But Thomas Tuchel confirmed the England captain will miss Bayern Munich’s final game of the Bundesliga season against Hoffenheim due to a back problem.
With Gareth Southgate announcing his provisional Euros squad on Tuesday and the start of the tournament less than a month away, this is a real concern for everyone connected to England.
Here’s what we know about Kane’s injury so far and how England could line up without him in Germany this summer.
What we know about Harry Kane’s injury so far
Kane missed Bayern’s final game of the season – a 4-2 defeat to Hoffenheim – with an ongoing back complaint.
Before the game, Tuchel said: “Harry is receiving treatment with his personal doctor – he’s no longer here and won’t travel to Hoffenheim.
“It was really a borderline decision in Madrid. We tried it with treatment and it got worse with every move that he made, so there was no chance for him participating in practice.”
Kane has not played since the 2-1 Champions League defeat to Real Madrid on 8 May and was not included in the squad for either of Bayern’s final two Bundesliga games.
This means his back problem has lasted at least 10 days already, with the news it is exacerbated by exercise not a positive one for Southgate.
Back injuries can massively vary in severity, from muscle tweaks to stress fractures and slipped disks.
We are unlikely to have a firm timeframe for his injury and any potential absence until he has been properly assessed by the personal doctor he has returned to England to see.
Will Harry Kane be fit for Euro 2024?
Unless it transpires Kane is carrying an incredibly serious injury in the next 48 hours, he will certainly be included in Southgate’s preliminary training squad, to be announced next Tuesday.
Uefa’s deadline to confirm the final 26-man squad is not until Friday 7 June, which gives Kane another three weeks to recover in time to travel to Germany.
Alongside this, a lot of back injuries are manageable with muscle injections and painkillers, which may allow him to get through much of the tournament even if not at 100 per cent fitness.
How England could line up without Harry Kane at Euro 2024
It’s not something any England fan particularly wants to think about, but there has to be some sort of plan if Kane is to miss even one game of the Euros.
The most obvious way of replacing him would be a like-for-like, using Ollie Watkins or Ivan Toney in the No 9 spot.
Watkins is a different type of striker to Kane but has 19 Premier League goals and 13 assists this season. His ability to run the channels would also be hugely helpful in creating space for Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham to operate in, something Kane does not naturally excel at.
Another possibility would be playing without a striker altogether and asking Bellingham to reprise the false nine role he has executed so successfully at Real Madrid this season.
Currently the joint-second top scorer in La Liga, Bellingham has helped take Madrid to the league title and Champions League final flanked by Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.
Using Foden or Anthony Gordon from the left and Bukayo Saka from the right, Southgate could attempt to recreate this system with England.
But this may well expose the lack of midfield depth, with Declan Rice the only guaranteed starter in central midfield as it stands.
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This will be Jurgen Klopp’s final Anfield farewell after a seemingly interminable series of farewells since he announced his departure in February.
We’ve had a farewell concert, a farewell press conference and a farewell Carabao Cup win, but this really is goodbye.
There’s nothing on the line for either side in this game, but expect tears nonetheless as a true Liverpool great walks away in front of fans who have paid thousands to be there.
For anyone undecided as to which game of the 10 available to start watching, make sure you tune in for the pre-match festivities on Merseyside.
A win here would take them joint-fifth alongside Peter Reid, Howard Wilkinson and Mick McCarthy’s Sunderland side. These are the real elites.
Spurs will consider this about the easiest possible final-day tie, but they need to guard against complacency to avoid potentially slipping out of the Europa League spots.
Chelsea are the only side able to usurp Ange Postecoglou’s men to fifth, but as Manchester United still have the FA Cup final to play, meaning whichever side finishes sixth could still be condemned to the Europa Conference League.
Luton vs Fulham
While this will inevitably end in tears, it could still be fun for a bit. Luton Town need a 12-goal and three-point swing on Nottingham Forest to avoid relegation. Expect them to go hell for leather to try and manage it.
Of course they won’t, but Rob Edwards’ side have been a fun addition to the Premier League, outperforming their preordained novelty status and being badly impacted by the uncertainty of points deductions and appeals elsewhere.
Brighton vs Man Utd
The build-up to this has been overshadowed by managerial drama – the confirmed departure of one and potential exit of another.
Brighton’s shock announcement that Roberto De Zerbi will leave after this game should be the big story here, but the tenuous position of his counterpart will continue to dominate the headlines.
If results don’t go Brighton’s way elsewhere and they lose to Manchester United on Sunday, they could slip from 10th to 13th, which would be a staggering decline from last season’s sixth.
But this is much more significant for United and Erik ten Hag, who need three points to give themselves a chance of qualifying for Europe through the Premier League.
Ten Hag may well be a dead man walking regardless, but this is his dress rehearsal for the FA Cup final which his future rests upon.
Man City vs West Ham
The big story here is David Moyes’s final match of his second West Ham stint, having provided their first European trophy since 1965 and reached the Europa League semi-final.
Or, if you really want a deep cut on this one, Manchester City could also win their fourth consecutive title and Erling Haaland will win his second Golden Boot. But only die-hard City fans are likely to care about either of those.
You can guarantee there’s nothing Sean Dyche would enjoy more than beating Arsenal at the Emirates to extinguish any faint remaining title hopes they may have.
The Gunners have won their last 12 final-day games in a row and the most of any Premier League side (22), while no side have lost on the final day more often than Everton (14).
An Arsenal win would extend their already-club record 27 Premier League wins this season and take them to 89 points, their second-highest total ever. It could also take them to their first title in 20 years if City slip up against West Ham.
Brentford vs Newcastle
For Newcastle, this is all about securing European qualification for a second consecutive season, which not even a win will guarantee due to Manchester United’s upcoming FA Cup final.
But the Magpies have lost four of their past six away games in the league, and they have one of the poorest records on the road of any Premier League side this season.
Brentford know this game is almost certainly Ivan Toney’s last in red and white, while it could be Thomas Frank’s farewell too if reports linking him to Old Trafford are true. Frank has currently won 99 games as Brentford manager – this could make it a round 100.
Palace haven’t finished as high as 10th since 2014-15, but victory on the final day could take them back into the top half if Brighton and Bournemouth fail to win their games.
Palace are unbeaten in their last six games, having beaten Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle in that period, and they have never lost their final game of a Premier League season while at home.
Meanwhile, Villa guaranteed a Champions League spot on Tuesday after Spurs’ defeat and were filmed celebrating on Wednesday, which may well have spilled into the rest of the week.
Given Villa have nothing riding on this game, expect a relaxed showing which could break their 10-game unbeaten streak in London under Unai Emery.
Burnley vs Nottingham Forest
This game flirted with great significance but is now effectively meaningless, just a chance for Burnley to leave the top flight with a bang. So long as they do not concede double-digit goals, Forest will survive into their third Premier League season despite a four-point deduction this year.
But expect goals at Turf Moor nonetheless – Forest have kept just one clean sheet in their past 26 league games, while Burnley have conceded in 19 in a row.
Chelsea’s disaster season has been ending on a high. They’ve now won their past four games and are unbeaten in five, which has taken them to sixth in the table.
A final-day win for the Blues will guarantee a sixth-placed finish and could take them to fifth if Spurs slip up.
It would also be the first time they have won five consecutive league games since March 2022, while a goal for Cole Palmer would give him the most home league goals in a single season of any Chelsea player in the Premier League era.
Bournemouth have already broken their record Premier League points tally, but do not expect them to extend that – they have picked up just two points against sides currently in the top six this season.
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He guided the club to sixth in the Premier League last season, before overseeing a run to the Europa League last 16 earlier this year.
As was the case when De Zerbi replaced Graham Potter, Brighton have always prided themselves on the thoroughness of their succession planning.
They will have their potential replacements meticulously planned, with a flurry of names already being discussed.
Here are five of the leading candidates and how they would fit it at the Amex.
Kieran McKenna
Kieran McKenna is going to be linked with virtually every major job that comes up until he eventually leaves Ipswich.
Having taken the Tractor Boys from League One to the Premier League in two seasons, the former Manchester United coach is among the highest-rated young managers in football.
But Brighton are known to hugely admire McKenna, whose bold attacking football, penchant for developing young talent and relative youth all align with their hugely-successful principles.
His preferred 4-2-3-1 formation aligns with the set-up De Zerbi has utilised throughout this season and he has helped significantly improve Brighton loanee Jeremy Sarmiento as part of his promotion squad.
McKenna has taken a largely unchanged side from the third tier to the first, with eight players starting both their promotion-sealing matches from League One and the Championship.
This ability to improve players will be hugely desirable to Tony Bloom and Brighton, who earned record profits this season thanks to their policy of signing and developing talented South American youngsters like Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister.
It had been assumed McKenna would want at least one season in the top flight with his Ipswich side, who speak about him with an almost god-like devotion, but watching Luton, Burnley and Sheffield United’s Premier League experiences this season may encourage the 38-year-old to seek more stable ground.
He has been linked with Manchester United in recent weeks, but there is every chance he would find the less-pressurised atmosphere at Brighton significantly more appealing.
Francesco Farioli
Farioli is reportedly De Zerbi’s recommendation to replace him (Photo: Getty)
Another day, another spiky-haired young Italian head coach. Francesco Farioli has only been in charge at Nice for a season, but he has taken the Ineos-owned side from ninth to fifth in Ligue 1.
Still just 35, Nice is the Italian’s first managerial job in a top-five league after two stints in Turkey with Fatih Karagumruk and Alanyaspor.
But he started his career as a goalkeeper coach having studied philosophy and sports science at university, joining De Zerbi at Benevento in 2017 and following him to Sassuolo the following year.
Farioli reportedly comes recommended by De Zerbi, but he is far more defensive than his compatriot.
In fact, Nice have the joint-third-best defensive record across Europe’s top five leagues, with their 27 goals conceded only bettered by Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.
Yet this would not appear to align with the attack-minded philosophy and playing corps Brighton have cultivated in recent years, although Farioli did utilise a far more laissez-faire style while in Turkey.
Another potential stumbling block here is that he is currently in talks with Ajax about their vacant head coach role, although Brighton would likely be able to trump the Dutch offer if they chose to.
Ruben Amorim
Ruben Amorim already seems set to become one of those mythological footballing figures constantly linked with a Premier League move without it ever happening.
He’s been closely linked with Liverpool, West Ham and Chelsea this season alone, with his Anfield move reportedly only collapsing when the Sporting CP president doubled his asking price at the last minute.
That price – now £20m – would be a significant stumbling block in any potential move to Brighton, but a lot about this potential deal still makes sense.
Amorim clearly wants to leave Sporting, having just won his second Primeira Liga title, with a cup final against Porto still to come.
And from Brighton’s side, Amorim has been remarkably successful with Sporting, turning perennial nearly-men into two-time champions and taking them to the Champions League knockout stage.
His trademark 3-4-3 can be scintillating at best, having scored 94 league goals this season from 34 games.
He has also overseen repeated regenerations of this Sporting side, with key players sold off year-on-year with limited impact to playing style or results.
For a side like Brighton, based on a selling model, this makes the Portuguese very appealing.
Russell Martin
There’s a real trend here – all the options so far are under 40.
Russell Martin has just helped guide Southampton to the Championship play-off final, and he would be significantly less likely to take this job if his Saints side beat Leeds to promotion.
But he is highly-rated despite his lack of real success so far, not managing to finish above 10th in the league with any side before this season.
Despite starting studying for his coaching badges at 22, Martin’s first job was with MK Dons in 2019, where he was praised for implementing the possession-based style he has subsequently taken to Swansea and Southampton.
This philosophy would align with the Brighton way and his lack of Premier League experience would likely not be an issue for the Seagulls, who signed Potter having only managed Swansea and Leeds Carnegie in England.
Martin also was also born and grew up in Brighton and started his career in the Seagulls’ academy.
Martin recently toldi: “People talk about risk. The risk for me is only having 30 per cent of the ball and trying to do something with it and defending really close to your own goal.
“For me when I weigh it all up, what’s a bigger risk for me? Relying on my guys to have the ball near our goal while being pressed, of course, there’s an element of risk to that, but I feel like the reward outweighs that.”
Kjetil Knutsen
We know Brighton admire Bodo/ Glimt coach Kjetil Knutsen because he was among the favourites to take over when De Zerbi was hired in September 2022.
At 53, the Norwegian is an outlier on this list, but he has had huge success in the Eliteserien, winning three of the past four titles and currently leading the 2023-24 table by two points with a game in hand.
But Knutsen has never seemed desperate to leave Bodo, where he oversaw the first time any side had put six goals past a Jose Mourinho side, against Roma in 2021-22.
Yet Knutsen’s attacking philosophy is as exciting as it is impressive and there is every chance Bloom and Brighton will look seriously at him as a managerial option once again.
Other possible contenders
Hoeness has just led Stuttgart to second in the Bundesliga (Photo: Getty)
A host of other possible names have already been attached to the Brighton job, including West Brom boss Carlos Corberan, Burnley’s Vincent Kompany and former Seagulls boss Graham Potter.
Potter has been without a job since leaving Chelsea in April 2023, while Kompany’s stock has somewhat fallen this season after Burnley’s instant relegation back to the Championship.
Steve Cooper and Liam Rosenior are two interesting options who would cost nothing to bring in, although the latter is unlikely to excite the fans on the back of two mildly successful seasons with Hull.
Stuttgart boss Sebastian Hoeness has also been linked with the Brighton job, although he will likely want to remain in Germany having secured Champions League qualification and beating Bayern Munich to second spot.
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De Zerbi’s shock departure comes amid constant speculation over his future and the Seagulls’ declining form, but he leaves by mutual consent.
The Italian has been heavily linked with Bayern Munich, with the German giants confirming yesterday Thomas Tuchel will definitely not continue as head coach.
De Zerbi replaced Graham Potter in September 2022 and took Brighton to the last 16 of the Europa League this season after achieving the club’s highest-ever top-flight finish in 2022-23.
But the highest the Seagulls can manage this season is 10th, with as low as 13th still a possibility if results do not go their way on Sunday.
The majority of De Zerbi’s coaching staff – Andrea Maldera, Ricard Segarra, Marcattilio Marcattili, Vincenzo Teresa, Agostino Tibaudi, Marcello Quinto and Enrico Venturelli – will also leave the club, while Andrew Crofts and Jack Stern will remain.
Brighton owner Tony Bloom said: “Roberto has given us two excellent seasons of service in which he has led the club to new heights, not least our first ever European campaign which will live long in the memory of Albion fans.
“We have mutually agreed to end Roberto’s contract at a time that suits both parties allowing us the earliest opportunity to plan for next season, and Roberto plenty of time to consider his next move and his future.
“I am sure our fans will give Roberto and his staff a wonderful and fully deserved send off at the Amex before, during and after tomorrow’s match.
“In the meantime, I’d like to thank Roberto and his staff for all their hard work in the past two seasons. They all leave our club on good terms and with our very best wishes for the future.”
And De Zerbi said: “I am very sad to be leaving Brighton, but I am very proud of what my players and staff have achieved with the support of everyone at the club and our amazing fans in the past two historical seasons.
“We have agreed to end my time at Brighton so that the club and I can continue to work in the way that suits each of us best, following our own ideas and visions, as well as our work and human values.
“I have really enjoyed an intense and challenging two years working in the Premier League, not least competing in four major competitions this season. Leaving now provides me with time to take a break before deciding on my future plans.”
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It didn’t take Reading long to appreciate that they were on to something. Michael Olise had been called into the club’s Under-18 side, despite being just 16. And one touch was enough to persuade Mikele Leigertwood, the Royals’ academy coach, that the teenager wouldn’t be in the Reading youth set-up for long.
“It was coming to the end of the season and we heard there was a kid who had been released by a couple of clubs,” he says.
“We played him as a defensive midfielder. First thing he did was get the ball from the goalkeeper. He was under pressure but just chipped it first time over the centre-forward to the opposite centre-half with his weaker foot. I was just thinking, ‘wow, who is this kid?’”
The air of mystery has evaporated since but stopping him is just as tough now as it was then.
Olise had spent time at Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City early in his career, but it wasn’t until he arrived at Reading that his trajectory took off.
“He got a scholarship and he just went from strength to strength,” Leigertwood says.
“He was a lovely kid and loved his football. But he wanted to be challenged. Sometimes he would get frustrated when he wasn’t being challenged enough. He wouldn’t mess around, he would just get upset.
”He could play anywhere, he would play in midfield, on the wing, as a 10. But ultimately, we just wanted Michael on the ball. He was that kid who could pick the ball up from anywhere, dribble through a side and create great moments. He just jumped levels – he went from [under] 18s to 21s to first team in about 18 months.”
He then became Patrick Vieira’s first signing at Crystal Palace in July 2021, shortly after being named the EFL Young Player of the Year. Olise – who has played youth football for France but is also eligible to play for England, Algeria and Nigeria – hasn’t looked back.
And his performances this season have been extraordinary. And one former Palace star believes he could be the best thing to come out of Selhurst Park since a certain striker-turned-pundit.
“At the moment, I’d put him up there with Ian Wright and probably Wilfried Zaha too – and he’s young enough to surpass them both,” Geoff Thomas says.
“Wrighty played out wide early in his career but soon became quite physical in his style of play. Olise has a bigger stature, but his balance is incredible, he just glides past players.
“I was at the Wolves game on Saturday, and he was just different class. His control, wow. He’s a throwback in a lot of ways. I feel like he’s taking us back to the days when wingers were the players that got people out of their seats.”
Olise scores a penalty against Manchester City (Photo: Getty)
Together with Eberechi Eze, he has tormented some of the best defenders in the Premier League this season. And the questions both players are posing under Oliver Glasner have left teams floundering in their pursuit of answers.
“The stats with Olise are really telling – when he plays we win more games and when they [Eze and Olise] both play then everything goes into overdrive,” says Palace season ticket-holder, David Sturges.
“When we played Liverpool [a 1-0 Palace win last month], and they were both on the pitch we were so on top. As soon as they went off we didn’t have another shot on goal.”
The fear haunting every Palace fan is that both Olise and Eze could be persuaded that their future lies elsewhere this summer.
For Leigertwood, though, regardless of what happens next, Olise has shown that rejection as a youngster doesn’t need to have a terminal impact on your career.
“People forget how mentally strong you have to be to bounce back from being released,” he says.
“You need resilience, you need mental strength. Being a very good footballer isn’t enough. Eze has been through the same thing. They’ve both given a lot of young footballers a lot of hope.
“Michael plays the same way now as he did when he first came to us. That’s why people enjoy watching him so much. You always get the feeling something amazing is about to happen.”
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Norwich have sacked boss David Wagner less than 24 hours after the Canaries were thrashed 4-0 by Leeds in their Championship play-off semi-final second leg.
Wagner had been in charge at Carrow Road since January 2023, overseeing a 13th-place finish in 2022-23 and sixth in 2023-24.
But goals from Ilia Gruev, Joel Piroe, Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville ended Norwich’s faint hopes of promotion through the play-offs this season, leading the Canaries to decide to roll the managerial dice again this summer.
The German’s job had been under threat for some time, dating back to Norwich’s slump to 17th in November, and he is reported to have a fractured relationship with sporting director Ben Knapper.
After the final day defeat at Birmingham, Wagner praised Knapper’s predecessor Stuart Webber for his support but did not mention the current exec.
An official club statement is expected later today after Thursday night’s Elland Road battering ensured the Canaries will spend their third consecutive season in the Championship.
Norwich have been linked with Arsenal coach Carlos Cuesta as a potential replacement, while Steve Cooper and Liam Rosenior have also both been discussed.
Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones are no longer majority shareholders, with American Mark Attanasio also owning 40 per cent of the Norfolk side, making this a turbulent time at Carrow Road.
Wagner, who was Jurgen Klopp’s best man, has struggled to build on his success with Huddersfield Town, guiding them into the Premier League in 2016-17 and ensuring their survival the following season.
A dire stint at FC Schalke 04 lasted just four months as the then-Bundesliga side would go on to get relegated later that season, before he failed to win the Swiss Super League with reigning champions Young Boys.
After the Leeds defeat, Wagner said: “This is super disappointing, we were very poor and it really hurts.
“Obviously a poor performance from us, Leeds were very good. Everything which you should not do we have done. We conceded very easy avoidable goal very early.
“You never know what occasions like this make with individuals. Tonight we were poor. It was a huge one, great occasion where we were not able to come to our level unfortunately. This is one reason, the other is we have to say the truth, Leeds were very good.
“If you consider where we’ve come from last season, finished 13th, now made a step, finished in the play-offs, competitive in the first leg, absolutely not competitive in the second, against a very good Leeds side.
“Everyone has seen what they are capable of doing, with a lot of problems we have seen this season. Everyone has seen the difference tonight between Leeds and us.”
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There is a video being widely shared by Arsenal fans at the moment of Mikel Arteta in his early years as the club’s manager.
It was December 15, 2020 — almost exactly 12 months after he had been appointed — and Arsenal had not won in the Premier League for six weeks. In a catastrophic run, they had been crushed by Aston Villa, drew with Leeds United, lost to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley and a north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur.
“I accept it,” Arteta said. “You have to win football matches and this club is too big to accept this many losses in the last weeks. My chest is here, hit me, guys.”
It has resonated because it gives a glimpse into the character of the coach who has managed to transform Arsenal from perennially clinging on to the prospect of a top-four finish into serious title challengers, finishing in the top two consecutively for the first time in 20 years.
It has been a collaborative effort, between Arteta, sporting director Edu, the Kroenke family owners, executive vice-chair Tim Lewis, chief executive Vinaichandra Venkatesham, and managing director Richard Garlick. But Arteta is the public face, the person first in line when things go wrong. And with pressure mounting Arteta took all the failings on himself.
“When Arsenal were in bad form, Arteta’s message was: hit me,” says Tim Stillman, columnist for the hugely popular Arseblog and a season ticket holder since 1992.
“Not just protecting his players, it was a clear message to supporters. Look at what this guy was saying when we were crap. He knew we’d get to this point and he wasn’t making excuses.”
In fact, for a guy who several people I spoke to over the last week described invariably as “cold” and “ruthless”, who doesn’t always warm to the wider public by calling everyone mate, like Ange Postecoglou, or laughing and joking around, like Jurgen Klopp, in front of the cameras, Arteta has managed to form an extraordinarily strong connection with the people who matter the most: Arsenal’s fans.
Stillman highlights key moments that have landed well:
May 2016, the day he retired from playing as Arsenal’s captain
“For me, the standards you need to play for this club – it cannot be eight out of 10. It has to be 10 out of 10. When you cannot deliver that, it is not good enough… I thought for the last few months that I wasn’t good enough to represent this club on the pitch… For me, to play at this club, you have to be the best in your position. When you lose that, I think you should be away from this place.”
July 2020, after beating newly-crowned champions Liverpool
“You only need to look at the difference between the two teams today, the gap is enormous. The gap, in many areas, we cannot improve it in two months, but the gap between accountability, the energy, the commitment, the fight of the two teams is now equal.
“Before it was not like this, and I’m very proud of that. The rest will take some time, but at least we’ve got that now, and my message to the players is: with that we can create something.”
Arteta could have revelled in the victory, but instead used it to point out that he didn’t want Arsenal to be scraping jammy wins against a team that had already won the title — he wanted to be the team winning it.
“That was a really enthusing thing for Arsenal fans to hear,” Stillman says. “Not just that he acknowledged there was a gap, but that the effort was there.
“In his first press conference when he was unveiled he had a steely-eyed clarity. He was someone we knew, a recent player who had a real feeling for the club.”
Arteta isn’t cuddly
David Raya is Arsenal’s No 1 goalkeeper (Photo: Getty)
You only have to look at what has happened with Aaron Ramsdale to see how brutally calculating Arteta is. Chosen by Premier League players as the best goalkeeper in the top flight last season, a fantastic shot-stopper, a presence on the pitch. Ramsdale was popular in the dressing room, loved by fans.
Arteta thew a hand grenade into that harmony by signing David Raya from Brentford to replace him. Arteta initially claimed he would rotate goalkeepers, but Raya has played 40 times, Ramsdale 11 — including three games against Brentford, who Raya was not permitted to play against as he was on loan from them.
“He’s ruthless,” one person who has worked with Arteta said this week. Stillman describes it as a “coldness”. Another source said it was more “single-minded” than cold.
A man of different moods, it seems. Close to the players, but maintaining enough distance to make whatever decision he needs for the benefit of the team. Everyone agrees he’s intense.
The Ramsdale decision “was a challenge for Arsenal fans,” Stillman admits.
“We’d built a team we liked on a personal level. It was the first time we’d burned a popular player.”
“Maybe the reason it took a while for the wider public to realise how much Arsenal were improving was partly because Arteta isn’t a cuddly character.”
But, Stillman points out, Arsenal fans don’t particularly need a larger-than-life manager. “I feel real affection for Arteta but not that I’d want to go for a beer with him. I trust him to manage the team.”
There were a few noticeable things about Arsenal’s collapse in April last year that allowed Manchester City to ease away and secure the title with games to spare.
Arsenal had been blowing teams away with an attacking ferocity that had not been seen for years — the arrivals of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus unlocking a different way of playing.
But then injuries struck and they lacked depth to cover. There was, it seems, a psychological factor for a group made up mostly of players chasing a title for the first time. In another area Arteta felt they required heavier surgery.
Arsenal’s games were too open. After a while, rival managers knew where the spaces would be, and how to exploit them. The way they played without the ball was costing them: a lack of defined shape, an inability to win the ball back efficiently, to close down angles and squeeze spaces.
Declan Rice was the obvious choice. Nonetheless, there was an excitement among the fanbase, a realisation of quite how serious Arsenal were, when they not only stumped up £105m but that the midfielder chose them ahead of City.
But it is even thought the addition of Kai Havertz, an attacking midfielder slash forward, was made with Arsenal’s out-of-possession problems in mind. As was Raya. One of Arteta’s favourite things about the goalkeeper is that with his positioning he prevents attacks without people even realising.
Arteta spotted a defensive strength in Havertz and has worked hard with him, drilling into the granular details, to make him not only the centre-point of their attack but the spearhead of their defence, too. As testament, he has received more yellow cards than any Arsenal player this season.
Arteta wanted to take the jeopardy out of games with control. Not to be exactly like City, who possess a robotic precision, but similar.
Kai Havertz has been in superb form for the Gunners (Photo: Getty)
“The transformation there has been extraordinary to the point Arsenal are one of the best off-the-ball teams in the world at the moment,” Stillman says.
And if you don’t run for Arteta — in training, in matches, for the bus — you don’t play.
It all left an indelible mark on Peter Bosz, the PSV Eindhoven manager, when he realised, on watching back analysis videos of their 4-0 Champions League defeat, that Arsenal attacked and defended with all 11 players. He has since tried to emulate it with his team.
Surprise marginal gains
Arteta is a big believer in collective responsibility, a relentless purser of marginal gains, but also wants to surprise his players, to keep them thinking.
There was the time he blasted You’ll Never Walk Alone out of speakers around a training pitch ahead of playing Liverpool (they were thrashed, and it didn’t work, but that didn’t matter).
There was the time he illuminated a lightbulb in the middle of the dressing room, said that he wanted the players to connect together and shine like the bulb, that he wanted to see light and energy.
There was the time he told the players ahead of a north London derby that he and his coaches would leave the room and they were to hide coins in some of the players’ shoes. Arteta said they would be able to work out which players hid them, and the players were shocked when each one was guessed correctly.
Then Arteta told them they’d watched on CCTV. Everyone laughed. All he had wanted to do was diffuse the tension.
“Arteta and his staff have a desire to push the edges of every single thing, in every respect,” Stillman says.
“For me, particularly as someone who got quite sick at the end of the Arsene Wenger era of a team who didn’t take defending seriously, who didn’t take running seriously, who didn’t take out-of-possession play seriously, to have a manager who considers every part of the game worth every bit of effort, that’s something I’ve connected with more than anything else.”
What next?
By the end of next month, Arteta will have only one year remaining on his contract. He has already been linked to Barcelona this season, and when asked recently about it said there was no update but that he was “happy” at Arsenal. That was all he would reveal.
A cause for concern? Both sides are thought to be relaxed about the situation. For the majority of February, March and April, Arsenal were almost solidly playing weekend and midweek games, so there has been little time to discuss an extension. And there is an expectation that Arteta will sit down with the club after the season concludes to discuss fresh terms.
There seems no reason at all for a 10 out of 10 manager to step aside at a club he believes only 10 out of 10 is good enough.
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Newcastle United are prioritising “quality” signings that can lift the level of the squad over quantity in the summer transfer window, i understands.
But the need to player trade means outgoings will be almost as important as incomings. Newcastle’s desire to avoid cashing in on their blue chip players – there is a not-for-sale warning on Alexander Isak despite interest and the Magpies are increasingly optimistic about retaining Bruno Guimaraes – means they will have to work diligently in a potentially difficult market.
With a new director of football set to arrive soon – Dougie Freedman appears to be the front-runner and i understands the club want to make an appointment soon – recruitment will be one of the big issues on the black and white agenda after a season that laid bare some of their shortcomings.
Whether the club go “all in” or not will depend on outgoings. Here’s what a bold black and white summer might look like.
Newcastle held talks with the Fulham defender’s representatives over the weekend and one source tells i they were “very positive” if not quite done yet. It would be a key capture, ticking the profitability and sustainability box while also improving the heart of Newcastle’s defence in a stroke.
There has been rare agreement from everyone in Newcastle’s recruitment brains trust and it’s believed a deal can be wrapped up relatively quickly.
Giorgi Mamardashvili
With Nick Pope to return, there has been some agonising about the goalkeeper department at St James’ Park. The defensive decline since Martin Dubravka has returned is borne out by the underlying statistics and a parting of the ways feels inevitable.
Newcastle have had scouts at Valencia in recent weeks and like the profile of Mamardashvili, the Georgia international. But insiders also say the club have a crop of good young goalkeepers who can offer internal solutions in the next 5-10 years.
Michael Olise
Michael Olise has been a standout player for Crystal Palace this season (Photo: Getty)
Near the top of Newcastle’s summer priorities is a forward to replace Miguel Almiron, whose starts have slowed in recent weeks. Sources suggest versatility, potential and pace are being prioritised in recruitment meetings.
Is Olise realistic without a Champions League carrot? Possibly not. But he would be a prize capture this summer – the equivalent of landing Sandro Tonali last year.
Benjamin Sesko
Sesko is a long-term Newcastle target who ticks every box. The club met his agent Elvis Basanovic when he was at RB Salzburg, before the move to his current club RB Leipzig was wrapped up.
The presence of a clause in his contract – understood to be around the £40m mark – makes him affordable if Newcastle can generate funds through sales. He remains a work in progress, scouts have noted, but is the right age and profile.
Pedro Neto
In a summer where we’ll see how serious Newcastle really are, judgement will arrive when it comes to landing targets like Neto. They like him – just as they like Aston Villa’s Jacob Ramsey – but these are tough deals to do. Persuading player and club to join is the sort of stuff aspiration clubs do.
Interest from Saudi Arabia and Germany may be encouraged. Dubravka is seeking a new deal and his camp believe his form warrants it but the decline in defensive performances while he’s been in goal may seal his fate.
Miguel Almiron
The rumblings in January of a move to the Saudi Pro League always felt unrealistic given the timing but the seed has been planted now. Has been a fine servant but in the moments that really matter – the clutch chance at Old Trafford, the big opportunity squandered against AC Milan at St James’ Park – he is just short of the level required. Will surely move on.
Sean Longstaff
Sean Longstaff could depart St James’ Park this summer (Photo: Getty)
A litmus test for Howe? He is a huge fan of Longstaff and does not want the midfielder to leave. He praises his intelligence, work rate and ability privately and was moved to publicly defend him in the face of criticism earlier this season. But his departure would represent pure profit and head off at the pass any difficult decisions around Guimaraes.
Callum Wilson
It would be difficult to find someone with his strike rate and Premier League pedigree in the market. But his fitness issues mean he is vulnerable this summer and the noises around Wilson are increasingly uncertain. There is interest – from Premier League clubs and Saudi Arabia – so this may be the transfer window when he leaves.
Yankuba Minteh
In the Netherlands they are incredulous at the idea Newcastle would cash in on a player who is – in the words of one Feyenoord source – “two years away from being world class”. But Chelsea, in their pursuit of profitability and sustainability headroom, have shown that ruthlessness can be required. If Newcastle can find a suitor for Minteh at the right price, the PSR equation might make sense. It would be a great shame if so.
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Bolton Wanderers supporters are desperate for Saturday to bring the best news, naturally. They have sold 30,000 tickets in 10 days, and more will follow. Their team did silly things this season, like dropping points against teams they had beaten 7-0 and drawing six of their last 11 league games to slip into the play-offs. Saturday is their second chance.
It is also an opportunity for League One to complete its redemption year. In the automatic promotion positions were Portsmouth and Derby County, two former Premier League clubs who fell into financial ruin and ignominy and are now breathing more easily again. Bolton want to make it three.
No team has a rightful place to be anywhere, but pride and expectation still murmur in your subconsciousness. This town, this club, this stadium want to be back in the Championship because it represents a chance to atone for past misery. The nerves themselves are proof of recovery and normalcy. For years, matters off the pitch tended to hog the reserves of dread and fear. This is progress.
For Bolton fans, every game is a blessing. It is not melodramatic to say that there easily might not be a club left here at all, at least not in its current state. The stadium, with its cycling name changes but still the Reebok in the hearts of the many, could be a statue to something that soared and then careered downward into the dust. AFC Bolton Wanderers would be a North West Counties Football League team.
In August 2019, five years ago that now feel like half a lifetime, Bolton’s administrators warned that the club would be placed into liquidation within days. A potential takeover by Football Ventures looked to have collapsed and the EFL had given Bolton 14 days to complete one or face expulsion. To those outside of this community, it may seem unlikely, just another football club that sailed close to the wind but was saved. But here they know how close they came.
Then, owner Ken Anderson was the baddy. Anderson had become grossly unpopular with supporters (and had barely tried to repair the relationship) and began using the club’s official website as his scornful teenage diary, attacking fans, protests and anyone else who seemed to suggest that things weren’t going well. Those statements became appointment reading, but only as rubber-necking for those outside Bolton.
Anderson was unfit for purpose. In September 2018, Bolton only avoided administration after former owner Eddie Davies gave the club £5m before he passed away. Players had effectively gone on strike in preseason over unpaid wages and bonuses; they issued a statement about their treatment (and were criticised by the owner-chairman for it).
And, to end it all, Anderson was accused of hampering the eventual takeover despite it being the only means of keeping Bolton Wanderers alive.
But Anderson merely exacerbated (and mismanaged) existing economic woe. He inherited Icarus FC, one that had overpaid on transfer fees and wages in an attempt to keep their cult hero team dream alive. When relegation from the Premier League in 2012 was not immediately followed by promotion, Bolton lived a top flight lifestyle on EFL budgets.
By 2014, debts were calculated to be £168.3m, almost seven times the cost of building the then-Reebok Stadium. The only surprise is that it took until May 2019 to enter administration. The only other surprise is that they got out of it without falling further.
It’s hard to overstate just how miserable an experience following Bolton was then. There are too many examples to mention, but one stands out. Several days before the takeover’s completion, Bolton lost 5-0 at home to Ipswich Town in front of 5,454 supporters. Because administration had caused so many senior players to leave, Bolton’s matchday squad contained 12 players aged 18 or under.
What is often overlooked – and time tends to shrink itself in hindsight – is just how long that period of deep torment lasted, those many months when nobody could see any escape. Between April 2017 and October 2020, a period of three-and-a-half years, Bolton won just 27 matches in all competitions.
Bolton defender Eoin Toal celebrates scoring against Barnsley (Photo: Getty)
This breadth and depth of mess could never be solved quickly. In the first season post-takeover, with no chance to recruit players and with the club only edging away from the precipice, Bolton finished 23rd in the third tier and were relegated to a level they had not experienced since 1988.
That became a symbol in itself. The stability under Phil Neal, the rise under Bruce Rioch and Colin Todd, the celebrity, fame and European achievement under Sam Allardyce – what was left other than the fumes of happy memories? Where did we end up other than where we started, battered and bruised?
Over those five years since, when hurt and mistrust was finally fumigated and maybe, just maybe, for good, two heroes stand out. The first is Ian Evatt, a manager who can boast the second-longest serving tenure solely existing in the EFL, that patience vacuum.
Evatt has not been perfect – how could anyone be in this scenario? But he won promotion from League Two in his first full season while rebuilding the squad, established Bolton back in the third tier, took them to two consecutive play-off campaigns and won the EFL Trophy. The sense of permanence itself is important. Evatt has passed 200 games in charge – nobody else since Allardyce came close.
But far more than Evatt, far more than anyone else, Sharon Brittan is the saviour of this story. She was the foreperson of Football Ventures, who saved the club with their takeover. She is the chairperson, who calls the shots. She is beloved by every supporter and deserves it all.
This week, Brittan spoke in front of MPs at a select committee about the importance of wealth distribution within the English pyramid and the desperate need to address the self-interest of the Premier League and its clubs. Within that remit, she reflected upon the situation she found at Bolton.
“There were staff who hadn’t been paid, they were eating from foodbanks, people hadn’t paid their mortgages, they hadn’t paid their rent,” Brittan said.
“I do a lot of work in mental health and people’s wellbeing was beyond catastrophic. I have seen first-hand the impact of having the wrong owners at football clubs and the effect that has on the community.”
Brittan has been successful because she is the antidote to everything that came before her. She provides the honesty and transparency that supporters long craved. She refuses to sugarcoat reality, good and bad.
She has been perfectly candid about Bolton continuing to lose money because sustainability is so hard when you have been losing money for so long before. She has stated, quite openly, that promotion on Saturday will cost the ownership group £20m if they wish to be competitive. Bolton’s ostrich era is dead.
Bolton’s chairperson also understands that this only works if Bolton as a town and a population is kept close to the bosom of Bolton as a football club. That is where the most work has been done, renewing the connections with local business, the Supporters’ Trust and Bolton Wanderers in the Community. It’s reported that Bolton have already sold 15,000 season tickets for next season with no knowledge of which division the club will be in. Wind back to that 5,454 crowd and reflect on how far they have come.
Wembley has already hosted one breakout day for Bolton’s recovery, when 34,000 travelled down for the 4-0 EFL Trophy final win over Plymouth Argyle. That was the release, the party; this Saturday is business. It provokes the twisting tummies of tension, that unique feeling of wanting something to be over and yet needing to appreciate the moment.
Even amongst all that, Bolton supporters understand that Saturday need not define their future. Make the Championship and they will hope to survive there, stay in League One and they will aim for automatic promotion next year. The focus is on football. There is a chance to be proud and to express gratitude, and then to watch Bolton Wanderers standing on their own two feet at the national stadium. All of that is an intense privilege.
Nobody says it better than Evatt: “When I walk out on Saturday and see the white army there it makes everything worthwhile. All the hard work, the early mornings, the late nights. I will be immensely proud and I will take a look over and say ‘thank you’ to everything and everyone. After that it’s strictly business and we are there to win a game.”
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