Harvey Elliott says he is ready for a fresh start at Liverpool and eager to enjoy his football again after a difficult loan at Aston Villa. He moved to Villa last summer on a season-long deal that included an obligation to buy for £35m if he reached 10 appearances. Villa opted early not to activate...

The financial gulf between England and the rest of Europe is striking. Premier League clubs have shelled out £2.14bn this summer, compared with £780m in Serie A, £515m in La Liga, £505m in the Bundesliga and £412m in Ligue 1. In other words, England’s top flight has already outspent those four major European leagues combined....

Asked whether Spain would win the World Cup, Lamine Yamal smiled and said, “Yes.” That reply to US broadcaster CBS surprised no one who has watched the assured teenager emerge as one of the game’s elite talents. Still, many assumed that for his bold prediction to come true, he would need to light up his...

Available for 28 days Hearts return to Tynecastle with a mountain to climb after last week’s 4-0 defeat to Sturm Graz. With their Champions League dream on the brink, can Wouter Vrancken’s side deliver a stirring European fightback—or at least rebuild belief before the Premiership begins? Andrew Petrie teams up with Hearts Standard editor Joel...

Available for more than a year France have reached the World Cup semi-finals—but can anyone stop them? After calling France’s victory over Morocco, Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith are joined by Alistair Bruce-Ball to unpack another dominant display, Kylian Mbappé’s missed penalty, and the lively debate over stuttered versus straight run-ups from the spot. Plus,...

Aston Villa and Roma are exploring a loan move for Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Endrick, 22. (AS, Spanish) England captain Harry Kane, 33, is expected to sign a new Bayern Munich deal through 2029. (The Times, subscription) Arsenal have contacted Bradley Barcola’s camp in an effort to hijack Liverpool’s bid for the 23-year-old France forward...

Seven league-phase places for the 2026-27 Champions League are still to be decided, but the other 29 clubs are set. Most of those 29 also already know their seeding pot. Each of the first two pots has nine confirmed teams. Pot one features Premier League sides Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal, alongside back-to-back Champions League...

Youth football in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland now limits heading, and separate measures have been introduced to curb heading during training in the English and Scottish professional games. In 2019, the FA- and PFA-funded Field study reported that footballers had a 3.5-times higher risk of neurodegenerative disease. Since then, the FA has advised clubs...

On the second night of 2026 World Cup knockout action, two of the three ties were decided by penalty shootouts. Paraguay delivered the biggest upset, eliminating Germany 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw through extra time. Later, Morocco also prevailed from the spot, beating the Netherlands 3-2 after the match remained level. In recent...

England international Lucy Bronze has signed a new Chelsea contract running until 2027. The defender joined from Barcelona ahead of the 2024/25 season and has since become integral to Sonia Bompastor’s side, making 56 appearances, scoring five goals and helping the club collect four trophies across two campaigns. Bronze said the shift to Stamford Bridge...

A proposal for Alalshikh, the co-founder of boxing promoter Zuffa, to acquire a controlling interest in the Championship club has been with the football regulator since May. An IFR spokesperson said the body has a legal duty to rigorously vet all prospective owners across the top five tiers of men’s football. The review was completed...