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Celtic manager Martin O'Neill does not anticipate any new arrivals before Wednesday's Champions League play-off first leg at home to LASK and insists he would be happy for midfielder Reo Hatate to stay.Summer signings Camilo Duran and Kasper Hogh have made bright starts, with Mika Baur and Haissem Hassan also recently arrived.Asked about adding to his squad before the late night deadline on Tuesday, O'Neill said there was a "fairly decent chance of nothing happening".Arne Engels was sold to West Ham at the weekend, with O'Neill explaining that the club are "still in the process of finding a replacement" for the midfielder and admitting it will be "hard to replace his running power" against the Austrians.Baur made his debut as a 59th-minute substitute in Sunday's 4-0 win at Dundee United and O'Neill suggested the German will start since Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain is suspended and Hatate is yet to feature this season."It would have been nice to have kept Arne for the couple of games, because he knows the players, knows his role in the team," said O'Neill."But it's not to be. We'll have someone else in there. It might be Baur, I'm not sure yet. He's just getting to know the team."Hatate is another option in the middle of the pitch, but the Japan international has been an unused substitute so far this term and has not started a game since a 2-0 defeat at Dundee United in April.The 28-year-old joined in 2022 and has two years to run on contract."It's been a bit of a struggle for him [of late]," said O'Neill of the player who has won five league titles, three Scottish Cups, and two League Cups in Glasgow."What I would love Reo to do is get back to the form he showed a couple of years ago when he was one of the best players in Scotland."There have been [transfer] enquiries, but nothing definitive. That may well happen."If Reo wants to stay and battle for his place in the team and says he's capable of doing it, I have no problem with that."Visit our Celtic page for all the latest news, analysis and fan views

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Retaining top talent is a challenge for established Premier League clubs even when they are performing well, Everton chief executive officer Angus Kinnear has said.Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside, Kinnear acknowledged the challenges Everton and clubs of their size face, as he attempts to retain attacker Iliman Ndiaye and re-sign last season's loanee Jack Grealish."Our vision is very much that our best players like Ndiaye are retained, play at the club and help us achieve what we all want to achieve," said Kinnear."I really hope that at he's with us for many years to come but you've seen at Newcastle, Aston Villa, clubs who are performing well, retaining top talent is challenging and that is a challenge that Everton also face."Everton were deducted eight points in the 2023-24 season after breaching the profit and sustainability rules that were in place at that time.The influential Ndiaye, 26, has been linked with a move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal, having scored six goals and made three assists last season.Newcastle have sold key midfielders Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali plus attacker Anthony Gordon this summer, while Aston Villa, who qualified for this season's Champions League, have sold Morgan Rogers to Chelsea."I do think it's important that those financial foundations are in place both from an SCR [squad cost ratio] perspective so you're operating within the financial rules," Kinnear added."Everton have seen probably better than anybody what happens when that goes wrong. The challenge that the clubs of Everton's size have is trying to be ambitious in terms of your spend but also trying to do that on a sustainable way."It's not about having one year of success. You see some of the challenges that Aston Villa and Newcastle are experiencing now after two or three years of success."We do it in a sustainable way. That will mean that we won't have a transfer window where we blow the doors off and put the club at risk from an SCR perspective."Grealish, 30, made 22 appearances for Everton last season before his season was ended by injury in January and he remains with parent club Manchester City, for whom he came on as a half-time substitute in Sunday's Community Shield defeat to Arsenal."Jack is a player we've remained in contact with. It was no secret that he decided to have his rehabilitation done here for the remainder of last season when he didn't have to do that," said Kinnear."He's a player who's fallen in love with the right shade of blue but ultimately he's a Manchester City player at the moment and we need to respect that. The most important thing is he's back. He had a very serious injury, he's worked really hard to get back from that."Everton finished 13th last season in their first season at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, slipping down the table after failing to win any of their last seven games."Last year we were all bitterly disappointed by the way the season finished, but there were some real signs of recovery and signs of potential," said Kinnear."I know David [Moyes] believes that this season he can go one step further and start to achieve something really tangible on the pitch."Everton start their season at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday (15:00 BST).Pre-match, post-match and topical Toffees contentListen on SoundsSubscribe and listen for everything you love about the BluesLatest Everton news, analysis and fan viewsAsk about Everton - what do you want to know?

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How will Manchester City fare without Pep Guardiola? Will Xabi Alonso improve Chelsea? And how will Arsenal find defending their Premier League title?These are some of the biggest questions going into the Premier League season.Former City and England goalkeeper and current BBC Sport pundit Joe Hart gave his views on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club.Listen to Monday Night Club on BBC SoundsManchester City 'not heaping massive expectation on this season'With Pep Guardiola stepping down after a trophy-laden decade in charge, new Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has big shoes to fill at Etihad Stadium, but Hart reckons most of the pressure on the Italian will come "externally".Having - briefly - broken the transfer record for an English player to acquire midfielder Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for £116m, Maresca looks likely to lose Spain's World Cup Golden Ball winner Rodri to Barcelona, although Morocco's Ayyoub Bouaddi, 18, is in talks to join from Lille for £85.6m.All this against the backdrop of a disappointing 3-0 Community Shield defeat to Arsenal in Cardiff on Sunday.Hart, who won two league titles with City, said: "I think the club isn't heaping massive expectation on this season. I think they still believe that they've got the team and they've got the quality to challenge."I still feel they'll want to be pushing on all fronts. But the same sort of pressure, as an organisation, I don't think will be on this season… I don't think they're going to be put under that pressure internally."Externally, there's always going to be the noise. Maresca will come immediately under fire in terms of how people want to jump all over Man City if they do struggle."Internally, I think they're intelligent enough as a business to understand that what's going on right now is going to be difficult."Having won four titles in a row from 2020-21 to 23-24, City have fallen just short in the past two seasons, and Hart believes Arsenal's players are about to find out how difficult it is to stay at the top like Guardiola's teams did earlier in the decade.Recalling his two titles with City in 11-12 and 13-14, neither of which were defended successfully, Hart said: "I was walking on water at that time. I actually thought I was 'that guy'."And football finds a way, really quickly, of showing you that you're not. And when things started to unravel, which they will in any season, [they] seemed to really unravel because all of a sudden [you're under] that kind of champion scrutiny."And it's really important how Arsenal are going to handle that, but Mikel Arteta has done a brilliant job, and he makes really big decisions and bold decisions. And it's about how you handle that first hurt. It's ironic that getting to the top is the easy thing, it really is."Elsewhere in the capital, Arsenal's London rivals Chelsea endured a miserable league campaign last season, with Maresca's replacement in the hotseat, Liam Rosenior, lasting little more than three months.Their 10th-place finish means there will be no European football at Stamford Bridge this season for just the third time this century. In 16-17, it proved to be a blessing in disguise as Antonio Conte's side romped to the title."I do remember Gary Cahill talking about Conte coming in to a Premier League team like Chelsea who [weren't] in Europe," said Hart. "He said they were so well drilled, he was so intense in what they needed. They almost had NFL playbooks and it allowed them the time to build into the season."So that's a massive advantage for someone like Xabi Alonso, who's obviously got his way of playing and he'll have his time on the grass with his players. Their ceiling is, of course, to be in amongst it. I think it is. And they've got a really great opportunity."

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Former Arsenal captain succeeds Pape ThiawSenegal reached last 32 of this summer’s World CupPatrick Vieira has been appointed as the head coach of Senegal. The Senegal-born former Arsenal captain has been out of work since leaving his post as manager of the Serie A side Genoa last November and replaces Pape Thiaw, who was dismissed after Senegal’s defeat by Belgium in the last 32 at this summer’s World Cup.“Mr Patrick Vieira is the new coach of the Senegalese national A team,” read a statement. “The date of the official presentation and the next steps in its installation will be communicated at a later date. Welcome to Senegal, coach.”Vieira won three Premier League titles with Arsenal, as well as the World Cup and European Championship with France in 1998 and 2000 respectively. After managerial spells with Nice and New York City, the 50-year-old spent two years in charge of Crystal Palace.He was sacked by the south London club in March 2023 and joined Strasbourg as head coach before a 12-month stint in Italy.

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Juventus have signed Guglielmo Vicario on an initial season-long loan from Tottenham.The agreement also includes an £8.5m (€10m) option to buy the Spurs goalkeeper permanently.Juventus had previously been targeting Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez but cooled their interest after a £8.5m offer was rejected by the Premier League club.Villa's valuation and Martinez's ongoing injury issues, including a knock to his finger, then led to Juventus turning their attention to Vicario as talks regarding a return to Italy, after joining Spurs from Empoli in 2023, intensified.Sky in Italy reported Villa agreed a £29.9m (€35m) deal with Parma to sign goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, who Juventus were also targeting on loan if he completed a move to Paris Saint-Germain.Suzuki's proposed move to PSG stalled and gave Villa fresh encouragement to move for the Japan World Cup star.The pursuit of Suzuki now leaves Martinez's future at Villa in doubt. His current deal at the club is set to expire in 2029.Speaking on August 5, a representative of the player told Sky Sports News that he was happy at Villa and was looking forward to the new season.The Argentina World Cup-winning goalkeeper has never asked to leave Villa Park, even amid interest from Manchester United last summer and Juventus and Inter Milan this summer, according to Gustavo Goni of agency Universal TwentyTwo.Martinez will only leave with the blessing of Villa and if a deal suits all parties."Another transfer window, another saga involving Emiliano Martinez. The goalkeeper looked certain to leave last summer amid interest from Manchester United but that move failed to materialise."He remained at Villa Park and his legacy at the club continued to build. The two-time Yashin Trophy winner and 2022 World Cup winner played through an ongoing finger injury to help win the Europa League and continued to perform at the highest level in the top flight."Only Gianluigi Donnarumma and Matz Sels had higher save percentages than Martinez (70.7 per cent) last season and while there are no doubts about his ability, his future in claret and blue raises an interesting question."When links to an exit emerged last summer, the succession plan looked unclear. Marco Bizot arrived and performed well as an understudy but after agreeing a £29.9m deal to sign Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki from Parma, it points to a club pulling the trigger on the heir to Martinez's throne between the sticks."It is hard to imagine a goalkeeper of his quality operating without the certainty of being first choice. It is equally as difficult to imagine a club parting ways with just under £30m, as well as beating off competition from PSG and Juventus, to sign Suzuki without first-team opportunities readily available."Villa have navigated a summer of change in the transfer window and replacing Martinez is arguably the greatest task of them all. For six years, he has been a reliable and often heroic option for the club to lean on in goal."The key question that needs answering now Villa appear to have moved on is will Martinez follow suit, with a move to Juventus now off the cards given their recruitment of Guglielmo Vicario?"

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Former Arsenal and France captain Patrick Vieira has been appointed as the new head coach of the Senegal men's national team.The 50‑year‑old replaces Pape Thiaw, who was sacked in the wake of the country's last‑32 exit at the 2026 Fifa World Cup.Born in Senegal's capital Dakar, Vieira will now manage the country of his birth, having moved to France aged eight before later winning over 100 caps for Les Bleus and lifting the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship in 2000.Senegal's football federation (FSF) said the appointment reflects its "desire to strengthen its high-level technical staff" and is "perfectly aligned" with the nation's sporting ambitions.Details of Vieria's contract and his starting date in the role are still being discussed.His first matches in charge of the Teranga Lions are expected to come next month in qualifiers for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).Vieira joins the West Africans after he left his role as Genoa head coach by mutual consent last November, with the team bottom of Serie A.He won eight and drew nine of his 26 games during the 2024-25 season to guide the Italian club to safety and a 13th-place finish.However, he left the club after managing just two wins in 25-26, with both of those victories coming in the Coppa Italia.During his playing career, midfielder Vieira won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups at Arsenal, as well as silverware with AC Milan, Inter Milan and Manchester City.He retired in 2011 and became the manager of New York City in 2016 before returning to Europe with Nice and leading them to seventh in Ligue 1 in his first season.Vieira was sacked in December 2020 and became Crystal Palace manager the following year, guiding the Eagles to 12th in the Premier League and the FA Cup semi-finals in 2021-22.He was dismissed in March 2023 after a 12-game winless run, before joining RC Strasbourg as their first appointment following a takeover by BlueCo, the company which owns Chelsea. He left Strasbourg by mutual consent in July 2024.His predecessor Thiaw was at the centre of controversy in January when he ushered his Senegal team off the field when Morocco were awarded a stoppage-time penalty in the 2025 Afcon final.The players eventually returned after a delay of about 17 minutes before Brahim Diaz's penalty was saved and Pape Gueye scored an extra-time winner.However, Morocco were declared the winners of the tournament in March when the a Confederation of African Football appeals board overturned the result of the final following Senegal's walk-off.Senegal have lodged an appeal against that decision with the Court of Arbitration for Sport - with the case due to be heard on 8 October.Man City move for £85m Bouaddi and still want FernandezIpswich sign Strasbourg duo Enciso & Ouattara

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Harry Kane says he is ready to begin discussions with Bayern Munich over extending his contract with the Bundesliga champions.The 33-year-old striker has entered the final 12 months of the four-year deal he signed after his £86.4m move from Tottenham Hotspur in August 2023.Kane scored 61 goals in 51 appearances in all competitions for Bayern last season as Vincent Kompany's side completed a league and cup double."We obviously said we wanted to talk after the World Cup and after my holiday. So I'm not sure exactly when, but they'll start this week, next week... we'll start those talks," Kane said."Like I've said before, we're calm, I think they're calm with the situation."Obviously now is the time to start talking, because there's only a year left. That's important. But both sides are relaxed, and I'm pretty sure there'll be some talks this week or next week."The England captain has scored 98 goals in 94 games across three Bundesliga campaigns, and has won three successive Bundesliga Golden Boot awards.Kane scored six goals for England at the 2026 World Cup, becoming England's all-time leading World Cup scorer with 14 goals in 18 appearances.He is among the favourites to win the 2026 Ballon d'Or, but insisted he is focused on the upcoming season."The Ballon d'Or is as big as it gets, from an individual point of view," he said."I know I had a great season last season, but the focus is on this new season."The Ballon d'Or's not in my hands. I've done what I can do in terms of putting in the performances. It's now down to votes and other people and the media - stuff I can't control - so we'll see what happens."Obviously, it would be amazing if it was to happen. But ultimately, it's still two or three months away before that's decided so it's not something that's at the front of my mind right now."Listen to the latest Football Daily podcast

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A senior Fifa blazer held in such rare high regard that the prescient synth-pop duo Erasure named a single after him long before he entered the intoxicating world of football administration, Kevin Lamour was a lone dissenting voice inside Fifa’s lair when Gianni Infantino’s plot to flog part of the World Cup to private investors – potentially on the cheap – was rumbled last month. A plan so half-baked it succeeded only in ruining the holidays of Proper Journalists who naively hoped they might enjoy some leisure time after weeks of being studiously ignored by Gianni in the foyers of various luxury hotels dotted across North America, the then chief operating officer of Fifa had witheringly described the sell-off proposal as “the project of one person”. Refusing to sign off on the deal, Lamour said the administration had been “deceived” by Gianni, adding that if speaking up against his boss “means I lose my job, then so be it. I will understand and respect that decision. At least I’ll sleep well tonight.”While Football Daily presumes the Frenchman has been dozing with one eye open during the fortnight or so that has passed since he aired his reservations in what will have been viewed as an act of gross insubordination, it is worth noting that Gianni’s wheeze was quietly shelved just a few days afterwards. On Monday night, however, Lamour will have slept the sleep of the just after being handed his P45 and booted through the door marked ‘Do One!’ by his now former paymasters. “Fifa can confirm that the working relationship between Fifa and Kevin Lamour as Fifa’s Chief Operating Officer has ended on 17 August 2026,” honked a spokesperson. “Fifa thanks Kevin for his two years of service and wishes him the best of luck for the future. No further comment will be made on the matter.”Given their now customary lack of transparency, it is no surprise that Fifa is not planning on commenting any further on the matter, but others have been eager to have their say. Never backwards in coming forwards and a constant thorn in Gianni’s side, it was no surprise to see Lise Klavness, head of the Norwegian Football Association shouting from the first cab off the rank. “Now he is thrown out and we are supposed to move on,” she fumed. “It’s unacceptable, it’s management by fear,” she said of the treatment meted out to Lamour, a man she described as the best football administrator she has ever met. “Now we also have to call upon Fifa leadership and the administration to not submit to orders you know are not in the interests of football.”While the evidence of the Geopolitics World Cup and its aftermath suggest Klaveness might have more luck calling upon fish to stop swimming, her comments have been interpreted as a dig at the Swedish Fifa blazer Mattias Grafström, who is understood to have sacked Lamour at the behest of Gianni, who continues to cling on to power like a barnacle on a ship’s hull. “Individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go,” wrote Grafström in an email sent to staff. “The institution, its mission and its responsibility towards world football continue.” For now, it seems the Fifa sackings will continue until morale improves.“Guys I want to confess something, I’m [eff]ing divorced from the most beautiful woman on your planet. It’s my wife, my ex-wife – I love her unbelievably, but we lost the passion. For many reasons, we lost the passion. I love her? Yes, absolutely. She loves me? Yes, but we lost the passion. How do you play football, because you are paid? Or because of something inside? Where is the passion? In your life, whatever you are going to do, do it with passion. I don’t want any good players. I want players with passion” – in a new Amazon documentary, Pep Guardiola is shown using revelations about his private life to try to end a poor run of results. Yep. Another relationship issue is exposed when the former City manager has a big barney with Kyle Walker.double quotation markUpon reading the final article in Monday’s missive [full email edition – Football Daily Ed], I noted the final sentence of Memory Lane commenced with “(insert name of whoever is in the news as being on the end of a bad foul, bad behaviour, etc, here)”. I may be doing you a gross disservice but I couldn’t help feeling this was a Wizard of Oz moment where the curtain was momentarily drawn back, revealing (insert witty denouement here)” – Anthony Brady.double quotation markFurther to Monday’s letter about players’ wages. To put things into perspective, if we estimate the average Premier League player’s wage to be, say, £5m per annum, or £100,000 per week, this works out that in one week such a player gets (hardly earns) more than the likes of Jimmy Greaves earned in his complete football career. If we go back to players like Finney, Milburn and Lofthouse the difference is even greater” – Stewart McGuinness.double quotation markI’m glad Rob Smyth was dissing a lousy movie and not the Gigli, Beniamino, the Italian tenor, in my humble opinion the best there ever has been. Well, I needed something to take my mind off the football!” – Bob Cushion.If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Anthony Brady. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

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Fancy testing your football prediction skills?With the new season under way, BBC Sport has just the thing to keep you entertained every week.After the success of our World Cup Predictor game, we've rebranded it for the club season as Match of the Day Predictor.It's simple to play - just predict the outcome of the six fixtures we've selected from across domestic and European competitions every week.And don't worry if you've joined late - players can join at any time, get involved with the latest round and start building a streak.Once you've submitted your predictions, you'll also be able to see what others think the outcome of the match will be.Each round will start on a Friday and the kick-off time of the first match is the deadline to get your predictions in.Once the round is under way, you've then got the whole week to predict the following set of matches.The new game also features streaks, so make sure to check in each week to do your predictions.Every consecutive round you play adds one to your streak, but if you miss a round your streak resets to zero.Make your selections, or click 'How to Play' to be guided through how it works.For every match, you either choose a winner or a draw - except for knockout games when only winner options appear.Once your prediction has been submitted you are unable to change it, so be sure to pick carefully.After that, wait for the results to roll in and see how you have done.All our Premier League Who Am I? quizzes in one placeCan you name the players with most Premier League appearances?Can you name the 10 Lionesses with most England caps?Can you name every team to have played in the WSL?

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The case is related to the purchase of the club in December 2024 by COH Sports Bidco Limited (CSBL), an American-based consortium.CSBL agreed to buy the Blades for just over £100m but, according to the club's former owners United World, still owes more than £35m from the deal.The winding-up petition was filed against CSBL - not the football club - on 8 July, and is due before the High Court on Wednesday.If the £35m is not paid, or an agreement is not reached, CSBL could be wound up.It is a very complex situation clouded by the movement of shares in Sheffield United into a new company.So will the club really face a points penalty?Saudi Arabian Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad Al Saud bought 50% of Sheffield United in 2013, before acquiring the rest of the club in 2019.Prince Abdullah's time in charge was not without controversy, only securing the other 50% of the club following a long High Court battle.When United World, the company through which Prince Abdullah owned the club, sold to CSBL the story did not end there.The Blades were deducted two points in the Championship last season because of missed transfer payments under Prince Abdullah in the 2022-23 campaign.CSBL made an initial payment upon close of sale, but the first instalment - due last year - was late and paid only after a statutory demand, and sent on the deadline.This High Court date comes down to another £35m payment, a debt which the new owners have not denied is outstanding.Here is where matters become complicated for the English Football League (EFL) and its regulations.In June, the shares in the club were transferred from CSBL into a new US-based company, 1919 Partners LLC, which became the "parent company of Sheffield United", external.In effect, CSBL no longer has any say in the running of the South Yorkshire club.But even though Wednesday's court case is against CSBL, there is still a link to the Blades.CSBL is led by businessmen Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy, who remain on Sheffield United's board as co-chairmen through 1919 Partners LLC.On Monday, United World issued a statement in which it claimed the creation of 1919 Partners LLC was "an attempt to avoid paying CSBL's creditors".It added that since the winding-up order was issued no offer has been made to settle the debt and that Rosen and Eltoukhy are "trying to take the club without paying for it".Sources close to the Sheffield United ownership then issued a statement which did not directly address the accusations."We are disappointed Prince Abdullah is trying to hurt the club and its supporters with publicity stunts," it read."The deal between sophisticated parties in 2024 was well-advised by his financial advisors."Sheffield United is financially healthy, unlike under Prince Abdullah when the club incurred a points deduction for missing payments to football creditors."Nonetheless, Helmy Eltoukhy and Steven Rosen invited Abdullah to reinvest in the club and join the ownership of Sheffield United and to help use his skills to support our promotion efforts."Helmy and Steve are focused on the sustainability of the club and the season ahead."United World responded on Tuesday, adding in a statement that "sophisticated and well-advised parties pay the price they agreed"."An offer of shares in the company that was sold, instead of the money owed for it, was not part of the agreed deal and is not payment," it added."If Sheffield United is as financially healthy as its owners claim, and the owners themselves have the means they are widely reported to have, then the money can be paid."Paying it would answer all questions about the club's situation at once. Instead, the owners are running a club they have not paid for and the club's financial health, such as it is, is the result of the owners' scheme to avoid paying for the club."Neither the EFL nor the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) has commented on the share transfer to 1919 Partners LLC.When approached by the BBC, the IFR confirmed it was in contact to gain more information about the events."We are aware of the winding-up petition in relation to COH Sports Bidco," the IFR said in a statement on Tuesday."We are engaging with the club and relevant organisations on this issue, but we cannot comment further at this stage."Sheff Utd held to goalless draw by Birmingham CityParkinson's double frustration as Wrexham deniedThe regulations direct the EFL board to take into account a number of factors, including "the need to protect the integrity and continuity of the competition" and "the reputation of the league".If the High Court chooses to wind up CSBL, then it does present a clear question for the EFL.Effectively, a club's owners could be considered to have moved shares into a new company to leave a sizeable purchase debt in the previous company, and effectively write it off.That alone could be considered a breach and result in sanctions from the EFL, and the board could choose to impose a 12-point deduction for an insolvency event.Though not a direct comparison, in 2009 Southampton were docked 10 points by the EFL after their parent company went into administration.An investigation found the football club and the parent company were "inextricably linked as one economic entity", and applied their mandatory penalty."As the former owners of SUFC, United World does not want to see SUFC facing months of uncertainty that will follow the winding-up order being granted on 19 August," the statement from the former owners added."But in the absence of Eltoukhy and Rosen, both billionaires, agreeing to pay what they owe, we have no alternative but to take all legal steps to protect our interests."The next step is the High Court on Wednesday.If there is no compromise before then, or if the winding-up order is issued, this story has a lot further to run.Pre-match, post-match and topical Blades contentListen on SoundsSubscribe and listen for everything you love about the BladesLatest Sheffield United news, analysis and fan views

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It was initially reported that 1892 Holdings had bought about a third of the club, but - as first reported by The Athletic, external - it is actually about 38%.There is also an option for the consortium to buy a controlling stake in Liverpool in the next 12 months, though that does not involve a formal commitment.In a statement on Friday, FSG confirmed it had entered into a "definitive agreement" for the sale of a "strategic minority investment" to 1892 Holdings.The group - named after Liverpool's founding year - is led by British-Indian millionaire businessman Amit Bhatia and also includes Bezos and billionaire Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.Bhatia will become Liverpool's vice-chairman and join an expanded board pending regulatory approval.The son-in-law of Indian billionaire businessman Lakshmi Mittal, he had been a director and co-owner of Queens Park Rangers for 18 years before relinquishing his stake in the club last month.The deal is understood to value Liverpool between £5bn and £6bn.Breakouts & wildcards - 13 surprise stars for new seasonLatest Liverpool news, analysis and fan viewsAsk about Liverpool - what do you want to know?

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The final seven places in this season's Champions League league phase will be confirmed next week.A total of 36 teams will compete in the league phase. Of those, 29 sides have already sealed their places.They consist of the best-placed finishers across Europe's top-ranked leagues from the 2025-26 season. The best-placed teams from the lower-ranked European nations entered qualifying rounds.Qualifying consists of four rounds, with the last of those four rounds taking place across this week and next week.Five of the seven remaining places are between teams in the champions path, consisting of sides who won their respective league title from lower-ranked nations.The other two places will came from the league path which is contested by teams who did not win their league titles last season, but did still earn a place to reach the qualifying rounds.A total of five English clubs qualified. Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool qualified for finishing in the Premier League's top five, while Aston Villa earned their spot for winning last season's Europa League.Spain also have five teams in the league phase. They will be represented by Barcelona, Real Madrid, Villarreal, Atletico Madrid and Real Betis.Traditionally, England is awarded four places in the Champions League. But strong performances in Uefa club competitions last season mean that they and Spain were each given one of two Elite Performance Spots (EPS), resulting in Liverpool and Real Betis qualifying.Italy and Germany have four representatives each. Inter Milan, Napoli, Roma and Como will be joined by Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, and Stuttgart.France have three direct qualification spots. Lens and Lille qualified by finishing in second and third respectively.Paris St-Germain won the Ligue 1 title. However, because they won last season's Champions League, they took the place allocated to the defending champions. Shakhtar Donetsk, the winner of last season's Ukrainian top-flight, were handed direct qualification in place of PSG's spot for winning Ligue 1.Because Aston Villa both finished in the Premier League's top five and won the Europa League, their league spot was surrendered and Liga Portugal runners up Sporting.The other teams to have already qualified are PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord, Porto, Club Brugge, Slavia Prague and Galatasaray.Contact formContact formHow many spots are given to each nation?Two places for this season's Champions League league phase go to the winners of last season's Champions League and Europa League.Following that, to determine how many places each nation gets, Uefa uses its association rankings from the five-year period ending two seasons prior to that campaign.For example, for the 2026-27 season, places are used based on Uefa rankings between the 2020-21 and 2024-25 seasons.With England, Italy, Spain and Germany ranked first to fourth respectively, the top four teams in their leagues qualify straight to the league path.From France, which ranks fifth, the top three teams in Ligue 1 directly qualify. Fourth place will also earn a spot in the third qualifying round of the competition.The Netherlands is ranked sixth and is awarded spots for the top two Eredivisie sides, with the third-placed domestic side entering the third qualifying round.Portugal, Belgium, Czech Republic and Turkey, ranked seventh to 10th in order, are given two places each. The league winners from all four countries get a spot in the league phase. The league runners-up in Portugal, Belgium and the Czech Republic all get a place in the third qualifying round, while Turkey are given an extra team in the second qualifying round.Norway, Greece, Austria and Scotland are the nations ranked 11th to 14th. The winners of each league get a place in the play-off qualifying round, effectively the fourth and final round of qualifying. All four countries also get a second place in the second qualifying round.Poland, ranked 15th, will have its top two clubs enter in the second qualifying round. All other nations only get one team each, all of which will enter in either of the first two rounds of qualifying.Through qualifying, seven spots in the league phase are available. Teams are split into the 'champions path' and the 'league path'.Champions path clubs, who are league winners from nations outside the top 10 during the qualifying period, will compete for five spots.The other two spots go to league path clubs, a separate qualifying route for clubs from nations given multiple qualifying spots without winning their domestic league.The EPS spots for this season went to teams from England and Spain.The winners of this season's Champions League - Paris St-Germain - have already qualified for next season's competition because of performances in their domestic league.Like in the Champions League, this season's Europa League winners Villa had already qualified for this season's competition prior to beating Freiburg in the final.Because of England's EPS and Villa not finishing outside of the top five, England only got five qualification places instead of six.As they finished in the top four, they surrender their Europa League title-winner spot to the best-ranked team in Uefa's club coefficient rankings to only reach the qualifying rounds.In that scenario, Portuguese side Sporting will move up from the league path of the third qualifying round to the league phase.Shakhtar Donetsk (Champions League title-holder replacement)Sporting (Europa League title-holder replacement)Winner of Levski Sofia vs AEK Athens (Champions Path qualifying)Winner of Celtic vs LASK (Champions Path qualifying)Winner of Dinamo Zagreb vs Viking (Champions Path qualifying)Winner of Slovan Bratislava vs Celje (Champions Path qualifying)Winner of Hapoel Be'er Sheva vs Sabah (Champions Path qualifying)Winner of Fenerbahce vs Lyon (League Path qualifying)Winner of NEC Nijmegen vs Bodo/Glimt (League Path qualifying)This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.