Leading promoters are already plotting to bring more marquee football to Hong Kong after visits from English, Italian and Saudi clubs this summer. Nearly 100,000 fans watched Football Festival matches involving Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan at Kai Tak Stadium last month, before last week’s three Saudi Super Cup games drew a combined…
Welcome back to The Alternative Premier League Table, a new series you can enjoy on The Athletic every Thursday during the season. We all know how compelling it is to stare at standings. Whether your team is in the middle of a winning run or mired in terrible form, five minutes looking at the table can convince you…
Alex Moreno is set to complete a move to Girona from Aston Villa. The left-back will undergo his medical tomorrow ahead of signing a two-year contract. The Athletic revealed in July that Girona had made an approach for Moreno, after he was left out of Villa’s pre-season tour to the United States, with the club…
One team has installed three rows of new seats, another has a new corner-taker and one side began the 2025-26 campaign by deliberately smashing the ball out of play. Yes, the Premier League is back and on the opening weekend we asked our reporters in addition to covering the games and the new signings to…
One swallow allegedly does not make a summer. One football match does not make club owners rush out and spend millions of pounds on new players… or does it? You may think the people who run the team you support are professional, sensible and rational. They don’t read social media, they don’t run a business…
Shirt numbers — they shouldn’t matter that much, but they do. From new signings taking iconic numbers to youngsters being given their first jersey for the senior team, there are always notable changes before a new season. Here, The Athletic’s Premier League writers analyse how shirt numbers have changed at your club, and their significance….
Mikel Arteta has challenged Arsenal to keep digging for gold as they prepare to start their latest bid for a first Premier League title since 2004 against revamped Manchester United on Sunday. Arteta’s side have finished as Premier League runners-up for the last three seasons, sparking criticism of their failure to get over the line…
Getty Images One of the biggest questions for the new Premier League season may surround whether Liverpool can win the league for a second consecutive season, but when looking at the entire league, who stacks up well? Newcastle’s summer has been nothing short of a disaster with Alexander Isak pushing for a transfer.Meanwhile, Arsenal are…
If you thought there has been an increase in Premier League-to-Premier League transfers, you could be forgiven. This summer, there have been numerous Premier League players who have moved clubs within England’s top flight, but the sense that intra-Premier League transfers are increasing is only a fallacy. At the time of writing, these moves have…
Two clubs interested ©IMAGO Not so long ago Douglas Luiz was one of the most sought-after players in the Premier League. After joining Aston Villa from Manchester City in a deal worth €16.8 million, the Brazilian midfielder quickly established himself as an exceptional, central midfielder who could chip in with an impressive array of goals…