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…
Much noise around Bruno Fernandes and his suitability as Manchester United captain, some of it led by my colleague Oliver Holt. ‘Excellent player, never a leader in a million years,’ said the Daily Mail’s Chief Sports Writer on X. It’s a commonly held opinion. I mean, do United and their supporters really want a skipper…
Welcome to The Briefing, where every Monday during this season, The Athletic will discuss three of the biggest questions to arise from the weekend’s football in England. This was the round of matches when a boy who should be getting his feet measured for a new pair of school shoes about now threatened to break a Premier…
MILAN (AP) — Napoli’s former Premier League players lit up Serie A on the opening day of the new season on Saturday. Kevin De Bruyne netted in his debut and Scott McTominay scored the opener as Antonio Conte’s team kicked off its Serie A title defense with a comfortable 2-0 win at Serie B champion…
The 2025/26 Serie A season gets underway on Saturday when Napoli begin their league title defence at promoted Sassuolo. AFP Sport looks at some of the new faces to watch for ahead of the campaign as teams jostle to dethrone the champions: Advertisement Kevin De Bruyne (Napoli) The headline transfer of the summer, Kevin De…
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…
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…
Gianluigi Donnarumma is one of the best goalkeepers around, but he would struggle playing in the Premier League. That’s the view of European football expert Andy Brassell, with the Italian international of interest to Manchester City this summer. 4 Donnarumma could leave PSG despite just winning the quadruple with PSGCredit: Getty talkSPORT understands City will…
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….