Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Niall McVeigh (now), Tumaini Carayol (earlier) and Gregg Bakowski (for a bit)

Bale arrives at Spurs, Thiago joins Liverpool and more – as it happened

I’m going to sign off now, but we’ll keep the live blog open in the hope that Gareth Bale’s return to Spurs is made official this evening. For now, we’ll leave you with Nick Ames’ report from earlier in a dramatic day:

Sergio Reguilón and Gareth Bale will improve Spurs, but more pressing is the need to reinforce midfield, writes Daniel Harris.

It is in midfield that Spurs look, to quote the famous simile, as miserable as Mourinho. Against Everton, Harry Winks and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg played behind Dele Alli in front; Winks and Højbjerg are adequate players, but not good enough to decide how things go. A fit Giovani Lo Celso will help, but because Mourinho is unlikely to field him alongside another attack-minded player, it is hard to see Spurs doing much beyond waiting to counter while hoping not to concede.

Another Liverpool transfer target? Done deal doyens Transfermarkt are reporting interest in Schalke centre-back Ozan Kabak. The 20-year-old Turkish international joined Schalke last summer from Stuttgart.

Thanks to my colleague Tom Davies for flagging this up. After visiting St Mary’s on Sunday, Spurs’ next game is a Carabao Cup trip to Leyton Orient. The O’s were brought back to the Football League by former Spurs player Justin Edinburgh, who tragically passed away weeks later.

Of course, another footballing megastar landed at Hotspur Way on Friday:

Perhaps Gareth Bale is distracted by the developing drama at the US Open golf? It’s hotting up at Winged Foot:

Tottenham transfer news! Midfielder Shilow Tracey has joined Shrewsbury on a season-long loan. I know, I know. How hilarious of me.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa are closing in on a move for Lyon winger Bertrand Traoré - and his squad number has been handed to Memphis Depay before OL’s Ligue 1 game against Nimes tonight.

A bit more breaking transfer news, via our friends at Get French Football News. Manchester United have reportedly agreed personal terms with Porto left-back Alex Telles.

Tomorrow is Leeds United’s first top-flight home game since May 2004; fellow newcomers Fulham are the visitors. Both lost their first games but while Leeds pushed Liverpool close, Fulham rolled over against Arsenal.

A bit of non-transfer news: Hamburg defender Toni Leistner has been banned for three games, with an additional two-game ban suspended for a year, after confronting Dresden fans in their German Cup game. That’s a game less than Eric Dier got, and Leistner (a) actually shoved a fan over, and (b) did it during a pandemic.

Still no official announcement from Tottenham on Gareth Bale, or indeed Sergio Reguilón. According to your man on Sky, there are no issues - it’s more a case of getting in-house videos and paperwork sorted. Like the Spurs fans gathered on the grass outside the training ground, we’ll wait it out a little bit longer.

Manchester United begin their Premier League campaign at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday. Here’s our match preview from Jamie Jackson, who tips Harry Maguire and Mason Greenwood to start, with new midfield recruit Donny van de Beek on the bench.

A little more on that potential Liverpool move for Diogo Jota. The clubs are reportedly close to agreeing a fee in the region of £35m-40m, but teenage defender Ki-Jana Hoever is poised to head the other way for £10m as part of the deal.

Updated

There’s been plenty of transfer activity in the last 24 hours, with Gonzalo Higuaín, Conor Gallagher, Lewis Baker and plenty more on the move:

Liverpool take on Chelsea on Sunday; here’s both managers’ thoughts on a rivalry that boiled over at Anfield last season.

Liverpool have unveiled Thiago Alcântara this afternoon, but they’re still making moves with another forward next on the agenda. Our man in the know reckons a surprise move for Wolves’ Diogo Jota is in the works:

A Women’s World Cup every two years could be coming soon, according to Gianni Infantino:

We don’t want to copy what the men are doing. We want something specific for the women’s game. We need to think about different suggestions.

Does that work for you?

A reminder of where we are with the Bale deal:

And some more reading:

That’s all from me today. Thanks all for following and here is the Fiver.

Still no news from Gareth Bale at Hotspur Way. Let’s hope that Dan Levy has managed to tear him away from the TV. We’ll keep the blog rolling in the hope of a relatively imminent completion.

Updated

Some interesting news from Sid Lowe in Spain. In light of Lionel Messi’s attempts to leave Barcelona and all the dysfunction that led up to it, over 20,000 club members signed in support of a vote of no confidence for Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu. He will now have to face a vote on his future by November.

From Peter Oh:

I assume Gareth Bale’s unveiling will take place at one of Spurs’ facilities and not on a golf green?

Considering it has been over 3 hours since Bale arrived at Hotspur Way, I will be shocked and dismayed if the video doesn’t involve him playing at least 9 holes of golf.

Here is Louise Taylor’s initial piece on Thiago’s £20m signing for Liverpool. He will be on a four year contract.

Jurgen Klopp on what Thiago brings to Liverpool (via liverpoolfc.com).

He can demand rhythm, that’s how it is. He can obviously create and use space for other players, all these kinds of things. First touch incredible; vision incredible; passing pretty good! But is quick as well. Work-rate great. His numbers were absolutely special last year in Germany as well, most steals, ball recoveries and all these kinds of things; most passes. But we don’t play like Bayern, so that still will need some time to get settled and nobody should expect – and I don’t expect – the special things immediately, first game, let’s see. It’s a long-term project and we have a good team, so we can give time. But, of course, we want to use him on the pitch, that’s clear. So the work can start now.

Klopp also noted how hard it is to attract a player like Thiago: “a player like Thiago – settled that much at Bayern – is usually out of reach for pretty much everybody. If the player doesn’t want [to move] massively then you have no chance.”

Thiago Alcantara on his move from the Liverpool website:

“I think it’s an amazing feeling. I was waiting for this moment for a long time and I am very, very happy to be here.

“When the years are passing, you are trying to win as much as you can – and when you win, you want to win more. I think this club describes what I am as well; I want to achieve all of the goals, win as many trophies as possible.

“It also [has] this kind of family [feeling] that I need because we [like to] have a very close relationship with the club and I think I will feel this, I will have this feeling, with this club as well.”

Liverpool have officially signed Thiago Alcantara

He will wear #6.

Nick Ames was on The Fiver duty today:

Having spent most of his time at Spurs moaning that he doesn’t have enough players, José Mourinho reckons he has “too many” now Gareth Bale and Sergio Reguilón are in town. “I don’t like the number of players I have in my squad. It is very, very difficult to manage,” he honked. Oh José!

Priorities.

Ralph Halsenhuttl on rumours about Danny Ings leaving Southampton:

The only thing I want to say for these rumors is that there is absolutely zero interest from Danny to go anywhere. He is 100% happy to be here and for us it’s 100% not discussable. He is one of the best players in Europe, one of the best strikers in Europe. Any rumors about that are absolutely nonsense and I think hopefully this is the last time we speak about this.

Everton captain Seamus Coleman will make his 250th league start for the club against West Bromwich Albion, boosted by his manager’s confidence that he can carry on playing until he is 40.

“Seamus will be playing, so the congratulations can start,” Carlo Ancelotti said. “We are very lucky to have him as a captain and he is still young at 31. I’m sure he will still be playing when he is 40.”

Ancelotti also confirmed that Everton will be looking to pick up a centre-back on loan before the transfer window closes, with both Mason Holgate and Jarrad Branthwaite out injured for at least a month. Holgate could be out for another six weeks with a foot problem, while 18-year-old Branthwaite damaged his ankle in the Carabao Cup win over Salford in midweek and faces a month on the sidelines. “At the moment we only have Yerry Mina and Michael Keane for the centre-back positions, so we will have to look and see if the market has anything to offer,” Ancelotti said.

Updated

Here is Nick Ames reporting on Mikel Arteta’s press conference. Arteta talked about finally convincing Aubameyang to stay.

Chelsea news: Ben Chilwell, Christian Pulisic, Thiago Silva and Hakim Ziyech will all miss the Liverpool game. Timo Werner is fit.

The view on Gareth Bale from two former players he competed against who now manage his biggest London rivals.

Frank Lampard:

Gareth Bale is an incredible player. Incredible individual talent who is remembered very well from his Premier League days at Tottenham. We’ve seen from afar the incredible success he’s had at Real Madrid and if he does come to Tottenham, which I keep seeing is virtually gonna happen soon, then I think he’s gonna be a big addition to their squad. They’re gonna be a team that will be expected to challenge for around the Champions League places and above. And they have fantastic individuals. If they get Gareth Bale then they have one, for sure. He’s one of the best players in the world in the last 4 or 5 seasons.


Mikel Arteta:

“The Premier League in its history has always had the best players in the world. I think Gareth has been one of the most significant names that left the Premier League years ago to go to Spain, so I think it’s really positive to bring really important players back to the league and it will be a challenge because we know at his best what he can do.”


Across the Atlantic, David Beckham’s Inter Miami have signed Gonzalo Higuain from Juventus. Cristiano Ronaldo rejoices.

Frank Lampard followed up Jurgen Klopp’s fair comments about him with some nice words about the German.

“I just reiterate what Jurgen Klopp said on his part. I have huge amount of respect for him as a manager, I always have done. What he’s done at Liverpool in the course of the time that he’s been there has been incredible. That’s on him as the focal point of that club and the individuals that they have in that squad that they’ve brought in. So, there’s nothing in it for me. The competitive nature of the 90 minutes can always slightly boil over in different directions. The respect that I have for Jurgen Klopp would never change.”

Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti on what has impressed him most about his Everton team so far.

“They’re good guys and they played their first game. It was really important. The game gave us a lot of confidence for the next game, for tomorrow. That is where we are focused. Just try to repeat the performance that we had against Tottenham. Every game has difficulties and so the spirit in this moment is good and we want to keep with a good result, this spirit.”

(He didn’t really respond to the question. It happens.)

Mikel Arteta on his decision to allow Emiliano Martinez to leave the club for Aston Villa despite how well he performed at the end of last season in the absence of Bernd Leno. Martinez was sold for £20m:

“Well, at the end of the day we have to find some balance between what we want to achieve with our squad and our finances - and it gets to the point where if you want to achieve certain things, you need to sacrifice others. Time will tell whether we are weaker or not and obviously the recruitment we are planning to do to try and get our second goalkeeper, they will hopefully bring a really good performance level. We can see Emi being successful at Villa and we are all happy for him.”

Updated

Pep Guardiola was asked about his rumoured pursuit of Lionel Messi and Phil Foden’s recent ejection from the England squad after breaking COVID-19 regulations. He did not have much to say:

Leo explained, I think, quite well his feelings and what happened. He is a football player for Barcelona, for the club I love, and nothing more to say.

He’s well. The time I saw him, these three/four days we were together, he knows he made a mistake and that’s all.

Good afternoon. Tumaini Carayol here again after lunch and I have returned just in time to hear that Tottenham fans have been perfecting their predictable Spurs > Golf > Wales chant outside the club training ground. Only time will tell if that chant is actually accurate.

The Sweden defender and Chelsea captain, Magdalena Eriksson, has hit back at criticism the Swedish national team received for taking a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement before their Euro qualifier against Hungary on Thursday night. In a strong statement she said:

To take a knee was never close to being a hard decision for us. This was always the right thing to do. We know what we stand for and believe in. Yesterday we took a knee to show that we are against racism and discrimination in any way. This is not about politics or a political act. This is about humanity and the fact that we believe everyone is equal and no one should ever be treated differently because the colour of their skin, their race, sexuality, gender or anything at all.

Read the full story here:

Tumaini is back from lunch now so I’ll hand back to him. Thanks.

Updated

Sergio Agüero has been ruled out of Manchester City’s Premier League opener against Wolves on Monday. Pep Guardiola confirmed the club’s record goalscorer has still not fully recovered from knee surgery at the end of last season. “He still did not make one training session with us,” said City’s manager. Agüero is not getting any younger. Is this the season that Gabriel Jesus becomes City’s regular No 9?

Updated

Everton have only played one league game and yet Carlo Ancelotti has an injury crisis in defence. The Italian has been left with just two fit centre-backs after Jarrad Branthwaite was ruled out with an ankle injury. With Mason Holgate already ruled out until possibly the end of October, Ancelotti reckons he will need to dip into the transfer market.

Honestly, we are looking for a centre-back. We are looking, if the market offers something I think we can have one. Now we are only with Yerry Mina and Michael Keane, but we are looking for another one.

Updated

Bale arrives at Spurs

Gareth Bale appears to have been taken from Luton Airport to Tottenham’s Enfield training ground in double-quick time. Pictures have just emerged of the Real Madrid forward arriving to a rapturous welcome on Hotspur Way. I think somebody might be getting a speeding ticket. That windscreen needs a wash too.

Gareth Bale waves to fans as he arrives in Enfield.
Gareth Bale waves to fans as he arrives in Enfield. Photograph: John Sibley/Action Images/Reuters
Fans mill about outside the training centre.
Fans mill about outside the training centre. Photograph: John Sibley/Action Images/Reuters

Updated

Hello, Gregg here. I’ll be keeping things ticking over while Tumaini grabs some lunch. As local lockdowns are implemented in various parts of northern England the Preston manager, Alex Neil, appeared less than certain it was a good idea for the EFL to go ahead with trials to bring small numbers of fans back to EFL games this weekend. He had this to say to the Lancashire Evening Post before Preston face Norwich at Carrow Road in front of 1,000 supporters:

I have been one of the advocates of wanting to get fans back in as soon as possible. However, things are changing in normal life, there seems to be a bit of a spike again and I’m actually quite surprised they are continuing with introducing fans. But we would all like it back to normal as quickly as possible, providing it is safe to do so.

Updated

Mikel Arteta has spoken ahead of Arsenal’s fixture against West Ham United.

On Aubameyang: “Obviously I knew what was coming so I was bit more relaxed, but I am really pleased to have convinced Auba to stay at our club as well in the terms that we have done, and with the passion and determination that him and the people around him showed to stay at our club, how happy they are with what we have achieved and as well really pleased to see the reaction of everyone, firstly here at Colney at our club and as well our fans, to keep him.”

Thiago Alcantara has arrived at Liverpool’s training ground ahead of his move. There are currently Liverpool fans climbing on their car to peer over the fence.

“You can almost hear the conversation.” You really can’t.

Gareth Bale has arrived in London. Sky Sports News just showed camera shots of the plane landing at London Stansted airport. Maybe this is a bit much.

Updated

Still quite a surreal sight.

It is understandable that Jurgen Klopp is frustrated with how his comments are sometimes reported, but perhaps he could do with a refresher on the Wenger-Ferguson rivalry.

More from Graham Potter on Adam Lallana, who was reported to be suffering from cramp in Brighton’s loss to Chelsea on Monday, via PA Media:

“He’s going to join the group today for training, so that’s really positive. The initial concerns, it wasn’t as bad as we thought.”

“We’ll make a decision about that as late as we can to give him the time. That decision probably won’t be made until Saturday in terms of how much involvement he will have in the game but he’s got a chance.”

In 24 hours, Everton vs West Brom will kick off tomorrow’s fixtures.

Here is Nick Ames reporting on Jose Mourinho’s press conference today. Even as Gareth Bale flies home, he is still not happy with everything:

“To be honest I don’t like the number of players I have in my squad. It is very, very difficult to manage in every aspect of my job. Very difficult to manage this situation, too many players.”

More from Jurgen Klopp:

On Thiago Alcantara: “Probably for all Liverpool supporters it’s quite useful to have a look at a few LFC channels over the day. I would say that could help and we will see when whatever happens.”

“If it happens, it has no impact on anybody’s future in a negative way, if you want that. Somebody has to leave if someone comes in, or whatever. Nope.”

On Chelsea: “We have actually absolutely no idea who Frank will line up - there are so many different options. So because we don’t know a lot about Chelsea at the moment - during the season it will probably change - we have just to focus on ourselves. There’s enough work to do with that for different reasons. We are very early in the season.

On his so-called rivalry with Frank Lampard: “There is no rivalry. You should stop reading newspapers because I heard about these kinds of things that all the different journalists made of it. I don’t get that. When you ask me a question, I answer it and everyone takes it how they want to take it. It might be a language issue or something. You all make a story that I said something about the the ‘transfer behaviour of Chelsea’.

What I said is, in the situation we are in we cannot deal with the situation like other clubs. One of them was Chelsea, and then you make a story of it and then you create a rivalry between Frank Lampard and me. Why? We meet 2, 3 times a year. I respect a lot what he is doing. He’s probably a really nice guy but I don’t know him in private, like he doesn’t know me in private. And then on the sideline, we are quite animated and emotional and sometimes you say a few words that, a few minutes later, you wish you wouldn’t have said it.

That’s how life is, that’s how football is. It has nothing more than that. Whatever you want. I heard some people would be happy if there was an old rivalry again like it was between Arsene and Alex Ferguson. I don’t know, I think these two guys were pretty good with each other as well and I don’t think the world needs any stories about these kinds of things. Only some of you in the newspapers need that. I can’t help with the rivalries.”

Please do keep on reading the Guardian.

Updated

Jurgen Klopp is in front of the media now and the first subject is naturally Thiago Alcantara. Klopp says that he can’t comment until it is officially announced, even though he knows that everyone knows the announcement is imminent.

“I don’t know what I can say... It looks quite promising!” he says before laughing out loud.

Another reporter followed up with a hypothetical question about what difference Thiago would make if he was signed: “Very good effort, really,” says Klopp, laughing again. “All these things, sorry, I can answer after something is announced or not. We cannot talk in a hypothetical way. You waited so long and often in your lives, so you can wait.”

Updated

In the least surprising news of the past 24 hours, the announcement that former Arsenal and England footballer Alex Scott will replace Sue Barker as host Question Of Sport has led to her receiving racist abuse.

In response, Scott posted a poem on Instagram that she wrote in 2018 about her career and her battle against racism. It read: “To the colour of my skin, I was that girl that played football, because I always wanted to win. I retired from football with medals and honours galore, I retired from football to open a new door.

“Now I talk about football live on your TV, some want to say I’m ticking a box, but that’s not me. Football is football and that is what I see. Hi, Hello, I’m Alex Scott and you know what, football is me.”

An essential flight update: According to Sky Sports News, the flight carrying Gareth Bale and Sergio Reguilon to London is flying over La Rochelle, France as we speak. Thiago Alcantara is also heading to Liverpool today.

Some Brighton team news: Graham Potter says that Adam Lallana will train with the first team squad today. A decision will be made later on whether he will compete against Newcastle on Sunday.

The next set of Women’s Super League fixtures have been confirmed.

Jacob Steinberg looks to the future with West Ham in the midst of deep disillusion with the way that David Sullivan, David Gold and Karren Brady have handled the club.

Here is Jamie Jackson reporting on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Mason Greenwood comments.

Meanwhile, Sky Sports News just showed Gareth Bale’s plane in the air on flight tracker. Modern football, eh?

Slaven Bilic continues to push hard for West Bromwich Albion to sign Filip Krovinovic on a permanent deal. Krovinovic was instrumental in the Baggies returning to the Premier League last season during his one year loan from Benfica.

“I will be extremely disappointed if it doesn’t happen, I don’t even want to think about it. Every day when I walk into the training ground I ask about him. Why? Because last year he played a lot of games for us. He was brilliant on the pitch. You can be versatile with him on the pitch, you can change systems without changing the players.”

“Everybody loves him. He makes every player around him better - he is one of those, a silent or unsung hero. That is why every day I ask has he come, is it improving, is it improving? That’s how high I value him.”

Via PA Media.

Updated

Most bizarre signing of the season? Ross McCormack has joined Aldershot Town.

The most striking comment from Thiago’s video, which was delivered in German:

What I am most proud of is that I arrived in Munich as a young man full of dreams and now I will leave completely fulfilled with a club, a history and a culture. Here I learned to love a tradition that I am now saying goodbye to but which I will never forget: Mia San Mia.

This seems like the ideal way to depart from a big club. We will not be expecting anything similar from Bale.

Thiago Alcântara’s arrival at Liverpool is imminent

Here we go …

Updated

More from Ole Gunnar Solkjaer on Mason Greenwood via PA Media. He is not particularly happy with the England call-up:

“Yeah, of course I speak to Mason and I’ve spoken to Mason,” Solskjaer said. “Of course what we speak about and discuss will be between the two of us.

“The kid had a fantastic season. He’s just come through.”

“I’ve worked and the club have worked and all the staff here worked really hard to... when we gave Mason enough time on the pitch, when we gave him exposure in the media. Then you come to the end of the season and we’ve had less than two weeks off and he’s called up to the national team.”

“I have to be honest enough to say I tried my best to give him a rest over the summer. That the club we asked specifically and pointed out that he should have had a rest.”

Updated

Aston Villa head coach Dean Smith this morning on renewing Jack Grealish’s contract.

Do prepare for Gareth Bale’s imminent return to Tottenham by listening to Football Weekly.

Some team news from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this morning ahead of Manchester United’s game against Crystal Palace. Paul Pogba has returned to training after recovering from COVID-19 while Phil Jones and Axel Tuanzebe are still out:

“The players are at different stages. Mentally, I think everyone’s ready. Physically, they’re at a different stage, some of them have played more games than others. So we’ll have to be clever and good about when to play players because we know this period now, until the first international, is a hugely important one.

More details on Bale and Reguilon here.

Here is Jamie Jackson with new Manchester City signing Ferran Torres last night.

Speaking of Wolves, the beauty of them opting for a third kit that looks exactly like something Portugal would wear cannot be understated. It is also a nice kit, which helps.

Here is Nick Ames this morning on Gabriel Magalhães’s arrival at Arsenal. There may well be less reason for people to laugh at the Arsenal defence this season.

It begins. Gareth Bale is on his way to London.

Nick Ames, Simon Burnton and Daniel Harris have previewed the weekend to come. Of course, Chelsea v Liverpool will be the centrepiece as the champions look to take advantage of a Chelsea squad that isn’t yet fully fit at the beginning of this season. On Monday, Wolves will look to take advantage of a City defence that has some issues to resolve right now.

Preamble

Hello! It still feels strange to already be deep into another Premier League season just weeks after we escaped the last one, but here we are again ahead of matchday two. This is what awaits us on the weekend:

Saturday:

Everton v West Brom

Leeds United v Fulham

Manchester United v Crystal Palace

Arsenal v West Ham

Sunday:

Southampton v Tottenham Hotspur

Newcastle United v Brighton & Hove Albion

Chelsea v Liverpool

Leicester City v Burnley

Monday

Aston Villa v Sheffield United

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City

Of course, we will also be following that private jet closely as Gareth Bale is expected to fly to England today to complete his loan to Tottenham.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Kids Pointed Out A 'Plot Hole' In The Parent Trap, And Now The Internet Is Arguing About Car Safety
It's not a plot hole, but it is a good point.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
Story Behind Celia Walden's Viral 2022 Photo Explained—and Why It Struck a Nerve on Piers Morgan's Show
Piers Morgan storms off Uncensored after HSTikkyTokky shows a 2022 Instagram of Celia Walden, reigniting scrutiny of the manosphere and Morgan's persona.
International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
Obama’s portrait was replaced by Trump’s assassination painting, but its new location is what’s setting the internet on fire
The Grand Foyer now has a new centerpiece.
We Got This Covered
We Got This Covered
Daredevil actor Charlie Cox definitively says he's not in Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Punisher and The Hand may be the only Daredevil characters to show up in Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Total Film
Total Film
Cat owner’s $1,500 vet nightmare ends with the most ridiculous diagnosis imaginable
The cat had a perfectly valid reason.
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
Sarah Michelle Gellar says the Buffy reboot script leak is "not correct" and fans shouldn't read it: "That stuff is really unfortunate"
Sarah Michelle Gellar doesn't want fans to seek out leaks of the canceled Buffy reboot
Total Film
Total Film
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play