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Teenager Desire Doue scored twice to inspire Paris St Germain to their first Champions League triumph with a crushing 5-0 victory over Inter Milan on Saturday.

It was the biggest winning margin in the final of the continent’s premier club competition.

After losing the 2020 final to Bayern Munich, Luis Enrique’s PSG side, who teetered on the brink of elimination in the league phase, finally claimed the trophy their Qatari owners have craved since taking over the club in 2011.

PSG’s young team achieved what the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe could not do during stints at the club, as they became only the second French side to win the trophy after Olympique de Marseille in 1993.

“Making history was a goal from the start of last season,” Enrique said after the win in Munich.

“I really felt a connection with the players and the fans, a very strong connection that we saw throughout the season. We were able to handle the tension and excitement in the best possible way.”

PSG put on a masterclass which the more experienced Inter team had no answer to, scoring twice in the opening 20 minutes through former Inter defender Achraf Hakimi and Doue.

19-year-old Doue was on target again in the 63rd minute, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored 10 minutes later and substitute Senny Mayulu netted three minutes from time to complete the rout.

PSG maintained possession with their slick passing from the start, every player constantly searching for an opening, which they found in the 12th minute when Vitinha played a pass into Doue in the box.

Le Triomphe

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— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) May 31, 2025

Inter defenders appealed for offside but Federico Dimarco played the PSG man onside and the youngster kept his cool to roll the ball across goal and hand Hakimi the simplest of tap-ins.

“We have made history, we have written our names in the history of this club,” Hakimi said.

“For a long time this club deserved it, we are very happy. We have created a great family.”

The second came eight minutes later from a quick PSG counter which found Ousmane Dembele on the left wing.

Dembele drove forward before floating the ball to the far side and Doue had time to control the ball on his chest and his shot took a deflection off Dimarco to beat the wrong-footed Yann Sommer.

Inter had to try to attack in the second half but PSG killed off the game with a third goal when Vitinha slid the ball through to Doue in the area and the 19-year-old coolly slipped the ball past Sommer.

Inter were shell-shocked but things only got worse.

Dembele’s defence-splitting pass from his own half sent Kvaratskhelia haring away before beating Sommer at his near post, a goal which brought the PSG bench, including Luis Enrqiue, onto the pitch.

Luis Enrique became the second manager, after his former Barcelona teammate Pep Guardiola, to win the continental treble of League, Cup and Champions League in one season twice, both winning their first with Barca and their second by beating Inter.

“He is the man who has changed everything at PSG. Since he came here, he has changed the way football is seen. He is a loyal man, he deserves it more than anyone else,” Hakimi said.

PSG still had time for a fifth as Mayulu fired past Sommer from close range after a pass from substitute Bradley Barcola and the final whistle was greeted with huge roars from the French fans who had been singing loudly all game.

Inter had high hopes of making up for their defeat two years ago by Manchester City in Istanbul but finished the season trophyless.

“It absolutely didn’t feel like my Inter out there, and the players are the first to know it, but I’m proud of the journey we’ve taken,” Inter manager Simone Inzaghi said.

With Reuters

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Liam Delap faces a tough decision. Not about joining Chelsea, it seems, but rather what shirt number he picks when he gets there.

There is an obvious opening, but one that comes with a major warning, for the No 9 at Chelsea weighs as heavy as any shirt in the Premier League.

“Nobody wants to touch it. People tell me it’s cursed,” Thomas Tuchel said when managing the Blues in August 2022.

A month later Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang claimed the number, ignoring the fate that befell (deep breath) Romelu Lukaku, Tammy Abraham, Gonzalo Higuain, Alvaro Morata, Radamel Falcao, Fernando Torres, Franco Di Santo, Steve Sidwell (eh?), Khalid Boulahrouz (wait, what?), Hernan Crespo and Mateja Kezman before him.

“He is not afraid of the past and what a number means,” Tuchel said after Chelsea bought Aubameyang. “He is ready to write his own history.”

Aubameyang went on to score three goals in 21 games, and was shipped off to Marseille in the summer of 2023 after just one, nightmare campaign.

No Chelsea player has touched the No 9 shirt since. For two seasons now it has gone completely ignored, and Delap will be aware of the superstition should he complete his transfer in the coming days.

But whether he takes the number or not, Delap will be Chelsea’s No 9 in name, a mighty burden in itself.

No centre-forward has scored 20-plus Premier League goals in one season for the Blues since Diego Costa in 2016-17, and in the years that have followed, Tottenham, Manchester City, Leicester, Arsenal, Southampton, Brentford, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest have all boasted an out-and-out striker who has.

Liverpool are the obvious absence there, but they’ve had Mohamed Salah. In those seasons since Costa’s 20-goal return, Chelsea largely relied on Eden Hazard before enduring two campaigns where a paltry seven league goals was enough to finish first in blue: Jorginho (2020-21) and Kai Havertz (2022-23).

Counterbalancing this curse of late has been the blessing that is Cole Palmer, who has picked up a responsibility Hazard, Mason Mount (top scorer in 2021-22) and Frank Lampard also bore.

Palmer has topped the Chelsea charts the past two seasons and is already among their top 10 Premier League goalscorers, an impressive feat that also speaks volumes about their failures up front, particularly as John Terry still sits eighth.

It has been a dearth. A spiralling cycle of strikers failing and midfielders thriving to the point where it is difficult to decipher which one is the result of the other.

Delap must therefore buck the trend. The man with just 12 Premier League goals to his name, the striker who scored two more than Nicolas Jackson managed this season from eight less shots (76 vs 68) – a handy comparison, but hardly one to make the champions quiver, as you must scroll past Salah, Alexander Isak, Erling Haaland, Bryan Mbeumo, Chris Wood and a handful more players before you find their names.

That Delap scored 12 goals for a relegated side is neither a spectacular nor shoddy return. It’s fine. But to suddenly make him your first-choice striker, assuming he is arriving to displace Jackson, well that represents a risk.

Delap is risking it too. Deemed Harry Kane’s England successor, the 22-year-old is gambling his reputation on a transfer that makes him either another name for the curse or Chelsea’s saviour at long last.

To make it the latter, he must convert more of his chances in a higher-pressure scenario. His rate of 0.15 goals per shot was the same as Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez, and though the margins are fine regarding this statistic – Salah’s rate was 0.17 and Haaland 0.18 – the strikers who set the bar included Wood (0.26), Yoane Wissa (0.21) and Isak (0.20).

There will be greater scrutiny on the chances he has too, and Delap isn’t used to that level of expectation. It could be argued there is only one way to ever experience it, but doing so with only Jackson for competition is not exactly ideal, and there are other options.

For one, Delap could have taken a smaller step. Everton were after him, and would have made him their undisputed first choice, while he could also have sought an apprenticeship elsewhere. A role Rasmus Hojlund needed at Manchester United – who in another world forked out on Harry Kane – instead of being thrust into the team and told to do something special.

Now Hojlund is the latest poster boy of the United circus, looking utterly bereft of confidence when what he really needed was a fellow striker with more experience to partake some wisdom.

Delap arguably needs the same. His return for Ipswich this season doubled his career league tally, so to suddenly shoulder so much expectation at Chelsea seems absurd.

He would have been better off at Newcastle, where he could learn from Alexander Isak, but instead sources told The i Paper that Delap prefers having Jackson for company as opposed to jostling with Newcastle’s £150m-rated Swede.

It could be that Chelsea go in for a more experienced striker as well, but in turn that would counter Delap’s reasons for going there, and if he feels ready, then that can only be admired.

The fact he has shone next to Palmer and under Enzo Maresca at youth level is an added plus, and while replicating this link-up seen at Manchester City’s academy stadium under the lights of Champions League football at Stamford Bridge is some ask, Delap clearly believes.

It will be the role of a lifetime, and if it pays off, not only will the curse be lifted, but greater silverware than the Conference League trophy might be lifted as well.

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When Thomas Tuchel and his staff first assessed Eberechi Eze and his potential for the squad they are building capable of winning the 2026 World Cup, they conceded he didn’t have the numbers to compete with the extraordinary range of available options. But they felt he warranted a closer look.

Tuchel took a trip to Selhurst Park in one of his last games before naming his first squad back in March, texting Eze and the growing England cohort in the Crystal Palace squad before the match against Ipswich, letting them know he’d be there.

Eze didn’t have the best of games, especially by recent standards. He was one of the weaker players in the narrow win. And yet there were a few things that stuck out for Tuchel.

He liked the way Eze spoke to other players, encouraged them, his unassuming manner, his focus in the warm-up, his response to mistakes. Eze’s demeanour was exactly what Tuchel is looking for in his World Cup winning building blocks.

Tuchel saw enough to call him up. The transformation since has been remarkable.

Eze came off the bench to score against Latvia, his first goal in almost three months, which became a first of 10 in 14 games, including a winner in the FA Cup final as Tuchel sat in the Wembley stands.

Before England’s last camp, Eze had scored only two goals from 83 shots in the league this season, a conversion rate of 2.4 per cent – the second worst in the league. Since the March camp, he’s scored 31.6 percent of his shots, a rate bettered only by one other player.

Meanwhile, Tuchel and Eze have spoken several times.

“He’s flying,” was the way the England manager described Eze shortly after naming him in his latest squad.

“I feel more hunger, more determination to score, to be decisive. He did fantastic. The quality he showed in training was outstanding and I’m happy that he could prove it after camp, and even step up his level.”

It’s precisely the response Tuchel wanted: a player loving camp, thriving in the environment, improving rather than shrinking under the increased pressure and intensity.

From his first day in charge, Tuchel has given the sense his World Cup squad will not necessarily be a starting XI and fringe group with the biggest stars all crammed in, however they fit.

Tuchel wants the right shape and feel and balance. He is still enjoying the luxury of taking a bigger picture perspective, giving some outsiders a chance, getting to know them, leaving out more established stars who could return if others don’t impress.

But the England manager expects by the autumn camps, when they come thick and fast from September through to November, he will narrow focus. A sculptor who has spent months working out the vague size of his statue finally chipping away to reveal the finer details.

It was striking that when Tuchel was discussing his forward options, the profile of his strikers, where goals might come from, the attacking midfielders with striker instincts, entirely unprompted he name-checked Eze in the same breath as Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden.

“We have offensive midfielders who almost play as strikers,” Tuchel said. “If I see Jude moving into the box, the hunger that he has to score. He almost behaves as a striker. Phil is normally for me a half nine, half ten-ish player. Ebbs scores a lot lately.”

It is – perhaps – a faint hint at how he has started to see the Palace player. who offers something a little different, a quality hard to put your finger on.

There are shades of unpredictability, chaos and randomness to how Eze plays. Qualities that can be hard to quantify on spreadsheets and data charts. It’s possibly – alongside side his comparatively small size – why so many clubs turned him away as a teenager before he was given a lifeline at Queens Park Rangers.

A few years ago, The i Paper spoke to one of the QPR coaches who oversaw his Eze’s trial and why they gave him a chance. Paul Hall recalled the way Eze “can turn a dour moment into a magical moment with one movement of his body”, how they nicknamed him “Drunken Master” for the way he shimmied and swayed so deceptively on the pitch.

Their keen eyes turned into a £19.5m profit when Eze signed for Palace in 2020. His value has trebled – and then some – since. And ahead lies a pivotal summer, when a release clause of £60m, including another £8m in add-ons, will be active once more.

But one that should be handled delicately.

Last summer, Palace knew Michael Olise was leaving for Bayern Munich and feared Eze’s release clause would be triggered. Instead, executives were shocked not to receive any bids. Especially as Manchester City had scouted the player so extensively.

Palace now would like Eze to sign a fresh contract but are braced for interest. Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and City are expected to keep an eye on developments. Bayern Munich have also been scouting him, although sources indicate they are not expected to bid this summer.

Already Tuchel has made clear that playing for Champions League clubs isn’t a necessity. Equally, it can’t hurt. But then first seasons at new clubs are notoriously hard for players.

Eze has the numbers now. What he does with them will be fascinating to watch.

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Chelsea will look to build upon a successful end to the season by strengthening Enzo Maresca‘s squad ahead of their return to the Champions League.

The Blues will compete in Europe’s premier competition for the first time in three seasons, having secured a fourth-place finish in the Premier League.

A comprehensive victory over Real Betis in the Europa Conference League final further boosted the good vibes at Stamford Bridge ahead of what is expected to be a typically busy summer.

Promising youngsters Estevao Willian (winger), Kendry Paez (playmaker), Mike Penders (goalkeeper) and Dario Essugo (centre midfielder) will all link up with Chelsea after agreeing pre-contracts in previous transfer windows.

But after keeping their powder dry in January, BlueCo will open the chequebook again to ensure that Maresca’s squad is suitably strengthened to build upon their progress.

Five to buy

Liam Delap, Ipswich Town

It is now a case of when and not if Chelsea buy Liam Delap, with the in-demand striker choosing to move to west London despite interest from Manchester United, Newcastle and others.

The 22-year-old had a breakthrough Premier League campaign with relegated Ipswich Town, scoring 12 goals – including in a 2-0 win over Chelsea in December – and providing two assists in 37 appearances.

While Maresca is a big fan of Nicolas Jackson, Delap justifiably believes he has a better chance of usurping him than Alexander Isak in the starting XI.

The allure of Champions League football over no European action whatsoever helped sway Delap’s decision between Chelsea and United.

At £30m – the relegation release clause fee in Delap’s contract – Chelsea will feel as though they are getting a bargain given the striker’s considerable upside. It would be an excellent start to their summer business.

Joao Pedro, Brighton and Hove Albion

Joao Pedro seems to be doing his best to engineer an exit out of Brighton, mainly by picking fights with huge Dutch defenders in training.

Fabian Hurzeler axed the talented Brazilian forward from the Seagulls’ squad for their final two fixtures, raising the prospect of a summer switch elsewhere.

Chelsea already have plenty of inbetweener forwards – not quite No 9s or No 10s – but with a couple expected to depart, there could be room for a new one.

Questionable temperament aside, Pedro is an excellent player, as 16 goal involvements (10 goals, six assists) in 27 Premier League appearances this season attest.

Jamie Gittens, Borussia Dortmund

Left wing has been a problem position for Maresca, with Mykhailo Mudryk suspended after failing a routine drugs test, Jadon Sancho’s future unresolved, and Noni Madueke and Pedro Neto preferring to play off the right.

Jamie Gittens could be the answer after an encouraging couple of seasons with Borussia Dortmund. The 20-year-old scored eight goals in the Bundesliga and four in the Champions League this season.

The England U21 international previously spent time in Chelsea’s academy before following in Sancho’s footsteps by joining Dortmund from Manchester City.

Mario Gila, Lazio

With Dean Huijsen electing to join Real Madrid, Chelsea are back to square one in their pursuit of a new right-sided centre-back.

Marc Guehi has been linked with a return to his former club, but despite being a right-footer tends to play on the left in a back four or five.

Lazio’s Mario Gila is another name that has cropped up after a couple of strong seasons in Italy. A graduate of Real Madrid’s academy, Gila is comfortable on the ball and a good distributor, completing 92 per cent of his passes this season.

At 24 years of age (he’ll turn 25 in August), the Spaniard is an older player than Chelsea tend to go for, but a bit of extra experience in defence wouldn’t go amiss.

Jadon Sancho, Manchester United

Even if Chelsea do sign Gittens or another right-footed winger to play on the left, they could still benefit from having another.

Sancho is unlikely to scale the heights predicted of him when he was dazzling defenders with Dortmund, but he has proven to be an able squad player at Stamford Bridge.

As reported by The i Paper this week, Maresca has been won over by some of Sancho’s recent displays, including against Betis in Wroclaw, which could see the 25-year-old join permanently for £25m.

Five to sell

Christopher Nkunku

Oh, what could have been.

Christopher Nkunku was meant to be the chosen one, a gifted goalscorer who had lit up the Bundesliga and would do so in the Premier League. Alas, a serious injury delayed his impact and by the time he was fit, Chelsea had become the Cole Palmer team.

A fresh start is needed.

Benoit Badiashile

A deal that just hasn’t really worked out. It’s easy to see the appeal with Benoit Badiashile: a young, physically imposing, left-footed centre-back.

The problem the Frenchman has is that Chelsea have a much better player with the same characteristics in Levi Colwill, who is two years younger, homegrown and a probable future captain.

Malo Gusto

There is an excellent full-back there but as long as Maresca is in charge, it seems unlikely that Malo Gusto will fulfil his potential at Stamford Bridge.

The 22-year-old had a hugely promising first season under Mauricio Pochettino. Only four defenders registered more Premier League assists than Gusto in 2023-24, despite him only starting half of Chelsea’s games.

However, he has set up just one league goal this term. Gusto is far better suited to overlapping than inverting and is a poor tactical fit for Maresca’s system, as highlighted in the Conference League final when he ceded possession for Betis’ opener.

Joao Felix

You’d forgotten that Joao Felix still plays for Chelsea, hadn’t you?

Chelsea made one of the most bizarre transfer decisions in their, and let’s face it, football, history when buying Felix from Atletico Madrid last summer after an underwhelming loan 12 months before.

He was loaned out to AC Milan within six months and hasn’t done much there either, with two goals and zero assists from 15 Serie A appearances. Selling him would be ideal, but another loan, perhaps back to Benfica, seems more likely.

Raheem Sterling

Presumably, the hope when sending Raheem Sterling across London was that he would rediscover enough form to A) earn a permanent move to Arsenal or B) earn a permanent move somewhere else.

The prospect of option A happening is non-existent, and Sterling’s non-impact at Arsenal – zero goals in 17 Premier League matches – makes option B tricky to pull off too.

With two years left on his contract, Sterling is in limbo. Another loan, this time to a mid-table side, seems likely.

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In ordinary circumstances, selling Bruno Fernandes, the only successful Manchester United signing of the post Sir Alex Ferguson era, is beyond unthinkable.

But to get £100m for a soon-to-be 31-year-old changes the dynamic entirely. One other major benefit to a potentially seismic sale could be avoiding all-out mutiny should the skipper abandon a sinking ship.

The i Paper understands Fernandes is giving serious consideration to joining the Saudi Pro League’s most successful club, Al-Hilal, in an astonishing nine-figure deal, with a £200m contract offer on the table to entice the Portuguese playmaker to the Middle East.

Fernandes’ agent Miguel Pinho met with Al-Hilal officials on Thursday to discuss the potential deal that will send ruptures through United’s fanbase.

It is understood that Fernandes and United must make a decision within a week as Al-Hilal want their new arrival to play in the upcoming Club World Cup.

United’s stance remains unchanged: they do not want to sell their star player. Coach Ruben Amorim wants to build his restoration project around his fellow countryman.

Only Kevin De Bruyne has registered more assists in the Premier League than Fernandes since he joined from Sporting in 2020, all for a failing team.

The size of the offer, however, has turned heads in the United boardroom. United desperately need to sell to give Amorim the funds to complete his essential squad revamp, with every player effectively up for sale for the right price.

Fernandes was thought to be exempt from that. There will be huge resistance from large sections of the fanbase, but if Fernandes departs, it will almost certainly mean Kobbie Mainoo stays put, several sources said, preventing all-out rebellion.

Defeat in the Europa League final to Tottenham cost Amorim upwards of £100m in transfer funds, more when you consider how the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules are calculated.

Player sales are therefore an absolute necessity. The club, after an unfathomably disastrous season, do not have too many sellable assets, not ones who can command the kind of fee that can be used to reinvest in top talent to drag them from their slumber.

That led to fears Mainoo, a popular figure among fans having showcased talent severely lacking in other areas of the team, could be sacrificed, with Chelsea keeping tabs on his situation.

Amorim is not completely convinced by Mainoo, with the 20-year-old barely featuring in the latter stages of United’s horror season. The new coach wants his players to be all action, high intensity, especially in midfield, fearing Mainoo does not possess the engine to be part of his red revolution.

He is, however, aware of Mainoo’s talent, and admitted on several occasions that he is just yet to find the right role for the Stockport-born midfielder, with selling Mainoo not on Amorim’s radar.

The club are reluctantly open to offers, but the Fernandes money means they will be less tempted. New co-owners Ineos are aware that allowing both Fernandes and Mainoo to leave could tip a fanbase already teetering towards storming their Carrington training base over the edge.

Alejandro Garnacho remains on course for a £50m exit. Napoli are in talks with United officials over a potential sale. Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Antony – who all spent the last part of the campaign out on loan – are three others the club expect to cash in on.

All five exits would give United an extra £250m, if valuations are met, to spend on new arrivals.

In another life, local sculptors would be sharpening their chisels for a Fernandes statue to be erected in front of the Stretford End.

Fernandes has carried an underperforming team – the antithesis of everything he saw in the brochure – since he walked through the door.

His attacking production numbers defy logic in a team who have lurched from one disaster to the next. Several former players have been critical of Fernandes’ leadership style, but all you have to do is watch the rare occasion when the influential skipper is not on the pitch to realise his indispensable worth.

Nonetheless, even at a global behemoth like United, money talks. If the player does want to go – and no decision is made yet – recovering £100m for a player on the downward descent from optimum peak is remarkable business.

Trusting United to reinvest that money – even the supposed expert-fronted new regime has had limited success in the transfer market – is another issue. The money, if the right players are identified, can have a transformative effective, given the fee received and £280,000-a-week saved in wages.

The player and supporters will be unhappy they never got to say goodbye. But this is the very definition of a one-time offer. One that, for all parties, will be very difficult to turn down.

Instead of a statue being unveiled in tribute to their departing captain, Fernandes being substituted with United losing to a Hong Kong XI on a pointless post season tour would be a fitting end to a move that promised so much, but delivered so little, through no fault of his own.

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A host of top Premier League clubs could miss out on one of their top transfer targets this summer, with Napoli and Juventus set to battle it out for in-demand Jonathan David’s signature.

The i Paper understands Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham, Newcastle, Liverpool and West Ham have all enquired about securing the Canadian striker’s capture on a free transfer.

David will leave Lille when his contract runs out this summer.

All six remain keen, but Serie A champions Napoli have moved to the front of the queue having made David’s representatives a concrete offer. Juventus entered the race late to start what one source said would be a “bidding war” between the two Italian giants to sign the 25-year-old’.

It is not too late for a Premier League club to make a late move, but the player is not necessarily solely focused on sealing a move to England this stage of his career, having previously expressed a desire to play elsewhere in Europe. Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan have also previously declared an interest.

David has spent five prolific years in France with Lille, where he has continually plundered goals in Ligue 1 season after season. This term, David finished fourth in the French top-flight goalscoring charts.

The Canada international announced his decision to leave before the club’s final match of the season, with sources claiming David believes he has gone far enough in France and is ready for a move to another top European league.

Tottenham did try to sign David in January, but he elected to see out his contract with Lille and then assess the options available to him in the summer.

Newcastle are similarly keen to bring David in to provide cover for Alexander Isak. Callum Wilson is set to leave, with David’s versatility especially appealing to a side short of options across the entire frontline.

The player’s camp are understood to have been impressed by what Graham Potter is planning for West Ham, but London rivals Chelsea are less appealing, given the number of forwards already on the books.

Liverpool have since moved their focus onto other strike targets, with Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike their current top pick in the central striker role.

United’s interest was more tentative, with David not the profile of striker Ruben Amorim is looking for as he attempts to transform the club’s fortunes. A late change of heart cannot be ruled out, however, after Ipswich’s Liam Delap snubbed Ineos’ project in favour of a move to Chelsea, while Alejandro Garnacho nears an Old Trafford exit.

Should Napoli get that deal over the line, they could be in for an impressive start to the summer transfer window, with Garnacho their other top target they are looking to capture quickly.

Shakhtar Donetsk’s Georgiy Sudakov, another linked with several Premier League clubs including Manchester City, Spurs and Bournemouth, could also make the move to Naples in the coming months.

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The great Manchester United, back in the Far East by popular demand, booed off in their first engagement. After defeat in Malaysia against the rapidly assembled ASEAN All-stars, what, pray, might be the reaction in Hong Kong should another defeat befall Ruben Amorim?

The audience in Kuala Lumpur saw first-hand the same dire output overseen by Amorim since his arrival in November, an inability to raise a lick, to dig in and fight.

Yes, this was only a friendly none on the plane wanted, imposed by the commercial imperatives in play. Hemmed in by Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) constraints, United were in no position to say no to £10m worth of appearance fees plus associated brand-building benefits.

Yet what kind of advertisement is this, a repeat of the insipid, colourless football that resulted in the worst season since relegation in 1974? Is it any wonder United targets Liam Delap and Bryan Mbeumo are house-hunting in Chelsea and Newcastle respectively?

Though these are in every sense exhibition games, in the context of United’s epic fail under Amorim they add to the negative swirl engulfing the club and contribute to the idea that United are inexorably losing ground.

The demographic in this part of the world raised on Beckham, Keane, Giggs and Scholes, Ronaldo, Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy, are watching their children flock to Manchester City and Liverpool.

They run around in shirts bearing the names of Haaland and Salah, players who excite, who win important trophies, championships, Champions Leagues. Even Chelsea, once as bent out of shape as United, are eating into United’s global fan base. It will be Newcastle next, all playing a dynamic, vibrant brand of football that was once United’s hallmark.

And at the centre of it all, the disconsolate figure of Alejandro Garnacho, not so long ago an emblem of United’s investment in youth, that great Busby tradition. The overhead kick against Everton, the late winner against Fulham at Craven Cottage, match-winning interventions the Stretford End thought were the launch of another great career in the service of the Red Devils.

What do they mean now? Apparently nothing to Amorim, who reportedly cancelled Garnacho in view of his teammates following last week’s defeat to Tottenham in the Europa League final. Amorim took a dim view of Garnacho and his brother criticising his diminished role in Bilbao and reportedly told him to find another club.

Yet the Argentine was still on that plane to Malaysia, and played the second half, which is an indication of the problem Amorim faces trying to refresh a group he has written off as the worst team in United’s history, without the means to do so.

Matheus Cunha is a necessary addition but not sufficient to right this listing vessel on his own. If, as Amorim admits, there is little scope for profound renewal this summer, he will have to mend and make do, and there are worse performers than Garnacho. Yet it is Garnacho who is looking elsewhere, a convenient scapegoat for the failure of Amorim’s methods.

What if Garnacho was never the problem? As reported by The i Paper, Napoli seem to admire him well enough, and were he to go the cash would at least provide Amorim with the PSR headroom to add players he does like. He claims things will be different next season, a sentiment echoed on MUTV by chief executive Omar Berrada.

“I can’t talk about specifics but I can say we have been planning for many months now,” he said.

“We were ready for all the different scenarios and now know what we need to do. We have a very clear idea where we need to invest in the squad to improve. Now it’s a question of executing that plan and doing it in a way that is prudent but, at the same time, with ambition.”

The reasons to trust Berrada are as slender as those in support of Amorim. The whole Ineos project is dependent on the continued faith of United fans. Love is blind, of course. Until it isn’t.

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In a five-minute blur, Real Betis went from leading a European final to being Cole Palmered, but at 2-1 they still had hope. Alas, it was only fleeting.

Jadon Sancho had had an indifferent spell on loan at Chelsea, in keeping with his last three-and-a-half seasons since returning to English football, but when Betis led in Wroclaw, Enzo Maresca summoned the winger from his bench to help tilt the tide in his team’s favour.

It was a good call, with Sancho injecting energy and pace into Chelsea’s attack at a time when a weary Betis backline was starting to creak.

Chelsea won thanks to the Palmer show, their revitalised No 10 producing two stunning assists from both feet to transform the game, but Sancho settled the nerves and got the party in Poland started with the clinching goal seven minutes from time.

It was quintessential Sancho in its execution, as if someone had taken a clip of him during his Dortmund days and slapped a blue filter on top of it.

Receiving the ball on the left-hand side of the penalty area, Sancho squared up Youssouf Sabaly and Marc Bartra, nimbly worked a half yard of space between them both, and curled a brilliant finish past Adrian into the top corner.

Off came the shirt in celebration. Off came the shirt in relief. A European champion at last.

It was the third time lucky in a Uefa final for the 25-year-old. In 2021, he endured the agony of a missed penalty in England’s Euros shootout defeat to Italy, and was then subjected to vile racist abuse. Last year, he was defeated at Wembley again for Borussia Dortmund against Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Sancho has turned into a sort of meme figure since his big-money move to Manchester United turned sour. He has been pilloried for his perceived lack of application and dedication, becoming a poster boy of plateaued potential.

Some criticism is fair – Sancho evidently has not lived up to his golden boy tag under a succession of managers – other bits less so, but only Sancho’s harshest critics could begrudge him his golden moment in a golden game.

Now, attentions turn to what happens next. Afterwards Sancho was seen comforting a tearful Antony, another once prodigious winger starting afresh after being chewed up and spat out by Dysfunction FC.

The joke doing the rounds on social media after was that they were both crying because they have to report back to Carrington for pre-season.

As reported by The i Paper in March, Chelsea have been weighing up whether to pay a “significant fee” to their domestic rivals to wriggle out of a £25m obligatory purchase that the Blues agreed to pay United if they finished 14th or higher in the Premier League – a feat they accomplished comfortably by 10 places.

It would be a virtually unprecedented step that wouldn’t reflect particularly well on a talent once regarded as the Robin to Erling Haaland’s Batman when the two were tormenting Bundesliga defences in black and yellow.

Sancho, who doesn’t always help himself with his social media activity, posted a picture of himself on X grinning with his medal, Conference League trophy in the foreground, with a fingers crossed emoji for a caption.

Trying to deduce a footballer’s intentions through the medium of emojis is a task that even the great detectives would struggle with, but the message may have been along the lines of: Please let me stay or even please don’t make me go back.

pic.twitter.com/TFXTi5jVmP

— Jadon Sancho (@Sanchooo10) May 29, 2025

Maresca was elusive when asked whether Sancho had done enough to earn his spot in the squad next season.

“From now on, we sit down with the club and decide about next year,” Maresca told TNT Sports.

“Jadon Sancho, if we finished fourth, it’s also because of Jadon [his efforts as part of a squad], if we won tonight, it’s because of Jadon.

“I think it’s normal during the season to have ups and downs, it’s part of the game.”

A decision will need to be made quickly, though, with Chelsea’s never-ending campaign continuing on 16 June against Mexican side Club Leon in Atlanta in Fifa’s expanded Club World Cup competition.

Admittedly, a return of three goals and four assists in 31 Premier League appearances (19 starts) doesn’t present the most compelling case to keep him.

It seems unlikely, although not completely impossible, that Sancho will ever scale the heights predicted of him when he was a teen and in his early 20s. Back then, the sky was the limit; now a ceiling has been put in place below the clouds.

But Sancho has been a useful squad player at Stamford Bridge and as seen against Betis is capable of producing big moments on big nights.

Much may depend on how willing he is to reduce his £250,000 weekly wages to remain in west London. Considering his reluctance to return to Manchester, it may be a sacrifice he has to take for the good of his career, whether he remains at Chelsea or goes elsewhere.

“I think Chelsea should sign Jadon Sancho. He has been an important factor to the squad, and in parts of the season, he has been the catalyst for the team,” West Ham’s Michail Antonio said as a pundit on TNT Sports.

“I think he would be a good signing and would help them to keep pushing next season and what is to come.”

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Cristiano Ronaldo’s Instagram post left little to the imagination. “This chapter is over,” he said. “The story? Still being written. Grateful to all.”

This declaration to his 654 million followers is more than just a heavy indication the 40-year-old wants to leave Al-Nassr this summer.

It raises the simple question of what next, but the why adds a layer of intrigue, particularly with Fifa president Gianni Infantino taking a vested interest ahead of this summer’s controversial Club World Cup.

With ticket sales flailing, Infantino wants another poster boy for the 32-team tournament in the USA, and there is even a way Ronaldo can feature before considering his longer-term future. How convenient. But first…

What is Ronaldo’s Saudi legacy if he leaves?

Ronaldo was a marquee signing for the Saudi Pro League when joining Al-Nassr as a free agent on 30 December 2022.

The reported £177m-a-year salary was enough to tempt a 37-year-old Ronaldo away from Europe for the first time in his career, with Al-Nassr declaring the move “history in the making”.

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A post shared by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano)

Ronaldo certainly helped put the league on the global map, paving the way for more megastars to join – Neymar and Karim Benzema – and lure ageing Premier League players like N’Golo Kante, Sadio Mane and Jordan Henderson as well.

Individually, Ronaldo won the Saudi Pro League Golden Boot in his two full seasons there, and as a team Al-Nassr won silverware within six months of the forward joining, lifting the Arab Club Champions Cup.

That however is where Ronaldo’s list of Saudi honours ends. Al-Nassr last won the league in 2019 and his goals were not enough to get them back on top. They finished second in his first half-season, second again in 2023-24, then third this season.

In this regard, Ronaldo masterminded his own near misses. The fact Al-Nassr were third best this year was no surprise, with champions Al-Ittihad boasting Benzema and Kante, as well as Fabinho (ex-Liverpool), Houssem Aouar (ex-Lyon), Moussa Diaby (ex-Aston Villa) and Steven Bergwijn (ex-Tottenham).

Ronaldo’s legacy is therefore evident across the league. Without making that leap two-and-a-half years ago, it is unlikely so many would have followed.

Why Infantino is invested in Ronaldo’s next move

In a very 2025 sentence, Infantino discussed Ronaldo’s potential move with YouTuber IShowSpeed last week.

“Ronaldo might play for one of the teams as well at the Club World Cup,” Infantino said. “There are discussions with some clubs, so if any club is watching and is interested in hiring Ronaldo for the Club World Cup… who knows, who knows?”

Infantino counts the new-look Club World Cup as his brainchild, so it is little wonder the Fifa president wants Ronaldo there, particularly as thousands of tickets are still available and the prospect of half-empty stadia across the US looks likely.

After all, the lure of Lionel Messi – whose Inter Miami open the tournament against Egyptian side Al-Ahly on 14 June – can only do so much.

As hosts, Inter Miami, co-owned by David Beckham, are fortunate additions despite Infantino calling them “one of the best clubs in the world” – side note: they’re not – but Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr were not so lucky, missing out on the Asian Football Confederation’s four spots.

Which club could Ronaldo join next?

Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr contract expires at the end of June, but he could yet sign a short-term deal for a Club World Cup team because there is a 10-day transfer window open from 1-10 June.

Botafogo are one of four Brazilian sides in the Club World Cup and have reportedly shown an interest, while he is also being linked heavily with Moroccan side Wydad and Mexican outfit Monterrey, employers of his former Madrid teammate Sergio Ramos.

Porto and Benfica are the two Portuguese teams competing, but as a graduate of Sporting’s academy, Ronaldo has no real link to those rival clubs beyond the home country narrative.

If Ronaldo wants to sample life in the US, teaming up with Messi is doubtful, but Seattle Sounders are in the Club World Cup, while Los Angeles FC are in a play-off against Mexican side America on 31 May for a place in the group stages.

Ronaldo in Hollywood has a ring to it, but a move closer to his current home could also happen. Al-Hilal are the only Saudi side in the Club World Cup, and as 2023-24 league champions they could tempt Ronaldo into staying with them beyond the summer.

There are 10 more European teams in the Club World Cup beyond Benfica and Porto. Chelsea sit in the maybe category, but Manchester City surely not.

Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Juventus and RB Salzburg are unlikely to want Ronaldo beyond the tournament, and may see little value in the month-long hullaballoo his transfer would bring.

Ronaldo’s most likely options

Qualify for the Club World Cup and Los Angeles FC has potential, especially with the 2026 World Cup in North America.

It could though come down to whether Ronaldo wants to move twice this summer – if at all – as Al-Nassr could yet convince him to stay.

Al-Hilal have the financial might as well as the Club World Cup factor, while beyond that tournament, a last dance with Sporting is entirely possible and romantic, especially if Arsenal target Viktor Gyokeres leaves this summer.

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