Key events
Good afternoon everybody. We have high- and low-octane chat from no fewer than 12 different top flight press conferences coming up this afternoon, with Pep Guardiola, Ruben Amorim, Oliver Glasner and Unai Emery among those managers who may have a thing or two to get off their chests following the closure of the recent transfer window.
Time to hand over to Barry Glendenning, who will keep you across all the latest news this afternoon.
New England women’s friendlies announced
The England women’s team have announced three new friendly fixtures as part of a “homecoming series” for the double European champions. The Lionesses will face Brazil, Australia and Ghana in Manchester, Derby and Southampton respectively, in addition to a previously announced Wembley friendly against China.
“It is great that we can return to action after our incredible summer with four exciting fixtures at home,” said the head coach, Sarina Wiegman. “Each opponent will challenge us in different ways, which is exactly what we need with World Cup qualification beginning early next year. We love taking the team around the country … [it] gives us a lovely way to say thanks for the incredible support we have had this year and before.”
Here are the fixtures:
England v Brazil, Etihad Stadium (Sat 25 Oct, 5.30pm)
England v Australia, Pride Park (Tue 28 Oct, 7pm)
England v China, Wembley (Sat 29 Nov, 5.30pm)
England v Ghana, St Mary’s (Tue 2 Dec, 7pm)
More from Enzo Maresca on his Brazilian players, who are struggling to be ready for Saturday’s trip to Brentford having played at altitude in Bolivia this week.
João Pedro, Estêvão and Andrey Santos all featured in the 1-0 defeat on Wednesday, arrived back in England on Thursday. Midfielder Moisés Caicedo also returned late on Thursday night following Ecuador’s victory over Argentina.
“The three Brazilian players arrived yesterday, they didn’t train, they did some recovery sessions,” said Maresca. “Moisés arrived last night. They’re all a question mark for tomorrow.”
In the Women’s Super League, Olivia Smith enjoyed an excellent debut for Arsenal after joining the Gunners for a then-world-record fee in July. It’s a sign of the pace of change in the women’s game that Smith’s £1m price has been surpassed three times already.
Orlando Pride set a new record in signing Lizbeth Ovalle from Tigres, before Alyssa Thompson (Angel City to Chelsea) and Grace Geyoro (PSG to London City Lionesses) moved for £1m+ on the WSL transfer deadline day.
Geyoro, the new record-holder, could make her WSL debut on Sunday as her Lionesses take on Manchester United, while Thompson will travel to Aston Villa in hope of getting her debut. Smith and Arsenal visit West Ham later tonight, with Manchester City v Brighton the other Friday evening kick-off.
Philipp Lahm takes a look at two expensive Bundesliga imports , Florian Wirtz and Nick Woltemade , and how their careers compare so far.
Grealish wins player of the month award
After a flying start to his loan spell at Everton, Jack Grealish has been named Premier League player of the month. Here he is receiving the award, which still looks like a bottle of Christmas gift-set shower gel, from teammate Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
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A little more from Eddie Howe, who said in his earlier presser that his relationship with Alexander Isak fundamentally changed after the player effectively went on strike.
“Alex and I always enjoyed a great relationship. I loved working with him and I hope he loved working with us,” Howe said. “He helped us achieve some unbelievable milestones [and] was part of a very successful team.”
The moment he went on strike, our relationship did change. I think that was probably a turning point in our relationship. Communication became difficult from that point onwards. I won’t go into any more detail than that.”
With all three promoted clubs getting at least one win on the board in the opening three games, it feels like the gap between Premier League and Championship may be closing again , with the help of heavy investment, of course.
The effect can also be seen in the second tier, where relegated Ipswich and playoff final losers Sheffield United are both winless after four matches. They meet at Portman Road tonight in what feels like a high-stakes game already, particularly for Blades manager Rubén Sellés, whose team are bottom of the table after four straight losses.
As for Kieran McKenna, he has credit in the bank at Ipswich and has at least scraped three draws from four games , but those Chelsea and United links feel a long time ago.
More from Maresca, on Cole Palmer’s injury recovery: “Cole took part in training yesterday for the first time, not the entire session. We are going to see if he’s okay [this afternoon], otherwise he will be out tomorrow.
On striking options in Delap’s absence: “For us, the only No 9 is [Marc] Guiu but João [Pedro] can play there, and against Fulham we used Ty [George].”
On new arrival Alejandro Garnacho: “He arrived here not 100% fit. He needs to work … he is working well and we will see. Hopefully we can give him minutes.”
Chelsea visit Brentford on Saturday (8pm BST kick-off), their fourth league game in a row against a fellow London team after drawing with Crystal Palace and beating both West Ham and Fulham before the international break.
Enzo Maresca has discussed Thursday’s news of 74 historical FA charges against Chelsea relating to agent regulations , without really saying anything about it.
“I know from the club that they are satisfied about the process,” the Chelsea head coach said. “Personally, I have nothing to add. I have no idea, to be honest. I want to focus on the pitch, something I can control. The rest is not in my hands.”
In the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich are already looking formidable with two wins from two, including a 6-0 gubbing of RB Leipzig, but Vincent Kompany is warning against complacency when they host promoted Hamburg on Saturday.
“Every game has its dangers as teams want to win points against us,” Kompany said. “It is a match against a team with a lot of confidence and motivation. They won a lot of matches last season. You carry that from the second division when you are promoted,” he added, suggesting he has taken his eye off the Premier League in recent years.
The last time Hamburg avoided defeat in Munich, Kompany was on their subs’ bench , and he revealed that was the reason he decided to up sticks and join City, 12 months before their Abu Dhabi-backed takeover. “Hamburg brought me back [from the Olympics] and then I sat on the bench in Munich. On principle, it was unacceptable.”
So, today’s theme appears to be expensive summer signings picking up costly injuries. Just bad luck, or a sign that the current transfer window setup isn’t that sensible? I personally think closing the window a week or two before the Premier League season starts would be better all round, but what do I know? Your thoughts welcome.
Brighton part company with technical director David Weir
Some big news from Brighton, who have confirmed the departure of their technical director, David Weir. “David has served our club very well but we now wish to refresh our technical area with new leadership and direction,” said the Brighton owner. “I’d like to thank David for everything he has done for us, and to wish him well for the future.”
Having joined Brighton as pathway development manager in 2018, Weir became assistant technical director before replacing Dan Ashworth in May 2022. The club’s chief executive, Paul Barber, will oversee the role until a replacement is brought in.
Liam Delap out for up to 12 weeks with injury
Another summer signing facing a long injury layoff is Chelsea’s Liam Delap. Enzo Maresca has confirmed that the striker faces up to 12 weeks out with the hamstring injury he picked up against Fulham.
Manchester United visit City in Sunday’s derby, but will do so without André Onana. The Cameroon keeper completed his loan move to Turkish side Trabzonspor last night, so either new recruit Senne Lammens or Altay Bayindir will be in goal.
There is equal uncertainty over who will be between the sticks for the hosts. Will James Trafford keep his place or will Pep Guardiola throw new arrival Gigi Donnarumma straight into action?
More from Eddie Howe, this time on the summer transfer window and the Alexander Isak affair. “That’s for another day and for probably people behind the scenes to reflect on,” Howe said. “For me, I have just got to focus on the future and look forward.”
“It was a challenging window but also a successful one, hopefully. Time will be the best judge of that. Our clear focus now is just the football. There are no off-pitch distractions and we are looking forward to that. I’m excited by the possibilities of this squad.”
Newcastle signed six senior players this summer , Wissa, Ramsey, Nick Woltemade, Anthony Elanga, centre-back Malick Thiaw and keeper Aaron Ramsdale (on loan).
Some transfer news announced on Thursday: Hull have signed João Mendes, the son of Brazil great Ronaldinho, on a one-year deal. Mendes, a 20-year-old winger, was on Burnley’s books last season and is expected to join the Tigers’ development squad.
Eddie Howe has revealed that another of Newcastle’s summer recruits, Jacob Ramsey, will be out until after the next international break in October after suffering an ankle injury against Leeds.
In better news, Joelinton is “fit and available” for what his head coach called “a storm of games” in September. Newcastle face Wolves, Bournemouth and Arsenal in the league, Barcelona in the Champions League and Bradford in the Carabao Cup this month.
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca will be meeting the press shortly , but first, here are some thoughts on the women’s team from minority investor Alexis Ohanian.
Speaking in Tokyo, Reddit founder (and Mr Serena Williams) Ohanian backed the Blues to become “America’s team”, and “the first women’s football team to be worth a billion dollars.” Chelsea signed the US forward Alyssa Thompson from Angel City on deadline day for a fee in excess of £1m.
“[US interest] is not the only factor, but it’s a huge factor,” Ohanian added. “What I would like to point to is the number of Premier League teams that are easily worth billions of dollars, that have tremendous American and global fanbases. That is a valuable, valuable market for athletes. I absolutely want every American to have that one team in the WSL they cheer for, and I want it to be [Chelsea].”
Wissa to see specialist over knee injury
In what could potentially be a big blow for Newcastle, Yoane Wissa is to see a specialist over the knee injury he suffered in DR Congo’s World Cup qualifier defeat by Senegal.
Eddie Howe has revealed the 29-year-old forward , a £55m deadline-day signing from Brentford , will definitely miss Saturday’s Premier League clash with Wolves. Wissa faces an anxious wait for an update before Thursday’s Champions League opener against Barcelona.
“He won’t make [the Wolves] game,” Howe told reports on Friday. “I saw him for the first time yesterday. He’s feeling the effects of the injury he sustained just before he came off. So we are going to have to see how he is.”
Slot on Isak: ‘we have to build him up gradually’
Will Unwin
Arne Slot has given his thoughts on the arrival of Alexander Isak, how he will be brought into the team, and criticism that the player received over his Newcastle exit.
“A lot of things happened on the last day, which is not always the situation because last season we hardly did anything during the whole window. The thing that pleased me most is us getting the deal for Alex over the line. Richard [Hughes], the ownership, everyone worked so hard to get the deal done, so it is very good for the club, for the fans, the players, for me that all the work they put in resulted in Alex signing for us.
“First of all, the Sweden manager Jon Dahl Tomasson deserves a big compliment because he gets one of the best strikers in the world, maybe the best striker in the world, and needs to play two very important games, but he understands if he plays him twice for 90 minutes then probably the player would have been injured for multiple weeks. That is not always easy for a manager that he takes care of the interest of a player. He deserves a big compliment for that. We will treat Alex the same as he did.
“Don’t expect Alex to [play] 90 minutes on the pitch every single game. That’s definitely not going to happen for the next few weeks. He missed a proper pre-season … so now we have to build him up gradually. That is going to be a challenge, but we have signed him for six years so this is what we have to keep in mind, and what the fans have to keep in mind if I take him off in a certain moment or I only bring him in for a few moments. That is all for the fitness of the player.
“In football there is always criticism, sometimes people cheer for you. I think when he [Isak] won the League Cup [with Newcastle] everyone was really happy with him and in other moments you get criticised. This is part of his life, my life, our jobs. Now he is a player for us and I am really happy with that.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot is up in front of the press pack early on, and he’s been talking about the failed deadline-day move for Marc Guéhi. “It would be ridiculous to deny we were close, that is out in the open,” Slot said.
“These things happen in football. We would have liked to sign him. It’s a pity for us and the player, but he is in a good place at Crystal Palace. Let’s see what the future brings for him and us … it’s not like we suddenly don’t have options in that position any more.”
A busy morning awaits, and there’s no better place to start than with our big weekend Premier League preview …
Preamble
The international break just gone was, relatively speaking, quite a lot of fun. That said, even with Norway hitting 11, Italy winning a nine-goal thriller, Suriname and Cape Verde heading towards the World Cup and , most shocking of all , England looking good, the Premier League’s unfinished business was never far from the headlines.
Since the last top-league fixtures were played in the heady final days of August, the table has remained frustratingly frozen three games in, but there are stacks of new signings from Alexander Isak to Gianluigi Donnarumma , and a new manager at Nottingham Forest in the shape of Ange Postecoglou.
He takes his new team to Arsenal tomorrow in what looks the weekend’s biggest game, save for a Sunday Manchester derby both teams would probably prefer to skip. Elsewhere, Everton v Aston Villa, West Ham v Spurs, Brentford v Chelsea and Burnley v Liverpool all offer chances for early-season form to be reinforced or flipped on its head.
It’s also back to work in the EFL and around Europe, and the Women’s Super League continues with West Ham v Arsenal and London City Lionesses v Manchester United among the more intriguing fixtures. Team news, buildup, previews and plenty more to come, so let’s put on our classics and we’ll have a little dance, shall we?