Manchester City: reports emerging over guilty verdict on almost all charges – live news and reaction

Further background via the Press Association: “City were referred to the commission in February 2023, at a time when they were en route to the third of four consecutive Premier League titles.

“The investigation which ultimately resulted in more than 100 charges being laid started back in 2018. City had been charged with failing to report accurate financial information for nine seasons stretching from 2009-10 to 2017-18, as well as failing to provide full details of former manager Roberto Mancini’s pay between 2009-10 and 2012-13.

“They were also charged with failing to provide full details of remuneration in contracts with players between 2010-11 and 2015-16, and with failing to co-operate with the investigation over a period from 2018 to 2023.

“The club said at the time the charges were laid that they welcomed the opportunity for a commission “to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of our position”. Four months after the charge was issued, the club won the Champions League for the first time in their history. The commission hearing began on September 16, 2024.”

That an appeal by City has not been launched or heard means this long process, beginning with revelations from Der Spiegel in 2018, is not at an end.

An explainer here from 2024.

Via The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Manchester City have said this: “The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality. As such Manchester City FC’s position remains consistent with the club’s statement of February 2023. The club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis the Premier League board and executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair minded regulator, free from partisan influence.”

A similar statement has run on The Times. Much more to follow … much more.

Good afternoon, and there’s highly significant breaking news, with reports widely emerging that Manchester City have been found guilty of all but one charge of more than 100 breaches of Premier League regulations, though no details of any sanctions have emerged. The expectation is the club will appeal. The club were charged in February 2023.

With that my watch has ended, I hand over to John Brewin who will take you through to the fixtures later on.

This is a good read:

Harry Kane was also asked how he gets over the pain of not winning the World Cup:

It’s not easy to get over but you don’t have a choice. I think it is something that isn’t spoken about a lot but when you are in that bubble and in that environment for seven weeks in the same routine, highest pressure, biggest games and then you go out and all of a sudden you are back to reality. Being a husband, being a father, you have been away from your family a lot so that takes an element of that away. It’s still there but you get back to normal life and enjoy being with your kids and they are the most importnant thing and they help you get over it. But it takes months, it takes a long time to fully get over it. You heal while you are moving on. There are still moments I think about it and I am sure the team think about what could have been, what if, especially meeting up again here and wearing the badge, it stays in your mind.

I think that is where tomorrow comes into it, the quicker you can put in good performances [the better] especially against bigger teams. So I think it is a good thing we are playing against Spain and Croatia and these top teams because if you do win those games I think it brings you back to the excitement of what is to come. Can we win the Nations League? Can we win the Euros in a couple of years? So I think tomorrow is important in terms of momentum.

Harry Kane added that Spain do play a particular way with possession and England players aren’t taught the same from a young age. But he says England have attributes Spain don’t and said:

I think it is important to have our own indentity and not get caught up in other teams. That isn’t to say you can’t take things from other teams like probably club football you do as well. But ultimately it is about being England and showing our identity, especially in the bigger games as well.

The England captain Harry Kane said on if this is the best chance in his career to win the Ballon d’Or:

Best chance right now yeah, whether that is in the future as well we will have to wait and see. I think so far in my career it is the best chance without a doubt. I spoke quite openly last season was my best from a personal point of view, it was my best year without a doubt. From a team point of view it was my best year in terms of trophies and performances. It’s something that would be amazing to win. I know there has been a lot of talk about it and I am sure there will be over the next month until it is announced. That is part of it. I would be extremely proud to win it. I did a lot of great things I can be proud of last year but ultimately it is down to other people now.

Michael has emailed his Taylor Swift entry:

Sheffield United’s trophy cabinet is just a Blank Space.

Thomas Tuchel was also asked about Cole Palmer, who withdrew from England camp.

My understanding is he plays with discomfort and pain and he cannot compete on the highest level with discomfort and pain so he withdrew and informed us. Chelsea informed us, that is my understanding. We are not managing load.

When I was in club football I often used the term international break, this is when you hear it on the other side totally different picture. This is not an international break and I think that is what we created now. It is a competitive environment but it is also an environment that players love to be in. They love to train with each other and be with each other. That is what togetherness and brotherhood looks like. That is what we created from last September. We will never compromise on that. We will never let this creep in that players don’t want to come. It is fair enough but we focus on the guys who absolutely want to play for England.

For sure it is a missed opportunity and and it’s another opportunity, he misses too many opportunities. I don’t blame him for it, it is just a fact. He misses way too many camps with injuries. I only want to rely on what I personally witness and what I see within my team. If you are not in camp there is a next level to impress that you cannot achieve because you can only actually do it when you are with me on the pitch and with us on the pitch.

Five withdrawals came in the latest England squad for the team’s upcoming Nations League games. Thomas Tuchel was asked if he is looking into how to stop a potential culture of choosing club over country:

First of all we trust our players and second of all I think the players know very well that if you miss a camp and if someone else is good in your position the competition will always be on. The door is always open and you have to make sure to be available and produce top level performances in camp and if you do so that counts for something.

Right now there is nothing to do. It is not on my list of worries. I am not wired like this. It is what it is. From the moment I arrive at SJP [St James’ Park] my full focus is on the staff and players. That is how I am wired. There is not threat, there is no distrust and there is no threat of consequence. It will come naturally.

I think we have the opposite, everyone is desperate to come. You talk to our captain who has the most minutes in club and country who is happy to be here while some teammates of him are enjoying a seven or two day break but he wants to be here. That is the role model that we have at the moment so there is no concern.

Thomas Tuchel was asked about Trent Alexander-Arnold and if he will start tomorrow against the world champions:

Of course I will not tell you [if he will start against Spain]. He fights with Jarrell Quansah for the position and Jarrell played for us in the US.

Trent is up for the competition, we have very good training sessions and he was valuable and an important part of that. It’s not about words , it’s about actions. He will get his chance to impress and take back the shirt.

While we wait for Tuchel and Kane, have a read of the report from Australia’s almost famous victory over Brazil:

Josh has emailed and got involved with my niche Taylor Swift request. He says:

Given the relentless narkyness directed at Arteta-ball last season (and the pressure of 3 second placed finishes) I was impressed by the team’s attitude – just shake it off. They know financially compared to petro-teams they are dancing with their hands tied but for those of us in red that just makes it sweeter than fiction – karma almost. When you earn it like we did it hits different. Though I admit sometimes our manager behaves like the smallest man who ever lived.

I bow down to you, so many references packed into one email.

The England manager Thomas Tuchel and captain Harry Kane are due to speak this afternoon before the Lions take on Spain tomorrow. We will bring you any top lines from that when they drop.

This is an interesting read:

This may be quite niche but Taylor Swift has released new music today, in form of a Taylor song which best describes your relationship with your club? Spurs fans do you now have Bad Blood? Everton supporters was it a Cruel Summer? Let me know by emailing me.

Slovenia manager Bostjan Cesar has come out in support of Benjamin Šeško after Wayne Rooney criticised the Manchester United player for his “little stupid shinpads”. The Slovenian is currently sidelined with a shin injury. Cesar said:

If you play for a club like Manchester United, these things come with the territory.

It’s a process that Beni isn’t going through alone. Everyone around him is going through it as well.

When he was fit and scoring goals, there were none of these criticisms.

He’s a professional and doesn’t need to pay attention to these things. He just has to try and stay positive and surround himself with the right people.

Some more news on Kai Havertz: As we know Havertz has returned to Arsenal but it is for a hamstring injury picked up during Germany’s 1-1 draw with the Netherlands in the Nations League on Thursday night. Early indications are that the issue isn’t serious. Arsenal will hope the forward is available after the international break.

Kieron Dyer has been chatting about his career and England football days:

Thank you Tom, I have returned after having some cheese on toast myself. Let’s dive straight back in…

With that, I’m off for a bit of a lunch but luckily Sarah Rendell is here to take over.

Remember when people were saying that Thomas Tuchel shouldn’t take Jude Bellingham to the World Cup? That was silly. Anyway, Bellingham has been named as England men’s player of the year for a ⁠second successive season. “It’s a huge honour to be recognised ​by the fans again,” said Bellingham. “So ‌not something you think ‌about when you’re playing for your country, but it’s obviously a ‌beautiful little addition to the great summer we had, and the honour of playing for my country.“

I know it’s only a friendly, but Australia have taken the lead against Brazil Queensland. My Australian colleague Martin Pegan has minute-by-minute coverage of that one here:

De la Fuente brings insatiable Spain to England knowing World Cup is not enough

“I’m going to tell you a story,” Luis de la Fuente said. “As soon as the game finished on 19 July, before anyone had cooled down at all, just two or three minutes after the final, one of the players – and you’ll have to forgive me for not telling you which one, but it was one of those who has been with us for the longest time – came up to me and said: ‘Mister, now what? What’s left to win?’ And I said: ‘Bloody hell, the game against England at Wembley on 26 September.’”

It was a Friday afternoon at Las Rozas and Spain’s coach had just named his first squad since that day in New Jersey. It was a familiar one, full of history makers. Of the 26 from the World Cup, only four had been left out and there was an explanation for each: Marcos Llorente has announced his international retirement; Joan García is injured; Borja Iglesias, who always felt the likeliest to leave first, is not fully fit; and Gavi is suspended for Wembley, although he could have faced Croatia and Czechia.

Read Sid Lowe’s full feature:

With Brian Brobbey also getting injured in the game against Germany, the Netherlands have called up Joshua Zirkzee as cover.

Beckham takes £39m dividend as World Cup deals drive record profits

David Beckham has taken a $51m (£39m) dividend from his business empire fuelled by a series of deals with brands for the Fifa World Cup.

Beckham appeared in about a dozen ad campaigns across this summer’s tournament in the US, working with brands including Lenovo, McDonald’s, Bank of America, Verizon and PepsiCo’s crisps brand Lay’s.

The World Cup work helped to fuel a record year for DRJB Holdings, the commercial company for Beckham’s brands business, where revenues surged by a fifth to $110.5m last year, from $92.3m in 2024.

Pre-tax profits also climbed to a record $65.7m, a 46% increase on 2024.

Full story:

Absolutely HUGE David Beckham news incoming…

Kai Havertz will return to Arsenal for treatment after he sustained a “muscle sprain” while on Germany duty.

Havertz was forced off in the 30th minute of the nation’s 1-1 draw with the Netherlands due to a hamstring problem.

The German FA confirmed a subsequent scan had identified that the 27-year-old had suffered a sprain and he has now left Jurgen Klopp’s squad.

Havertz was sidelined for nearly five months with a knee injury last season, but he has started all five of Arsenal’s Premier League games so far, preferred to Viktor Gyokeres by manager Mikel Arteta.

The Premier League champions are hopeful Havertz’s latest setback is not serious.

Arsenal will next be in action when they host Leeds at the Emirates Stadium on 10 October. Press Association

Bellamy: ‘Koumas belongs on international stage’

Craig Bellamy said the Liverpool forward Lewis Koumas deserves to perform on the biggest stages after defeat to Portugal and promised to make changes for Sunday’s visit to Denmark.

Wales, who fly to Copenhagen on Saturday, lost their Nations League opener after Joao Felix scored the only goal in Lisbon. Koumas, who started the game on the left flank, spurned a golden chance to equalise late on but Bellamy was impressed by the 21-year-old. “I was looking at him and I thought he was outstanding,” Bellamy said. “I was thinking: he belongs here, he belongs here. There’s your headline.”

Koumas has also made a big impression on Andoni Iraola and his staff, featuring in five of Liverpool’s seven matches this season. When it was put to Bellamy that Koumas, who spent last season on loan at Birmingham and Hull, decided to stay at Liverpool this season to prove himself, Bellamy interrupted: “No, they kept him on at Anfield. You don’t get the choice to stay. If they want to keep you, they keep you. They thought he was too good, he ain’t going [anywhere].”

Bellamy acknowledged Wales expended a lot of energy in defeat at Jose Alvalade Stadium, where Cristiano Ronaldo won his 234th cap. “We are going to need to change players,” he said. “The turnaround is so quick, so demanding, we need to change players and we will do.

“They’re running machines [Portugal], that’s why they’re at this level. You don’t always pick up on the intensity – if you pay £140m for a player, you’re paying for his running level as well as his ability. A lot of these players are game-ready and they have a ridiculous intensity to match.”

Thanks Sarah, to get things rolling for my stint on the blog, I have an update from Ben Fisher in Lisbon…

I’m going to take a break for a few hours but I leave you in the company of Tom Bassam.

More on that Infantino news from earlier here:

“It’s a very good comparison,” James Garner says, and he is not kidding. It came from Thomas Tuchel in March after the England manager had watched the Everton midfielder impress on his international debut against Uruguay. He was up against Federico Valverde and Tuchel went big with his praise. Garner was a “mini Valverde”, he said after the 1-1 draw at Wembley.

It was surely too much, despite the prefix that Tuchel attached, yet it was possible to see where he was coming from. Like Valverde, Garner wants to operate in central midfield but he can play at right-back or on the wing. And like Valverde, who they called El Pajarito – or the Little Bird – when he was a kid, Garner can sometimes fly a bit under the radar.

The Spain manager Luis de la Fuente has sent an ominious message to the rest of world football: what they did at the World Cup isn’t enough to keep them winning. The coach said:

This team won’t stop; it wants more and more, to be the best. I will tell them that too. What we did at the World Cup is not enough to keep us winning games or to beat England. You have to be better. That’s our culture and our mentality, our attitude, so I have no doubts and no worries.

Read more here:

US men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino says he regrets not being “more involved” in the situation surrounding US forward Folarin Balogun at this summer’s World Cup.

Balogun was given a red card after a challenge against Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemović, which by rule is accompanied with a one-game suspension. Balogun’s ban for the next game against Belgium was suspended after the US Soccer Federation and US president Donald Trump lobbied Fifa, with Trump saying that he personally placed a call to Fifa president Gianni Infantino to ask the ruling be reviewed. Infantino maintains that the decision to reinstate Balogun was made independently by Fifa’s disciplinary committee.

The entire affair cast a pall over what had been an otherwise positive tournament for the US to that point. Belgium’s players and coaches said in the wake of it that it provided extra motivation ahead of the match. Balogun himself later spoke of having felt uncomfortable with the attention the situation placed upon him.

Wrexham have confirmed that Humphrey Ker is stepping down from the club’s board and as a trustee. Ker was a key part of Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac buying the club five years ago and has continued to play a role during their promotion successes.

Ker, who was a part of the Disney documentary about the club, said:

Working for and representing Wrexham AFC and the wider town has been the greatest honour of my life.

I am proud of the part I have played in the Club’s remarkable journey, both on and off the field.

There was controversy over the coverage of the Women’s Champions League earlier this week, this is a great piece from Max Rushden on the topic:

Australia and Brazil are playing one another in a friendly with kick-off less than an hour away, you can keep up to date with all of the action here:

Some breaking news for you, Chelsea have been charged with breaching a Football Association rule in their 3-2 win over Fulham last month. The governing body alleges the club broke rule E21 in the ninth minute of the match where the Blues “failed to ensure its spectators and/or supporters did not behave in an improper, offensive, abusive or insulting way. It’s further alleged that this behaviour was discriminatory in that it included a reference, whether express or implied, to religion or belief”.

Anthony Gordon has sided with Thomas Tuchel’s assertion that controlling games through possession is not part of English football’s DNA. Although Gordon revealed surprise at being substituted when England were 1-0 up in their World Cup semi-final against Argentina, the winger refused to blame the defeat on Tuchel’s decisions and argued that wider cultural issues influenced the side’s collapse.

England’s perennial struggle to keep the ball when under pressure flared when a place in the final was within touching distance in July, allowing Argentina to fight back and go through with two late goals. The pain has not gone away and there has been intense scrutiny of Tuchel’s role in Atlanta. The head coach’s tactical choices were criticised and he faced a backlash after saying “ball possession” was not in his team’s DNA.

One of the best players in the world right now is Raphinha and Sid Lowe sat down with him about life at Barca, read here:

The Premier League may be on an international break but there are some English domestic games happening this weekend in the Women’s Super League. There are some big matches too with two derbies.

Liverpool host Everton, while Arsenal travel to Chelsea in some tasty fixtures. Here is the full line-up (all times in BST):

• Charlton Athletic v Manchester City, Saturday, 1.30pm

• London City Lionesses v Brighton, Saturday, 5pm

• Manchester United v West Ham, Sunday, 1pm

• Birmingham City v Crystal Palace, Sunday, 2pm

• Liverpool v Everton, Sunday, 2pm

• Tottenham v Aston Villa, Sunday, 2pm

• Chelsea v Arsenal, Sunday, 4.30pm

The Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga and Serie A have issued a joint statement calling for reform at Fifa. In a rare coordinated move, the leagues have criticised the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, making reference to his abandoned World Cup sell-off plan – the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme – and the Folarin Balogun affair.

The four leagues have taken aim at Fifa’s “relentless expansionism” and said leagues, together with national associations, clubs, and players, need a greater role in decision-making.

“Football’s longstanding foundations have, in recent years, been threatened by a fundamental governance problem, whereby Fifa’s president has actively promoted exploitative ideas rather than safeguarding against them,” the statement said. “And while football’s stakeholders ultimately forced the withdrawal of the Fifa Forward Enterprise scheme, the conditions that led to FFE remain.

“The Fifa president has now acknowledged the need for reform, but it is not enough for surface-level, process changes to be explored in the aftermath of FFE – fundamental governance reform is essential to restore clear constitutional boundaries within Fifa, including confidence that individual disciplinary matters remain demonstrably insulated from political interference.”

There was a comic-strip feel to another eventful evening in the kingdom of Cristiano Ronaldo. Where to start? It was the 67th minute when his No 7 went up on the fourth official’s board, the cue to remove the captain’s armband from his left bicep before departing to a universal ovation, but for the pocket of Wales supporters.

The referee, Donatas Rumsas, hurried him off the pitch but Ronaldo, his hair glazed copper, was presumably ruminating on a series of missed chances, a sitter from a few yards at the start of the second half, and his disallowed goal, after skating offside to latch on to a Bruno Fernandes pass. The grandiose “Siu” celebration went to waste, though try telling that to the locals who worship him.

Some news from yesterday’s games:

Some football fans thought they were going to see Dele Alli return to the pitch as Barnet FC teased a post on X that said “We’ve got….”, using Alli’s chant from his time at Spurs. Instead it seems the club were teasing the anniversary of their manager, Dean Brennan, joining the club five years ago. That would have been a generational signing if it were what supporters were thinking.

There were news reports that Alli would train with Barnet but it is not confirmed when that would take place.

Erling Haaland scored seven goals at his first World Cup this past summer and in his first Norway game since that tournament he was on the scoresheet twice in a 3-2 win over Denmark.

The first was a first-touch finish after being set-up by Antonio Nusa and his second saw him turn home the ball from a corner.

Germany drew 1-1 against the Netherlands yesterday but the headline news from the game is Kai Havertz picking up an injury. The Arsenal star came off after 30 minutes with a muscle problem and Jamal Musiala also came off with an injury. The Germany manager Jurgen Klopp said post match:

The negative highlights are obviously the two injuries to Jamal and Kai.

Both are muscular injuries. Jamal’s happened before the game and Kai’s relatively early in the game. At the moment they’re either still having an MRI, on the way there or already finished. But we don’t have any results yet.

Nations League fixtures (all times in BST):

• Georgia v Northern Ireland, 5pm

• Armenia v Latvia, 5pm

• Sweden v Romania, 7.45pm

• Montenegro v Cyprus, 7.45pm

• Hungary v Ukraine, 7.45pm

• Italy v Belgium, 7.45pm

• Turkiye v France, 7.45pm

• Poland v Bosnia and Herzegovina, 7.45pm

Hello and welcome to today’s football blog which will bring you all the latest news from across the sport, including Nations League build-up.

A full list of fixtures for today’s matches will follow shortly but we will also have preview content for England’s match against the world champions Spain too, that game is happening on Saturday.

If any breaking news drops we will also have you covered and we would also love to hear from you. The Traitors is returning to TV screens soon in both the UK and the US so I would like to know who you think is a traitor in football. Did a player sign for a rival club? Did a star celebrate a goal against a former team? Let me know your thoughts by emailing me.

Right let’s get this show on the road, shall we?