West Ham legend – and he will be remembered as such after bowing out – steps in neatly to compensate for Arteta losing Thomas Partey’s defensive solidity.
Rice made more interceptions than any other Premier League player last season (63) and made 78 tackles (with a success rate of 81 per cent – up from 66 per cent in the previous campaign).
A necessary aid to this Arsenal side’s shape without the ball and with it, no one in England’s top flight won possession as many times as him (334). Since 2017-18, his pass completion has not fallen below 86 per cent over a whole campaign.
That speaks of his evolution from a right-sided centre-back as a youngster. Indeed a move of this significance might well have happened sooner in his career had he not taken so long to shake off that notion of a defender experimenting in midfield in his early years.
At 24 years of age, his attacking output has improved too. Four goals and two assists in 2022-23 was his career best tally even as West Ham struggled domestically. The midfielder was by far their standout performer and was Gareth Southgate’s first choice at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, averaging more passes per game than any other England midfielder.
Exactly how he operates as a deep-lying playmaker could depend on the personnel around him, with Arteta expected to maintain a 4-3-3 system. Jorginho has announced he will stay despite speculation linking him with a transfer away just five months after his arrival, but Mohamed Elneny and Albert Sambi Lokonga are among a long list who could be move on.
Read Kat’s full analysis on Arsenal’s new signing here
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Declan Rice‘s record-breaking transfer to Arsenal could be completed as early as Thursday with the finer details of the deal being ironed out.
West Ham and Arsenal have agreed on a fee totalling £105m – £100m with £5m in add-ons – which will make Rice the most expensive British player ever.
The process has reached its final stages with only minor agreements still to be confirmed. West Ham want the £100m paid over a shorter space of time than Arsenal have proposed.
Rice is set to undergo a medical at the north London club and it is hoped the transfer, the negotiations for which have stretched on for several months, will be completed this week at the latest.
Arsenal had to see off a late attempt by Manchester City to sign the 24-year-old. Pep Guardiola is seeking a replacement for Ilkay Gundogan, who left for Barcelona, but turned to alternative targets when Arsenal offered upwards of £100m.
City had a bid of around £90m rejected by West Ham and the auction helped drive up Rice’s fee to nearer West Ham’s valuation.
A breakthrough between West Ham and Arsenal came on Wednesday evening and the move is now close to completion.
It will make Rice the most expensive British player ever, although he could be usurped by England team-mate Jude Bellingham. The initial fee Real Madrid paid Borussia Dortmund for the teenager was around £88m but the deal is said to include add-ons that could reach £115m.
Rice and the addition of Kai Havertz, signed from Chelsea for £65m this week, signify a major outlay for Arsenal as the club look to capitalise on a strong season under Mikel Arteta in which they led the Premier League for much of the campaign until they fell away at the end.
With spending power increased following qualification for the Champions League, Arsenal have tied down a number of young players to longterm contracts, including Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, and are now landing major transfer targets.
What Rice brings to Arsenal’s midfield
Rice will be expected to fill Thomas Partey’s shoes at the base of the Arsenal midfield (Photo: Getty)
By Kat Lucas
The incoming West Ham legend – and he will be remembered as such after bowing out – steps in neatly to compensate for Arteta losing Thomas Partey’s defensive solidity.
Rice made more interceptions than any other Premier League player last season (63) and made 78 tackles (with a success rate of 81 per cent – up from 66 per cent in the previous campaign).
A necessary aid to this Arsenal side’s shape without the ball and with it, no one in England’s top flight won possession as many times as him (334). Since 2017-18, his pass completion has not fallen below 86 per cent over a whole campaign.
That speaks of his evolution from a right-sided centre-back as a youngster. Indeed a move of this significance might well have happened sooner in his career had he not taken so long to shake off that notion of a defender experimenting in midfield in his early years.
At 24 years of age, his attacking output has improved too. Four goals and two assists in 2022-23 was his career best tally even as West Ham struggled domestically. The midfielder was by far their standout performer and was Gareth Southgate’s first choice at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, averaging more passes per game than any other England midfielder.
Exactly how he operates as a deep-lying playmaker could depend on the personnel around him, with Arteta expected to maintain a 4-3-3 system. Jorginho has announced he will stay despite speculation linking him with a transfer away just five months after his arrival, but Mohamed Elneny and Albert Sambi Lokonga are among a long list who could be move on.
Read Kat’s full analysis on Arsenal’s new signing here
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While goalscoring wasn’t a major issue for Spurs last season – they managed 70 in the league, a total bettered by only four clubs – they have badly missed a player of Eriksen’s guile, class and craft ever since the Dane moved to Inter Milan in January 2020. They have effectively played without a typical playmaker in the post-Eriksen era. From central midfield, at least.
Harry Kane morphed into a “nine-and-a-half” during Jose Mourinho‘s spell in charge, becoming renowned as much for his creative qualities as his goalscoring prowess: Kane topped the Premier League’s assist charts in 2020-21 with 14 (while also scoring 23 times).
The England skipper remained Spurs’ most consistent creator under Antonio Conte, leading their assists charts again with nine in 2021-22. But in the Italian’s rigid 3-4-3 system, there was a greater onus on the wing-backs to supply ammunition, with Ivan Perisic supplanting Kane as their leading assist provider last season with eight.
But Spurs have had a distinct lack of inventiveness from central midfield for some time, with ball-winners and box-to-box runners preferred to ball-players in the team’s engine room. That much is evident when you look at who their most creative midfielders have been over the past three seasons: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (four assists in 2020-21); Rodrigo Bentancur (four in 2021-22); and Hojbjerg again (five in 2022-23).
Maddison, in comparison, registered five, eight, and nine assists in that period. Going further back in time, Maddison created more chances than any other player in the 2018-19 season.
It is clear to see why Spurs fans, who have grown increasingly frustrated by the team’s lack of bravery and ambition in possession, are so excited by Maddison’s arrival; he is purposeful, positive and an antidote to the anti-football that has been served up at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Shot-creating actions measure how often a pass, take-on (dribble) or foul won leads to a shot on goal. Last season’s top five players in that metric were: Bruno Fernandes, Kieran Trippier, Kevin De Bruyne, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka. Maddison was joint-ninth on the list despite playing for a team that finished 18th.
The 26-year-old was used in a variety of roles for Leicester, including on both flanks, but the most natural position for him in Postecoglou’s favoured 4-3-3 formation is as one of the two “free eights” in central midfield, a term that grew in prominence when Pep Guardiola utilised De Bruyne and David Silva in tandem for Manchester City.
At Celtic, Postecoglou deployed a ball-playing sitter at the base of a three-man midfield, with the players either side – Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley – granted extra license to get forward. It worked well, with Hatate registering 14 goal contributions (six goals, eight assists) and O’Riley 15 (three goals, 12 assists) as Celtic stormed to the Scottish Premiership title.
They were also effective out of possession as well, both winning plenty of tackles high up the pitch to enable Celtic to transition quickly from defence to attack. Maddison has that combative side to his game too, making 51 tackles and earning 10 yellow cards last term.
There will be occasions when the versatile Maddison is required elsewhere. Maddison started on the right wing in just under half of his 30 league appearances last season, tucking infield rather than hugging the touchline.
That could become his secondary role at Spurs, particularly if Pedro Porro establishes himself as Postecoglou’s first-choice right-back. The Spain international struggled defensively but demonstrated his attacking qualities by registering three goals and three assists in 15 matches after signing from Sporting Lisbon in January.
Spurs will hope that Kane stays and forms a productive partnership with Maddison at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next season, but if he does go it could result in a rejigging of the attack.
Son Heung-min and Richarlison are both accustomed to playing through the middle, which could lead to Maddison moving out to the left, where he was used plenty by Leicester and more recently for England.
Regardless of where Maddison plays, it is a statement signing for Spurs coming swiftly after their worst league finish in 14 years. And significantly it hints that the club is finally looking to recapture its lost “DNA”, two years on from Levy’s infamous promise that Spurs would play “free-flowing, attacking and entertaining” football.
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That Pep Guardiola is willing to retreat from a £105m battle for Declan Rice’s signature suggests he is still confident of beating Mikel Arteta in the longer war of the 2023-24 title race.
Arsenal are now in pole position to sign the West Ham midfielder after Manchester City withdrew their interest. With Mateo Kovacic having replaced the outgoing Ilkay Gundogan and amidst hope that Rodri will stay in spite of interest from Barcelona, Guardiola’s need was never so great as Arteta’s.
Yet the north Londoners are on the verge of fixing a long-standing issue that risked deepening with the imminent departures of Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey.
Arteta did his best to turn Xhaka into a box-to-box midfielder, with some – though not total – success. The Swiss midfielder’s Arsenal career was salvaged to such an extent that he now heads for Bayer Leverkusen the subject of redemptive praise, not ire, as was once the case in his strained relationship with the club’s fans. Partey, meanwhile, is believed to be attracting interest from Italy and Saudi Arabia.
Replacing Partey is the bigger ask for Rice, not least because he was perhaps the Arsenal midfielder with the most defined role. The incoming West Ham legend – and he will be remembered as such after bowing out – steps in neatly to compensate for Arteta losing Partey’s defensive solidity.
Rice made more interceptions than any other Premier League player last season (63) and made 78 tackles (with a success rate of 81 per cent – up from 66 per cent in the previous campaign).
A necessary aid to this Arsenal side’s shape without the ball and with it, no one in England’s top flight won possession as many times as him (334). Since 2017-18, his pass completion has not fallen below 86 per cent over a whole campaign.
That speaks of his evolution from a right-sided centre-back as a youngster. Indeed a move of this significance might well have happened sooner in his career had he not taken so long to shake off that notion of a defender experimenting in midfield in his early years.
At 24 years of age, his attacking output has improved too. Four goals and two assists in 2022-23 was his career best tally even as West Ham struggled domestically. The midfielder was by far their standout performer and was Gareth Southgate’s first choice at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, averaging more passes per game than any other England midfielder.
Exactly how he operates as a deep-lying playmaker could depend on the personnel around him, with Arteta expected to maintain a 4-3-3 system. Jorginho has announced he will stay despite speculation linking him with a transfer away just five months after his arrival, but Mohamed Elneny and Albert Sambi Lokonga are among a long list who could be move on.
Romeo Lavia has also been targeted, the 19-year-old Southampton midfielder who models himself on Fernandinho, but with Liverpool and Newcastle also monitoring the teenager Arsenal are thought to be reluctant to engage in a bidding war. Rice will take up a not inconsiderable amount of their summer budget as he prepares to become the most expensive British footballer of all time.
Arsenal are happy to sanction that in the hope he can single-handedly transform their midfield.
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Uefa has officially closed the amortisation loophole that Chelsea owner Todd Boehly exploited to spend vast sums on transfers while remaining within the limits of financial regulations.
Boehly’s clever accounting tactic involved offering long contracts to new signings, enabling the club to spread the cost of the transfer over the length of the contract, as previously permitted in Uefa’s rules.
The £88m cost of signing Mykhailo Mudryk could therefore be split over his eight-and-a-half year contract meaning only £10.35m had to be registered as expenditure in the club’s accounts each year.
The American billionaire has overseen transfer expenditure of more than half a billion pounds since he took over at the west London club last year and the old amortisation rules aided the process.
Uefa, however, has moved to stop the practise in order to “improve financial sustainability” in the game. On Wednesday the governing body’s decision-making Executive Committee met at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, and agreed to amend the existing amortisation accounting regulations.
The new rules come into effect on 1 July and do not affect transfers that took place prior to the amendment. Under the changes, clubs are still permitted to sign players on long-term contracts but can only spread the cost of the transfer across a maximum of five years.
Why amortisation is a ‘clever but risky’ move
Chelsea have spent over £600m since the Boehly-led takeover (Photo: AP)
By Mark Douglas
Speaking in the wake of Mudryk’s move to Chelsea in January, football finance expert Kieran Maguire explained how amortisation is a clever but risky manoeuvre.
“It is the difference between buying one player on a big contract or bringing in two or three,” Maguire said. Chelsea are committing substantial wage packages on players they will be “stuck with” if they fail to perform.
“It’s a substantial investment in their potential but also the club’s ability to maximise that potential.
“It protects Chelsea if the player does well and Real Madrid start sniffing around them but they risk being stuck with them if it doesn’t work out. We all remember Winston Bogarde sitting on a long contract but never playing.”
Chelsea’s recent success means they always had the capacity to spend big when Clearlake took over.
Uefa’s new rules, introduced next season, limit club spending to 70 per cent of revenue. They are only allowed permitted losses of just under £50m over a three-year period but Chelsea’s most recent losses over a three-year period were just £5m.
“They had plenty of room to work in because Todd Boehly bought a successful club,” Maguire said.
“Chelsea won the Champions League in 2021 and the European Super Cup. That’s £119m in additional revenue, along with the sales of Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham, which brought in £70m.”
“For FFP and accounting reasons, [player trading] is key,” Maguire says.
“If you sell a player, profits are calculated in the accounts immediately but if you buy a player it’s calculated over the length of their contract.”
In order to comply with financial regulations, Chelsea have been offloading a vast number of players this summer. N’Golo Kante, Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly and Hakim Ziyech have all either left or agreed to join Saudi Pro League sides.
The club are locked in talks with Manchester United over a deal for Mason Mount, who has one year remaining on his contract. United do not want to increase their offer above £55m and are hoping to reach an agreement with Chelsea this week.
Inter Milan are interested in Romelu Lukaku, while AC Milan are expected to sign Ruben Loftus-Cheek and are exploring a deal for Christian Pulisic.
Uefa said: “The amortisation of the player’s registration will be limited to five years in order to ensure equal treatment of all clubs and improve financial sustainability. In case of contract extension, the amortisation can be spread over the extended contract period but up to a maximum of five years from the date of the extension.
“Such a change will not restrict the way in which clubs operate (i.e. clubs that are allowed by their national governing bodies to conclude player contracts for a period exceeding five years can continue to do so) and will not apply retroactively to transfer operations that have already taken place.”
Uefa has also acted to try to prevent clubs inflating transfer fees in “swap” deals, whereby a player is included in a deal to sign a player from another club.
Uefa’s statement added: “With regard to the player exchange transactions, the regulation specifies that it is the responsibility of the clubs to assess whether a transfer operation should be qualified as a swap, in which case it shall be accounted for in line with the international accounting standards. This approach aims at dissuading that transfer operations take place with the sole intent to artificially inflate transfer profits rather than for sporting purposes.
“It is now required that clubs’ auditors confirm the correct application of the described accounting requirements and report any discrepancy should this not be the case.”
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The path has been cleared for Declan Rice to seal his preferred move to Arsenal after Manchester City dropped out of the intensifying bidding war for the West Ham captain.
The Gunners have seen their latest £105m offer rejected despite meeting the valuation placed on the England midfielder. The proposal consists of a £100m fee with £5m of add-ons and comes after two low initial offers were rejected.
But despite that, a British record deal could yet be sealed before the end of the week.
West Ham are understood to want a different payment structure – with faster payments rather than Arsenal’s proposal for it to stretch over a number of years – so they can replace Rice with a high-quality midfielder in this transfer window.
The Hammers are willing to negotiate further and Arsenal are the last club left in the race after City communicated that they would not be meeting Arsenal’s offer. Further talks are set to take place on Wednesday with optimism now building that a deal can be struck before the weekend.
City’s decision not to pursue their initial interest will come as a surprise but is in line with the club’s approach to recruitment, where they have often walked away from bidding wars and will not over pay for targets.
Their £80m bid was rejected by West Ham earlier this week and despite Pep Guardiola’s interest in Rice City’s footballing hierarchy are unwilling to go above their valuation of the player.
The preference of the player to move to the Emirates may also have been a factor in their thinking.
i understands that Rice has always been sold on a move to Arsenal, with Mikel Arteta having sold him a detailed vision of how he would fit into the club’s project moving forward.
And it looks likely that he will get his wish if West Ham and Arsenal can thrash out the final details of a transfer which all parties want to be concluded as soon as possible.
The Gunners are moving to strengthen a squad that finished second last season with moves for Kai Havertz, whose switch from Chelsea is set to be announced in the next 24 hours, and Ajax defender Jurrien Timber.
The club illustrated after missing out on Harry Kane that they are happy to wait for their preferred targets, eventually landing Erling Haaland a year later.
City have enough midfielders to plug the gap left by Ilkay Gundogan, with Mateo Kovacic signing, and there is a hope that Kalvin Phillips will bounce back from a disappointing first season.
